§3705 Pre-award Debriefings

Summary

When the government removes a bidder from consideration before it makes the final award, the bidder can ask in writing for a pre-award debriefing within 3 days after getting the notice of removal. The contracting officer must try to give the debriefing as soon as possible but may refuse if a debriefing would not be in the government’s best interest. If a bidder asked for a pre-award debriefing and was refused, the contracting officer must later provide the fuller debriefing the law requires. The debriefing must explain the agency’s evaluation of the important parts of the bidder’s proposal, why the bidder was removed, and answer reasonable questions about whether the agency followed the selection rules in the solicitation and regulations. The debriefing cannot say how many or who the other bidders were, or reveal other bidders’ proposal contents, rankings, or evaluations. The contracting officer must put a short summary of the debriefing in the contract file.