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Keep up to date with the evolving world of government bidding with tips, best practices, trends, research and observations. Let BidNet's knowledge and experience work for you.

Checklist: Before Submitting Your Government Contract Proposal

Checklist: Before Submitting Your Government Contract Proposal

Seeking out and bidding on government contracts can help your business to grow, be more profitable, and create opportunities to develop long-term business relationships. In order to be successful in the contract marketplace, you must be sure to comply with all applicable regulations and laws when submitting federal, municipal or county bids in response to RFPs. If you have all your ducks in a row, then submitting your government bid proposal should be a breeze. City bids, as well as other local government bids including those for county and municipal contracts, are just as stringent in terms of regulation as federal contract opportunities. It is important to ensure that your company meets all of the compliance requirements detailed in RFPs before bidding.

Getting Started With Local Government Bids

1.Register for a Dun & Bradstreet number (D-U-N-S Number)

You will need:

  • Full legal name
  • Contact name and title
  • Name and address of your business
  • Physical address
  • Telephone number
  • Doing Business As (DBA) or the name in which your company is recognized as
  • Number of employees

Get more information on D-U-N-S Number

2. Register with System for Award Management (SAM)

This system allows federal agencies publishing RFPs to locate businesses based on capabilities, location, experience, size, and ownership. Your profile in this system acts as a resume of your company and helps agencies find your business. This process is particularly important for businesses interested in bidding on government contracts, whether for federal, county or municipal bids.

Get more information about SAM

Understanding the Rules and Regulations

According to the SBA, federal contracts require provisions when changing the scope of work, terminating contracts, making payments, and conducting inspection, testing, and accepting delivered goods and services. If you are just beginning to contract with the government you will notice there are differences between commercial contracts and government contracts, both of which can be discovered and administered efficiently by using a quality bid service.

3. Termination

The government may cancel a contract if the company fails to make delivery within the time specified in the contract; the company fails to make progress so contract performance is in danger; your company fails to perform any provisions of the contract in relation to the RFP. However, before terminating, the contracting agency must give you a chance to fix your performance or prove why your contract should not be canceled.

4. Inspection and Testing

The government contracts that your business signs allows the government to inspect and test the products or work that was performed. The government agency handling city and county bids will not accept any product or work not passing inspection or testing. The type of testing and inspection done by the government depends on the product or work done by the company.

5. Signing the Contract

Once receiving a proposed contract, make sure you read it carefully. Some of the contracts may be lengthy, but be sure to read them before signing. After reading a few government contracts you will become more familiar with the wording and reviewing the contract should get easier.

6. Consider Partnering

For some contracts you may consider partnering with another company to complete the job. Some reasons you may want to partner is because of time constraints or size of business compared to size of job. Partnering on local government bids, including municipal bids, can also help build your contracting business and reputation. If you partner with another company to complete a job, in the future they may ask you to partner again or recommend you for a contract or job.

7. Become Certified

The government allocates funds specifically for certified businesses each year. Although the process of becoming certified can be time consuming, it can prove beneficial for your business in the long run if you qualify.

Types of Certifications:

  • Minority Owned Business Enterprise (MBE)
  • Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
  • Veteran Owned Business Enterprise (VBE)
  • Women Owned Business Enterprise (WBE)

 BidNet.com