8.4 procurement.

RFP states

1. It is best value

2.  Five eval factors, plus price.

a Understanding the requirement

b Key personnel

c Corporate experience

d Quality control plan

e Oral presentation

3. It is two phases. In phase 1, they'll evaluate whether proposals are technically acceptable for a-d. They'll kick out the unacceptable proposals.  Then they'll invite everyone else to make an oral presentation. Then they'll do a best value analysis on a through e. Contractors may revise their proposals after the oral presentations.  Why are they even asking for price in phase 1?

 

Are they pairing oral presentations with discussions?

Hard to say.  They say the purpose of the oral presentation is "to address unanswered/unclear aspects of the submitted quote" So that sounds just like clarification. Possibly they just mean that bidders can revise their written proposals to be consonant with the clarifications, I don't know.

To answer your heading, no, this scheme is not "common."

3 hours ago, contractor100 said:

Why are they even asking for price in phase 1?

FAR 8.405-4 requires the Government to seek additional discounts for orders over the SAT. It is a common tactic for the Government to meet this requirement by requesting discounts within the solicitation. I don't know if that's the situation you're encountering based on your post (a "revised proposal" doesn't necessarily mean a revised price), but if it is, I suspect that is why the CO is doing it.

Edited March 26, 20187 yr by FrankJon
Added clarification.

Price has to be considered [ 8.405-2(d) ], so that may be why they are asking for prices for phase 1.  I am assuming this is a service given the context.

I have no idea if this is common.  Been out of the game too long . . . (steely gaze into the distance)

2 hours ago, contractor100 said:

Why are they even asking for price in phase 1?

Who knows? They are not required to, if that's what you want to know. Why not suggest it to the CO? It would save a lot of time and effort for offerors that aren't qualified.

Keep in mind, though, that such a suggestion may result in a process that is below the minimum bureaucratic threshold of the agency. When you go below that, it may cause the policy folks to say it's against policy and the legal folks to say it's illegal.

I am doing that right now, thanks for the suggestion! Why ask for something that is a. not binding and b. you are not going to evaluate.

Oh, come on!

21 hours ago, contractor100 said:

Why are they even asking for price in phase 1?

So they won't have to wait for them later. 

But contractors can change their prices!! So, what is the value of getting the price quotes now?

49 minutes ago, contractor100 said:

But contractors can change their prices! So, what is the value of getting the price quotes now?

If they change their prices, the CO can evaluate the delta. That's better than waiting for new quotes from scratch.

If you think the government is being a pain, don't quote.

Where did I say the government was being a pain?  I am trying to figure out how to respond to the government's request. As I can also change my technical offering, what does it mean to evaluate the delta.  Since the final price will be for a different service offering.

2 hours ago, contractor100 said:

I am trying to figure out how to respond to the government's request.

Sounds like a "no bid" decision is in order.