JDYoung

Thanks Don, that clears it up.

What I am saying is that in order to avoid the appearance of restricting competition, vendors are solicited to ask if they carry an item or provide a service. If they say no, then it is being considered as a "No Quote", this "No Quote" is being used as a quote to satisfy the competition requirements within the agency. The FAR allows us to solicit to a single source, but most agencies still require clearance at some level to document the competition restriction. My issue is that I cannot find any cases or precedence that states whether or not a "No Quote" is in fact a quote. This is important when dealing with reporting, it shows competitive acquisitions that may or may not actually be competitive. I understand "consider" gives us flexibility, but when it comes to the end result, was the acquisition in fact, competitive? If we posted a competitive solicitation to FBO and receive only one quote, we are still competitive and met the FAR requirements. In the under $25K world its not clear and I want to understand.

Under FAR 13.104 it states that we "consider solicitation of at least three sources" to promote competition, but if we have a requirement that is under $25K and oral solicitations are used, what keeps a contracting professional from simply using a standing price quotation and contacting 2 other random companies and avoiding the guidelines of FAR 13.106-1{b}? I understand that most of FAR part 6 doesn't apply, but most agencies require clearance when restricting competition at any dollar value. Some of my issues are coming from acquisitions under $25K where only one quote is used to make an award, but companies that may or may not sale the products are solicited for quotes. The specialist then document the acquisition and use a "No Quote" as a quote, avoid the appearance of restricting competition, then award the contract as competitive.