Supplying Principles and Practices > Solicitation Provisions > Provision 1-1 Supplier Clearance Requirements (March 2006) > Provision 2-1 Warranty Information (March 2006) > Provision 4-1 Standard Solicitation Provisions (March 2006)

Provision 4-1 Standard Solicitation Provisions (March 2006)

a. Submission of Offers. Submit signed and dated offers to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the exact time specified on this solicitation. Offers may be submitted on PS Form 8203, Order/Solicitation/Offer/Award, letterhead stationary, or as otherwise specified in the solicitation. As a minimum offers must show:

(1) Solicitation number;

(2) The name, address and telephone number of the offeror;

(3) A technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may include product literature, or other documents, if necessary;

(4) Terms of any expressed warranty;

(5) Price and any discount terms;

(6) "Remit to" address, if different than mailing address;

(7) A completed copy of the representations and certifications;

(8) Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments;

(9) Past performance information, when included as an evaluation factor, to include recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar items, and other references (including contract numbers, point of contact, with telephone numbers, and other relevant information); and

(10) If the offer is not submitted on PS Form 8203, include a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms and conditions and provisions included in the solicitation. Offers that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation, may be excluded from consideration.

b. Business Disagreements. Business disagreements may be lodged with the Supplier Disagreement Resolution Official (SDR Official) if the supplier and the contracting officer have failed to resolve the disagreement as described in 39 CFR Section 601 (available for review at www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr). The SDR Official will consider the disagreement only if it is lodged in accordance with the time limits and procedures described in 39 CFR Section 601. The SDR Official's decisions are available for review at usps.com.

c. Product Samples. When required by the solicitation, product samples must be submitted at or prior to the time specified for receipt of offers. Unless otherwise specified in the solicitation, these samples must be submitted at no expense to the Postal Service and returned at the sender's request and expense, unless they are destroyed during preaward testing.

d. Multiple Offers. Offerors are encouraged to submit multiple offers presenting alternative terms and conditions or commercial items for satisfying the requirements of this solicitation. Each offer submitted will be evaluated separately.

e. Late Offers. Offers or modifications of offers received at the address specified for the receipt of offers after the exact time specified for receipt of offers will not be considered unless determined to be in the best interests of the Postal Service.

f. Type of Contract. The Postal Service plans to award a _______ contract (contracting officer insert type of contract; see the Select Contract Type topic of the Develop Sourcing Strategy task of Process Step 2: Evaluate Sources, of the Postal Service Supplying Practices) under this solicitation, and all proposals must be submitted on this basis. Alternate proposals based on other contract types will __ will not __ be considered.

g. Contract Award. The Postal Service may evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. Discussions may be conducted if the Postal Service determines they are necessary. The Postal Service may reject any or all offers if such action is in the best interest of the Postal Service; accept other than the lowest offer, and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.

h. Multiple Awards. The Postal Service may accept any item or group of items of an offer, unless the offeror qualifies the offer by specific limitations. Unless otherwise provided in the Schedule, offers may not be submitted for quantities less than those specified. The Postal Service reserves the right to make an award on any items for quantity less than the quantities offered, at the unit prices offered, unless the offeror specifies otherwise in the offer.

i. Incorporation by Reference. Wherever in this solicitation or contract a standard provision or clause is incorporated by reference, the incorporated term is identified by its title, the provision or clause number assigned to it, and its date. The text of incorporated terms may be found at http://www.usps.com/purchasing/purchasingpubs/
pubsmenu. If checked, the following provision is incorporated in this solicitation by reference: (Contracting officer will check as appropriate.)
Provision 3-1, Notice of Small, Minority, and Woman-owned Business Subcontracting Requirements (March 2006) ___.

