813.506-70 Oral purchase orders.

Oral purchase orders, when considered advantageous to the Department of Veterans Affairs, may be used for transactions not in excess of $2,500. This limitation does not apply to delivery orders against existing contracts, e.g., delivery orders against FSS Contracts. The transaction will be assigned a purchase order number and receipt documentation will be obtained on the copies of the purchase request utilized as a property voucher and receiving report. Documentation as to competition will be in accordance with FAR 13.106c.

[52 FR 28560, July 31, 1987]

Contracts in excess of the small purchase limitation or in excess of $1,000 for contracts made for repairs to property acquired by the Department of Veterans Affairs under Chapter 37, Title 38, United States Code, will be made by sealed bidding when all of the elements necessary for sealed bidding as prescribed in FAR 6.401(a) are present.

[51 FR 23068, June 25, 1986, and 52 FR 28559, July 31, 1987, as amended at 54 FR 40063, Sept. 29, 1989]

814.104 Types of contracts.

814.104-70 Fixed-price contracts with escalation.

When contracts of this nature are authorized pursuant to 816.102(b), contracting officers will be guided by the provisions of FAR 16.203.

Subpart 814.2-Solicitation of Bids

814.201 Preparation of invitations for bids.

(a) Invitations for bids for supplies, equipment and services will be serially numbered at the time of issue. The number will consist of the station or marketing division number, the serial number of the invitation, and the fiscal year in which issued, e.g., 10124-84. A series beginning with the number 1 will be started each fiscal year. Invitations for bids for supplies, equipment and services which are issued, accepted and become contracts in the same fiscal year but, because of procurement leadtime, will not be performed until the ensuing fiscal year will be numbered in the series of the year in which they are issued. However, invitations issued in one fiscal year that will result in a contract that will become effective and performed only in the ensuing fiscal year will be numbered in the ensuing fiscal year series. (b) Invitations for construction contracts will bear the applicable IFB number and project number, if assigned.

(c) In order to preclude adverse criticism of the Department of Veterans Affairs by prospective bidders relative to the disclosure of bid prices prior to bid opening, the provision entitled "Caution to Bidders Bid-Envelopes," as set forth in 852.214-70, will be prominently placed in all invitations for bids.

(d) To realize the greatest possible price advantage for the Government, items that may be processed by a contractor to effect a reduction in cost factors such as production, inspection and delivery, may be listed for award on both individual item and summary item bases. Items will be listed individually and, in addition, a summary price will be solicited for those items the contracting officer determines to

(Bidder will enter unit price and summary amount.)

(3) Invitations containing a summary bid request will contain the following statement:

The award will be made on either an individual item basis or summary bid basis, whichever results in the lowest cost to the Government. Therefore, to assure proper evaluation of all bids, a bidder quoting a summary bid price must also quote a price on each individual item included in the summary bid price.

(e) Bid invitations for supplies, equipment, or services (other than construction) must define the extent to which alternate bids will be authorized and considered. Alternates specified on construction projects will be considered for acceptance only as a part of the basic item.

(1) When an alternate item will be considered only if no bids or insufficient bids are received on the item desired, the clause set forth in 852.21471(a) will be included in the invitation. (2) When an alternate item will be considered on an equal basis with the

item specified, the clause set forth in 852.214-71(b) will be included in the invitation.

(3) In addition to the clauses referenced in paragraph (e) (1) or (2) of this section, the clause set forth in 852.214-71(c) will be included in the invitation when bids will be allowed on different packaging, unit designation, etc.

(f) When a contracting officer determines that it will be advantageous to the Government to make the award by group or groups of items, a provision for such award will be included in the invitation for bids.

(1) This may apply when:

(i) The items in the group or groups are readily available from the sources to be solicited; and

(ii) It is desirable to make a minimum number of contracts; or

(iii) Furniture or fixtures are required for a single project and uniformity of design is desirable; or

(iv) The articles required will be assembled and used as a unit.

(2) Solicitations for supplies and services, other than construction, will contain the provision set forth in FAR 52.214-22.

(3) Solicitations for construction contracts which solicit prices on an item and alternate item basis (when it is intended that a single aggregate award will be made for all items in the solicitation within certain fiscal limitations) will contain a statement as to the order of priority in which the alternate items will be awarded. This priority will be based on the relative importance of an item, the Department of Veterans Affairs' estimate, and the amount of funds available. Such schedules will be substantially as follows:

Item No. 1-Furnish all labor, material, equipment, etc., to paint buildings No. 1, 2, and 3, $

Alternate items in order of priority. Furnish all labor, material, equipment, etc., to paint:

Item No. 2-Building No. 1 only
Item No. 3-Building No. 2 only

A single award will be made on Item No. 1, but in the event the offer exceeds the funds available, a single award will be made on Item No. 2, or a combination of Item Nos. 2 and 3. Of

ferors should quote a price on each item listed.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 791, Jan. 7, 1985; 51 FR 23068, June 25, 1986; 52 FR 28559, July 31, 1987; 52 FR 49017, Dec. 29, 1987; 54 FR 30044, July 18, 1989]

814.202 General rules for solicitation of bids.

814.202-4 Bid samples.

