Hello everyone,

So I have heard that subcontractors either register on the Prime's website and the Prime usually chooses their subcontractor for contracts.

I also heard that as a subcontractor I need to bid and the Prime picks out the lowest technical price.

Since the above two are contradicting statements, as a subcontractor to the prime, how do I bid for a project?

I am looking forward to your advice and input.

Thank you in advance.

 

You need to do whatever the prime or prospective prime asks you to do.

Adding to what ji said, obtaining a subcontract involves the potential sub marketing itself to the prime.  Subcontracting is largely a commercial undertaking so you need to market yourself to the prime much as you would market yourself to a potential customer in the commercial marketplace.

My experience is that prime contractor practices may vary considerably depending on dollar value of the prime contract and subcontract and other factors. However, in general, I would expect a competitive environment to the maximum extent, where contracts are offered to responsible suppliers that satisfy the requirements in the solicitation with a price that offers the best value. A supplier selected based only on lowest price is not recognized as a sound practice. For some opportunities that are not widely advertised in advance, prime contractors may release the solicitation to a relatively small number of potential suppliers that appear qualified and responsible based on the existing prime contractor database of prior or current suppliers or those that have been newly qualified as responsible. In connection with that, registering in the Government SAM database is a good first step. See, https://www.sam.gov/SAM/