Provision 4-2 Evaluation (March 2006)

a. General. The Postal Service will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation is deemed to offer the Postal Service the best value, price and other factors as specified considered. The following performance evaluation factors will be used in the evaluation of offers:

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

(Contracting officer insert the proposal-specific and supplier-specific performance evaluation factors and indicate their relative importance. In addition, state, in accordance with Process Step 2: Evaluate Sources of the Postal Service Suppling Practices, the relative importance of the performance evaluation factors as compared to price.)

b. Options. The Postal Service will __ will not __ evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Postal Service may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Postal Service to exercise the option(s).

c. Notice of Award. The Postal Service may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are discussions after its receipt, before an offer's specified expiration time, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, will result in a binding contract without further action by either party.

Provision 4-3 Representations and Certifications (March 2006)

a. Type of Business Organization. The offeror, by checking the applicable blocks, represents that it:

(1) Operates as:

_ a corporation incorporated under the laws of the state of

_____________________; or country of _____________________, if incorporated in a country other than the United States of America.

_ an individual;

_ a partnership;

_ a joint venture;

_ a limited liability company;

_ a nonprofit organization; or

_ an educational institution; and

(2) Is (check all that apply)

_ a small business concern;

_ a minority business (indicate minority below)

: __ Black American

__ Hispanic American

__ Native American

__ Asian American:

_ a woman-owned business; or

_ none of the above entities.

(3) Small Business Concern. A small business concern for the purposes of Postal Service purchasing means a business, including an affiliate, that is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in producing or performing the supplies or services being purchased, and has no more than 500 employees, unless a different size standard has been established by the Small Business Administration (see 13 CFR 121, particularly for different size standards for airline, railroad, and construction companies). For subcontracts of $50,000 or less, a subcontractor having no more than 500 employees qualifies as a small business without regard to other factors.

(4) Minority Business. A minority business is a concern that is at least 51 percent owned by, and whose management and daily business operations are controlled by, one or more members of a socially and economically disadvantaged minority group, namely U.S. citizens who are Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, or Asian Americans. (Native Americans are American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians. Asian Americans are U.S. citizens whose origins are Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Samoan, Laotian, Kampuchean (Cambodian), Taiwanese, in the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands or in the Indian subcontinent.)

(5) Woman-owned Business. A woman-owned business is a concern at least 51 percent of which is owned by a woman (or women) who is a U.S. citizen, controls the firm by exercising the power to make policy decisions, and operates the business by being actively involved in day-to-day management.

(6) Educational or Other Nonprofit Organization. Any corporation, foundation, trust, or other institution operated for scientific or educational purposes, not organized for profit, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the profits of any private shareholder or individual.

b. Parent Company and Taxpayer Identification Number

(1) A parent company is one that owns or controls the basic business polices of an offeror. To own means to own more than 50 percent of the voting rights in the offeror. To control means to be able to formulate, determine, or veto basic business policy decisions of the offeror. A parent company need not own the offeror to control it; it may exercise control through the use of dominant minority voting rights, proxy voting, contractual arrangements, or otherwise.

(2) Enter the offeror's U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) in the space provided. The TIN is the offeror's Social Security number or other Employee Identification Number (EIN) used on the offeror's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, U.S. Treasury Form 941, or as required by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. Offeror's TIN: ____________________________

(3) Check this block if the offeror is owned or controlled by a parent company: _____

(4) If the block above is checked, provide the following information about the parent company:
Parent Company's Name:_______________________________
Parent Company's Main Office:___________________________
Address:_____________________________________________
No. and Street:________________________________________
City:________________ State:______ ZIP Code:_____________
Parent Company's TIN:__________________________________

(5) If the offeror is a member of an affiliated group that files its federal income tax return on a consolidated basis (whether or not the offeror is owned or controlled by a parent company, as provided above) provide the name and TIN of the common parent of the affiliated group:
Name of Common Parent: ______________________________
Common Parent's TIN: _________________________________

c. Certificate of Independent Price Determination

(1) By submitting this proposal, the offeror certifies, and in the case of a joint proposal each party to it certifies as to its own organization, that in connection with this solicitation:

(a) The prices proposed have been arrived at independently, without consultation, communication, or agreement, for the purpose of restricting competition, as to any matter relating to the prices with any other offeror or with any competitor;

(b) Unless otherwise required by law, the prices proposed have not been and will not be knowingly disclosed by the offeror before award of a contract, directly or indirectly to any other offeror or to any competitor; and

(c) No attempt has been made or will be made by the offeror to induce any other person or firm to submit or not submit a proposal for the purpose of restricting competition.

