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Example - Request For Proposal
procedures || steps
|| Acquisition Home || Who We Are || Opportunities || Marketing to BOC || Toolkits || Helpful Links || General Info || Feedback ||
The (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc.) provides (describe the services provided by your branch, division, etc., and the reasons why the services are being requested).
This Government intends to award a (Insert Type of Contract – Time and Material, Firm Fixed Price, etc.) type contract. Offeror shall propose a price that satisfies the requirements of the task. Offeror will be evaluated on how favorably their proposed price compares to the skill level and work to be performed as described herein and past relevant experience. Proposals shall also include hours for any clerical support deemed necessary.
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3. Statement of Work (SOW)
The (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) provides (describe the services provided by your branch, division, etc., and the reasons why the services are being requested).
As part of its efforts to improve the quality of provided services, the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) is conducting a comprehensive program of evaluations designed to measure how well its programs, operations, and procedures performed. Because of the large volume of information received, processed, and disseminated, it is critical that the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) has an effective management structure. One of these evaluations will focus on the management structure, its systems and processes. The purpose of this statement of work is to conduct an evaluation of the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) management structure. The Offeror shall evaluate the management structure, and provide the following services:
- Prepare Project Plan: The Offeror shall prepare a revised project plan with a detailed schedule for conducting the evaluation. The plan shall include: questions, methodology, and resource allocation. The Offeror and the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) team will discuss/review the plan for completeness and accuracy of the information presented and that the methodology is sound and appropriate and that the project plan is designed to answer its intended category of questions. Within 2 weeks after presentation, the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) will provide comments to the Offeror. Offeror shall incorporate (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services)’s comments and deliver a final project plan.
- Conduct Research: The Offeror shall review relevant documentation as well as internal census reports and studies that are relevant to the management of the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services). The Offeror shall interview a variety of (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) staff designated by the project manager using the survey instrument tailored for specific groups. Results from these interviews shall be analyzed and incorporated into the draft report by the Offeror.
- The Offeror shall make a presentation of the draft findings to the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) team, who will provide written comments within 2 weeks after the presentation. The Offeror shall incorporate comments into a final report.
- (Add this bullet if the deliverables will be used in information products released by the Census Bureau.) The Contractor shall comply with all relevant Census Bureau statistical quality standards for all activities under the SOW Specifically, (list relevant standards and provide URL to the standards here).
- Prepare, Present, and Submit Final Report. The report shall contain the results of the survey, recommendations for future management structures, and an executive summary. The Offeror shall make a presentation of the final report to the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services). The (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services) will review and provide comments (if any) within 2 weeks of receipt of the report. The Offeror shall then prepare the final report with appropriate documentation in a WordPerfect file. The Offeror shall meet the overall guidelines and requirements established by the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc. that is requesting services)’s quality assurance policy for report development, review, and writing.
- Develop status report schedule: The Offeror shall provide monthly cost and progress reports on the status of the evaluation.
- The Offeror shall provide overall program management and technical support for all activities under this SOW.
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4. DELIVERABLES AND MILESTONE SCHEDULE
Start Finish Conduct post award meeting XXXXX Receive revised work plan XXXXX Phase 1 Contractor delivers draft survey instrument XXXXX Contractor delivers final survey instrument XXXXX Contractor conducts interviews - Phase 1 XXXXX Phase 1 Interim report due XXXXX Phase 2 Contractor delivers draft survey instrument - Phase 2 XXXXX Contractor delivers final survey instrument XXXXX Contractor conducts interviews - Phase 2 XXXXX Phase 2 interim report due XXXXX
(Insert # of copies) hard copy and (Insert # of copies) soft copy of each of the above deliverables shall be delivered to the Government on the indicated dates. The deliverables will be forwarded to (Insert the name and address of the person who will receive the deliverables).
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5. Travel Requirements
The Offeror’s travel to the (Insert location of travel site) for meetings/research is authorized. Travel outside the agency requires prior approval before authorization. Travel shall be conducted in accordance with government travel regulations.
6. Relevant Experience Required
Insert the limited qualifications required for each person offered by the Offeror (Project manager, senior lead, etc.)
