Solicitations consist of standardized forms that must be completed, as well as an explanation of your plan for solving the stated problem and meeting the requirements. Your proposal must include all requested, relevant, supporting documentation. In addition, your proposal must be easy to understand, concise, and complete.
A. WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN AN RFP
Most solicitations will be in the form of an RFP (Request for Proposal). Most RFPs are available in an electronic format and can be downloaded. Although there are standard sections in any RFP, the most important are: Section C - the statement of work; Section L - proposal preparation instructions; and Section M - the evaluation criteria. Be sure to analyze these sections carefully.
The standard sections of an RFP are:
Section A - Solicitation/Contract Form. This section identifies the title of the procurement, procurement number, point of contact (POC), how to acknowledge amendments and how to indicate “No Response” if you decide not to bid. Section A often appears as a one-page form.
Section B - Supplies or Services and Prices/Cost. This section provides a listing of all supplies, data and services to be acquired. This section also provides pricing information, identifies the type of contract, identifies Contract Line Item Numbers, (CLINs), and Subline Items Numbers (SLINs) that identify billable items, describes period of performance, identifies option periods, if any, and provides cost and pricing guidelines.
Section C - Description/Specification/Statement of Work. This section describes what the Government wants you to do or supply. Outside of your pricing, most of your proposal will be responding to this section, telling them how you will deliver what they need. Sometimes this section is contained in a separate appendix, and is frequently associated with other appendices in Section J with other details to enable the bidder to understand the nature and scope of the tasks requested in Section C.
Section D - Packaging and Marking. This section defines how all contract deliverables such as reports and material will be packaged and shipped. This information is important as these instructions may affect costs and raise logistics issues.
Section E - Inspection and Acceptance. This section describes the process by which the Government will officially accept deliverables and what to do if the work is not accepted. This process can also affect costs and identifies tasks you must be prepared to undertake.
Section F - Deliveries or Performance. This section defines how the Government Contracting Officer will control the work performed and how you will deliver certain contract items by describing the time, place and method for delivering the procured line items, subline items and services.
Section G - Contract Administration Data. This section describes how the Government Contracting Officer and your firm will interact and how information will be exchanged in administration of the contract to ensure both performance and prompt payment.
How to Prepare a Proposal
Section H - Special Contract Requirements. This section contains a range of special contract requirements important to this particular procurement, such as procedures for managing changes to the original terms of the contract, government furnished equipment (GFE) requirements, and government furnished property (GFP) requirements.
Section I - Contract Clauses. This section identifies the contract clauses incorporated by reference in the RFP. These clauses will be incorporated into the contract. Although this section does not require a separate response, its terms will be binding. The appropriate regulation clauses from the FAR, DFARS, will be selected and inserted into this section.
Section J - List of Attachments. This section lists the appendices to the RFP. These attachments can cover a wide range of subjects ranging from technical specifications through lists of GFE, and is generally used to provide data you need in order to respond to the Statement of Work. The list of attachments will include a title, date, and number of pages for each. Documents that might be identified in Section J include:
• Specification
• Statement Of Work
• Statement Of Obj ectives
• Training Systems Requirements Document
• Training System Functional Description
• List Of Addressees For Contracts Data Requirements List (CDRL) Exhibits
• DD Form 254, Contract Security Classification Specification.
Discussion of these documents can be found in the Acquisition Packages section available at http://www.ntsc.navy.mil/Resources/Library/Acqguide/acqpack.htm.
Section K - Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors. This section contains information that you must certify to bid on this contract, such as certification that you have acted according to procurement integrity regulations, your taxpayer identification, the status of personnel, ownership of your firm, type of business organization, authorized negotiators that your facilities are not segregated, that you comply with affirmative action guidelines, whether you qualify as a small business, disadvantaged business, and/or women owned business, etc.
Section L - Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors or Respondents. This section provides instructions for preparing your proposal. These instructions may include any formatting requirements, how the material should be organized or outlined, how to submit questions regarding the RFP or procurement, how the proposal is to be delivered, and sometimes notices, conditions, or other instructions. For example, the instructions may specify further organization of proposal or response parts, such as:
• Administrative
• Management
• Technical
• Logistics
• Past performance
• Cost or pricing data (see Table 15-2 of FAR 15.408), or information other than cost or pricing data.
Section M - Evaluation Factors for Award. This section defines the factors, sub-factors, and elements that the government uses to “grade” the proposal. The government grades proposals and then considers cost to determine who wins the award and gets the contract.
