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Also known as: bid contracting, sealed bidding,
sealed bid procurement, invitation to bid (ITB),
bid-based procurement process,
government bid process, federal government bid,
government bid, government bidding, federal invitation to bid,
federal government bids, government contract bid,
government invitation to bid, government bidding process, federal procurement bid
proposal, government bid solicitations, federal government ITB,
federal government bidding, government contract bid.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the law that defines methods and processes for contractual acquisition to be performed by any federal entity of any asset, whether material (good, product, or construction) or immaterial (services). Although these policies and procedures differ by essence, they share their willingness to promote competition to the maximum extent as their procurement standard, so-called full and open competition (FOC).
Procurement is a two-fold perspective: it identifies, first, the method to be used by qualifying the level of competition required by both the acquisition nature and context; and, consequently, defines the process or procedures to be implemented in order to support the method chosen.
Competitive procurement, i.e. full and open competition, provides different contracting methods with different level of competition, as follows:
The 3 Competitive Contracting Methods:
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While simplified acquisitions is reserved for "small" acquisitions (less than $100,000 [FAR 2.101]), and contracting by negotiation for acquisitions which evaluation factors are not primarily related to price but the overall value, sealed bidding is aiming at merely selecting the offer with the lowest evaluated priced.
Sealed bidding (defined in FAR Part 14) is a procurement method used when the best value is expected to result from the selection of the lowest evaluated priced offer. This contracting method solicits, in a document called invitation for bids (IFB), prospective providers for submitting offers, called sealed bids.
Federal regulations give preference to sealed bidding over contracting by negotiation, that is sealed bids over competitive proposals, if:
If any one of the aforementioned conditions is lacking, contracting by negotiation is thus the procurement method selected instead of sealed bidding.
Most prospective providers consider sealed bidding as the less costly, fastest competitive procurement method because no time is wasted in discussions, except in very well-defined cases, between the requester and prospective suppliers. Therefore, sealed bidding is deemed the fairest since no opportunity is offered to a provider to appear smarter, and more efficient than others, thus introducing a bias into the requester’s mind by leveraging their special, newly created or long lasting relationship. Sealed bidding provides a clear, and definitive commitment, with no space for trade-off, particularly about non-price-related factors used to evaluate responsiveness of bids.
Only a firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract can be used when sealed bidding is selected as the contracting method. Nonetheless, a fixed-price (FP) contract with economic price adjustment may be used when the sealed-bidding process needs some flexibility, and it is feasible, and authorized (FAR 16.203).
The table below delineates the different steps that are involved in the process implementing sealed bidding, and that are detailed in the next sections.
The Sealed-Bidding Process:
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Sealed bidding relies on a solicitation document, also called invitation to bid (ITB) or invitation to tender (ITT), that should describe in a clear, accurate, and complete manner the needs, requirements, and constraints related to the good, product, construction, or service to be acquired.
Sealed bidding specifications or requirements cannot restrict, or limit unnecessarily and unduly the number of organizations submitting a bid. The invitation should include, or reference any document needed by the bidder for bidding.
By default, when sealed bidding is retained as the procurement method, the uniform contract format (UCF) outlined in the table below should be used to the maximum practicable extent for the preparation of the invitations for bids and contracts. The use of the format facilitates preparation of the solicitation and contract as well as reference to, and use of, those documents by bidders and contractors.
Sealed-Bidding
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Nevertheless, when some flexibility is necessary, feasible, and authorized (FAR 16.203), the simplified contract format (SCF) outlined below may be used in lieu of the uniform contract format.
Sealed-Bidding
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Notice that, depending on the type of contract retained, section A of the Schedule varies. Indeed, the Standard Form (SF) 33 (Solicitation, Offer, and Award) is used when a uniform contract format is needed, which is the case by default. The Standard Form (SF) 1447 (Solicitation and Contract) is used in lieu of SF 33 when a simplified contract format is instead needed.
Whatever type of contract selected, bidders fill out and sign the related form, and submit it. Then, upon acceptance of the lowest responsive bid, the soliciting organization signing the form establishes a binding contract between both parties.
The sealed-bidding process then requires invitations to be publicized by all appropriate means a sufficient time before public opening to enable prospective bidders to prepare and submit bids.
Means of publication for sealed bidding can be direct transmittal to prospective bidders, and dissemination in public places, in particular the Governmentwide point of entry (GPE). The GPE is the single point where the public can access electronically federal business opportunities greater than $25,000.
A sealed-bidding pre-bid conference may be used, generally in a complex acquisition, as a means of briefing prospective bidders and explaining complicated specifications and requirements to them as early as possible after the invitation has been issued and before the bids are opened. The conference shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure prescribed in FAR 15.201.
Bidders must submit sealed bids to be received before their opening at the place and no later than the time stated in the solicitation document, otherwise bids will be deemed late bids and thus not be considered for evaluation.
Sealed bidding specifies that all bids received before the time set for the opening of bids should be kept secure.
The bids are publicly opened at a predetermined time and place, which are specified in the sealed-bidding solicitation document.
If practical, the bid is read aloud to the persons present, and their amount publicly announced. The original of each bid is then recorded, and carefully safeguarded.
Bids are evaluated with no discussion held with the bidders. Because bid evaluation and comparison are limited to price and other price-related factors only, the decision cycle is shorter than other competitive procurement methods that have to deal with more complex, non-price-related evaluation factors.
Evaluation of bids is two-fold. First, the bid must be determined responsive, then the bidder must be deemed responsible, as detailed below.
Bid Responsiveness Determination:To be determined responsive, a bid must be:
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Bidder Responsibility Determination:To be determined responsible, a bidder must:
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In the sealed-bidding process, selected is the responsible bidder whose bid is deemed responsive, i.e. conforming to the invitation for bids, and is most advantageous considering only price and other price related factors set forth in the solicitation document.
With reasonable promptness, an award is made to the selected responsible bidder, while a notice of award is sent to unsuccessful bidders whose bid was not retained because either they were declared non-responsible, their bid was deemed non-responsive, or its price was not the lowest.
Selling to the government can bring fresh air to contract winners, particularly small and medium businesses (SMB), mastering federal contracting rules. In fact, organizations that understand and leverage federal acquisition methods and processes can grow from scratch to a profitable bottom line, whatever their size.
The solution is not trying to dodge procurement rules that would seem too heavy to would-be contractors. As Buddha said, your greatest weapon is in your enemy’s mind. Indeed, your best asset relies on knowing the rules by which your enemy, namely your future customer, is playing. Thus, by doing exactly whatever you are asked, or more exactly, expected to do, you are taking the path with the least resistance, the one toward success, that is. This situation would be even better should you pay attention to the myriads of special programs giving privileged access to the gold contracting pot to businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans.
Again, all this is written on the federal Rosetta stone, the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Get to read it and you are in business, it is as simple as that.
Sealed Bidding
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 14.
This part, Sealed Bidding, prescribes:
US General Services Administration (GSA) Forms Library
The GSA Forms Library contains forms and views required to be used by all
federal agencies, particularly:
Contracting with the Federal Government,
4th Edition
by
Margaret M. Worthington,
and Louis P. Goldsman
688 pages
ISBN:
0471242187
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