Red Team Consulting: CIO-SP4 Amendment 7 Impacts and Recommendations

“On Monday, July 19th at 9:00 PM EDT, NITAAC released Amendment 7 of the CIO-SP4 RFP. This amendment extends the due date for proposals to Tuesday, August 3rd at 2:00 PM and includes several changes with impacts on teaming. We’ll break down the RFP changes by how they impact each offeror type/teaming structure.

But first, a look at two proposal clarification changes that impact all bidders:

1. Award Type Identification – Per Section L.5.1 (xii), offerors must identify ‘the award type(s) as listed in L.3.2 that the offeror is proposing.’ Offerors must identify in Volume I the category(ies) in which they are bidding (e.g., OTSB, ELB, small business socioeconomic category)
2. SF 30 Amendment Acknowledgement – Per Section L.5.1(xiii) ‘Offerors must acknowledge receipt of all amendments by submitted [sic] a copy of the SF 30 for each amendment to this solicitation. Each SF 30 requires the completion of items 8 and 15.’

As we all know by now, NITAAC is defining offeror team construct in terms of FAR 9.601(1) and 9.601(2). Here’s what changed in Amendment 7 for each bidder type:

FAR 9.601(1) Small Business Offerors

• Small Business FAR 9.601(1) bidders who have formed a Joint Venture of all small businesses, a Mentor Protégé Joint Venture or a non-JV CTA composed of all small businesses (i.e., not using FAR 9.601(2) OTSB/ELB subcontractors) are not impacted by this amendment (other than the two clarifications above).

FAR 9.601(2) Small Business Teams (traditional prime/sub SB teams)

• Per M.1.1 Contractor Teaming Arrangements, ‘For a small business award the Government will only consider the members of a CTA defined under FAR 9.601(2) for evaluation purposes if the Offeror includes a proposed team of small business subcontractors as defined in provision 52.207-6(a).’ – This means that a small business prime can only have small business subcontractors; OTSB/ELB subs will not count in any way in the proposal evaluation…” Read the full article here.

Source: CIO-SP4 Amendment 7 Impacts and Recommendations – July 20, 2021. Red Team Consulting.