Overview
This section outlines the mandatory technical, procedural, and administrative requirements that contracting officers must include in solicitations when First Article Testing (FAT) is required. It ensures that both the Government and potential contractors have a clear understanding of testing standards, waiver eligibility, delivery impacts, and cost evaluation factors.
Key Rules
- Technical Specifications: Solicitations must define the specific performance characteristics the first article must meet, the detailed test requirements, and (for contractor testing) the data required in the final test report.
- Waiver Provisions: Solicitations must inform offerors that FAT requirements may be waived if they have previously delivered identical or similar supplies accepted by the Government; offerors must provide prior contract numbers to prove eligibility.
- Alternative Offers: The Government must allow offerors to submit two versions of an offer—one including FAT and one excluding it—if they are eligible for a waiver.
- Delivery Schedules: Solicitations must contain a production delivery schedule. While the schedule can be shorter if FAT is waived, this time difference cannot be used as a factor in the evaluation for award.
- Manufacturing Standards: The solicitation must explicitly state whether the approved first article will serve as the physical "manufacturing standard" for the remainder of the contract.
- Evaluation Factors: If the Government is performing the testing, the solicitation must include the Government’s estimated testing costs as an evaluation factor.
- Pricing Integrity: Offerors are warned that prices for first articles and tests must not be "materially unbalanced" compared to production quantities.
Practical Implications
- Waiver Strategy: Savvy contractors can gain a competitive advantage by documenting past successful deliveries to bypass the costs and delays associated with FAT.
- Risk Mitigation: By requiring detailed technical requirements and test reports upfront, the Government reduces the risk of production-wide defects and ensures clear grounds for rejection if the first article fails.
- Cost Accounting: Contractors must be careful to price first articles realistically; front-loading costs into the first article to improve cash flow may lead to a rejection of the proposal due to unbalanced pricing.