(a) Preaward Notification to Unsuccessful/Unacceptable Offerors. Contracting officers must use a customized Notification Letter and Evaluation Statement (NLES) to notify offerors whose submissions are eliminated from the competition (e.g., not deemed to be part of competitive range or technically unacceptable)

(1) Sample NLES language is located at http://insite.gsa.gov/inform.

(2) Contracting officers must also follow the appropriate FAR Part (e.g. 15.503(a)) to ensure timely notification to unsuccessful offerors.

(3) Contracting officers may delay sending the NLES until the time of award to prevent any delays in awarding the contract or order.

(b) Evaluation. For each procurement using the INFORM post-award communication process, contracting officers are encouraged to—

(1) Design and implement templates for members of the evaluation team to use in evaluating offerors’ submissions which can be easily copied and pasted into the NLES (NLES sample language per FAR part is located at http://insite.gsa.gov/inform);

(2) Incorporate language during the evaluation team orientation which commits evaluators to being available during the evaluation, answering of written questions and oral feedback meetings; and,

(3) Obtain the Office of General Counsel (OGC) review (see ADM 5000.4), when applicable.