the delivery of the numbered line item identified in the Schedule or specified in ARTICLE of the Special Provisions as an option item in the quantity and at the price set forth therein. The Contracting Officer may exercise this option by giving written notice of the Government's exercise of such option to the Contractor not later than (specify a date certain or a number of days before the last delivery date under the basic contract). Delivery of the items added by the exercise of this option shall continue immediately after, and at the same rate as, delivery of like items called for under this contract (this sentence may be appropriately modified to reflect agreement of the parties on delivery terms).

(c) An article substantially as follows may be used to provide for continuing performance of the contract beyond its original term.

OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE
CONTRACT

This contract may be extended for a period of (days, months, years) at the option of the Government, by the Contracting Officer giving written notice of the Government's exercise of such option to the Contractor not later than the last day of the term of the contract; Provided, That such notice shall have no effect if given less than 60 days prior to the last day of the term of the contract unless the Contracting Officer has given preliminary written notice of an intent to exercise such option at least sixty (60) days prior to the last day of the term of the contract (such preliminary notice shall not be construed as an exercise of the option, and will not bind the Government to exercise the option). If the Government exercises such option, the contract as extended shall be deemed to include this option provision; Provided, however, That the total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed months. (State terms for pricing of performance under the option, e.g., by inclusion of same price as basic quantity, an escalation provision, definitive option price set forth elsewhere in this contract.) § 3-1.5406 Examples of option articles for cost reimbursement contracts.

(a) The following may be used as the article which defines an option, when the contract is a Cost Only Term Form, not involving the use of task orders. This article may be used, with appropriate modifications, when the contract involves payment of fee.

OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE
CONTRACT

1. At the option of the Government, this contract may be extended, by the Contracting Officer giving written notice of extension to the Contractor prior to the expiration date

of this contract. The option may be exercised only if the Contracting Officer gives preliminary notice to the Contractor, not less than sixty (60) days prior to the last day of the term of this contract, of the Government's intention to exercise the option. Such preliminary notice shall not be construed as an exercise of the option, and will not bind the Government to exercise the option. If the Government exercises such option, the contract as extended shall be deemed to include this option provision; Provided, however, That the duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause shall not exceed months. (State terms

for pricing of performance under the option, e.g., by inclusion of the same price as for the basic period, definitive option price set forth elsewhere in this contract, escalation provisions, etc.).

-----

2. In the event that the contract is extended in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, the Contractor shall continue the effort described in ARTICLE I-SCOPE OF WORK, during the --- ( ) month period immediately following that set forth in ARTICLE -------PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE. The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of the order exercising this option, the following modifications will be made to the contract schedule in effect as of the date that such issuance is made:

(b) The following may be used as the article which defines an option, where the contract is a CPFF Completion Form which contains a separate scope of work for the optional effort.

OPTION FOR INCREASED SCOPE OF WORK

1. At the option of the Government, the Scope of Work of this contract may be increased to include the work set forth in (Exhibit ------) attached hereto and hereby made a part hereof. This option shall be exercised by the issuance of an order by the Contracting Officer citing the authority of this article. This option may be exercised at any time within (------ months, days) from the effective date of this contract.

2. The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of the order exercising this option, the following modifications will be made to the contract schedule in effect as of the date such issuance is made:

(1) ARTICLE I-SCOPE OF WORK will be modified to incorporate (Exhibit ------) attached hereto, into this contract.

(ii) The period of performance specified in ARTICLE -PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE will be increased by (months. days).

(c) The following may be used as the article which defines an option, when the contract is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Term Form involving the issuance of task orders.

OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT

1. At the option of the Government, this contract may be extended by the Contracting Officer giving written notice of extension to the Contractor prior to the expiration date of this contract: Provided, That such notice shall have no effect if given less than sixty (60) days prior to the last day of the term of the contract unless the Contracting Officer has given preliminary notice of the Government's intention to extend at least sixty (60) days before this contract is to expire. (Such a preliminary notice will not be deemed to commit the Government to renewals.)

