§ 5A-2.407-72 Extension of time for bid acceptance. (a)(1) Promptly after bids have been tabulated, and except as provided in paragraphs (a) (2) and (3) of this section, a request for an extension of bid acceptance time shall be sent to each bidder who may be in line for award and whose bid specifies a bid acceptance time which is considered by the contracting officer to be insufficient for proper bid evaluation and award. Likewise, if later it becomes apparent to the contracting officer that he may be unable to make award within the specified acceptance time, he promptly shall request such acceptance time extensions as are necessary. If the case in question has been referred to another organizational element for action, that organizational element shall be notified of any extension obtained and requested to complete its action in time to permit the making of awards within the extended time. (2) Where a special minimum bid acceptance time provision was included in the invitation for bids (see § 5A2.201-71), no bidder whose bid was nonresponsive because he offered a lesser time for bid acceptance than the minimum specified in the invitation shall be requested, or otherwise given an opportunity, to extend the time. (3) A bidder whose bid is determined by the contracting officer and assigned legal counsel to be unacceptable shall not be requested, or otherwise given an opportunity to extend the time for bid acceptance. (b) Requests for extension of bid acceptance time shall specify the additional acceptance time desired by the Government, which time shall be reasonable under the circumstances. (c) If a bidder does not grant the additional bid acceptance time requested, special action shall be taken to accomplish acceptance within the time allowed by the bidder (see § 5A-2.407-1). Should it be advisable to permit the bid to expire, the contracting officer shall promptly, and before the expiration of the bid, refer the case to the appropriate division director for decision. (d) Appropriate legal counsel shall be consulted before an award is made in any case where the acceptance time of an otherwise acceptable bid has expired. [32 FR 9417, June 30, 1967, as amended at 35 FR 1014, Jan. 24, 1970; 39 FR 40293, Nov. 15, 1974] § 5A-2.407-78 Consideration of administrative costs before making small value awards. (a) Administrative costs for issuing and administering separate contracts or purchase orders of small value may at times be greater than savings which appear attainable by purchasing all items from the lowest bidder. To reduce the incidence of making these small awards at net losses to the Government, $50 shall be added in preaward evaluations as the Government's administrative expense for each separate award which does not exceed $2,500. (b) If, according to the foregoing, it is found to be advantageous for the Government to add a small award ($2500 or less) to a bidder already in line for award on other item(s), the de facto low bidder shall be advised that an award to him, even though he is the low bidder, would be costlier to the Government than if the award is made to the bidder already in line for other items because of the expense to the Government for administering a separate award. The low bidder may not be interested in receiving only a small part of the items quoted on because of the high administrative expense for small orders for himself and would be inclined to agree to forego the small award. Contracting officers shall obtain the offeror's agreement in writing and make it a part of the contract file. (c) The above procedures do not apply in cases where a separate small award would further procurement objectives with regard to establishing competitive sources on new items for which initial demand is low or unknown, assisting small businesses including minority entrepreneurs, or maintaining bidding opportunities for local suppliers who have previously satisfactorily furnished the items involved. [39 FR 40293, Nov. 15, 1974] § 5A-2.407-79 Bid guarantees. § 5A-2.407-80 Availability of funds. Prior to award, the contracting officer shall make certain that funds are available for the proposed purchase. See § 5A-1.5306. [39 FR 40294, Nov. 15, 1974] § 5A-2.407-81 Form for requesting approval of awards. See § 5A-1.375 regarding the form and related instructions for use in connection with approval of proposed awards. § 5A-2.407-82 Preparation of documents for acceptance. The acceptance of an offer received on SF 33, Solicitation, Offer, and Award, shall be accomplished and documented as follows: on (a) Definite-quantity contracts—(1) Single consignee. Where only one consignee is involved, notice of award of contract shall be documented either SF 33 (Award portion accomplished), or on GSA Form 300, Purchase Order, as determined most advantageous by the procuring activity. (i) When SF 33 is used, the award portion on both the original and duplicate of the accepted offer shall be completed. The original contract shall be retained by the Government and the duplicate copy mailed to the contractor. A purchase (delivery) order also must be issued to provide shipping instructions and necessary information copies to others concerned. (ii) When GSA Form 300 is used, the block entitled "This order is issued pursuant to" shall be filled in by entering substantially the following: "Your offer on solicitation No.-—— is accepted for items listed herein." Under this procedure, the original contract consists of the original bid signed by the contractor and copy No. 5 (paying office copy) of GSA Form 300, Purchase Order, signed by the contracting officer. The contractor's copy of the contract consists of his retained copy of the bid and copy No. 1 (origi nal) of GSA Form 300, Purchase Order, signed by the contracting offi cer. (2) Multiple consignees. Award on Standard Form 26, Award/Contract, normally is advantageous for contracts involving more than one consignee. Distribution on copies shall be in accordance with § 5A-76.201. To eliminate excess typing, die-cut stencils or reproducible masters of Standard Form 26 may be used incidental to providing the necessary number of copies. However, where numerous items on a single invitation for bids are awarded to one contractor, completion of the Award portion of Standard Form 33 may be more advantageous. Either