§ 1-2.408-2 Rejection of offers under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

(a) Contracting officers shall notify unsuccessful offerors in writing within seven working days after the award of a contract (or contracts) that their offers were not accepted when an offer involves an eligible product from a designated country (see 8816.1601(b) and 1-6.1608(a)).

(b) Additional information requested by an unsuccessful offeror of an eligible product from a designated country shall be provided by an official above the level of the contracting officer (see § 1-6.1608(b)).

[48 FR 14900, Apr. 6, 1983]

§ 1-2.409 Synopses of contract awards. See § 1-1.1004.

(a) Two-step formal advertising is a method of procurement designed to promote the maximum competition practicable when available specifications are not sufficiently definite to permit a formally advertised procurement in accordance with Subparts 12.2, 1-2.3, and 1-2.4. It is a flexible procedure and is especially useful, in procurement of complex and technical items, to prevent the elimination of potentially qualified producers from the competitive base.

(b) Two-step formal advertising is conducted in two phases. The first step consists of the request for, and the submission, evaluation, and, if necessary, discussion of a technical proposal, without pricing, to determine the acceptability of the supplies or services offered. As used in this context, the word "technical" has a broad connotation and, among other things, includes engineering approach, special manufacturing processes, and special testing techniques. Also, when required to clarify basic technical requirements, other related requirements such as management approach, manufacturing plan, or facilities to be utilized may be clarified in this step. The second step consists of a formally advertised procurement, confined to

those offerors who submitted an acceptable technical proposal in Step One.

(c) This method of procurement requires that the contracting officer work closely with technical personnel and rely on their specialized knowledge in determining the technical requirements of the procurement and the criteria to be used in evaluating technical proposals, and in making such evaluation. An objective of the two-step procedure is to permit the development of a sufficiently descriptive statement of the Government's requirements, including the development of a technical data package, so that subsequent procurements may be made by conventional formal advertising.

(b) Definite criteria exist for evaluating technical proposals, such as applicable design, manufacturing, testing, and performance requirements, and special requirements for operational suitability and ease of maintenance; however, such criteria shall not include consideration of capacity or credit as defined in § 1-1.708 of this chapter.

(c) More than one technically qualified source is expected to be available both initially and after technical evaluation.

(d) A firm fixed-price contract or a fixed-price contract with escalation (see § 1-2.201(a)(21)) will be used.

(a) Requests for technical proposals. A request for technical proposals shall be distributed to qualified sources in accordance with § 1-1.302-1 of this chapter. In addition, the request shall be synopsized in accordance with Subpart 1-1.10 and publicly posted in accordance with § 1-2.203-2. The request may be in the form of a letter and shall contain, as a minimum, the following information:

(1) The best practicable description of the supplies or services required.

(2) Notification of the intent to conduct the procurement in two steps and the actions involved.

(3) The requirements of the technical proposal, i.e., the necessary details such as drawings, data, presentation, etc., to be submitted.

(4) The criteria for evaluating the technical proposal (§ 1-2.502(b)).

(5) A statement that the technical proposals shall not include prices or pricing information.

(6) The date by which the proposal must be received.

(7) A statement that the Government may discuss the technical aspects of the proposal with the concern submitting the proposal.

(8) A statement that in the second step of the procurement only bids based upon technical proposals determined to be acceptable, either initially or as a result of discussions, will be considered for award; and that each bid in the second step must be based on the bidder's own technical proposal.

(9) A statement that sources submitting unacceptable technical proposals will be so notified upon completion of the technical evaluation.

(10) A statement either that only one technical proposal may be submitted by each offeror or that multiple technical proposals may be submitted. When compliance with specifications permit utilization of essentially different technical approaches, it is generally in the interest of the Government to authorize the submission of multiple proposals. If multiple proposals are authorized the request shall include a statement substantially as follows:

Multiple Technical Proposals. In the first step of this two-step procurement, offerors are authorized and encouraged to submit multiple technical proposals presenting different basic approaches. Each technical proposal submitted will be separately evaluated and the offeror will be notified as to its acceptability.

(b) Receipt and evaluation of technical proposals. The following actions will be taken with respect to receipt and evaluation of technical proposals:

(1) Every precaution shall be taken to safeguard technical proposals against disclosure to unauthorized per

sons.

(2) Any reference to price or cost will be removed.

(3) Technical evaluation of the proposals will be based upon the criteria contained in the request for technical proposals and such evaluation will not include consideration of capacity or credit as defined in § 1-1.708.

(4) Technical proposals will be categorized as acceptable or unacceptable. Proposals will not be categorized as unacceptable when a reasonable effort on the part of the Government could bring the proposals to an acceptable status and increase competition. The contracting officer shall arrange for any necessary discussions with sources submitting technical proposals for the purpose of obtaining additional information or clarification which may be required. When, after discussion and submission of necessary information and clarification, technical proposals are determined to be acceptable, they will be so categorized. If, however, it is determined at any time that a technical proposal is not reasonably susceptible to being made acceptable, it should be classified as unacceptable and no discussions of it need thereafter be initiated.

(5) Upon final determination that a technical proposal is unacceptable, the contracting officer shall notify the source submitting the proposal of that fact. The notice shall indicate, in general terms the basis for such determination including a statement of whether rejection was based on failure to furnish sufficient information or an unacceptable engineering approach. (c) [Reserved]

(d) Discontinuance. If, as a result of the evaluation of technical proposals, it appears necessary to discontinue the two-step advertising method of procurement, the full facts and circumstances will be set forth in writing and submitted to the office which originally approved the method of procurement. If that office approves the discontinuance, each source will be notified in writing of the discontinuance and the reasons therefor.

§ 1-2.503-2 Step Two.

Upon completion of Step One, a formally advertised procurement in accordance with Subparts 1-2.2, 1-2.3, and 1-2.4 will be conducted, except that invitations for bids:

(a) Will be issued only to and considered only from those sources whose technical proposals have been evaluated and determined to be acceptable under Step One.

(b) Will include the following statement:

This invitation for bids is issued pursuant to two-step formal advertising procedures in Subpart 1-2.5 of the Federal Procurement Regulations. Bids will be considered only from those firms who have submitted acceptable technical proposals pursuant to the first step of such procedures as initiated by (Identify the request for technical proposals) Any bidder who has submitted multiple technical proposals in the first step of this two-step procurement may submit a separate bid covering each technical proposal which has been determined acceptable by the Government.

(c) Will prominently state that the supplies or services to be procured will be in accordance with the specifications and the bidder's technical proposal, as finally accepted, under the request for technical proposals. This may be accomplished in the Schedule item description by a provision substantially in the form of the following example:

Radio antenna, in accordance with Exhibit No. dated (use other description of specifications as appropriate) and your Technical Proposal (insert specific identification of the bidder's proposal including any revision thereof as finally accepted), incorporated herein by reference. Nothing contained in said Technical Proposal shall constitute a waiver of any of

the provisions of said Exhibit (or specifications).

(d) Will not be synopsized (see Subpart 1-1.10) or publicly posted (see § 12.203-2), except that the names of firms which have submitted acceptable technical proposals in step one of two-step formal advertising will be listed in the Commerce Business Daily for the benefit of prospective subcontractors in accordance with § 1-1.10034.

[29 FR 10141, July 24, 1964, as amended at 30 FR 9593, Aug. 31, 1965]