When a team comes together a week before a proposal is due, the teaming agreement gets most of the attention. But the proposal itself usually needs documents from or about each teammate, and missing pieces can make an otherwise strong team look unprepared or, worse, noncompliant. Build a short list of what the solicitation requires from partners on day one, and assign someone to collect it.
Disclosing the arrangement
The FAR recognizes contractor team arrangements, including prime-subcontractor relationships and partnerships or joint ventures among firms, and says the government will respect them provided they are identified and the company relationships are fully disclosed in the offer. In practice, that means the proposal should name each teammate, describe its role and explain the relationship clearly. The prime remains fully responsible for performance, and the government keeps its rights to pursue its policies on competition and subcontracting regardless of the arrangement. Solicitations often specify the form of the disclosure, such as a table of teammates with their UEIs, size status and workshare.
Documents commonly requested from teammates
- Letters of commitment. Signed statements that the teammate will perform its described role if the team wins, sometimes with the scope or share of work stated.
- Key personnel letters. Commitments from individuals named as key personnel, including those employed by subcontractors, confirming their availability.
- Past performance materials. Write-ups, contract references and, where required, questionnaires sent to the teammate’s customers.
- Consent forms. Some solicitations ask teammates to consent to the government discussing their past performance information with the offeror, since agencies may otherwise be unable to share it with another company.
- Representations and status. Size, socioeconomic status and other representations relevant to evaluation or to limitations on subcontracting.
- Pricing. Subcontractor prices or cost data, which some solicitations allow subcontractors to submit directly to the government to protect proprietary information.
- Conflict of interest disclosures. Statements about potential organizational conflicts of interest arising from a teammate’s other work.
Keeping the documents consistent
Teammate documents are often drafted by different people at different firms, and inconsistencies are common. A commitment letter that describes a smaller role than the management volume, a resume with dates that do not match the past performance write-up, or a workshare table that differs from the price volume can all draw evaluator attention. Assign one person to compare every teammate document against the proposal before submission.
Watch the details that matter for compliance, too. On set-aside work, the roles described must be consistent with the limitations on subcontracting. And if the solicitation requires signatures from authorized officials, confirm that each signer has authority to commit the teammate.
Starting the collection early
Send teammates a checklist with deadlines that fall several days before the proposal is due, along with templates for any letters you need. Templates keep the content consistent and make it easy for busy partners to respond. Track each item until it arrives, and do not assume a document is coming because a partner promised it.
The FAR’s coverage of contractor team arrangements is in Subpart 9.6 at acquisition.gov. Have a government contracts attorney review teaming agreements and commitment letters that create obligations your firm has not taken on before.