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51 Procurement Law. 1 (2015-2016)

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X 1An ::::-3 N .09 4AX-tiii 05: M-1 -0 :.A. I M Mi. st 2 ................................................................................................................................................................. .................. ..... .............................................................. . . ..... Octo Consulting and the Best Value Continuum By RicHARD J. Mum Federal Acquisition Regu- lation (FAR) 15.101, enti- tled Best Value Continu- .... um, advises that an agency can obtain best value in negotiated acquisi- tions by using any one or a combination of source se- lection approaches. Two such approaches are (1) the \4 tradeoff of non-cost factors against cost or price, and (2) the lowest price, technically acceptable source selec- tion process. These procurement methods are described in FAR 15.101-1 and 15.101-2, respectively. These two methods can be combined. For example, an agency may evaluate a technical factor for acceptabil- ity while trading off past performance ratings against prices to determine best value. The question may be asked, though, whether there is any other, legally valid procurement process along the best value continuum. In a procurement that was the subject of the Court of Federal Claims' 2014 decision in Octo Consulting Group, Inc. v. United States (Octo Consulting),' the General Ser- vices Administration (GSA) utilized a novel procure- ment method, citing FAR 15.101 as authorizing that method. The court approved its use. This article looks closely at GSA's procurement, ques- tions the validity of the method used and whether there really are other possible procurement methods on the best value continuum, and then asks whether combi- nations of source selection approaches provide any real advantage to the procuring agencies. Richard J. Webber is a partner in the Government Contractor Services Group of Arent Fox LLP. He gratefully acknowledges the review and comments by his colleague Patrick R. Quigley. GSA's OASIS SB Procurement As described in the Octo Consulting decision, GSA's so- licitation stated that GSA would award 40 contracts in Pool 32 of the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services - Small Business (OASIS SB) procurement. The OASIS SB solicitation set out the basis for award in Section M.2 as follows: The source selection process on OASIS SB will neither be based on the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) nor Tradeoffs. Within the best value continuum, FAR 15.101 defines best value as using any one or a combination of source selection approaches. For OASIS SB, the best value basis for awards will be determined by the Highest Techni- cally Rated Offerors with a Fair and Reasonable Price.3 This method utilized a scoring system to determine the proposal's technical quality,4 but there was no price eval- uation factor-only a determination that the offered price was fair and reasonable. Often, as experience teaches, widely divergent prices are deemed to be reason- able, and GSA did no tradeoff of technical factors with price. The solicitation explained that this methodology continued on page 22 Historyf §Sectio , nrcLo :1 Par.2. Precise Systems: A Study in Regulatory inerti~a 12 TOP SHEET: Challenging Past Performance Evaluactions1 Published in The Procurement Lawyer, Volume 51, Number 1, Fall 2015. D 2015 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent ofthe American Bar Association.

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