(3) The small letters fa preceded by a dash, signifying foreign administration; and

(4) A number preceded by a dash to be assigned to each contract in the post series.

(5) When contracting for another post, the post making the contract shall use their own symbol and series number plus the name of the post for whom procurement is made. For example, the third contract in the post series for Accra would be numbered S 424-fa-3.

(b) FBO series. The FBO series shall contain all post issued written contracts utilizing Office of Foreign Buildings funds including real estate leases utilizing Foreign Buildings funds or other funds. Contracts in the FBO series shall be numbered in the same manner as for the post series except that the letters "FBO" shall be used in lieu of the letters "fa". For example, the third contract in the FBO series for Accra would be numbered S424-FBO-3.

(c) Department's Washington series. The Department's Washington series shall contain all written contracts for procurement awarded by the Department from an office located within the United States except those contracts prepared for another agency under paragraph (d) of this section. The contract number shall consist of the letters “SCC" followed by a dash and the number assigned to the contract from the Washington series. For example, the third contract in the Department's Washington series would be numbered SCC-3.

(d) Contracts for other Federal agencies. Contracts prepared for other Federal agencies may be numbered in the post series for, if requested by the agency being served, in accordance with their request.

(e) Reopening of post. If a post is closed and subsequently reopened, the same contract symbol shall be used and the contract number shall start with the next consecutive number following the last number used before the post was closed.

(f) Amendments. Contract changes and modifications will be assigned the same number as the related contract followed by the words "Amendment No. __" with the amendments numbered consecutively beginning with number "1" for each contract. [30 F.R. 7247, May 29, 1965] § 6-1.351-4

Contract file.

Upon execution of a numbered contract, a contract file shall be established which shall contain a copy of the signed contract together with all supporting documents, a copy of each rejected bid or proposal together with all supporting documents, an abstract of bids showing items accepted or rejected and the reasons therefor and any other documents pertinent to the award and administration of the contract. [30 F.R. 7247, May 29, 1965]

§ 6-1.352 Distribution of numbered

contracts.

(a) Post series. The signed original together with the original SF-1036 shall be forwarded to the Department with an operations memorandum, Subject: Finance. A signed copy of the contract with related SF-1036 shall be placed in the contract file (§ 6-1.351-4) and, if feasible, a signed copy furnished the contractor.

(b) FBO series. The signed original and one signed copy of both the contract and the SF-1036 shall be forwarded to the Department with an operations memorandum, Subject: Buildings. The memorandum shall specify the appropriation against which the contract will be paid and shall refer to the Departmental authority, if any, under which the contract was consummated. A signed copy of the contract with a SF-1036 shall be placed in the contract file and, if feasible, a signed copy furnished the contractor.

(c) Where the law of a foreign country requires that the original of a contract be retained in the country, a signed copy shall be forwarded to the Department in lieu of the original.

"Written contract." For the purpose of this section, the term "written contract" means a contract made in writing and signed by both of the parties thereto. Such a contract may be a single document bearing the signatures of both parties or a group of documents properly signed. For example, when competitive bids are obtained, the written contract will normally consist of an invitation to bid issued by a contracting officer, an offer signed by the supplier and an acceptance of offer signed by a contracting officer.

(a) Post series. Written contracts numbered in the post series under § 6-1.351-3 (a) shall be distributed as follows:

(1) The signed original together with the original of the SF-1036 (see §§ 6-2.407-7 and 6-3.250) shall be forwarded to the Department under cover of an operations memorandum, Subject: Finance.

(2) One signed copy shall be furnished to the contractor whenever feasible.

(3) One signed copy shall be retained in the contract file.

(b) FBO series. Written contracts numbered in the FBO series under § 6-1.351-3 (b) shall be distributed as follows:

(1) The signed original and one signed copy together with the original and one copy of the SF-1036 (see §§ 6-2.407-7 and 6-3.250) shall be forwarded to the Department by operations memorandum, Subject: Buildings. The transmittal shall specify the appropriation against which the contract will be paid and shall refer to the Departmental authority, if any, by which the contract was entered into.

