Subpart 7-1.10-Publicizing Procurement Actions § 7-1.1001 General policy. (a) Section 602 of the Foreign Assistance Act dictates that, to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with the purposes of the Act, information about purchases to be financed under the Act will be made available as far in advance as possible to suppliers in the United States, particularly small independent enterprises. (b) (1) In furtherance of this policy, as well as the requirements set forth in FPR 1-1.1001, AID obtains the maximum practicable publicity for its direct procurements of supplies and services through publication of notice of such procurement actions in the "Commerce Business Daily". (2) AID's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization maintains a Contractor's Index, which serves as a reference source and an indication of a prospective contractor's interest in performing AID contracts. Prospective contractors are invited to file the appropriate form (Standard Forms 254/255, Architect-Engineer and Related Services Questionnaires; or AID Forms 1420-6, Management Consultant Questionnaire; or 1420-19, Urban and Regional Planner Consultant Questionnaire) with AID's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (Department of State, Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C. 20523-Attention: Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization). These forms should be updated annually. (41 CFR 7-1.008-51) [30 FR 12968, Oct. 12, 1965, as amended at 35 FR 3807, Feb. 27, 1970; 38 FR 28669, Oct. 16, 1973; 41 FR 21639, May 27, 1976; 45 FR 44276, July 1, 1980; 48 FR 30366, July 1, 1983] PART 7-2-PROCUREMENT BY FORMAL ADVERTISING Subpart 7-2.4—Opening of Bids and Award of Contract Sec. 7-2.406-3 Other mistakes disclosed before award. tion and debriefing requirements and procedures. (b) Notification. (1) The FPR provides for notification and debriefing after award. However, there are circumstances which make it proper to notify unsuccessful offerors prior to award; these are: (i) When the procurement is limited to educational institutions or international research centers, pursuant to AIDPR 7-4.57; (ii) When it is expected that negotiations with offerors whose proposals are in competitive range are likely to exceed 30 days; or (iii) When the procurement involves a small business set-aside under a negotiated procurement. Notifications pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, should be limited to a statement that the unsuccessful offeror's proposal was not in competitive range, advising that further negotiations with the offeror are not contemplated, and that no revised proposal will be considered. Notifications pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(iii) shall be issued upon final completion of negotiations and determinations of responsibility, but prior to award. The contracting officer shall inform each unsuccessful offeror by written notice of the name and location of the apparently successful offeror(s). Each apparently unsuccessful offeror should be advised that any subsequent revisions of his proposal will not be considered, since no further negotiations are contemplated. No further contact with the contracting officer should be made regarding the procurement unless the unsuccessful offeror has grounds to challenge the small business size status of the apparently successful offeror(s). (2) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, notification of unsuccessful offerors will be made after award. Following the award of any negotiated contract over $10,000, all unsuccessful offerors will be promptly notified that their offer has not been accepted. It is not necessary to volunteer a debriefing in this notification, but the contracting officer may do so if desired. The notification will, as a minimum, tell the unsuccessful offerors the name(s) and address(es) of the contractor(s) receiving the award, the contract number(s), and the amount(s). The notification should also include, in general terms, the reasons why the unsuccessful offeror's proposal was rejected. (c) Debriefing. (1) If, after-post award notification, an unsuccessful offeror requests a debriefing, the contracting officer should take the following steps: (i) Notify the cognizant project office, and arrange to have a project officer who was directly involved in the selection made available. (ii) Establish a mutually convenient time for the project office, the contracting office, and the unsuccessful offeror, for the debriefing. (iii) The cognizant project officer and negotiator should have a pre-debriefing meeting to establish the contents of the debriefing (see paragraph (c)(2) of this section). (iv) Conduct the debriefing (see paragraph (c)(2) of this section). (v) A summary of the debriefing will be retained as part of the contract file. (2) Conduct of post-award debriefing. (i) It is essential that debriefings be conducted in a scrupulously fair, objective, and impartial manner. Debriefing information given unsuccessful offerors shall be factual and consistent with the evaluation. While offerors should be informed of the areas in which their technical or management proposals were weak or deficient, point-by-point comparisons with the technical or management proposals of the other offerors shall not be made. An offeror may be told the quantitative values attached to the technical criteria, including any minimum rankings necessary for acceptability. He may also be told his score both overall or for each single criterion. The firm being debriefed shall not be permitted to examine or review any part of any other firm's proposal. They should be advised to put any such requests in writing