16 replies to this topic

[bremen]

Does anyone know of instructions on how to fill out an SF1449 (i.e., what goes where)?

Specifically we are having a discussion if block 3 (award/effective date) is left blank is the effective date based upon the signature date of the contracting officer (block 31).

If the contractor returns a signed copy (block 30) after the KO signs, which governs?

Assuming the contractor has not begun performance, my opinion is the later of the two dates.  Another person in the office insists that the contract be modified to include the date.

[brian]

.
for what its worth,
on my recent awards, going back a year, the date in Block 3 appears to be when the award recommendation was made by the Contract Specialist and the SF 1449 prepared for signature in the PD2 system, and the signed date in block 31c is a day or two later.  
To me, if I get a verbal notice to proceed, I treat the day I get the phone call or email as the award date, otherwise I go by the date in 31c.
.

[dgm]

My understanding is that date is the award date for the award document and the effective date for the solicitation document.

The award date would be the date the CO signs (we often just put see block 31c).  I personally wouldn't formally modify the contract, with the stuff I'd have to do in our system and the time involved, to populate that.  I would include it in a future mod though if one was necessary.

The only time I see the award date differing from the CO signature date is, as already noted, situations where the authority to being work was given earlier/some other manner and this document is now definitizing that.

[Desparado]

I was always under the impression that the Award Date is the date that the Contracting Officer signs the document, and the effective date is the date that the contract goes into effect.  For example, you could sign an award in November for a contract that begins on January 1.

[formerfed]

Desparado, on May 8 2009, 03:38 PM, said:

I was always under the impression that the Award Date is the date that the Contracting Officer signs the document, and the effective date is the date that the contract goes into effect.  For example, you could sign an award in November for a contract that begins on January 1.

You're missing part of the question.  What's the effective date if the contractor signs after the CO?  I know that's not the standard practice but I don't know the answer.

[Vern Edwards]

Quote

Does anyone know of instructions on how to fill out an SF1449 (i.e., what goes where)?

I do not know of any such instructions. There are none in FAR. Some agencies may have written their own internal instructions.

Quote

Specifically we are having a discussion if  block 3 (award/effective date) is left blank is the effective date  based upon the signature date of the contracting officer (block 31). If the contractor returns a signed copy (block 30) after the KO signs, which governs?

The question really is: When does acceptance occur? In order to make that determination, one must know the terms of the solicitation and of the offer made in response. The answer does not necessarily turn on the dates in the award/effective date and/or signature blocks on the form. For a full discussion of the issues, see Cibinic and Nash, Formation of Government Contracts, 3d ed. (1998), pp. 228-231, under the heading, "Time When Acceptance Occurs."

For what it's worth, the courts have held that the parties to a government contract can agree to an effective date that is different than the date of contract execution. For a discussion of some of the case law, see Dyncorp Information Systems, LLC v. United States, 58 Fed. Cl. 446 (2003), at 455. Misunderstanding and trouble can be avoided by clearly stating the intent of the parties in the contract. Ordinarily, the wisest course of action is to either (1) make the award/effective date and the dates of signature the same or (2) expressly state the intention(s) of the parties somewhere in the text of the contract.

[Bjoe]

Bremen,

I have a few answers for you:

Award Date ? means the contract, purchase order, delivery order, modification by the Federal Government Contracting Officer confirming an agreement between all parties has been achieved.

Effective date ? The date on which the award will become effective.

Sorry about the way I am sending the following information, I can't seem to figure out how to attach a document.


GUIDELINES FOR USING THE ELECTRONIC COMMERCIAL ITEM FORMAT
COMPLETING SF-1449 FOR CONTRACTS/PURCHASE ORDERS

The basic concept with commercial item solicitations is that
     1)  offerors will submit their signed offers,
     2)  we will evaluate and select an awardee,
     3)  we will fill in the remaining blanks on the form, as appropriate, and
     4)  we will sign the offer to make a contract.

From time to time, there will be some variations on this basic concept, as outlined below.

