Overview
This section prescribes the requirements for the Source Selection Authority (SSA) to exercise independent judgment when making and documenting a final contract award decision based on a comparative evaluation of proposals.
Key Rules
- Comparative Assessment: The SSA must evaluate proposals against all source selection criteria specified in the solicitation.
- Independent Judgment: While the SSA can utilize reports from evaluators or advisors, the final decision must represent the SSA's own independent professional judgment.
- Mandatory Documentation: The decision must be documented in a Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD).
- Tradeoff Rationale: Documentation must include the specific rationale for any business judgments or tradeoffs, particularly explaining why benefits associated with a higher-priced proposal justify the additional cost.
- Non-Quantification: The regulation specifically states that the rationale for tradeoffs does not need to be quantified (e.g., assigning a specific dollar value to a technical advantage).
Practical Implications
- Protest Defense: A well-documented SSDD is the primary defense against bid protests; if the SSA fails to show a reasoned "comparative assessment," the award may be overturned.
- Accountability: It ensures that the SSA cannot simply "rubber stamp" the findings of a technical evaluation board but must instead take personal responsibility for the final selection logic.