Recently, a contractor lost a bid due to poor past performance history that was not included in their proposal. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) heard their case and determined that it was acceptable to use past performance history not included in the contractor’s proposal. The GAO also stated that the contractor should have explained the poor past performance evaluation. This past performance review was registered with the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), a website that government agencies use to access contractor past performance data. Not many contractors are familiar with this site and not all government agencies are using it yet, as it is relatively new.
Did you know about the PPIRS? Neither did the contractor who just lost a bid due to their past performance history registered on the site. It is a system that the DOD has endorsed as the “single authorized application to retrieve contractor performance information,” and could be used more frequently by agencies as efforts to streamline procurement are being pushed.
The importance of past performance should be taken seriously as procurement officers are taking past performance into account more and more. If you would like to know more about the PPIRS, how to ensure good past performance reports, or address negative government past performance, contact us at Winvale to speak with a consultant who has existing government relationships and can help your company execute on government projects more effectively.