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2. If this option is exercised, the Contractor shall provide approximately hours of additional direct labor in pursuit of the effort described in ARTICLE I-SCOPE OF WORK, during the ( ) month period immediately following that set forth in ARTICLE -PERIOD OF PERFORM

ANCE. The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of the order exercising this option, the following modifications will be made to the contract schedule, in effect as of the date that such issuance is made:

(1) The period of performance specified in ARTICLE -PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE, will be increased by months.

(11) ARTICLE

()

-LEVEL OF EFFORT, will be increased from "approximately manhours" to "approximately manhours" and the last sentence of Paragraph A will be changed to read "not less than nor more than

hours."

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3-2.407-8 Protests against award.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 3-2 issued under 5 U.S.C. 301; 40 U.S.C. 486(c). SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 3-2 appear at 35 FR 19752, Dec. 30, 1970, unless otherwise noted.

Subpart 3-2.2-Solicitations of Bids § 3-2.205 Bidders mailing lists. [37 FR 3353, Feb. 15, 1972]

§ 3-2.205-2 Removal of names from bidders mailing lists.

Bidders mailing lists shall be reviewed annually to ensure that they contain only accurate and current information which is consistent with the present needs of the procurement office.

[37 FR 3353, Feb. 15, 1972]

Subpart 3-2.4-Opening of Bids and
Award of Contract

SOURCE: 39 FR 13261, Apr. 12, 1974, unless otherwise noted.

§ 3-2.403 Recording of bids.

§ 3-2.403-50 Forms.

Forms HEW-538, Abstract of Bids, and HEW-538A, Continuation Sheet, shall be used for the recording of bids. The forms are available through normal distribution channels.

§ 3-2.406-3 Other mistakes disclosed before award.

(a) Circumstances permitting the correction or withdrawal of bids are set forth in § 1-2.406-3 of this title.

(b) Authority has been delegated to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grants and Procurement Management to make administrative determinations in connection with mistakes in bid alleged after opening of bids and before award. This authority may not be redelegated.

(c) Each such determination shall be approved by the Assistant General Counsel, Business and Administrative Law Division, Office of General Counsel, OS. (d) Suspected or alleged mistakes shall be processed as follows:

(1) Whenever the contracting officer suspects that a mistake may have been made in a bid, he shall immediately re

quest the bidder to verify the bid. Such request shall inform the bidder why the request for verification is made that a mistake is suspected and the basis for such suspicion; e.g., that the bid is significantly out of line with the next low or other bids or with the Government's estimate. If the time for acceptance of bids is likely to expire before a decision can be made, the contracting officer shall request all bidders whose bids may become eligible for award to extend the time for acceptance of their bids. If the bidder whose bid is believed erroneous does not grant such extension of time and a decision cannot be reached before expiration of the time for acceptance, the bid shall be considered as originally submitted.

(2) If the bidder verifies his bid, the contracting officer shall consider it as originally submitted. If the bidder alleges a mistake, the contracting officer shall advise him to support his allegation by statements concerning the alleged mistake and by all pertinent evidence, such as the bidder's file copy of the bid, his original worksheets and other data used in preparing the bid, subcontractors' and suppliers' quotations, if any, published price lists, and any other evidence which will serve to establish the mistake, the manner in which it occurred, and the bid actually intended.

(3) The data required by § 1-2.406-3 (d) (3) of this title will be marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION-MISTAKE IN BID" and submitted, in duplicate, in the most expeditious manner through procurement channels to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grants and Procurement Management, OASAM, for evaluation and administrative determination. The file shall be assembled in an orderly manner including an index of enclosures.

(4) Since examination of evidence is necessary to determine the proper course of action to be taken, no action will be taken on cases referred by telephone or telegraph.

