ed to exceed those dollar thresholds referenced in Subpart PHS 304.71 are to be reviewed and approved prior to award.

(c) Reviewing officials. Officials assigned responsibility for review and approval of contract actions must possess qualifications in the field of acquisition commensurate with the level of review performed, and, as a minimum, possess those acquisition skills expected of a contracting officer. The following officials are responsible for preaward contract review and approval:

Office of the Secretary

Director, Division of Contract and Grant Operations, Office of Management Services

Director, Division of Contract Operations, Office of Administrative and Management Services

Office of Human Development Services-Director, Grants and Contracts Management Division

Social Security

Administration-Director, Office of Acquisition and Grants (may be redelegated to the appropriate division direction within the Office of Acquisition and Grants)

Health Care Financing Administration-Director, Division of Procurement Services. Public Health Service-The reviewing official is designated in Subpart PHS 304.71, as approved by the Director, Office of Procurement and Logistics Policy, OPAL. However, if any of the officials are to serve as the contracting officer and sign the contractual document, the review and approval function shall be performed by an appropriate official at least one level above.

(d) Regional offices. The Director, Regional Administrative Support Center (RASC) is responsible for review and approval of contracts, or modifications to them, expected to exceed $300,000 and executed by the regional office's contracting staff. The RASC may obtain the advice of the Regional Attorney in the review of proposed contract awards.

[49 FR 13961, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 23127, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985; 51 FR 44293, Dec. 9, 1986; 52 FR 27558, July 22, 1987]

in various technical and administrative disciplines to aid in the review. The method of the review is not prescribed here in order to permit discretionary judgment in determining the depth to which significant areas are to be examined.

(b) Contract file. The reviewer is to: (1) Determine that the contract file constitutes an independent record, documented to provide a complete chronology of actions related to all aspects of the acquisition, and that the documentation is consistent with the requirements of FAR 4.803;

(2) Determine that each contract file contains documentation or other data (i.e., technical and business management evaluation, cost advisory and audit reports, negotiation memorandum, etc.) sufficient to explain and support the rationales, judgments, and authorities upon which all decisions and actions were predicated; and (3) Ascertain:

(i) If the proposed acquisition action is to be awarded by other than full and open competition, that the documentation and approvals supporting the decision are present in the contract file;

(ii) That proper publicizing of the proposed acquisition was made pursuant to FAR Part 5;

(iii) That approval was obtained for any deviation from prescribed contract clauses;

(iv) That sufficient competition was obtained, the competitive range was appropriately determined, and oral or written discussions were conducted with all firms in the competitive range;

(v) That all the rules set forth in FAR Part 14 were complied with when the proposed award is a result of an IFB; and

(vi) That appropriate determinations and findings which justify the type of contract and advance payments are a part of the contract file.

[49 FR 13961, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 23127, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985]

304.7103 Approvals.

(a) Awards are not to be made until approval is granted by the reviewing

official identified in 304.7101. All approvals are to be in writing, except that when time is of the essence approval may be given orally and subsequently confirmed in writing.

(b) The reviewing official shall not approve a proposed contract award if a substantive issue (or issues) remains to be resolved. However, in appropriate circumstances, the reviewing official may use discretion and grant approval on a conditional basis and require the contracting officer to submit follow-up written documentation that the substantive issue has been resolved. This provides the reviewing official the option to require the contracting offi

cer to resolve the substantive issue and submit documenting evidence before award approval is given, or to grant conditional approval providing the substantive issue is resolved before the contract is awarded and require the contracting officer to submit documenting evidence either before or after the award. The reviewing official also has the option to determine the extent of documentation evidence to be submitted by the contracting officer. This may range from complete resubmission of the contract file to submission of a memorandum stating the contracting officer's actions in resolving the substantive issue.

PART 305-PUBLICIZING CONTRACT

ACTIONS

Subpart 305.1-Dissemination of Information

Sec.

305.102 Availability of solicitations.

Subpart 305.2-Synopsis of Proposed Contract

Actions

305.202 Exceptions.

305.102 Availability of solicitations.

Potential offerors or bidders must be allowed a reasonable period of time in which to request and receive a solicitation and prepare and submit a response to that solicitation. As a result, the Department has established thirty (30) calendar days as the minimum time period between the date of distribution of a solicitation and the date set for receipt of proposals (opening of bids). The minimum 30 calendar day period is applicable to all sealed bid and negotiated acquisitions and for small purchases over $10,000. Adequate quantities of the solicitation must be maintained to fulfill all anticipated requests during the 30 calendar day period. If a solicitation response period greater than 30 calendar days is used, or, in an urgent situation, a response period less than 30 calendar days is used, the contracting officer must ensure that adequate quantities of the solicitation are available to fulfill all anticipated requests. (A solicitation response period of less than 30 calendar days may be used when the contracting officer determines that the urgency for the supplies or services does not permit delay. This decision must be documented in the con

tract file.) See FAR 5.203 for publicizing and response time.

