(a)(1) Except as identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, HUD's Chief Procurement Officer, as the Senior Procurement Executive, designates Assistant Secretaries, or their equivalent, for requiring activities as the Source Selection Authorities for selections made using the tradeoff process. Assistant Secretaries may delegate this function to other departmental officials. This designation also applies to acquisitions not performed under the requirements of FAR part 15, but utilizing tradeoff analysis.

(2) HUD's Chief Procurement Officer, as the Senior Procurement Executive, designates HUD's Office of General Counsel (OGC) as the Source Selection Authority, regardless of contract amount, in all Headquarters procurements for legal services, unless (s)he specifically designates another agency official to perform that function. Any Headquarters office desiring to procure outside legal services for the Department shall obtain OGC approval before advertising or soliciting proposals for such services. OGC shall determine whether the services are necessary and the extent of OGC involvement in the procurement.

(b)(1) The technical evaluation requirements related to source selection shall be performed by a Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP). The TEP may consist of any number of members as appropriate to the acquisition, with one member serving as the chairperson. As needed, the TEP may include advisors and committees to focus on specific technical areas or concerns. The TEP is responsible for fully documenting the evaluation of all proposals as appropriate to the source selection approach in use and for making the source selection recommendation to the source selection authority.

(c)(3)(i) The extent of participation of small businesses in performance of the contract, whether as a joint venture, teaming arrangement, or subcontractor, shall be addressed in the source selection for contracts to be awarded using the tradeoff source selection process (see FAR 15.101-1) that require the use of the clause at FAR 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

(d) The solicitation shall state the basis for the source selection decision as either the “lowest price technically acceptable” (LPTA) process or the dquo;tradeoff” process (as defined at FAR subpart 15.1).

(a) After receipt of proposals, the Contracting Officer will forward copies of the technical portion of each proposal to the TEP Chairperson or his or her designee. The cost/price portion of each proposal shall be retained by the Contracting Officer pending initial technical evaluation by the TEP.

(3) Technical evaluation when tradeoffs are performed. The TEP shall rate each proposal based on the evaluation factors specified in the solicitation. The TEP shall identify each proposal as being acceptable, unacceptable but capable of being made acceptable, or unacceptable. A proposal shall be considered unacceptable if it is so clearly deficient that it cannot be corrected through written or oral discussions. Under the tradeoff process, predetermined threshold levels of technical acceptability for proposals shall not be employed. A technical evaluation report, which complies with FAR 15.305(a)(3), shall be prepared and signed by the technical evaluators, furnished to the Contracting Officer, and maintained as a permanent record in the official procurement file.

After receipt and evaluation of final proposal revisions, the TEP shall document its selection recommendation(s) in a final written report. The final report shall include sufficient information to support the recommendation(s) made, appropriate to the source selection approach and type and complexity of the acquisition.

The contracting officer shall insert the provision at 2452.215-72, Evaluation of Small Business Participation, in solicitations for contracts that require the use of the FAR clause in 52.219-9, “Small Business Subcontracting Plan,” that will be awarded using the tradeoff source selection process (see FAR 15.101-1).