View all text of Chapter 271 [§ 3701 - § 3708]
§ 3705. Submission of other information
(a)Authority to require submission.—When certified cost or pricing data are not required to be submitted under this chapter for a contract, subcontract, or modification of a contract or subcontract, the offeror shall be required to submit to the contracting officer data other than certified cost or pricing data (if requested by the contracting officer), to the extent necessary to determine the reasonableness of the price of the contract, subcontract, or modification of the contract or subcontract. Except in the case of a contract or subcontract covered by the exceptions in section 3703(a)(1) of this title, the contracting officer shall require that the data submitted include, at a minimum, appropriate information on the prices at which the same item or similar items have previously been sold that is adequate for evaluating the reasonableness of the price for the procurement. If the contracting officer determines that the offeror does not have access to and cannot provide sufficient information on prices for the same or similar items to determine the reasonableness of price, the contracting officer shall require the submission of information on prices for similar levels of work or effort on related products or services, prices for alternative solutions or approaches, and other information that is relevant to the determination of a fair and reasonable price. Contracting officers shall not determine the price of a contract or subcontract to be fair and reasonable based solely on historical prices paid by the Government.
(b)Ineligibility for award.—
(1) In the event the contracting officer is unable to determine proposed prices are fair and reasonable by any other means, an offeror who fails to make a good faith effort to comply with a reasonable request to submit data in accordance with subsection (a) is ineligible for award unless the head of the contracting activity, or the designee of the head of contracting activity, determines that it is in the best interest of the Government to make the award to that offeror, based on consideration of pertinent factors, including the following:
(A) The effort to obtain the data.
(B) Availability of other sources of supply of the item or service.
(C) The urgency or criticality of the Government’s need for the item or service.
(D) Reasonableness of the price of the contract, subcontract, or modification of the contract or subcontract based on information available to the contracting officer.
(E) Rationale or justification made by the offeror for not providing the requested data.
(F) Risk to the Government if award is not made.
(2)
(A) Any new determination made by the head of the contracting activity under paragraph (1) shall be reported to the Principal Director, Defense Pricing and Contracting on a quarterly basis.
(B) The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, or a designee, shall produce an annual report identifying offerors that have denied multiple requests for submission of uncertified cost or pricing data over the preceding three-year period, but nevertheless received an award. The report shall identify products or services offered by such offerors that should undergo should-cost analysis. The Secretary of Defense may include a notation on such offerors in the system used by the Federal Government to monitor or record contractor past performance. The Under Secretary shall assess the extent to which these offerors are sole source providers within the defense industrial base and shall develop strategies to incentivize new entrants into the industrial base to increase the availability of other sources of supply for the product or service. The Under Secretary shall make appropriate portions of the report available to the leadership of the offerors named in such report.
(C) The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall develop a framework for revising what constitutes a denial of uncertified cost or pricing data, including—
(i) identifying situations under which such denials occur to exclude situations outside the control of the offeror or Federal Government;
(ii) identifying whether such denial is from the prime contractor or subcontractor; and
(iii) developing an appropriate timeframe for requiring submission of uncertified cost or pricing data before a request for such data is considered a denial, including a standardized determination of a starting point and conclusion for such requests.
(c)Limitations on authority.—The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall include the following provisions regarding the types of information that contracting officers may require under subsection (a):
(1) Reasonable limitations on requests for sales data relating to commercial products or commercial services.
(2) A requirement that a contracting officer limit, to the maximum extent practicable, the scope of any request for information relating to commercial products or commercial services from an offeror to only that information that is in the form regularly maintained by the offeror in commercial operations.
(3) A statement that any information received relating to commercial products or commercial services that is exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5 shall not be disclosed by the Federal Government.
(Added and amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XVIII, § 1831(a), (f), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4209, 4213; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title VIII, § 802, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 312.)