The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the third draft request for proposal (RFP) on Oct. 27 for its Program Management, Administrative, Clerical, and Technical Services (PACTS) III offering. We’ve taken apart the draft RFP, attended the Industry Day held on Nov. 9, and compiled all the notes for PACTS III interested vendors. If PACTS III is something you’re pursuing, Contact Us to see how we can help with preparing your proposal and validating your self-scoring sheet.

Table of Contents 

• What is PACTS III?
• Upcoming Dates
• What is an Offeror?
• Proving Your Experience: Self-Scoring Worksheets
• Labor Categories
• Security Requirements
• Who should bid on PACTS III?
• What should you do now?

­­What is PACTS III?

PACTS III is a DHS Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) service-based contract vehicle that provides program management, administrative, clerical, technical, and engineering commercial services and solutions to accomplish its mission objectives.

There are 14 operational components and offices that are within DHS’s authority. This includes the U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and more. DHS PACTS III is a must-use contract, which means the 14 components/offices under DHS that would like to procure services under the primary NAICS codes (more on that below) must use one of the PACTS III contract holders. From Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to FY23, DHS spent $4.5B on professional services, averaging 23% of the contract spend at DHS. Winning a seat on PACTS III essentially puts your company at the front of the list for professional services at DHS.

PACTS III Solicitation Overview

The goal of the PACTS III IDIQ is to establish a flexible and responsive capability to meet customer needs by providing a base of pre-qualified contractors. The contractors can be rapidly accessed through both competitive and noncompetitive methods, as appropriate, to provide the required services in the PACTS III Statement of Work (SOW). Each task order (TO) will specifically define the services required, but you must win a seat on PACTS III to compete for the TOs. Based on the draft RFP and Industry Day held on Nov. 9, the PACTS III IDIQ is expected to consist of four small business (SB) set-asides for each of the three Functional Categories (FCs). Below is the SB strategy for the three FCs in PACTS III from the draft RFP (pages 66-67): 

Upcoming Dates

How does DHS Define an “Offeror”?

This RFP has several unique elements to it. Not only are there three functional categories with four different SB set-asides, but DHS has gone a step further to define who is an “offeror” that can compete on this contract. 

The four types of offerors, according to DHS, are:

• Prime Contractor: A single entity without subcontractors or subsidiaries
• SBTA JV: Two or more small businesses in a JV
• SBTA Prime/Subcontractor(s): One or more small business subcontractors (Note: they did not clarify if a large business could be added as a Sub; expect clarification with the final RFP and/or Q&A)
• SBTA Mentor/Protégé: A Mentor-Protégé that meets the FAR provision 52.207-6(a)(2)(i)

If you are SBTA JV or SBTA Prime/Sub, DHS has also identified work completion reporting requirements.

• SBTA JV: Per DHS, 40% of the work performed by a JV shall be completed by the party(s) with the socioeconomic type. This means the small business protégé must perform at least 40% of the work performed by the joint venture and it must be more than admin functions. During Industry Day, the Contracting Officer (KO) said the government wants “assurances” that the parties that possess this certification are truly doing the work and aren’t being used for their socioeconomic classification.
• SBTA Prime/Sub: Awardees will only pay up to 50% to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. This means if you’re the prime as a WOSB who partners with a HUBZone Sub, the HUBZone sub cannot complete more than 50% of the work under your (WOSB) set aside.

What’s Required for Submission?

1. Register and create an account with the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) System. All proposals will be submitted via PIEE. *TIP* This is a great opportunity to get familiar with PIEE if you have not previously used it.

2. Self-Scoring Worksheets. Completion of the self-scoring worksheets is key. You must submit projects that have performed “satisfactory and above” experience. More on the self-scoring worksheets below.

