(4) Where protests are made directly to NASA Headquarters or where NASA Headquarters receives notice of protests made directly to the Comptroller General, a member of Congress, or the Small Business Administration, the contracting officer shall be requested to furnish information. This will usually require submittal of a completely documented case as prescribed in paragraph (3) above.

(5) Protests received by NASA Headquarters, in accordance with subparagraphs (2) and (4) of this paragraph, will be acted upon by the Office of Procurement. Where substantial doubt exists as to the validity of a protest, the views of the Comptroller General will be obtained.

(6) Where a protest affects another bidder, a contractor, or any other party having a legitimate interest, the contracting officer normally should give prompt notice of the protest to such parties in order that they may take appropriate action on their own behalf. The extent of information to be furnished the affected parties in any particular case will be governed by such matters as legal considerations, the interest of the Government, equitable consideration for the interests of affected parties, and mitigation of losses or other injuries to any and all parties concerned. Affected parties shall be advised that such a notice of protest in no way relieves them of any obligations, under a contract or otherwise, but is intended primarily to afford them a fair opportunity to be heard by, and to present evidence for the consideration of, the agency which will render a decision in the case.

(b) Protests before award. (1) If an oral protest is received before award, the contracting officer may require written confirmation by a specified time and inform the protesting party that award will be withheld until that time. If the written confirmation is not received by the specified time, the oral protest may be disregarded and award made in the normal manner, unless the contracting officer finds it necessary to take remedial action.

(2) If a written protest is received before award or if it is known before award that a protest has been made to the Comptroller General, a member of

Congress, the Small Business Administration, or NASA Headquarters, award shall not be made until the matter is resolved, unless the contracting officer determines that:

(i) The items to be procured are urgently required;

(ii) Delivery or performance will be unduly delayed by failure to make award promptly; or

(iii) A prompt award will otherwise be advantageous to the Government.

Such determination shall be referred to the Office of Procurement for approval prior to award if an unresolved protest against such award has been, or is expected to be, referred to NASA Headquarters in accordance with paragraph (a) (2) of this section, or if information on a protest is being prepared by the contracting office at the request of NASA Headquarters in accordance with paragraph (a) (4) of this section. Before proceeding with an award prior to final disposition of a protest under consideration by the Comptroller General, a notice of intent to make award, with the reasons therefor, shall be furnished the Comptroller General and formal or informal advice obtained concerning the status of the case prior to making award. cases where award is made under subdivision (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subparagraph, the contracting officer shall document the file to explain the need for an immediate award and shall give written notice of the decision to proceed with the award to the protesting party and any others concerned.

In all

(3) Where an award is to be withheld pending disposition of a protest, any bidders whose bids might become eligible for award should be informed of the protest and, where appropriate, requested to extend the time for acceptance of their bids (with consent of sureties, if any) in order to avoid the need for readvertisement. Failure to obtain such an extension is a factor to be taken into account in making a determination under subparagraph (2) (iii) of this paragraph (b).

(c) Protests after award. The general instructions in paragraph (a) of this section are applicable to protests after award.

§ 18-2.408 Information to bidders.

(a) Where feasible, procurement offices should:

(1) Notify unsuccessful bidders promptly of the fact that their bids were not accepted; and

(2) Extend the appreciation of the procurement office for the interest the unsuccessful bidder has shown in submitting a bid.

(b) Notification to unsuccessful bidders may be accomplished either orally or in writing through the use of a form, postal card, or other appropriate means. Should an unsuccessful bidder request such information, the procurement office shall either provide him with the name and address of the successful bidder, together with the contract price, or when work load does not permit, inform him as to the location where a copy of the abstract of bids is available for inspection. In addition, when an inquiry is made by an unsuccessful bidder whose bid price was lower than the successful bidder's, sufficient information shall be furnished in the reply to the unsuccessful bidder to fully explain the basis for award. If a request is received from an inquirer who is not a bidder or a representative of a bidder, the procurement office may furnish the name of the successful bidder(s) and, if requested, the price(s) at which award(s) were made. However, where such requests require so large an amount of work as to interfere with the normal operations of the procurement office, the inquirer shall be advised where a copy of the abstract of bids may be seen. In the case of classified invitations, information regarding the name of the successful bidder and the contract price shall be furnished only to

unsuccessful bidders or suppliers invited to bid, and then only upon request. No information regarding a classified opening may be furnished by telephone. § 18-2.409 Synopses of contract awards. See § 18-1.1004 of this chapter. Subpart 18-2.5-Two-Step Formal Advertising

§ 18-2.501 General.

not sufficiently definitive to permit a formally advertised procurement in accordance with Subparts 2, 3, and 4 of this Part 18-2. It is a flexible procedure and is especially useful in the procurement of complex and technical items, to prevent the elimination of potentially qualified producers from the competitve base. It is conducted in two phases. The first step consists of the request, submission, evaluation, and, if necessary, discussion of a technical proposal, without pricing, to determine the acceptability of the supplies or services offered. As used in this context, the word "technical" has a broad connotation and, among other things, includes engineering approach, special manufacturing processes, and special testing techniques. Also, when required to clarify basic technical requirements, other related requirements such as management approach, manufacturing plan, or facilities to be utilized may be clarified in this step. The second step consists of a formally advertised procurement, confined to those offerors who submitted an acceptable technical proposal in Step One. This method of procurement requires that the contracting officer work closely with technical personnel and rely on their special`zed knowledge in determining the technical requirements of the procurement and the criteria to be used in evaluating technical proposals, and in making such evaluation. An objective of the two-step of a sufficiently descriptive statement of the Government's requirement, including the definition of a technical data package, so that subsequent procurements may be made by straight formal advertising.

