§3704 Post-award Debriefings

Summary

When a federal agency awards a contract after a competition, any bidder who did not win can ask in writing for a debriefing within 3 days after they are told who won. The agency must, as much as possible, hold the debriefing within 5 days after getting the request. The debriefing must explain the main weaknesses or problems in the bidder’s proposal, the overall cost and technical scores for both the winner and the losing bidder, the ranking of all offers, a short reason for the award, the make and model if the winner is supplying a commercial end item, and reasonable answers to questions about whether the agency followed the selection rules. The debriefing cannot give point-by-point comparisons or information the law keeps secret (5 U.S.C. 552(b)). Solicitations must warn bidders that this information may be shared. If a protest succeeds within one year and the agency reopens the competition or asks for new offers, the agency must give all bidders the same debriefing information. The contracting officer must put a summary of the debriefing in the contract file.