Glossary
ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR DELIVERY WITHIN CONSIGNEE'S PREMISES (INSIDE DELIVERY): a separate service charge placed on the purchase order (and subsequent invoice)--only when requested by an ordering activity-for delivery to an exact location within the delivery site, i.e., room, suite.
Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO): is assigned after contract award, based on your geographic location. Your AGO is responsible for the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF), 72A sales and other compliance issues.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: when used in connection with Equal Employment Opportunity, a positive and continuing effort to attract, recruit, promote, counsel, train, and hire minorities, demonstrated through results obtained.
AGGREGATE SALES: the total sales to the Government under a contract. The basis for comparison of Government discounts with commercial discounts given on the basis of estimated or previous actual sales to commercial firms: e.g., national accounts.
AUDIT: the systematic examination of records and documents and/or the securing of other evidence by confirmation, physical inspection, or otherwise, for one or more of the following purposes: determining the propriety or legality of proposed or consummated transactions; ascertaining whether all transactions have been recorded and are reflected accurately in accounts; determining the existence of recorded assets and inclusiveness of recorded liabilities; determining the accuracy of financial or statistical statements or reports and the fairness of the facts they present; determining the degree of compliance with established policies and procedures relative to financial transactions and business management; and appraising an accounting system and making recommendations concerning it.
BARGAINING: Negotiations are exchanges with the aim of having an offerer revise the proposal. It includes persuasion, alternation of assumptions and positions, give and take, and may apply to price, schedule, technical requirements, type of contract, or other terms of a proposed contract.
BASIS OF AWARD: ( FAR 15.304) refers to award decision based on evaluation factors and significant sub-factors that are tailored to the acquisition.
BEST AND FINAL OFFER: see PROPOSAL REVISIONS
BEST VALUE:
represents the overall "best" solution which is achieved by
the ordering activity selecting the lowest overall price offered depending on
the circumstances of the buy, e.g., the relative importance of cost or price,
special features, the amount of performance risk, urgency, trade-in
considerations, warranty, maintenance availability, etc.; that is all terms and
conditions considered.
When determining what is a "best value", the following
factors may be considered:
1. Special features required of the supply or service.
2. Trade-in considerations.
3. Probable life of the item selected as compared to others.
4. Warranty considerations.
5. Maintenance availability.
6. Past performance.
7. Environmental and energy efficiency considerations.
BLANKET PURCHASE AGREEMENTS (BPA): is a simplified method of filling anticipated repetitive needs for supplies by establishing "charge accounts" with qualified sources of supply. When an agency uses an established schedule BPA, they save time and money - time because they are convenient, money because they reduce administrative costs and allow agencies to take advantage of higher level discounts.
DISCUSSIONS: are
negotiations that take place after the establishment of a competitive range. The
primary objective of
discussions is to maximize the Government's ability to obtain best value, based
on the requirement and evaluation factors in the
solicitation (FAR 15.306).
FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES (FedBizOpps): A World Wide Web-based application that provides an interface with the Commerce Business Daily Net (CBDNet) for creating synopses and permitting the uploading of solicitation files. The Fe; , _ provides vendors with access to agency business opportunities, by allowing them to view and download synopses and solicitation documents. FedBizOpps also allows vendors to register to receive e-mail notification of business opportunities in their area of interest.
INCIDENTAL ITEM: for administrative convenience, open market (non-contract) items may be added to a Federal Supply Schedule BPA or the individual task/delivery order if the items are clearly labeled as such on the order, all applicable acquisition regulations have been followed, and price reasonableness has been determined by the ordering activity for the open market items. These can be referred to as a non-schedule item or as an open market item; as such these are minor items that are needed, and cannot be easily or reasonably separated from the Federal Supply Schedule item.
INDUSTRIAL FUNDING FEE (IFF): is a fee paid by the ordering activity to fund the cost of operating the Schedules program. Ordering activities pay this fee when they purchase items from a Federal Supply Schedule vendor with a contract containing industrial funding provisions. The fee is included in the price of the item and not as a separate line item, because the Contracting Officer and the offerer negotiated the industrial funding fee into the contract price before award was made.
Industrial Operations Analyst (IOA): works in concert with the ACO and PCO and makes personal visits to your company to explain what is expected of you, provide marketing assistance, resolve sales reporting or fee payment issues, and ensure overall contract compliance.
MODIFICATIONS: to the contract means any written change in the terms and conditions of a contract (FAR 43.103).
NEGOTIATIONS: are exchanges between the Government and offerers undertaken with the intent of allowing an offerer to revise their proposal (FAR 43.002).
ORAL PRESENTATIONS: may substitute or augment the written information provided in the proposal (FAR 15.102 for full discussion of oral presentation procedures). Within restrictions on the scope of exchanges of information and without providing opportunities for proposal revisions, presentations need not constitute "discussions". During an oral presentation, the Government conducts discussions FAR 15.306(d), the Government must comply with FAR 15.306 and 15.307.
Procurement Contracting Officer (PCO): is the individual who negotiates and awards your contract and handles most day-to-day contracting matters.
