§ 315.608-74 - Convening the technical evaluation panel.

(a) Normally, the technical evaluation panel will convene to evaluate the proposals. However, there may be situations when the contracting officer determines that it is not feasible for the panel to convene. Whenever this decision is made, care must be taken to assure that the technical review is closely monitored to produce acceptable results.

(b) When a panel is convened, the chairperson is responsible for the control of the technical proposals provided to him/her by the contracting officer for use during the evaluation process. The chairperson will generally distribute the technical proposals at the initial panel meeting and will establish procedures for securing the proposals whenever they are not being evaluated to insure their confidentiality. After the evaluation is complete, all proposals must be returned to the contracting officer, destroyed or filed in an appropriate manner to maintain the confidential nature of the data.

(c) The contracting officer shall address the initial meeting of the panel and state the basic rules for conducting the evaluation. The contracting officer shall provide written guidance to the panel if he/she is unable to attend the initial panel meeting. The guidance should include:

(1) An explanation of conflicts of interest (see 315.608-71(d));

(2) The necessity to read and understand the solicitation, especially the statement of work and evaluation criteria, prior to reading the proposals;

(3) The need for evaluators to restrict the review to only the solicitation and the contents of the technical proposals;

(4) The need for each evaluator to review all the proposals;

(5) The need to watch for ambiguities, inconsistencies, errors, and deficiencies which should be surfaced during the evaluation process;

(6) An explanation of the evaluation process and what will be expected of the evaluators throughout the process;

(7) The need for the evaluators to be aware of the requirement to have complete written documentation of the individual strengths and weaknesses which affect the scoring of the proposals; and

(8) An instruction directing the evaluators that, until the award is made, information concerning the acquisition must not be disclosed to any person not directly involved in the evaluation process.