Upon approval of the justification documentation required by FAR 11.105, Items peculiar to one manufacturer, the contracting officer shall include the clause found at 852.236-90, Restriction on Submission and Use of Equal Products, in solicitations and contracts. The contracting officer shall complete the clause by inserting the items which have been approved for restriction to a brand name. This clause also places offerors or bidders on notice that the “brand name” provisions of any clause or provision that may authorize the submission of an “equal” product, shall not apply to the specific items listed in clause 852.236-90.

For sealed bid acquisitions the contracting officer or bid custodian is not authorized to release the basis for calculating the estimate at any time. The person preparing the independent government estimate (IGE) shall—

(a) Designate the IGE as “For Official Use Only (FOUO)”;

(b) The contracting officer or bid custodian shall file a sealed copy of the IGE with the bids. (In the case of two-step acquisitions, the contracting officer or bid custodian accomplishes this during the second step);

(c) After the bids are read and recorded during a Public Bid Opening, remove the “For Official Use Only (FOUO)” designation then read and record the estimate as if it were a bid, in the same detail as the bids; and

(d) In instances where only one bid has been received, the government estimate shall not be read by the contracting officer as it may be needed to conduct negotiations with the offeror.

The contracting officer shall utilize the estimated price ranges defined in FAR 36.204(a) through (e) as further supplemented below when identifying the magnitude of a VA project in advance notices and solicitations:

(f) For estimated price ranges between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, the contracting officer shall identify the magnitude of a VA project in advance notices and solicitations in terms of the following price ranges:

(1) Between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.

(2) Between $2,000,000 and $5,000,000.

(g) Between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000.

(h) For estimated price ranges greater than $10,000,000, the contracting officer shall identify the magnitude of a VA project in advance notices and solicitations in terms of one of the following price ranges:

(1) Between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000.

(2) Between $20,000,000 and $50,000,000.

(3) Between $50,000,000 and $100,000,000.

(4) Between $100,000,000 and $150,000,000.

(5) Between $150,000,000 and $200,000,000.

(6) Between $200,000,000 and $250,000,000.

(7) More than $250,000,000.