ing office from the mail room shall be recorded on the applicable mailing list and kept in a locked cabinet until the time for public opening of bids. Bids delivered by messenger shall be marked by the recipient with the date and time of receipt.

§ 19-2.402 Opening of bids.

(a) Public bid openings shall be held at the time and place announced in invitations for bids by the Contracting Officer or his/her designee. Bid openings shall be opened to business representatives, members of the press, and the general public and a record made of their attendance. The names of bidders or their representatives in attendance shall be recorded in the appropriate column of the Abstract of Bids.

(b) The information required to be abstracted on Agency Form IA-22, Abstract of Bids, shall be read aloud by the official in charge of the bid opening. Duplicate copies of bids shall be made available for public examination until the Abstract of Bids is completed and made available in lieu thereof. Bids submitted in an original only shall be made available for examination in accordance with § 1-2.402(c) of this title.

(c) The official in charge of a bid opening shall not discuss the relative merits of bids or issue any statements relative to award or mistakes in bids. Answers to protests of bidders and inquiries regarding award shall be deferred until after the completion of the bid opening and evaluations by the Contracting Officer.

§ 19-2.403 Recording of bids.

(a) Agency Form IA-22, Abstract of Bids, shall be used to record bids at the time and place of bid opening. Upon completion of the tabulation, normally within 24 hours, the bid opening officer shall certify on the abstract that he/she opened and read all bids received and verified all entries made therein. Late bids determined to be eligible shall be included on the abstract.

(b) Immediately upon mailing notices of awards, a copy of the abstract indicating the successful bidder(s) shall be delivered to the Policy and

§ 19-2.406-4 Disclosure of mistakes after award.

(a) The Chief, Contract and Procurement Division, is the designated authority to make administrative determinations with respect to mistakes disclosed after award.

(b) Whenever a mistake is alleged or disclosed after award and the Contracting Officer proposes the contract be rescinded or reformed, he/she shall furnish the Chief, Contract and Procurement Division, with the Contractor's statement, evidence, and the data set forth in § 1-2.406-4(f)(2) of this title, upon which to base a determination.

§ 19-2.407 Award.

§ 19-2.407-3 Discounts.

Offers of discounts for prompt payment in less than 20 calendar days will not be considered in the evaluation of bids.

§ 19-2.407-5 Other factors to be considered.

(a) Award to a bidder who offers to furnish foreign-made products will be dependent upon price factors mentioned in § 6.500 of this chapter.

(b) A bid which is qualified or deviates from the specifications of a single item need not be rejected provided the invitation does not restrict the Agency's right to award by item. Certain items or groups of items may be rejected as nonresponsive, whereas those which are not qualified or do not deviate from the specifications may be considered for award.

§ 19-2.407-7 Statement and certificate of award.

When an award is to be made to other than the low bidder, the names of all low bidders and the amounts of their bids shall be listed on Standard Form 1036 or similar Agency form. The Contracting Officer shall also state the reason for rejection of each lower bid and acceptance of the higher offer.

[43 FR 28493, June 30, 1978]

§ 19-2.407-8 Protests against award.

(a) In the event that a protest against the making of an award has been lodged directly with the Comptroller General, a determination to make an award pursuant to § 1-2.4078(b)(3) of this title by the Contracting Officer will be made only upon receipt of written approval of the Chief, Contract and Procurement Division.

(b) When a protest is received after award of a contract, the Contracting Officer will prepare a statement with respect to all the pertinent facts in the case and prepare a reply to the protest. The reply will be submitted for the concurrence of the Chief, Contract and Procurement Division, and the Office of the General Counsel.

an official other than the Contracting Officer will be initialed by the Contracting Officer when inserted in a contract file as a supporting document.

Subpart 19-3.4-Types of Contracts

§ 19-3.405 Cost-reimbursement type contracts.

§ 19-3.405-5 Cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contract. (a)-(b) [Reserved]

(c) Limitations. (1) The "estimated cost of the contract, exclusive of the fee, as determined by the Agency head," required by section 304(b) of the Act (41 U.S.C. 254(b)), will be prepared in writing for signature by the Chief, Contract and Procurement Division.

(2) Indirect or overhead costs, in cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contracts, which are calculated as a stipulated percentage of direct labor or other costs, are prohibited except where there is a provision for a subsequent adjustment to the actual indirect costs.

§ 19-3.406 Other types of contracts.

§ 19-3.406-1 Time and materials contract. (a) (b) [Reserved]

(c) Limitations. The determination, that no other type of contract will suitably serve, will be made in a memorandum with supporting findings for the contract file and signed by the Contracting Officer.

§ 19-3.408 Letter contract.

(a) (b) [Reserved]

(c) Limitations. (1) The determination, that no other type of contract is suitable, will be made in a memorandum with supporting findings for the contract file and signed by the Chief of the Contract and Procurement Division.

(2) [Reserved]

(3) A letter contract should be superseded by a definitive contract within 3 months of the effective date of the letter contract. Any extension beyond 3 months must be approved by the Chief of the Contract and Procurement Division.

(4) The maximum liability of the Government under a letter contract shall not exceed 50 percent of the total estimated cost of the project or procurement as established by the head of the Agency, except upon a written determination with supporting findings, signed by the Chief of the Contract and Procurement Division, that it is in the best interest of the Government.

§ 19-3.450 Oral contract.

Oral contracts may be made by an authorized Contracting Officer only, in cases of unusual urgency where delivery of a letter contract is not possible, if the agreement would otherwise be a valid written contract. The oral agreement must be reduced to writing as soon as possible and will be subject to the same Agency process of clearances and approvals as any other written contract. The exercise of this authority must be justified in a memorandum for the Chief of the Contract and Procurement Division, and a copy of the memorandum will be placed in the contract file.

