PART 1315 - CONTRACTING BY NEGOTIATION

The designee authorized to grant exemptions from the uniform contract format is set forth in CAM 1301.70.

(a) Section L, Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents.

(1) The contracting officer shall insert the provision 1352.215-70, Proposal Preparation, in all solicitations. Contracting officers should tailor the provision to best meet the Government's needs. Information requested from offerors in Volume II-Technical Proposal, must correspond to the evaluation factors. Contracting officers should not request information that will not be evaluated in accord with the stated technical evaluation factors. Should electronic submission be allowed by the CO, specific instructions must be added.

(2) Insert a provision similar to 1352.215-71, Instructions for Oral Presentations, in solicitations when oral presentations will be used. Contracting officers shall tailor the provision to suit their acquisition.

(3) The contracting officer shall insert the provision 1352.215-72, Inquiries, in solicitations as determined by the CO. This provision may be modified to satisfy the needs of specific procurements.

(b) Section M, Evaluation factors for award.

(1) The contracting officer shall insert provision 1352.215-73, Evaluation Quantities-Indefinite Quantity Contract, in solicitations for indefinite quantity and requirements contracts, as appropriate. This provision may be modified to satisfy the needs of specific procurements.

(2) The contracting officer shall insert the provision similar to 1352.215-74, Best Value Evaluation, for competitive, best value procurements, tailoring the language as appropriate. If clause 1352.215-74, Best Value Evaluation, is used, then clause 1352.215-75 Evaluation Criteria, must be used.

(3) The contracting officer shall insert a provision in all solicitations similar to 1352.215-75, Evaluation Criteria, to specify evaluation criteria, tailoring the language as appropriate. If the basis for award is lowest price technically acceptable, this must be stated.

(4) The contracting officer shall insert provision 1352.215-76, Cost or Pricing Data, in all solicitations when cost or pricing data is required under FAR subpart 15.4.

The designee authorized to waive the examination of records by the Comptroller General is set forth in CAM 1301.70.

The contracting officer is designated as the source selection authority for competitive negotiated acquisitions of less than $10,000,000. The source selection authority for large dollar competitive negotiated acquisitions of $10,000,000 or more is the head of the operating unit. The head of the operating unit may re-delegate the authority to a Department manager who is at an organizational level above the contracting officer and who has sufficient rank and professional experience to effectively carry out the functions of a source selection authority.

At the discretion of the contracting officer, cost information may be provided to members of the technical evaluation team.

The should-cost review report shall include all elements listed in FAR 15.407-4(a)(1) and be provided to the contracting officer for use in negotiations.

In accord with FAR 16.602, the DOC encourages the submission of new and innovative ideas which support the DOC mission.

DOC will accept for review and consideration unsolicited proposals from any entity. DOC will not pay any costs associated with the preparation of unsolicited proposals. Proposals which do not meet the definition and applicable content and marking requirements of FAR 15.6 will not be considered under any circumstances and will be returned to the submitter. Unsolicited proposals may not be submitted electronically.

(a) Unsolicited proposals are to be submitted to the appropriate DOC contracting office. Any person or entity considering the submission of an unsolicited proposal should first determine, based on the subject matter of the proposal, to which DOC operating unit the proposal applies. Proposers should contact the applicable operating unit contracting office to determine procedures for submission and to whom to send the proposal.

(b) Program offices must immediately transmit any unsolicited proposals sent to them to their contracting office. If there is a question concerning which operating unit should evaluate an unsolicited proposal, the contracting office shall identify the proper office, in coordination with the Office of Acquisition Management, if necessary, and transmit the proposal to the applicable contracting office.

(a) The operating unit contracting office is designated as the point of contact for receipt of unsolicited proposals. Persons within DOC (e.g. technical personnel) who receive unsolicited proposals shall forward all documents to their cognizant contracting office.

(b) Within ten working days after receipt by the contracting office of an unsolicited proposal, the contracting office shall review the proposal and determine whether the proposal meets the content and marking requirements of FAR 15.6. If the proposal does not meet these requirements, it shall be returned to the submitter, giving the reasons for noncompliance.

(a) If the contracting officer determines, upon initial review, that the unsolicited proposal meets all criteria in FAR 15.606-1, the contracting officer will acknowledge receipt of the proposal, coordinate evaluation with the program office, and provide to the submitter an estimated date that evaluation of the proposal is expected to be completed. The contracting officer shall transmit the proposal to the program office for evaluation, marking it in accord with FAR 15.609(d). If the estimated date for completion of the evaluation cannot be met, the submitter should be informed in a timely manner and provided with a revised evaluation completion date.

(b) The evaluating office shall not reproduce or disseminate the proposal to other offices without the consent of the contracting officer. If the evaluating office requires additional information from the proposer, the evaluator shall request the information through the contracting officer, who will contact the proposer. The evaluator shall not communicate directly with the proposer.

(c) Evaluators shall notify the contracting officer of their recommendations when the evaluation is complete. Following evaluation, the contracting officer shall proceed in accord with FAR 15.607.