SOLICITATION PREPARATION GUIDE FOR THE ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS BY DoD
Current through 1 October 2016
Purpose
The purpose of this guide is to 1) assist DoD contract specialists responsible for preparing competitive solicitations for the acquisition of commercial items using FAR Part 12 procedures, 2) assist DoD contracting officers or other DoD contracting personnel responsible for ensuring the quality of these solicitations prior to their release, and 3) assist administrators of automated procurement systems used by DoD (i.e., PD
2, ConWrite, etc.) who are responsible for ensuring that competitive solicitations produced with the aid of these automated procurement systems are of good quality. This guide does not specifically address the preparation of combined synopsis/solicitation procedure described in FAR 12.603. However, the information in this guide may be useful in preparing a combined synopsis/solicitation as it relates to the type of information that should be in an addendum, the clauses to be incorporated by reference in FAR 52.212-5, etc.
Solicitation format.
Pursuant to FAR 12.303, solicitations for the acquisition of commercial items prepared using FAR Part 12 shall be assembled, to the maximum extent practicable, using the following format:
For ease of use, the organization of this guide resembles the preferred organization of a solicitation for the acquisition of commercial items using FAR Part 12 ((a) through (e) above).
Advice and Recommendations
Users of this guide are advised against printing it out and using it as a desk reference, as it will be continuously updated in response to changes to the FAR or DFARS that affect the acquisition of commercial items and as a result of user feedback. Instead, it should be accessed online at the Defense Acquisition University Acquisition Community Connection Web site (
https://acc.dau.mil) under the Contracting Community of Practice. All suggestions and recommendations to improve the content and format of this guide are welcome and should be sent to Mr. Donald Mansfield, Professor.