to the Freedom of Information Officer. (ii) Debriefings shall not reveal: (B) Privileged or confidential manufacturing processes and techniques; (C) Commercial and financial information which is privileged or confidential; or (D) The relative merits or technical standing of other competitors or their evaluation scores. An offeror shall not be allowed to see, or be furnished with, copies of AID's evaluation plan, the evaluation of any other proposal, or the selection memorandum. (41 CFR 7-1.008-51) [45 FR 44276, July 1, 1980, as amended at 48 FR 30366, July 1, 1983] § 7-3.103-51 Lead-time for preparation and submission of bids or proposals. (a) Prospective offerors should be allowed sufficient lead-time to adequately prepare their bids or proposals. The following suggested lead-times are established as the normal minimum lead-times for the procurements described. If the contracting officer determines that circumstances require lead-times shorter than those specified below, he or she must prepare a written statement explaining the circumstances and the basis for his/her determination. This statement must be included in the contract file. (b) Suggested minimum lead times. (Note: the suggested lead times which follow cover the period from the estimated date the announcement will be published in the Commerce Business Daily, or when responses are solicited directly, from the estimated date the offerors will receive the request for proposal, to the time when responses are due to the contracting officer.) (1) Not less than 20 calendar days when procuring standard commercial (off the shelf) items or services; (2) Not less then 30 calendar days when procuring other than standard commercial items or services; (3) Not less than 45 days when procuring other than standard commercial items or services from U.S. sources that involve any overseas performance or use; and (4) Not less than 60 days when procuring services of an educational institution or international research center under the selection procedures established in AIDPR 7-4.57 and 7-4.58. [46 FR 31887, June 18, 1981] circumstances noncompetitive procure § 7-3.107-50 Additional (a) There are three additional circumstances where noncompetitive negotiation may be permissible; these are set out in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section. In each of these cases, however, consideration of as many sources as is practicable, including informal solicitation to the maximum extent practicable, is required. In each case, the contract file will include appropriate explanation and support justifying the noncompetitive award. (b) An award, under section 636(a)(3) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, involving a personal services contractor serving abroad (see Appendix F of this chapter). (c) An award of $100,000 or less by any overseas procuring activity (i.e., a Mission as defined in AIDPR 7-1.258). (d) An award for which the Assistant Administrator responsible for the program makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that procurement from any other source would impair foreign assistance objectives, and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of the Foreign Assistance Program. [48 FR 40386, Sept. 7, 1983] § 7-3.107-51 Authority to approve competitive procurements. non (a) Authority to approve noncompetitive procurements is separate from and in addition to any delegation of contracting authority. While a contracting official may have been dele gated unlimited contracting authority, his/her authority to approve noncompetitive procurements is limited by this section. (b) Authority to approve noncompetitive procurements under FPR 14.910 and AIDPR 7-3.107-50(d) rests with the Assistant Administrator having the program responsibility. (c) Authority to approve noncompetitive procurements under both FPR 1-3.107(a)(5) and (a)(6) rests with the head of the agency, as defined in AIDPR 7-1.206. (d) Authority to approve noncompetitive procurements under FPR 13.107(a) (1), (2), (3), (4), (7), (8) and AIDPR 7-3.107-50(b), executed by AID/Washington, is based on the estimated cost of the procurement and is assigned as follows: ation by the Review Board. The Mission Noncompetitive Review Board has jurisdiction over both Mission procurements and procurements being awarded by the Area Contracting Officer (ACO) serving the Mission. However, when a noncompetitive procurement exceeds either the Mission Director's or the ACO's contracting authority, as opposed to their authority to approve noncompetitive procurements (see paragraph (a) of this section), the Mission Director must first obtain an ad hoc redelegation of contracting authority for the noncompetitive procurement from M/SER/CM. [48 FR 40386, Sept. 7, 1983] Subpart 7-3.2-Circumstances Permitting Negotiation 87-3.200 Scope of subpart. 87-3.200-50 Negotiation authority. All negotiated AID contracts are negotiated under the authority of section 633 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and Executive Order 11223, May 12, 1965, 30 FR 6635. The files of negotiated AID contracts shall cite, as the circumstance permitting negotiation, FPR 1-3.215 ("Otherwise authorized by law"). No other circumstances as set forth in FPR 1-3.2 need be cited. [42 FR 4841, June 26, 1977] Subpart 7-3.3-Determinations, Findings, and Authorities § 7-3.302 Determinations and findings required. The requirement of FPR 1-3.302(b) shall not apply to negotiated amendments to cost reimbursement contracts. The original determination and findings justifying the initial use of a cost reimbursement- type contract shall be deemed applicable to all subsequent amendments to said contracts. [38 FR 28670, Oct. 16, 1973] |