(a) The authority to make the determination described in paragraph (d) of the "Certificate of Independent Price Determination" (See 41 CFR 11.317(a)) shall vest in the heads of the individual procuring activities without authority to redelegate.

(b) Where a certification is suspected of being false or there is indication of collusion, the procuring activity shall collect and prepare documents and additional information in accordance with 41 CFR 1-1.902 and 1-1.903, and the head of the procuring activity shall transmit the matter to the Assistant Secretary for Administration. The Assistant Secretary for Administration shall have the matter referred to the Attorney General for appropriate action when, after coordination with the General Counsel or his designee, it is the Assistant Secretary's

§ 13-1.318-1 Contracting officer's decision under the Disputes Clause.

Where a dispute cannot be settled by agreement and a decision under the Disputes Clause is necessary, the contracting officer will prepare a letter to the contractor containing written findings of fact and a final decision pursuant to the Disputes Clause of the contract. This decision document should:

(a) Identify the claim, including the date of submission and name and title of the submitter of the claim,

(b) Set forth the contracting officer's decision and related findings of fact in sufficient detail to enable the contractor to understand both the decision and the basis therefor,

(c) Reference the disputes clause as the authority for the decision,

(d) Include the paragraph contained in 41 CFR 1-1.318-1, and

(e) Cite the Department's rules for contractor appeals from decisions of contracting officers (Title 15 CFR Part 3).

Rules of procedure for handling contract appeals from decisions of Department of Commerce Contracting officers are published as Part 3 of Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

§ 13-1.327 Protection of the privacy of individuals.

§ 13-1.327-5 Procedures.

The following notice shall be included in every solicitation and resulting contract and in every contract awarded without a solicitation in which the clause titled "Privacy Act" as contained in 41 CFR 1-1.327-5(c) is incorporated:

NOTICE OF DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE'S
PRIVACY ACT POLICIES

With reference to the contractor's compliance with requirements set forth under paragraph (a)(1) of the Privacy Act clause, the contractor is hereby notified that the Department's Privacy Act policies and procedures are contained in Title 15, CFR, Part 4b. All applicable inquiries are to be directed to the appropriate Privacy Officer as required by 15 CFR 4b.3.

Subpart 13-1.4-Procurement
Responsibility and Authority

§ 13-1.450 Responsibilities of other Government personnel.

§ 13-1.450-1 General.

(a) Responsibilities for preparing procurement item descriptions, specifications and work statements and for determining delivery requirements and fund availability or restraints rest with the program office or requisitioning activity. Responsibilities for determining the method of procurement, type of contract, conduct of the procurement process, suitability of prices and execution of required contract documents rest with the procurement activity, the contracting officer in particular.

(b) Personnel responsible for requisitioning should maintain a close and continuous relationship with their supporting procurement activity to ensure that appropriate procurement personnel are made aware of contem

complications far ahead of the actual contracting phase of procurement. This will be mutually beneficial in terms of better program and procurement planning as well as providing for more timely, efficient and economical acquisitions.

(c) Personnel not delegated contracting authority may not commit the Department, formally or informally, to any type of contractual obligation either before or after contract award. However, all personnel who require procurement support in accomplishing their missions or assignments must support the procuring activity and the Contracting Officer in ensuring that: (1) Requirements are clearly defined and specified; (2) competitive sources are solicited, evaluated and selected; (3) quality standards are prescribed and met; (4) performance or delivery is timely; (5) prices, estimated costs and fees are reasonable; (6) contract provisions, procurement regulations and applicable laws are complied with; and (7) files are sufficiently documented to substantiate the judgments, decisions and actions taken.

(d) Varying degrees of cooperation, communication and planning are necessary commensurate with the dollar value, complexity, legal and regulatory environment or other factors incident to each particular contemplated procurement. Planning and reporting requirements contained in this and later sections of the DOCPR are general requirements and are by no means all inclusive. All those involved in a procurement must be careful to assure adequate coordination among the procurement, the requisitioning and any other affected organizations.

§ 13-1.450-2 Planning for procurement.

(a) All program and project planning shall include plans for procurement of anticipated supply, equipment or service requirements.

