Now we turn our attention to the matter of "disputes," which is very different from a protest. As a government contractor, you have the right to "dispute" all material disagreements or issues in controversy that relate to a contract and to file a claim.

Almost every federal contract contains a clause allowing the government to terminate a contract for the convenience of the government. In addition, most contracts in excess of $25,000 contain a clause covering terminations for default when the government believes that a contractor failed to perform in accordance with the provisions of the contract.

A termination for convenience (T for C) allows the federal government to terminate all or part of a contract for its convenience. This type of termination protects the government's interests by allowing cancellation of contracts for products that become obsolete or unneeded. The termination does not arise from any fault on the part of the contractor.

As we have already mentioned, packaging requirements are a big deal when you do business with the government. They need to be carefully considered and analyzed, not only in pricing out a bid, but also in implementing a QA program. To aid your understanding, we think it would be helpful to define the terms "packaging" and "packing" the way the government defines them.

For 95 percent of the companies doing business with the government, things run quite smoothly, contracts are successfully completed, and any issues or problems that do arise are resolved by the contracting officer to everyone's satisfaction. However, for the rare few, problems and issues arise that can't be resolved and require more formal action--all the way from contract termination to simple protests and disputes to court action.

Some years ago, there was a really nice spec, MIL-STD-45662, that thoroughly explained the how and why of what you needed to do to establish and maintain a system of all measurement and test equipment used in the contract. Now you must use Calibration Systems Requirements (ISO 10012-1, ANSI/NCSL Z540-1), which replaced the old 45662 standard.

These days, if you don't have a good, well-documented quality control program in place, you are really limiting your business. We can't emphasize its importance enough, not just in the government market, but in the commercial market as well.

A Certificate of Conformance may be used in certain instances instead of source inspection at the discretion of the contracting officer. When a Certificate of Conformance is provided for in the contract, it gives the Contract Administration Office an option to allow material to be accepted and shipped without being inspected.

Entitled "A Quality Program," these requirements are sometimes still referenced whenever the technical requirements of a contract require such things as control of work operations, in-process control, inspection, organization, work instructions, documentation control and advanced metrology. This specification is intended for use in contracts that involve complex types of military hardware and systems.

Right about now, you may be thinking to yourself, "If I am just a subcontractor, I won't have to do all this quality stuff, will I?" Guess again.

In the previous discussion, we mentioned that the U.S. government is moving closer to having ISO as the one, so to speak, standard to replace its major quality assurance standard for complex military systems and hardware, MIL-Q-9858.

Entitled "An Inspection System," this quality specification pertaining to military items sets forth the objectives and essential elements of an inspection system, and was referenced in a contract whenever an inspection system was required for the item. This system was used when technical requirements required in-process as well as final end item inspection, including control of measuring and testing equipment, drawing and changes, and documentation and records.

Before we end our discussion of ISO standards, we want to mention ISO 14001, an emerging international standard for environmental management systems (EMS). The ISO 14000 series is a voluntary set of standards intended to encourage organizations to systematically address the environmental impacts of their activities. The goal is to establish a common approach to environmental management systems that is internationally recognized, leading to improved environmental protection and reducing barriers to international trade.

ISO international standards, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) based in Geneva, Switzerland, are considered among the world's strictest and highest quality standards. The ISO, a non-governmental organization established in 1947, comprises a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from each of 100 countries. The organization aims to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services by establishing international standards and reconciling regulatory differences between countries.

When the contracting officer issues a sealed bid (IFB) or a request for proposal (RFP), the solicitation will specify the quality provisions that will be required by the government. Every solicitation or bid will include one of four basic categories of QA coverage for assuring conformance of products and services to contract requirements:

ISO 9000 is a kind of "International Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval." It's actually part of a series of standards referred to by numbers--ISO 9001, 9002, 9003 refer to standards for quality management; ISO 14000s refer to standards for environmental management, and so forth. These and other international standards are administered via the International Organization for Standardization (commonly referred to as ISO*), founded in 1947 and based in Geneva, Switzerland. (Several previous efforts at international standardization were halted due to WWII, and ISO took up where those left off.)

Every customer wants a quality product, and the government is no exception. When the government purchases products or services from your company, you will be subjected to a very definite standard of quality as specified in your contract. The level and type of quality standard that you will be required to meet will depend on the product or service being purchased. For example, an extensive quality requirement would probably not be imposed if you are producing a non-complex item, since simple measurement or testing would be able to determine whether it conforms to contract requirements.

Now, to the big question: What happens next if your company is the one that is awarded the contract? After you have congratulated yourself, what should you be doing and thinking about? Simply put, it is now up to you to fulfill the requirements of the contract, whether it's to produce a product, provide a service or build a structure.

Which factors do government buyers consider in looking at your bid and finally awarding the contract? Here are some of the most important:

Once the government buyer receives all the bids, the evaluation and award process begins. Here is an outline of what happens.

The government's responsibility in evaluating a bid is to determine, first of all, the responsiveness of an offer to the solicitation. This is more of a technical process and consists of checking all the paperwork and making sure there are no unacceptable deviations. The government must then determine whether the proposed winner is responsible and capable enough to handle the contract.

How can you decide whether to respond to the RFP that you are considering? Here are some questions to help you make a decision:

Your proposal (to a RFP or RFQ) should, at the same time, adequately address the government's requirements, be clearly written, and be persuasive. Here are some pointers:

Well done! You have completed the work, gone through the steps and submitted your first bid. Now what happens? Basically, once you are finished with your part of the process, it is time for the government buyer to take over and do its part. Once all of the bids are in, the buyer will begin evaluating all of the offers and ultimately make a final decision on which company will be awarded the contract.

Congratulations, you have arrived at the last step: submitting your bid. You can do this via the U.S. mail, UPS, RIP, or another carrier. However, it is important to keep in mind that if your bid is late, the U.S. mail is the only carrier that the government will recognize for consideration of a late bid. But before you seal up that envelope and send it in, take a few minutes to go through our final checklist to help make sure that you have done everything you need to do.