Your Right To Protest and Dispute

April 13, 2006

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What if the contracting officer or buying agency makes a decision that you (the contractor) don't agree with or that you believe is incorrect? Government contracting regulations provide contractors with several remedies, all the way from filing a simple protest or dispute to taking the government to court.

To begin our discussion, we need to distinguish terminology. Under government contract law, you have the right to "protest" and also the right to "dispute." While these terms seem very similar and are often used interchangeably in everyday language, government contracting regulations treat them differently.

Generally speaking, these rules give you the right to "protest" a defective bid or the award of a contract to another bidder. They also give you the right to "dispute" an issue or disagreement with the contracting officer that arises after you have won and been awarded a contract.

In addition, you may have other options as well.