Competitive acquisition documentation and other contracting requirements
February 25, 2003 | Bill Hannaford, Legal
Division
Questions have arisen about the Council's requirements regarding
competitive acquisition for subcontracts in the subbasin planning
initiative. These include:
- Must subcontracts be
let only through competitive acquisition (or a demonstration that a sole
source is justified)?
- What sort of showing is
required?
- When must the showing be made?
- To
whom must the showing be made?
1. Must contractors and subcontractors observe competitive
acquisition?
The funding principles provide:
"The Council's master subbasin planning contract . . . with
Bonneville requires that contractors, to the extent able, are responsible
to obtain the most advantageous price available, for materials,
subcontracts and travel with due regard to securing prompt delivery of
satisfactory products and services."
More specifically, as the [principal] contractor for subbasin planning,
the Council expects subbasin lead entities and other contractors as well,
to be able to demonstrate and document that open competitive procurement
practices were followed in selecting and awarding subcontracts.
2. What sort of showing must be made?
Demonstrating that open and competitive procurement practices have been
employed could be accomplished in several ways. A lead entity (or
other contractor) could, for example: document how it utilized its own
competitive contracting requirements; solicit letters of interest and
request for qualifications from potential contractors; conduct a formal
RFP process; or provide a thorough sole source justification statement in
those instances in which a competitive procurement process is not
possible. The Council's fish and wildlife staff and contract
administration staff are available to provide advice, guidance and
assistance regarding these competitive procurement requirements.
3. When must the showing be made?
Some lead entities and fiscal agents will not know when they
submit a workplan, or even when they sign a contract with the Council,
just what subcontracts they will eventually let. It makes sense,
then, that as subcontracts or sub-subcontracts are awarded, the requisite
showing be submitted.
4. To whom must the showing be made?
A brief account demonstrating that contracts have been awarded
based on the principles of competitive acquisition should be sent to the
entity with whom the contracting party has a contract, with a copy to the
Council's subbasin planning coordinator for inclusion in the Council's
files. So, for example, a lead entity would notify the Council when
it awards a subcontract. If the subcontractor lets sub-subcontracts,
the subcontractor would notify the lead entity, with a copy to the
Council.
Other requirements
In addition to requiring contractors to
demonstrate that they have employed competitive acquisition methods in
awarding any subcontracts, other provisions of this contract should also
be passed through to subcontractors. Those are the provisions that
provide for stopwork orders, termination for convenience and application
of the federal travel rates. If you have any questions about these
provisions, please be in touch with the Council's central staff.
If you any additional questions please call or email me at:
503-222-5161, .
^ top
|
home