Which price book and instructions apply?
Price books can be large, with tens of thousands of line items. Find the specified reference and any accompanying pricing instructions in the solicitation. Do not assume that experience with another book answers questions about the one being requested.[1][2]
A book lists construction tasks, units of measure and unit prices. Unit prices include direct material, labor and equipment costs, but not indirect costs or profit. Review how you will locate entries and connect their descriptions and units to the work you expect to price.
Record the document passage answering each question below. When a reference is missing or unclear, use the solicitation’s clarification process. Keep an unanswered question visible instead of replacing it with a practice borrowed from another program.
- Which exact book reference is specified?
- Which pricing instructions accompany that book?
- Can your estimators identify tasks, units and inclusions in that reference?
- What information must accompany selected entries and quantities?
How many coefficients are requested?
Contractors bid their coefficient or coefficients. Solicitations may request different factors for normal and other than normal working hours. Work outside normal hours is generally expected to carry a higher coefficient, but the requested categories and definitions must come from this solicitation.[1][3]
Identify each factor and the conditions attached to it. Compare those conditions with your staffing, site access and estimating questions. Do not infer a working-hours category from a building type or assume the same factor applies to every task.
For each uncertain category, cite the wording and explain the scenario that needs clarification. Resolve the definition before relying on a bid assumption. Retain the answer with your pricing notes so proposal preparation uses the same interpretation.
- Which coefficient categories must be submitted?
- How are normal and other than normal working hours defined?
- How will proposed job hours be matched to the requested categories?
- Which conditions remain unclear enough to require a question?
What costs must the factor cover?
A coefficient covers costs outside unit prices, including general and administrative and other overhead, insurance and bonding. Those costs must be considered separately from the book’s direct material, labor and equipment amounts. The solicitation is the place to identify the requested bid treatment.[1][2]
For each selected line, pricing uses unit price multiplied by quantity and the applicable coefficient. Evaluate the requested factor alongside the book and anticipated work, not as a number detached from both. A bid factor does not remove the need for correct task selection and quantity support.
- Which cost responsibilities does the solicitation assign to the coefficient?
- Have you separated book inclusions from costs outside the unit prices?
- Which insurance or bonding questions need clarification from the documents?
How is non-prepriced work handled?
Non-prepriced items are work outside the book and generally carry a coefficient above 1.00. Find the solicitation’s instructions for pricing support, review and approval. Do not turn the general fact about the factor into an assumed required value.[3]
Check how your team will explain a task not represented by an existing entry. Keep the scope, selection question and pricing support together. If the instructions are unclear, ask about the specific treatment rather than inventing an approval rule.
- How must NPP work be identified in a proposal?
- Which pricing basis and supporting documents are requested?
- Which factor applies and what review or approval is described?
What work and job order activity should you evaluate?
JOC is used for repair, maintenance, renovation and minor construction. Locate the solicitation’s description of expected work and sites. Separate stated information from questions about workload that the document does not answer.[4][2]
Assess your capacity to attend scope meetings, measure work, prepare proposals, answer reviews and carry out several small packages when that is the anticipated setting. Do not assume a guaranteed volume, frequency or schedule. Identify those as questions to resolve from the solicitation itself.
- Which kinds of work and facility locations are described?
- What job order activity is stated, and what remains unspecified?
- Who on your team can scope, estimate, coordinate trades and answer reviews?
- What authorization is required before work begins?
- Which completion records and closeout steps are requested?
Which questions must be answered before your decision?
Create a decision record with each question, its document reference and the answer received through the stated process. Assign internal responsibility for unresolved estimating, staffing and contract questions. Do not mark the review complete because the bid form itself is filled in.
Programs vary; check your agency’s rules, solicitation and contract for applicable requirements.
Sources
- Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS), "Subpart 5117.90 - Job Order Contracts"
- Arizona State University, "Job Order Contracting Performance" (2015 report)
- Associated Schools of Construction, "Job-Order-Contracting for Facility Owners" (2006)
- Cassell and Gilday, "Improving the Army's Job Order Contracting Program" (1997)