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“Determination and Findings means a special form of written approval by an authorized official that is required by statute or regulation as a prerequisite to taking certain contract actions.” FAR 1.701. Neither FAR reference you cited call for a D&F. FAR 17.205(a) is justifying the inclusion of options (pre-award). DAU says this: ”The contracting officer shall include a written justification for the quantities or the term under option, the notification period for exercising the option, and any limitation on option price under FAR 17.203(g) in the contract file (FAR 17.205).”

17.205 is preaward.

Is there a requirement to execute a pre-award D&F or Justification for using options in a non-Part 14 award? 17.202(a) seems to read like it only applies to sealed bidding, and I can't tell if 17.205(a) is talking about a pre-award requirement. Thanks

DoD uses the clause at DFARS 252.204-7022, Expediting Contract Closeout.

Is there a policy for closing or reopening contracts with low dollar amounts? Is there a threshold when a deob is not necessary?

I don't understand your situation. You state that you "graduated" to a large business. Were you an 8(a) participant that graduated from that program? Is FAR 52.219-28 in your contract? If it is, were you required by the terms of that clause to recertify your size status? If you were, what was the basis of the recertification? Was the requirement to submit a subcontracting plan accomplished by including FAR 52.219-9 in your contract? Was the effective date of the modification requiring a plan the effective date of your contract or some later date?

I have a 'chihuahua with attitude' that would probably fit in.

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@EGovCon, based on what looks like an "official" GSA blog site, the plan would only be effective on new orders. You can follow up by contacting as indicated to ensure it applies to your situation .https://buy.gsa.gov/interact/community/6/activity-feed/post/8ab1cd64-028c-444c-a14d-b43cf288771c/Updated_Model_Subcontracting_Plans?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govDelivery

Im surprised that this topic is still open. @TippHill, can you advise what the resolution was? Thanks.

Hi, In FAR 19.705-2 Determining the need for a subcontracting plan-- "(f) If a subcontracting plan has been added to the contract due to a modification (see 19.702(a)(1)(iii)) or a size re-representation (see 19.301-2(e)), the subcontracting goals apply from the date of incorporation of the subcontracting plan into the contract..." Hope this helps.

I wonder if the same “key dog personnel” are still available…🤪

I doubt that you would report subcontracting prior to the requirement for a subcontracting plan or reporting. However this is a question that you should contact GSA directly to ask, not here on an informal Forum. You must have dealt with someone at GSA when they modified your contract, correct ???

We have recently graduated from a small business to a large business and a modification was completed to our GSA schedule to include a small business subcontracting plan. For my reporting do I include previous orders under my GSA schedule contract in the subcontracting report OR do only new orders after the modification date of the incorporation of the subcontracting plan to the GSA schedule apply?

The Rule of Two is the federal contracting rule requiring agencies to set aside a solicitation for competition only between small businesses when there are at least two small businesses that could do the work for a fair price. But that rule does have some exceptions. These exceptions can make it difficult to know the situations that would justify filing a Rule of Two protest. Read on to find out. First, a primer on SBA’s Rule of Two. Note that this particular post relates solely to the SBA’s Small Business Rule of Two. The Department of Veterans Affairs has its own Rule of Two for service-disabled veteran owned businesses. For more information on the VA’s SDVOSB Rule of Two, visit our post here. FAR 19.502-2(a) requires that all acquisitions for supplies or services that have an anticipated dollar value above the micro-purchase threshold ($10,000 at the time of this post) but not over the simplified acquisition threshold or SAT ($250,000 at the time of this post) be set aside for small businesses. That is, unless the contracting officer does not have a “reasonable expectation” that it would receive offers from two or more responsible small businesses that were competitive in terms of fair market prices, quality, and delivery. The rule in FAR 19.502-2(b), which pertains to acquisitions above the simplified acquisition threshold, is worded a little differently. As noted in the prior paragraph, acquisitions between the micro-purchase threshold but below the SAT must be set aside for small businesses unless the contracting officer does not have a reasonable expectation that it would receive offers from two or more small businesses. In contrast, those over the SAT must be set-aside for small businesses when there is a reasonable expectation that offers will be obtained from at least two responsible small business concerns and award will be made at fair market prices. (In practice, both formulations should typically result in small business set-asides under the same circumstances). However, an acquisition should not be a total small business set-aside unless such a reasonable expectation exists. Otherwise, the acquisition may be partially set-aside under FAR 19.502-3. This leads us to the question of how a contracting officer will know whether there is a reasonable expectation or not? Well, that is a decision that the contracting agency must make if market research shows at least two small businesses that meet the criteria. When should you file a Rule of Two protest? Now that we have the background out of the way, what situations are appropriate to file a Rule of Two protest? Rule of Two protests are filed in situations where the protester believes that a procurement should have been set-aside for small businesses, but it was not, or those in which the protester believes the procurement was improperly set-aside for small businesses, when it should not have been. Simple, right? In nearly all GAO Rule of Two protests, no matter which way you argue it, the protest will be won if GAO determines that the agency’s basis for its decision is inadequate. Such decisions are generally based on market research. Sometimes market research will include issuing a sources-sought notice, internal meetings, conducting research (generally, online searches looking for capable potential offerors), market surveys, looking back at prior procurements for the same or similar products or services, speaking with small business analysts, and more. Though there is no specific method that must be used in market research, the basic rule is that the decision “must be based on sufficient facts so as to establish its reasonableness.” (See Mountain West Helicopters, LLC). In some capacity, the market research must examine the capabilities of the potential offerors to determine not only whether two or more small businesses will submit offers, but whether they are capable of performing the contract requirements. You can read more about that in this previous SmallGovCon blog post. Therefore, if your company is a small business that can do the work on a solicitation that is unrestricted, and you know of at least one other company that can do the work, you have the basis of a small business Rule of Two protest. Other Important Details Remember how I said that it’s up to the contracting agency to determine whether a small business set-aside is appropriate? Well, in a protest, GAO will not second guess unless there has been an abuse of discretion, which it is up to the protester to show. (See Nordic Sensor Tech., Inc.). Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if the protester is a small business protesting because it believes that an unrestricted solicitation should have been set aside for small business competition, or whether the protester is a large business protesting the fact that a solicitation is limited to small business offerors only. The requirement that the protester prove a clear abuse of discretion when protesting a set-aside (or unrestricted) solicitation is the same. GAO has sustained a protest and held that a contracting officer should conduct additional research into the existence of additional firms that could meet the Rule of Two. In that decision, GAO held that an Agency must contact firms that meet requirements of a set-aside if it is aware of any. (See SWR, Inc.). Additionally, because a protest involving the Rule of Two is an issue with the solicitation, most Rule of Two protests must be filed before bid submissions are due. 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(1). This covers situations when you believe there was a mistake in setting a contract aside, or not setting a contract aside, for a small business. This covers most Rule of Two protests. Therefore, if you think that there was a mistake in setting aside, or not setting aside, a procurement, raise the protest early! Otherwise, you may miss the opportunity. If you think you may have grounds for a protest, it’s best to act early in the solicitation process. Questions about this post? Email us. Need legal assistance? Give us a call at 785-200-8919. Looking for the latest government contracting legal news? Sign up for our free monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The post Why File: A Rule of Two Protest first appeared on SmallGovCon - Government Contracts Law Blog.View the full article

