The Department of Defense, General Services Administration and NASA are seeking to implement criteria for using “lowest price technically acceptable†acquisitions as stated in the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.
DoD, GSA and NASA released a document requesting to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement the FY19 NDAA’s requirements for LPTA procurements, which should be avoided “in circumstances that would deny the Government the benefits of cost and technical tradeoffs in the source selection process.â€
LPTA use should be allowed if the agency is able to clearly present the minimum requirements for offerors, the legislation states. The proposed technical approach must also warrant little to no subjective judgment from the contracting authority.
In addition, agencies must ensure that LPTA use will not “result in the identification of factors that could provide value or benefit” and that a justification for LPTA procurement is indicated on contract files.
According to the FY19 NDAA, LPTA acquisition should be avoided in procuring information technology services, healthcare support, telecommunications offerings and other knowledge-based or logistics services for operations within and outside the U.S.