(2) Each person signing this proposal certifies that:

(a) He or she is the person in the offeror's organization responsible for the decision as to the prices being offered herein and that he or she has not participated, and will not participate, in any action contrary to paragraph a above; or

(b) He or she is not the person in the offeror's organization responsible for the decision as to the prices being offered but that he or she has been authorized in writing to act as agent for the persons responsible in certifying that they have not participated, and will not participate, in any action contrary to paragraph a above, and as their agent does hereby so certify; and he or she has not participated, and will not participate, in any action contrary to paragraph a above.

(3) Modification or deletion of any provision in this certificate may result in the disregarding of the proposal as unacceptable. Any modification or deletion should be accompanied by a signed statement explaining the reasons and describing in detail any disclosure or communication.

d. Certification of Nonsegregated Facilities

(1) By submitting this proposal, the offeror certifies that it does not and will not maintain or provide for its employees any segregated facilities at any of its establishments, and that it does not and will not permit its employees to perform services at any location under its control where segregated facilities are maintained. The offeror agrees that a breach of this certification is a violation of the Equal Opportunity clause in this contract.

(2) As used in this certification, segregated facilities means any waiting rooms, work areas, rest rooms or wash rooms, restaurants or other eating areas, time clocks, locker rooms or other storage or dressing areas, parking lots, drinking fountains, recreation or entertainment area, transportation, or housing facilities provided for employees that are segregated by explicit directive or are in fact segregated on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin, because of habit, local custom, or otherwise.

(3) The offeror further agrees that (unless it has obtained identical certifications from proposed subcontractors for specific time periods) it will obtain identical certifications from proposed subcontractors before awarding subcontracts exceeding $10,000 that are not exempt from the provisions of the Equal Opportunity clause; that it will retain these certifications in its files; and that it will forward the following notice to these proposed subcontractors (except when they have submitted identical certifications for specific time periods):

Notice: A certification of nonsegregated facilities must be submitted before the award of a subcontract exceeding $10,000 that is not exempt from the Equal Opportunity clause. The certification may be submitted either for each subcontract or for all subcontracts during a period (quarterly, semiannually, or annually).

e. Certification Regarding Debarment, Proposed Debarment, and Other Matters

(This certification must be completed with respect to any offer with a value of $100,000 or more.)

(1) The offeror certifies, to the best of its knowledge and belief, that it or any of its principals:

(a) Are ___ are not ___ presently debarred or proposed for debarment, or declared ineligible for the award of contracts by any Federal, state, or local agency;

(b) Have ____ have not ___, within the three-year period preceding this offer, been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against them for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public (Federal, state, or local) contract or subcontract; violation of Federal or state antitrust statutes relating to the submission of offers; or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, tax evasion, or receiving stolen property;

(c) Are ___ are not ___ presently indicted for, or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity with, commission of any of the offenses enumerated in subparagraph (b) above;

(d) Have ___ have not ___ within a three-year period preceding this offer, been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against them for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in conjunction with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public (Federal, state or local) contract or subcontract; violation of Federal or state antitrust statutes relating to the submission of offers; or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, tax evasion or receiving stolen property; and

(e) Are ___ are not ___ presently indicted for, or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity with, commission of any of the offenses enumerated in subparagraph (d) above.

(2) The offeror has ___ has not ___, within a three-year period preceding this offer, had one or more contracts terminated for default by any Federal, state, or local agency.

