IV.  MARKING

Source Selection Plans are considered source selection information (SSI) in accordance with FAR 2.101 and 3.104.  However, only a few areas of the plan cause the whole plan to be considered source selection sensitive.  In order to drive transparency and facilitate open communication with industry, the Contracting Officer should consider redacting portions of information in the source selection plan.  Once these areas such as the source selection team membership are removed, the plan should not be considered source selection information.  When the source selection plan contains no source selection information or where the plan is appropriately redacted, Contracting Officers may release the plan to offerors.

We recommend that the team membership and the legal office be consulted regarding contents of SSP that may be considered SSI.  Teams should consider whether disclosure of information in the SSP would jeopardize the integrity or successful completion of the acquisition to which the information relates, and whether such information has previously been made available to the public or disclosed publicly.  Openly sharing source selection plan information, evaluation factors and criteria demystifies the source selection process.  Moreover, it enables offerors to better assess their abilities to compete while submitting a proposal confident they understand not only the requirement but also the proposal evaluation procedures.