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.

The solicitation will describe the government’s approach to evaluating past performance. The approach will also state the method used to evaluate offerors with no relevant past performance history, and give information on how to identify past or current contracts efforts, comparable to the governments requirement, that could qualify as past performance. It will also explain if government, state or local, or commercial efforts are acceptable.

The solicitation will then ask offerors to provide information on problems encountered on the identified contracts and what steps the offeror took to correct those problems. Offerors can use past performance within the past three years, although one to two years is recommended. The government will consider the information provided, as well as information obtained from any other sources, when assessing the offeror’s past performance.

The government evaluation should take into account past performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to the solicitation. The government looks for relevance and “how well” a contractor performed work in past performance, not just experience.

Experience reflects whether a contractor has performed similar work before, not the quality of that work. Agency evaluations of contractor’s past performance will be provided to the contractor as soon as practicable after the completion of the evaluation. Contractors will be given a minimum of 30 days to respond to the evaluation providing rebutting statements, or additional information.

There are a variety of topics that could pose questions for contractors about using certain past performances in proposals.

Government, State & Local, and Commercial Past Performance – The solicitation will state whether an offeror can submit performance efforts for commercial, state and local government, or only federal government. If no guidance is provided, federal efforts are the most promising for evaluation of past performance. Just make sure to choose efforts that are within the scope of the Statement of Work (SOW) and relevant to the solicitation. Relevance is the key and the contractor should give rational behind why the proposed effort was chosen as past performance.

Teaming Arrangements, Mergers & Acquisitions, Subcontractors Past Performance – The contractor should give rational behind any teaming arrangement, joint venture, subcontract or merger, relative to past performance. When two or more offerors decide to team together on a proposal to evaluate past performance, each offeror must explain why the teaming arrangement or joint venture is established. Additionally, the two or more offerors must describe who will perform certain work within the scope of the SOW and always discuss the relevance of proposed performance.

In relevance to the solicitation, an offeror can establish past performance based off of a merger. In the past, the GAO has upheld decisions that state an acquiring firm can benefit from the original firm’s specialized skills and use the acquired firm’s past performance, but it should share the responsibility of the original firm’s reputation. A contractor should be mindful of the scope, key personnel used and time period of efforts performed by the previous firm. If few changes have occurred as result of the merger at the performance location, for example if management and the employees have remained the same, then the acquiring firm can use the original firm’s past performance record to help improve the performance evaluation of the acquiring firm. Contractors must discuss the rational behind proposed performance and the impact of the merger on it.

For subcontracts, it can be risky to rely primarily on the past performance of a subcontractor to improve the performance evaluation of a prime contractor. The prime contractor must take into account the likely impact of potential subcontractors past performance and reputation. Past performance of a subcontractor can contribute positively or negatively to the overall evaluation of prime contractor. As stated previously, contractors must explain relevance of past performance to the SOW and how the work will be distributed between the subcontractor and the prime.

Key Personnel – It is important to be mindful of using key personnel in the description of past performance. Understand the use of ‘key personnel’ in past performance and how it might impact a proposal. Discuss the rational behind using certain key personnel and their experiences in past performance, and how it is relevant to the SOW. Solicitations might state that replacement of key personnel must be granted by the government, or include other requirements such as requiring key personnel to work a certain period on the contract.

Evaluating Contractors with No Relevant Past Performance – The solicitation will state how the government will evaluate contractors with no past performance. If the government allows a broad interpretation of relevancy, contractor can take into account information regarding the past performance of predecessor companies, key personnel with relevant experience, or subcontractors or teaming arrangements that can perform key aspects of the work as it pertains to the solicitation. Without any prime contract history, this will allow most firms to provide past performance information and will reduce the many cases of neutral past performance ratings.

Information related to the use of past performance should be mentioned in the solicitation document; if it is not, ask the contracting officer. Thoroughly explain the rational of past performance and how it meets the scope of the solicitation. Include any information regarding subcontracts, teaming agreements, joint ventures or mergers that would impact the response to the solicitation. Contractors must thoroughly read the solicitation to completely understand what is required to successfully navigate through the past performance requirement.

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