Get the Technical Data You Need to Create an Offer on a Government Contract

Government contracting requirements are based on commercial specifications and standards. Getting the appropriate type of spec for the contract under consideration is a prerequisite for setting an appropriate price for your offer.

Once you have reviewed and understand the contents of a government contracting bid package, it's time to start gathering information needed to complete the offer, including the technical data related to a particular bid.

Technical data is comprised of the specifications and standards, such as engineering design and manufacturing documents and drawings, that describe the requirements for a material, product or service. It also includes the criteria for determining whether those requirements are met.

Under federal regulations, the specs cover only the government's actual minimum needs in a manner to encourage maximum practicable competition. The government uses a spec only when it knows exactly what it wants and needs.

With the recent changes in acquisition policy, more requirements will be based on commercial specifications and standards. Therefore, if the requirement is being purchased under Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (Acquisition of Commercial Items), then the item or service is being bought against performance criteria citing commercial specs and standards. The two related issues you have to consider are what type of government spec are you dealing, and obtain the correct specs for the contract offer that you want to create. Only with that information can you establish an appropriate amount for your offer.

Types of Government Specs

Government contract specifications can be divided into two major categories: those that relate to the civilian needs of the government, and those that relate to military procurement.

Getting the Correct Specifications for a Contract

These days, finding specs and standards can be as easy as logging onto a subscription service on the Internet. Subscription services can get you the specs quickly and easily, but at a hefty price tag. On the other hand, your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) can provide you with the specs you need and, in most cases, will either charge only a small fee or provide them for free. Either way, it ensures that you get the specs required by the solicitation. (Go to www.aptec-us.org to find your local PTAC.)

Warning

If there appears to be a conflict or question about what specs are required, get it resolved immediately. Whatever you do, don't try to second-guess the government. We can cite case after case where a contractor made a wrong assumption about a spec and it ended up costing the contractor big money.

Normally when you order the solicitation from the buying office, it will send the necessary technical data package with it unless the documents are considered common and are only referenced. If the buying office doesn't send the tech information, then you will have to contact the resource identified in the solicitation. Because of the government's shift to the Internet and e-commerce environment, the solicitation may include a website where you can download the necessary documents and the appropriate readers for the drawings.

Work Smart

You may also want to think about developing your own library of the specs and standards that you use most often, either in hard copy or electronic format. When you find a good site on the Internet for specs and standards, remember to bookmark it for later visits. Government specifications are required on a large number of items. Check out what is required on the bids that interest you and start to build your library. It will be very helpful to you in the long run.

Web Resources Are Available to Get Technical Data on Government Contracts

The federal government continues to move more and more acquisition processes to the Internet and e-business environment. To secure technical data, the government has developed a new website, Federal Technical Data Solutions (FedTeDS). It is an online dissemination solution designed to safeguard sensitive acquisition-related information for use by all federal agencies and their approved business partners. This now means that there are more controls in place to keep track of who is asking for the information.

These sites should help you locate the data you will need. The Technical Data Packages (TDPs) found on these sites have the engineering design and manufacturing drawings related to the items found in FedTeDS solicitations.

Web Tools

The following tools and links can assist you in viewing solicitations and technical drawings:

Have you ever looked, for example, at those codes for MIL-STD-2073 and wondered what they were? Well, here's a Packaging Code Lookup website that might just be the best way to decipher those codes.

If you really want to get into learning about military packaging and marking standards, try the SAIC website. It covers just about everything you need to know about this spec.

FBO list of viewers. The following are viewers you can use:

When you are trying to open attachments, assuming you are authorized to view them, if you receive an "open" error or are asked to convert the attachment files, it may mean the document type is one that you do not have the software to view. You may need to install a document viewer, such as Acrobat (.pdf files) or WinZip (to decompress.zip files) on your system.

If the file type is not on this list, please contact the solicitation Primary Point of Contact for assistance. This is located at the FBO website. There is a direct link at the Winning Government Contract website under Info Link.

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