(90) Generally, a preaward survey shall be requested only when award is contemplated to a firm from which a bid or proposal has been received. However, a preaward survey may be requested of the facilities or firms supplying perishable food items before receipt of a bid or proposal when the time between opening/closing and award would not be sufficient for a survey following receipt of an offer. Concurrent requests for preaward surveys may be made in emergency situations and/or when multiple awards are contemplated. The need to request concurrent preaward surveys will depend upon the circumstances of the individual acquisition. Contracting officers shall obtain the agreement of the appropriate CAO preaward survey monitor prior to the submission of such requests. Although FAR 9.106-2(d) specifies a norm of 7 working days for conducting preaward surveys, except for FDA determinations, contracting offices should provide for the maximum allowable time, particularly if a negative finding is anticipated or a secondary survey will be required. When the contracting office needs a response in less than 7 working days, the surveying activity should be provided with the reason for the expedited survey. Surveying activities should notify contracting officers of survey results by telephone or electronically transmitted message on the day the survey is mailed.
(a) Additional factors would include the need for special facilities (e.g., tools, machines, test facilities) required to produce the item. Failure to liquidate indebtedness indicates a lack of responsibility. Therefore, if it is proposed to contract with firms indebted to DLA, and the proposed contract would otherwise require a preaward survey, an annotation should be made in the "Remarks" section of the SF 1403.
(a)(ii) Evaluation of a contractor as a planned producer will not affect the outcome of the PAS for other than industrial preparedness purposes. Any prospective contractor receiving a negative PAS for production or quality assurance capability with regard to an existing/potential Industrial Preparedness Planning List (IPPL) item should neither be solicited nor enrolled as a planned producer.
(e) Contracting officers shall restrict their requests for preaward survey information to that which is not already available to the contracting office. The contracting officer must determine the scope of the preaward survey to be performed. (Preaward survey requests on sole source suppliers will be limited to partial surveys.) The only factors to be investigated (e.g., production backlog, finances, and quality history) are those which actually affect or indicate the contractor's ability to perform under the contract and for which the contracting officer does not have sufficient knowledge to make a responsibility determination.
(i) When limited information is required, it can often be obtained through telephonic contact with the PAS monitor at the cognizant contract administration office (CAO), precluding the administrative effort associated with a formal PAS request.
(ii) For items assigned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and/or the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps for source inspection, the quality assurance personnel representing the contracting officer, and other military agencies, as deemed necessary, will be requested to participate in the PAS, and their comments will be included in the quality assurance portion of the report.
