Proposal Preparation Instructions in Government Contracting
In accordance with the Uniform Contract Format1, every Request for Proposal (“RFP”) includes, or should include, in Part IV Representations and Instructions, a section called Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors, also commonly referred to as the “solicitation provisions.” It is usually Section L of the RFP. Generally, this section of the RFP provides critical information to competitors who want to submit a proposal to the Government. These instructions explain the type of information the Government expects to see in the proposals it receives. This information will explain what technical, management, cost, past performance, and contractual information
that proposals which exceed one or more of these limitations will be rejected, or that any pages exceeding the limitations in page count will not be evaluated.
The RFP warns Offerors that failure to comply with these requirements may result in their offer being rejected. Generally, the buyer has the right to demand that offers be submitted in a particular format. Sellers may dislike the requirements, but astute veterans of proposals submitted to the Government in response to RFPs never ignore them.
The principal purpose of these Instructions to Offerors is to satisfy the public policy of absolute fairness to all competitors – often called “leveling the playing field.” Hence, no competitor is allowed to gain an unfair competitive advantage over the other competitors. The Government is required to rigidly follow their Instructions to Offerors regardless of the impact on, or any potential unfairness to, a competitor.
This issue was discussed by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) in its decision in the Matter of: Matthews Associates, Inc., File No. B-299305, dated March 5, 2007. Matthews had filed its protest after it learned that its proposal to furnish loudspeakers and battery boxes to the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management
