If the contracting officer cannot determine whether the offered price of a commercial item is fair and reasonable after obtaining information from sources other than the offeror, the officer must require the offeror to submit information other than costs or pricing data to support further analysis.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only if requested
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (A)

When evaluating a price for a commercial item, the contracting officer first tries to determine price reasonableness using information from sources other than the offeror, such as catalogs, market data, or prices paid in the open market. If that external information still doesn’t make the price clearly fair and reasonable, the officer may ask the offeror to provide information other than costs or pricing data to support further analysis. This approach avoids requiring certified cost or pricing data for commercial items and leverages non-cost information to better assess value.

That’s why the statement is correct: after exhausting information from external sources, the CO can request information that isn’t cost or pricing data from the offeror to continue the analysis.