Introduction

Every year the federal government spends billions of dollars on the acquisition of supplies and services to carry out its duties and responsibilities. The government uses complex acquisition policies and procedures to make these purchases. These policies and procedures are followed during each of the four phases of the federal acquisition process: the acquisition planning phase; the solicitation phase; the evaluation, negotiation, and award phase; and the postaward phase.

The acquisition planning phase is the first phase of the federal acquisition process. This phase is very important because it establishes the foundation of the contract. During the planning phase, the government must ensure that:

Appropriated funds are available

Proper cost estimates are prepared

Sole source procurements are justified (when using noncompetitive procedures)

Market research is performed

The government’s requirements are well defined in the statement of work

The appropriate type of contract is selected for the acquisition

Performance-based acquisition is employed (when acquiring services)

Small business concerns are given an opportunity to obtain the contract.

When the required planning documents are of poor quality or are omitted from the planning process, the solicitation activities in the second phase of the acquisition process will be negatively affected. The planning process must be thorough, addressing each of the points above. Otherwise, the resulting contract may cost much more than budgeted for or may take longer to complete than expected. For example, if the government’s cost estimate is inaccurate because it was poorly prepared, it will hinder the cost or price evaluation process. It may be useless in determining whether the proposed contract price is fair and reasonable. Conversely, well-planned and documented acquisition actions that are in compliance with laws and regulations will meet the government’s needs in the most effective, economical, and timely manner.

The second phase of the federal acquisition process is the preparation of the solicitation and associated documentation. The solicitation must:

Include the appropriate solicitation and contract provisions and clauses to be in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Include the criteria to be used in the evaluation of vendor proposals. The technical evaluation criteria should be prepared with great care so that they fit the evaluation method to be used. Carefully chosen and documented criteria allow for the thorough and accurate evaluation of proposals, which is performed during the evaluation and negotiation phase of the acquisition process.

Be legally sufficient before it is issued to the public. All solicitations beyond the simplified acquisition threshold must be reviewed for legal sufficiency. Legal review will ensure that the solicitation is in compliance with acquisition laws and is legally defensible in case of a protest.

The third phase of the federal acquisition process is the evaluation, negotiation, and award phase. Under the contracting by negotiation method, proposals are evaluated, and discussion and negotiations are held with vendors. This phase includes:

Evaluating proposals. When an evaluation is not performed in accordance with the evaluation criteria specified in the solicitation, the Government Accountability Office will contest the evaluation and find it to be not fair or reasonable.

Determining vendors’ price reasonableness and responsibility.

Negotiating with competing vendors. Negotiations must be held unless the solicitation states that the award will be made without discussion.

Reviewing the award document. It is very important to have contracts reviewed for legal sufficiency prior to award to ensure that they are in compliance with the appropriate laws and regulations.

Awarding the contract

Announcing the contract award to the public. This announcement should be made in accordance with policies established by the agency.

Notifying and debriefing unsuccessful vendors. These vendors must be told why they were eliminated from competition or did not receive the contract award.

The fourth phase of the federal acquisition process is the postaward phase, sometimes called the contract administration phase. The goal of contract administration is to ensure that the government receives quality supplies or services that conform to the requirements of the contract in a timely manner.

To that end, certain postaward activities must be carried out properly for each acquisition. This includes training and certifying the contracting officer’s technical representative to properly perform contract surveillance, which helps ensure that quality supplies or services are delivered to the government in a timely manner. This also includes exercising contract option periods in accordance with contract provisions and clauses. Option periods exercised by federal agencies must be in exact compliance with the option provisions and clauses of the contract.

Federal agencies too often allocate more time to awarding contracts than to the postaward phase of the acquisition process. The postaward phase is also very important, so it should receive the proper amount of resources and time.