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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Proposed Rules thresholds contained therein. 38 U.S.C.
8153
b Sealed bidding. FAR part 14
provides procedures for sealed bidding.
c Multiphase acquisition technique.
1 General. Without regard to FAR
15.202, multiphase acquisitions may be appropriate when the submission of full proposals at the beginning of an acquisition would be burdensome for offerors to prepare and for Government personnel to evaluate. Using multiphase techniques, the Government may seek limited information initially, make one or more down-selects, and request a full proposal from an individual offeror or limited number of offerors. Provided that the notice notifies offerors, the contracting officer may limit the number of proposals during any phase to the number that will permit an efficient competition among proposals offering the greatest likelihood of award. The contracting officer may indicate in the notice an estimate of the greatest number of proposals that will be included in the down-select phase. The contracting officer may down-select to a single offeror. 38 U.S.C. 8153
2 First phase notice. In the first phase, the Government shall publish a notice see 873.108 that solicits responses and that may provide, as appropriate, a general description of the scope or purpose of the acquisition and the criteria that will be used to make the initial down-select decision. The notice may also inform offerors of the evaluation criteria or process that will be used in subsequent down-select decisions. The notice must contain sufficient information to allow potential offerors to make an informed decision about whether to participate in the acquisition. The notice must advise offerors that failure to participate in the first phase will make them ineligible to participate in subsequent phases. The notice may be in the form of a synopsis in the Governmentwide point of entry GPE or a narrative letter or other appropriate method that contains the information required by this paragraph.
38 U.S.C. 8153
3 First phase responses. Offerors shall submit the information requested in the notice described in paragraph d2 of this section. Information sought in the first phase may be limited to a statement of qualifications and other appropriate information e.g., proposed technical concept, past performance information, limited pricing information. 38 U.S.C. 8153
4 First phase evaluation and downselect. The Government shall evaluate all offerors submissions in accordance with the notice and make a down-select decision. 38 U.S.C. 8153

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5 Subsequent phases. Additional information shall be sought in the second phase so that a down-select can be performed or an award made without exchanges, if necessary. The contracting officer may conduct exchanges with remaining offerors, request proposal revisions, or request best and final offers, as determined necessary by the contracting officer, in order to make an award decision. 38 U.S.C. 8153
6 Debriefing. Without regard to FAR
15.505, contracting officers must debrief offerors whose proposals are not accepted under a competitive request for proposals RFP as required by 873.118. 38 U.S.C. 8153
d Alternative negotiation techniques.
1 Contracting officers may utilize alternative negotiation techniques for the acquisition of health-care resources.
Alternative negotiation techniques may be used when award will be based on either price or price and other factors.
Alternative negotiation techniques include but are not limited to:
i Indicating to offerors a price, contract term or condition, commercially available feature, and/or requirement beyond any requirement or target specified in the solicitation that offerors will have to improve upon or meet, as appropriate, in order to remain competitive.
ii Posting offered prices electronically or otherwise without disclosing the identity of the offerors and permitting revisions of offers based on this information.
2 Except as otherwise permitted by law, contracting officers shall not conduct acquisitions under this section in a manner that reveals the identities of offerors, releases proprietary information, or otherwise gives any offeror a competitive advantage see FAR 3.104. 38 U.S.C. 8153
873.112

Evaluation information.

a Without regard to FAR 15.304
Evaluation factors and significant subfactors except for 15.304c1 and c3, which do apply to acquisitions under this authority, the criteria, factors, or other evaluation information that apply to an acquisition, and their relative importance, are within the broad discretion of agency acquisition officials as long as the evaluation information is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. 38
U.S.C. 8153
b Price or cost to the Government must be evaluated in every source selection. Past performance shall be evaluated in source selections for competitive acquisitions exceeding the SAT unless the contracting officer documents that past performance is not
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an appropriate evaluation factor for the acquisition. 38 U.S.C. 8153
c The quality of the product or service may be addressed in source selection through consideration of information such as past compliance with solicitation requirements, technical excellence, management capability, personnel qualifications, and prior experience. The information required from quoters, bidders, or offerors shall be included in notices or solicitations, as appropriate. 38 U.S.C. 8153
d The relative importance of any evaluation information included in a solicitation must be set forth therein. 38
U.S.C. 8153
873.113

Exchanges with offerors.

a Without regard to FAR 15.201 or 15.306, acquisitions generally involve exchanges between the Government and competing offerors. Open exchanges support the goal of efficiency in Government by providing the Government with relevant information in addition to that submitted in the offerors initial proposal needed to understand and evaluate the offerors proposal. The nature and extent of exchanges between the Government and offerors is a matter of contracting officer judgment. Clarifications, communications, and discussions are not applicable to acquisitions under this part 873. 38 U.S.C. 8153
b Exchanges with potential offerors may take place throughout the source selection process. Exchanges may start in the planning stages and continue through contract award. Exchanges should occur most often with offerors determined to be in the best value pool see 873.114. The purpose of exchanges is to ensure there is mutual understanding between the Government and the offerors on all aspects of the acquisition, including offerors submittals/proposals. Information disclosed as a result of oral or written exchanges with an offeror may be considered in the evaluation of an offerors proposal. 38 U.S.C. 8153
c Exchanges may be conducted, in part, to obtain information that explains or resolves ambiguities or other concerns e.g., perceived errors, omissions, or deficiencies in an Offerors proposal. 38 U.S.C. 8153
d Exchanges shall only be initiated if authorized by the contracting officer and need not be conducted with all offerors. 38 U.S.C. 8153
e Except for acquisitions based on alternative negotiation techniques contained in 873.111d1, the contracting officer and other Government personnel involved in the acquisition shall not disclose
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