The NASA Buy-Quiet process helps you develop requirements for low-noise equipment that is efficient, cost-effective, and, most importantly, safe for the people who work with and around it. Like most processes, this one can get pretty long and complicated, so use this roadmap to find your way through it!
Applicability of the Roadmap
The Roadmap is a tool that supports the procurement of low-noise products, which is an important aspect of a strong engineered noise controls program. It is assumed that the Roadmap, and the Buy-Quiet program that guides its application, will be implemented in the context of a comprehensive hearing conservation program that includes other classical strategies for controlling employee noise exposure and preventing noise-induced hearing loss.
Target Audience
The Roadmap is a tool for the Requestor or end user who is responsible for developing technical requirements in preparation for a procurement. The Roadmap encompasses the requirements development and leads the user through the development of a specification document, where appropriate. Requestors are encouraged to work with a Contracting Officer or procurement organization to execute the procurement once the technical requirements have been developed.
- The Requestor/end user is responsible for developing requirements and providing them to the Contracting Officer.
- The Requestor and Contracting Officer work together to review and evaluate offers that are received in response to a solicitation.
- The Contracting Officer is responsible for the selection of the successful offeror and contract award.
Note: The Roadmap is intended to be a reasonably generic tool that may be customized to fit the specific needs of each NASA center, facility, or contractor organization and should be modified as appropriate for consistency and compliance with existing site-specific procurement procedures. Non-NASA organizations are invited to adapt the Roadmap to their operations but are cautioned that NASA does not provide technical support for the Roadmap or for any auxiliary resources associated with it.
Roadmap Organization
The Roadmap is organized into three main sections:
- Process: Follow the numbered steps in the left-hand navigation menu, in sequence, to navigate the NASA Buy-Quiet Process from beginning to end.
- Forms and Worksheets: Customizable forms and worksheets are organized here for convenience. Each one is also linked from the specific Roadmap step(s) where it is needed.
- Supplementary Information: The final section in the left-hand navigation menu contains explanatory material about the Roadmap.
- Resources: A wealth of background information on Buy-Quiet programs and other advocacy resources is available from the Buy-Quiet Purchasing page. This information will help you make a strong business case for low-noise procurement and noise control.