[49 FR 13969, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 49 FR 36110, Sept. 14, 1984; 50 FR 23126, 23127, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985]

Subpart 305.2-Synopsis of Proposed Contract Actions

305.202 Exceptions.

(b) When a contracting office believes that it has a situation where advance notice is not appropriate or reasonable, it shall prepare a memorandum citing all pertinent facts and details and send it, through normal acquisition channels, to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Procurement, Assistance, and Logistics (DASPAL) requesting relief from synopsizing. The DASPAL shall review the request and decide whether an exception to synopsizing is appropriate or reasonable. If it is, the DASPAL shall take the necessary coordinating actions required by FAR 5.202(b). Whatever the decision is on the request, the DASPAL shall promptly notify the contracting office when a determination has been made. [51 FR 44293, Dec. 9, 1986]

Subpart 305.5-Paid Advertisements 305.502 Authority.

The contracting officer is authorized to publish advertisements, notices, and contract proposals in newspapers and periodicals in accordance with the requirements and conditions referenced in FAR Subpart 5.5.

305.503 Procedures.

Requests for acquisition of advertising shall be accompanied by written authority to advertise or publish which sets forth justification and inIcludes the names of newspapers or journals concerned, frequency and dates of proposed advertisements, estimated cost, and other pertinent information. Paid advertisements shall be limited to the publication of essential details of grant announcements, invi

[50 FR 23127, May 31, 1985, and 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 44293, Dec. 9, 1986]

Subpart 306.3-Other Than Full and Open Competition

306.302 Circumstances permitting other than full and open competition.

306.302-1

Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

(a) Authority. (2)(ii) Follow-on contracts for the continuation of major research and development studies on long-term social and health programs, major research studies, or clinical trails may be deemed to be available only from the original source when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Department's or OPDIV's requirements.

the

(b) Application. (4) When OPDIV head has determined that: (i) a specific item of technical equipment or parts must be obtained to meet an activity's program responsibility to test and evaluate certain kinds and types of products, and only one source is available. (This criterion is limited to testing and evaluation purposes only and may not be used for initial outfitting or repetitive acquisitions. Project officers should support the use of this criterion with citations from their agency's legislation and the technical rationale for the item of equipment required.) or

(ii) There is existing equipment which, for reasons of compatibility and interchangeability, requires an item which is manufactured only by one source. (This criterion is for use in acquisitions where a particular brand name item is required, and an "or equal" will not meet the Government's requirements. This criterion may not be used when there are other manufacturers available which may be able to produce acceptable items even though their products might require some adjustments and modifications. These other manufacturers must be given the opportunity to compete.)

[50 FR 23127, May 31, 1985, and 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 44293, Dec. 9, 1986]

306.302-7 Public interest.

(a) Authority. (2) Agency head, in this instance, means the Secretary.

(c) Limitations. When using the authority cited in FAR 6.302-7(a)(1), the Secretary's approval must be obtained. Therefore, an "approval package" must be prepared and staffed through departmental acquisition channels to the Secretary. The package shall include:

(1) A determination and findings, prepared by the contracting officer, for the Secretary to sign.

(2) A letter for the Secretary to sign notifying Congress of the determination to award a contract under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(7). This letter must be received by Congress at least 30 days before contract award. (3) A "Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition"

(JOFOC).

(4) A briefing paper presenting background, need, etc.

(5) Any other pertinent papers or documents required by the Department.

306.303 Justifications.

306.303-1 Requirements.

(b) Preliminary arrangements or agreements with the proposed contractor made by someone other than the contracting officer shall have no effect on the rationale used to support an acquisition for other than full and open competition.

(f) The program office should discuss prospective other than full and open competition requests with their supporting contracting office as early as possible during the acquisition planning stage (see FAR Subpart 7.1 and Subpart 307.1), and before submitting the requisition or request for contract. The discussions may resolve uncertainties, provide program offices with names of other sources, allow proper scheduling of the acquisition, and avoid delays which might otherwise occur should it be determined that the request for other than full and open competition is not justified.

(g) When a program office desires to obtain certain goods or services by contract without full and open competition, it shall, at the time of forwarding the requisition or request for contract, furnish the contracting office a justification explaining why full and open competition is not feasible. All justifications shall be initially reviewed by the contracting officer.

(1) Justifications in excess of $25,000 shall be in the form of a separate, selfcontained document, prepared in accordance with FAR 6.303 and 306.303, and called a "JOFOC" (Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition). Justifications of $25,000 or less may be in the form of a paragraph or paragraphs contained in the requisition or request for contract.

(2) Justifications, whether over or under $25,000, shall fully describe what is to be acquired, offer reasons which go beyond inconvenience, and explain why it is not feasible to obtain competition. The justifications shall be supported by verifiable facts rather than mere opinions. Documentation in the justifications should be sufficient to permit an individual with technical competence in the area to follow the rationale.

306.303-2 Content.

(a)(1) The program office and name, address, and telephone number of the project officer shall also be included.

(2) This item shall include project identification such as the authorizing program legislation, to include citations or other internal program identification data such as title, contract number, etc.

(3) A full description of the requirement and its dollar amount is to be inIcluded. It may be in the form of a statement of work, purchase description, or specification. A statement is to be included to explain whether the acquisition is an entity in itself, whether it is one in a series, or part of a related group of acquisitions.

(c) Each JOFOC shall conclude with at least the following signatory lines (other concurrence lines may be added as deemed necessary by the contracting activity):

Recommended, Project Officer