United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-01-31 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:RCED-94-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-31 P0b002ee18037575e f:rc94031 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-31 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-31 RCED-94-31 Contract administration Contracting procedures Bid evaluation Evaluation criteria Competitive procurement Sole source procurement Research and development contracts Federal procurement Research grants Solicitation specifications Letter Report RCED Weaknesses exist in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) process for awarding competitive contracts. Among the 10 competitive contracts it reviewed, GAO discovered that NSF, when soliciting for proposals, sometimes did not clearly describe the work needed or identify the specific items that it would consider in evaluating the offerors' proposals. In addition, NSF sometimes either changed or improperly scored evaluation factors during the evaluation process. These weaknesses were mainly due to the NSF's overall lack of emphasis of contracting activity, including inadequate internal oversight of the contract award process. Insufficient guidance for preparing solicitations and evaluating offerors' proposals were also contributing factors. In addition, GAO discovered shortcomings in NSF's process for awarding noncompetitive contracts. Although agencies are allowed to obtain services from a sole source rather than through competition, the agency must justify the decision to do so in writing. The justification documents what efforts were taken to identify other potential offerors and what steps the agency plans to take to remover barriers to future competition. NFS did not meet either of these requirements for 6 of 11 noncompetitive contracts it awarded during fiscal years 1990 and 1991. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-31/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-31.htm GAO/RCED-94-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-31 Letter Report GAO/RCED-94-31; Federal Contracting: Weaknesses Exist in NSF's Process for Awarding Contracts; Contract administration Contracting procedures Bid evaluation Evaluation criteria Competitive procurement Sole source procurement Research and development contracts Federal procurement Research grants Solicitation specifications