National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Small Business Innovation Research 2000 Program Solicitation
5.1
Awards
5.2 Phase-I Reporting
5.3 Payment Schedule for Phase-I
5.4 Proprietary Information
5.5 Non-NASA Reviewers
5.6 Release of Proposal Information
5.7 Final Disposition of Proposals
5.8 Rights in Data Developed Under SBIR Contracts
5.9 Copyrights
5.10 Patents
5.11 Cost Sharing
5.12 Profit or Fee
5.13 Joint Ventures and Limited Partnerships
5.14 Similar Awards and Prior Work
5.15 Contractor Commitments
5.16 Additional Information
5.17 Property
5. Considerations
5.1.1 Availability of Funds. Both Phase-I and Phase-II awards are subject to availability of funds. NASA has no obligation to make any specific number of Phase-I or Phase-II awards based on this Solicitation, and may elect to make several or no awards in any specific technical topic or subtopic.
NASA plans to announce the selection of approximately 290 proposals resulting from this Solicitation, for negotiation of Phase-I contracts with values not exceeding $70,000. Following contract negotiations and awards, Phase-I contractors will have up to 6 months to carry out their programs, prepare their final reports, and submit Phase-II proposals. NASA intends that all Phase-I projects selected will be placed under contract by mid-December 2000.
NASA anticipates that approximately 40 percent of the successfully completed Phase-I projects from the SBIR 2000 Solicitation will be selected for Phase-II. Phase-II agreements are fixed-price contracts with performance periods not exceeding 24 months and funding not exceeding $600,000.
5.1.2 Contracting. Fixed-price contracts will be issued for Phase-I. Simplified contract documentation is employed. SBCs selected for negotiation of contract awards can reduce processing time by examining the procurement documents, furnishing the contracting officer with signed representations and certifications, and indicating any contract terms to be negotiated or agreement with the contract terms. NASA will make the Phase-I model contract and other documents available to the public on the NASA SBIR/STTR homepage (http://sbir.nasa.gov) at the time of selection announcement. From the time of proposal selection until the award of a contract, only the Contracting Officer is authorized to commit the Government, and all communications must be through the Contracting Officer.
NASA is not responsible for any monies expended by the offeror before award of any contract resulting from this Solicitation.
An interim progress report is required when the invoice is submitted at project mid-point in accordance with the payment schedule (Section 5.3). This report shall document progress made on the project and activities required for completion to provide NASA the basis for determining whether the payment is warranted.
A final report must be submitted to NASA upon completion of the Phase-I R/R&D effort in accordance with contract provisions. It shall elaborate the project objectives, work carried out, results obtained, and assessments of technical merit and feasibility. The final report shall include a single page proposal summary as the first page, in a format provided in the Phase-I contract, identifying the purpose of the R/R&D effort and describing the findings and results, including the degree to which the Phase-I objectives were achieved, and whether the results justify Phase-II continuation. The potential applications of the project results in Phase-III either for NASA or commercial purposes shall also be described. The proposal summary is to be submitted without restriction for NASA publication.
5.3 Payment Schedule for Phase-I
Payments can be authorized as follows: one-third at the time of award, one-third at project mid-point after award, and the remainder upon acceptance of the final report by NASA. The first two payments will be made 30 days after receipt of valid invoices. The final payment will be made 30 days after acceptance of the final report and other deliverables as required by the contract. Electronic funds transfer will be employed and offerors will be required to submit account data if selected for contract negotiations.
It is NASA's policy to use information (data) included in proposals for evaluation purposes only. Public release of information in any proposal submitted will be subject to existing statutory and regulatory requirements. If information consisting of a trade secret, proprietary commercial or financial information, or private personal information is provided in an SBIR proposal, NASA will treat in confidence the proprietary information provided the following legend appears on the title page of the proposal:
"For any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal, this data shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed in whole or in part, provided that if a funding agreement is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in connection with the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use or disclose the data to the extent provided in the funding agreement. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in the data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in pages _____ of this proposal."
Do not label the entire proposal proprietary. The Proposal Summary (Form 9B) should not contain proprietary information.
