The Office of Management and Budget April 11 issued a memo reminding federal agencies of the need “to maintain vendor and technology neutral specifications” and to comply with government-wide rules limiting the use of brand name specifications.  Effective immediately, federal agencies must publish a justification for any use of brand name specifications when posting a solicitation.  If publication of the justification is inappropriate because of national security, trade secrets or other concerns agencies should provide a copy of the written justification to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.  

The memo alludes to FAR 11.105 that states an agency may not require a particular brand name, product or feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer that thereby precludes consideration by another company.  The only exception to this rule is if there is written justification and a particular brand name is essential to government requirements and market research indicates other similar products cannot meet agency needs or at least be modified to do so.  The memo concludes that as a rule, contract specifications should emphasize the necessary physical, functional and performance characteristics of a product, not brand names.   

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