(3) "Principals," for the purposes of this certification, means officers, directors, owners, partners, and other persons having primary management or supervisory responsibilities within a business entity (e.g., general manager, plant manager, head of a subsidiary, division, or business segment, and similar positions).

(4) The offeror must provide immediate written notice to the Contracting Officer if, at any time prior to contract award, the offeror learns that its certification was erroneous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed circumstances.

(5) A certification that any of the items in paragraph (a) of this provision exists will not necessarily result in withholding of an award under this solicitation. However, the certification will be considered as part of the evaluation of the offeror's capability (see the Conduct Supplier Capability Analyst Topic of the Evaluate Proposals task, a Process Step 2: Evaluate Sources, in the Postal Services Supplying Practices). The offeror's failure to furnish a certification or provide additional information requested by the contracting officer will affect the capability evaluation.

(6) Nothing contained in the foregoing may be construed to require establishment of a system of records in order to render, in good faith, the certification required by paragraph (a) of this provision. The knowledge and information of an offeror is not required to exceed that which is normally possessed by a prudent person in the ordinary course of business dealings.

(7) This certification concerns a matter within the jurisdiction of an agency of the United States and the making of a false, fictitious, or fraudulent certification may render the maker subject to prosecution under section 1001, Title 18, United States Code.

(8) The certification in paragraph (a) of this provision is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when making the award. If it is later determined that the offeror knowingly rendered an erroneous certification, in addition to other remedies available to the Postal Service, the Contracting Officer may terminate the contract resulting from this solicitation for default.

f. Incorporation by Reference. Wherever in this solicitation or contract a standard provision or clause is incorporated by reference, the incorporated term is identified by its title, its provision or clause number assigned to it, and its date. The text of incorporated terms may be found at http://www.usps.com/purchasing/purchasingpubs/pubsmenu. If checked, the following provision(s) is incorporated in this solicitation by reference: (Contracting officer will check as appropriate)

(1) Provision 1-2, Domestic Source Certificate - Supplies
(March 2006) ___

(2) Provision 1-3, Domestic Source Certificate - Construction Materials (March 2006) ___

(3) Provision 9-1, Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Program
(March 2006) ___

(4) Provision 9-2, Preaward Equal Opportunity Compliance Review (March 2006) ___

(5) Provision 9-3, Notice of Requirements for Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action (March 2006)

Provision 4-4 Demonstrability (March 2006)

a. At the sole discretion of the Postal Service and before award of the contract, the Postal Service, upon notification by the contracting officer, may request a test demonstration to validate the technical acceptability of the offeror's proposal. The intent of the Postal Service in any test demonstration is to conduct a test of any or all products proposed by the offeror no less than 40 calendar days after receipt of the offeror's proposal and within 7 working days after the contracting officer's written notification, at a mutually agreeable site approved by the Postal Service.

b. The demonstration serves the sole purpose of validating/confirming the offeror's proposal and will not result in any additional revisions to that proposal, nor be construed to be an opportunity to revise.

c. While the Postal Service intends to conduct the demonstration only with the responsible offeror selected for this purchasing, the Postal Service reserves the right to request test demonstrations from any or all offerors in the competitive range. The demonstration will be conducted on a pass/fail basis. If the demonstration does not validate the offeror's proposal on the initial observation, the offeror will be afforded a second opportunity to correct the test deficiencies. Within 10 calendar days after notification of the unsatisfactory results, the offeror must conduct the second demonstration. If the offeror elects to substitute a product in any second demonstration, this product must be offered to the Postal Service at the same price (or a lower price), and be certified as functionally equivalent. If the offeror fails the second demonstration, the offeror will be unacceptable for after completion of the demonstration whether it was satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

d. The Postal Service reserves the right to proceed with a demonstration by the next-ranked offeror if such demonstration has not already been accomplished. The same terms and conditions would apply to this offeror.