(b) Where funds of another Government Agency are provided or are to be provided under the Economy Act or other appropriate authority, programs undertaken by any Commerce activity and requiring procurement actions shall be coordinated with the appro

priate procurement offices prior to any commitment to accept the requisitioning agency or sponsoring agency deadlines.

(c) Program and project managers should solicit the advice and assistance of procurement personnel in developing the procurement element of the program and project plans so that the following factors can be considered early in the planning process.

(1) Definitions of requirements in terms of specifications or work statements for use in invitations for bids, requests for proposals, and contract provisions.

(2) Development of "in-house" estimates for cost of property or services to be procured, and identification of appropriated funds available for the contract.

(3) Identification of factors which require special consideration, including but not limited to; source evaluation criteria; providing facilities and equipment; quality control; product qualification testing and acceptance; patents and copyright reporting requirements; and other approvals or clearances (e.g., Security or Personnel clearances).

(4) Development of lead-time necessary to complete the procurement process, i.e., prepare and process the purchase request, prepare and process any necessary determination and findings, locate and evaluate sources, receive and evaluate bids or proposals, conduct preaward audits, conduct preaward surveys or conferences, and negotiate and/or award the contract or contracts.

(d) It is incumbent upon initiators of procurement requirements to obtain timely approvals from higher authority whenever such approvals are required by regulations of this Department or other Government agencies; e.g., procurement of data processing resources; procurement of management consultant services; clearances by Office of Management and Budget; Government Printing Office, Treasury Department, General Services Administration, etc. However, Agency Procurement Requests (APR's) required to be sent to GSA under 41 CFR 14.1104 for ADP procurements will be processed by the Departmental Office

of Procurement and Automatic Data Processing Management as required by DAO 212-1.

§ 13-1.450-3 Procurement planning reports.

(a) In order to assure continually effective, economical and timely procurement throughout the Department, each operating unit and/or Departmental office shall report procurement plans as indicated in the following paragraphs:

(1) General office supply and equipment requirements. At least 90 days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, an itemized listing of general office supplies, equipment and furnishings required for the ensuing fiscal year shall be submitted to the appropriate procurement office for planning purposes. Required items which are normally available through GSA Supply Stores or by requisition through any other established Government supply system need not be reported. The listings shall include total quantities, required delivery dates and respective delivery quantities if multiple deliveries are required. Each item shall be described in general terms and brand names, makes and/or model names or numbers shall be avoided wherever possible.

(2) Specialized supply, equipment, furniture and service requirements. At least six months prior to the beginning of each fiscal year an itemized listing of anticipated specialized supply, equipment, furniture and service repuirements shall be submitted to the appropriate procurement office for planning purposes. The listing shall include estimated total quantities or efforts and anticipated required delivery dates. Each item listed shall be described in synopsis form sufficient for publicizing in the Commerce Business Daily. (See S 1-1.1003-1.)

(3) Heads of affected procuring activities may waive the reporting requirements contained in this Section for specific procurements or for specified classes of procurements where unusually short procurement lead-time or other extraordinary circumstances exist.

(4) Except where reporting requirements have been waived in accordance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section, requisitions containing procurement needs which are additional to those listed in the procurement plans submitted under the requirements of paragraphs (a) (1) and (2) of this section shall be accompanied by narrative justification explaining why those needs were not or could not have been included in the procurement plans. Such requests shall be submitted to the appropriate procurement office through an official designated by the head of the departmental office or operating unit.

(b) Each departmental office and/or operating unit should develop and issue implementing procedures to provide for collection of procurement planning data from all subordinate organizations in order to accommodate timely submission of the required reports.

§ 13-1.450-4 Planning for major systems acquisitions.

(a) Upon approval of a mission need by the Secretary (See DAO 208-3 and OMB Circular A-109) the Department's Acquisition Executive shall designate the procurement office which will provide procurement support throughout all phases of that major systems acquisition process. (See DOC PR 13-4.50.)

