The Debriefing and the Clock It Starts

Two things are obtained from a debriefing, and only one of them is information. The other is the timing. A debriefing properly requested is a required debriefing, and a required debriefing moves both the protest deadline and the window in which a protest suspends performance. A debriefing requested late is a courtesy that does neither.

Three days, in writing

An offeror excluded from the competitive range or otherwise excluded before award may request a preaward debriefing by written request received within three days after receipt of the notice of exclusion. An unsuccessful offeror notified of an award may request a postaward debriefing by written request received within three days after the date on which that notice was received.

The count is short, it starts on receipt of the notice rather than on any later realization, and the request must be written. Contracting officers do accommodate late requests, and the debriefing that follows can be substantively identical. What it is not is required, and the timing rules that matter attach to the word required.

The content the agency owes

A postaward debriefing must include the government's evaluation of the significant weaknesses or deficiencies in the offeror's proposal; the overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the successful offeror and of the debriefed offeror, including unit prices where applicable; the overall ranking of all offerors where any ranking was developed; a summary of the rationale for award; the make and model of a commercial product to be delivered; and reasonable responses to relevant questions about whether the stated procedures and applicable authorities were followed.

A preaward debriefing gives less. It covers the agency's evaluation of significant elements of the offeror's own proposal, a summary of the rationale for eliminating it, and responses to relevant questions. It expressly does not disclose the number or identity of other offerors, the content of their proposals, their evaluation, or their ranking.

Two windows, measured from different events

Where a debriefing is requested and required, a protest on a ground learned at the debriefing may not be filed before the debriefing date offered, and must be filed within ten days after the date the debriefing is held. That is an exception to the general rule and it is protective: an offeror is not penalized for waiting for the explanation it is entitled to.

The suspension of performance runs on a different measure. It attaches where the agency receives notice of the protest within ten days after award, or within five days after the debriefing date offered for a required debriefing, whichever is later. Five days, not ten. An offeror that files on day eight after a debriefing has a timely protest and no stay, and the practical difference is described in the bid protest framework.

Preparing for the room

Three preparations pay. Read the solicitation's evaluation section immediately before the session and bring the list of stated factors and their stated relative importance, because most useful admissions come from asking whether a particular stated factor was applied. Prepare written questions in advance and submit them, so the agency's answers exist on paper. And record the numbers exactly: evaluated price, unit prices where given, adjectival or numerical ratings for both parties, and ranking.

Some defense procurements offer an enhanced process under the defense supplement, allowing written questions after the session with a written agency response, and treating the debriefing as continuing until the response is delivered. Where that applies, both clocks move accordingly, which is one of the few ways to obtain more time without giving anything up.

Deciding what to do with what was learned

The most common productive finding is an inconsistency between the stated evaluation scheme and the outcome described. A second is a discussion topic that was never raised with the debriefed offeror but plainly should have been, which is the unequal treatment ground that succeeds most often in negotiated procurements conducted under the rules described in the comparison of procurement methods.

A debriefing also identifies the awardee by name, which starts other clocks. Where the award was set aside, the awardee's status can be challenged through a size protest on its own short deadline. Where the objection is that a competitor's submission should never have been accepted, the analysis runs through responsiveness and responsibility rather than through the evaluation.