Overview
FAR 15.207 establishes the administrative procedures for receiving, safeguarding, and processing proposals and responses to Requests for Information (RFIs) to ensure the integrity of the competitive process.
Key Rules
- Receipt Marking: All proposals and RFI responses must be marked with the date and time of receipt immediately upon arrival at the specified location.
- Safeguarding Information: Agencies are legally required to protect proposals from unauthorized disclosure throughout the source selection process in accordance with FAR 3.104 and 41 U.S.C. chapter 21.
- RFI Protection: While not subject to the same source selection rules as proposals, information received via an RFI must still be adequately safeguarded from unauthorized disclosure.
- Unreadable Submissions: If an electronic or facsimile proposal is unreadable, the Contracting Officer (CO) must notify the offeror immediately and allow for the resubmission of the unreadable portion.
- Resubmission Timeliness: Provided the offeror follows the CO’s instructions for format and timing, a resubmitted unreadable portion is treated as if it were received at the time of the original submission for timeliness determinations.
Practical Implications
- Technical Safety Net: This section prevents offerors from being unfairly disqualified due to technical glitches (like file corruption) as long as they made a timely initial submission.
- Administrative Rigor: Contracting offices must maintain strict chain-of-custody and timestamping procedures to defend against protests regarding late proposals or improper disclosure of proprietary data.