Price not always sole determining factor awarding Government Contracts

Price is not always the sole determining factor in awarding contracts by the Government. Many acquisitions (most notably negotiated acquisitions) involve a review of a contractor's technical capability; corporate experience; quality; past performance and surge capability (as well as price). This methodology is used because it makes good business sense and ensures reliable contractors with proven performance records will deliver quality products at the lowest possible costs.

This concept, known as Best Value, is defined as any competitive negotiated acquisition where the contracting officer uses discriminating factors, in addition to price, in the evaluation of proposals and award of a contract.

Within DSCP, this would encompass virtually all our awards with the exception of low price, technically acceptable source selection and sealed bidding.

For Construction & Equipment (formerly General & Industrial) vendors, an automated system is used to assist the contracting officer. The Automated Best Value System (ABVS) is a computerized system that collects a vendor's existing past performance data and translates it into a numeric score. The contracting officer then uses the score as an additional evaluation factor when making best value award decisions.
 

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