ile message shall contain the following statement: Unless notified to the contrary, we will assume that the (Congressman or Senator) has been advised by AL. (b) Notification of proposed awards exceeding or estimated to exceed $100,000 is not required for products whose points of origin are not readily identifiable or which involve foreign production points. (c) Codes: The following codes shall be used in the appropriate columns of GSA Form 2932 or in the facsimile message, as applicable. (1) DO for definite quantity contract; (2) FSS for Federal Supply Schedule contract; (3) TC for term contract other than Federal Supply Schedule; (4) S for small business concern; (5) O for other than small business concern; (6) NLS for not labor surplus area; (7) SLS for substantial labor surplus area; (8) PLS for persistent labor surplus area; (9) CUE for concentrated unemployment or underemployment area; and (10) CEC for certified-eligible concern. (d) Notification procedure: (1) The Director (or his equivalent) of the procurement activity (Central Office or regional office) shall be responsible for submitting directly to the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL) complete and factual data pertinent to any proposed award of the type described in (a) above. (2) Regional offices (except Region 3) and the Office Supplies and Paper Products Division (FPO) (New York) shall prepare GSA Form 2932 and transmit the notification directly to the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL) by facsimile machine except as shown in (4) below. (1) Telephone numbers for transmittal of facsimile messages of the notifications are as follows: prepare GSA Form 2932 and transmit the notification (original only) directly to the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL). The notification(s) shall be placed in a messenger envelope and addressed as follows: "PLEASE HAND CARRY Attention: AL GS Bldg. Room 6108." (4) Notifications covering regional and FPO proposed awards which require Central Office concurrence or approval pursuant to the GSA Delegations of Authority Manual (ADM P 5450.39), shall be submitted as part of the case file to the Central Office. The notification shall be transmitted to the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL) by the office rendering final concurrence in the proposed award. (5) The following additional information shall be furnished on the GSA Form 2932 as applicable: (i) Under Type of Contract insert “A” for advertised and "N" for negotiated, including the applicable negotiation authority in parentheses, i.e., N(2) for negotiated public exigency. (ii) Under Point of Production show the name (plant or operational unit), address (including county), and the dollar value for each production point. When the name of the supplier (subcontractor) is different from the contractor, show the supplier's or subcontractor's name, address (including county), and applicable dollar value for each point of production. When the offer does not clearly indicate a specific production point for the item(s) (i.e., several sources shown for one item), the word undeterminable shall be stated in the Point of Production column, and the various production points (name, address, and county) will be listed. Where there are multiple production points and specific items and their points of production are not shown, or when the number of production points exceeds 10, show the word multiple and indicate immediately after in parentheses the total number of production points. (iii) For definite quantity awards only, show (a) the quantity (s) and unit(s) in parentheses under each production point, (b) the name of the requisitioning activity(s) adjacent to the applicable quan. tity(s), and (c) the requirement or portion thereof for overseas use. (iv) The contracting officer shall print or type his name and telephone number at the bottom of each report in the event additional information is required by the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL). (e) Release of awards. (1) Unless notified to the contrary, regional and Central Office procurement activities may release awards of the type described in (2) through (4) above, or information pertinent thereto, upon the expiration of 2 full workdays (48 hours) after the time and date of transmittal of the GSA Form 2932 or the facsimile message to the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL). (2) Regional and Central Office procurement activities shall be responsible for submission of a copy of GSA Form 2932 marked COPY to FPE after release of the award. The copy of the notification shall indicate the date of award and shall include the contract number assigned. (3) Pre-award release inquiries from offerors shall be processed in accordance with § 5A-2.407-1 (c). (f) Proposed exigency or emergency awards and cases where the acceptance time in an offer is about to expire. (1) Regional and Central Office procurement activities shall transmit notifications as determined by the Director (or his equivalent) of the Central Office or regional procurement activity directly to the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL) by telephone (Area Code 202343-4072) followed by a completed GSA Form 2932 annotated confirming notification. (2) Release of notifications which require priority processing by the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL) shall be at the time and date specified by the Office of the Assistant Administrator (AL). [39 FR 15126, May 1, 1974] § 5A-2.407-85 Erroneous higher bidder. award to When it is learned that an award was erroneously made to other than the low responsive, responsible bidder, the contracting officer shall determine, in conjunction with the Office of Standards and Quality Control, the extent of contract performance (including deliveries made, if any) and