FCC Contract Negotiation & Award Procedures 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under FAR 15.306, what is the primary purpose of establishing a competitive range?
- To rank offerors by price alone
- To include only proposals with a reasonable chance of award (Correct answer)
- To eliminate all offerors except the lowest bidder
- To notify unsuccessful offerors of their deficiencies
Correct answer: To include only proposals with a reasonable chance of award
FAR 15.306(c) defines the competitive range as those most highly rated proposals unless the range is further reduced for efficiency.
Question 2: Which document formally communicates the government's negotiation objectives and establishes pre-negotiation positions?
- Contract Award Notice (CAN)
- Pre-Negotiation Business Clearance Memorandum (Correct answer)
- Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD)
- Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT) report
Correct answer: Pre-Negotiation Business Clearance Memorandum
The Pre-Negotiation Business Clearance Memorandum documents the government's negotiation objectives before discussions begin.
Question 3: When a contracting officer conducts discussions with offerors in the competitive range, what is PROHIBITED?
- Asking for clarification on ambiguous terms
- Revealing another offeror's price to gain leverage (Correct answer)
- Identifying significant weaknesses in the proposal
- Requesting revised proposals
Correct answer: Revealing another offeror's price to gain leverage
FAR 15.306(e) prohibits revealing one offeror's price, technical solution, or other information to give another offeror an unfair advantage.
Question 4: What is the difference between 'clarifications' and 'discussions' in FAR Part 15 procurements?
- Clarifications allow proposal revisions; discussions do not
- Discussions are limited to price only; clarifications address technical matters
- Clarifications are limited exchanges without proposal revisions; discussions may result in revised proposals (Correct answer)
- There is no distinction — the terms are interchangeable
Correct answer: Clarifications are limited exchanges without proposal revisions; discussions may result in revised proposals
FAR 15.306(a) defines clarifications as limited exchanges to resolve minor issues without opening discussions, while discussions can lead to proposal revisions.
Question 5: Under the Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA), certified cost or pricing data must be submitted when the contract value exceeds what threshold (as of 2023)?
- $500,000
- $750,000
- $2 million (Correct answer)
- $5 million
Correct answer: $2 million
TINA (10 U.S.C. 3702) requires certified cost or pricing data for negotiated contracts exceeding $2 million, subject to periodic inflation adjustments.
Question 6: What does the term 'price realism' mean in the context of contract award?
- Ensuring the lowest price wins the contract
- Assessing whether proposed prices are too low to successfully perform (Correct answer)
- Verifying that proposed prices are within the government's budget
- Comparing prices to the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE)
Correct answer: Assessing whether proposed prices are too low to successfully perform
Price realism analysis evaluates whether an offeror's low price reflects a clear understanding of requirements and ability to perform without compromising quality.
Question 7: After final proposal revisions (FPRs) are submitted, what action does the Source Selection Authority (SSA) take?
- Opens a second round of discussions
- Makes the source selection decision and documents it in the SSDD (Correct answer)
- Requests best-and-final offers from all original offerors
- Returns proposals to the technical evaluation team for re-scoring
Correct answer: Makes the source selection decision and documents it in the SSDD
After FPRs, the SSA reviews the Source Selection Evaluation Board's findings and documents the award rationale in the Source Selection Decision Document.
FCC Contract Negotiation & Award Procedures 2
Under FAR 15.306, what is the primary purpose of establishing a competitive range?