Doing Business With The Government
Bidding successfully on a government contract can be difficult when the specifications for the contract are lifted directly from a competitor's catalog. Companies bidding on an Army Corps of Engineers contract to provide drainage pumps for New Orleans faced that hurdle after Hurricane Katrina. From an AP report:
When the Army Corps of Engineers solicited bids for drainage pumps for New Orleans, it copied the specifications - typos and all - from the catalog of the manufacturer that ultimately won the $32 million contract, a review of documents by The Associated Press found.
The pumps, supplied by Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and installed at canals before the start of the 2006 hurricane season, proved to be defective, as the AP reported in March. The matter is under investigation by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
In a letter dated April 13, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., called on the Corps to look into how the politically connected company got the post-Hurricane Katrina contract. MWI employed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President Bush's brother, to market its pumps during the 1980s, and top MWI officials have been major contributors to the Republican Party.
While it may not be a violation of federal regulations to adopt a company's technical specifications, it is frowned on, especially for large jobs like the MWI contract, because it could give the impression the job was rigged for the benefit of a certain company, contractors familiar with Corps practices say. [Emphasis added]
It's bad enough that the Army Corps of Engineers copied the specs, typos and all, directly from MWI's catalog, thereby pretty much ensuring the winning bid, but the Corps then proceeded to make things even worse when the problems with the pumps were discovered:
The Corps withheld about 20 percent of MWI's contract price - including an incentive of about $5 million to deliver them by June 1, 2006 - until the flaws have been resolved. But the Corps also spent $4.5 million for six additional MWI pumps for use in troubleshooting the defective ones. [Emphasis added]
I guess that showed the errant company the Corps was serious.
When the Army Corps of Engineers solicited bids for drainage pumps for New Orleans, it copied the specifications - typos and all - from the catalog of the manufacturer that ultimately won the $32 million contract, a review of documents by The Associated Press found.
The pumps, supplied by Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and installed at canals before the start of the 2006 hurricane season, proved to be defective, as the AP reported in March. The matter is under investigation by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
In a letter dated April 13, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., called on the Corps to look into how the politically connected company got the post-Hurricane Katrina contract. MWI employed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President Bush's brother, to market its pumps during the 1980s, and top MWI officials have been major contributors to the Republican Party.
While it may not be a violation of federal regulations to adopt a company's technical specifications, it is frowned on, especially for large jobs like the MWI contract, because it could give the impression the job was rigged for the benefit of a certain company, contractors familiar with Corps practices say. [Emphasis added]
It's bad enough that the Army Corps of Engineers copied the specs, typos and all, directly from MWI's catalog, thereby pretty much ensuring the winning bid, but the Corps then proceeded to make things even worse when the problems with the pumps were discovered:
The Corps withheld about 20 percent of MWI's contract price - including an incentive of about $5 million to deliver them by June 1, 2006 - until the flaws have been resolved. But the Corps also spent $4.5 million for six additional MWI pumps for use in troubleshooting the defective ones. [Emphasis added]
I guess that showed the errant company the Corps was serious.
Labels: Government Contractors, Katrina
posted by Diane at 3:22 AM
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