Best Practices for a FAR 15 Procurement PART 1 – DEVELOPING THE SOLICITATION

Agenda  Reviewing Customer Requirements  Developing Evaluation Criteria  Proposal Preparation Instructions

Typical FAR Part 15 Source Selection Process Source: DISA Acquisition Deskbook

Reviewing Customer Requirements  Review the requirements and determine what it is the customer wants  Set up Acquisition Team  Subject matter experts  Technical writers  End users  Financial branch  Contracting

Exchanges with Industry  FAR Encourages agencies to promote early exchanges with industry prior to receipt of proposals  This can help clarify the contract requirements  Interested parties are: potential offerors, end users, government acquisition and support personnel

Information exchanged with interested parties  The following information can be exchanged with an interested party  Acquisition strategy  Proposed contract type  Contract Terms and Conditions  Acquisition planning schedules  Data requirements  Proposal instructions and potential evaluation factors  Approach for processing past performance

Examples of Exchanges with Industry  There are several ways contracting can engage with industry  Industry or small business conference  One on one meetings with potential offerors  Public hearings  Market research  Pre-solicitation notice  Draft RFP  Industry day for requirement (Pre-Proposal Conferences)  Site Visits  Requests for Information (RFIs)

Market Research  FAR requires market research for all procurements  Key to determining if item is commercial or non-commercial  Research contract types applicable to requirement  Contact other agencies for lessons learned in purchasing the requirement  Review evaluation factors used in similar procurements

Factors and Subfactors  Factor: specific characteristics that are tied to significant requirements that will have an impact on the selection of an offeror  Subfactor: Descriptive elements of a principal factor. The subfactors should be relevant to the selection of an offeror

Group Participation What evaluation factors have you used in a FAR 15 Source Selection?

Sample Factors FactorSub-Factor Capability: The government wants assurance that the selected firm is capable of performing mission-critical support services. The Government wants assurance that its capability is exemplified by appropriate resources to implement the requirements of the SOW. The strength of the offeror’s response will be based on the offeror’s experience and key personnel. Experience : The Government is interested in recent and relevant experience that relates to operating a physical facility requiring a broad scope of functional responsibilities (similar to those described in SOW). Describe the firms experience in the following: Key Personnel: The key personnel managing this contract effort are important to successful operations. Identify key personnel; provide detailed information as requested below:

Developing Evaluation Criteria  Use adjective scores rather than numerical scores  Too many factors and technical factors will cause confusion  If it is not meaningful to the outcome of the source selection – leave the factor out  Cannot be vague or ambiguous

Required Evaluation Factors  FAR (c)  (1) Price or cost to the Government shall be evaluated in every source selection (10 U.S.C. 2305(a)(3)(A) (ii) and 41 U.S.C. 3306(c)(1)(B)) (also see Part 36 for architect-engineer contracts).  (2) The quality of the product or service shall be addressed in every source selection through consideration of one or more non-cost evaluation factors such as past performance, compliance with solicitation requirements, technical excellence, management capability, personnel qualifications, and prior experience (10 U.S.C. 2305(a)(3)(A)(i) and 3306(c)(1)(A).  (3) (i) Except as set forth in paragraph (c)(3)(iii) of this section, past performance shall be evaluated in all source selections for negotiated competitive acquisitions expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

Proposal Evaluation  FAR (a) Proposal evaluation is an assessment of the proposal and the offeror’s ability to perform the prospective contract successfully. An agency shall evaluate competitive proposals and then assess their relative qualities solely on the factors and subfactors specified in the solicitation. Evaluations may be conducted using any rating method or combination of methods, including color or adjectival ratings, numerical weights, and ordinal rankings. The relative strengths, deficiencies, significant weaknesses, and risks supporting proposal evaluation shall be documented in the contract file.

Rating Methods  There are three methods for rating proposals  Numerical (95-100, 89-94, 83-88, 77-82, less than 77)  Adjectival (Excellent, good, satisfactory, marginal, unsatisfactory)  Color Coding (Blue, Green, Yellow, Amber, Red)

Sample Scoring System NumericalAdjectivalColor CodingDescriptor Examples 10 (95-100)ExcellentBlueProposal demonstrates superior understanding of requirements and approach that exceeds performance or capability standards. Has several strengths that will significantly benefit the government. Risk of unsuccessful performance is minimal. 8 (89-94) GoodGreenProposal demonstrates a good understanding of requirements and approach that meets performance or capability standards. Has one or more strengths that will benefit the government. Risk of unsuccessful performance is low.

Sample Scoring System Cont. NumericalAdjectivalColor Coding Descriptor Examples 5 (83-88)SatisfactoryYellowProposal demonstrates an acceptable understanding of requirements and approach that can meet performance or capability standards. Acceptable solutions are identified. No strengths are identified. Risk of unsuccessful performance is moderate. 3 (77-82)MarginalAmberProposal demonstrates shallow understanding of requirements and approach that marginally meets performance or capability standards. Risk of unsuccessful performance is moderately high. 0 (less than 77) UnsatisfactoryRedProposal fails to demonstrate an understanding of requirements or capability standards. Requirements can only be met with major changes to the proposal. Risk of unsuccessful performance is high.

