7.0  Making the Award Decision

If, after the initial evaluation of offers, the lowest priced technically acceptable offer is judged to have a performance confidence assessment of "Substantial Confidence," that offeror represents the best value to the government and the contracting officer will award the contract to that offeror without discussions, if permitted by the solicitation.

The government reserves the right to award a contract to a higher priced offeror if the lower priced offeror(s) has a lower performance confidence assessment.  In such cases, the SSA must decide whether the past performance advantage of a particular offeror is worth the difference in price.  The SSA must make an integrated best value assessment documenting the merits of the trade-off in price and that the price is fair and reasonable.  The decision document must succinctly and accurately explain the basis for selecting the successful offeror including an explanation of any performance-price tradeoff judgments and identification of benefits associated with any additional cost.  (See Attachment 9 for a sample decision document).  This document becomes part of the official contract file and can be released, provided that any information exempt under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is redacted.  Additional decision document samples can be found in the AFMC Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD) Guide at the site identified in paragraph 8.0.

Note:  For further guidance on SSDDs and file documentation, see MP5315.3, paragraphs 7.11 and 7.12.  A Simplified Source Selection Report is not required, but may be used for PPT acquisitions.