ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with considerable guidance in conducting contract negotiations and an introduction to organizational and personal standards for ethics and conflicts of interest. One fundamental approach to conducting negotiations is for the government negotiator to request a best and final offer (BAFO) from one or more prospective contractors. When requesting a BAFO, an agency representative asks one or more of the prospective contractors to submit a revision to their proposal, which is not subject to further negotiations. Cost-plus-a-percentage-of-costs (CPPC) reimbursement provisions could constitute the entire reimbursement scheme or just a portion of the reimbursement scheme proposed by prospective contractors. Although issues involving ethics and conflicts of interest may seem a recent phenomenon, this problem was recognized and addressed by the framers of the United States Constitution. In addition to federal regulations, virtually all states and local governments have programs in place to limit abuses that improperly enrich government officials and employees through contract fraud.