3. For federal projects, where an offeror was the Prime contractor, you must include all items listed in FAR 52.212-1 (often called Section L of RFPs). This includes, but is not limited to:

i .Self-scoring worksheet
ii. Project cover sheet
iii. Conformed contract (include all modifications as well)
iv. Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) Report

a. If all the data matches and there have been no updates to points of contact changes, dates of performance, and project value, then you only need to submit items 1 through 4 above.

b. If there have been updates or changes, or if there are discrepancies to your documents, then you must complete a Project Verification Form.

c. If you’re claiming credit for managing a team, these additional documents are required:

i. Project verification form and SOW/PWS
ii. Partner and/or SUB agreements

4. For non-federal and first-tier subcontract projects, you won’t have the FPDS. As such, you’ll submit the following for each project:

i. Self-scoring sheet
ii. Project cover sheet
iii. Conformed contract (and all modifications)
iv. Project Verification Form
v. Contract requirement documentation (similar to SOW) for each project

a. The following document is only to be submitted if the offeror is claiming it has managed a team of similar size:

i. Partner and/or SUB agreements

5. Offerors can submit one proposal for each FC. You are not required to submit a proposal for all three FCs. For example, if you would like to be considered for FCs 1 and 2, you will have to submit two, separate and distinct proposals, one for each FC.

Note: If you would like to be considered for more than one of the four socioeconomic tracks within a FC, the same proposal that is provided for each FC will be used and evaluated amongst the other like offerors within the respective socioeconomic tracks. This means, if you’re competing under FC1 as a SDVOSB and a WOSB you only have to submit one proposal and not two. However, if you want to compete as a SDVOSB under FC1 and a WOSB in FC2, you must do two separate proposals – one for FC1 and one for FC2 to be considered.

Proving Your Experience: Self-Scoring Worksheets

A few notes about this section. This is a scorecard evaluation response. As such it’s important to note that you must complete a Self-Scoring Worksheet for all projects submitted and a cover sheet and other documentation for each project. Remember to complete all sections of the worksheet – don’t skip a step. 

• The government will review every project on the Self-Scoring Sheet. They’ll be evaluating projects to ensure they meet the definition of recent and relevant (more on that below). Points for the project are not calculated until it has gone through the verification process.
• The government has said there are no limitations to the number of relevant and recent qualifying projects that are submitted. Additionally, they are not placing a cap on the number of points on the scorecards (be sure to check the final RFP to see if this has changed as there was a lot of push back during the Industry Day). According to the KO, this breadth of experience shows you can produce results in the future. They want to see how much experience you have, based on facts, doing work in the scope of PACTS III. The more projects submitted; the more points scored. For each project that qualifies, you will receive a set number of points identified in Table 6 (see page 80 of the draft RFP) that corresponds to each project claimed. Additionally, projects may score twice as many points if the offeror is a JV or SBTA Prime/Sub and can claim that it managed a team of equal or greater size, so read carefully.
• You should document all the projects you’d like to claim points for per the Self-Scoring Sheet Instructions in Attachment 11. You can only claim projects that meet the definitions of relevant and recent (more on that below).

Relevant and Recent

Relevance
A project can only be claimed ONCE. If you claim one project under one proposal, you cannot claim it under any other proposals. So, if you worked with a Sub on another project and you know they may try to bid on PACTS III, you’ll want to reach out to your POC to see what project they are using. If you both use the same project, it will be removed from all proposals regardless of whether it meets the requirement.

The second part of the relevance requirement from the draft RFP is that “only the contractor that performed the predominant service may claim the project” (See draft RFP 4.3.1.1.1.). We expect additional clarification in the final RFP for how this will be determined.  

Recency
You must have completed at least 6 consecutive months within two years (730 calendar days) of the solicitation issue date. This date will not change even if amendments are made. From Industry Day, the CO said this is to prove that you/your company can deliver orders that last more than six months. The KO explained, hypothetically, if they release the RFP on 17 November, you must have performed at least one business day that is after 17 November 2021. For example, if you started an 8-month project that began on March 20, 2021 and ended on Nov. 20, 2021, you could meet this requirement. However, if you started a project on March 20, 2021, and it ended Nov. 16, 2021, you would likely not meet the requirement. That is, while you performed the work for more than six months, that work did not occur within the last two years of the RFP release date. Remember, it must be recent.

Labor Categories

PACTS III has three different labor categories (LCATS) that may be used.