(5) Where the bidder fails or refuses to furnish evidence in support of a suspected or alleged mistake, the contracting officer shall consider the bid as submitted unless the amount of the bid is so far out of line with the amounts of other bids received or with the amount estimated by the procuring activity or determined by the contracting officer to be reasonable, or there are other indications of error so clear, as reasonably to justify the conclusion that acceptance of the bid

would be unfair to the bidder or to other bona fide bidders, in which case it may be rejected. The attempts made to obtain the information required and the action taken with respect to the bid shall be fully documented.

(6) Where the evidence submitted by the bidder is incomplete or in need of clarification, the contracting officer shall document the file to indicate his efforts to obtain clear and convincing evidence to support the alleged mistake.

(e) Doubtful mistakes in bid shall not be submitted by contracting officers directly to the Comptroller General for advance decisions, but shall be submitted as outlined in paragraph (d) (3) of this section.

§ 3-2.406-4 Disclosure of mistakes after award.

(a) When a mistake in a contractor's bid is not discovered until after the award, the mistake may be corrected by contract amendment or supplemental agreement if correcting the mistake would make the contract more favorable to the Government without changing the essential requirements of the contract.

(b) In addition to the cases contemplated in § 1-2.406-4(a) of this title, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grants and Procurement Management is authorized, under the circumstances set forth in § 1-2.406-4(c) of this title, to make the administrative determinations described below in connection with mistakes in bids alleged or disclosed after award.

(1) A determination may be made to rescind a contract where the original contract price does not exceed $1,000.

(2) A determination may be made to reform a contract, irrespective of amount, (i) to delete the item involved in the mistake where such deletion does not reduce the contract price by more than $1,000, or (ii) to increase the price where such increase does not exceed $1,000 and if the contract price, as corrected, does not exceed that of the next lowest acceptable bid under the original invitation for bids.

(c) Determinations under § 1-2.406-4 (b) of this title may be made only on the basis of clear and convincing evidence that a mistake in bid was made, and either that the mistake was mutual or that the unilateral mistake made by the contractor was so apparent as to have charged the contracting officer with notice of the probability of the mistake. If

the evidence does not warrant a determination under § 1-2.406-4 (b) (1) or (b) (2), of this title, a determination may be made that no change shall be made in the contract as awarded.

(d) Authority to make administrative determinations in connection with mistakes in bid disclosed after award has been delegated to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grants and Procurement Management, OASAM.

(e) Each determination shall be approved by the Assistant General Counsel, Business and Administrative Law Division, Office of General Counsel, OS. § 3-2.407

Award.

§ 3-2.407-8 Protests against award.

(a) General. (1) Contracting officers shall consider all protests or objections regarding the award of a contract

whether submitted before or after award, provided such protests are filed in a timely manner. In order to be considered timely, protests based on alleged improprieties in any type of solicitation which are apparent before bid opening or the closing date for receipt of proposals shall be filed prior to bid opening or the closing date for receipt of proposals. In other cases, protests shall be filed not later than 5 working days after the basis for protest is known or should have been known, whichever is earlier. If a protest has been filed initially with the contacting officer, any subsequent protest to the Secretary, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, or the General Accounting Office filed within 5 days of notification of adverse action will be considered provided the initial protest to the contracting officer was timely. Written confirmation of all protests shall be requested from protestants. The protestant shall be notified in writing of the final decision on the protest, and the notification shall set forth the rationale upon which the decision is based.

documentary evidence on which they are based.

(iv) A copy of the IFB or RFP.

(v) A copy of the abstract of bids or proposals.

(vi) A copy of the bid or proposal of the successful offeror to whom award has been made or is proposed to be made.

(vii) A copy of the bid or proposal of the protestant, if any.

(viii) The current status of award. Where award has been made, this shall include whether performance has commenced, shipment or delivery has been made, or a stop work order has been issued.

(ix) A copy of any mutual agreement to suspend work on a no-cost basis when appropriate (see § 1-2.407-8 (c) of this title).

(x) Copies of the notice of protest given offerors and other parties when such notice is appropriate (see § 1-2.407-8 (a) (3) of this title).