The Offeror and staff shall have Special Sworn status. This involves a standard security check, including finger printing, conducted by the (Insert the name of the office who will conduct the security check), clearance of personnel by the (Insert the name of the office that will conducting these procedures) Office of Security and swearing in. (Optional)
7. Performance Measures Will Include
- Meeting agreed upon schedule dates
- Submission of all deliverables as specified
- Adherence to agreed upon budget
- Ability to produce quality assurance documentation
- Preparation of comprehensive reports/presentations
The (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc.) will assess product delivery time and content through product review and Offeror’s incorporation of comments and recommendations.
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8. Government Provided Resources
The (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc.) will provide an overview of the project and provide briefings on decennial operations and management structure.
The (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc.) will provide access to facilities and personnel that are necessary to complete the requirements of this task. (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc.) will provide temporary office space and telephones for work performed on site(s).
In addition the (Insert Name of Branch, Division, Agency, etc.) will provide the following:
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9. Task Order Administration
Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative
10. Billing and Payment Instructions
Invoices will be submitted on a monthly basis to the Finance Office of the Bureau of the Census.
A copy of all monthly reports shall be provided with the invoice.
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11. Management Reports
The Offeror shall provide a monthly management report to the Contracting Officer (CO) and the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR). The report shall be due to the BOC no later than XXth business day after the end of the previous month, and shall include the following sections:
- Section I: XXXXXXXX
- Section II: XXXXXXXXXX
- Section III: XXXXXXXXXXXX
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12. Proposal Instructions
Submission of Written Proposals
MARKINGS: It is important that the offer is sealed and the outer envelope or wrapping of the offer is addressed as follows:
(TITLE OF PROPOSAL XXXXXXX)
Delivery Site for Handcarried Offer:
(TITLE OF PROPOSAL XXXXXXX)
Note: Failure to correctly mark the outer cover could be the cause of the offer being misdirected and received too late at the required destinations as shown above.
Mailed offers must be received at the above mailing address NLT the date and time specified below. Handcarried offers must be delivered to the physical address above, and delivery made by the time and date specified below. Extra time for delivery of handcarried offers should be allowed for clearance into the XXXXXXX Complex, and for packages to be scanned upon entrance into XXXXX. Whether mailed or handcarried, offers received at Room #XXXXX after the time and date provided below shall be considered late.
13. Date and Time Proposal Must be Delivered
The Offeror’s written proposal i.e. Volume I – Past Performance and Experience and Volume II – Price and Business Proposal are due at the following date and time:
DATE AND HOUR PROPOSAL MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE GOVENRMENT AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS NOT LATER THAN X P.M. EASTERN TIME, XXXXXX, 2001.
14. Acceptance of Proposals
The Government reserves the right:
- To consider as acceptable only those proposals submitted in accordance with the solicitation.
- To reject, as unacceptable, proposals deleting or altering technical requirements.
- To reject, as unacceptable, proposals that are not received by the government on the specified date and time, and at the specified address.
15. Written Proposal Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors
The written proposals shall be provided in two volumes, as follows:
Volume I – Past Performance, Experience, Capabilities (Examples only - other requirements may apply)
Volume II - Price and Other Business Factors
EACH VOLUME SHALL BE SUBMITTED UNDER SEPRATE COVERS.
16. Submission of Written Proposal
Offeror is requested to submit XXXX (X) signed and dated original and XXXX (X) copies of the proposal. Responses are limited to XXXX pages (XX) (excluding pricing information) and shall contain the following:
- Statement of capabilities, corporate experience, and expertise (Or other requirements)
- Synopsis of proposed staff’s relevant experience (including resumes and references)
- Past performance information
- Pricing information
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17. Past Performance
The Offeror shall identify a minimum of XXXXX past performance contacts where the Offeror provided similar services during the past XXXX years. These examples shall provide a point of contact, current telephone number and fax number for each reference.
Offeror shall provide a resume, with XXXXX professional references, including current telephone numbers, for each of the proposed key personnel. Each resume shall indicate previous experience, current employer, and expertise in working on a similar project.
Past performance will be provided as they are described in Factor 1 of Paragraph #26.
