1817.7002-4
Contract clause.
The
contracting officer shall insert the clause at 1852.217-70,
Property Administration and Reporting, in any NASA-Defense Purchase Request
when property will be involved.
Subpart 1817.71--Exchange or Sale of
Personal Property
1817.7101
Policy.
(a)
Section 201(c) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949,
63 Stat. 384, as amended (40 U.S.C. 481(c)), authorizes the exchange or sale of
Government personal property and the application of the exchange allowance or
proceeds from sale to the acquisition of similar property for replacement purposes. The transaction must be evidenced in
writing.
(b) NASA
installations and contractors are authorized to conduct exchange/sale
transactions as long as the requirements and restrictions of NPG 4300.1 and
the Federal Property Management Regulations, Subchapter H, part 101-46, are
followed. In conducting such exchanges/sales, NASA contractors must obtain the
contracting officer's prior written approval and must report the transactions
to the cognizant NASA installation Property Disposal Officer (PDO).
Subpart 1817.72--Interagency Transactions
1817.7201 Policy.
(a) The Space
Act (42 U.S.C. 2473) applies to NASA interagency acquisitions except those for
the NASA Office of Inspector General acquired under the authority of the
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 US.C. Appendix III). NASA has elected to conform its implementation of the Space Act
and the Inspector General Act to the requirements of the Economy Act (see FAR
17.5).
(b) Individual orders or successive non-competitive
interagency orders for the same requirement with the same servicing agency
shall not exceed five years.
(c) Requests for
deviation from the five year limitation in paragraph (b) of this section shall
require the approval of the Center Director if the estimated value of the order
is $5 million or less, or the Assistant Administrator for Procurement (Code HS)
if the estimated value of the order exceeds $5 million. Requests for deviation shall address:
(1) Why more
than five years is required;
(2) Why the work
must be performed by the same servicing agency; and
(3) How long
beyond the current order the requirement is expected to continue.
1817.7202 Determinations and findings requirements.
(a) Interagency acquisitions shall be supported
by a Determination and Finding (D&F) equivalent to that required for
Economy Act transactions (see FAR 17.503).
This requirement applies to all purchases of goods or services under
contracts entered into or administered by agencies other than NASA including
the Military Departments. The Space Act
shall be cited as authority for all NASA interagency acquisitions except that
the Inspector General Act shall be cited as the authority for interagency
acquisitions for the NASA Office of Inspector General.
(b) To satisfy the D&F requirement
identified in FAR 17.503(a)(2), current
market prices, recent acquisition prices, or prices obtained by informational
submissions as provided in FAR 15.201
may be used to ascertain whether the acquisition can be accomplished more
economically from commercial sources.
(c) In addition to the requirements in FAR 17.503, the
D&F must identify the period of performance and whether the acquisition is
a non-competitive follow-on for the same services from the same servicing
agency. (See 1817.7201(b).)
(d) The
determination described in paragraph (a) of this section is not required for
contracts awarded under the Space Act to Government agencies pursuant to a
Broad Agency Announcement when a review of the acquisition records would make
it obvious that the award is not being used as a method of circumventing
regulatory or statutory requirements, particularly FAR Part 6, Competition
Requirements (e.g., when a significant number and value of awards made under
the BAA are made to entities other than Government agencies).
(e) All D&F’s for a servicing agency not
covered by the FAR shall be approved by the Assistant Administrator for
Procurement.
1817.7203 Ordering procedures.
To satisfy the ordering procedures in FAR
17.504(b)(4), all payment provisions shall require the servicing agency or
department to submit a final voucher, invoice, or other appropriate payment
document within six months after the completion date of the order. A different period may be specified by
mutual agreement if six months is not sufficient.
Subpart
1817.73--Phased Acquisition
1817.7300
Definitions.
(a) Down-selection. In a phased acquisition, the process of
selecting contractors for later phases from among the preceding phase
contractors.
(b) Phased
Acquisition. An incremental acquisition implementation
comprised of several distinct phases where the realization of program/project
objectives requires a planned, sequential acquisition of each phase. The phases may be acquired separately, in
combination, or through a down-selection strategy.
(c) Progressive Competition. A type of down-selection strategy for a phased
acquisition. In this method, a single
solicitation is issued for all phases of the program. The initial phase
contracts are awarded, and the contractors for subsequent phases are expected
to be chosen through a down-selection from among the preceding phase
contractors. In each phase,
progressively fewer contracts are awarded until a single contractor is chosen
for the final phase. Normally, all
down-selections are accomplished without issuance of a new, formal
solicitation.
1817.7301
Down-selections in phased acquisitions.
1817.7301-1
Pre-solicitation planning.
(a) The
rationale for the use of the down-selection technique shall be thoroughly
justified in the acquisition planning requirement. Because the initial phase solicitation will also lead to
subsequent phase award(s), the decision to use a down-selection strategy must
be made prior to release of the initial solicitation. Accordingly, all phases must be addressed in the initial
acquisition strategy planning and documented in the acquisition plan or ASM
minutes.
(b) If
there is no direct link between successful performance in the preceding phase
and successful performance in a subsequent phase, down-selection is
inappropriate. In this case, the phases should be contracted for separately
without a down-selection.
