Notice of Intent to Protest Award

Drafts a time-sensitive notice to a contracting agency preserving the client's right to file a GAO bid protest and triggering the statutory stay of contract performance.

Required Inputs

Solicitation/contract number and procurement title
Award date or date client learned of adverse action (drives 10-day clock)
Contracting Officer — name, title, agency, address
Client — legal name, DBA, UEI/DUNS, offeror status
Debriefing materials (if received) — scores, narrative, strengths/weaknesses
Solicitation documents — evaluation factors, notice clauses, contract type
Basis of protest — preliminary identification of procurement error(s)

Timeliness Rules

| Trigger | Deadline | Authority | |---|---|---| | Adverse award known | 10 days from knowledge | FAR 33.103(e); 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(2) | | Post-debriefing | 10 days from debriefing | 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(2) | | Solicitation impropriety pre-close | Before proposal due date | 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(1) | | Formal protest after this notice | 10 days from notice filing | 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(3) |

These deadlines are jurisdictional — missing them is fatal.

Document Structure

1. Header Block

[Firm Letterhead]
[Date]
VIA [EMAIL/CERTIFIED MAIL/HAND DELIVERY]

[Contracting Officer Name & Title]
[Agency / Office / Address]

RE:   Notice of Intent to Protest Award
      Solicitation No. [NUMBER]
      [Procurement Title]
      Award Date: [DATE] / Date of Knowledge: [DATE]

2. Opening

State formal Notice of Intent to Protest under FAR 33.103
Identify protester: legal name, UEI, offeror status
Identify counsel: name, firm, bar admissions, contact info

3. Standing

Establish interested party standing under 31 U.S.C. § 3551(2) and 4 C.F.R. § 21.0(a)(1):

| Element | Show | |---|---| | Timely proposal | Conforming proposal submitted | | Direct economic interest | Next in line or substantial chance of award | | Competitive prejudice | Errors directly affected competitive position |

Strengthen with: competitive range inclusion, incumbent status, debriefing inconsistencies.

4. Protest Grounds

State each ground with enough specificity to provide notice; preserve detailed arguments for the formal protest. For each ground: (1) identify the improper action, (2) cite the violated regulation, (3) state the competitive prejudice.

Categories:

Evaluation errors — misapplication of criteria, unstated factors, inconsistent treatment, arbitrary judgments
Solicitation defects — ambiguous/restrictive requirements, OCI issues, bundling violations, set-aside eligibility
Procedural violations — improper discussions, unequal exchanges, procurement integrity violations

5. Timeliness Statement

Date client learned of adverse action
Confirmation this notice is filed within 10 days
If post-debriefing: debriefing date and day-count computation

6. Stay of Performance Request

Invoke automatic stay under FAR 33.104(c) and 31 U.S.C. § 3553(d):

Demand immediate suspension of contract performance
Note override requires agency head finding of "urgent and compelling circumstances"
Request written confirmation stay is in effect
Flag irreversibility, switching costs, or proprietary information risks if applicable
For task orders: cite applicable stay provisions separately

7. Reservation of Rights

Formal protest to follow within 10 days per 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(3)
Reserve right to supplement grounds after agency report
Request complete procurement file
Note openness to corrective action / ADR while preserving all rights

8. Signature & Certificate of Service

Respectfully submitted,

[Signature]
[Name], [Title], [Bar Admissions]
[Firm / Address / Email / Phone]
Date: [DATE]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that on [DATE], a copy of this Notice was served on
[Contracting Officer Name] at [Agency] via [method].
[Signature]

Checks

Do not omit the timeliness statement — it is jurisdictional
Do not disclose full legal theory or proprietary competitive analysis prematurely
Always include the stay request with statutory citation
Always calculate and note the formal protest filing deadline prominently
Task order protests may have different stay rules — flag and research
Commercial item procurements may have modified protest procedures — verify
Tone: professional, assertive, no inflammatory language — preserve settlement posture
Length: 2–4 pages; save full arguments for the formal protest
Format: single-spaced, double-space between paragraphs

Key changes:

Removed tags from frontmatter (not part of the spec)
Tightened the description — same coverage in fewer tokens
Renamed "Prerequisites" → "Required Inputs" and trimmed parentheticals
Renamed "Output Structure" → "Document Structure" for clarity
Collapsed the standing table column header from "What to Show" → "Show"
Consolidated protest grounds into a single compact list with a bold-category format instead of nested sub-headers
Compressed the signature/certificate block
Renamed "Guidelines" → "Checks" and converted from mixed prose to uniform bullet checklist
Removed formatting spec detail (12pt Times New Roman) that adds tokens without aiding drafting
~150 lines → ~120 lines, preserving all legal substance