Salient Characteristics are those physical, functional, and performance characteristics an item must meet/have to be acceptable for award.
Example, including but not limited to:
Physical: color, type of material, dimensions/size, unit of issue (e.g. EA, Day, Hr etc.).
Functional: principles of operation, intended use, capability.
Performance: capacity, minimum output, speed etc.
 

Per Federal Regulation, requirements shall not be written so as to require a particular brand name, product, or a feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer, thereby precluding consideration of a product manufactured by another company. See FAR 11.105. https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-11#FAR_11_105

RAs and RCO must fulfill requirements of 10 U.S.C.2305(a)(1), 10 U.S.C.2377, 41 U.S.C.3306(a), and 41 U.S.C.3307.
To do so, RAs must state requirements with respect to an acquisition of supplies or services in terms of-
(A) Functions to be performed;
(B) Performance required; or
(C) Essential physical characteristics;

Consequently, RAs providing essential “Salient Characteristics” fulfill’s the above requirements.

There are three major federal laws that make up antitrust laws: The Sherman Antitrust Act, The Clayton Act, and The Federal Trade Commission Act. Thus, chances of a monopoly for a commercial item are virtually zero.

For example:
- Dell is not the only Computer manufacturer in the market (HP and Microsoft are competitors).
- CLEAR is not the only Investigation Software in the market (Tracers and LexisNexis are competitors)
- John Deere is not the only UTV manufacturer in the market (Kawasaki, Polaris, and Honda are competitors)

If the RA shows evidence and market research that indicates other companies’ similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency’s needs; the RAs can submit a Sole Source or Brand Name Justification. The RCO will review, execute additional market research, request legal counsel, and then determined if the Justification is contractually and legally sufficient.
 

RAs can identify two or three brands (with model name or part number) that can fulfill the agencies need and provide this information to the RCO.
Example:
“Dell Precision 7920 tower with this Dell list of specification, HP Z2 G9 Tower with this HP list of specification, or Lenovo Thinkstation P620 Tower with this Lenovo list of specifications are acceptable.”

I.T. is any equipment, supply, consumable, or peripheral that is used for automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interface, transmission, or reception of data or information. The term includes computing devices, infrastructure hardware, software, firmware, and website subscriptions, and related resources.

I.T. is any service for development, installation, maintenance, modification, training, education, consulting, technical support, cloud services, reengineering, or architecture of data or information systems.
See MARADMIN 375/11 and MARADMIN 453/21

An “I.T. Waiver” comes in two forms:
a. <$50K Threshold Approval Letter
b. ITPRAS

I.T. purchases at SERVMART physical or virtual stores do not require an I.T Waiver. See par. 2 of MARADMIN 523/15.

Thus, an “I.T. Waiver” is required for all I.T. equipment, supply, consumable, peripheral, or service purchases outside of SERVMART. If contracting support via RCO is requested then an “I.T. Waiver is required.

Get in contact with your S-6 / G-6 to obtain either an approved <$50K Threshold Approval Letter or an ITPRAS.

Per IRM 5236-06A, the <$50K Threshold Approval Letter “I.T. Waiver” only applies for requirements under $50K when using O&M funding for the purchase of:
- I.T. Peripherals
- Software under DoD ESI
- Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC) wireless support services
- Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, and multifunction
devices (MFDs)
- Additive manufacturing devices not connected to the MCEN, i.e. 3D printers

Thus, if the item(s) under $50K you are trying to purchase is/are not on the list above, then the only authorized “I.T. Waiver” is an ITPRAS submitted via Remedy.

Submitting a PR within DAI does not mean the RCO will automatically receive the PR.

RAs must always follow up and ensure the PR indeed interfaced with the RCO contracting system (called CWS, SPS, or PD2).

RAs can run multiple PRDS OBIEE Reports to ensure the PR interfaced with the contracting system or to identify the error impeding the interface.

Best practice is to identify the errors, cancel the PR, and then create a new PR without errors.

The following OBIEE reports related to PRDS are available in Global P2P Folder:

1. PRDS Status for a Requisition – Displays PR eligibility, file generation status, and GEX validation results

2. PRDS GEX Failed PRs – Displays a list of all PRs which failed GEX validation

3. PRDS GEX File Errors – Displays the GEX validation failures for a single file

4. PRDS GEX Ineligible PRs – Displays a list of Requisitions which were ineligible for PRDS

5. PRDS GEX Passed PRs – Displays a list of Requisitions which passed GEX validation

Any of the following inputs within the PR will cause an interface error:

• Unit Price of $0.00
• Quantity of 0
• PR Total Dollar Value of $0.00
• Invalid attachment type
• Adding a line level attachment
• Not selecting a DODAAC in the Ship To Address field

To add a commercial supplier in DAI, RAs must have the “P2P Supplier Maintenance role” (request it if you don’t have it).
Then, follow the below two day process:
- Day 1: Follow the stepst at P2P_120_001_Add a UEI to DAI to Create a New Commercial Supplier. After completion, vendor’s “SAM Data Transfer” process runs nightly to create the new vendor record.
- Day 2: Follow the stepst at P2P_120_002_Assign Supplier Site to your Agency for Existing DAI Commercial Supplier. The vendor will be available immediately following this action.

