PGI 201.170-4 Administration of Peer Reviews.

(a)  The results and recommendations that are products of Peer Reviews are intended to be advisory in nature; however, in the event the Peer Review report includes a recommendation that is identified as "significant" and the contracting officer does not intend to follow that recommendation, the senior procurement official of the contracting activity for the reviewed organization must be made aware of this fact before action is taken (or inaction, as applicable) that is contrary to the recommendation. Reviews will be conducted in a manner that preserves the authority, judgment, and discretion of the contracting officer and the senior officials of the acquiring activity.

(b)  Peer Review teams will be comprised of senior contracting officials and attorneys from throughout DoD. A senior official designated by the OSD Office of Small Business Programs will participate as a team member on Peer Reviews of services acquisitions. Teams will include civilian employees or military personnel external to the department, agency, or component that is the subject of the Peer Review.

(c)  Generally, each review will be conducted at the location of the executing contracting organization.

(d)  A list of the documents that must be made available to the review team, along with the specific elements the team will examine, is provided at the end of this PGI section.

(e)  The review team observations and recommendations will be communicated to the contracting officer and the senior procurement official immediately upon completion of a review.

(f)  The contracting officer shall document the disposition of all Peer Review recommendations (i.e., state whether the recommendation will be followed and, if not, why not) as a signed memorandum for the record in the applicable contract file. This memorandum must be executed prior to the next phase Peer Review or prior to contract award for Phase 3 reviews. For post-award Peer Reviews of services acquisitions, the memorandum must be executed prior to the next option exercise. The contracting officer shall provide a copy of the memorandum to: Deputy Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (Contract Policy and International Contracting), 3060 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3060.