Post solicitation written procurement history

Award decision

The subrecipient shall describe how the vendor was chosen. When selecting a vendor, the subrecipient should evaluate the vendor’s price relative to the prices being offered by other vendors and the amount paid by the public for the same or similar items. Additionally, the decision should include justification that competition was fair and reasonable; with profit negotiated as a separate element of the cost.

Note: For single bid offers, the subrecipient must document the reason(s) for accepting the offer.

Debarment and suspension

A subrecipient must verify the selected vendor has not been debarred or suspended at the federal or state level prior to entering into a contractual agreement for goods or services.  It is the subrecipient’s responsibility to verify a vendor’s status here:

• Federal debarment/suspension link
• State of Texas debarment/suspension CPA Debarred Vendor list

Additionally, post-award, vendors must be verified prior to exercising each renewal or before issuing a new purchase order.

Price and cost analysis

The price and cost analysis are a separate step from the Independent Cost Estimate (ICE) requirement. The price and cost analysis ensures that the subrecipient does not pay unreasonably high prices to third-party contractors.

• A “price analysis” will be the usual procedure followed in a competitive situation and in situations where items are being procured which are sold in the commercial marketplace to the general public. A price analysis is an evaluation of the offeror’s price relative to the prices being offered by other vendors and being paid by the general public for the same or similar items.
• A “cost analysis” will be required whenever a price analysis cannot be performed. A cost analysis entails the review and evaluation of the separate cost elements and the proposed profit of an offeror’s cost proposal. A cost analysis is conducted to perform an opinion on the degree to which the proposed cost, including profit, represents what the performance of the contract ‘should cost’, assuming reasonable economy and efficiency. The subrecipient is required to document this per FTA 4220.1F.

For more information regarding Cost & Price Analysis, it is recommended subrecipients review the Cost/Price Analysis section of the FTA website.