B. Documentation

Comment: A respondent stated that contracting officers should be required to make a written determination regarding decisions to reduce or deny the award fee or decline to do so. The statements should also be made available to the public, according to this respondent.

Response: FAR 16.401(e)(2) states that "(t)he basis for all award-fee determinations shall be documented in the contract file, to include, at a minimum, a determination that overall cost, schedule, and technical performance in the aggregate is or is not at a satisfactory level." The award-fee determination does not go into FAPIIS. It is the "final determination of contractor fault by the Secretary of Defense" (section 834(d)) that is required to be submitted into FAPIIS. While the latter determination impacts the former determination, they are not the same thing. A requirement for public posting of award-fee determinations is outside the scope of the statute.