Pre/Post-Negotiation Business Clearance
What: The Pre/Post-negotiation Business Clearance document combines the compliance requirements of both the Pre-negotiation clearance and the Post-negotiation clearance into one document. The Pre/Post-negotiation business clearance:
- Can be utilized only when the award can be made from the initial offers and when the Request for Proposal (RFP) contains the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.215-1(f)(4), “Contract Award”, which notifies the potential offerors that “The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a Contract without discussions with offerors.” Minor irregularities or apparent clerical mistakes (clarifications) are allowed during this process; discussions involving information essential for determining the acceptability of a proposal or allows for an offeror to revise a proposal, is not allowed.
- Delineates the sequence of events leading up to the award.
- Provides a synopsis of the technical teams analysis and the Contracting Officers/Cost Evaluation Team’s evaluations.
- Fully documents the basis of selecting a source (or sources) by the Source Selection Authority (SSA).
- Provides the rationale if the SSA deviates from any recommendations provided by the Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB).
Who: The Contracting Officer and the Contract Specialist have overall responsibility for the clearance. Team members responsibility is limited to the extent of their recommendations and ratings based on the evaluation criteria as prescribed in the solicitation.
When: The Pre/Post-Negotiation Business Clearance shall be prepared after selection of a source(s) by the SSA, but prior to award.
Results: The Contract cannot be awarded until after the clearance is approved.
