Test a specification for a brand name or a feature peculiar to one manufacturer
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the specification, list any brand name, product, or feature peculiar to one manufacturer, and any salient characteristics stated for an equal product. Do not decide that the specification is lawful.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether the description is allowed. FAR 11.104 prefers performance specifications. A brand-name-or-equal description must include, besides the brand name, a general description of the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics an equal item must meet. FAR 11.105 says agency requirements shall not be written to require a particular brand name, product, or a feature peculiar to one manufacturer, unless that item is essential, market research shows other products do not meet or cannot be modified to meet the need, and the absence of full and open competition is supported by the justifications in FAR 6.302-1 or, for simplified procedures, documented under FAR 13.106-1(b) or justified under FAR 13.501. Those justification sections were not opened. The documentation or justification is posted for acquisitions over $25,000. A challenge to the terms of a federal solicitation is a GAO bid protest and, on the GAO FAQ, must be filed before the time for receipt of initial proposals. GAO does not hear protests of state or local procurements.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Consider narrowly defined preparation support after confirming the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Open each relied-on authority independently. Confirm its existence, current status, proposition and any quotation or pinpoint reference.
- Check the current court or regulator requirements, prescribed form and attachments for the intended document and filing.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.