[31 FR 10793, Aug. 13, 1966, as amended at 43 FR 28493, June 30, 1978]

Subpart 19-3.6-Small Purchases

§ 19-3.602 Policy.

Agency procurement personnel will be guided by Subchapter E of the Feaeral Property Management Regulations-Supply and ProcurementParts 101-25 through 101-31, as well as by Subpart 1-3.6 of this title and this Subpart 19-3.6.

§19-3.603 Competition.

§ 19-3.603-1 Solicitation.

(a)-(c) [Reserved]

(d) Quotations as a result of oral solicitation will re recorded on Form IA25 (Rev). Use of this form will not be required to document routine singleitem purchases which may be recorded on the requisition provided such record contains all information called for on Form IA-25.

§ 19-3.604 Imprest funds (petty cash) method.

§ 19-3.604-6 Procurement and payment.

(a) Small purchases utilizing imprest funds may be made only by employees designated as having such authority in accordance with the Agency's Manual of Operations and Administration.

(b) The cost of cash purchases must be kept within reasonable bounds by ordinary shopping procedures of price comparison (competition), and the buyer must take advantage of any obtainable discounts.

[31 FR 10793, Aug. 13, 1966, as amended at 43 FR 28494, June 30, 1978]

§ 19-3.605 Purchase order forms.

Ş 19-3.605-3 Agency order forms.

Where Standard Forms 147 and 148 are not appropriate, Agency order forms prescribed in Subpart 16-3 of this chapter shall be used.

§ 19-3.606 Blanket purchase arrangements.

§ 19-3.606-5 Agency implementatior..

(a) The use of limited charge accounts, for all Agency offices and installations having responsibility for maintaining their own supply points, is a preferred Agency procedure. Blanket purchase arrangements will be made and the necessary procurement authority redelegated by the Chief of the Contract and Procurement Division when offices which provide their own supplies can make numerous purchases of a wide variety of regularly needed items from local vendors.

(b) Blanket purchase arrangements will be in writing, and may be in the form of a purchase order which will ordinarily cover the vendor's complete line of merchandise or services available at his/her published list prices less any obtainable discounts, limited in time to one fiscal year and in amount by $10,000 or less. More than one arrangement may be advisable where the volume of purchases warrants such competitive arrangements. Charge tickets will be made for each order and delivered to the responsible office with receipt of the goods indi

§ 19-6.103-3 Unreasonable cost or inconsistency with the public interest.

(a) It has been determined by the Director that the application of the Buy American Act to the purchase of books, maps, periodicals, newspapers, and other publications and films not published in the United States would be inconsistent with the public interest. Therefore, such items may be procured from foreign sources.

(b) Contracting Officers are authorized to make determinations of unreasonable cost or inconsistency with the public interest on other domestic source end products, both prior to entering into contracts and in the course of contract administration, provided that in the latter case the Government receives adequate consideration. A copy of each determination will be included in the contract file.

§ 19-6.105 Excepted articles, materials, and supplies.

Contracting Officers are authorized to make determinations of nonavailability (see § 1-6.103-2 of this title), both prior to entering into contracts and in the course of contract administration, provided that in the latter case the Government receives adequate consideration. A copy of each determination will be included in the contract file.

Subpart 19-6.50-Other Price Differentials

§ 19-6.5001 General.

(a) Agency policy for procurement from foreign sources for use outside the United States requires the application of price differentials favoring materials and equipment produced in the United States. The individual requests for proposals or invitations for bids will indicate the extent of applicable differentials.

(b) The Agency will, to the maximum extent consistent with effective discharge of its program responsibilities, forgo or postpone the purchase of materials and equipment which are not obtainable as domestic source end products (as defined in § 1-6.101(d) of this title), or the award of contracts for nonpersonal services (including construction) to other than U.S. citizens or firms which are more than 50 percent owned by U.S. citizens, except where payment may be made with excess foreign currencies (as designated by the Treasury Department) at no greater cost than corresponding domestic source end products or contracts with U.S. citizens or firms more than 50 percent owned by U.S. citi

zens.

PART 19-15-CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES

Subpart 19-15.50-Cost Principles and Procedures

§ 19-15.5000 Cost-reimbursed air travel. It is the policy of the Agency to require the use of less than first-class air

Subpart 19-16.5-Forms for Advertised and Negotiated Nonpersonal Service Contracts (Other Than Construction)

19-16.501 Contract forms.

Subpart 19-16.8—Miscellaneous Forms 19-16.802 Bidder's Mailing List Application.

19-16.850 Other agency forms. 19-16.851 Department of Labor forms. 19-16.851-1 Department of Labor letter and poster, PC-13 (Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act).

19-16.851-2 Department of Labor form, PC- 16 (Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act).

19-16.851-3 Department of Labor form, SF-99, Notice of Award of Contract. 19-16.851-4 Secretary of Labor poster, Equal Opportunity is the law. 19-16.851-5 Department of Labor form, SC-1, Notice to Employees Working on Government Service Contracts.

19-16.860 International

Agency forms.

Communication

19-16.860-1 Supplemental General Provisions, IA-332.

19-16.860-2 Requisition-Purchase OrderInvoice for Professional Services, IA-44. 19-16.860-3 Memorandum of Loan, IA-431. 19-16.860-4 Bidder's Commodity and Service Code List, IA-407.

AUTHORITY: Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 390; 40 U.S.C. 486(c).

SOURCE: 35 FR 19017, Dec. 16, 1970, unless otherwise noted.