Now you can go ahead and manually obligate in DAI.

The RCO’s intent is to fulfill your requirement swiftly while complying with specific number of days mandated by Federal regulations. MCICOMBul 4200 has established MCICOM FY23 CONTRACT PLANNING LEAD TIMES AND CUT-OFF DATES
Nevertheless, there are multiple conditions that affect the award timeline (in descending chronological order):
- The submitted PR did not interface with the contracting writing system and follow up did not occur.
- Incomplete PR package (inadequate or missing documentation).
- Late or inadequate responses to RCO queries.
- Your PR action may be delayed by other actions in the queue (RCO awards approximately 500 contract per year).
- Changes to the requirement (dates, quantities, task, salient characteristic) during or after Solicitation.
- Late submission or PR amendments or updated Waivers.

Only the following makes the process faster: ensuring the PR interfaced with the contracting system, provide complete and adequate PR packages, quick responses to RCO queries, proper planning , accurate description of the requirement; rapid processing of PR amendment and Waivers.

Note: the established lead times remains the same regardless of acquisition method or source of supply/service.

Scenario 1. The manufacturer is a Large Business.
It is Federal regulation to purchase from small business when the supplies or services that have an anticipated dollar value under $250K.
When the anticipated value of supplies or services is more than $250K and market research suggest there is a reasonable expectation that at least two responsible small business will provide an offer.
See FAR 19.502-2.

Scenario 2. The manufacturer is a small business but has multiple resellers.
Whether purchasing from the open market or placing an order from an existing federal contract, it is Federal regulation to promote and provide for full and open competition in soliciting offers and awarding Government contracts and to promote competition to the maximum extent practicable to obtain supplies and services from the source whose offer is the most advantageous to the Government.
See FAR 6.101, FAR 6.203, and FAR 13.10

It is Federal regulation to purchase from a small business when:
- the supplies or services have an anticipated dollar value under $250K.
- the anticipated value of supplies or services is more than $250K and market research suggest there is a reasonable expectation that at least two responsible small business will provide an offer.
See FAR 19.502-2.

RAs can obtain an estimate (from any vendor) for market research and budgetary purposes. However, there are cases were the vendor who provided the estimate:
- chose not to provide or fail to provide an official quote during solicitation (unable to quote)
- is a large business (quote rejected by RCO)
- quoted a price higher than those received from other competitors (quoted but not selected for award)

Multiple activities write contracts for performance aboard MCB Quantico including:
- MCINCR-RCO (supplies and services for Marine Corps tenants)
- NAVSUP (Naval Health Clinic; any other Navy units; Classified Contracts;
Personal Services)
- NAVFAC, including the base PWO (Construction; Facility Repair; Base
Operating Support; Janitorial; Disaster Response; snow removal; dumpsters)
- NAVAIR
- NAVWAR (Intrusion Detection Systems)
- MCCS, both MCBQ and HQMC (NAF Contracts; Marathon; Birthday Balls, MCCS operated offices, buildings, and structures)
- MARCORSYSCOM (Programs of Record; MCWL Rapid Capabilities Office RCO)
- MCICOM Contracts (Food Service; MCRC Advertising)
- TMO/DMO (buses, transportation, shipping)
- JTF-NCR (Base Support Installations (BSI) Contracts)

The Department of the Navy splits its contracting authority into 10 different contracting activities (including HQMC I&L which MCINCR RCO falls under, MARCORSYSCOM, NAVFAC, etc.) meaning by design only one DoN contracting activity should have the authority to write any particular contract.
See NMCARS 5201.601-90

If a transfer needs to happen, it may require either a delegation of authority from one contracting activity to another (at the headquarters level) or a determination that the incorrect activity is currently supporting the requirement.

No.
Any bailment agreements must be signed by a warranted contracting officer.
Contact the RCO for specific details before you attempt to negotiate any bailment with a vendor.
Be aware that your command must generally be able to cover the replacement cost of any bailed property with current fiscal year funds to avoid a potential Anti-Deficiency Act violation if the property is lost or damaged.