This subpart describes the HUDAR and states its relationship to the FAR System. This subpart also provides the explanation of the purpose and the authorities under which the HUDAR is issued.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development Acquisition Regulation is hereby established as chapter 24 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation System (48 CFR chapter 24). It is issued to provide uniform Departmental policies and procedures for the acquisition of supplies, personal property and non-personal services by the Department's contracting activities and to make these policies and procedures readily available to Departmental personnel and to the public.

The HUDAR is prescribed by the Chief Procurement Officer under section 7(d) of the Department of HUD Act (42 U.S.C. 3535(d)), section 205(c) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 486(c)), the Secretary's delegation effective January 19, 1976, 41 FR 2665, and the general authorization in FAR 1.301.

All acquisition of personal property and non-personal services (including construction) by HUD, except as may be otherwise authorized by law, must be accomplished in accordance with the HUDAR and the FAR.

(a) General. Chapter 24 is divided into parts, subparts, sections, subsections, paragraphs and further subdivisions as necessary.

(b) Numbering. Generally, the numbering system and part, subpart, and section titles used in the HUDAR conform with those used in the FAR or as follows:

(1) When the HUDAR implements or deviates from a parallel part, subpart, section, subsection, or paragraph of the FAR, that implementation or deviation will be numbered and captioned where possible to correspond to the FAR part, subpart, section, subsection, or paragraph. For example, FAR subpart 1.4, Deviations, is implemented in HUD's acquisition regulations at subpart 2401.4, Deviations. (The “24” in the number indicates what chapter of title 48 contains the HUDAR.)

(2) When HUD supplements material contained in the FAR, it is given a unique number containing the numerals “70” or higher. The rest of the number will parallel the FAR part, subpart, section, subsection, or paragraph it is supplementing. For example, FAR 14.407, Award, does not contain a provision for the steps to be taken when only one bid is received. The HUDAR provides this information. Since the subject matter supplements what is contained in FAR 14.407, the HUDAR section supplementing the FAR is numbered 2414.407-70.

(3) Where material in the FAR requires no implementation or deviation, there is no corresponding numbering in the HUDAR. Therefore, there may be gaps in the HUDAR sequence of numbers where the FAR, as written, is applicable to the HUDAR and requires no further implementation.

(c) Citation. The HUDAR will be cited in accordance with Federal Register standards approved for the FAR. Thus, this section when referred to in the HUDAR is cited as 2401.105-2(c). When this section is referred to formally in official documents, such as legal briefs, it should be cited as “48 CFR 2401.105-2(c).” Any section of the HUDAR may be formally identified by the section number, e.g., “HUDAR 2401.105-2.” In the HUDAR, any reference to the FAR will be indicated by “FAR” followed by the section number, for example FAR 37.108.

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) requires that Federal agencies obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before collecting information from 10 or more persons. HUD has received approval from OMB to collect information under the provisions of its Acquisition Regulation. The OMB Approval Number is 2535-0091.

(a)(1) Implementation. The HUDAR implements and supplements the FAR. Implementation material is that which expands upon related FAR material. Supplementing material is that for which there is no counterpart in the FAR.

(c) Exclusions. Certain HUD policies and procedures which come within the scope of this chapter are not included in the HUDAR. Not included is a policy or procedure of an internal nature or which is expected to be effective for a period of less than six months.

In individual cases, proposed deviations from the FAR or HUDAR shall be submitted to the Senior Procurement Executive (see 2401.601-70) for approval or other necessary or appropriate action. A supporting statement shall be submitted with the proposed deviation indicating briefly the nature of the deviation and the reasons for granting the deviation, consistent with FAR 1.402. The contract file shall include a copy of the request submitted and the approval. In emergency situations involving individual cases, deviation approvals may be processed by telephone and later confirmed in writing.

For deviations which affect more than one contracting action, proposed deviations from the FAR or HUDAR shall be submitted to the Senior Procurement Executive for approval or other necessary or appropriate action. Requests for deviations shall be supported by statements which fully disclose the nature of the deviation and the need there of. The Senior Procurement Executive will consider the proposal on an expedited basis and in the case of a proposed FAR deviation will comply with FAR 1.404.

The Chief Procurement Officer is the Department's Senior Procurement Executive and is responsible for all Departmental procurement policy, regulations, and procedures. The Senior Procurement Executive is also responsible for the development of HUD's procurement system standards, evaluation of the system in accordance with approved criteria, enhancement of career management of the procurement work force, and certification to the Secretary that the Department's procurement system meets approved criteria.

The Office of Procurement and Contracts, within the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, including its Field Contracting Operations, is responsible for all Departmental procurement.

(b)(1) Policy. A request for ratification shall be sent to the Contracting Officer through the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA). The request will include an explanation as to the need for the service, the reason why normal procurement procedures were not followed, to what extent price competition was received or the price otherwise justified, and, corrective management actions to avoid ratifications in the future. If the justification is adequate, the ratification will be signed by the Contracting Officer and forwarded to the HCA or designee for approval.

(b)(3) The HCA may delegate authority to approve ratifications below the simplified acquisition threshold to:

(i) Contracting division directors (Headquarters); or,

(ii) Contracting branch chiefs (Field).

