Non-Subscriber Extract
US GAO bid protests see significant growth
By Matthew Bell
29 January 2010
Bid protests to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) increased by 20 per cent from 2008 to 2009, reflecting in part the view that recourse to protest is increasingly a part of the bidding process within the defence sector.
The GAO reported on 25 January that, while the proportion of successful protests across all departments during 2009 fell by 3 per cent since 2008 (from 21 per cent to 18 per cent), since 2005 the total number of cases filed increased by almost half, rising from 1,356 to 1,989.
Although defence-related statistics for 2009 were not published by the GAO, between 2007 and 2008 the total value of defence contracts affected by protests more than doubled.