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18. Pricing & Other Business Factors
Offeror shall provide the price proposal in accordance with the XXXXXX schedule, in a manner that shall provide fully burdened rates for level of effort for each labor category. Costs for materials and travel will be listed separately. Descriptions of materials and travel requirements shall be provided.
The proposed cost will be submitted for the following categories and the estimated number of labor hours:
CATEGORY HOURS BURDENED HOURLY RATE TOTAL COST FOR CATEGORY XXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXX ADMINISTRATIVE/CLERICAL XXXX TOTAL XXXX
Descriptions of the above categories are:
Administrative/Clerical: Individual responsible for preparing reports, making copies, confirming interview schedules and other clerical tasks associated with the effort.
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19. Evaluation Phases and Competitive Range Determination
Phase I, Written: Proposals will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria described in this request for proposal.
Following the Government’s initial evaluation, a Competitive Range Determination will be made based on written proposals. Only those Offerors who are determined to be in the competitive range will be scheduled to present an oral presentation. At the conclusion of Phase I, Offerors considered in the competitive range will be notified and scheduled for Phase II, Oral Presentation.
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20. Phase II, Oral Presentation
Phase II, Oral Presentation: Offeror will elaborate on their technical proposals (capabilities and experience), and respond to questions. In the event there is a discrepancy between the written proposal and the oral presentation, the written proposal takes precedence. The oral presentation will not be evaluated as a separate evaluation factor or subfactor, but will influence the evaluation of all technical factors.
Offeror shall provide the Government (Insert the Number of Copies) (X) hard copies of the oral presentation prior to it being presented.
Oral presentations shall consist of (1) the Offeror elaborating on their capabilities and experience and (2) responses to questions from the Government.
Following the receipt of written proposals, the Government will determine the order in which Offerors shall provide their oral presentations. Following this selection, the Government will notify Offerors of their scheduled date and time for their oral presentation.
The oral presentation shall be sufficiently detailed, specific, and complete to enable the Government to thoroughly evaluate the presentation in accordance with the evaluation factors for award.
It is left to the discretion of the Offeror as to the number of slides to be shown. All slides used in an Offeror’s oral presentation shall be provided to the Government. The due date for submission of these slides will be provided in a letter or e-mail after establishing the competitive range. No changes will be permitted after the slides are provided to the Government.
The Government will not accept any written or other materials (e.g. marketing or corporate brochures, proposal amendments, etc) for evaluation during oral presentations or the question and answer session.
21. Oral Presentation Format
The oral presentation shall proceed as follows:
Segment Number Segment Purpose Maximum Allotted Time 1 Offeror will present an overview of capabilities and experience. 45 Minutes – The overview will consist of the Offeror’s understanding and approach to meeting the task requirements, including participating as part of an integrated development team, and meeting performance measures; how proposed personnel’s current experience relates to the requirements of this task; and how the Offeror will manage the task order. 2 Short recess to allow for discussions by Government representatives 20 Minutes – The overview will be followed by a short recess where the Government representatives will discuss the presentation and possible questions for the vendor. 3 Questions & Answers/Discussions 30 Minutes – The recess will be followed by an interview of the proposed key personnel by the evaluators. The proposed personnel shall explain how their current or past experience relates to this task.
Each segment shall begin with the presenter’s introduction by name, position, and company affiliation. Introductions will count towards the time limit. The Government will monitor the allotted time, announcing the start and end of the presentation periods. The Government will not interrupt the Offeror to ask questions (except clarification of terms or misheard words) or otherwise engage the Offer in any dialogue during segment one.
Questions and Answer Session
The Government will enter into a question and answer session with the Offeror following completion of its oral presentation on cost and technical issues. This discussion period will allow the Government to clarify and discuss information provided in the written proposals and oral presentation, address any weaknesses and deficiencies, and gain additional information concerning the proposal of the Offeror.
22. Oral Presentation Logistics
Oral presentations shall be conducted at (Insert where Presentations will be conducted) at a location and time to be determined.
23. Authorized Presenters
It is at the discretion of the Offeror as to which presentation personnel present a particular segment. The presenters shall be limited to (Insert the Number of Presenters) presenters within a segment. There will be no additional time provided for introductions and/or set-up modifications.
