(a) FAR 36.602-1 requires that agencies include “location in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of locality of the project” as one of several selection criteria.

(1) Do not use this evaluation factor as a minimum qualification requirement for determining whether a firm is eligible to compete for a proposed project.

(2) This factor must not exceed 5 percent of the total weight of all evaluation criteria. In order to receive maximum score for this factor, the architect-engineer firm(s) must demonstrate that at least 35 percent of the architect-engineer contract services (based on the total contract price) will be accomplished within the geographical boundaries established for the project.

(3) Under an approved class deviation from FAR 36.602-1(a)(5), this factor does not apply to projects that the Chief Architect of GSA determines have national significance.

(b) The public announcement (FedBizOpps notice) for a proposed project should identify the general geographical area of the project by either:

(1) A radius in miles or other appropriate unit of measure.

(2) The Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, county(ies), state(s) surrounding the project, or other appropriate geographic boundaries.

(c) Architect-engineer selections under the Design Excellence Program must apply the geographical evaluation criteria in the second phase.

(d) The public announcement (FedBizOpps notice) must provide the number of calendar days the architect-engineer of record has to establish a production capability within the general geographical area of the project. You may allow the architect-engineer of record up to 45 calendar days after contract award to establish this production capability.

[65 FR 11247, Mar. 2, 2000, as amended at 81 FR 1532, Jan. 13, 2016]