The solicitation phase of a procurement increases the complexity and significance of communications between government and industry. Contracting officers (COs) must carefully control their communications with contractors once a solicitation has been issued. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) describes these communications as ‘exchanges with industry,’ and addresses the procedures in two different areas: Part 15.201 deals with the period before the receipt of proposals and Part 15.206 covers amendments to the solicitation. FAR Part 15.306 addresses exchanges with industry after proposals have been received; these exchanges with industry take on a new dynamic, and will be examined in a separate article.
The FAR specifies that all interested parties are privy to the information, and encourages open communications in this phase of the procurement. At this stage, interested parties include potential offerors, end users, Government acquisition and supporting personnel, and anyone else involved in the acquisition. Procurement integrity must be maintained, as specified in FAR Part 3.104. FAR Part 15.201(b) states that “the purpose of exchanging information before receipt of proposals is to improve the understanding of Government requirements and industry capabilities.” All of this is intended to enhance the Government’s ability to obtain quality services and supplies at reasonable prices, while increasing the overall efficiency of proposal preparation, evaluation, negotiation and contract award.
This section of the FAR further describes some techniques for promoting early exchanges of information between government and industry. Chief among them are conferences, hearings, draft RFPs, pre-solicitation or pre-proposal conferences, site visits, industry days, and vendor questions and answers (Q & As). As prospective offerors analyze the solicitation, they submit questions regarding potential ambiguities or mistakes. As noted above and in FAR Part 15.201(f), the CO is obligated to ensure that all interested parties, and all recipients of the solicitation, receive the same access to government’s responses, “as soon as practicable, but no later than the next general release of information.” In this phase, exchanges with industry typically entail amendments to the solicitation as the primary means of ensuring impartial disclosure.
The government may issue an amendment to the solicitation to change the requirement, or the terms and conditions of the procurement. COs also use amendments to list vendor questions that have been received after issuing the solicitation, and the official government response to these questions. Amendments may be issued either before or after the established time and date for receipt of proposals. FAR Part 15.206(b) addresses the former, requiring that the amendment be issued to all parties receiving the solicitation. Part 15.206(c) covers amendments after the established time and date for receipt of proposals, and requires that the amendment be issued to all offerors not already eliminated from competition. Part 15.206(d) addresses an important exception: “if a proposal of interest to the Government involves a departure from the stated requirements, the contracting officer shall amend the solicitation, provided this can be done without revealing to the other offerors the alternate solution proposed or any other information that is entitled to protection (see 15.207(b) and 15.306(e)).”
Contracting officers welcome the opportunity to communicate with contractors before the receipt of proposals, in order to ensure the best possible understanding of the requirement and the procurement process. These exchanges with industry provide the CO the means to update the solicitation as requirements, terms and conditions change, but also offers the interested vendors an avenue to request clarification of possible ambiguities or inconsistencies in the solicitation. The more understanding of the requirement that industry gains, the higher quality of offers will result. Additionally, thorough exchanges frequently help to differentiate the various offers, and facilitate a more thorough source selection process.
Check out next week’s blog – Part 1 of Exchanges after Receipt of Proposals