I saw that ... insanity

This wifcon thread is a good supplement to this thread: So, the way I see it, there are 2 instances of price reasonableness analysis when a competitive range is formed: One for the competitive range formation, and one during trade-off documentation.

@adt110549601 No worries. Thanks for the explanation. Two things: First, verify that your use of the term ‘best value’ aligns with FAR [if that’s your goal]. Start with FAR 2.101 and then check FAR part 15. I think a search of “best value” will return 10 hits in FAR part 15. Lastly, let us know what you find.

@Jamaal Valentine, first, thx for hearing me out! With two offers, there would be a trade-off best value decision (adequate competition); with one offer, award could be made to a responsible offeror with fair and reasonable pricing (no longer best value, if one of the offers was no longer considered).

Keep reading through FAR 15.403-1(c)(1)(ii). What do you mean by “sole source award decision or a best value award decision?” What’s the difference between the two?

Can you have adequate price competition with two offerors, when one of them receives a marg/unsat/no condidence past performance rating? FAR 15.403-1(c)(1) Adequate price competition. (i) A price is based on adequate price competition when— (A) Two or more responsible offerors, competing independently, submit priced offers that satisfy the Government’s expressed requirement; So is it possible for a marg/unsat/no confidence rated offeror to submit an offer that still satisfies the Government's expressed requirement? If the answer is, no, would you remove the marg/unsat/no confidence offeror from the competition? This changes whether you would make a sole source award decision or a best value award decision.

Answers to a couple questions will help with advice. How often over the course of a year are arbitrators needed and how large is the potential pool of BPA holders?

Happy Friday, readers. Around these parts, we’ve been enjoying some nice spring weather as we try to fill the void left by the end of March Madness. But it will be heating up soon, so enjoy the spring weather while you can and have a great weekend! Here are some recent updates from the world of federal contracting, including some new congressional initiatives to streamline federal contracting processes, as well as create new cyber standards for federal procurement. SBA Recognizes 2024 Government Contractors and 8(a) Graduate of the Year Wyden bill requires new cyber standards in federal tech procurement Evaluation of DoD Financial Responsibility Reviews on Prospective DoD Contractor FACT SHEET: Vice President Kamala Harris Launches Call to Action to Bring the Benefits of Space to Communities Across America Technology Modernization Fund announces targeted investments to improve security at NASA, Department of Labor Mace sponsors bill to ban educational requirements for government contractors Senate Bill Introduced to Streamline Federal Procurement Processes How Government Contractors Can Plan for a Bright Future by Forecasting the Right Metrics Lawmakers push skills-based hiring for federal contractors Highlights from the Defense-Wide FY 2025 Unclassified IT Budget Request General Services Administration announces $23.8 million for projects to improve federal facilities and benefit local communities as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda Libby woman admits stealing mail while working as a contract carrier Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program Implementation Modifications The post SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 8-12, 2024 first appeared on SmallGovCon - Government Contracts Law Blog.View the full article

How long does the process normally take if, after the initial 15 day review, the SBA determines that the company could apply for a CoC through the submission of added information?

The SAM registration thing seems like it could be the biggest issue if the individual arbiters do not work for firms and aren't willing to register. What kind of dollar value is each requirement? Under the micro-purchase threshold (which maybe you could make the case is $10k for these services, I'm not sure what kind of training arbiters require) you could avoid SAM with a government purchase card order (or call under a set of BPAs you establish in advance). Over the MPT it seems like you would need to convince the arbiters to register in SAM (or subcontract with a vendor who is registered in SAM) if they want to be allowed in the pool.