B. RESPONDING TO A SOLICITATION
Your response to a government solicitation to provide the products or services is called an “offer.” There are two types of offers: bids and proposals. Bids are used in sealed bidding purchases, while proposals involve awards to be made following negotiations. The type of bid or proposal you will develop and submit to the agency will depend on the type of solicitation the agency published.
Bids and proposals always should be prepared with utmost care. Contracts awarded on erroneous offers may result in serious financial loss or other difficulty for the bidder. Before preparing an offer, you should carefully study the specifications to ensure that your company can meet all the requirements. Particular attention should be given to the instructions to offerors, and to the conditions of purchase, delivery and payment.
When determining the amount of the offer, you should be especially careful to include all costs of material, labor, overhead, packaging, and transportation. Also, you should be sure to comply with such important provisions of the solicitation as submitting the required number of copies, mailing the offer in sufficient time to reach the purchasing office before the closing date, and properly tagging, marking, and mailing any required samples well in advance of the opening date.
If you want to change or withdraw a bid, you may send a letter to the purchasing office. However, the notification must reach the office prior to the time set for the bid opening. When preparing a proposal on a negotiated procurement, the same care should be taken as with a sealed bid. However, because the negotiated purchase procedure is more flexible than the sealed bid procedure, there is greater opportunity to seek modification of specifications, conditions of purchase, or delivery and payment. If the contracting officer decides to negotiate on your company’s proposal, a complete cost analysis may be required. Therefore, your company should be prepared to support the quotation with facts and figures.
C. ORGANIZING YOUR PROPOSAL
Your proposal must demonstrate that:
• You understand the agency’s need
• You understand the product or service requirements
• Your proposed solution meets (or exceeds) the requirements, is appropriate to the problem, is viable, is without great risk of failure, and is reasonably priced.
In addition, you may be asked to include:
• Relevant product samples
• Resumes of key personnel
• Management plans
• Other documents that demonstrate your company’s capability to fulfill the requirements.
These requirements illustrate why it is important that you have a capabilities statement completed!
Most proposals are divided into three sections: (1) technical, (2) price, and (3) past experience. The technical proposal will consist of how you will respond to the scope of work. The price proposal includes your estimated cost, the number of employees who will perform the work, and the time it will take to complete the project. The past experience section includes a list of pertinent projects, contacts and clients.
You may include any documentation you think strengthens your proposal; all supporting documentation that is requested in the RFP must be submitted to be considered for the contract award. Regardless of the type of offer you are preparing, there are certain guidelines that you should follow:
• Make sure that the products and services you are offering fulfill the needs (meet the requirements, as stated in the solicitation)
• Make sure that you complete and submit all of the appropriate standardized forms
• Make sure that your offer is clear, concise, and understandable
• Make sure that your pricing makes sense for you and the government.
Also, if there is a page limit, be sure you do not exceed it. (Sometimes attachments like resumes are not included in the limit.) Remember, the contract is awarded to the vendor whose proposal achieves the highest “score” in the evaluation. The award decision is fully documented to withstand public scrutiny and a possible formal, legal protest from a losing vendor.
It is also important, both in the technical proposal and in the past experience section, that you stress certain “win” themes, such as:
• Your firm has experience supporting the requesting agency or similar work
• Your firm has successfully performed on a project of similar work scope and complexity
• Your firm has credentialed staff or has access to required personnel that can be directed to this project
• Your firm has work facilities in close proximity to project work site.
D. FORMS YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER IN SEALED BIDS
Among the forms that you might be required to submit in a sealed bid are:
Standard Form 33, Solicitation, Offer, and Award. The government uses this form to solicit offers and award the contract. The bidder completes and signs the form, which constitutes the bid. Upon acceptance of the bid (award), the government signs the same document, establishing a binding contract.
Standard Form 30, Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract. The government uses this form to amend (change the requirements of) the solicitation before it closes or to modify the contract once it has been awarded. The government completes and sends the form to the bidder or contractor for signature.
Standard Form 1149, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items. The government uses this form to buy, ship, and receive commercial items when using simplified acquisition procedures.
Responses to sealed bids will consist of the forms provided in the bid package that you have completed.
E. FORMS YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER IN RFQ
Among the forms that you might be required to submit in response to an RFQ are:
Standard Form 18, Request for Quotation. The government uses this form to obtain company information and the quote.
Standard Form 26, Award/Contract. The government uses this form to specify the contract conditions if a contract is awarded.
Standard Form 44, Purchase Order-Invoice-Voucher. The government uses this form for on the spot, over-the-counter supplies and services where the supplies or services are immediately available, and one delivery/one payment will be made.
An RFQ may require the submission of a proposal.
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