Provision 4-5 Functional Demonstration (March 2006)

a. The Postal Service may request functional demonstrations of some or all products proposed by an offeror during the technical evaluation process when Postal Service questions about specific products or families of products could be resolved more effectively through direct contact with the offeror and the proposed product.

b. The Postal Service will provide the offeror with a list of products, software, or both, that will be required for the demonstration. The purpose of this request is to obtain operational information, and the requirements may be satisfied by visiting an operational site and/or development center. Such functional demonstrations may be held at a site selected by the offeror, subject to approval of the contracting officer. The Postal Service will request that the demonstration be held not less than 5, but no more than 10 working days following the date of the request.

c. The offeror will not earn technical points as a result of the functional demonstration.

Provision 4-6 System Integrity (March 2006)

To ensure the integrity of the Postal Service's computer operating systems, third-party software vendors must provide either a statement certifying that their product, when properly installed, will not compromise or otherwise degrade the integrity of the operating system; or provide the software source code.

Provision 4-7 Postal Computing Environment (March 2006)

a. The Postal Service is committed to building core information technology (IT) structure that can be shared and has sufficient robustness to accommodate new applications and future enhancements. Therefore, all IT infrastructure components provided and applications developed as a result of solicitation must be compliant with the specifications contained in U.S. Postal Service Handbook AS-820, Postal Computing Environment, and the Infrastructure Tool Kit (ITK). Copies of Handbook AS-820 and the ITK can be obtained from the contracting officer.

b. Although the Postal Service discourages nonstandard or hybrid technical solutions, it recognizes that there may be occasions when such information technology or applications are necessary and prudent to fulfill certain business needs. Therefore, the offeror must notify the contracting officer in writing if:

(1) The business requirements cannot be met as defined within Handbook AS-820; or

(2) Handbook AS-820 and the ITK do not specify tools needed to meet the instant business requirements.

Provision 4-8 Pre-Proposal Conference (March 2006)

a. The Postal Service is planning a pre-proposal conference during which potential offerors may obtain a better understanding of the work required.

b. Offerors are strongly urged to visit the site prior to the conference to inform themselves fully about the location and conditions under which the work is to be performed.

c. Offerors are encouraged to submit all questions in writing at least 5 days before the conference. Questions will be considered at any time prior to or during the conference. Subsequent to the conference, the Postal Service will distribute to all conference participants and all other prospective offerors a record of the conference containing an abstract of the questions and answers, and a list of attendees. If warranted, an amendment will be issued to reflect changes to the solicitation.

d. Offerors are cautioned that, notwithstanding any remarks or clarifications given at the conference or in the post-conference abstract, all terms and conditions of the solicitation remain unchanged unless changed by amendment.

Provision 4-9 Preparation of Proposals (Construction) (March 2006)

a. Offerors are expected to examine the drawings, specifications, and all provisions and instructions. Failure to do so will be at the offeror's risk.

b. Each offeror must furnish the information required by the solicitation. The offeror must sign the proposal and print or type its name on the proposal and each continuation sheet on which it makes an entry. Erasures or other changes must be initialed by the person signing the proposal.

c. Time, if stated as a number of days, will include Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays.

Provision 4-10 Application Information Security Requirements
(August 2008)

The Postal Service is committed to creating and maintaining an environment that protects Postal Service information resources from accidental or intentional unauthorized use, modification, disclosure, or destruction. Handbook AS-805, Information Security, establishes Postal Service information security policies. Handbook AS-805-A, Application Information Security Assurance (ISA) Process, provides the process for identifying the sensitivity and criticality of the application system, determining information security requirements for protecting the application system, and ensuring appropriate cost-effective information security controls, mechanisms, and procedures are implemented to protect the application system. The supplier's proposal must indicate compliance with the policies delineated in Handbook AS-805, Information Security, and processes defined in Handbook AS-805-A, Application Information Security Assurance (ISA) Process.

After contract award and before beginning performance on this contract, the supplier must coordinate ISA activities with the Postal Service's Corporate Information Security Office (CISO) and complete ISA templates and provide applicable documentation and deliverables as directed by the Postal Service.