When it has been determined that samples are necessary to the proper awarding of a contract, the provision set forth in 852.214-73 will be added to the provision in FAR 52.214-20.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1984, as amended at 52 FR 49017, Dec. 29, 1987]

814.203 Methods of soliciting bids.

814.203-1 Mailing or delivery to prospective bidders.

(a) The contracting officer will include either a bid envelope, or Optional Form 17, Sealed Bid Label, with each invitation for bids furnished to prospective bidders.

(b) Presolicitation notices may be issued for construction projects in accordance with 836.302.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1984, as amended at 51 FR 23068, June 25, 1986; 52 FR 28559, July 31, 1987]

814.204 Records of invitations for bids and records of bids.

(a) A single register will be established and maintained by the issuing office on a fiscal year basis for all solicitations by invitations for bid or requests for proposal number, date of issue, date of opening, commodity or service involved and disposition, i.e., contract number or purchase order number or, when applicable, no award. (b) Maintenance of the contract file prescribed by Part 804 and retention of canceled Invitation for Bid files will fulfill the requirements set forth in FAR 14.204.

814.205 Solicitation mailing lists. 814.205-1 Establishment of lists.

From the solicitations mailing list applications received, each contracting

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel Management.

814.302 Bid submission.

A bid hand-carried by the bidder or his agent will be considered late unless delivered to the addressee designated in the bid invitation prior to the time set for opening.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1985, as amended at 50 FR 791, Jan. 7, 1985]

814.304 Late bids, late modifications of bids, or late withdrawal of bids. 814.304-2 Notification to late bidders.

The notification to late bidders will specify the final date by which the evidence must be received to be considered. This date must be within the time allowed by the apparent low bidder for acceptance of his bid.

814.304-4 Records.

All bids received by mail (or telegram where authorized) will be time and date stamped immediately upon receipt at VA installation mail room and in the office of the addressee designated in the invitation. This will firmly establish the time of receipt of bids, or when bids are received in the office of the addressee subsequent to the time of opening, and it will establish whether or not the delay was due to mishandling on the part of VA.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1984, as amended at 54 FR 40063, Sept. 29, 1989]

Subpart 814.4—Opening of Bids and Award of Contract

814.402 Opening of bids.

(a) The contracting officer shall serve as, or designate, a bid opening officer, and shall also designate a recorder.

(b) The form and amount of bid security and name of surety will be read aloud and recorded.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1985, as amended at 50 FR 792, Jan. 7, 1985]

814.403 Recording of bids.

The information required for bid evaluation shall be recorded on the ap

814.404 Rejection of bids.

814.404-1 Cancellation of invitations after opening.

(a) A copy of each invitation for bids which is canceled as provided for in FAR 14.404-1, together with the abstract showing to whom such bids were sent, will be filed in a separate folder identified by the invitation number. Invitations for bids which result in no bids being received will be handled in like manner. In each instance the abstract will be annotated to show why an award was not made. These folders will be retained for the current and two succeeding fiscal years.

(b) The authority to approve cancellation of invitations for bid after opening and the authority to approve the acquisition after cancellation as provided in FAR 14.404-1(e) is delegated to the head of the contracting activity. The contracting officer will submit a D&F prepared as prescribed in Subpart 801.7 to the head of the contracting activity for signature.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1984, as amended at 51 FR 23068, June 25, 1986; 52 FR 28560, July 31, 1987]

814.404-2 Rejection of individual bids.

(a) When a bid that is being considered for an award is found to be incomplete, e.g., all pages of the invitation have not been returned by the bidder, the contracting officer will take whichever of the following actions that is appropriate:

(1) Make a determination that the bid as submitted is in such a form that acceptance would create a valid and binding contract, requiring the contractor to perform in accordance with all of the material terms and conditions of the invitation. Such a determination may be based on the fact that the bid as submitted includes evidence that the offeror intends to be bound by all the material terms and conditions of the invitation.

(2) Make a determination that the bid as submitted is in such form that acceptance would not create a valid and binding contract.

(b) When a single bid is received in response to a solicitation, the offer shall not be rejected simply because it specifies a bid acceptance time which is shorter than that contained in the solicitation, unless a compelling reason exists for rejecting such a bid. Insufficient time to properly evaluate an offer shall be considered a compelling reason for rejection; however, the contracting officer will first request the offeror to extend the acceptance date of the bid to allow for proper evaluation.

NOTE: In those cases where more than one bid is received, an individual bid which is not in compliance with the Government's bid acceptance time shall be rejected as nonresponsive since consideration of such an offer would unfairly disadvantage other bidders.

814.404-70 Questions involving the responsiveness of a bid.

Questions involving the responsiveness of a bid which cannot be resolved by the contracting officer may be submitted to the Comptroller General through the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel Management (93B) or the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Facilities (08), as appropriate. Pertinent documentation must accompany the submission.

[49 FR 12599, Mar. 29, 1984, as amended at 54 FR 40063, Sept. 29, 1989]