With the falloff in residential and commercial construction in many markets, some construction contractors have considered expanding their revenue horizons by investigating contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

However, locating, pursuing, and meeting the requirements of government contracts is vastly different from private sector work. Construction professionals should be aware of some of the key challenges and best practices of government contracting.

To get started, spend some time examining where contract dollars are spent in your area and which companies are winning contracts. The databases at www.usaspending.gov and www.fedspending.org contain a wealth of free information.

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The use of past performance information is one of the major indicators the government uses to examine the offeror’s ability to perform the contract successfully. The contractor must read the solicitation thoroughly to understand the criteria the government will measure against.

Past performance will most likely be mentioned in sections L and M of the solicitation document. FAR Part 15.304 states,”the currency and relevance of the information, source of the information, context of the data, and general trends in contractor’s performance shall be considered,” and will all be examined closely to see how the contractor can handles the work stated in the solicitation. Contractors should pick their past performance examples wisely to fit the scope of the solicitation as closely as possible.

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The previous decade was a tough one for all businesses, including contractors and subcontractors to the federal government. Unfortunately, successfully delivering innovative, world-class solutions for federal customers did not, and does not protect government contractors from being pilloried as under delivering for the soldiers and taxpayers we serve. Historic levels of incoherence, with regard to requirements definition and regulatory consistency, have significantly increased the cost of operating as a compliant contractor.

Today, it is essential that government contractors have access to best-in-class professional advice from experts possessed of the training and experience necessary to provide value-added and comprehensive regulatory compliance and proposal support.

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Join Cherry, Bekaert & Holland and Smith, Currie & Hancock  for a seminar on proposal strategies. This seminar will emphasize the importance of accurate and timely product or service costing and proposal pricing and the role your indirect rate structure plays in the management decision making process, the legal considerations in the proposal process, the improvement of your competitive position and in regulatory compliance.

Areas explored will include: legal risks of inaccurate and incomplete information in proposals, developing fringe benefit rates; establishing multiple overhead rates for labor, materials and subcontracts; the use of TCI vs. Value-Added G&A base; and, the techniques of competitive proposal pricing.

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