Procurement Preference Programs: It is the policy of the Government to place a fair proportion of its acquisitions, including contracts and subcontracts, with small business concerns and small disadvantaged business concerns. GSA, in accordance with the provisions of Public Law 95-907, established an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). The OSDBU negotiates annual procurement preference goals with Small Business Administration (SBA) based upon the goals set for each of the agencies' contracting activities. The procurement accomplishments with small, small disadvantaged and women-owned concerns plus negotiated subcontracting achievements with prime contractors are reported to SBA each fiscal year. Federal agencies are therefore, required by law to give preference to certain kinds of businesses in the award of contracts. The procurement preference programs are: Small Business Set-Asides, Socially & Economically Disadvantaged Business 8(A), Subcontracting Opportunities for Small & Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Woman-Owned Business, and Vietnam Veterans.
PROPOSAL REVISIONS: (FAR 15.307(b)) has replaced "Best and Final Offers (BAFO)". Final proposal revisions are less formal than BAFO's. Although the common cut-off date remains, requests need not be in writing. CO's shall inform the offerers that their final proposal revisions must be in writing and that the Government intends to award without obtaining further revisions.
REVISION: is the offerer's opportunity to clarify and document understandings reached during negotiations. Rather than having an offerer continually update the proposal, the Contracting Officer can maintain control and be more efficient by covering all issues, then calling for the submission of a proposal revision. With the revised proposal in hand, the Contracting Officer will have a complete picture of the offer, evaluate its relative merit and be assured that all significant issues are covered and understood. Revisions should be submitted only on the request or permission of the Contract Officer (FAR 15.307).
Small Business Opportunities: The Federal Supply Schedules Program offers significant opportunities for small businesses. Over 70 percent of the Federal Supply Schedule Contracts are held by small businesses. Another benefit is ordering activities can now get credit for buying from small businesses using supply Schedule contracts.
Small Business Set-aside program:
is authorized by the Small Business Act of 1953. It requires
agencies to limit competitor on certain contracts to qualified small businesses.
Size qualification is determined by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Since the law requires awards to be made at competitive prices, set-asides are
applied only when enough small businesses are expected to bid to ensure adequate
competition.
A "set-aside" for small business is the reserve of an acquisition exclusively
for participation by small business concerns. This may be accomplished by
setting the entire amount of an acquisition or class of acquisition aside, or a
portion thereof, with the exception of construction contracts. The determination
to make a procurement set-aside may be unilateral or joint. A unilateral
determination is made by the Contracting Officer. A joint determination is one
that is recommended by the SBA procurement center representative and concurred
by the contracting office.
In the early planning stages of an acquisition, it is the policy of the
Government to provide the maximum practicable opportunities in its acquisitions
to small business concerns, small disadvantaged business concerns, and
women-owned small business participate as subcontractors in the contracts
awarded by any executive ordering activity, consistent with efficient contract
performance.
SOCIALLY & ECONOMICALLY
DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS 8(A): Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, as
amended by public Law 95-507, authorizes SBA to enter into contracts with
Federal agencies for goods and services. In turn, SBA contracts the actual
performance of the work to socially and economically disadvantaged small
businesses which have been certified by SBA as eligible to receive contracts.
Generally, to be eligible for the program the firm must be owned (51%) by a
person(s) who is an descendent of Asian Pacific, American Indian, Black,
Oriental, or Hispanic parents. Women may also qualify if they can prove they
have been economically disadvantaged.
The SBA's subcontractors are referred to as "8(A) contractors". Through their
cooperative efforts, the SBA and any ordering activity match the ordering
activity's requirements with the capabilities of 8(A) concerns to establish a
basis for the ordering activity to contract with the SBA under the program.
SPECIAL ITEM NUMBER (SIN's): SINs in multiple award schedules represent groups of generically similar (but not identical) products that are intended to serve the same general purpose. These products normally compete in the market place for the same customer's business, although they may provide various methods or techniques for accomplishing a particular task.
SUBCONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL & SMALL DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES: Federal agencies are required to ensure that their prime contractors establish goals for awarding subcontracts to qualified small and small disadvantaged firms. Large businesses are required to negotiate a subcontracting plan which must outline in detail the contractor's specific goals and activities which will enable federal government businesses to "flow down" to these small concerns. Prime contracts with a total value of $500,000 ($1,000,000 for construction) must include percentage goals for subcontracts with such firms; and a description of how the goals will be achieved.
VIETNAM VETERANS: Although there are no statutory requirements for awarding contracts to businesses owned by Vietnam veterans, Federal agencies actively encourage this group to seek Government contracts and to participate, where eligible, in the above programs. However, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act requires that every contract in the amount of $10,000 mandate that the contractor take affirmative action to employ, and advance in employment, qualified special disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era. It further states that each contractor, including each subcontractor, immediately list all of its suitable employment openings with the appropriate or nearest local job service office of the State Employment Service system. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), U.S. Department of Labor, has the responsibility for enforcing the affirmative action obligations contained in CFR 41, Part 60-250.
Vendor Support Center: is the major long-term data source for information on all Multiple Award Schedule contracts.
WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES: Executive Order 12138 requires Federal agencies to take affirmative action in support of businesses owned by women. To carry out the order, agencies make special efforts to advise women of business opportunities. Eligible women owned firms are strongly encouraged to participate in the above programs.