10 U.S.C. § 3304 — Post-award debriefings
submitted 5 years ago by Pub. L. 116-283 to r/title-10-ARMED-FORCES · 510 words · no verdicts yet
An unsuccessful offeror in a competitive-proposal procurement may request a post-award debriefing within three days after notice of award. The agency must provide specified evaluation and award information, answer follow-up questions, and keep a record of the debriefing.
(a) Request for debriefing. When an agency head awards a contract using competitive proposals, an unsuccessful offeror that makes a written request within three days after receiving award notice must receive a debriefing and the basis for the selection and award.
(b) When conducted. The agency head must debrief the offeror, as far as practicable, within five days after receiving the request.
(c) Information provided. (1) At minimum, the debriefing must include: (A) the agency's evaluation of significant weaknesses or deficiencies in the offer; (B) the overall evaluated cost and technical rating* of the awarded contractor's offer and the debriefed offer; (C) the overall ranking of all offers; (D) a summary of the award reasoning; (E) for a proposal containing a commercial product that is a contract end item, the make and model offered by the awardee; (F) reasonable answers to relevant questions about whether the solicitation's source-selection procedures, applicable regulations, and other authorities were followed; and (G) an opportunity to submit further debriefing questions within two business days. (2) The agency must answer those questions in writing within five business days. The debriefing is not complete until the written answers are delivered.
(d) Information excluded. The debriefing may not compare the offers point by point or disclose information exempt under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).
(e) Solicitation statement. Every competitive-proposal solicitation must say that the information in (c) may be disclosed in post-award debriefings.
(f) After successful protest. If within one year after award, a successful procurement protest causes the agency to use a new solicitation or new best and final offers, the agency must give every offeror (1) information from the debriefing about the awardee's offer and (2) the information that would have been given to the original offerors.
(g) File summary. The contracting officer* must put a summary of every debriefing under this section in the contract file.
When a contract is awarded by the head of an agency* on the basis of competitive proposals, an unsuccessful offeror, upon written request received by the agency within 3 days after the date on which the unsuccessful offeror receives the notification of the contract award, shall be debriefed and furnished the basis for the selection decision and contract award.
The head of the agency shall debrief the offeror within, to the maximum extent practicable, five days after receipt of the request by the agency.
The debriefing shall include, at a minimum—
the agency’s evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the offeror’s offer;
the overall evaluated cost and technical rating* of the offer of the contractor awarded the contract and the overall evaluated cost and technical rating of the offer of the debriefed offeror;
the overall ranking of all offers;
a summary of the rationale for the award;
in the case of a proposal that includes a commercial product that is an end item under the contract, the make and model of the item being provided in accordance with the offer of the contractor awarded the contract;
reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the debriefed offeror as to whether source selection procedures set forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other applicable authorities were followed by the agency; and
an opportunity for a disappointed offeror to submit, within two business days after receiving a post-award debriefing, additional questions related to the debriefing.
The agency shall respond in writing to any additional question submitted under paragraph (1)(G) within five business days after receipt of the question. The agency shall not consider the debriefing to be concluded until the agency delivers its written responses to the disappointed offeror.
The debriefing may not include point-by-point comparisons of the debriefed offeror’s offer with other offers and may not disclose any information that is exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5.
Each solicitation for competitive proposals shall include a statement that information described in subsection (c) may be disclosed in post-award debriefings.
If, within one year after the date of the contract award and as a result of a successful procurement protest, the agency seeks to fulfill the requirement under the protested contract either on the basis of a new solicitation of offers or on the basis of new best and final offers requested for that contract, the agency shall make available to all offerors—
the information provided in debriefings under this paragraph regarding the offer of the contractor awarded the contract; and
the same information that would have been provided to the original offerors.
The contracting officer* shall include a summary of any debriefing conducted under this section in the contract file.
Source credit: (Added and amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XVIII, § 1816(c)(2)(D), (6), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4182, 4183; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVIII, § 1801(a)(26), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 684.)
- 2021Enacted · Pub. L. 116-283 · 134 Stat. 4182, 4183
- 2023Amended · Pub. L. 118-31 · 137 Stat. 684
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 116-283 on 2021-01-01.
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