§ 18-2.502 Conditions for use.

The two-step formal advertising method of procurement may be used when its use has been approved by the Procurement Officer and when all of the following conditions are present:

(a) Available specifications or purchase descriptions are not sufficiently definite or complete to permit full and free competition without engineering evaluation and any necessary discussion of the technical aspects of the requirement to ensure mutual understanding between each source and the Government;

(b) Definite criteria exist for evaluating technical proposals, such as applicable design, manufacturing, testing, and performance requirements, and special requirements for operational suitability and ease of maintenance; however, such criteria shall not include consideration of capacity or credit (see § 18-1.705-6 of this chapter);

(c) More than one technically qualified source is expected to be available both initially and after technical evaluation; and

(d) A firm fixed-price contract or a fixed-price contract with escalation will be used.

(a) Requests for technical proposals. A request for technical proposals shall be distributed to qualified sources. In addition, the request shall be synopsized in accordance with Subpart 18-1.10 of this chapter. The request may be in the form of a letter and shall contain, as a minimum, the following information:

(1) The best practicable description of the supplies or services required;

(2) Notification of the intent to conduct the procurement in two steps and the actions involved;

(3) The requirements of the technical proposal, i.e., the necessary details such as drawings, data, presentations, etc., to be submitted;

(4) The criteria for evaluating the technical proposal (§ 18-2.502(b));

(5) A statement that the technical proposals shall not include prices or pricing information;

(6) The date by which the proposal must be received and a statement substantially as follows:

LATE TECHNICAL PROPOSALS. (JANUARY 1964)

The Government reserves the right to consider technical proposals or modifications thereof received after the date specified for receipt.

(7) A statement that the Government may discuss the technical aspects of the proposal with the concern submitting the proposal;

(8) A statement that in the second step of the procurement only bids based upon technical proposals determined to be acceptable, either initially or as a result of discussions, will be considered

for award, and that each bid in the second step must be based on the bidder's own technical proposal;

(9) A statement that sources submitting unacceptable technical proposals will be so notified upon completion of the technical evaluation; and

(10) A statement either that only one technical proposal may be submitted by each offeror or that multiple technical proposals may be submitted. When compliance with specifications permits utilization of essentially different technical approaches, it is generally in the interest of the Government to authorize the submission of multiple proposals. If multiple proposals are authorized the request shall include a statement substantially as follows:

MULTIPLE TECHNICAL PROPOSALS.
(JANUARY 1964)

In the first step of this two-step procurement, offerors are authorized and encouraged to submit multiple technical proposals presenting different basic approaches. Each technical proposal submitted will be separately evaluated and the offeror will be notified as to its acceptability.

(b) Receipt and evaluation of technical proposals. The following actions shall be taken with respect to receipt and evaluation of technical proposals:

(1) Every precaution shall be taken to safeguard technical proposals against disclosure to unauthorized persons;

(2) Technical proposals submitting data marked in accordance with § 183.109 of this chapter will be accepted and handled in accordance with § 18-3.109 of this chapter;

(3) Any references to price or cost will be removed;

(4) Technical evaluation of the proposals will be based upon the criteria contained in the request for technical proposals and such evaluation will not include consideration of capacity or credit;

(5) Technical proposals will be categorized as acceptable or unacceptable. Proposals should not be categorized as unacceptable when a reasonable effort on the part of the Government could bring the proposals to an acceptable status and increase competition. contracting officer shall arrange for any necessary discussions with sources submitting technical proposals for the purpose of obtaining additional information

The

or clarification which may be required. When, after discussion and submission of necessary information and clarification, technical proposals are determined to be acceptable, they will be so categorized. If, however, it is determined that a technical proposal is not reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable, it should be classified as unacceptable and no discussions of it need thereafter be initiated; and

(6) Upon final determination that a technical proposal is unacceptable, the contracting officer shall promptly notify the source submitting the proposal of that fact. The notice shall indicate, in general terms, the basis for such determination including a statement of whether rejection was based on failure to furnish sufficient information or on an unacceptable engineering approach.

(c) Discontinuance. If, as a result of the evaluation of technical proposals, it appears necessary to discontinue the two-step advertising method of procurement, the full facts and circumstances will be set forth in writing and submitted to the office which originally approved the method of procurement. If that office approves the discontinuance, each source will be notified in writing of the discontinuance and the reasons therefor.

§ 18-2.503-2 Step two.

Upon completion of Step one, a formally advertised procurement in accordance with Subparts 2, 3, and 4 of this Part 18-2 will be conducted, except that invitations for bids

(a) Will be issued only to those sources whose technical proposals have been evaluated and determined to be acceptable under Step one;

(Identify the request for technical proposals) Any bidder who has submitted multiple technical proposals in the first step of this twostep procurement may submit a separate bid covering each technical proposal which has been determined acceptable by the Government. (January 1964)

(c) Will prominently state that the supplies or services to be procured will be in accordance with the specifications and the bidder's technical proposal, as finally accepted, under the request for technical proposals. This may be accomplished in the Schedule item description by a provision substantially in the form of the following example:

Radio Antenna, in accordance with Exhibit No. dated (use other description of specification as appropriate) and your Technical Proposal (insert specific identification of the bidder's proposal including any revision thereof as finally accepted) incorporated herein by reference. Nothing contained in said Technical Proposal shall constitute a waiver of any of the provisions of said Exhibit (or specifications).

(d) Will not be synopsized or publicly posted except that the names of firms which have submitted acceptable technical proposals in the first step of twostep formal advertising will be listed in the Commerce Business Daily for benefit of prospective subcontractors in accordance with § 18-1.1003-3 of this chapter.