advise the assigned counsel and those officials who concurred in the contract award. If necessary, the low bidder shall be requested to extend his bid acceptance time. (See § 5A-2.407-72.) Depending upon the extent of performance and advice of assigned counsel, the contracting officer shall then proceed as follows: (a) No deliveries made. Advise the contractor of the error and request a contract cancellation at no cost to either party. If the contractor does not consent to the no cost cancellation, request in writing that contract performance be suspended pending further notification. The case shall then be reviewed with assigned counsel to determine whether termination for convenience is warranted. Some factors to be considered in this determination are the dollar amount of the contract; the expenses incurred by the contractor (e.g., cost of raw materials); the need for the supplies/services; the additional amount the Government will pay if the contract is not terminated; whether a bid option still exists with the low bidder; and the extent of available competition. The determination to terminate the contract for convenience or to authorize the contractor to continue contract performance shall be concurred in by the procuring director. (b) Partial deliveries made. Advise the contractor of the error and request contract cancellation of the undelivered orders at no cost to either party. If the contractor does not consent to the no cost cancellation, proceed in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section. Depending on the final decision and if it changes the contractual relationship, the appropriate accounts payable branch shall be advised accordingly in writing. (c) Deliveries completed. Determine from the Office of Finance if payment has been completed and consult with assigned counsel as to necessary action. (d) Replacement of supplies/services. Requirements for supplies or services covered by the cancellation (or termination) of an erroneously awarded contract shall be validated prior to award to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. If the bid acceptance time of the lowest responsive, responsible bidder has expired, the canceled/terminated requirements shall, after validation, be obtained by readvertisement or negotiation (if the circumstances warrant). [40 FR 37039, Aug. 25, 1975] § 5A-2.407-86 Regional awards requiring Central Office approval. (a) Regional contractual cases requiring Central Office approval shall be submitted by the Regional Director, FSS, to the Director, Procurement Op erations Division (POD) or the Director, ADP Procurement Division, as applicable. (For notification of proposed substantial awards see § 5A-2.407-84.) When applicable, the required information pertinent to notification of proposed substantial awards shall be included in the TWX. (b) Contractual cases requiring Central Office approval are: (1) Contractual situations set forth under the administrative limitations in the GSA Delegations of Authority Manual, 7-67 (ADM P 5450.39); (2) Cases subject to Central Office approval under current Federal Procurement Regulations, GSA Procurement Regulations, GSA orders, or special instructions from FSS Central Office officials. (c) Documentation: Cases submitted in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section shall include: (1) The offer which is proposed for award; (2) Copy of abstract or tabulation of offers. (The expiration dates for acceptance of offers, if not shown on the tabulation, shall be listed separately); (3) Documents, approved by the Regional Director, FSS, as follows and as applicable: (Original documents need not be forwarded unless considered essential for adequate review). (1) GSA Form 1535, Request for Approval of Awards, prepared in accordance with 5A-1.375 of this chapter; (11) GSA Form 2112, Proposed Award to Other than Low Bidder, prepared in accordance with § 5A-2.404-2; (4) Offers which are priced lower than those for which awards are recommended; (5) Other pertinent documents, statements, or correspondence; (d) Requests for Central Office approval on an emergency basis: Bona fide exigency or emergency cases, including cases where the acceptance time for the offer is about to expire and the offeror has refused to grant an extension, or where a request for an extension is clearly undesirable, shall be submitted for approval by any of the following methods as appropriate. (1) Transmit case to the Director, POD, or ADP Procurement Division, as applicable, as usual and as provided in this section but specifically request that the notice of approval be furnished by teletype or telephone and by a specific date. (2) If time does not permit use of the method in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, request emergency processing, stating briefly the reasons therefor and furnish to the Director, POD or ADPPD, the essential data extracted from GSA Forms 1535 and 2112, as applicable, by TWX. This data shall include the names of recommending, concurring and approving officials (including the Regional Counsel) which appear on these documents. (3) If time does not permit use of either method in subparagraph (1) or (2) of this paragraph, request emergency processing and furnish the data listed in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, by telephone to the chief of the cognizant POD commodity section or the Director, ADP-PD. Copies of the documents listed in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, shall be forwarded promptly to the cognizant official in FSS for review. (e) The Director, POD or ADP-PD shall establish appropriate controls to assure the expeditious handling of cases which are submitted in accordance with this section. (f) Notice of approval: The Director, POD or ADP-PD shall notify the submitting region of the approval or other required action