Cases between the above examples should be evaluated on their merits with either positive or negative adjustments, as appropriate, in profit being made. However, where a highly facilitized contractor is to perform a contract which does not benefit from this facilitization or where a contractor's use of its facilities has a minimum cost impact on the contract, profit need not be adjusted. When applicable, the prospective contractor's computation of facilities capital cost of money for pricing purposes under CAS 414 can help the contracting officer identify the level of facilities investment to be employed in contract performance.

(2) Payments. In analyzing this factor, consideration should be given to the frequency of payments by the Government to the contractor. The key to this weighting is to give proper consideration to the impact the contract will have on the contractor's cash flow. Generally, negative consideration should be given for advance payments and payments more frequent than monthly with maximum reduction being given as the contractor's working capital approaches zero. Positive consideration should be given for payments less frequent than monthly with additional consideration given for a capital turn-over-rate on the contract which is less than the contractor's or the industry's normal capital turn-over rate.

(c) Performance. (Cost-control and other past accomplishments.) The contractor's past performance should be evaluated in such areas as quality of service or product, meeting performance schedules, efficiency in cost control (including need for and reasonableness of cost incurred), accuracy and reliability of previous cost estimates, degree of cooperation by the contractor (both business and technical), timely processing of changes and compliance with other contractual provisions, and management of subcontract programs. Where a contractor has consistently achieved excellent results in the foregoing areas in comparison with other contractors in similar circumstances, such performance merits a proportionately greater opportunity for profit. Conversely a poor record in this regard should be reflect

ed in determining what constitutes a fair and reasonable profit.

(d) Federal socioeconomic programs. This factor, which may apply to special circumstances or particular acquisitions, relates to the extent of a contractor's successful participation in the Government sponsored programs such as small business, small disadvantaged business, labor surplus area, and energy conservation efforts. The contractor's policies and procedures which energetically support Government socioeconomic programs and achieve successful results should be given positive considerations. Conversely, failure or unwillingness on the part of the contractor to support Government socioeconomic programs should be viewed as evidence of poor performance for the purpose of establishing a profit objective.

(e) Special situations. (1) Inventive and developmental contributions. The extent and nature of contractor-initiated and financed independent development should be considered in developing the profit objective, provided that the contracting officer has made a determination that such effort will benefit the contract. The importance of the development in furthering health and human services purposes, the demonstrable initiative in determining the need and application of the development, the extent of the contractor's cost risk, and whether the development cost was recovered directly or indirectly from Government sources should be weighed.

(2) Unusual pricing agreements. Occasionally, unusual contract pricing arrangements are made with the contractor wherein it agrees to cost ceilings, e.g., a ceiling on overhead rates for conditions other than those discussed at FAR 42.707. In such circumstances, the contractor should receive favorable consideration in developing the profit objective.

(3) Negative factors. Special situations need not be limited to those which only increase profit levels. A negative consideration may be appropriate when the contractor is expected to obtain spin-off benefits as a direct result of the contract (e.g., products or services with commercial application).

When facilities capital cost of money (cost of capital committed to facilities) is included as an item of cost in the contractor's proposal, a reduction in the profit objective shall be made in an amount equal to the amount of facilities capital cost of money allowed in accordance with the Facilities Capital Cost-of-Money Cost Principal. If the contractor does not propose this cost, a provision must be inserted in the contract that facilities capital cost of money is not an allowable cost.

[49 FR 13979, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 53 FR 15563, May 2, 1988]

Subpart 315.10-Preaward, Award, and Postaward Notifications, Protests, and Mistakes

315.1000 General.

Once a contract action has progressed through the evaluation process, and even after the selection of a contractor, all queries as to the relative merits of the submitted proposals shall be courteously but firmly directed to the contracting officer. All other personnel will avoid any exchange of comments with offerors.

[49 FR 13979, Apr. 9, 1984. Redesignated and amended at 50 FR 23132, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985]

315.1003 Debriefing of unsuccessful offer

ors.

(a) Any HHS employee who receives either a written or oral request for a debriefing from an unsuccessful offeror shall immediately, without any discussion regarding the merits or deficiencies of the unsuccessful offeror's proposal, refer the request to the contracting officer. If the request is made orally, the contracting officer shall require that the request be made in writing. The contracting officer or his/her designee shall be present at all debriefings and shall review written debriefings prior to release.

(b) A debriefing is intended to: (1) Tell an unsuccessful offeror which areas of its proposal were judged to be

weak and deficient and whether the weaknesses or deficiencies were factors in its not having been selected; and

(2) Identify the factors which were the basis for selection of the successful contractor. If the quality of the successful offeror's proposal to satisfy the mission requirement was the basis, the unsuccessful offeror should be so informed, and given a general comparison of significant areas, but not a point-by-point comparison of all the elements considered in the evaluation criteria. If the successful offeror was selected on the basis of cost, the unsuccessful offeror should be told that was the case. If selection was based on other factors, they should be specified.

