H. R. 1107—94 
(b) LIABILITY NOT AFFECTED BY REFUSAL TO SUBMIT CERTIFI-
CATION.—Any liability under this section of a contractor that sub-
mits cost or pricing data but refuses to submit the certification 
required by section 3502(b) of this title with respect to the cost 
or pricing data is not affected by the refusal to submit the certifi-
cation. 
§ 3508. Right to examine contractor records 
For the purpose of evaluating the accuracy, completeness, and 
currency of cost or pricing data required to be submitted by this 
chapter, an executive agency shall have the authority provided 
by section 4706(b)(2) of this title. 
§ 3509. Notification of violations of Federal criminal law or 
overpayments 
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered contract’’ 
means any contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 and 
more than 120 days in duration. 
(b) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.—The Federal Acquisition 
Regulation shall include, pursuant to FAR Case 2007–006 (as pub-
lished at 72 Fed. Reg. 64019, November 14, 2007) or any follow- 
on FAR case, provisions that require timely notification by Federal 
contractors of violations of Federal criminal law or overpayments 
in connection with the award or performance of covered contracts 
or subcontracts, including those performed outside the United 
States and those for commercial items. 
CHAPTER 37—AWARDING OF CONTRACTS 
Sec. 
3701.
Basis of award and rejection. 
3702.
Sealed bids. 
3703.
Competitive proposals. 
3704.
Post-award debriefings. 
3705.
Pre-award debriefings. 
3706.
Encouragement of alternative dispute resolution. 
3707.
Antitrust violations. 
3708.
Protests. 
§ 3701. Basis of award and rejection 
(a) AWARD.—An executive agency shall evaluate sealed bids and 
competitive proposals, and award a contract, based solely on the 
factors specified in the solicitation. 
(b) REJECTION.—All sealed bids or competitive proposals received 
in response to a solicitation may be rejected if the agency head 
determines that rejection is in the public interest. 
§ 3702. Sealed bids 
(a) OPENING OF BIDS.—Sealed bids shall be opened publicly at 
the time and place stated in the solicitation. 
(b) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING CONTRACT.—The executive agency 
shall evaluate the bids in accordance with section 3701(a) of this 
title without discussions with the bidders and, except as provided 
in section 3701(b) of this title, shall award a contract with reason-
able promptness to the responsible source whose bid conforms to 
the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Federal Govern-
ment, considering only price and the other price-related factors 
included in the solicitation. 
(c) NOTICE OF AWARD.—The award of a contract shall be made 
by transmitting, in writing or by electronic means, notice of the
H. R. 1107—95 
award to the successful bidder. Within 3 days after the date of 
contract award, the executive agency shall notify, in writing or 
by electronic means, each bidder not awarded the contract that 
the contract has been awarded. 
§ 3703. Competitive proposals 
(a) EVALUATION AND AWARD.—An executive agency shall evaluate 
competitive proposals in accordance with section 3701(a) of this 
title and may award a contract— 
(1) after discussions with the offerors, provided that written 
or oral discussions have been conducted with all responsible 
offerors who submit proposals within the competitive range; 
or 
(2) based on the proposals received and without discussions 
with the offerors (other than discussions conducted for the 
purpose of minor clarification), if, as required by section 
3306(b)(2)(B)(i) of this title, the solicitation included a state-
ment that proposals are intended to be evaluated, and award 
made, without discussions unless discussions are determined 
to be necessary. 
(b) LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PROPOSALS.—If the contracting officer 
determines that the number of offerors that would otherwise be 
included in the competitive range under subsection (a)(1) exceeds 
the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, 
the contracting officer may limit the number of proposals in the 
competitive range, in accordance with the criteria specified in the 
solicitation, to the greatest number that will permit an efficient 
competition among the offerors rated most highly in accordance 
with those criteria. 
(c) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING CONTRACT.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in section 3701(b) of this title, the executive agency shall 
award a contract with reasonable promptness to the responsible 
source whose proposal is most advantageous to the Federal Govern-
ment, considering only cost or price and the other factors included 
in the solicitation. 
(d) NOTICE OF AWARD.—The executive agency shall award the 
contract by transmitting, in writing or by electronic means, notice 
of the award to that source and, within 3 days after the date 
of contract award, shall notify, in writing or by electronic means, 
all other offerors of the rejection of their proposals. 
§ 3704. Post-award debriefings 
(a) REQUEST FOR DEBRIEFING.—When a contract is awarded by 
the head of an executive agency on the basis of competitive pro-
posals, an unsuccessful offeror, on written request received by the 
agency within 3 days after the date on which the unsuccessful 
offeror receives the notification of the contract award, shall be 
debriefed and furnished the basis for the selection decision and 
contract award. 
(b) WHEN DEBRIEFING TO BE CONDUCTED.—The executive agency 
shall debrief the offeror within, to the maximum extent practicable, 
5 days after receipt of the request by the executive agency. 