The remaining blocks of the SF-1449 will need to be filled in as follows:

BLOCK

1   Requisition No. Completed as part of the solicitation.
Page 1 of Revise to indicate the total number of pages in the contract, including all attachments.  This is something you will have to do last, after the total number is known.
2   Contract number Insert the contract or purchase order number, e.g., Tpd-97-C-0012 or PD 970542.
3   Award/Eff. Date Insert the effective date.  This will be on or after the date the Contracting Officer signs the contract or purchase order.
4   Order No. Leave blank.  For purchase orders, the number goes in block 2.
5   Solicitation No. Completed as part of the solicitation.
6   Sol. Issue Date Completed as part of the solicitation.
7a  Name Completed as part of the solicitation.
7b  Telephone No. Completed as part of the solicitation.
8   Due date/time Completed as part of the solicitation.
10  This Acq. is ... Completed as part of the solicitation.
11  Delivery for FOB This will almost always be left blank
12  Discount Terms This is where the offeror fills in to offer us a discount for prompt payment.  If they put this information elsewhere in their offer, add it in this block, too.  If no discount was offered, insert "Net 30."
13  Rated Order Leave blank; we have no rated orders.
14  Method of Sol. Completed as part of the solicitation.
15  Deliver to Completed as part of the solicitation.
17a Contractor/Offeror The offeror should have completed this; if not insert the offeror's company name and address.
17b Check if ... The offeror should have completed this, if they had a different address for remittance.  If the offeror included another address for remittance, but did not mark this block, mark it to so indicate.
18  Payment... Do not mark.
19-24  Schedule It is imperative that this part of the contract/purchase order contain a clear and accurate description of the items we are acquiring.  If there is a conflict between this and any other part of the contract, this part takes precedence.  The offeror should have completed this part.  If the offeror provided this information in an alternative form, you should add it here.  Remember that the way items are shown here should match the way we will be invoiced.
25  Accounting and ... Select the appropriate accounting data from the menu and insert the amount obligated at award for the base period of the contract.
26  Total Award Amount Insert the total dollar figure the contract can amount to if all options are exercised.
27a Solicitation ... Completed as part of the solicitation.
27b Contract ... Mark this box for contracts.  Also mark one of the boxes to indicate whether or not addenda to the FAR clauses are part of the contract.
28. CO's discretion.
29. CO's discretion.
30. The contractor is required to sign block 30 a, and Print or type name and title in 30 b, 30 c. CO's discretion.

31. The contracting officer is required to complete blocks 31 a through 31c just as the contractor did in blocks 30 a through 30c.

[Vern Edwards]

Bjoe wrote:

Quote

Award Date – means the contract, purchase order, delivery order, modification by the Federal Government Contracting Officer confirming an agreement between all parties has been achieved.

Effective date – The date on which the award will become effective.

I'm not sure what he meant by those statements. The date on which a contract has come into existence is the date on which the offeree has accepted the offer, unless the parties agree to a different date. On SF 1449, that might be determined on the basis of the entries in block 2 and blocks 28 through 31, other information in the contract document, and the facts of contract formation. In short, the date(s) on which a contract came into existence and took effect are not always immediately apparent from the entries on a contract form. It may be that the date on which the contract came into existence and/or was effective turns not on the information entered on the form, but on other facts, such as the date on which the contracting officer mailed a copy of the contract to the contractor in order to manifest acceptance of the contractor's offer. Moreover, the legal import of the award/effective date entered on SF 1449 is not clear.

Some confusion is caused by use of the term "award," as in "date of award" and "award date." It is not always clear what those expressions mean and different people mean different things by them. Some people use those expressions without any clear idea of what they mean by them. "Date of acceptance" would be clearer. If the parties use an award/effective date that is different that the date(s) on which the parties signed the contract, then they should say something in the contract about their intentions. If they leave block 2 blank, check block 28, and sign on different dates, they should state which date marks the date of acceptance.

I know that some contracting people want simple answers, but things are not always simple. Read Formation of Government Contracts.

[napolik]

Question: Can one use a SF 1449 when one is using the combined synopsis/solicitation procedure for a procurement below the SAT?

[j_dude77]

napolik, on Mar 4 2011, 02:36 PM, said:

Question: Can one use a SF 1449 when one is using the combined synopsis/solicitation procedure for a procurement below the SAT?

FAR 12.603b When using the combined synopsis/solicitation procedure, the SF 1449 is not used for issuing the solicitation.

