Glossary / Evaluation
Responsive and responsible
Responsiveness is about the offer: it conforms to the solicitation's material terms, is submitted on time, in the required format, with the required certifications. A late or incomplete offer is non-responsive and set aside without evaluation. Responsibility is about the company: the contracting officer must find it has adequate financial resources, the ability to meet the schedule, a satisfactory performance and integrity record, the needed systems and skills, and eligibility to receive an award (an active SAM registration among other things). A small business found non-responsible can ask SBA for a Certificate of Competency.
Why it matters to your pipeline
Most first proposals that lose do so on responsiveness: a missing form, a page over the limit, a late upload. Responsibility determinations are where a thin financial record or a lapsed registration can end a pursuit after the proposal was scored. A vCM's compliance check before submission is the defense against the first; a current SAM registration and clean records are the defense against the second.
When this term shows up in an opening GovSmith finds for you, your vCM explains what it means for that pursuit and does whatever it calls for. You decide; we do the work.
Example
A firm submits the lowest price on a sealed-bid construction job but omits the bid bond the solicitation required. The bid is non-responsive and the award goes to the next-lowest bidder.
Find out what applies to you
Some terms will matter to your business right away and some won’t for years. A vCM can tell you which are which.