(Editor’s Note. Past performance evaluation has become a major factor for award selection decisions. We often stress that the practical meaning of most regulations are not so much what is written in the regulations as what the GAO and Appeals Boards/Courts say they mean and this is particularly true in the relatively new area of past performance and experience determinations where the ground rules are evolving. An understanding of the ground rules is essential in providing the best possible face in a competition. The following article addresses these evolving ground rules in the light of recent decisions made by the General Accounting Office over the last couple of years. Our article is based on one written by Michael Golden, Assistant General Counsel for the Procurement Law Division of the General Accounting Office published in the April 8, 2003 issue of Federal Contracts.)

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