Fair and Reasonable Determinations

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Parts 13 and 15 require Contracting Officers to purchase goods and services from responsible sources at a fair and reasonable price. Meaning, a price that a prudent businessperson would pay for an item or service under competitive market conditions and reasonable knowledge of the marketplace. This is done for every contract action through a number of proposal analysis techniques and procedures defined by regulation which are documented through written evidence to support that the price is fair and reasonable. This is particularly important, and required, in Government Contracting because we are stewards of taxpayer dollars.

In this episode we break down the techniques and tools we use to determine fair and reasonable pricing. The discussion also presents the challenges acquisition professionals might face when completing a price analysis as well as the challenges confronted when there is an absence of competition. Our panel also discusses the differences between price reasonableness and price realism.

To address these topics and more, we have a fantastic panel of Office of General Counsel Attorneys and Contracting Officers who collectively have decades of experience. This panel includes:

Tara Nash, VA Office of General Counsel, Attorney

Desiree DiCorcia, VA Office of General Counsel, Attorney

Den-el Opuszynski, VA TAC, Contracting Officer

Matthew Newell, VA TAC, Contracting Officer