Section 1815.305-70 - Identification of unacceptable proposals(a) The contracting officer shall not complete the initial evaluation of any proposal when it is determined that the proposal is unacceptable because:(1) It does not represent a reasonable initial effort to address the essential requirements of the RFP or clearly demonstrates that the offeror does not understand the requirements;(2) In research and development acquisitions, a substantial design drawback is evident in the proposal, and sufficient correction or improvement to consider the proposal acceptable would require virtually an entirely new technical proposal; or(3) It contains major deficiencies or omissions or out-of-line costs which discussions with the offeror could not reasonably be expected to cure.(b) The contracting officer shall document the rationale for discontinuing the initial evaluation of a proposal in accordance with this section.63 FR 9954, Feb. 27, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 44408, Aug. 19, 1998; 83 FR 28386 , June 19, 2018