Source: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/01-19r/html/Subpart_15_2.html
Timestamp: 2014-04-23 17:57:32
Document Index: 755335393

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 15', 'art 15', 'art 11', 'art 46', 'art 11', 'art 4']

Subpart 15.2- Solicitation and Receipt of Proposals and Information Subpart 15.2- Solicitation and Receipt of Proposals and Information
15.200 Scope of subpart. This subpart prescribes policies and procedures for-
(b) Preparing and issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) and requests for information (RFIs); and (c) Receiving proposals and information.
(b) The purpose of exchanging information is to improve the understanding of Government requirements and industry capabilities, thereby allowing potential offerors to judge whether or how they can satisfy the Government's requirements, and enhancing the Government's ability to obtain quality supplies and services, including construction, at reasonable prices, and increase efficiency in proposal preparation, proposal evaluation, negotiation, and contract award.
(8) Presolicitation or preproposal conferences; and (9) Site visits.
(d) The special notices of procurement matters at 5.205(c), or electronic notices, may be used to publicize the Government's requirement or solicit information from industry.
(1) Government's requirement;
(3) Information required to be in the offeror's proposal; and
15.204 Contract format. The use of a uniform contract format facilitates preparation of the solicitation and contract as well as reference to, and use of, those documents by offerors, contractors, and contract administrators. The uniform contract format need not be used for the following:
15.204-1 Uniform contract format. (a) Contracting officers shall prepare solicitations and resulting contracts using the uniform contract format outlined in Table 15-1 of this subsection. (b) Solicitations using the uniform contract format shall include Parts I, II, III, and IV (see 15.204-2 through 15.204-5). Upon award, contracting officers shall not physically include Part IV in the resulting contract, but shall retain it in the contract file. Section K shall be incorporated by reference in the contract. Table 15-1- Uniform Contract Format
B Supplies or services and prices/costs C
Description/specifications/statement of work D Packaging and marking E Inspection and acceptance
Part II-Contract Clauses
Part III-List of Documents, Exhibits, and Other Attachments
K Representations, certifications, and other statements of offerors or respondents
Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents M
15.204-2 Part I-The Schedule.
(a) Section A, Solicitation/contract form. (1) Optional Form (OF) 308, Solicitation and Offer-Negotiated Acquisition, or Standard Form (SF) 33, Solicitation, Offer and Award, may be used to prepare RFPs. (2) When other than OF 308 or SF 33 is used, include the following information on the first page of the solicitation:
(ii) Solicitation number. (iii) Date of issuance. (iv) Closing date and time. (v) Number of pages. (vi) Requisition or other purchase authority. (vii) Brief description of item or service. (viii) Requirement for the offeror to provide its name and complete address, including street, city, county, state, and zip code, and electronic address (including facsimile address), if appropriate.
(b) Section B, Supplies or services and prices/costs. Include a brief description of the supplies or services; e.g., item number, national stock number/part number if applicable, nouns, nomenclature, and quantities. (This includes incidental deliverables such as manuals and reports.) (c) Section C, Description/specifications/statement of work. Include any description or specifications needed in addition to Section B (see Part 11, Describing Agency Needs).
(e) Section E, Inspection and acceptance. Include inspection, acceptance, quality assurance, and reliability requirements (see Part 46, Quality Assurance). (f) Section F, Deliveries or performance. Specify the requirements for time, place, and method of delivery or performance (see Subpart 11.4, Delivery or Performance Schedules, and 47.301-1). (g) Section G, Contract administration data. Include any required accounting and appropriation data and any required contract administration information or instructions other than those on the solicitation form. Include a statement that the offeror should include the payment address in the proposal, if it is different from that shown for the offeror. (h) Section H, Special contract requirements. Include a clear statement of any special contract requirements that are not included in Section I, Contract clauses, or in other sections of the uniform contract format. 15.204-3 Part II-Contract Clauses.
Section I, Contract clauses. The contracting officer shall include in this section the clauses required by law or by this regulation and any additional clauses expected to be included in any resulting contract, if these clauses are not required in any other section of the uniform contract format. An index may be inserted if this section's format is particularly complex.
15.204-4 Part III-List of Documents, Exhibits, and Other Attachments.
15.204-5 Part IV-Representations and Instructions. The contracting officer shall prepare the representations and instructions as follows:
(a) Section K, Representations, certifications, and other statements of offerors. Include in this section those solicitation provisions that require representations, certifications, or the submission of other information by offerors. (b) Section L, Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents. Insert in this section solicitation provisions and other information and instructions not required elsewhere to guide offerors or respondents in preparing proposals or responses to requests for information. Prospective offerors or respondents may be instructed to submit proposals or information in a specific format or severable parts to facilitate evaluation. The instructions may specify further organization of proposal or response parts, such as-
(4) Past performance; and (5) Cost or pricing data (see Table 15-2 of 15.408) or information other than cost or pricing data.
(c) Amendments issued after the established time and date for receipt of proposals shall be issued to all offerors that have not been eliminated from the competition. (d) If a proposal of interest to the Government involves a departure from the stated requirements, the contracting officer shall amend the solicitation, provided this can be done without revealing to the other offerors the alternate solution proposed or any other information that is entitled to protection (see 15.207(b) and 15.306(e)).
(f) Oral notices may be used when time is of the essence. The contracting officer shall document the contract file and formalize the notice with an amendment (see Subpart 4.5, Electronic Commerce in Contracting). (g) At a minimum, the following information should be included in each amendment:
(b)(1) Any proposal, modification, or revision, that is received at the designated Government office after the exact time specified for receipt of proposals is "late" and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the contracting officer determines that accepting the late proposal would not unduly delay the acquisition; and-
(e) Proposals may be withdrawn by written notice at any time before award. Oral proposals in response to oral solicitations may be withdrawn orally. The contracting officer must document the contract file when oral withdrawals are made. One copy of withdrawn proposals should be retained in the contract file (see 4.803(a)(10)). Extra copies of the withdrawn proposals may be destroyed or returned to the offeror at the offeror's request. Where practicable, electronically transmitted proposals that are withdrawn must be purged from primary and backup data storage systems after a copy is made for the file. Extremely bulky proposals must only be returned at the offeror's request and expense.
15.209 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses. When contracting by negotiation-
(a) The contracting officer shall insert the provision at 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors-Competitive Acquisition, in all competitive solicitations where the Government intends to award a contract without discussions. (1) If the Government intends to make award after discussions with offerors within the competitive range, the contracting officer shall use the basic provision with its Alternate I.
(b)(1) The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 52.215-2, Audit and Records-Negotiation (10 U.S.C. 2313, 41 U.S.C. 254d, and OMB Circular No. A-133), in solicitations and contracts except those for-
(i) Acquisitions not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold; (ii) The acquisition of utility services at rates not exceeding those established to apply uniformly to the general public, plus any applicable reasonable connection charge; or
(2) For facilities acquisitions, the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate I. (3) For cost-reimbursement contracts with State and local Governments, educational institutions, and other nonprofit organizations, the contracting officer shall use the clause with its Alternate II.
(g) The contracting officer shall insert the provision at 52.215-7, Annual Representations and Certifications-Negotiation, in solicitations if annual representations and certifications are used (see 14.213).
15.210 Forms. Prescribed forms are not required to prepare solicitations described in this part. The following forms may be used at the discretion of the contracting officer:
(a) Standard Form 33, Solicitation, Offer and Award, and Optional Form 308, Solicitation and Offer-Negotiated Acquisition, may be used to issue RFPs and RFIs.