(a) FAR 36.602-1 requires that agencies include “location in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of locality of the project” as one of several selection criteria.

(1)  Do not use this evaluation factor as a minimum qualification requirement for determining whether a firm is eligible to compete for a proposed project.

(2)  This factor must not exceed 5 percent of the total weight of all evaluation criteria. In order to receive the maximum score for this factor, the architect-engineer firm(s) must demonstrate that at least 35 percent of the architect-engineer contract services (based on the total contract price) will be accomplished within the geographical boundaries established for the project.

(3) FAR Deviation. Under an approved class deviation from FAR 36.602-1(a)(5), this factor does not apply to projects that the Chief Architect of GSA determines have national significance.

(4) For procurements that are not project specific, such as indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contracts, evaluate based on the geographical area(s) covered by the contract.

(b)  The public announcement for a proposed project should identify the general geographical area of the project such as:

(1)  A radius in miles or other appropriate unit of measure, or

(2)  The Metropolitan Statistical Area, county(ies), or state(s) surrounding the project.

(c)  For more information on the Architect Engineer selection process, see the GSA Design Excellence Policies and Procedures at http://gsa.gov/designexcellence.