(2) Options afforded the Government to acquire an interest in any underlying land; or

(3) Alternative provisions together with an explanation of why such alternatives are considered adequate to protect the interests of the Government. § 593.306-53 Indemnification against extra hazardous risks.

(a) Each request for a Secretarial determination and findings authorizing use of a provision indemnifying the contractor against an unusually hazardous risk shall contain

(1) A description of the proposed or existing contract, e.g. contractor, nature of procurement, type of contract; urgency considerations, if any; and any explanation necessary to apprise the Secretary of any unique or unusual aspects of the procurement;

(2) An analysis of the elements of the contract which are considered to be unusually hazardous, with justification as to why they are so considered, including information concerning possible extent of loss, e.g. geographical areas involved, population density;

(3) Information as to any prior experience indicating demand or absence of demand for indemnification by the same contractor or other contractors in similar situations, and indicating the likelihood of loss occurring as a result of the performance of the contract and an appropriate statement concerning efficacy of preventive measures;

(4) Information concerning the availability of commercial insurance at a reasonable rate and the cost thereof; (this information must be factual, current, and complete, and must show that a bona fide effort has been made to explore feasible commercial insurance coverage); and

(5) A copy of the proposed indemnification clause, or an ASPR reference thereto (see Subpart G, Part 10 of this title).

(b) If the Secretarial determination and findings is under 10 U.S.C. 2354, the request shall also contain

(1) Factual information showing that the contract in which the proposed clause is to be used is for research or development or both;

(2) A statement that the proposed indemnification clause complies fully with the requirements of 10 U.S.C. 2354; and

(3) The reasons why the use of such indemnification clause would be in the interest of the Government.

(c) If the Secretarial action is to be a Memorandum of Approval under Part 17 of this title (Public Law 85-804), the request shall contain factual information supporting a finding that the proposed action will facilitate the national defense.

§ 593.306-54 Waiver of requirement for submission of cost or pricing data and certificate thereof.

Each request for a Secretarial waiver shall contain an elaboration of the facts stated in the Secretarial determination and findings. Since the requirement for submission of cost or pricing data and for a certificate concerning the current status thereof is imposed by statute (10 U.S.C. 2306(f)), each request to the Secretary for approval of a waiver shall include a statement that the contractor has been advised of the statutory basis for the requirement. The request shall also contain facts which demonstrate that the case is of such an unusual, unique, or extraordinary character that the granting of the waiver would not establish a precedent which would tend to diminish the intended broad application of the statute.

§ 593.306-55 Contracts for services of experts and consultants including stenographic reporting services.

Requests for Secretarial approval of a determination and findings related to services of experts and consultants including stenographic reporting services shall comply with Part 612 of this chapter and Part 22 of this title.

§ 593.306-56 Architect-engineer serv. ices.

Architect-engineer services shall be procured only by those procuring activities to whom authority is delegated annually as described in §§ 591.450-5 and 591.5102 of this chapter. If a procuring activity to which architect-engineer contracting authority has not been delegated is required to obtain such services,

arrangements for effecting the procurement shall be made with the appropriate ·Corps of Engineers District.

$593.307

Distribution of copies of determinations and findings.

(a) The original signed determination and findings shall be filed with the signed number of the contract retained in the official files of the purchasing office or cognizant procuring activity. Additional copies shall be distributed as prescribed.

(b) An authenticated copy of the determination and findings required by § 3.307 of this title to be forwarded shall accompany a copy of each relevant contract upon its submission to the General Accounting Office; except that, where it is known that a copy of a class determination and findings is on file in the General Accounting Office, it is permissible to make reference on the face of the contract copy to the applicable class determination and findings, provided the number of the prior contract to which the copy of the class determination and findings was attached is also cited.

§ 593.308 Retention of copies of determinations and findings.

Within the Department of the Army, the responsibility for the retention of copies of determinations and findings and supporting documents shall be that of the cognizant procuring activity.

Subpart D-Types of Contracts 593.406

Other types of contracts.

§ 593.406-1 Time and materials con

tracts.

The determination that no other type of contract will suitably serve shall be made in writing by the contracting officer and shall be approved at a level higher than the contracting officer. The approved determination shall be filed in the appropriate contract file.

§ 593.406-2 Labor-hour contract.

The requirement in § 593.406-1 shall likewise apply to labor-hour contracts. § 593.408 Letter contract.

