and if warranted as a result of review, the Compliance Division shall recommend debarment to the Commissioner primarily concerned.

§ 5-1.606-52 Collection and evaluation of information.

The Compliance Division shall collect and evaluate information, developed by GSA and other agencies or otherwise, to determine whether an alleged offense or irregularity falls within the causes listed in § 1-1.605(a) (1), (2), and (3), and, if warranted, shall recommend to the appropriate Commissioner that debarment proceedings be initiated.

§ 5-1.606-53 Investigations.

(a) When a procuring activity becomes suspicious of offenses or irregularities which might support debarment, a request for investigation shall be forwarded to the Compliance Division with a statement of the pertinent circumstances.

(b) The Compliance Division shall make a thorough investigation of the circumstances as expeditiously as possible, and shall report the results to the service primarily concerned with a recommendation as to whether debarment proceedings should be instituted. The files of the Compliance Division compiled in support of such reports of investigation shall, upon request, be made available for review by the service primarily concerned.

§ 5-1.606-54 Determination to debar. The Commissioner of the service primarily concerned, after consultation with legal counsel, shall determine whether the facts are sufficient to warrant debarment.

§ 5-1.606-55 Institution of debarment proceedings.

If a Commissioner determines to institute debarment proceedings, he shall send a letter by certified mail (return receipt requested) to the firm or individual proposed for debarment. The letter shall summarize the facts on which the debarment is predicated, specify a reasonable and definite period for the debarment, and advise that, unless a request for a hearing is received within 15 days from the date of receipt of such letter, the debarment will become effective when the 15-day period has elapsed. When debarment action is based on debarment by another agency, the firm

or individual shall be so notified. However, no hearing is required in such cases, pursuant to § 1-1.605(b)(6). The heads of services and staff offices, the Board of Review, and the Compliance Division shall be notified of this action.

§ 5-1.606–56 Hearings.

Hearings requested in connection with debarment proceedings shall be conducted before the Board of Review. An opportunity shall be afforded to the firm or individual to appear, with witnesses and counsel, to present facts or circumstances showing cause why such firm or individual should not be debarred. If the firm or individual elects not to appear, the Board of Review will make its decision based on the facts on record and such additional evidence as may be furnished by the parties involved.

(a) The Board of Review shall give notice of the date and place of the hearing to the appropriate Commissioner and to the Office of General Counsel.

(b) Hearings shall be held by the Board of Review within 30 days after the receipt of the request for a hearing, unless the Board considers that additional time should be granted.

(c) If a firm or individual who requested a hearing is determined by the Board of Review to be responsible for any unreasonable delay in disposing of the matter, the Board shall authorize the Compliance Division to place such firm or individual on the GSA Debarred Bidders List pending final action by the Board. A copy of such notification shall be furnished to the Commissioner who initiated the debarment action.

(d) After consideration of the facts, the Chairman of the Board of Review shall notify the firm or individual of the Board's decision.

§ 5-1.606-57 Notice of final decision in debarment proceedings.

When an intended debarment is upheld by the Board of Review as the result of a hearing, or as the result of forfeiture of the right to be heard, the Chairman of the Board of Review shall notify the firm or individual of the decision of the Board confirming the intended debarment, setting forth the period during which such debarment shall be effective. The period shall be equivalent to that originally imposed by the debarring Commissioner. If an intended debarment is not upheld by the Board, the Chairman shall so notify the firm or individual. Copies of such notification shall be furnished to the interested Commissioner, and to the Compliance Division for action to include the firm or individual in the GSA Debarred Bidders List or for retention without action, as appropriate.

Subpart 5-1.7-Small Business
Concerns

§ 5-1.709 SBA Certificates of Competency.

(a) In accordance with § 1-1.310-8, the Small Business Administration (SBA) shall be notified and given an opportunity to certify the competency, as to capacity and credit, of a small business concern which has submitted an otherwise acceptable bid but which has been determined by the contracting officer not

to be responsible as to capacity and credit. "Otherwise acceptable bid" means a bid that is responsive to the invitation for bids or request for offers in all respects, including, for example, the submission of samples that have been evaluated and found to meet the stated requirements. "Capacity" means the overall ability of a prospective small business contractor to meet quality, quantity, and time requirements of a proposed contract and includes ability to perform, organization, experience, technical knowledge, skills, "know-how", technical equipment, and facilities.