To the original question one agency i worked at used the see block 31c method. We would also use period of performance start and end dates.

[napolik]

j_dude77, on Mar 4 2011, 04:48 PM, said:

FAR 12.603b When using the combined synopsis/solicitation procedure, the SF 1449 is not used for issuing the solicitation.

To the original question one agency i worked at used the see block 31c method. We would also use period of performance start and end dates.

What do you make of the last sentence in 12.204(a)(3)?

12.204 -- Solicitation/Contract Form.

(a) The contracting officer shall use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items, if

(1) the acquisition is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold;

(2) a paper solicitation or contract is being issued; and

(3) procedures at 12.603 are not being used. Use of the SF 1449 is nonmandatory but encouraged for commercial acquisitions not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold.

[j_dude77]

napolik, on Mar 4 2011, 05:49 PM, said:

What do you make of the last sentence in 12.204(a)(3)?

12.204 -- Solicitation/Contract Form.

(a) The contracting officer shall use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items, if

(1) the acquisition is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold;

(2) a paper solicitation or contract is being issued; and

(3) procedures at 12.603 are not being used. Use of the SF 1449 is nonmandatory but encouraged for commercial acquisitions not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold.

The last sentence says the SF 1449 is not mandatory below the SAT, but you should use it. The procedures at 12.603 are being used. FAR12.603b does not specify a dollar threshold, it states that when using the combined synopsis/solicitation method, the SF 1449 will not be used for the solicitation.

[Don Acquisition]

napolik, on Mar 4 2011, 03:49 PM, said:

What do you make of the last sentence in 12.204(a)(3)?

12.204 -- Solicitation/Contract Form.

(a) The contracting officer shall use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items, if

(1) the acquisition is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold;

(2) a paper solicitation or contract is being issued; and

(3) procedures at 12.603 are not being used. Use of the SF 1449 is nonmandatory but encouraged for commercial acquisitions not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold.

napolik,

My interpretation is that conditions (2) (paper solicitation) and (3) (not using procedures at FAR 12.603) still must be met to use the SF 1449 below the SAT.

[Vern Edwards]

j_dude77, on Mar 7 2011, 07:28 AM, said:

The last sentence says the SF 1449 is not mandatory below the SAT, but you should use it. The procedures at 12.603 are being used. FAR12.603b does not specify a dollar threshold, it states that when using the combined synopsis/solicitation method, the SF 1449 will not be used for the solicitation.

FAR 12.204(a)(3) does not say that you "should" use SF1449. It encourages its use, but does not say that you should use it. See the definition of should in FAR 2.101, which is more forceful than encouraged.

[j_dude77]

Vern Edwards, on Mar 7 2011, 12:31 PM, said:

FAR 12.204(a)(3) does not say that you "should" use SF1449. It encourages its use, but does not say that you should use it. See the definition of should in FAR 2.101, which is more forceful than encouraged.

Vern, you are correct. I keep forgetting we are talking legaleeze. You "ought" to use the SF 1449.

[napolik]

Don Acquisition, on Mar 7 2011, 12:58 PM, said:

napolik,

My interpretation is that conditions (2) (paper solicitation) and (3) (not using procedures at FAR 12.603) still must be met to use the SF 1449 below the SAT.

I agree. The juxtaposition of the sentence - "Use of the SF 1449 ... threshold." - with condition (a) (3) had me scratching my head for awhile. To facilitate understanding of the FAR guidance, I would make that sentence a separate paragraph in section 12.204.

[Don Acquisition]

napolik, on Mar 7 2011, 11:25 AM, said:

I agree. The juxtaposition of the sentence - "Use of the SF 1449 ... threshold." - with condition (a) (3) had me scratching my head for awhile. To facilitate understanding of the FAR guidance, I would make that sentence a separate paragraph in section 12.603.

I agree.  FAR 12.204(a) is one paragraph with two sentences.  The second sentence doesn't just apply to the condition at (a)(3), which is how it is structured.  The meaning is the same as if it were written:

(a) The contracting officer shall use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items, if the acquisition is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, a paper solicitation or contract is being issued, and procedures at 12.603 are not being used. Use of the SF 1449 is nonmandatory but encouraged for commercial acquisitions not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold.