[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 48, Volume 4] [Revised as of October 1, 2006] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 48CFR315.404-2] [Page 40-41] TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM CHAPTER 3--HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PART 315_CONTRACTING BY NEGOTIATION--Table of Contents Subpart 315.4_Contract Pricing Sec. 315.404-2 Information to support proposal analysis. (a)(2) When some or all information sufficient to determine the reasonableness of the proposed cost or price is already available or can be obtained by phone from the cognizant audit agency, contracting officers may request less-than-complete field pricing support (specifying in the request the information needed) or may waive in writing the requirement for audit and field pricing support by documenting the file to indicate what information is to be used instead of the audit report and the field pricing report. (3) When initiating audit and field pricing support, the contracting officer shall do so by sending a request to the cognizant administrative contracting officer (ACO), with an information copy to the cognizant audit office. When field pricing support is not available, the contracting officer shall initiate an audit by sending, in accordance with agency procedures, two (2) copies of the request to the OIG Office [[Page 41]] of Audits' Regional Audit Director. In both cases, the contracting officer shall, in the request: (i) Prescribe the extent of the support needed; (ii) State the specific areas for which input is required; (iii) Include the information necessary to perform the review (such as the offeror's proposal and the applicable portions of the solicitation, particularly those describing requirements and delivery schedules); (iv) Provide the complete address of the location of the offeror's financial records that support the proposal; (v) Identify the office having audit responsibility if other than the HHS Regional Audit Office; and (vi) Specify a due date for receipt of a verbal report to be followed by a written audit report. (If the time available is not adequate to permit satisfactory coverage of the proposal, the auditor shall so advise the contracting officer and indicate the additional time needed.) One copy of the audit request letter that was submitted to the Regional Audit Director and a complete copy of the contract price proposal shall be submitted to OIG/OA/DAC. Whenever, an audit review has been conducted by the Office of Audits, two (2) copies of the memorandum of negotiation shall be forwarded to OIG/OA/DAC by the contracting officer.