(a) A head of procuring activity, his deputy, or principal assistant responsible for procurement is authorized, without power of further delegation

(1) To make the written determination required by § 3.408(c)(1) of this title:

(2) To approve letter contracts, provided preaward clearance has been obtained from the appropriate Secretary for a letter contract involving a selected item or project pursuant to § 591.403-54 of this chapter;

(3) To approve letter contracts in excess of 180 days or 40 percent of the work pursuant to § 3.408 (c) (3) of this title;

(4) To approve letter contracts in excess of 50 percent of the total estimated cost of the contemplated definitive contract pursuant to § 3.408 (c) (4) of this title.

(b) AR 37-22

(1) Provides for commitment of the estimated amount of the definitive contract over and above the amount obligated for performance of the letter contract;

(2) Precludes authorizing or creating a commitment in excess of the balances of uncommitted funds available in the appropriate allotment account; and

(3) Defines a commitment as a firm reservation of funds based upon a firm procurement directive which authorizes the creation of an obligation without recourse to the official responsible for assuring that funds are available.

(c) Accordingly, when it is necessary to enter into a letter contract and noyear funds available for obligation and commitment are less than the sum estimated to be necessary for an ultimate definitive contract which may be entered into when additional funds become available, § 3.408 (c) (4) and (5) of this title require that the letter contract, including the attachment or other portion thereof describing the supplies to be delivered or the work to be performed, shall not describe, refer to, or otherwise commit the Government to a definitive contract in excess of the funds available for obligation and commitment at the time the letter contract is consummated. Nevertheless, before definitization, a letter contract may be amended to add additional work and funds at such time as funds and any other required approvals have become available.

(d) In addition to the clauses prescribed in Subpart H, Part 7 of this title.

8 23.201-1 and 23.201-2 of this title set forth requirements for letter contracts under certain exceptional circumstances. Formats for letter contracts are in § 606.552 of this chapter.

(e) The fee in any cost-reimbursement type letter contract and in the resulting definitive contract, and the price negotiation policies and techniques shall be consistent with §§ 3.405 and 3.800 of this title.

§ 593.408-50

Letter contracts awarded, definitized, and outstanding.

(a) Heads of procuring activities who award letter contracts shall prepare and submit quarterly reports on Letter Contracts Awarded, Definitized, and Outstanding, Reports Control Symbol DD-I&L (Q)-679, in the format in § 593.408-51. Reports shall be signed by an individual named in § 591.150 (c) of this title and submitted in duplicate to the addressee in § 591.150(b) (6) of this chapter within 25 calendar days after the close of each quarter year. Negative reports are not required.

(b) Heads of procuring activities subordinate to Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command or U.S. Continental Army Command shall submit their reports to the appropriate Headquarters which shall consolidate the report for submission to the addressee in § 591.150 (b) (6) of this chapter.

(c) For reporting purposes a letter contract consists of a basic letter contract with all amendments and shall be reported as a single letter contract. The total obligated dollar value of the basic letter contract combined with the obligated dollar value of all amendments shall be included. Letter contracts and amendments designated as supplemental agreements to definitive contracts shall be considered as a letter contract and shall be reported as such.

(d) The dollar amounts to be reported shall be obligated amounts prior to definitization. Definitization shall be considered complete when a definitized contract is signed by Government and contractor representatives.

(e) In addition to the quarterly reports from Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command, information required by the quarterly report shall be submitted by

Instructions:

1. Dollar value of amendments shall be entered on line 2, but the amendment shall not be added into the number column.

2. The sums of entries on lines 1 and 2, minus entries on line 3, shall equal the entries on line 4.

3. Entries on line 4 shall be aged on lines a through c, the age to be computed from the date of each basic letter contract through the end of the report period. § 593.408-52 Change orders awarded, definitized, and outstanding.

(a) Heads of procuring activities shall prepare and submit quarterly reports on Change Orders Awarded, Definitized, and Outstanding, Reports Control Symbol DD-I&L(Q)-680, in the format in § 593.408-53 in the same manner as prescribed in § 593.408-50 (a) and (b). Negative reports are not required.

(b) For reporting purposes an undefinitized change order consists of all change orders that have not been definitized in the contract by supplemental agreement.

(c) Change order actions for appeals, letter contracts, or terminations shall not be reported.

(d) The report shall include all change orders of $10,000 or more. The dollar amounts to be reported shall be obligated amounts prior to definitization or the

Instructions:

and Quotations

§ 593.506 Late proposals and modifications.

