A key policy of OFPP is that newly established firms not be prevented from competing for lack of past performance.  Such policy is codified in FAR 13.305 where an offeror with no past performance “may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably.”  Agencies have generally implemented this policy by assigning such contractors a middle rating such as “three”, “good” or “satisfactory/green”.  Interestingly, this is the same ratings a DOD contractor would receive if it “met” every requirement of every contract it performed.  If a contractor has no past performance, the agency must perform a cost/technical tradeoff if it intends to award the contract to a higher priced vendor.  The GAO sustained a protest where an order was placed with a higher priced offeror solely because the protestor had no performance history (exceptions were allowed when, for example, timely delivery was critical).

Noting the likelihood of more and more offerors with no past performance, DOD and OFPP have revised their practices by indicating offerors with no past performance be an “unknown performance risk, having no positive or negative evaluative significance.”  In addition, even new contractors will propose key personnel with relevant experience and hence agencies are urged to include evaluation of proposed key personnel on relevant contracts as part of their evaluation of past performance.

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