(b) The procedure in (1), above, is not mandatory under the circumstances stated in § 1-1.709(c). It does not apply where the contracting officer has found that a small business concern is not a responsible bidder for a reason other than lack of capacity or credit. Thus, it does not apply where a concern does not satisfy the standards of responsibility in § 1-1.310-5(a)(1), (5), (6), and (7). Where the contracting officer determines that a concern does not meet the requirements of § 1-1.310-5(a) (5) as to a satisfactory record of performance, the above procedure is mandatory only if the unsatisfactory record of performance was due solely to inadequate capacity or credit. It is not mandatory where it is clearly established that the unsatisfactory record of performance was not due to lack of capacity, as defined in (1), above, but as a result of the contractor's willful failure, arising out of sharp practices, lack of business

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ethics and integrity and the like, to exercise the resources available to him for the performance of prior contracts. Advice of counsel shall be obtained in such cases.

(c) Contracting officers shall accept SBA certificates of competency as conclusive as to a prospective contractor's responsibility as to capacity and credit. However, if the contracting officer has substantial doubts as to the firm's ability to perform, he shall, prior to award, refer the matter to higher authority in accordance with the procedures of the Service concerned. In such cases SBA may be requested to consider withdrawal of the certificate.

[25 F.R. 5572, June 21, 1960]

(a) Article testing is conducted to determine conformance with specification and standard requirements and to aid in the development of new or revised specifications and standards. This subpart establishes certain types of article testing, including the facilities therefor, and prescribes policy regarding the fixing and collection of fees for such testing.

(b) The facilities of the General Services Administration, other Federal agencies, independent testing laboratories, manufacturers and others, as appropriate, may be used in the conduct of tests.

§ 5-1.5202 Acceptance testing.

(a) Acceptance testing is conducted to determine conformance with requirements of purchase descriptions or specifications before a shipment is accepted. Such testing shall not be undertaken solely for the purpose of furnishing information to a producer or vendor as to conformance of his article or commodity with specification requirements.

(b) Normally, the cost of services for acceptance testing of representative samples of a shipment shall be borne by GSA. However, if the samples tested fail to meet the requirements of the specification or purchase description, the contractor shall be required to pay any additional costs incurred as a result of such failure. Consequently, where it is anticipated that testing may be required, the contract shall contain a specific provision for charging contractors with any additional test costs.

(c) The contracting officer shall, upon request, inform the contractor of test charges involved when testing will be performed by a Federal Supply Service testing laboratory. When a testing facility other than a Federal Supply Service laboratory performs all or part of the required tests, the contractor shall be assessed the actual amount of the costs incurred by the Government as a result of testing in such a facility.

§ 5-1.5203 Certification testing.

(a) Certification testing is conducted to determine conformance of an article or commodity with a specification requirement for the purpose of executing a certificate of compliance where such certification is called for by the specification.

(b) A certificate of compliance with specification requirements from a recognized laboratory may be a requirement in a Federal Specification. When there is a lack of suitable commercial testing facilities, producers or vendors may obtain such certification from a Government laboratory such as the National Bureau of Standards, and shall be required to bear the cost of such testing, including all components of such cost. GSA will arrange for the required testing upon receipt of a request from a producer or vendor and payment of the required test fee.

§ 5-1.5204 Qualification (QPL) testing.

(a) Qualification testing is conducted to determine conformance of an article or commodity with the qualification requirements of a specification for inclusion of the article or commodity in a Qualified Products List (QPL).

(b) Where such tests will serve predominantly the interest of producer or vendor, GSA shall fix the test fee in such an amount as will recover the cost of conducting such test, including all components of such cost, determined in accordance with accepted accounting principles. Usually the producer or vendor shall be required to bear the cost of testing to qualify an article or commodity for inclusion in a qualified products list, except when it is determined that making such tests will not serve predominantly the interest of the producer or vendor. This may be the case where adequate competition has not been developed in industry because of the issuance of an insufficient number of qualification approvals or sources of supply have not been sufficiently established to assure availability. Where it is determined that making such tests will not serve predominantly the interest of the producer or vendor, GSA shall determine the test fee in an amount determined to be reasonable, giving due consideration to the interests of the Government.

(c) Normally, payment shall be made to the General Supply Fund and appropriate reimbursement shall be made by GSA to an agency whose laboratory conducted the tests. In certain cases the producer or vendor may be required to submit his product to one or more independent testing laboratories approved by GSA. In such cases, the producer or vendor may be directed to pay the testing fee directly to the laboratory which conducted the test.

tracting officers shall be in accordance with the applicable delegations or redelegations of authority and with this Subpart 5-1.53.

(d) The original and four copies of all QPL test reports, where testing is conducted outside of GSA facilities, shall be forwarded to and be retained in GSA.

§ 5-1.5205 Research or development testing.

(a) Research or development testing is conducted to determine whether a new article or commodity which is not covered by an existing specification may be suitable for Government use or to aid in the development of contemplated specifications and standards.