(2) One signed copy shall be furnished to the contractor.

(3) One signed copy shall be retained in the contract file.

(c) Department's Washington series. Written contracts numbered in the Department's Washington series under § 6-1.351-3 (c) shall be distributed as follows:

(1) The signed original together with the original of the SF-1036, if required shall be forwarded to the Department's Office of Finance.

(2) One signed copy shall be furnished to the contractor.

(3) One signed copy shall be retained in the contract file.

(d) Where the law of a foreign country requires that the original of a written contract be retained in the country, a signed copy shall be forwarded to the Department in lieu of the original. [29 F.R. 12070, Aug. 25, 1964]

United States are prescribed in Subpart 6-16.1.

(a) The place selected for the opening of bids shall be, if possible, large enough to permit the attendance of any bidder who desires to be present at the opening.

[29 F.R. 12071, Aug. 25, 1964, as amended at 31 F.R. 10193, July 28, 1966]

§ 6-2.202 Miscellaneous rules for solicitation of bids.

§ 6-2.202-1 Bidding time.

Any request for a procurement which does not provide for the minimum bidding time required under FPR 12.202-1(c) must be justified in writing and approved by the Contracting Officer. § 6-2.202-50 Grouping of items in a single invitation for bids.

(a) It is basic Government policy that procurement shall be effected by formal advertising, except as provided in Subpart 1-3.2. Consequently, requirements aggregating more than $2,500 shall not be broken down into several purchases or contracts of less than $2,500 merely for the purpose of utilizing negotiation. See § 1-3.602. In order to minimize the administrative costs to the Government adherent in procurement by formal advertising, and still gain the benefits of formal advertising to the greatest extent possible, each invitation for bids shall include all items suitable for procurement by the procuring activity at the time the invitation is being prepared which are customarily provided by the prospective bidders.

(b) For example, hardware products, spare parts for vehicles, and office supplies would not be listed on a single invitation, unless in a particular circumstance the prospective bidders customarily handled items from all three of these categories. But a wide variety of items in any one of these categories could normally be listed on a single invitation because prospective bidders would normally carry a full line of the products within their specialized field.

§ 6-2.202-51 Grouping of items to facilitate award.

Invitations may provide that awards will be made by items, or by groups of items. Grouping inexpensive items has the following advantages:

(b) Paid advertisements. Procurement by formal advertising does not require the use of paid advertisements in newspapers and trade journals. It is the policy of the Department that paid advertisements shall not be used as a method of soliciting bids unless particular circumstances make the use of this method clearly in the best interest of the Government. The fact that no free publicity is available as described in paragraph (a) of § 1-2.203–3 does not mean that paid advertisements are appropriate. If paid advertisements are deemed to be clearly in the best interest of the Government, they shall be contracted for in accordance with the following procedures:

(1) Posts shall issue Form FS-455 in advance of publication to purchase advertising space. The following special information and conditions shall be inIcluded on the face of Form FS-455, Form FS-455a or the specification sheets attached thereto:

(i) The advertisement to be published. (ii) A complete description of the advertisement, including type, size, arrangement, space, and publication dates.

(iii) A stipulation that the price charge shall not be higher than the commercial rate charged to private individuals, with the usual discounts.

NOTE: This does not preclude the responsibility of contracting officers to secure lower terms at special rates whenever obtainable.

(iv) A stipulation that (2) marked copies of each issue of the publication containing the advertising shall be submitted with the vendor's invoice. (If not obtainable gratis, the cost of furnishing copies of the publication, as distinct from the cost of the advertisement space, shall be included as a separate item on Form FS-455). On receipt of the vendor's invoice and the two copies of the publication for each date published, there shall be clipped from each copy the name of the publication, the date of publication and the advertisement. Each complete set of the clippings shall be permanently attached to plain sheets of bond paper. One set of clippings for each date of publication shall be attached to the original copy of Form FS455, and the other set shall be attached to the paying office copy.