By B. David Krigelman
President
Krigelman & Associates, Inc.
321.242.7598
www.krigelmanandassociates.com 

Several years ago, I attended a seminar on proposal preparation. The instructor, a retired Military officer that worked in the procurement function, described the ten most important steps in the proposal process. These are:

• Step 1 Read and understand the solicitation
• Step 2 Read and understand the solicitation
• Step 3 Read and understand the solicitation
• Step 4 through Step 9 => Ditto 
• Step 10 => Go to Step 1

He then discussed the phrase that appears in almost every Request for Proposal (RFP): The Contractor shall demonstrate his understanding of the requirements and present a sound approach that meets the requirements. Clearly, reading and understanding the RFP requirements is very important if you want to prepare a winning proposal.

Almost all RFPs that are prepared by the Government are preceded by a released Synopsis that appears in the Federal Business Opportunities web site (reference: http://www.fbo.gov). The Synopsis contains useful information regarding the procurement, which can be used to guide the proposal development process. A draft RFP, which is available early on for Industry review and comments, also provides a good preview of the final RFP prior to its release. Last but not least, Government-provided answers to Industry questions are very helpful.

The final RFP is usually structured as shown in the figure below. A cover letter prepared by the Contracting Officer officially releases the solicitation and often contains additional information that is not in the Synopsis. The cover letter is followed by a GSA-prepared Standard Form (SF), in this case SF 33, which serves as the cover sheet for the solicitation/contract document. The SF 33 is very important, since it contains all the data regarding the solicitation, including the date and time for submittal of the proposal. There are fill-in blocks that are completed by the Government. There are also fill-in blocks that are to be completed by the Contractor. Don’t forget to sign and submit the SF 33 and all Amendments to the RFP that have been released. Once the SF 33 is signed by the Government Contracting Officer, the contract is yours!

The solicitation/contract document is comprised of four parts, each of which contains sections as shown in the SF 33 Table of Contents and in the figure below. Sections A through M comprise the solicitation and Sections A through K comprise the contract document. Sections L and M are not submitted with the proposal as they are the informational instructions for preparation of the proposal by the Contractor and a description of the evaluation process, including the items and factors that the Government will use to evaluate your proposal.

Not all RFPs follow this strict format. Recent initiatives by the Government to streamline the acquisition process give procuring agencies more leeway in this regard. In particular, RFPs for commercial items or for those items that do not involve engineering design and development may be less complex in nature. Although the basic SF 33 and solicitation content is there, they are a lot easier to read and understand,

In summary, make the solicitation required reading by all major participants in the proposal development process. As they say, “The more eyes - the better.” It takes more than one person to fully digest a complex legal document.
 

PART I - THE SCHEDULE
A  Solicitation/Contract form	Includes an identification and date of the solicitation, type, issuing agency, due date, table of contents, offer data, and award data.
B  Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs	Includes the item numbers, supplies or services to be delivered, quantity, purchase units, unit prices and extended prices.
C  Description/Specifications/Work Statement	Describes the work to be performed and the technical requirements for the deliverable items.
D  Packaging and Marking	Describes the requirements for packaging and marking the deliverable items.
E  Inspection and Acceptance	Describes the requirements for inspecting and accepting the deliverable items.
F  Deliveries or Performance	Describes the deliverable items, required shipping data, and delivery schedule.
G  Contract Administration Data	Describes the contract clauses that are applicable to administering the contract.
H  Special Contract Requirements	Describes specific contract clauses that are applicable to the contract.
PART II - CONTRACT CLAUSES
I  Contract Clauses	Describes all other contract clauses that are applicable to the contract.
PART III - LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS, AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS
J  List of Attachments	Includes a list of exhibits and attachments to the solicitation that are applicable to the contract.
PART IV - REPRESENTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS
K  Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offerors	Includes the representations, certifications and other data to be completed and provided by the contractor.
L  Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors	Includes instructions and other data required by the contractor for preparation of the proposal.
M  Evaluation Factors for Award	Includes a description of how the proposal will be evaluated by the procuring agency.