when cases have been submitted to the Central Office in accordance with this section. Such notification shall be by teletype (or telephone, confirmed in writing) whenever expiration dates for acceptance of offers or other circumstances require such action. [35 FR. 13438, Aug. 23, 1970] § 5A-2.407-87 Labor Area Classifications. (a) Labor Area Classifications and Labor Area Classification Codes are used in procurement documents and for the resolution of equal low bids. (b) Publications used in determining labor area classifications: (1) Directory of Post Office-issued by the U.S. Postal Service. (2) Directory of Important Labor Areas-issued by the Department of Labor. (3) Area Trends in Employment and Unemployment (Area Trends)-issued monthly by the Department of Labor. (Procurements activities shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining current editions of the above publications.) (c) Determination procedure. (1) Determine the county in which the city (point of production) is located. I not indicated in the offer, refer to the Directory of Post Offices. (2) Determine the labor area by referring to the Index to Counties, Part 2 of the Directory of Important Labor Areas. In those instances when the Index to Counties indicates (Part), refer to Boundaries of Labor Areas, Part I, of the Directory of Important Labor Areas to determine the labor area for the specific geographical location. (3) Determine if the labor area is listed in the "Area Trends" under the caption "Areas of Substantial or Persistent Unemployment." If not, refer to the section entitled "Section of Concentrated Unemployment or Underemployment" for the city or county instead of the labor area. NOTE: In this section the word (Part) is used to indicate cities or counties where only part of the geographical location is classified. Those so identified should be coded "CUE." Specific boundaries of parts of cities or counties (if required for resolution of equal low bids, see FPR 1-2.4076)-may be obtained from the State Employment Security Agencies in accordance with the instructions in this section of the "Area Trends." (4) In the event no listing of the labor area or specific city or county is found, the appropriate code is "NLS." In those instances where the labor area is listed under "Areas of Substantial or Persistent Unemployment" and the specific city and county is also shown under "Section of Concentrated Unemployment or Underemployment," the classification code "SLS" or "PLS” as indicated should be used. [39 FR 25324, July 10, 1974] § 5A-2.408 Information to bidders. (a) When considering whether to provide notice to other unsuccessful bidders (see 1-2.408(a)(3), contracting officer shall consider the following factors: (1) Size of the particular procurement; (2) Number of items and the complexity of the invitation; (3) Number of bids received; (4) Necessity for bidders to make arrangements for securing necessary materials, financing, bonding, and other commitments; (5) Whether procurement of the particular commodity would have any significant impact upon other bidders; and (6) Availability of the information in Business Service Centers, the Department of Commerce Synopsis, and from any other sources which may be available to anyone having an interest in such information. (b) Normally, written inquiries received from bidders or prospective bidders and all inquiries from other sources, whether oral or written, requesting information concerning the status of any bid or invitation for bids, including those not yet publicly opened and those already opened, and those for which abstracts have been prepared, shall be directed to the appropriate Business Service Center for reply. [39 FR 40294, Nov. 15, 1974] § 5A-2.408-71 Restriction on disclosure of inspection or test data. (a) No inspection or test data generated in the process of bid evaluation shall be disclosed to any person except as provided in this subsection. This includes information obtained from inspection or test reports whether prepared by Government inspection personnel or an outside inspection or testing agency utilized by the Government. (b) Prior to award, no such information regarding inspection or test data shall be disclosed to any bidder or individual except Government officials or employees required to have access to such information in connection with bid evaluation and determination of award. (c) In the notification regarding the rejection of a bid, the contracting officer shall (1) inform the bidder concerning the results of tests on the products offered and (2) furnish such information to others in accordance with 41 CFR Part 105-60. [37 FR 8875, May 2, 1972] § 5A-2.409 Synopses of contract awards. Awards of advertised contracts shall be reported to the Department of Commerce in accordance with § 5A-1.1004. AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 5A-3 issued under sec. 205 (c), 63 Stat. 390; 40 U.S.C. 486(c); and 41 CFR 5-1.101 (c). SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 5A-S appear at 32 F.R. 9425, June 30, 1967, unless otherwise noted. Subpart 5A-3.1-Use of Negotiation § 5A-3.102 Factors to be considered in negotiated contracts. (a) Offers from firms on debarred lists. Offers received from firms or individuals listed on the GSA Debarred Bidders List shall be handled in accordance with Subpart 5A-1.6. (b) Contingent fees. The provisions of Subparts 1-1.5 and 5A-1.5 concerning contingent fees are applicable. (c) Nonacceptance of low offer. The provisions of § 5A-2.404-2 are applicable where the contracting officer determines to make award to other than the low offeror. The terms "bidder" and "rejection" shall be understood to mean "offeror" and "nonacceptance" respectively when used with negotiated competitive contracts. [41 FR 27038, July 1, 19761 § 5A-3.103 Dissemination of procure ment information. |