The Government’s solicitation process begins with the identification of the need for a product or service in order to achieve the user’s mission, and continues through delivery and final acceptance of the required solution by the end user. While the process involves several steps, these steps mirror those used in the commercial world, tailored to meet and include all applicable laws, statutes and regulations implemented by the federal government and each agency.
- Requirements Identification. Each year, the entire federal government goes through a budget process projecting what each agency will need over the upcoming year, two years and five years. New requirements are identified, and previous projected requirements are updated or removed for a variety of reason. Items/services are prioritized and those under $3,500 are purchased using the Government Purchase Card (GPC). Those over $3,500 are sent to a Program Manager who has been provided the agency funding to begin the purchase process. The larger and more complex the procurement, the more levels of coordination and approval are required (sometimes up through Congress!) throughout the process, often resulting in increased procurement lead times.
- Requirements Documentation. The PM, working with the Contracting Officer (CO) is responsible for developing the Acquisition Strategy and the requirements documentation that will be provided to the CO for development of the solicitation. During this time, the CO supports the PM’s market research by posting Requests for Information (RFI) or Sources Sought on FedBizOps. This supports development of the Acquisition Strategy by getting feedback from industry and identifying small businesses who can perform the work. These documents include planning and budgetary documents; drafting Performance Work Statements (PWS) / Statements of Work (SOW); Source Selection Plan; and others required for solicitation, evaluation, and selection of the contractor receiving the contract. All of these documents are provided to the SSA for approval and the next step in the process.
- Solicitation. Based on the Acquisition Strategy, the CO advertises the government’s intention to solicit and award a contract for the required products/services at the Government’s Federal Business Opportunity website (www.fbo.gov). The synopsis provides a general description of the procurement, whether the procurement is set-aside for one of the small business programs, and when the government anticipates release of the final solicitation. It may include issuance of a Draft solicitation or PWS for industry to review, ask questions, and give input to before the final solicitation is released for competition.
The solicitation document (that will become the contract once signed) is drafted by the CO in accordance with the requirements of the approved Acquisition Plan. The type of contract, inspection and delivery requirements, special requirements such as security clearances, pricing arrangements, representations and certifications, proposal instructions, and evaluation criteria, are all set forth in the solicitation. In addition, the requirements of all applicable laws and regulations are incorporated into the document, ensuring all parties of the final contract(s) understand the legal and regulatory requirements that must also be met while performing the contract.
The final solicitation, all attachments, and any amendments issued during this phase, are either provided directly on www.fbo.gov, or via a link to an agency specific website with this and other documentation required by offerors to complete their proposals. The solicitation indicates the exact date, time, location, and delivery method for each proposal that is submitted in response to the solicitation.
- In the case of sealed bids, where award is determined solely based on lowest price, the CO opens each bid immediately after the cut off time and publicly reads the name of the bidders and the price(s) offered. A preliminary determination of the lowest price bid is made immediately upon conclusion of reading all bids.
When competitive proposals are received, the CO accomplishes an initial review of all offers for compliance with the proposal instructions contained in the solicitation. Those found to be noncompliant are set aside and are not evaluated further. These offerors are notified that their proposals have been excluded from the competition, the reason why, and provided the opportunity to request a debrief for additional details.
The remaining offers are evaluated by a team of government subject matter experts called a Source Selection Board against the requirements and evaluation criteria specified in the solicitation. Evaluation covers all parts of the requested proposals, often including a Technical Approach, Management Plan, Past Performance Surveys, and always including Cost or Price. When necessary, the government will provide questions to offerors during this process. Occasionally, they conduct face to face negotiations with each offeror. In some cases, they will ask that each offeror remaining in the competitive range to provide an Oral Presentation prior to making the final determination and recommendation for award to the CO.
- Before an award is made, the Contracting Officer has one final important step to complete. Each contractor and subcontractor selected for award must be determined by the CO to be “responsible” within the definition provided by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 9.1, Responsible Prospective Contractors. FAR 9.103 requires that “Purchases shall be made from, and contracts shall be awarded to, responsible prospective contractors only… In the absence of information clearly indicating that the prospective contractor is responsible, the contracting officer shall make a determination of non-responsibility.” This determination is designed to ensure that contractors will not subsequently default on the contract based on insufficient resources, unethical business activities, poor quality control and other poor performance indicators. Details regarding responsibility requirements can be found at FAR 9.104-1.
- Contract Award. Now comes the hard part: Successful contract performance!