(b) Upon notification of the designation of a supporting procurement office, the program manager shall, within 60 days, contact that procurement office for assistance in developing an overall procurement plan to be submitted to the acquisition executive for approval. The overall procurement plan shall include a schedule for completion of at least each of the following functions for each of the major systems acquisition procurement phases (i.e. exploration of alternative systems, competitive demonstrations, full-scale development and production):

(1) Development of a solicitation in terms of mission need.

(2) Advance publicity for the initial, exploration phase.

(3) Issuance of Requests for Proposals (RFP's).

(4) Closing dates for RFP's. (5) Evaluation and award.

(c) All changes in the overall procurement plan shall be submitted by the program manager to the acquisition executive along with a narrative explanation of the necessity for each change.

§ 13-1.450-5 Precontract support.

After submission of the requirement to the procurement activity, program personnel must continue to support the procurement process by providing advice and assistance to the contracting officer in activities such as:

(a) Formulation of procurement schedules.

(b) Conduct of presolicitation or prebid/preproposal briefings of prospective contractors.

(c) Conduct of preaward surveys to determine contractor responsibility.

(d) Evaluation of technical and business proposals submitted by contractors, including requests for Government-furnished facilities and equip

ment.

(e) Development or evaluation and documentation of plans, procedures, and contract provisions relating to quality control, inspection, test data, patent data and acceptance of products or services.

(f) Establishment of contract requirements concerning packing, packaging, marking, inspection, point of acceptance, and shipment of products.

§ 13-1.450-6 Postaward contract administration.

(a) Upon execution of the contract by the contracting officer and the contractor, the mutual obligations of the Government and the contractor are established by and limited to the written stipulations in the contract instrument. Unless authorized by the contracting officer, program or technical personnel shall not direct or request the contractor to assume any obligation or take any action not specifically stated in the contract. Only the contracting officer may impose on the contractor any requirement which will result in a change to the contract. All contract changes must be directed in

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writing or confirmed in writing by the contracting officer.

(b) The role of program, technical, and other personnel in postaward administration of the contract is to assist or advise the contracting officer (or act as his representative when so designated by the contracting officer) in activities such as:

(1) Conduct of conferences to ensure mutual understanding between the Government and the contractor as to the scope of the contract, technical and business requirements, and the rights and obligations of the parties.

(2) Technical liaison during contract performance and matters relating to product delivery, acceptance, or rejection.

(3) Evaluation of contractor performance, evaluation of reports and data, subcontract management, utilization of facilities and equipment, cost control, etc.

(4) Contractor systems and procedures evaluation; including accounting policies and procedures, purchasing policy and practices, property accounting and control, wage and salary plans and rate structures, personnel policies and practices, etc.

(5) Modification, renewal, or termination of the contract.

(6) Processing of final decisions under the disputes clause and appeals therefrom.

PART 13-2-[RESERVED]

PART 13-3-PROCUREMENT BY NEGOTIATION

Subpart 13-3.8-Price Negotiation Policies and Techniques

§ 13-3.805-50 Evaluation procedures-Use of the Source Selection Advisory Boards System.

(a) The Source Selection Advisory Boards System (SSABS) shall be used by all operating units and Departmental offices for evaluating competitive negotiated procurement proposals when:

(1) The estimated value of the procurement is expected to exceed $1,000,000 or,

(2) The estimated value of the immediate procurement is expected to be less than $1,000,000, but continuing related procurements are foreseeable and the cumulative total may exceed $1,000,000 or,

(3) The estimated value of the procurement is not expected to exceed $1,000,000 but the head of the requisitioning office or activity, either independently or at the request of the contracting officer, determines in writing that SSABS processing is desirable and would be cost effective. Such written determinations shall be forwarded to the cognizant contracting officer for inclusion in the official procurement file.

(b) Procurements which are formally advertised or noncompetitively negotiated and procurements for Architect-Engineer Services are specifically excluded from consideration for SSABS Action.

(c) The detailed operating procedures for Source Selection Advisory Boards Systems are contained in Department Administrative Order DAO 208-15 and in the specific implementing instructions of each Departmental office or operating unit.

(Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 486(c)), as delegated by the Secretary in Department Order 10-5)

[43 FR 22039, May 23, 1978]