(c) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED.—The debriefing shall include, 
at a minimum— 
(1) the executive agency’s evaluation of the significant weak 
or deficient factors in the offeror’s offer; 
(2) the overall evaluated cost and technical rating of the 
offer of the contractor awarded the contract and the overall
H. R. 1107—96 
evaluated cost and technical rating of the offer of the debriefed 
offeror; 
(3) the overall ranking of all offers; 
(4) a summary of the rationale for the award; 
(5) in the case of a proposal that includes a commercial 
item that is an end item under the contract, the make and 
model of the item being provided in accordance with the offer 
of the contractor awarded the contract; and 
(6) reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the 
debriefed offeror as to whether source selection procedures set 
forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other 
applicable authorities were followed by the executive agency. 
(d) INFORMATION NOT TO BE INCLUDED.—The debriefing may 
not include point-by-point comparisons of the debriefed offeror’s 
offer with other offers and may not disclose any information that 
is exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5. 
(e) INCLUSION OF STATEMENT IN SOLICITATION.—Each solicitation 
for competitive proposals shall include a statement that information 
described in subsection (c) may be disclosed in post-award 
debriefings. 
(f) AFTER SUCCESSFUL PROTEST.—If, within one year after the 
date of the contract award and as a result of a successful procure-
ment protest, the executive agency seeks to fulfill the requirement 
under the protested contract either on the basis of a new solicitation 
of offers or on the basis of new best and final offers requested 
for that contract, the head of the executive agency shall make 
available to all offerors— 
(1) the information provided in debriefings under this section 
regarding the offer of the contractor awarded the contract; 
and 
(2) the same information that would have been provided 
to the original offerors. 
(g) SUMMARY TO BE INCLUDED IN FILE.—The contracting officer 
shall include a summary of the debriefing in the contract file. 
§ 3705. Pre-award debriefings 
(a) REQUEST
FOR DEBRIEFING.—When the contracting officer 
excludes an offeror submitting a competitive proposal from the 
competitive range (or otherwise excludes that offeror from further 
consideration prior to the final source selection decision), the 
excluded offeror may request in writing, within 3 days after the 
date on which the excluded offeror receives notice of its exclusion, 
a debriefing prior to award. 
(b) WHEN DEBRIEFING TO BE CONDUCTED.—The contracting 
officer shall make every effort to debrief the unsuccessful offeror 
as soon as practicable but may refuse the request for a debriefing 
if it is not in the best interests of the Federal Government to 
conduct a debriefing at that time. 
(c) PRECONDITION FOR POST-AWARD DEBRIEFING.—The contracting 
officer is required to debrief an excluded offeror in accordance 
with section 3704 of this title only if that offeror requested and 
was refused a pre-award debriefing under subsections (a) and (b). 
(d) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED.—The debriefing conducted 
under this section shall include— 
(1) the executive agency’s evaluation of the significant ele-
ments in the offeror’s offer; 
(2) a summary of the rationale for the offeror’s exclusion; 
and
H. R. 1107—97 
(3) reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the 
debriefed offeror as to whether source selection procedures set 
forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other 
applicable authorities were followed by the executive agency. 
(e) INFORMATION NOT TO BE DISCLOSED.—The debriefing con-
ducted pursuant to this section may not disclose the number or 
identity of other offerors and shall not disclose information about 
the content, ranking, or evaluation of other offerors’ proposals. 
(f) SUMMARY TO BE INCLUDED IN FILE.—The contracting officer 
shall include a summary of the debriefing in the contract file. 
§ 3706. Encouragement of alternative dispute resolution 
The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall include a provision 
encouraging the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques 
to provide informal, expeditious, and inexpensive procedures for 
an offeror to consider using before filing a protest, prior to the 
award of a contract, of the exclusion of the offeror from the competi-
tive range (or otherwise from further consideration) for that con-
tract. 
§ 3707. Antitrust violations 
If the agency head considers that a bid or proposal evidences 
a violation of the antitrust laws, the agency head shall refer the 
bid or proposal to the Attorney General for appropriate action. 
§ 3708. Protests 
(a) PROTEST FILE.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT AND ACCESS.—If, in the case of a solicita-
tion for a contract issued by, or an award or proposed award 
of a contract by, the head of an executive agency, a protest 
is filed pursuant to the procedures in subchapter V of chapter 
35 of title 31, and an actual or prospective offeror requests, 
a file of the protest shall be established by the procuring 
activity and reasonable access shall be provided to actual or 
prospective offerors. 
(2) REDACTED
INFORMATION.—Information exempt from 
disclosure under section 552 of title 5 may be redacted in 
a file established pursuant to paragraph (1) unless an applicable 
protective order provides otherwise. 
(b) AGENCY ACTIONS ON PROTESTS.—If, in connection with a pro-
test, the head of an executive agency determines that a solicitation, 
proposed award, or award does not comply with the requirements 
of law or regulation, the head of the executive agency may— 
(1) take any action set out in subparagraphs (A) to (F) of 
subsection (b)(1) of section 3554 of title 31; and 
(2) pay costs described in paragraph (1) of section 3554(c) 
of title 31 within the limits referred to in paragraph (2) of 
section 3554(c). 
CHAPTER 39—SPECIFIC TYPES OF CONTRACTS 
Sec. 
3901.
Contracts awarded using procedures other than sealed-bid procedures. 
3902.
Severable services contracts for periods crossing fiscal years. 
3903.
Multiyear contracts. 
3904.
Contract authority for severable services contracts and multiyear contracts. 
3905.
Cost contracts. 
3906.
Cost-reimbursement contracts.