Team Integrity Knowledge Center

10/13/2026

Most of what we cover is about staying out of trouble. This one is about claiming what is already yours. A rule buried in the FAR steers an enormous share of federal work toward small business, and too many small firms do not know it well enough to use it when a contracting officer gets it wrong.

The Rule of Two requires agencies to set a contract aside for small business when two or more capable small firms will likely bid at a fair price. How it works.

10/13/2026

Firms team on one bid and compete on the next, and leaders all know each other. In that world, two kinds of friendly understanding turn into federal crimes: agreeing not to hire each other's people, and agreeing on what to pay. These used to be civil matters. Prosecutors now treat them like bid rigging.

Agreeing not to hire each other's workers, or to hold wages down, is prosecuted as criminal antitrust. Why contracting's teaming culture makes this an easy line to cross.

10/13/2026

A GSA Schedule is one of the best sales channels in government contracting, but only inside its boundaries. Slipping a product that is not on your Schedule into a Schedule order is the most common version of this mistake, and it tells the agency something about that item that is not true.

A GSA Schedule only covers what is on it. Selling out-of-scope items or slipping open-market products onto a Schedule order creates real compliance risk. How to stay in bounds.

10/12/2026

BREAKING: Courting a government insider just cost a contractor $10.5 million.

A well-known research and polling contractor has agreed to pay $10.5 million to resolve government allegations. The first claim is that it inflated labor hours on noncompetitive work. The second is more serious: the company discussed employment with a sitting federal official while pursuing business from his agency. That official later pleaded guilty.

The lesson for every contractor is the same regardless of size. The moment a job offer touches a public decision, you are in dangerous territory.

Build the wall before you need it:

1. Freeze hiring talks tied to live deals.
2. Get every recusal in writing.
3. Screen former officials before you hire them.
4. Back every hour and rate with records.
5. Relationships win work. The wrong one can end a company.

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10/12/2026

Call a worker an independent contractor and you skip the payroll taxes, the benefits, and a stack of obligations. It is one of the most tempting shortcuts for a growing business and one of the most expensive mistakes. On federal work it collides with wage clauses and False Claims Act exposure.

Calling a worker an independent contractor to save on taxes and benefits is costly. On federal work, misclassification collides with labor standards, cost rules, and fraud.

10/12/2026

The SDVOSB program rewards people who served, and it runs on genuine ownership and genuine control, now backed by formal certification. With recent fraud settlements showing how hard the government pursues front schemes, every veteran owner should know these rules well enough to defend their status.

The SDVOSB program requires real veteran ownership and control, verified through certification. The ownership, control, and VetCert requirements, and how to defend your status.

10/12/2026

Best price and best technical score still is not the finish line. Before handing you the contract, the contracting officer has to decide you are capable and trustworthy enough to hold public money. Some firms with the winning proposal lose right here, at a step they never knew existed.

Before award, the contracting officer must find you responsible: capable, financially able, and with a record of integrity. How FAR 9.1 works and how to pass it.

10/12/2026

As the prime, the government holds you answerable for the whole job, including the parts your subs perform. If a sub underpays workers or mishandles controlled information, the government comes to you first and you chase the sub afterward. Managing subs is not just good practice. It is self-protection.

As a prime, you answer to the government for your subcontractors. Flow-down clauses push required terms down the chain. How to manage prime liability for subs.

10/11/2026

Outgrowing a set-aside program is supposed to be a success story. This firm allegedly refused to let go. After losing 8(a) eligibility, it kept winning small-business set-asides through two other companies that existed to preserve a status it no longer had. A textbook shell scheme, and how it ended.

A contractor that outgrew its 8(a) eligibility allegedly used alter-ego companies to keep winning set-asides. The $742,500 settlement and what it means for small firms.

10/11/2026

Losing stings, but it hands you something valuable if you know how to claim it. A debriefing is the government explaining how you were judged and why the award went elsewhere. Miss the deadline and you lose more than the lesson. You can quietly forfeit your right to protest.

A debriefing tells you why you lost and whether to protest. Requesting it correctly protects your rights and timing. How to use debriefings well in government contracting.