Twelfth in a series of introductory articles on contracting. When attending contracting certification courses, students often are asked to perform exercises that relate to contracting issues they may not understand. They can do the exercises following the processes we teach them, but the best students want to know what it all means. Their inquiries inspired me to write this series of articles.
to increase competition, broaden industry participation, and notify small businesses about contract and
By its very nature, the GPE is a per - fect source to obtain feedback from industry to help us with our market research and acquisition planning. Its demographic consists of the ideal audience (potential vendors) who al - ready review it regularly. The FAR does not require these no - tices, but they are used extensively as part of the planning process to deter - mine whether commercial items are available, what commercial terms may exist, the current status and tra - jectory of technology, the availability of competition, small business foot - print, etc. And using a draft solicita -
tion enables you to obtain industry comments on performance work statements, forecasted contract type, solicitation provisions, etc., before is - suing a formal solicitation (FAR Compan- ion [FC] 5.101) . These are powerful tools that help us get our requirements right so that we can solicit, award, and manage a contract that meets the government’s needs while compen - sating its industry partners appro - priately. Keep in mind that market research is not limited to the GPE as discussed in FC 5.000. To reach less traditional government vendors, we
subcontract opportunities. Presolicitation Notices
There are many types of preso - licitation notices. FAR does not re - quire them all, but they are power - ful planning tools. These are certain things that we may publish as part of our market research, often well before we are ready to issue a solici - tation. These include such things as Sources Sought Notices, Requests for Information, and draft solicitations.
MAY – JUNE 2026 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION MAGAZINE 21
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker