The number of government procurements is down and the government seems to be migrating more and more to the Lowest Price, Technical Acceptable (LPTA) model. Contracting officers feel that LPTA is an acceptable model, even for complex technical procurements. This makes sense fiscally, but can cause problems – and more expense – down the road for the government. According to FAR 15.101-2 Lowest price technically acceptable source selection process:

  • "Solicitations shall specify that award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors"
  • "Past performance need not be an evaluation factor in lowest price technically acceptable source selections"

I'm reminded of something that happened in the 1980s when an agency that I was supporting lamented the fact that they had chosen a cheaper alternative, rather than the standard. This was a massive power supply system for a US Navy magnetic defense facility. The agency saved money in the short run, but later had to contract with the higher priced provider – the incumbent who had originally lost to a lower priced competitor – to fix several technical problems. In the end, it cost the government far more than it would have if they had gone to the right provider (the standard-bearer for that technology) in the first place. Saving money is not a bad thing, but saving it simply for the sake of saving isn't always the right way to go.

So, to the question posited in the title of this post, is the LPTA trend here to stay? I've been watching this trend grow for some time now and, unfortunately, I can't see the government going any other way. In this era of transparency and cost avoidance, there appears to be no alternative. However, I would strongly encourage contracting officers to include past performance as an evaluation criteria. Even if they make the grading "pass/fail" or "acceptable/unacceptable," past performance should count for something. If the LPTA trend is here to stay, then let's help the government make it workable and reasonable.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact me on info@perfblue.com. Thanks!

Attribution

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%2015_1.html - www.acquisition.gov

About the Author

Drew Cotterman is the Founder and President of performanceBLUE, LLC, a professional proposal development firm. He founded the firm in 2010 after working in the proposal world for more than 20 years. performanceBLUE provides capture support; proposal development including management, writing, pricing, graphics, desktop publishing, and production support; process training; and employee mentoring.