(2) Purchases ranging in excess of 10 percent of the small purchase limitation up to and including the small purchase limitation which are made without full and open competition require justification as to why competition was not obtained. The justification, which may be in the form of a paragraph or paragraphs in the request for contract or requisition, must address the considerations in FAR Subpart 6.3 and Subpart 306.3. The contracting officer may approve or disapprove the justification. Award of the contract or purchase order by the contracting officer shall constitute approval of the justification (see 306.304(a)(1)).

[49 FR 13977, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 23129, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985; 56 FR 47002, Sept. 17, 1991]

313.107 Solicitation and evaluation of

quotations.

(e) Amendments. (1) If after the issuance of a request for quotations but before the closing date of their receipt, it becomes necessary (i) to make significant changes in the quantity, specifications, or delivery schedule, (ii) to make any change in the closing date, or (iii) to correct a defect or ambiguity, the change shall be accomplished by issuance of an amendment to the request. Requests for quotations using the Standard Form 18 may be amended by letter. Oral requests for quotations may be amended orally.

(2) When it is considered necessary to issue an amendment to a request for quotations, the period of time remaining before closing and the need for extending this period by postponing the time set for closing must be considered. Where only a short time remains before the time set for closing, extension of time may be made by telegram or telephone. This notification should be confirmed in the amendment.

(3) Any information given to one potential quoter concerning a request for quotations shall be furnished promptly to all other potential quoters in an amendment to the request, if the information is necessary to potential quoters in submitting quotations, or if the lack of the information would be

prejudicial to uninformed potential quoters.

[49 FR 13977, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 49 FR 36110, Sept. 14, 1984; 56 FR 47003, Sept. 17, 1991]

Subpart 313.2-Blanket Purchase Agreements

313.201 General.

(e) Each blanket purchase arrangement (BPA) shall be documented by issuance of a contractual instrument which is appropriately numbered.

313.204 Purchases under Blanket Purchase Agreements.

(e)(5) Delivery documents, invoices, etc. signed by the Government employee receiving the item or service, will be forwarded to the fiscal office or other paying office as designated by the OPDIV. Payment will be made on the basis of the signed document, invoice, etc. Contracting offices will ensure that established procedures allowing for availability of funds are in effect prior to placement of orders.

[49 FR 13977, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 56 FR 47003, Sept. 17, 1991]

Subpart 313.4-Imprest Fund 313.403 Agency responsibilities.

(a) The amount of each imprest fund shall be established on the basis of the estimated monthly payment and the need for replenishment. A review shall be made by the responsible official at least quarterly to insure that the fund is not in excess of needs, and appropriate adjustments are made accordingly.

(c) Requests to establish imprest funds shall be made to the responsible fiscal office. At larger activities where the cashier may not be conveniently located near the purchasing office, a Class C Cashier may be installed in the purchasing office. Documentation of cash purchases shall be in accordance with instructions contained in the HHS Voucher Audit Manual Part 1, Chapter 1-10.

tifications by bidders. If allowed, the provisions of FAR 14.213 shall be followed.

Subpart 314.4-Opening of Bids and Award of Contract

314.404 Rejection of bids.

314.404-1 Cancellation of invitations after opening.

(c) The chief of the contracting office (CCO) shall make the determination required by FAR 14.404–1(c).

(e) The CCO shall make the referenced determination.

[51 FR 44294, Dec. 9, 1986]

314.406 Mistakes in bids.

314.406-3 Other mistakes disclosed before award.

(e) Authority has been delegated to the Protest Control Officer, Division of Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition and Grants Management (OAGM) to make administrative determinations in connection with mistakes in bid alleged after opening and before award. This authority may not be redelegated.

(f) Each proposed determination shall have the concurrence of the Chief, Business Law Branch, Business and Administrative Law Division, Office of General Counsel.

(g)(3) The data required by FAR 14.406-3(g)(3) shall be marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION-MISTAKE IN BID" and submitted through acquisition channels to the Protest Control Officer, Division of Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition and Grants Management (OAGM). The file shall be assembled in an orderly manner and shall include an index of enclosures. A single copy of the file is sufficient.

(4) Since examination of evidence is necessary to determine the proper course of action to be taken, no action will be taken on cases referred by telephone or telegraph.

(5) Where the evidence submitted by the bidder is incomplete or in need of clarification, the contracting officer shall document the file to indicate the effort made to obtain clear and convincing evidence to support the alleged mistake. Since the burden of providing

such evidence lies with the bidderclaimant, repeated efforts to obtain such information are neither necessary nor desirable.

(i) Doubtful cases shall not be submitted by the contracting officer directly to the Comptroller General, but shall be submitted as indicated in 314.406-3(g)(3).

[49 FR 13978, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 23126, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985; 54 FR 24343, June 7, 1989]

314.406-4 Mistakes after award.