(b) Where tests are conducted in the development of specifications or standards, those procedures in § 5-1.5204 (b) and (c) pertaining to test fees shall apply.

Subpart 5-1.53-Procurement Authority and Responsibility

SOURCE: §§ 5-1.5301 to 5-1.5307 appear at 26 F.R. 7806, Aug. 22, 1961.

§ 5-1.5301 General.

(a) This subpart deals with the authority to designate contracting officers and sets forth the general authorities and responsibilities of such officers.

(b) An employee ordinarily binds the Government only when his actions are in accordance with authority actually granted to him. Contracting officers are agents of the Government and shall act in accordance with law, regulations including FPR and GSPR, other pertinent directives, and sound judgment, and within the limits of their prescribed duties and authorities.

§ 5-1.5302 Designation of contracting officers.

(a) Contracting officers, as defined in § 1-1.207, shall be those employees in whom contracting authority is vested by the Administrator or his designees by means of appropriate delegations of authority and by redelegations of authority. The authority of such con

(b) Delegations and redelegations of authority are generally directive on specific positions, rather than specific individuals. When a specific position carries delegated or redelegated contracting authority, an individual appointed to such a position is, therefore, a contracting officer. Such appointments are normally made by means of administrative personnel actions. When an individual is designated as a contracting officer by an instrument other than a personnel action, a copy of the designating instrument shall be forwarded to the appropriate personnel office for inclusion in the file of the individual affected. Designations shall be rescinded in the same manner upon termination of the assignment (but special assignments may be self-rescinding, as, for example, an assignment made in terms of the life of a specific contract, in which case a separate rescission instrument would not be required).

(c) In view of the high degree of individual responsibility and authority vested in contracting officers, care shall be exercised to insure that only well qualified individuals are appointed or designated and retained in such positions. Accordingly, the performance of their duties as contracting officers is subject to continuing review and evaluation. § 5-1.5303 General authority of con

tracting officers.

A contracting officer is authorized to enter into, modify, and take other appropriate action with respect to contracts, within the limits of his prescribed duties and authority.

§ 5-1.5304 General responsibility of contracting officers.

(a) Contracting officers are primarily responsible for assurance that contracts are authorized by law, for the execution and administration of contracts, for safeguarding the interest of the United States in contractual relationships, and for determining the facts under contracts.

(b) Contracting officers shall personally sign all contracts and modifications entered into by them. The signing of original contractual documents shall not be accomplished by facsimile stamps or by proxy. However, the use of repro

(a) Any properly qualified Government employee or group of employees, or a firm or individual under contract to the Government for this purpose, may be designated to act as the authorized representative of a contracting officer. Such designation shall be in writing and shall define the scope and limitations of the authorized representative's thority.

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(b) A designation authorized by this $5-1.5305 may be made by instructions referring to particular contractual instruments or categories of instruments and may empower the authorized representative to take any or all action thereunder which could lawfully be taken by the contracting officer to the extent not specifically prohibited by the terms of the contractual instrument involved or this § 5-1.5305. In no event shall an authorized representative, by virtue only of his designation as such, be empowered to execute or agree to any contract or modification thereof; such powers must be specifically included as a part of, or supplemental to, the designation.

(1) A contracting officer may empower his authorized representative, without redelegation of contracting authority, to issue change orders within the general scope of the contract although such change orders should not ordinarily involve a change in unit price, total contract price, quantity, quality, or delivery schedule.

(2) A contracting officer may assign administration of a specific contractual instrument to another contracting officer, provided the assignee contracting officer's delegated authority permits, and the contractor shall be so notified. Such an assignment shall define the extent to which part or all of the original contracting officer's authority is trans

ferred but shall not pass on to the successor any authorities which would exceed the limitations imposed on the successor by existing directives.

§ 5-1.5306 Responsibility for assuring the availability of funds.

Prior to the incurrence of an obligation, contracting officers shall assure themselves that adequate funds are available.

§ 5-1.5307 Standards of conduct.

All personnel engaged in procurement and related activities shall conduct business in a manner above reproach in every respect. Transactions relating to expenditure of public funds require the highest degree of public trust to protect the interests of the Government. While many Federal laws and regulations place restrictions on the actions of governmental personnel, the latter's official conduct must, in addition, be such that the individual would have no reticence about making a full public disclosure thereof.

PART 5-2—PROCUREMENT BY
FORMAL ADVERTISING

Subpart 5-2.2-Solicitation of Bids

Sec.
5-2.201-50 Security requirements.

Rejection of individual bids.

5-2.404-50 Multiple bidding.