Demolition/Abatement Constracts (Folders 1-2)

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Chapter 4: Methods of Selection http:i/ww~.fta.dot.cov,!ftailibrarv/adminiBPPman/secl 40.htm 25 ' See Chapter 3 ~f'uture sectionJ, "Specifications" for a discussion of these and other specification issues. 26 - The Brooks Act procedures, required for Architectural and Engineering services and described in Section 6.5 (future sectionJ, go one step further by prohibiting price competition and requiring selection based solely on technical criteria. ~~ " In 1990, the FTA published Procurement Guidelines for Third Party Contracting which included, in Chapter II, Paragraph 7.I, a statement that "All IFBs should be advertised in a manner that promotes participation in the bidding by all qualified and capabie firms. Advertising only in the local news media is not normally adequate." This document was canceled by the pubtication of FTA Circular 4220.1C in 1995 and no further guidelines have been issued. The concept of "all qualified and capable firms" is a viable one under federal law, and suggests that you should tailor your publicity programs to the supply markets for your procurement. This is why we have discussed national and local advertisement in the text of this subsection and why, under the subsequent discussion of mailing lists, it is important that all known firms that provide the item or service being procured be solicited. 28 - If you are interested in more details about the CB'D and other federal government policies relating to publicizing contract actions, those details are spelled out in FAR Part 5. FAR Section 5.207 details with the specifics of preparing and transmitting the notices for inclusion in the CBD. 29 " If you are not satisfied with the performance of the current contraetor, the appropriate remedy is not to arbitrarily decide not to issue the firm a solicitation for the follow-ot~ procurement. If your performance concerns are well documented, you have two alternatives. First, include the firm on the list, address performance record under any appropriate technical criteria if it is ultimately the apparent awardee, address your performance concerns as part of the responsibitity d~terminations -- the firm may be able to address your concerns at this time to your satisfaction. Second, if the perfotmance concerns are irretrievably deep, it may even be possible to initiate debarment or suspension at the local, state, or Federal level. Debarments and Suspensians as well as Responsibility Determinations are specific topics that are discussed in subsequent sections of this Manual. 30 - If you do receive names of firms from the consultant that prepared the specifications, it is recommended you try to ensure there are no conflict of interest situations existing {e.g., the recommended firm is wholly-owned subsidiary of the speGification preparer) or that the specifications are not drafted in such a manner as the only product that will meet the specification requuement is the product of the firm they want added to the list. Don't let this caveat discourage your solicitation of recommendations from that consultant (they are a very good source), just be sensitive to the firms provided. 31- While the IFB requirements of § 9.c.(2) are good practices for both IFBs and RFPs, the evaluation criteria requirement of § 9.d.(1) is relevant only to RFPs and is discussed in Section 4.5.1, "Solicitation & Receipt of Proposals." 32' As a matter of information only, reference is made to the FAR §§ 14.201-1 and 15.406-1 for the "Uniform Contract Format" and FAR § 14.241-9 for the "Simplified Cfltttract Format" used in bidding fixed price contracts. These are optional formats used by Federal departments which include a good discussion of what is included in those formats and why. 40 of 45 O 1 / 10/97 13:09:54