Price or cost to the government is evaluated in every source selection, apart from a narrow exception for DoD, NASA and the Coast Guard 1. Quality is also addressed in every source selection through one or more non-cost factors, such as past performance, technical excellence, management capability, personnel qualifications and prior experience 2.
Past performance must be evaluated in negotiated competitive acquisitions expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, unless the contracting officer documents why it is not appropriate 3. When it is evaluated, the currency and relevance of the information, its source, its context and the general trends in your performance are considered 4.
Look for the trade-off sentence. Unless the exception applies, the solicitation must state at least whether all non-price factors combined are significantly more important than, approximately equal to, or significantly less important than cost or price 5.
Worked example. Two solicitations ask for the same service. One says non-price factors are significantly more important than price; the other says they are significantly less important. Contractor D writes a richer technical approach for the first and sharpens its price for the second.
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