3: Pre-Award

Pre-Award (Obtaining the Solicitation)

After your company has made the decision to purchase goods or outsource services, the procurement team develops a plan that includes:

- Selecting the appropriate relationships and contract approaches for each type of purchased goods or outsourced services

- Develops a description of the work (often called the Statement/Scope of Work, Project Scope, etc., that details the requirements and performance

expectations, including pricing information, schedule/due dates of deliverables, period of performance and payments) for the items being

outsourced. From this information the procurement team can usually determine, who (contractor or subcontractor) has the skill-set for the

scope of work, what are the risks and which party should assume which types of risk; as well as, if the required work or materials is a commodity,

customized product/service requiring a unique skill and what type of relationship is needed (e.g., supplier, vendor, or subcontractor) and how

the supplier, vendor, or potential subcontractor be obtained (e.g., via RFQ, RFP, or personal contact).

- Then RFQs and RFPs are prepared and sent out to potential subcontractors, vendors and/or suppliers if they are already on a bidder’s list, or are

posted in a database for easy access. The responses to the RFP/RFQ’s will be in the form of a proposal which will provide the information needed

for the procurement team to evaluate subcontracting/vendor/supplier resources available to meet the requirements of the overall contract.

- Depending on the complexity level of the project, this process can take either hours or sometimes weeks or months to complete.

- The complexity of the requirements will also dictate if a teaming arrangement with selected subcontractors will be necessary.

- Government contractors enter into Teaming Agreements to secure contracts with partners that will help them win and perform the work. (Be aware, that certain

terms in a teaming agreement may not be enforceable, particularly the clauses providing for the award of a subcontract.)

Items usually included in a Teaming Agreement:

❑ Purpose and Scope of the Agreement

❑ Prime Contractor Responsibilities

❑ Subcontractor Responsibilities

❑ Profit Distribution

❑ Confidentiality

❑ Intellectual Property

❑ Non-circumvention/ non-compete clause

❑ Termination Provisions

As a subcontractor, one of the ways to obtain solicitations is to become a Qualified Bidder.

A Qualified Bidder is a person or organization capable of providing the materials or performing the work required for the project. On smaller, less

complex projects, the Contractor typically has a list of suppliers/vendors/subcontractors that have successfully provided goods/services in the past,

and the project has access to past performance information. On unique projects, where no supplier lists exist, the project team develops a list of

potential suppliers and then qualifies them to become eligible to bid on project work.

The potential supplier must also be financially stable to be included on the bidders list. A credit check or a financial report from Dun and Bradstreet

(D&B) (a well-known provider of financial

information about individual companies) will provide the project with information about the potential bidder’s financial status. D&B services include the

following:

• D&B proprietary rankings and predictive creditworthiness scores

• Public filings, including suits, liens, judgments, and UCC (uniform commercial code) filings—standardized financial disclosure documents that

conform to the uniform commercial code

• Company financial statements and history

**IMPORTANT**IMPORTANT**IMPORTANT**IMPORTANT**

If you are a contractor/subcontractor that wants to do business with the Federal Govt., it is extremely important that you register your business in the

SAM (System for Award Management) database, known as SAM.gov (View instructional video at https://youtu.be/y2t5queourQ).

Link to SAM User Guide for Non-Govt Entities by (DOE). Includes instructions on using new identifier

number. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-

03/appendix-7-sam-registration-user-guide-january2022.pdf

***ALERT****ALERT**** ALERT****ALERT**** ALERT ****ALERT***

The unique entity identifier used in SAM.gov has changed.

On April 4, 2022, the unique entity identifier used across the federal government changed from the DUNS Number to the Unique Entity ID (generated

by SAM.gov).he Unique Entity ID is a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned to an entity by SAM.gov.

As part of this transition, the DUNS Number has been removed from SAM.gov.

Entity registration, searching, and data entry in SAM.gov now require use of the new Unique Entity ID.

Existing registered entities can find their Unique Entity ID by following the steps here.

New entities can get their Unique Entity ID at SAM.gov and, if required, complete an entity registration. (See Helpful Links Page for various websites)

Pre-Award (Preparation of Offer)

One good thing about doing business with the Federal Govt., is that their RFP has a standard format:

Section A – Solicitation/Contract Form (SF-33)

Section B – Supplies and Services and Prices/Costs.

Section C – Description/Specifications/Statement of Work.

Section D – Packaging and Marking.

Section E – Inspection and Acceptance.

Section F – Deliveries or Performance.

Section G – Contract Administration Data

Section H – Special Contract Requirements

Section I - List of Attachments

Section J – Packaging and Marking.

Section K – Representations, Certs and Other Statements

Section L – Proposal Preparation Instructions

Section M – Evaluation Factors for Award

To prepare your offer you diligently follow the information contained in the Sections of the RFP. For example, Section L – Proposal Instructions, will tell

you exactly how the Government wants you to organize your proposal. Most often (in fairly complex proposals) you will be told to submit your

proposal in separate Volumes/Sections such as:

• Offer (Usually Volume I)
• Technical Proposal (Usually Volume II)
• Cost/Business Proposal (Usually Volume III)

Volume I - Offer

Includes offer to enter into a contract to perform the work and includes the standard form (SF33) that the government uses to award the contract as

well as other administrative documentation.

Volume II – Technical/Management Proposal

Includes narratives, charts, evidence of past performance, Key Personnel, etc., to prove to the Govt that you can perform the requested work.

Volume III - Cost/Business Proposal

All costs/pricing, fee, labor and material estimates and other related information is included in this section to tell the Govt how much you charge for

doing the work proposed in Volume II - Technical

Pre-Award (OFFER SUBMISSION)

• You’ve selected the solicitation you want to respond to; you’ve prepared your offer per the instructions in the solicitation; and now it’s time to actually submit your proposal offer. Here are some tips on successfully submitting your offer:

• Starting with the proposal delivery date and working backward, develop a schedule that will support the timely completion of all components, including packaging the proposal, preparing the proposal volumes, proposal reviews, writing, pricing, subcontractor quotes, etc.

• Follow the format dictated by the RFP, making sure to comply with all page, font, binding pagination and printing requirements and time and location of proposal delivery (be early, one second late and you’re out).

• Proposal sections should be easy to separate into sections for distribution to evaluators (e.g. finance, technical, management) and each should be able to stand on its own, so if information from one section is needed to understand another, it should be included in both.

• The quality of the proposal is directly related to the ability to provide a strategic response that conveys not only that your client will comply, but how the company will comply and how its approach sets it apart from the competition.

• The writing style should be clear and concise, and every phrase should be directly related to how the company will meet the agency’s needs. Avoid claims or language that is unsubstantiated, make sure the information is relevant to the specific project, and fully address the requirements.