Source selection methods, evaluation criteria, and best value tradeoff concepts used in federal contract award decisions.
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- What are the two primary source selection methods under the FAR?
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Sealed bidding (FAR 14) and competitive proposals (FAR 15).- Define 'best value' in the context of federal source selection.
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The highest overall quality and best overall benefit to the government, achieved through balancing tradeoffs among technical merit, past performance, cost, and schedule.- What is the primary difference between sealed bidding and competitive proposals?
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Sealed bidding requires bids to be firm and final at opening; competitive proposals allow discussions with offerors after receipt.- What must a source selection plan document?
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The evaluation factors, their relative importance, the evaluation process, selection methodology, and any discussions policy.- What is the 'competitive range'?
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The range of offerors whose proposals have a reasonable chance of being selected for award.- What are 'discussions' in federal contracting source selection?
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Written or oral communications between the contracting officer and offerors within the competitive range to clarify or improve proposals, conducted after initial evaluation.- What is the difference between 'clarifications' and 'discussions'?
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Clarifications are one-way requests to offerors for minor factual information; discussions are two-way exchanges to allow improvement of proposals.- What does 'lowest price technically acceptable' (LPTA) mean?
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A source selection approach where proposals meeting or exceeding minimum technical requirements are ranked by price, with the lowest-priced qualifying proposal selected for award.- Who has the authority to make the final source selection decision?
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The source selection official, typically the contracting officer or a senior official designated in the acquisition strategy.- What is a 'source selection board' and what role does it play?
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A group of specialists assembled to evaluate proposals and make recommendations to the source selection official; advisors only, not decision makers.- What must be documented in the evaluation record for each proposal?
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Strengths, weaknesses, risks, and scoring or ratings against each evaluation factor, plus rationale for any tradeoffs made.- What is 'cost realism' analysis?
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An evaluation of whether proposed costs are realistic and achievable given the contractor's technical approach, resources, and schedule.- Define 'past performance' as an evaluation factor.
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A contractor's history of on-time delivery, quality, compliance with contract terms, and successful similar work on prior contracts.- What is required when evaluating a proposal with cost-plus pricing?
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Evaluation of the reasonableness of the profit or fee, the contractor's cost control systems, and the estimated costs for the work.- What must the source selection decision document include?
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The rationale for selection, discussion of tradeoffs made, why the selected offeror represents best value, and addressing any significant evaluation issues.
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