Understanding Government Contract Source Selection

Scoring Plans and Rating Systems

The FAR does not specify how agencies should score proposals, so contracting officers have a lot of flexibility in doing so. A scoring plan or rating system is the internal road map an agency uses to apply the evaluation criteria. Each agency uses a different scoring plan; sometimes there are variations between an agency’s divisions or departments. The plan uses a scale of words, colors, numbers, or other indicators to denote the degree to which proposals meet the standards for the non-cost evaluation factors.

The particular scoring method an agency uses is less important than are:

• The consistency with which the ...