Overview
After the technical evaluation of the proposals the government receives in response to an RFP, the Contracting Officer will establish a competitive range comprised of all of the most highly rated proposals. After the competitive range has been established, negotiations will be conducted with all offerors within the range; this is sometimes called the Final Proposal Revision phase. At this point supporting documentation, e.g. salary documents, fringe breakdowns, equipment quotes, catalog prices, patient test prices, etc. may be requested by the Government. This will be the last chance for UAB / PI to revise the proposal in response to the specific questions that are raised during the business negotiations. Then, the recipient of the contract award will be selected. The selection will be based on four factors.
Factors in the award decision
- Technical
- Cost
- Past Performance
- Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Participation
Site Visits
Site visits which are done at the Contractor’s facility (UAB) by the Federal Sponsor can be “pre-award” to analyze facility capabilities or “post award” to determine if sufficient progress is being made on a particular contract / project.
IRB and CIRB Reviews
Our coordination with the IRB and CIRB is extremely important. The execution of a contract requires approval from both the IRB and CIRB.
Governance
Federal contracts are governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations and various other statues and regulations, as well a specific terms and conditions in each contract document. This greatly varies from the governance of Federal grants which are governed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Cost and Accounting Circulars and by each individual agency’s grants policy manual/statement.
The FAR is issued and maintained jointly by DOD, NASA and the GSA. It is under Chapter 1 of Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and is divided into 53 parts. It is available on line at this website. The RFP will indicate the FAR clauses relevant to the contract. Several agencies publish supplemental clauses which apply to their purchases and contracts, such as:
Department of Health & Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR)
HHSAR also has clauses that are often incorporated into a federal contract in addition to the FAR clauses. If applicable, they will be indicated in the RFP.