(g)(1) As required by FAR 8.405-1 or 8.405-2, the responsible program office must provide a written justification whenever it requests an acquisition under the FSS program that restricts consideration of the number of schedule contractors or to an item peculiar to one manufacturer. The justification must be submitted with the AP or other acquisition request document- see 307.71. The Project Officer has responsibility for preparing the justification with assistance, as necessary, from the Contracting Officer.
(i) Justifications for orders at or below the simplified acquisition threshold may be in the form of a paragraph or paragraphs contained in the requisition or other acquisition request document. Justifications for orders in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold shall be in the form of a separate, self-contained document, prepared in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(g) and 308.405-6(g), and titled “Limited Source Justification” (LSJ). HHS requires use of a standard format for an LSJ. The template for the justification is available on the ASFR/OGAPA/DA Internet Web site. Additional information may be included in the LSJ template in accordance with OPDIV procedures.
(ii) Regardless of dollar amount of the acquisition, justifications shall-
(A) Fully describe what is to be acquired;
(B) Cite specific reasons that explain why it is necessary to restrict consideration of sources;
(C) Be supported by verifiable facts rather than untested or unsubstantiated opinions or conclusions; and
(D) Be written in a manner to permit an individual without technical knowledge of the requirement to understand the supporting rationale.
(iii) Preliminary arrangements with, or verbal or written commitments to, a proposed contractor shall be avoided given the requirement to obtain competition for FSS orders using the procedures in FAR Subpart 8.4 - see also FAR 6.102(d)(3).
(iv) Justifications for non-FSS orders to be awarded without full and open competition shall comply with FAR 6.303 and 306.303.
(h) Justification approvals.
Certification, concurrence, and approval requirements. The Project Officer, the Project Officer's immediate supervisor, the head of the sponsoring program office, and the Contracting Officer shall certify that the justification is accurate and complete by signing the LSJ. For acquisitions in the dollar amount cited in FAR 8.405-6(h)(2) through (h)(4), the CCO, if applicable, and the HCA shall indicate their review of, and concurrence with, the justification by signing the LSJ. The approving officials for LSJs are as follows:
(1) The Contracting Officer shall exercise this approval authority unless a higher approval level is required by OPDIV procedures.
(2) The CAs are listed in 306.501. This approval authority is not delegable.
(3) The CA shall exercise this approval authority, except where the individual designated as the competition advocate does not meet the requirements of FAR 8.405-6(h)(3)(ii). This approval authority is not delegable.
(4) The HHS SPE is the Associate DAS for Acquisition.