(c) With
one exception, both the initial and subsequent phase(s) of an acquisition
down-selection process are considered to be full and open competition if the
procedures in 1817.7301-4 and 1817.7301-5 (if using the progressive competition
technique) are followed. If only one
contractor successfully completed a given phase and no other offers are
solicited for the subsequent phase, award of the subsequent phase may be made
only if justified by one of the exceptions in FAR 6.302 or one of the exclusions in FAR 6.2, and
only after compliance with the synopsis requirements of FAR 5.202 and 5.205
and 1804.570-2.
1817.7301-2
Evaluation factors.
A separate
set of evaluation factors must be developed for each phase in a down-selection
competition. Since these competitive
down-selection strategies anticipate that a preceding phase contractor will be
the subsequent phase contractor, the evaluation factors for initial phase award
must specifically include evaluation of the offerors’ abilities to perform all
phases.
1817.7301-3
Down-selection milestones.
(a) When sufficient programmatic and technical
information is available to all potential offerors, proposal evaluation and
source selection activities need not be delayed until completion of a given
phase. These activities should commence
as early as practicable. The initial
phase contracts should be structured to allow for down-selection at a discrete
performance milestone (e.g., a significant design review or contract
completion) of a design maturity sufficient to allow for an informed selection
decision. This will avoid time gaps
between phases and eliminate unnecessary duplication of effort.
(b) The appropriate contract structure must
reflect program technical objectives as well as schedule considerations. For example, if a two-phased acquisition
strategy calls for formal completion of initial phase effort at Preliminary
Design Review (PDR), but it is not financially practical or technically necessary
for subsequent phase award and performance to carry all initial phase
contractors through PDR, the initial phase contracts should be structured with
a basic period of performance through a significant, discrete milestone before
PDR with a priced option for effort from that milestone to PDR. The down-selection would occur at the
earlier milestone, the PDR option exercised only for the down-selection winner,
and the subsequent phase performance begun at the completion of the PDR option.
1817.7301-4
Synopsis.
(a) Each
phase of a phased acquisition not performed in-house must be synopsized in
accordance with FAR 5.201 and
must include all the information required by FAR 5.207. Time
gaps between phases should be minimized by early synopsis of subsequent phase
competition. The synopsis for the
initial competitive phase should also state the following:
(1)
The Government plans to conduct a phased acquisition involving a competitive
down-selection process. (Include a
description of the process and the phases involved).
(2) Competitions for identified subsequent phases
will build on the results of previous phases.
(3) The award criteria for subsequent phases will
include demonstrated completion of specified previous phase requirements.
(4) The Government expects that only the initial
phase contractors will be capable of successfully competing for the subsequent
phase(s). Proposals for the subsequent
phase(s) will be requested from these contractors.
(5)
The Government intends to issue (or not issue) a new, formal solicitation(s)
for subsequent phase(s). If new
solicitations are not planned, the acquisition must be identified as a
"progressive competition" (see 1817.7301-5), and the mechanism for providing pertinent
subsequent phase proposal information (e.g., statements of work,
specifications, proposal preparation instructions, and evaluation factors for
award) must be described.
(6)
Each subsequent phase of the acquisition will be synopsized in accordance with
FAR 5.201 and 5.203.
(7)
Notwithstanding the expectation that only the initial phase contractors will be
capable of successfully competing for the subsequent phase(s), proposals from
all responsible sources submitted by the specified due date will be
considered. In order to contend for
subsequent phase awards, however, such prospective offerors must demonstrate a
design maturity equivalent to that of the prior phase contractors. Failure to fully and completely demonstrate
the appropriate level of design maturity may render the proposal unacceptable
with no further consideration for contract award.
(b) In addition to the information in paragraph
(a) of this section, the synopsis for the subsequent phase(s) must identify the
current phase contractors.
1817.7301-5
Progressive competition.
(a) To
streamline the acquisition process, the preferred approach for NASA phased
acquisitions is the "progressive competition" down-selection
technique in which new, formal solicitations are not issued for phases
subsequent to the initial phase.
Subsequent phase proposals are requested by less formal means, normally
by a letter accompanied by the appropriate proposal preparation and evaluation
information.
(b) When
using the progressive competition technique, if a prospective offeror other
than one of the preceding phase contractors responds to the synopsis for a
subsequent phase and indicates an intention to submit a proposal, the
contracting officer shall provide to that offeror all the material furnished to
the preceding phase contractors necessary to submit a proposal. This information includes the preceding
phase solicitation, contracts, and system performance and design requirements,
as well as all proposal preparation instructions and evaluation factors. In addition, the prospective offeror must be
advised of all requirements necessary for demonstration of a design maturity
equivalent to that of the preceding phase contractors.
(c) A key
feature of the progressive competition technique is that a formal solicitation
is normally not required. However, when
the Government requirements or evaluation procedures change so significantly
after release of the initial phase solicitation that a substantial portion of
the information provided in the initial phase synopsis, solicitation, or
contracts is no longer valid, a new solicitation shall be issued for the next
phase.
(d)
Subsequent phase proposals should be requested by a letter including the
following:
(1) A specified due date for the proposals along
with a statement that the late proposal information in paragraph (c)(3) of FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Competitive
Acquisition, applies to the due date.
(2) Complete instructions for proposal preparation,
including page limitations, if any.
(3) Final evaluation factors.
(4) Any statement of work, specifications, or other
contract requirements that have changed since the initial solicitation.
(5) All required clause changes applicable to new
work effective since the preceding phase award.