1. PACTS III standardized labor categories
2. Contractor proposed custom or specialized labor categories that are non-standard
3. OCO-directed, non-standard custom or specialized labor categories that are customized to the requirement.

We would encourage you to read the final RFP and any amendments released to ensure these three LCATs remain the same.

Security Requirements

Facility Clearances

The base PACTS III contracts do not have a mandatory minimum requirement for facility clearances. However, TOs may include security requirements based on the nature of the planned efforts. To receive such work, you must be capable of receiving a facility clearance and some task order RFPs may require an existing facility clearance as a precursor to being considered for TO award.

Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI)

If you are a PACTS III prime contractor, you’re authorized to be a subcontractor to another PACTS III prime contractor on TOs solicited and awarded under the Master Contract; however, the task order Contracting Officer may require you to sign an OCI statement.

Further, to mitigate the risk of an OCI, a PACTS III contractor (including affiliates, divisions, subsidiaries, or joint venture participants) may only participate as a prime offeror or subcontractor in the submission of one proposal response to a specific task order. For example, if a PACTS III prime awardee who is a JV submits a proposal for a task order solicitation, a contractor designed in the PACTS III IDIQ as a partner of the JV may not also propose to the same TO solicitation as an order-level first tier subcontractor or separate PACTS III prime Offeror.

Who Should Bid on PACTS III?

Based on what we’ve read and heard from Industry Day, we have a handful of recommendations if you plan to bid on PACTS III.

Tip 1: We recommend you read the solicitation thoroughly and determine if your company qualifies as one of the four socioeconomic categories in the correct NAICS code and can provide the core services of one or more of the Functional Categories.

Tip 2: Determine if your company has the correct Accounting System (a written statement from the Chief Financial Officer (CFS) or Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (CFAO) that the labor and material accounting system complies with the requirements applicable to labor and material in the Defense Contract Audit Agency Pre-Award Survey of Prospective Contractor Accounting System, SF 1408). Additionally, determine if your company has Facility Clearance (Secret or Top Secret Facility Clearance). You’re not required to have an adequate accounting system or facility clearance to receive an award; however, it may claim additional points for having each of them (though a limited number of points).

Tip 3: Complete the Self-Scoring Worksheet(s) to determine if your company meets the definition of relevant and recent projects and can provide the proper/appropriate documentation.

Tip 4: Review the labor categories and determine if your company can provide these labor categories with fair and reasonable prices under FAR 15.404. 

What you should do now

Step 1: Begin populating the self-scoring worksheet(s), found in Attachment 7 to assess your probability to win (pWin) and determine if you should submit a proposal for PACTS III.

Step 2: Compare your results to Table 4 on page 71 (Market Research Results) of the RFP to see where you would potentially stand among similar competitors. Table 4 depicts the range of scores from lowest to highest for each FC based on the type of Offeror. It’s worth nothing, however, that while this information is helpful, DHS does not guarantee that the points for each FC/track will result as stated in the table.

Step 3: If you have RFP questions, ask! You can contact the PACTS III Contracting Team at this email address: [email protected] no later than 5 pm on November 28, 2023.

Moving Forward

If you offer program management, administrative, clerical, or technical services, are one of the four SB set aside categories, this is a great opportunity to review. Read the draft RFP. Then look at the self-scoring worksheet (attachment 7) to see if this is something you will qualify for. If you are interested in pursuing PACTS III or would like Trident to review the effort against your product or service, contact us today. Our GWAC and IDIQ experts can walk you through the most complex elements to help you make an early bid/no-bid decision.   

Written by Jennifer Wineinger and Morgan Over

Jennifer Wineinger
Jennifer is a capture and proposal expert at Trident. Jennifer’s skills as a proposal manager and capture manager include shaping, call plans, competitor and teammate research, market research, and pipeline development. As an Army veteran and the parent of an active duty service member, she is based in the National Capitol Region where she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team. 

Morgan Over
Morgan is our marketing manager and a proposal support specialist. When she isn’t handling marketing for Trident, she is tech editing documents and building orals decks for our clients. As a military spouse based near New Bern, North Carolina, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.