Contract Formation I

Course Description

This FAI-compliant course is the second in the Basics of Contracting series. It provides a comprehensive study of the fundamentals of the solicitation and award process in government purchasing. The student will be introduced to both commercial and non-commercial purchasing procedures and will explore both oral and written solicitation techniques. The lecture-discussion sessions of the course are heavily supplemented by group exercises and case studies to provide the student with practical experience in the application of the learning objectives. The target audience for this course consists of members of the contract specialist (GS1102) career path. Program managers, technical managers, and others who interface frequently with the purchasing process could also benefit from this training.

ACE Credit Recommendation

In the lower division baccalaureate degree category, 2 semester hours in Business Administration, Federal Acquisition, Public Administration, Procurement Management, or Purchasing.

Prerequisites

None

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Solicit offers and quotations
• Perform bid evaluations
• Evaluate proposals and quotation
• Award contracts
• Plan to Initiate work under the contract

Course Content

Lesson 1: Handling Quotes and Offers

Given the FAR:

• Identify the steps in safeguarding quotes, proposals, and bids.
• Describe the procedures for processing quotes, proposals, and bids.
• Recognize when to accept late quotes, proposals, and bids.

Lesson 2: Evaluation

Given the solicitation, responses received, price, price-related and non-price-related information:

• Apply technical and other non-price-related factors.
• Describe the role of price and cost analysis in evaluating offers and quotations.
• Recognize techniques to evaluate other terms and conditions.

Lesson 3: Selection

Given a scenario:

• Describe the decision process for awarding with or without discussions.
• Recognize when fact-finding is appropriate.
• Determine whether to establish a competitive range.
• Select contractors to include within the competitive range.
• Identify the steps in conducting negotiations.

Lesson 4: Responsibility

Given a solicitation response, market research findings, and an excerpt of the list of excluded parties:

• Describe the procedures for determining responsibility.
• Determine if a contractor is debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, or otherwise ineligible.
• Describe the process for referring a non-responsibility determination to the small business administration.
• Determine the responsibility or non-responsibility of a prospective contractor.

Lesson 5: Awards and Debriefings

Given an evaluated quote and a responsible contractor:

• Describe the procedures for preparing and documenting an award using FAR Part 14 and 15 procedures
• Explain the process for completing a purchase order.
• Recognize regulatory requirements for notification of award.
• Describe the process of conducting a debriefing.
• Determine the method for processing post award mistakes.
• Prepare award documents.

Lesson 6: Protests

Given a scenario and related facts pertaining to a protest:

• Identify those actions that may be protested.
• Explain the process for handling protests.
• Explain the procedures for the alternative dispute resolution process.
• Determine an appropriate response to the protest.