Federal Request for Proposal & Government RFP Process

What is a Federal Government Request for Proposal (RFP)?

A Request for Proposal (Federal Government RFP Process) is a tool used by the Federal Government to solicit proposals from interested bidders. Small businesses and large DOD contractors use the request for proposal process to plan, prepare and bid on services contracts and construction projects.  

Understanding the federal Government RFP process not only educates but also allow companies to better prepare their bids by understanding the intended audience and the rules they must follow. In addition, when companies receive an unsuccessful offer letter, they can better arm themselves with tools to potentially challenge any adverse award decisions.

Agencies go through a complex procurement planning process before a federal RFP is published for bidding. This process involves input from end-users and technical personnel, finance departments and even legal.

The federal government request for proposal process is typically regulated the Federal Acquisition Regulations and related U.S. Code or Code of Federal Regulations.  Various agencies such as GSA and VA may have local procurement regulations that govern their specific buying actions.

Agencies’  RFP process requires the agency to post its contract requirements on FBO. This is a centralized website used by almost all contracting agencies. Responding to each RFP requires a detailed review and understanding of federal contracting rules.

Federal Government RFP Process After Receipt of Bids

When the contracting agency receives a response, the federal proposal process allows it to assign a source selection team which evaluates each proposal against the Government RFP criteria ( for negotiated RFPs). After the evaluation process, the winner gets the good news.

 For contracts rated under the lowest price technically acceptable criteria, the agency simply evaluates each request for proposal response against the evaluation criteria for technical acceptability. Once acceptable, then the agency makes an award to the lowest priced bidder.

Amendments to a Federal Government Request for Proposal

 The federal government request for proposal process may have several amendments to the solicitation. Bidders must keep track of the changes and make sure that they are included in the final RFP submission. Deadlines for RFP submission are very short. In addition, the agency has the right to cancel the solicitation.

For bidders to be successful at bidding and winning government contracts, they should carefully plan their proposal writing skills around the evaluation criteria as stated in the Request for Proposal process, and also focus on addressing best value approaches that are higher than the competition.

See How We Can Help You With Joint Venture & Teaming Matters

For more information or help in the Federal Government RFP process, call our government contract consultants at 1-866-601-5518. 

SIGN UP FOR OUR PROPOSAL WRITING TRAINING CLASSES