[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 14, Volume 1]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 14CFR17.3]



[Page 102-103]

 

                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE

 

CHAPTER I--FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 

PART 17_PROCEDURES FOR PROTESTS AND CONTRACTS DISPUTES--Table of Contents

 

                            Subpart A_General

 

Sec. 17.3  Definitions.



    (a) Accrual mean to come into existence as a legally enforceable 

claim.

    (b) Accrual of a contract claim means that all events relating to a 

claim have occurred which fix liability of either the government or the 

contractor and permit assertion of the claim, regardless of when the 

claimant actually discovered those events. For liability to be fixed, 

some injury must have occurred. Monetary damages need not have been 

incurred, but if the claim is for money, such damages must be capable of 

reasonable estimation. The accrual of a claim or the running of the 

limitations period may be tolled on such equitable grounds as where the 

office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition determines that there has 

been active concealment or fraud or where it finds that the facts were 

inherently unknowable.

    (c) Acquisition Management System (AMS) establishes the policies, 

guiding principles, and internal procedures for the FAA's acquisition 

system.

    (d) Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 

Administration.

    (e) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the primary means of 

dispute resolution that would be employed by the FAA's Office of Dispute 

Resolution for Acquisition. See Appendix A of this part.

    (f) Compensated Neutral refers to an impartial third party chosen by 

the parties to act as a facilitator, mediator, or arbitrator functioning 

to resolve the protest or contract dispute under the auspices of the 

Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. The parties pay equally 

for the services of a Compensated Neutral, unless otherwise agreed to by 

the parties. A Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) or Neutral cannot be a 

Compensated Neutral.

    (g) Contract dispute, as used in this part, means a written request 

to the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition seeking resolution, 

under an existing FAA contract subject to the AMS, of a claim for the 

payment of money in a sum certain, the adjustment or interpretation of 

contract terms, or for other relief arising under, relating to or 

involving an alleged breach of that contract. A contract dispute does 

not require, as a prerequisite, the issuance of a Contracting Officer 

final decision. Contract disputes for purposes of ADR only may also 

involve contracts not subject to the AMS.

    (h) Default Adjudicative Process is an adjudicative process used to 

resolve protests or contract disputes where the parties cannot achieve 

resolution through informal communication or the use of ADR. The Default 

Adjudicative Process is conducted by a DRO or Special Master selected by 

the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition to serve as 

``adjudicative officers,'' as that term is used in part 14 of this 

chapter.

    (i) Discovery is the procedure where opposing parties in a protest 

or contract dispute may, either voluntarily or to the extent directed by 

the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition, obtain testimony from, 

or documents and information held by, other parties or non-parties.

    (j) Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) is a licensed attorney 

reporting to the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. The term 

DRO can include the Director of the Office of Dispute Resolution for 

Acquisition, Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition staff 

attorneys or other FAA attorneys assigned to the Office of Dispute 

Resolution for Acquisition.

    (k) An interested party, in the context of a bid protest, is one 

whose direct economic interest has been or would be affected by the 

award or failure to award an FAA contract. Proposed subcontractors are 

not ``interested parties'' within this definition and are not eligible 

to submit protests to the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition.

    (l) An intervenor is an interested party other than the protester 

whose participation in a protest is allowed by



[[Page 103]]



the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. For a post-award 

protest, the awardee of the contract that is the subject of the protest 

shall be allowed, upon request, to participate as an intervenor in the 

protest. In such a protest, no other interested parties shall be allowed 

to participate as intervenors.

    (m) Neutral refers to an impartial third party in the ADR process 

chosen by the Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition to act as a 

facilitator, mediator, arbitrator, or otherwise to resolve a protest or 

contract dispute. A Neutral can be a DRO or a person not an employee of 

the FAA who serves on behalf of the Office of Dispute Resolution for 

Acquisition.

    (n) The Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA), under 

the direction of the Director, acts on behalf of the Administrator to 

manage the FAA Dispute Resolution Process, and to recommend action to be 

the Administrator on matters concerning protests or contract disputes.

    (o) Parties include the protester(s) or (in the case of a contract 

dispute) the contractor, the FAA, and any intervenor(s).

    (p) Product Team, as used in these rules, refers to the FAA 

organization(s) responsible for the procurement activity, without regard 

to funding source, and includes the Contracting Officer (CO) and 

assigned FAA legal counsel, when the FAA organization(s) represent(s) 

the FAA as a party to a protest or contract dispute before the Office of 

Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. The CO is responsible for all 

Product Team communications with and submissions to the Office of 

Dispute Resolution for Acquisition through assigned FAA counsel.

    (q) Screening Information Request (SIR) means a request by the FAA 

for documentation, information, presentations, proposals, or binding 

offers concerning an approach to meeting potential acquisition 

requirements established by the FAA. The purpose of a SIR is for the FAA 

to obtain information needed for it to proceed with a source selection 

decision and contract award.

    (r) A Special Master is an attorney, usually with extensive 

adjudicative experience, who has been assigned by the Office of Dispute 

Resolution for Acquisition to act as its finder of fact, and to make 

findings and recommendations based upon AMS policy and applicable law 

and authorities in the Default Adjudicative Process.