(d) If an unsuccessful offeror feels that its failure to obtain the award was not justified, it will rely, at least in part, on the information given in the debriefing to determine whether it should seek recourse. Accordingly, it is essential that a debriefing be conducted in a scrupulously fair, objective, and impartial manner, and that the information given the unsuccessful offeror be absolutely factual and consistent with the findings of the contracting officer and the basis on which the award was made.

(e) In some cases, it may be necessary to arrange informal debriefings for an unsuccessful offeror's personnel by departmental technical evaluators. This determination will be made by, and meeting arrangements will be the responsibility of, the contracting offi

cer.

(f) It is very important that all departmental personnel engaged in the evaluation and selection processes be aware of the policies and procedures in FAR Subpart 15.10 and this Subpart 315.10. Detailed and complete records of the acquisition will be maintained by key technical and contracting personnel in a manner which will facilitate either a written or an oral debriefing of any unsuccessful offeror.

[49 FR 13979, Apr. 9, 1984. Redesignated and amended at 50 FR 23132, May 31, 1985; 50 FR 38004, Sept. 19, 1985]

315.1004 Protests against award. See Subpart 233.1.

(a) Requests for contract are required to be prepared by the program office for all proposed negotiated acquisitions estimated to exceed $250,000.

(b) The program office should submit the RFC as early as possible to the contracting activity. The proposed period of time between the date of submission of the RFC and the date of contract award (or date of delivery of the product, service, study, etc.) should be determined by the project officer, contract negotiator, and, if necessary, the contracting officer. The amount of leadtime should be determined on a case-by-case basis and should reflect the characteristics and complexities of the individual acquisition. When lengthy and/or involved

clearances or special approval are required, for example, they must be taken into account when the leadtime is determined. If a formal acquisition planning document is used, (see Subpart 307.1), the RFC should be submitted in accordance with the timetable set forth in that document. OPDIV, agency, and regional office contracting activities may prescribe specific leadtimes for submission of RFC's in their implementation of this subpart.

[49 FR 13979, Apr. 9, 1984, as amended at 53 FR 15563, May 2, 1988]

315.7003 Responsibilities.

It is the responsibility of the project officer to prepare the RFC so that it complies with the requirements of this subpart and any OPDIV, agency, or regional office guidance issued in accordance with this subpart. Prior to the submission of the RFC to the contracting activity, the head of the program office sponsoring the project shall review the RFC to ensure that all required information is provided in the prescribed format and a technical review of the statement of work has been made. The level and extent of the technical review is to be commensurate with the estimated cost, importance, and complexity of the proposed acquisition, and must be thorough enough to ensure that vague and ambiguous language is eliminated, the statement of work is structured by phases or tasks, if appropriate, and methods are available for assessing the contractor's technical, cost, and delivery performances.

315.7004 Transmittal.

The RFC will be conveyed to the contracting activity by use of a covering memorandum or other form of transmittal. The transmittal document must be signed by the head of the sponsoring program office and include both a statement attesting to the conclusiveness of the review discussed in the preceding section and a list identifying all attachments to the RFC. A standard format for the transmittal document may be prescribed by the OPDIV, agency, or regional office contracting activity.

315.7005 Format and content.

The Department does not prescribe a standard format for the RFC document, but recommends the use of a format similar to what is provided in this section. The subject areas addressed in paragraphs (a) and (b) must be included in every RFC document, whereas the areas addressed in paragraph (c) need only be included if applicable. An OPDIV, agency, or regional office contracting activity may prescribe a standard format for the RFC document and may include additional subject areas that are pertinent to that activity's needs. Some of the information to be furnished in the RFC document may be repetitive of that found in the acquisition planning document. If this information has not changed since the development of the acquisition planning document, the RFC document may either restate the information as it appears in the acquisition planning document or cross reference the applicable portion where the information appears.

(a) The RFC document must contain the following:

(1) Purpose of contract. A brief, general description of requirements, including the citation of the legislation which authorizes the program or project, is to be provided, along with a statement as to the intended purpose/ use of the proposed contract.

(2) Background and need. The background history and necessity for the proposed contract are to be described. This section is to include prior, present, and planned efforts by the program office in the same or related areas, and a description of efforts by other departmental activities and Federal agencies in the same or related program areas, if known. In addition, specific project information such as the relevance or contribution to overall program objectives, reasons for the need, priority, and project overlap are to be provided.

