§3308 Planning for future competition in contracts for major systems

Summary

Agency heads must think about asking bidders to include plans that make future buying competitive when they write requests for developing or producing a major system. When deciding whether to require these plans, the agency head must look at why the system is being bought and the technology needed. If the plans are required, the agency must count them when judging the bid price. For development contracts, the plans can show using parts already in the federal or national supply system or parts sold by more than one commercial source, and for parts likely needed in large amounts while the system is in use, plans to design the system so those parts can be bought competitively later. For production contracts, the plans should explain how future buys of repeat items can be competitive; examples include giving the government rights to technical data and the cost for those rights, or plans to qualify or create multiple suppliers. If a contract is awarded without competition, these same goals can be used as negotiation objectives.