Legal Decisions  B , 97-1CPD JW Associates Inc.  The GAO Determined While both adjectival ratings and point scores are useful as guides to decision making they generally are not controlling, but rather, must be supported by documentation of the relative differences between proposals, their weaknesses and risks, and the basis and reason for the selection decision.  B , 92 NITCO Comp. Gen.  The Comptroller General rejected the use of past experience in manufacturing similar equipment when the RFP contained no indication of such as a factor  B , 95-1 ENCORP International Inc.  The Comptroller General determined the evaluation to be improper as there was no evaluation factor or issue covering the “understanding of the work”  GSBCA 9131-P, 88-1 Digital Equipment Corp.  A protest was granted when the RFP contained vague language describing the evaluation factors and failed to indicate what characteristics in the computer system the agency was seeking.

Descriptor Development  There should be clear distinction between the different categories  Develop descriptions that allow evaluators to readily identify which category to apply  Identify the risk  Balance the system, descriptions should not favor upper and lower end descriptions

Best Value Continuum  Tradeoff Process FAR  1-All evaluation factors and significant sub factors will affect contract award  Relative Importance of the Evaluation Factors must be clearly stated in solicitation  Solicitation shall state whether all evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are significantly more important than, approximately equal to, or significantly less important than cost or price.  Lowest Price Technically Acceptable Source Selection Process FAR  Evaluation factors and sub factors establish the requirements of technically acceptable  Solicitation must state: award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors  No trade-offs  Proposals are evaluated for acceptability ( Go/No Go )

Example of LPTA Evaluation Determination ComparisonDefinition Go (Pass, Yes, Acceptable)All of the minimum acceptable criteria are clearly set forth in the offeror’s proposal. The offeror’s proposal meets the performance and technical capability requirements as set forth in the performance work statement. No-Go (Fail, No, Unacceptable) Not all of the minimum acceptable criteria are met by the proposal. The offeror’s proposal contains one or more deficiencies. The proposal fails to meet specified minimum performance and technical capability requirements set forth in the performance work statement.

Relative Importance  FAR Evaluation Factors and Significant Subfactors  (e) The solicitation shall also state, at a minimum, whether all evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are --  (1) Significantly more important than cost or price;  (2) Approximately equal to cost or price; or  (3) Significantly less important than cost or price (10 U.S.C. 2305(a)(3)(A)(iii) and 41 U.S.C. 3306(c)(1)(C)).

Relative Importance Example Source Selection Sample LPTASelection will be made on the basis of the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) proposal. TradeoffSelection will be made to the most superior technical proposal received.

Requirement Alignment Solicitation Provisions + Terms and Conditions + Statement of Work = Contractor Proposal Acquisition Plan + Statement of Work + Proposal Preparation Instructions + Evaluation Criteria All of these must align for a good procurement

Proposal Preparation Instructions  Section L – Instructions, conditions, and notice to offerors RequirementConsiderations Introductory StatementSets the overall tone of the requirement for offerors. Proposal ContentOverall number of volumes and package submission (box marked with solicitation identifier) Size of pages and fontThis helps control the amount of documents submitted, need to be able to read the material submitted Number of pagesLimits the proposal to a specific number of pages reasonable for the requirement

Proposal Preparation Instructions  Section L – Instructions, conditions, and notice to offerors RequirementConsiderations FormsList any required forms to be submitted (past performance, SF 1442/1449, etc.) Other material submissions Specific to the agency Proposal markingIdentifies how the proposal should be submitted and marked for easy identification Proposal instructions for technical proposals Tell the contractor what you want to see (organization chart, resumes, etc.)

Source Selection Evaluation Plan  Contain nondisclosure statements/Conflict if interest for all members  Outline the role of the Source Selection Authority and technical team  State the rules of conduct for source selection  State the evaluation process  Include a schedule for significant events (Milestones) in the source selection  Include worksheets to be used in evaluation

Legal Decisions  B , 76-1 Grey Advertising  While point scores, technical evaluation narratives, and adjectival ratings may well be indicative of whether one proposal is technical superior to another and should therefore be considered by source selection officials, we have recognized that selection officials are not bound by the recommendations made by the evaluation and advisory groups,  B , 83-1 CRC Sys., Inc.  Comptroller General agreed the SSA lowered the evaluation team’s score of a protestor because the protestor’s offer did not meet all the request for proposal requirements  B , 95-2 Loral Aeronautronic  Comptroller General agreed when the SSA acted reasonably and consistent with the evaluation scheme, changed the risk assessment of an awardee from medium to low and increased another awardee rating from satisfactory to exceptional