What is the primary objective of FAR Part 15 source selection?

• A. Obtain Best Value for the Government Through Competitive Negotiations and an Evaluative Process.
• B. Minimize price and ignore non-price factors.
• C. Award to the bidder with the most experience, regardless of price.
• D. Use noncompetitive procedures to speed award.

Answer: (A)

The primary objective is to obtain the best value for the Government through competitive negotiations and an evaluative process. This means running a structured competition, evaluating proposals using defined criteria that include technical merit, management approach, past performance, and cost, and then making a best-value decision that may trade price for other factors. The goal isn’t simply to minimize cost or to award based on experience alone, nor is it about rushing to a noncompetitive award. Instead, the process seeks the overall best value to meet the government’s needs, with documentation showing how trade-offs among cost and non-price factors were considered.