2-34.14 Certification of Cost or Pricing Data

Under the following circumstances, cost or pricing data, as described in section 2-34.13, must be certified:

• When the contract action (including modifications) is valued at $1 million or more and is made noncompetitively;
• When the goods and services are not commercially available; and
• When fair and reasonable pricing cannot be determined by other means, such as price analysis.

The certification of cost or pricing data requires that, to the best of the supplier’s knowledge and belief, the submitted cost or pricing data are accurate, complete, and current as of the date of agreement on price or, if applicable, an earlier date agreed upon between the parties that is as close as practicable to the date of agreement on price. The requirement for submission of cost or pricing data that must be certified is met when all cost or pricing data reasonably available to the supplier have been submitted, either actually or by specific identification, to the contracting officer or his or her representative and the Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data, as contained in section 2-34.15, has also been submitted to the contracting officer or his or her representative. As later data come into a supplier’s possession, it must be submitted promptly to the contracting officer or his or her representative in a manner that clearly shows how the data relate to the supplier’s price proposal. The requirement for submission of cost or pricing data that is certified continues up to the time of agreement on price, or an earlier date agreed upon by the parties. Additionally, a supplier must submit any information that is reasonably required to explain its estimating process.

In circumstances where the cost or pricing data submitted is required to be certified, the contracting officer must specify in the solicitation that cost or pricing data is required to be submitted and certified and include a copy of the Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data contained in section 2-34.15. The contracting officer must include Clause 5-4: Certification of Cost or Pricing Data in the contract when the cost or pricing data submitted is required to be certified. Lastly, the contracting officer must document the extent to which he or she relied upon the cost or pricing data that is certified in negotiating the final price. This documentation must be included in the contract file.