Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), GAO bid protest decisions, arbitration panel decisions, and federal court cases all support establishing multiple competitive ranges or a final competitive range in federal acquisitions.   Having made an initial competitive range decision, once it becomes evident that an offeror no longer has a reasonable chance of receiving the award or is not among the most highly rated proposals, an agency is on solid ground in dropping the offeror from the competitive range and further consideration for award.  The final competitive range is established.

For an updated look at the regulatory framework and case precedent applicable to multiple or final competitive ranges, check out Karen Hindson’s April 2013 article on the subject.  This article identifies the key FAR provisions addressing exchanges with offerors in competitive acquisitions, Comptroller General decisions addressing multiple competitive range scenarios, an RSA arbitration panel decision involving final competitive range, and federal court case citations involving initial and final competitive range determinations.

The Comptroller General recently made a clear statement on this subject: “The fact that an agency initially included a proposal in the competitive range does not preclude the agency from later excluding the proposal from further consideration, if the proposal is found no longer to have a reasonable chance of receiving award.” Matter of: Concept Analysis and Integration, LLC, B-406638.3 (March 29, 2013).

See Karen’s full article here:   MULTIPLE COMPETITIVE RANGES.April2013

© Karen S. Hindson, Hindson & Melton LLC – April 10, 2013