Uniform Contract Format

Uniform Contract Format

(a) Contracting officers shall prepare solicitations and resulting contracts using the uniform contract format outlined in Table 15-1 of this subsection. (b) Solicitations using the uniform contract format shall include Parts I, II, III, and IV (see 15.204-2 through 15.204-5). Upon award, contracting officers shall not physically include Part IV in the resulting contract, but shall retain it in the contract file. (See 4.1201(c).) Section K shall be incorporated by reference in the contract.

15.204-2 Part I—The Schedule

The contracting officer shall prepare the contract Schedule as follows:

(a) Section A, Solicitation/Contract Form

• (1) Optional Form (OF) 308, Solicitation and Offer—Negotiated Acquisition, or Standard Form (SF) 33, Solicitation, Offer and Award, may be used to prepare RFPs.
• (2) When other than OF 308 or SF 33 is used, include the following information on the first page of the solicitation:
  • (i) Name, address, and location of issuing activity, including room and building where proposals or information

must be submitted.

• • (ii) Solicitation number.
  • (iii) Date of issuance.
  • (iv) Closing date and time.
  • (v) Number of pages.
  • (vi) Requisition or other purchase authority.
  • (vii) Brief description of item or service.
  • (viii) Requirement for the offeror to provide its name and complete address, including street, city, county, state, and ZIP code, and electronic address (including facsimile address), if appropriate.
  • (ix) Offer expiration date.

For most requirements, Section A is comprised of Standard Form 33, which is used and divided into three main parts: Solicitation, Offer, and Award. The government contracting officer completes the solicitation section before releasing the document. It contains information concerning where and when offers should be submitted as well as a table of contents that applies the UCF to the procurement. The offer section, completed by the contractor and returned as part of its offer, constitutes a legally binding offer in the process of contract formation. The award section is completed by the government contracting officer after the source selection decision has been made. In some agencies Standard Form 26 Award/Contract is used in lieu of completing the award section of SF33. Delivery of the document to the contractor or its authorized agent represents an executed contract.

(b) Section B, Supplies or services and prices/costs

Include a brief description of the supplies or services; e.g., item number, national stock number/part number if applicable, nouns, nomenclature, and quantities. (This includes incidental deliverables such as manuals and reports.)

Section B is a brief description of the contract deliverables by line item and contain quantities and identifying numbers for the supplies and services to be furnished by the contractor. The FAR lists no specific structure for this section; however, this information often takes the form of a table that is filled out and submitted with the price or business proposal. Section B (or Section L) also describes how prices must be explained and justified in the proposal.

For services, where prices to the government are based on estimated costs, the RFP usually requires a detailed breakdown of costs for labor, overhead, G&A, subcontracts, and materials. Detailed cost data is often submitted as an attachment to Standard Form 1141, "Contract Pricing Proposal Cover Sheet."

(c) Section C, Description/specifications/statement of work

Include any description or specifications needed in addition to Section B (see Part 11, Describing Agency Needs).

Section C contains detailed descriptions of the supplies or services required by the government. FAR requires no specific structure for this section. Section C describes MINIMUM MANDATORY requirements, which means that the government can reject a proposal as non-responsive if it fails to satisfy any of the stated requirements. Before making a proposal decision, therefore, a prospective contractor needs to focus on aspects of the specifications that: * (1) Appear difficult to satisfy * (2) Offer an advantage to a competitor, or * (3) Are unduly restrictive, preventing full and open competition

For products, this section consists of functional, performance, or design specifications. FAR Part 10, Specifications, Standards, and Other Purchase Descriptions provides that specifications should state only the government's minimum requirements and should be designed to promote full and open competition.

For services, Section C will contain a Statement of Work (SOW) or Performance Work Statement (PWS) that describes tasks to be performed.

(d) Section D, Packaging and Marking

Provide packaging, packing, preservation, and marking requirements, if any.

Packaging and marking requirements are designed to prevent deterioration and damage during shipping and storage. The contractor may simply be required to preserve, pack and mark all items in accordance with standard commercial practice, or more stringent requirements could be specified if the supplies may be subjected to a more hostile environment.

(e) Section E, Inspection and Acceptance

Include inspection, acceptance, quality assurance, and reliability requirements (see Part 46, Quality Assurance).

(f) Section F, Deliveries or Performance

Specify the requirements for time, place, and method of delivery or performance (see Subpart 11.4, Delivery or Performance Schedules, and 47.301-1).

(g) Section G, Contract Administration Data

Include any required accounting and appropriation data and any required contract administration information or instructions other than those on the solicitation form. Include a statement that the offeror should include the payment address in the proposal, if it is different from that shown for the offeror.

(h) Section H, Special Contract Requirements

Include a clear statement of any special contract requirements that are not included in Section I, Contract clauses, or in other sections of the uniform contract format.

15.204-3 Part II—Contract Clauses

Section I - Contract Clauses

The contracting officer shall include in this section the clauses required by law or by this regulation and any additional clauses expected to be included in any resulting contract, if these clauses are not required in any other section of the uniform contract format. An index may be inserted if this section’s format is particularly complex.

15.204-4 Part III—List of Documents, Exhibits, and Other Attachments

Section J, List of Attachments

The contracting officer shall list the title, date, and number of pages for each attached document, exhibit, and other attachment. Cross-references to material in other sections may be inserted, as appropriate.