FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 14: Sealed Bidding › Subpart 14.5
FAR 14.503-2 Step two.
The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.
In plain English
This section describes step two of a two-step sealed bidding process. After acceptable technical proposals are chosen in step one, the contracting officer issues invitations for bids only to those offerors, and those invitations are not publicly posted as an acquisition opportunity. It matters because it tells contractors how the second step is conducted and that only step-one qualifiers may bid.
Applies to: Contracting officers and offerors in two-step sealed bidding
What it requires
- Follow sealed bidding procedures, except that invitations for bids must be issued only to offerors who submitted acceptable technical proposals in step one
- Include the provision prescribed in 14.201-6(t) in the invitations for bids
- Prominently state in the invitations that the bidder must comply with the specifications and the bidder's technical proposal
- Do not synopsize the invitations through the Governmentwide point of entry as an acquisition opportunity or publicly post them
Key terms: sealed bidding · invitations for bids · technical proposals · Governmentwide point of entry (GPE) · synopsized
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) Sealed bidding procedures shall be followed except that invitations for bids shall—
(1) Be issued only to those offerors submitting acceptable technical proposals in step one;
(2) Include the provision prescribed in 14.201-6(t);
(3) Prominently state that the bidder shall comply with the specifications and the bidder's technical proposal; and
(4) Not be synopsized through the Governmentwide point of entry (GPE) as an acquisition opportunity nor publicly posted (see 5.101(a)).
(b) The names of firms that submitted acceptable proposals in step one will be listed through the GPE for the benefit of prospective subcontractors (see 5.207).
Rule changes for FAR Part 14
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 14, 28, 36, and 52 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.