(a) When a late proposal is received and the contracting officer believes that it should be considered under § 3.506(c) (2) of this title, he shall forward through procurement channels to the addressee in § 591.150(b) (6) of this chapter by the most expeditious means his reasons for considering the late proposal to be of extreme importance to the Government. All facts pertinent to the solicitation which lead to his conclusion shall be stated.

(b) When time of award is of the essence, direct communication between the contracting officer and the addressee in § 591.150 (b) (6) of this chapter is authorized. In such cases, the contracting officer shall furnish the cognizant head of procuring activity a copy of the communication concurrent with its release to the addressee in § 591.150(b) (6). Secretarial

(c) The determination shall be forwarded directly to the contracting officer concerned with informa

tion copies to the cognizant head of procuring activity.

§ 593.550 Debriefing of unsuccessful offerors.

§ 593.550-1 Definitions.

For the purposes of this subpart the following definitions shall apply

(a) "Debriefing" means an explanation of the evaluation of the significant factors contained in an unsuccessful offeror's approval, pointing out major weaknesses and strong points in his proposal.

(b) "Major negotiated procurements" means

(1) Any negotiated procurement exceeding $1 million;

(2) Any negotiated procurement which it is contemplated will lead to follow on awards in excess of $1 million; and

(3) Any other type procurement which involves extensive proposals and evaluation of special areas such as scientific approach, technical capability, and business management; e.g., project definition studies.

§ 593.550-2 Policy.

(a) Although not mandatory, debriefings after award shall be given serious

consideration by each head of procuring activity and commanders of each research, engineering, and test installation or activity in selected major negotiated procurements when it is obvious that extensive effort and substantial amounts of money and time have been expended in preparation of proposals.

(b) If any unsuccessful offeror requests a debriefing, the cognizant head of procuring activity or commander shall endeavor to have a debriefing conducted. Authority to conduct debriefings may be delegated as deemed appropriate by the head of procuring activity or commander. § 593.550-3 Procedure.

(a) When it is determined that a particular procurement justifies a debriefing each unsuccessful offeror shall be advised that a debriefing is available and shall be informed as to the Government office concerned and its location. Notification of debriefings shall be given at the time an unsuccessful offeror is notified of award of a procurement or as soon thereafter as practicable.

(b) If an offeror requests a debriefing, arrangements shall be made to conduct the debriefing promptly.

(c) A debriefing shall be confined to a discussion of the unsuccessful offeror's proposal in relation to the Government's requirement. Care shall be taken to avoid

(1) Comparing one offeror's proposal with another; and

(2) Disclosure of information contained in other competitive offers, such as cost breakdown, trade secrets, processes, and techniques, or any information received in confidence.

(d) Information as to specific weights or points assigned during the evaluation shall not be disclosed.

§ 593.550-4 Records.

The contract file shall be documented with a record of any debriefing action taken.

Subpart F-Small Purchase and Other Simplified Purchase Procedures § 593.604 Competition and price representation in small purchases.

§ 593.604-3 Price representation.

Imprest funds, blanket purchase agreements, and Standard Forms 44 shall not be used for making small purchases to

(1) For supplies or services for which unpriced purchase orders should be used (§ 3.608-3 of this title), e.g. repair services where disassembly of the item to be repaired is required to determine the nature and extent of repairs or where exact prices of repair services are not known at the time the services are ordered; or

(2) With suppliers having Brand Name Contracts for commissary resale items available thereunder (§ 594.5102 of this chapter), except

(i) When a Brand Name Contract specifies a minimum shipping quantity, (ii) The resale items are normally purchased in quantities less than the minimum shipping quantity, and

(iii) The supplier is willing to sell the items in lesser quantities at reasonable prices.

(b) Contracting officers shall, whenever practicable, establish prepriced BPA's by negotiating firm unit prices for specific periods of time or by incorporating in or attaching to BPA's supplier's price lists or catalogs.

(c) Responsibility for the function of placing calls under BPA's rests with the contracting officer, who may

(1) Authorize individuals assigned to his purchasing office to place calls in any dollar amount within the limitation in § 3.605-2 of this title under BPA's established by him; and

(2) Authorize individuals in requiring activities such as commissaries, hospitals, research laboratories, or isolated off-post locations to place calls whose aggregate dollar amount does not exceed $250 under BPA's established by him; except that individuals in commissaries may be authorized to place calls for subsistence items without monetary limitation when the BPA contains the Examination of Records by Comptroller General clause (§ 7.104-15 of this title).