(3) Period of performance. The number of months (or other time period) required for total performance, and, if applicable, for each phase of work indicated in the statement of work, is to be specified. The program office must indicate the proposed

starting date and the required date of delivery for each deliverable.

(4) Estimated cost and fund citation. The project officer's estimate of the total cost of the proposed contract, and, if applicable, the estimate for each phase indicated in the statement of work, is to be provided. The project officer must provide a cost breakdown of all contributing cost factors, to include an estimate of the technical staff hours, direct materials, subcontracting, travel, etc. The project officer may consult with contracting and cost advisory personnel in developing this information. This section must inIclude the certification of funds availability for the particular proposed acquisition, along with the appropriation and accounting information citations. When funds are not currently available but are anticipated, a statement indicating that the financial plan includes provision for the funds for the proposed acquisition but the funds are not yet available for obligation shall be included in lieu of the certification of funds availability. (Contracts cannot be awarded unless funds are available, but see FAR 32.703-2.)

(5) Reference material. A list, by title and description, of study reports, plans, drawings, and other data to be made available to prospective offerors for use in preparation of proposals and/or the contractor for use in performance of the contract is to be provided. The project officer must indicate whether this material is currently available or when it will be available.

(6) Technical evaluation criteria and instructions. The project officer is to include the technical evaluation criteria, which have been developed based on the requirements of the specific project, and any instructions and information which will assist in the preparation of prospective offerors' technical proposals. For example, critical areas discussed in the statement of work and the relative order of importance and weights assigned to each of these areas for technical evaluation purposes must be identified. These areas may include understanding of the problem, technical approach, experience, personnel, facilities, etc.

(7) Sources for solicitation. The project officer is to develop and in

clude a list of known potential sources by name and mailing address. The project officer is encouraged to use trade and professional journals and publications to identify new prospective sources to supplement the list of known sources. Efforts to identify setaside possibilities, i.e., small, disadvantaged, and labor surplus areas, and women-owned businesses, must be explained.

(8) Special approvals, clearances, and requirements. All special approvals, clearances, and requirements pertinent to the proposed acquisition are to be listed in this section. Copies of the actual documents are to be attached to the RFC. If the approval, clearance, or requirement has been requested and is being processed, a footnote to this effect, including all pertinent details, must be included in this section. A list of Government-wide and Department imposed approvals, clearances, and requirements is set forth in 307.105-2. Comprehensive checklists of these and any OPDIV, agency, regional office, etc. special approvals, clearances, and requirements shall be provided for reference purposes to program offices by the servicing contracting activity.

(9) Identification and disposition of data. The project officer must identify the data expected to be generated by the acquisition and specify the data to be delivered to the Department (see 315.7005(b)(2)) and that to be retained by the contractor. The project officer must also include information relative to the use, maintenance, disclosure, and disposition of data. The project officer must include a statement as to whether or not another acquisition, based upon the data generated by the proposed acquisition, is anticipated. The project officer must also include a statement indicating whether the proposed acquisition is or is not subject to the Privacy Act (see FAR Subpart 24.1 and Subpart 324.1).

(10) Project officer and alternate. The project officer's name, title, organization, mailing address, and telephone number are to be provided in this section, along with the same data for the project officer's alternate. In addition, a statement that the project officer has completed the Depart

ment's project officer training course is to be provided (see 307.170).

(b) The following must be submitted with every RFC but are to be prepared as separate attachments so they may be readily adopted into the request for proposal format:

(1) Statement of work or specification. The statement of work describes the requirements to be performed and may describe the methods to be used (see 307.105-3 and FAR 35.005 for a detailed explanation). A specification is used in lieu of a statement of work when a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements for a product, material, or service can be provided along with the procedure to determine that the requirements have been met. It is essential that a complete and comprehensive statement of work or specification be provided by the project officer.

(2) Schedule of deliverables or reporting requirements. The project officer must specifically describe what is to be delivered and when it is to be delivered to ensure proper contract monitoring. Usually, technical and financial progress reports and the final report are prescribed in this section. These reports should be tailored to the instant acquisition and should avoid unnecessary and burdensome reporting requirements.

(c) The following may not be applicable to all RFC's but must be included as attachments whenever any do apply:

(1) Government property. The project officer must identify, as referenced in the statement of work, the types, individual items, and quantities of Government property to be furnished to or allowed to be acquired by, the resultant contractor, if known. The project officer must specify when the Government property is to be made available to the resultant contractor.

(2) Special terms and conditions. The project officer may suggest inclusion of any special terms and conditions applicable to the proposed acquisition not already covered in the statement of work or the applicable contract general provisions.

(3) Justification for other than full and open competition. If the proposed