In addition to Government personnel, NASA at its discretion and in accordance with 18-15.413-2 of the NASA FAR Supplement, may utilize qualified individuals from outside the Government in the proposal review process. Any decision to obtain an outside evaluation shall take into consideration requirements for the avoidance of organizational or personal conflicts of interest and the competitive relationship, if any, between the prospective contractor or subcontractor(s) and the prospective outside evaluator. Any such evaluation will be under agreement with the evaluator that the information (data) contained in the proposal will be used only for evaluation purposes and will not be further disclosed.
5.6 Release of Proposal Information
In submitting a proposal, the offeror agrees to permit the Government to disclose publicly the information contained on the Proposal Cover (Form 9A) and the Proposal Summary (Form 9B). Other proposal information (data) is considered to be the property of the offeror, and NASA will protect it from public disclosure to the extent permitted by law.
5.7 Final Disposition of Proposals
The Government retains ownership of proposals accepted for evaluation, and such proposals will not be returned to the offeror. Copies of all evaluated Phase-I proposals will be retained for one year after the Phase-I selections have been made, after which time unsuccessful proposals will be destroyed. Successful proposals will be retained in accordance with contract file regulations.
5.8 Rights in Data Developed Under SBIR Contracts
Rights to data used in, or first produced under, any Phase-I or Phase-II contract are specified in the clause at FAR 52.227-20, Rights in Data--SBIR Program. The clause provides for rights consistent with the following:
5.8.1 Non-Proprietary Data. Some data of a general nature are to be furnished to NASA without restriction (i.e., with unlimited rights) and may be published by NASA. These data will normally be limited to the project summaries accompanying any periodic progress reports and the final reports required to be submitted. The requirement will be specifically set forth in any contract resulting from this Solicitation.
5.8.2 Proprietary Data. When data that is required to be delivered under an SBIR contract qualifies as "proprietary," i.e., either data developed at private expense that embody trade secrets or are commercial or financial and confidential or privileged, or computer software developed at private expense that is a trade secret, the contractor, if the contractor desires to continue protection of such proprietary data, shall not deliver such data to the Government, but instead shall deliver form, fit, and function data.
5.8.3 Non-Disclosure Period. The Government, for a period of 4 years from acceptance of all items to be delivered under an SBIR contract, shall use SBIR data, i.e., data first produced by the contractor in performance of the contract, where such data are not generally known, and which data without obligation as to its confidentiality have not been made available to others by the contractor or are not already available to the Government, agrees to use these data for Government purposes. These data shall not be disclosed outside the Government (including disclosure for procurement purposes) during the 4-year period without permission of the contractor, except that such data may be disclosed for use by support contractors under an obligation of confidentiality. After the 4-year period, the Government has a royalty-free license to use, and to authorize others to use on its behalf, these data for Government purposes, but the Government is relieved of all disclosure prohibitions and assumes no liability for unauthorized use by third parties.
Subject to certain licenses granted by the contractor to the Government, the contractor receives copyright to any data first produced by the contractor in the performance of an SBIR contract.
The contractor may normally elect title to any inventions made in the performance of an SBIR contract. The Government receives a nonexclusive license to practice or have practiced for or on behalf of the Government each such invention throughout the world. To the extent authorized by 35 U.S.C. 205, the Government will not make public any information disclosing such inventions for a reasonable time to allow the contractor to file a patent application.
Cost sharing is permitted, but not required for proposals under this Solicitation. Cost sharing, if included, should be shown in the summary budget but not in items labeled "AMOUNT REQUESTED." No profit will be paid on the cost-sharing portion of the contract
Both Phase-I and Phase-II SBIR contracts may include a reasonable profit. The reasonableness of proposed profit is determined by the Contracting Officer during contract negotiations.
5.13 Joint Ventures and Limited Partnerships
Both joint ventures and limited partnerships are permitted, provided the entity created qualifies as a SBC in accordance with the definition in Section 2.1. A statement of how the workload will be distributed, managed, and charged should be included in the proposal. A copy or comprehensive summary of the joint venture agreement or partnership agreement should be appended to the proposal. This will not count as part of the 25 page limit for the Phase-I proposal.
