Posted June 13, 201312 yr comment_18346 What is the appropriate way to allocate costs for proposal preparation in this instance? The RFP for the contract I have identified certain performance specifications as tradeable. We bid this competitive proposal without bidding one of the specifications identified as such. We won and at kick-off, the customer indicated that the particular specification should not have been identified as tradeable. My company is in the process of preparing a proposal for this portion of the spec which is also included in the contract's statement of work. I am confused about how the costs to prepare this proposal should be allocated. I know that typically when you receive an RFP you are not allowed to charge the government for proposal preparation and it's charged to B&P. Would this be handled in this manner? Would we submit as an ECP? Are ECP preparation costs chargeable to the program? Is this considered an unsolicited proposal? Is this an REA? Are those costs chargeable to the program? Please advise.
June 13, 201312 yr comment_18347 Do not submit an engineering change proposal (ECP). You are not proposing a change. The government wants a change. It needs a change. The proposal most certainly would not be an unsolicited proposal. The government should describe the change that they want in writing, which will make them responsible for the description, and they should ask you for a "proposal for adjustment." If they issue a change order before asking for a proposal, you would submit a "request for equitable adjustment" (REA) instead of a proposal for adjustment. Once you have negotiated the price for the change they will prepare a supplemental agreement for you to sign. When submitting your proposal, make it clear that you prepared it in response to their request. Allocate the proposal preparation costs directly to the contract and include those costs as an item in your proposal for adjustment. Do not let them dodge the responsibility for describing the change they want, and do not let them talk you into allocating the proposal preparation costs to an indirect cost pool. You did not say what agency awarded the contract, but take a look at this guidance on allocation of proposal preparation costs issued by DOD. http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/usa002866-11-dpap.pdf
June 14, 201312 yr Author comment_18349 Thanks. I'd actually found that document as well in my research. I plan to follow your guidance on this issue.
June 14, 201312 yr comment_18352 Follow on question. If a contractor's business base was a 100% government work would it matter to the Government (not a specific agency) if proposal prep was charged direct or indirect? If so, why?
June 14, 201312 yr Author comment_18353 Also, is the action considered "in scope", since it's technically still in the Performance Spec even though we didn't bid to it? It is a DoD contract and yes, our proposal is incorporated into the contract by reference.
June 14, 201312 yr comment_18356 Follow on question. If a contractor's business base was a 100% government work would it matter to the Government (not a specific agency) if proposal prep was charged direct or indirect? If so, why? The only way it wouldn't matter is if the contractor does business with only one office in only one agency.
June 14, 201312 yr comment_18357 Also, is the action considered "in scope", since it's technically still in the Performance Spec even though we didn't bid to it? It is a DoD contract and yes, our proposal is incorporated into the contract by reference. How would we know? We'd have to know what the statement of work says now and what the government wants to add.
June 14, 201312 yr comment_18360 Thanks. I'd actually found that document as well in my research. I plan to follow your guidance on this issue. Is there "a specific requirement for submission of a proposal in [your] contract"?
June 17, 201312 yr Author comment_18387 Si, what do you mean by "tradeable"? The customer indicated that some of the specifications were not "required" but "desirable". This particular specification was not priced in our proposal.