method of documenting the award is authorized. (b) Indefinite quantity contracts. Awards for indefinite quantity contracts may be documented on either Standard Form 26 or Standard Form 33. "Indefinite" shall be entered in the spaces provided for entering the quantity and dollar amount of such awards. (c) Assignment of contract number. See § 5A-1.352-1 regarding the requirement and system for contract numbering. [32 FR 9417, June 30, 1967, as amended at 36 FR 12165, June 26, 1971; 39 FR 40294, Nov. 15, 1974] § 5A-2.407-83 Notification of contract award. (a) General. Successful bidders shall be notified of award by mailing or otherwise furnishing to such bidders, within the time specified for bid acceptance (see § 5A-2.407-72), documents prepared in accordance with § 5A-2.407-82. Bids specifying a certain number of days for acceptance may be accepted any time before midnight of the last day. For definition of what constitutes the actual award date see § 5A-2.407-1(d). (b) Evidence of time of receipt. See FPR 1-1.316-4(e) and 5A-1.316-4. (c) Postaward orientation conferences. For instructions on this subject see Subparts 1-1.18 and 5A-1.18. [32 FR 9417, June 30, 1967, as amended at 34 FR 438, Jan. 11, 1969; 36 FR 13388, July 21, 1971] § 5A-2.407-84 Notification of proposed substantial awards and awards involving Congressional interest. (a) Applicability. This section applies to notification of proposed awards resulting from either advertised or negotiated solicitations including modifications and renewals (1) when the dollar value exceeds or is estimated to exceed $250,000 except as shown in paragraph (b) of this section, and (2) when there is Congressional interest regardless of dollar value. (i) When Congressional interest is involved, GSA Form 2932, Proposed Substantial Contract Awards (see § 5A-16.950-2932), or a facsimile message shall be prepared for transmittal to the Assistant Administrator (AL) containing the following information: Congressional Interest-(Name of Congressman or Senator)-(State)-Control No. -In behalf of (Name of firm and complete address)—If award is not proposed to that bidder, explain why). (ii) In addition to the requirement set forth in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, (and in OAD 5410.1, chap. 5), where a Congressional inquiry is made orally with a contracting officer, and award or other information has been promised to a Congressman or Senator, GSA Form 2932, or the facsimile 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 $250,000 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) DQ 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 a small business concern; (6) NLS for not labor surplus area; and (7) LS for labor surplus area. (d) Notification procedure. (1) The director (or his or her equivalent) of the procurement activity (central office or regional office) shall be responsible for submitting directly to the Director of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations (XK) complete and factual data pertinent to any proposed award of the type described in paragraph (a) of this section. (2) Regional offices (except Region W) shall prepare GSA Form 2932 and transmit the notification directly to the Director of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations (XK), by facsimile machine except as shown in paragraph (d)(4) of this section. (i) Telephone numbers for transmittal of facsimile messages of the notifications are as follows (area code 202): 472-1217; 632-3626; 632-7944; and 6327945. (ii) Messages should be directed to the attention of XK, GS Building, Room 6114. (3) Central Office and Region W procurement activities shall prepare GSA Form 2932 and transmit the notification (original only) directly to the Director of Congressional Affairs (XK). The notification(s) shall be placed in a messenger envelope and addressed as follows: "Please HandCarry Attention: XK, GS Bldg., Room 6114." (4) Notifications covering regional proposed awards which require Central Office concurrence or approval pursuant to the GSA Delegations of Authority Manual (ADM P 5450.39A) shall be submitted as part of the case file to the Central Office. The notification shall be transmitted to the Director of Congressional Affairs (XK) by the office rendering 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 quantity(s), and (c) the requirement or portion thereof for over seas 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, commodity centers and regional and Central Office procurement activities may release awards of the type described in (d) (2) thru (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 Director of the Congressional Affairs (XK). (2) The procurement activities shall be responsible for submission of a copy of GSA Form 2932, marked COPY, to the Value Engineering Division (FREV) after release of the award. The notification copy shall indicate the date of awards and 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) The procurement activities shall transmit notifications as determined by their director (or his equivalent) directly to the Director of Congressional Affairs (AK) by telephone (566–1250), followed by a completed GSA form 2932 to confirm the oral notification. (2) Release of notifications which require priority processing by the Director of Congressional Affairs (AK) shall be completed at the time and date specified by AK. [39 FR 15126, May 1, 1974, as amended at 42 FR 5055, Jan. 27, 1977; 43 FR 51397, Nov. 3, 1978; 45 FR 17582, Mar. 19, 1980] § 5A-2.407-85 Erroneous award to higher bidder. 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 (inIcluding 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 Operations Division (POD) or the Director, ADP Procurement Division, as applicable. (For notification of proposed substantial awards see § 5A2.407-84.) 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). (i) GSA Form 1535, Request for Approval of Awards, prepared in accordance with § 5A-1.375 of this chapter; (ii) 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 paragraph (d)(1) of this section, request emergency processing, stating briefly the reasons therefor and furnish to the Director, POD or ADP-PD, the essential data extracted from GSA Forms 1535 and 2112, as applicable, by TWX. This data shall in 60-119 0-80--32 |