---
kind: "section"
citation: "48 C.F.R. § 15.303"
title: "48"
number: "15.303"
heading: "Responsibilities."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/48/15.303"
---

# §15.303. Responsibilities.

- (a) **Agency heads are responsible for source selection.** The contracting officer is designated as the source selection authority, unless the agency head appoints another individual for a particular acquisition or group of acquisitions.
- (b) **The source selection authority shall—**
  - (1) Establish an evaluation team, tailored for the particular acquisition, that includes appropriate contracting, legal, logistics, technical, and other expertise to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of offers;
  - (2) Approve the source selection strategy or acquisition plan, if applicable, before solicitation release;
  - (3) Ensure consistency among the solicitation requirements, notices to offerors, proposal preparation instructions, evaluation factors and subfactors, solicitation provisions or contract clauses, and data requirements;
  - (4) Ensure that proposals are evaluated based solely on the factors and subfactors contained in the solicitation (10 U.S.C. [3303(c)](/usc/10/3303.md?p=c) and [41](/usc/10/41.md) U.S.C. 3703(c));
  - (5) Consider the recommendations of advisory boards or panels (if any); and
  - (6) Select the source or sources whose proposal is the best value to the Government (10 U.S.C. [3303(c)](/usc/10/3303.md?p=c) and [41](/usc/10/41.md) U.S.C. 3703(c)).
- (c) **The contracting officer shall—**
  - (1) After release of a solicitation, serve as the focal point for inquiries from actual or prospective offerors;
  - (2) After receipt of proposals, control exchanges with offerors in accordance with 15.306; and
  - (3) **Award the contract(s).**

## Notes

### Amendments

[62 FR 51230, Sept. 30, 1997, as amended at 79 FR 24201, Apr. 29, 2014; 87 FR 73897, Dec. 1, 2022]

### Authority

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 1121(b); 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 4 and 10 U.S.C. chapter 137 legacy provisions (see 10 U.S.C. 3016); and 51 U.S.C. 20113.

### Source

Source: 62 FR 51230, Sept. 30, 1997, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[62 FR 51230, Sept. 30, 1997, as amended at 79 FR 24201, Apr. 29, 2014; 87 FR 73897, Dec. 1, 2022]