9000-0011 Justification

Justification for 9000-0011
Preaward Survey Forms (Standard Forms 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406,
1407, and 1408)
A.

Justification.

1. Administrative requirements. To protect the Government’s
interest and to ensure timely delivery of items of the requisite
quality, contracting officers, prior to award, must make an
affirmative determination that the prospective contractor is
responsible, i.e., capable of performing the contract. Before
making such a determination, the contracting officer must have in
his possession or must obtain information sufficient to satisfy
himself that the prospective contractor (i) has adequate
financial resources, or the ability to obtain such resources,
(ii) is able to comply with required delivery schedule, (iii) has
a satisfactory record of performance, (iv) has a satisfactory
record of integrity, and (v) is otherwise qualified and eligible
to receive an award under appropriate laws and regulations. If
such information is not in the contracting officer’s possession,
it is obtained through a preaward survey conducted by the
contract administration office responsible for the plant and/or
the geographic area in which the plant is located. The necessary
data is collected by contract administration personnel from
available data or through plant visits, phone calls, and
correspondence and entered on Standard Forms 1403, 1404, 1405,
1406, 1407, and 1408 in detail commensurate with the dollar value
and complexity of the procurement.
2. Uses of information. The information is used by Federal
contracting officers to determine whether a prospective
contractor is responsible.
3. Consideration of information technology. We use improved
information technology to the maximum extent practicable. Where
both the Government agency and contractors are capable of
electronic interchange, the contractors may submit this
information collection requirement electronically.
4. Efforts to identify duplication. This requirement is being
issued under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) which has
been developed to standardize Federal procurement practices and
eliminate unnecessary duplication. Similar information is not
already available to the contracting officer or buyer.
5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or
other entities, describe methods used to minimize burden. The
burden applied to small businesses is the minimum consistent with
applicable laws, Executive orders, regulations, and prudent

business practices. FAR Subpart 9.1 provides a number of
potential sources of information to use in determining the
responsibility of a prospective Government contractor.
Specifically, FAR 9.105-1 lists sources other than preaward
surveys as preferred sources of contractor responsibility data.
When a preaward survey must be conducted, it is generally
performed by a contract administration activity, which has most
or all of the required information about a particular firm
available without having to initiate a request directly to the
firm being surveyed. These rules apply equally to large and
small businesses, but every effort is made to minimize the
information collection directly from a small business for the
purpose of completing a preaward survey.
6. Describe consequence to Federal program or policy activities
if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less
frequently. The information is collected only upon occasion of a
preaward survey.
7. Special circumstances for collection. The collection is
fully consistent with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.
8. Efforts to consult with persons outside the agency. Under
the procedures established for development of the FAR, agency and
public comments were solicited via the notice published in the
Federal Register at 71 FR 38867, July 10, 2006. No comments were
received regarding this collection.
9.
Explanation of any decision to provide any payment or gift
to respondents, other than reenumeration of contractors or
guarantees. Not applicable.
10. Describe assurance of confidentiality provided to
respondents. This information is disclosed only to the extent
consistent with prudent business practices and current
regulations.
11. Additional justification for questions of a sensitive
nature. No sensitive questions are involved.
12. Estimated total annual public hour burden. Time required to
read and prepare information is estimated at 24 hours per
response.
Annual Reporting Burden
Estimated respondents/yr.............................
Responses annually...................................
Total annual responses...............................
Estimated hrs/response...............................

2

x
x

10,956
.5
5,478
20.8

Estimated total burden/hrs...........................

113,942

A new survey was not conducted because both the content of the
collection as well as the number of respondents reflect current
usage. Therefore, the annual reporting burden used in the 2003
information collection was again used.
13.

Estimated total annual public cost burden.
Annual Cost to the Public

Total response and recordkeeping burden hours........
113,942
Average wages + overhead ($24/hr + 75% OH)........... x
$42
Total cost to the public............................. $4,785,580
14. Estimated cost to the Government. Time required for
Governmentwide review is estimated at 48 hours per response.
Annual Reviewing Burden and Cost
Responses/yr.........................................
5,478
Reviewing time/responses............................... x
48
Review time/yr.......................................
262,944
Average wages + overhead ($20/hr + 100% OH).......... x
$40
Total Government cost................................ $10,517,760
15. Explain reasons for program changes or adjustments reported
in Item 13 or 14. This submission requests an extension of OMB
approval of an information collection requirement in the FAR.
The information collection requirement in the FAR remains
unchanged.
16. Outline plans for published results of information
collections. Results will not be tabulated or published.
17.

Approval not to display expiration date.

Not applicable.

18. Explanation of exception to certification statement.
applicable.

Not

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.

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