(c)(5) Legal concurrence may be requested if there is a legal issue involved, e.g. the propriety of the funding source, appropriateness of the expense, etc.

In selecting Contracting Officers, the appointing authorities shall consider the experience, education, training, business acumen, judgment, character, reputation and ethics of the individual to be appointed. The appointing authorities shall also consider the size and complexity of contracts the individual will be required to execute and/or administer, and any other limitations on the scope of the authority to be exercised. In the area of experience, education and training, the following shall be required, unless contracting authority is limited to simplified acquisition procedures:

(a) Experience, for appointment of an individual to a position having Contracting Officer authority, shall consist of a minimum of two years experience performing contracting, procurement or purchasing operations in a government or commercial procurement office. Alternatively, where appointment of a Contracting Officer involves a specialized procurement field, experience in that field may be considered as a criterion for the appointment.

(b) Educational requirements for an individual in a position having Contracting Officer authority shall be, as a minimum, the equivalent of a Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or institution preferably with major studies in Business Administration, Law, Accounting or related fields. Experience related to the field of procurement involved (e.g., supply construction, etc.), gained in a government or nongovernment contracting office, may be substituted for educational requirements when it is determined in writing and made a part of the appointment files (as stipulated in 2401.603-3(b)) that a potential appointee is otherwise qualified by virtue of extensive contract-related experience or training.

(c) Training courses as prescribed by the Senior Procurement Executive.

(d) The selection requirements specified in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section are applicable to all personnel whose primary duties are performed as a Contracting Officer.

(a) Appointments to officials not expressly delegated procurement authority by a published departmental delegation of authority shall be made in writing by the Head of the Contracting Activity. The Certificate of Appointment (SF 1402) shall constitute the appointing official's determination that the appointee meets the selection requirements set forth at 2401.603-2.

Accounting Office means the Office of Accounting Operations within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and includes that Office's field components.

Chief Procurement Officer means the HUD official having authority for all of the Department's procurement activities.

Department means the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which may also be designated as HUD.

Government Technical Monitor (GTM) means the individual responsible for assisting a Government Technical Representative in the latter's performance of his/her duties.

Government Technical Representative (GTR) means the individual serving as the Contracting Officer's representative responsible for monitoring the technical aspects of a contract, including guidance, oversight, and evaluation of the Contractor's performance and deliverables.

Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) is defined in accordance with the FAR. The following HUD officials are designated HCAs:

(1) Director, Office of Procurement and Contracts, for HUD Headquarters procurement; and

(2) The Directors, Field Contracting Operations, for field procurement.

Legal Counsel means the Office of General Counsel in Headquarters, or the cognizant Assistant General Counsel in the field.

Primary Organization Heads are those officials of the Department who are responsible for the major organizational components of HUD and who report directly to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary. The Primary Organization Heads of HUD include the Assistant Secretaries and equivalent Departmental management (e.g., President, GNMA, Inspector General, General Counsel, Chief Procurement Officer, etc.).

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or his or her designee.

Senior Procurement Executive means the Chief Procurement Officer.

Detailed rules which apply to the conduct of HUD employees are set forth in 5 CFR part 2635 and 5 CFR part 7501.

Suspected violations of the gratuities clause (FAR 52.203-3) shall be reported to the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) in writing. The HCA will request the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conduct any necessary investigation. Upon receipt of the OIG report, the HCA will evaluate the circumstances to determine if a violation has occurred. The HCA will refer violations and recommended corrective actions to the Senior Procurement Executive for disposition.

The Senior Procurement Executive will process violations in accordance with FAR 3.204.

Potential anti-competitive practices such as described in FAR subpart 3.3, evidenced in bids or proposals, shall be reported to the Office of General Counsel through the Head of the Contracting Activity with a copy to the Senior Procurement Executive and the Inspector General. The Office of General Counsel will provide reports to the Attorney General as appropriate.

Contracting Officers shall report suspected violations of the Anti-Kickback Act through the Head of the Contracting Activity to the Office of the Inspector General consistent with the procedures for reporting any violation of law contained in the current HUD Handbook 2000.3, Office of Inspector General Activities.

The Senior Procurement Executive must approve exceptions to the restriction against contracts with Government employees under FAR subpart 3.6. In addition, the Contracting Officer shall comply with FAR subpart 9.5 before awarding any such contract.

Insert the clause at 48 CFR 2452.203-70 in all solicitations and contracts.

(a) Unsuccessful cost and technical proposals shall be retained in the contracting activity for a period of two months following the contract award as reference material for debriefings. Upon expiration of the two month period, the contracting office shall either:

(1) Retain one copy of each such proposal with the official contract file; or,

(2) Ship one copy of each unsuccessful bid or proposal to the Federal Records Center unless a debriefing has been requested but not held, or a protest is pending concerning the procurement. In no event shall these documents be destroyed before expiration of the retention periods in FAR 4.805.

(b) By the program office. Unsuccessful proposals shall be retained on file in the program office which conducted the technical evaluation for a period of two months following the contract award. Upon expiration of the two month period, the program office shall return one copy of each unsuccessful bid or proposal not required for the conduct of debriefings to the contracting activity for proper disposition. The remaining copies will be destroyed.