24. Presentation Equipment
Offeror may use their choice of presentation equipment during the oral presentation (e.g., overhead projector, slide projector, or computer-driven projection display). If requested, the Government will provide a screen and a stand for equipment.
Offeror shall be responsible for providing the presentation equipment, as well as sitting it up prior to the start of the presentations, and operating it during the presentations.
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25. Basis for Award
The evaluation will be based on best value principles. Accordingly, award will be made to the responsible and technically acceptable Offeror whose proposal provides the greatest overall value to the Government, price and other factors considered. This will be determined by comparing the value of the differences in the technical capabilities for competing offers based on their strengths, weaknesses, and risks with differences of their price to the Government. In making this comparison, the Government is more concerned with obtaining superior technical capabilities than with making an award at the lowest overall cost to the Government. However, the Government will not make an award at a significantly higher overall price to the Government to achieve slightly superior technical skills.
26. Evaluation Factors
Proposals will be evaluated in relation to the following evaluation factors:
Factor 1: Experience and Capability
Factor 2: Past Performance
Factor 3: Price and Other Business Factors
Factors 1 and 2 are considered technical factors, and Factor 2 (Past Performance) is considered the most important of the two technical factors. Factor 3 is a cost factor, and will be evaluated separately. The cost factor may become more important as the technical scores become more equal.
FACTOR 1 – EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITY
Proposals will be evaluated against the requirements of the solicitation and in accordance with the evaluation factors set forth below to determine:
- How the Offeror demonstrates the ability to understand the requirements.
- How the Offeror intends to meet the task requirements.
- How the Offeror intends to meet performance measures.
- How the current experience of the Offeror’s personnel relates to the requirements of this task.
- How the Offeror intends to manage the task order.
- How the experience of the Offeror has contributed to the success of similar tasks.
- How the capabilities of the Offeror has contributed to the success of similar tasks.
- How the infrastructure and resources of the Offeror contributed to the success of similar. Tasks.
- How the capabilities of key personnel contributed to the success of similar tasks.
General statements such as "the vast resources of our nationwide company will be used to perform the services required by the Statement of Work" are not sufficient. The Offeror shall clearly address each element of the proposal as required by this solicitation. Any proposal failing to address all of the elements of this RFP may be considered an indication of the Offeror's lack of understanding in response to the Government's requirements, and may result in the proposal being determined unacceptable.
FACTOR 2 - PAST PERFORMANCE
The Government is seeking to determine whether:
The Offeror consistently delivers quality services in a timely manner.
The quality of the Offeror’s past performance will be evaluated on the basis of information contained in the Offeror’s proposals, and the information that the Government obtains through reference checks or any other means. The past performance information may include the Offeror’s record of providing high quality services in a timely manner; complying with travel regulations, and the standards of good workmanship; adhering to contract schedules, including the administrative aspects of contract performance; overall personnel quality, availability, and stability; reasonable and cooperative behavior; commitment to and business-like concern for the interests of the customer; overall program management approach, quality, and capability; record of awards or performance recognition earned; and overall client satisfaction.
FACTOR 3 - PRICE AND OTHER BUSINESS FACTORS
Under the price factor, the price proposal will be evaluated to determine, among other things, price analysis, price reasonableness, and any risks attributable to composition of the prices proposed.
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27. Anticipated Award Date
The anticipated contract award date for this solicitation is on or about XXXXX, 2001. The anticipated effective date of the contract will be the award date of the contract. The Government is not obligated to award the contract on this date.
Issue RFP: XXXXXXXXX
Receive Written Proposals: XXXXXXXXX
Evaluate Written Proposals: XXXXXXXXX
Notify Offerors within Competitive Range: XXXXXXXXX
Conduct Oral Proposal: XXXXXXX
Final Evaluations Completed: XXXXXXXXXX
Award Contract: XXXXXXXXXX
Services Begin Under New Task Order: XXXXXXXXXX
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28. Formal Communications – Request for Clarification(s) or Questions Regarding this RFP
If you have any questions relating to this RFP, please feel free to contract (Insert Name of Contact) at (Insert Telephone Number), Fax # (Insert Fax Number, or email – (Insert Email Address).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Last Revised: October 15, 2012