2-24 Review and Finalize Request for Proposals (RFP)

2-24.1 General

The preliminary request for proposals (RFP), which was developed during 2-2, Start Request for Proposal Development, outlines client requirements and contract expectations. After the purchase/SCM team has conducted activities relating to the Collect Ideas and Build Fact Base and Develop Sourcing Strategy tasks of Process Step 2: Evaluate Sources, the RFP must be revisited (including statement of objectives (SOO), statement of work (SOW), specifications, and product descriptions) to ensure that the document is clear of loopholes and addresses all the necessary requirements and conditions of the purchase. RFPs must be amended when changes to the quantity, specifications, delivery schedule, date of receipt of proposals, or clarifications or corrections to solicitation ambiguities or defects must be made. Such amendments are made by the contracting officer and are discussed in section 2-29, Issue Amendments. The contracting officer is responsible for finalizing the RFP and must review it to ensure the following:

• RFP and supporting documents are consistent with applicable statutes and regulations.
• RFP has been reviewed by the Law Department (if applicable, see 2-41, Obtain Selected Reviews and Approvals).
• RFP is free of non-value-added process steps, in accordance with the value chain analysis.
• Assumptions supporting the RFP are still valid (if not, revise assumptions and adjust the RFP accordingly).
• RFP promotes Postal Service best value.
• RFP describes how proposals will be evaluated.
• RFP is compatible with schedule or performance constraints.
• RFP incorporates appropriate risk mitigation criteria.
• RFP states the Postal Service’s expectations regarding data rights and intellectual property.
• RFP correctly and clearly describes Postal Service expectations regarding contract performance, especially in performance-based contracting.
• RFP requires suppliers to provide necessary cost or pricing data to support a determination of price reasonableness or cost realism.
• RFP requires proposals to include both free on board (f.o.b.) origin and destination prices for transportation analysis, when appropriate (additional information on f.o.b. origin and destination prices can be found in section 4-2, Shipping).
• RFP describes any applicable security considerations.
• RFP defines the type of proposal.