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ASBCA Delivers Bad News to Contractor Who Violated SBA’s Nonmanufacturer Rule

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 05.27.16

In Third Coast Fresh Distrib., LLC (Apr. 6, 2016), the ASBCA held that a small business’ failure to comply with the requirements of the SBA’s Nonmanufacturer Rule justified its default under a small business set-aside contract for produce delivery. Rejecting the contractor’s argument that it was only required to represent in good faith that it would comply with the requirements, the Board held that the rule was a condition of performance and, by subcontracting out delivery of the produce, the contractor had changed its performance and had become “other than small” for the procurement, which constituted a default.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.10.26

Federal Circuit Clarifies Application of Blue & Gold: Proposal Submission Deadline, Not Award, is the Operative Time for Filing

In Utech, Inc. v. United States, No. 24-1586 (Fed. Cir. June 24, 2026), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified that in most cases, a pre-award protest must be filed before the proposal submission deadline to avoid the Blue & Gold waiver rule.  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal submission deadline....