f.  Part 235

Comment: One respondent recommended that the final rule should explicitly exclude competitions for basic and applied research conducted under FAR 35.016. The respondent commented that, although the proposed rule does not address research competitions under FAR 35.016 utilizing Broad Agency Announcements as the solicitation method, the amplifying memorandum of April 27, 2011, stated that the policy applies to all competitive procurements of supplies and services that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. The respondent provided several reasons why the entire issue of "one bid" is problematic for broad agency announcements, because offers under broad agency announcement sometimes trickle in over an extended open period, and often individual offers can be entertained at any time.

Response: Although the final rule does not specifically address FAR part 35, acquisitions under FAR part 35 are generally subject to the procedures of FAR part 15 and DFARS part 215. The procedures of DFARS 215.371 should not apply to broad agency announcements under FAR 35.006. The requirement for resolicitation if the original solicitation is for less than 30 days is not likely to affect a broad agency announcement, because they are usually issued for an extended period of time. However, because contracts awarded under broad agency announcements, although competitively awarded, are not awarded on the basis of price competition, the approach at DFARS 215.371 would not be appropriate for a broad agency announcement. Responses to a broad agency announcement are expected to propose varying technical/scientific approaches. Proposals need not be evaluated against each other since they are not submitted in accordance with a common work statement. Therefore, to make it clear that DFARS 215.371 does not apply to awards under broad agency announcement, an exception has been added at DFARS 215.371-4(a)(1)(iii). DFARS 215.371-4(a)(2) states that the applicability of an exception does not eliminate the need for the contracting officer to ensure that the price is fair and reasonable.