Free resource · Checklist
RFP / Solicitation Compliance Checklist
The shred discipline that prevents the most common way proposals lose: not on quality — on compliance. Government evaluators are instructed to eliminate non-compliant responses before scoring begins.
Free resource from the AfricaBridge method — print it, use it, share it. It reflects how we actually run this work; the judgment calls behind each check are what our engagements add.
A · First read — map the document
- Every section of the solicitation is inventoried (instructions, scope/PWS, evaluation criteria, contract clauses, attachments) — requirements hide in all of them
- Amendments checked and downloaded — you are working from the CURRENT version, and each amendment is acknowledged as instructed
- Q&A deadline captured on the calendar — ambiguities you don’t ask about become risks you own
- Submission mechanics confirmed: portal/email/physical, file formats, size limits, and the TIME ZONE of the deadline
B · Requirements table
- Every “shall / must / will provide / is required” extracted into a numbered requirements table with its source section
- Each requirement classified: Mandatory (pass/fail) · Scored · Informational
- Format rules captured as requirements: page limits, font, margins, volume structure, naming conventions — violating these is elimination, not deduction
- Required forms, certifications, and representations listed with owner and status
C · Evaluation mapping
- Evaluation factors and their weights (or order of importance) extracted verbatim
- Your outline maps one-to-one to the evaluation factors IN THEIR ORDER — make the evaluator’s scoresheet easy to fill in your favor
- Every numbered requirement is assigned a home in the outline — a compliance matrix proves nothing is orphaned
- Past-performance requirements read closely: how many references, what recency, what relevance definition — and you can actually meet them or have a teaming plan
D · Bid / no-bid gates (before writing begins)
- You are eligible: set-asides, registrations, certifications, bonding — verified, not assumed
- An incumbent check is done — you know who holds the work today and whether this is a real competition or a formality
- You can staff and deliver at the price the buyer’s budget history suggests (check award history for the ceiling)
- The compliance matrix, not optimism, made the bid decision — unaddressed Mandatory items = no-bid or team
- A red-team review is scheduled before submission with enough time to act on what it finds
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