Simplified Procedures
The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 is intended
to simplify government buying procedures. It removed many competition
restrictions on government purchases of less than $100,000. Instead
of full and open competition, agencies can now use simplified procedures
for soliciting and evaluating bids up to $100,000. Government agencies,
however, are still required to advertise all planned purchases over
$25,000 in www.FedBizOpps.gov.
Simplified procedures require fewer administrative details, lower
approval levels, and less documentation. New procurement reform
legislation requires all federal purchases above $2,500 but under
$100,000 to be reserved for small businesses, unless the contracting
officer cannot obtain offers from two or more small businesses that
are competitive on price, quality and delivery.
Government purchases of up to $2,500 in individual items or multiple
items whose aggregate amount does not exceed $2,500 are now classified
as "micro-purchases" and can be made without obtaining
competitive quotes. However, these purchases are no longer reserved
for small businesses. Agencies can make micro-purchases using a
Government Purchase Card (typical credit card).
Sealed Bidding
Sealed bidding is how the government contracts competitively when
its requirements are clear, accurate and complete. An Invitation
For Bid (IFB) is the method used for the sealed bid process. Typically,
an IFB includes a description of the product or service to be acquired,
instructions for preparing a bid, the conditions for purchase, packaging,
delivery, shipping and payment, contract clauses to be included
and the deadline for submitting bids. Each sealed bid is opened
in public at the purchasing office at the time designated in the
invitation. All bids are read aloud and recorded. A contract is
then awarded by the agency to the low bidder who is determined to
be responsive to the government's needs. Government-wide IFBs are
available daily for review at www.FedBizOpps.gov.
This electronic government service also provides a direct link to
the invitation.
Contracting officials search the SBA's Procurement and Marketing
Access Network (PRO-Net) to identify qualified small business contractors.
Therefore, any small business that wants to sell to the government
should be registered on SBA's
PRO-Net.
Contract Negotiation
In certain cases, when the value of a government contract exceeds
$100,000 and when it necessitates a highly technical product or
service, the government may issue a Request for Proposal (RFP).
In a typical RFP, the government will request a product or service
it needs, and solicit proposals from prospective contractors on
how they intend to carry out that request, and at what price. Proposals
in response to an RFP can be subject to negotiation after they have
been submitted.
When the government is merely checking into the possibility of
acquiring a product or service, it may issue a Request for Quotation
(RFQ). A response to an RFQ by a prospective contractor is not considered
an offer, and consequently, cannot be accepted by the government
to form a binding contract. The order is an offer by the government
to the supplier to buy certain supplies or services upon specified
terms and conditions. A contract is established when a supplier
accepts the offer.
Government-wide RFPs and RFQs are available daily for review at
www.FedBizOpps.gov.This
electronic government service also provides a direct link to the
request. In most instances, the government uses oral solicitations
for purchases less than $25,000, written solicitations for purchases
over $25,000, and purchase cards to obtain micro-purchases less
than $2,500.
One of the most significant changes government acquisition reform
is the increased importance of "best value." Best value
means that, rather than making awards to the lowest bidder as it
generally did in the past, the government can now make awards for
the item that best satisfies its needs at a slightly higher price.
If purchasers are going to make an award based on best value, they
must state their intent in the solicitation document and include
a description of the evaluation criteria, award factors, and factors
other than the price that will be considered in making a contract
award.
Contracting officials search the SBA's Procurement and Marketing
Access Network (PRO-Net) to identify qualified small business contractors.
Therefore, any small business that wants to sell to the government
should be registered on SBA's
PRO-Net.
Consolidated Purchasing Programs
Most government agencies have common purchasing needs -- carpeting,
furniture, office machine maintenance, petroleum products and perishable
food supplies are just a few examples. Sometimes the government
can realize economies of scale by centralizing the purchasing of
certain types of products or services.
Acquisition Vehicles - Procurement reform has ushered numerous
new and/or modified acquisition vehicles - multiple award contracts
-- such as multi-agency contracts and government-wide acquisition
contracts (GWACs). These vehicles encourage long-term vendor agreements
with fewer vendors.
The use of these contract vehicles, including expanded use of GSA
schedules has increased significantly during the last few years.
These popular vehicles allow government buyers to quickly fill requirements
by issuing orders against existing contracts or schedules without
starting a new procurement action from scratch. Further, agencies
can competitively award several or multiple task order contracts
to different firms for the same products and services. This practice
allows federal buyers to issue orders to any one or combination
of several firms with relative ease.
The three largest interagency consolidated purchasing programs
are administered by the General Services Administration, the Defense
Logistics Agency, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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