5.14 Similar Awards and Prior Work
If an award is made pursuant to a proposal submitted under this Program Solicitation, the firm will be required to certify that it has not previously been paid nor is currently being paid for essentially equivalent work by any agency of the Federal Government. Failure to acknowledge or report similar or duplicate efforts can lead to the termination of contracts or other actions.
Upon award of a contract, the contractor will be required to make certain legal commitments through acceptance of numerous clauses in the Phase-I contract. The outline that follows illustrates the types of clauses that will be included. This is not a complete list of clauses to be included in Phase-I contracts, nor does it contain specific wording of these clauses. Copies of complete provisions will be made available prior to contract negotiations.
5.15.1 Standards of Work. Work performed under the contract must conform to high professional standards. Analyses, equipment, and components for use by NASA will require special consideration to satisfy the stringent safety and reliability requirements imposed in aerospace applications.
5.15.2 Inspection. Work performed under the contract is subject to Government inspection and evaluation at all reasonable times.
5.15.3 Examination of Records. The Comptroller General (or a duly authorized representative) shall have the right to examine any directly pertinent records of the contractor involving transactions related to the contract.
5.15.4 Default. The Government may terminate the contract if the contractor fails to perform the contracted work.
5.15.5 Termination for Convenience. The contract may be terminated by the Government at any time if it deems termination to be in its best interest, in which case the contractor will be compensated for work performed and for reasonable termination costs.
5.15.6 Disputes. Any dispute concerning the contract that cannot be resolved by mutual agreement shall be decided by the contracting officer with right of appeal.
5.15.7 Contract Work Hours. The contractor may not require a non-exempt employee to work more than 40 hours in a work week unless the employee is paid for overtime.
5.15.8 Equal Opportunity. The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, age, sex, or national origin.
5.15.9 Affirmative Action for Veterans. The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because he or she is a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.
5.15.10 Affirmative Action for Handicapped. The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because he or she is physically or mentally handicapped.
5.15.11 Officials Not to Benefit. No member of or delegate to Congress shall benefit from the SBIR contract.
5.15.12 Covenant Against Contingent Fees. No person or agency has been employed to solicit or to secure the contract upon an understanding for compensation except bona fide employees or commercial agencies maintained by the contractor for the purpose of securing business.
5.15.13 Gratuities. The contract may be terminated by the Government if any gratuities have been offered to any representative of the Government to secure the contract.
5.15.14 Patent Infringement. The contractor shall report to NASA each notice or claim of patent infringement based on the performance of the contract.
5.15.15 American-Made Equipment and Products. Equipment or products purchased under an SBIR contract must be American-made whenever possible.
5.16.1 Precedence of Contract Over Solicitation. This Program Solicitation reflects current planning. If there is any inconsistency between the information contained herein and the terms of any resulting SBIR contract, the terms of the contract are controlling.
5.16.2 Evidence of Contractor Responsibility. Before award of an SBIR contract, the Government may request the offeror to submit certain organizational, management, personnel, and financial information to establish responsibility of the offeror. Contractor responsibility includes all resources required for contractor performance, i.e., financial capability, work force, and facilities.
In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 45, it is NASA's policy not to provide facilities (capital equipment, tooling, test and computer facilities, etc.) for the performance of work under contract. An SBC will furnish its own facilities to perform the proposed work as an indirect cost to the contract. Special tooling required for a project may be allowed as a direct cost.
When an SBC cannot furnish its own facilities to perform required tasks, an SBC may propose to acquire the use of commercially available facilities. Rental or lease costs may be considered as direct costs as part of the total funding for the project. If unique requirements force an offeror to acquire facilities under a NASA contract, they will be purchased as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and titled to the Government.
An offeror may propose the use of unique or one-of-a-kind NASA facilities if essential for the research. Offerors requiring a NASA facility must clearly document and certify that there is no commercially available facility to perform the R&D. It may be difficult, however, to ensure availability, and non-availability may lead to non-selection. Should an offeror propose the use of unique or one-of-a-kind NASA facilities essential for the R/R&D, an agreement with the responsible installation is required and costs for their use will be determined by the installation. These costs may be chargeable in accordance with the Government property clause of the contract. Total contract costs must not exceed the Phase-I and Phase-II funding limits given in this Solicitation (Section 5.1).