(xi) A copy of the technical evaluation report required by § 3-3.5104, of this chapter when applicable, and a copy of each evaluator's rating for all proposals.

(xii) A copy of the negotiation memorandum when applicable (see § 3-50.301 of this chapter).

(xiii) Any other documents which are relevant to the protest.

(xiv) The name and telephone number of the person in the procurement office who may be contacted for information relevant to the protest.

(xv) The file shall be assembled in an orderly manner and shall include an index of enclosures.

(3) Copies of the views of interested parties submitted pursuant to § 1-2.407-8 (a) (3) of this title shall be furnished to the Protest Control Officer, Office of Grants and Procurement ManagementOASAM, whenever the protest is reviewed by that office (including protests lodged with GAO).

(4) Whenever the contracting officer deems it desirable to obtain the views of higher authority or when such submission is required by paragraph (b) (2) of this section, the file shall be forwarded, in duplicate, through the cognizant protest control officer to the Departmental Protest Control Officer, Office of Grants and Procurement Management-OASAM, by the most expeditious means. The file shall be marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION-PROTEST BEFORE AWARD."

(5) The Office of Grants and Procurement Management-OASAM, has been

designated as the headquarters office which GAO should contact concerning protests. All reports on protests lodged with GAO shall be submitted to that office.

(6) Each procuring activity of the Department shall designate a protest control officer, to serve as an advisor to the contracting officer and monitor protests from the time of initial notification until the protest has been resolved. The protest control officer should be a senior procurement specialist of the headquarters procurement office staff. In addition, procuring activities should designate similar officials within their principal components to the extent practicable and feasible. A copy of each appointment and termination of appointment of protest control officers shall be forwarded to the Director of Procurement Policy and Regulations OASAM.

Development, OGPM

(b) Protest before award. (1) If award has not been made, the contracting officer shall require that written confirmation of an oral protest be filed within 5 working days of the oral notification. If the written protest is not received by the time specified, the oral protest may be disregarded and award made in the normal manner unless the contracting officer, upon investigation, finds that remedial action is required, in which event such action shall be taken. Contract files shall be documented to reflect the receipt of oral protests and the disposition thereof.

(2) In the following cases written protests received by the contracting officer shall be forwarded to the Protest Control Officer, Office of Grants and Procurement Management-OASAM: (i) The protestant requests referral to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; (ii) the protest is known to have been lodged with the Comptroller General, the Office of the Secretary, or the Small Business Administration; (iii) the protest is filed after award of contract; (iv) the contracting officer entertains some doubt as to the proper action regarding the protest or believes it to be in the best interest of the Government that the protest be considered by the Office of the Secretary or the Comptroller General.

Otherwise submission of protests to the Office of Grants and Procurement Management-OASAM, may be dispensed with by the contracting officer if he is

satisfied that the protest is without any reasonable degree of foundation. Except as modified in § 1-2.407-8(b)(3) of this title and paragraph (b)(3) of this section, the contracting officer, with the concurrence of the procuring activity protest control officer, and either the Office of General Counsel, Business and Administrative Law Division, or cognizant Regional Attorney, may disallow the protest. Such action shall be followed by a written explanation to the Office of Grants and Procurement ManagementOASAM, documented by copies of any pertinent correspondence.

(3) Where is it known that a protest against the making of an award has been lodged directly with GAO, a determination to make award under § 1-2.407-8 (b) (4) of this title must be approved by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grants and Procurement Management.

(4) If award is made pursuant to §1-2.407-8(b) (4) of this title, the contracting officer shall document the file to explain the need for immediate award and shall notify the protestant and, as appropriate, to others concerned except GAO. Notice will be given to GAO by the Office of Grants and Procurement Management-OASAM.

(c) Protests after award. All formal protests after award shall be forwarded to the Protest Control Officer, Office of Grants and Procurement ManagementOASAM, and shall be documented in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of this section. The file shall be submitted, in duplicate, by the most expeditious means and shall be marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION-PROTEST AFTER AWARD."