(c) Authority has been delegated to the Protest Control Officer, Division of Acquisition Policy, OAGM to make administrative determinations in connection with mistakes in bid alleged after award. This authority may not be redelegated.

(d) Each proposed determination shall have the concurrence of the Chief, Business Law Branch, Business and Administrative Law Division, Office of General Counsel.

(2) The data required by FAR 14.4064(e)(2) shall be marked "IMMEDIATE ACTION-MISTAKE IN BID" and submitted as prescribed in 314.406-3(g)(3).

[49 FR 13978, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 23126, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985; 54 FR 24343, June 7, 1989]

The determination approval required by FAR 15.405-1 that a solicitation for information or planning purposes is appropriate shall be made by the chief of the contracting office.

315.406 Preparing requests for proposals (RFP's) and requests for quotations (RFQ's).

(a) The contracting officer is responsible for preparing the RFP with the assistance of the project officer. The purpose of the RFP is to convey information that prospective offerors need to prepare a proposal. The RFP inIcludes the statement of work and the terms, conditions and provisions that will form the basis for the final definitive contract. It specifies all the information that prospective offerors must furnish to permit a meaningful and equitable evaluation of their offers. The RFP must be clear, complete, accurate, and consistent with the requirements of the acquisition so that it provides all who receive it with the same understanding of the requirements. Much of the information in the RFP is either derived directly from the request for contract or is otherwise furnished by the project officer. Therefore, it is important that the project officer develop a meaningful request for contract and supporting documentation during the initial presolicitation phase which will fully satisfy program needs and objectives when included in the RFP (see Subpart 315.70).

(b) Careful drafting of the RFP is vital to the proper working of the competitive process. The success of the acquisition depends, in large measure, on how well the work to be performed and the basic ground rules under which the competition will be conducted are described in the RFP. Particular effort must be made to develop a comprehensive and accurate statement of work (see 307.105-3 and FAR 35.007) to prevent ambiguities and to avoid misunderstandings which might otherwise surface at later stages of the acquisition.

(c) Care should be taken to avoid conflicting statements in the RFP. Clear

distinctions must be made as to the contents and purpose of the statement of work, the instructions to offerors, and the evaluation criteria. Briefly:

(1) The statement of work must clearly specify the work to be done by the resultant contractor (or, if it is an R & D acquisition, present a clear statement of the requirements, see FAR Part 35);

(2) The general, technical, and business instructions must delineate all the essential information prospective offerors need to know in preparing their proposals (see 315.406-5(b)); and

(3) The evaluation criteria must clearly indicate the technical, management, personnel, and cost or pricing factors which are to be the major considerations in selecting the successful offeror (see 315.406-5(c)).

(d) The RFP must require that proposals be submitted in two parts-a "Technical Proposal" and a "Business Proposal." Each part is to be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the other.

(e) The technical and business proposal instructions of the RFP must provide all the information deemed essential for proper evaluation of the proposals 80 that all prospective offerors are aware of all requirements, and so that differences in proposals will reflect each offeror's individual approach to the clear and unambiguous requirements and criteria stated in the RFP.

(f) The RFP must inform prospective offerors of all evaluation criteria and of the relative importance or weight attached to each criterion. Evaluation criteria must be described sufficiently enough in the RFP to inform prospective offerors of the significant matters which should be addressed in the proposals. Only the evaluation criteria set forth in the RFP shall be used in the evaluation of proposals, and the criteria can only be modified by a formal amendment to the RFP.

(g) Generally, the RFP will provide that the technical proposal not contain any reference to cost. However, resource information, such as data concerning labor hours and categories, materials, subcontracts, travel, computer time, etc., must be included in the

technical proposal so that the offeror's understanding of the scope of work may be evaluated.

(h) The project officer should be offered the opportunity to review the finalized RFP before it is printed and released.

315.406-1 Uniform contract format.

The uniform contract format specified in FAR 15.406-1 and Table 15-1 shall be used by all contracting activities of the Department.

[49 FR 13979, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 50 FR 23129, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985]

315.406-2 Part I-The Schedule.

(a) Section A, Solicitation/contract form. (3) Contracting activities are encouraged to use SF 33 for RFPs. In those instances where a contracting activity believes the SF 33 is not appropriate, a transmittal letter may be used. However, it is essential that the transmittal letter contain the pertinent information that must be brought to the attention of prospective offerors, so the information contained in FAR 15.4062(a)(3) shall be included in it. The transmittal letter should also contain reference to the solicitation provision "Late Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals of Proposals Quotations" and stress the importance of timeliness. The last paragraph of the transmittal letter should provide the name and complete telephone number of a contract specialist who can provide information concerning the solicitation.

or

[49 FR 13979, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended 54 FR 24343, June 7, 1989]

315.406-3 Part II-Contract clauses.

Section I, Contract clauses.

This section should contain all the pertinent contract clauses applicable to the acquisition, to include those contained in the general provisions, any additions or modifications to the general provisions, and special contract clauses (see Part 352-Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses).