DHS PACTS III: Proposal Support

We offer comprehensive proposal support for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) $8 billion Program Management, Administrative, Clerical, and Technical Services (PACTS) III contract. This contract is designed to provide non-information technology (IT) support services to DHS business and program units to accomplish their mission objectives and cross-organizational missions. Our services help large and small businesses navigate the complexities of the PACTS III contract, ensuring high-quality, compliant, and competitive proposals.

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Contract Overview

PACTS III is the latest in a series of DHS-wide multiple-award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for non-IT support services. Set aside for small businesses, it comprises three functional categories (FC):

  • FC1: Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
  • FC2: Office Administrative Services
  • FC3: Engineering Services

PACTS III has a 10-year period of performance and allows for fixed price, time and materials, or labor hour task orders.

PACTS III includes four separate tracks under each FC: service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), women-owned small business (WOSB), historically underutilized business zones (HUBZone) and 8(a) businesses. Each FC has its own solicitation. DHS expects to award 96 PACTS III contracts, far more than the predecessors, PACTS II, which had 30 awards and PACTS I, which had 34 awards.

Critical Insight for PACTS III Bidders:

To secure a position on the PACTS III contract, bidders must maximize scoring by including every qualifying project and providing all required forms of substantiating documentation. Teaming or forming a joint venture or mentor-protégé arrangement can increase scoring.

Contract Details

  • Agency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
  • Status: Ongoing
  • Solicitation Dates:
    • Draft RFP: October 27, 2023
    • Final RFP: February 5, 2024
  • Period of Performance: 3-year base period plus three 2-year option periods and one 1-year option period (total 10 years) 
  • Award Date: Fall 2024
  • Competition Type: SDVOSB set-aside, WOSB set-aside, /HUBZone set-aside, 8(a) set-aside
  • NAICS: 541611, $24.5M size standard; 561110, $12.5M size standard; 541330, $25.5M size standard
  • Subcontracting Goals: No recommended subcontracting goals
  • Number of Awards: 96
  • Contract Value: $8B
  • Proposal Due Date: May 31, 2024

Functional Areas

The goals of PACTS III are to provide DHS and its components a mechanism for quick ordering of commercial services and solutions at fair and reasonable prices, to give qualified small businesses a greater opportunity to participate in these requirements, and to assist the department with continuing to achieve and exceed its small business and socioeconomic goals. PACTS III includes three functional categories:

FC1: Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services 

  • Management support for situations where the preponderance of work is program management day-to-day operations such as:
    • Financial planning (excluding investment advice) and budgeting
    • Records management
    • Office planning
    • Strategic and organizational planning
    • Physical distribution and logistics
    • Management advisory services
    • General management consultants (including administrative or management consulting services)
  • Program management support to government personnel

FC2: Office Administrative Services

  • Business operations support including letter drafting, document editing or proofreading, typing, word processing or desktop publishing, answering telephone calls and relaying messages to clients, postal and mailing services, and other office support services
  • Secretarial, administrative, or office management operations such as word processing/typing, paper shredding, transcription, stenographic
  • Contract/procurement/acquisition support
  • Court reporting for situations that support legal and court services, or policy analysis
  • Mailing/distribution, courier/messenger to assist with mailroom operations, shipping, and chain of custody procedures

FC3: Engineering Services

  • Design, development and utilization of machines, materials, instruments, structures, processes, and systems
    • Provision of advice
    • Feasibility studies
    • Preliminary and final plans and designs
    • Technical services during the construction or installation phase
    • Inspection and evaluation of engineering projects
    • Related services
  • Program management support for engineering services
  • Program evaluation/review/development, and operations 
  • Research/quantitative analysis for engineering and day-today operations involving program management, staff planning, or analysis
  • Environmental management
    • Environmental site assessments and planning
    • Environmental consulting and remediation
    • Engineering process improvement
  • Training and support for systems engineering
    • Lifecycle management
    • Configuration management
    • Quality assurance
    • Requirements analysis
    • Concept development
    • Design documentation and technical data
    • Data management and analytics
  • Mechanical engineering services
    • Robotics automation engineering design, integration, and related consulting services
    • Prototype and fabrication support/modeling and simulation
  • Technical writing of service manuals and other support materials for operational requirements

Proposal Requirements

Submitting a successful proposal for PACTS III requires meticulous attention to detail and thorough preparation. Bidders may propose for multiple small business tracks within each FC. Bidders wishing to bid on multiple FCs must submit multiple proposals.

The proposal requirements include:

  • Volume I: Executive Summary
    • Cover sheet 
    • Small business teaming arrangement (SBTA) organization chart, if applicable
    • SBTA agreement(s), if applicable
    • Mentor-protégé agreement, if applicable
    • 8(a) documentation from the SBA, if applicable
    • SDVOSB documentation, if applicable
    • WOSB documentation, if applicable
    • HUBZone documentation, if applicable
  • Volume II: Technical
    • Self-scoring workbook(s)
    • Project supporting documentation
      • Federal projects
        • Individual project cover sheet 
        • Signed copy of the conformed contract award document (SF 1449, SF 33, OF 307) to include all modifications
        • FPDS-NG report, if available
        • Teaming agreement(s), if applicable
        • CPARS report, if available
        • Project verification form and PWS/SOW, if needed to support or replace FPDS-NG report or CPARS report
      • Non-federal and first-tier subcontract projects
        • Individual project cover sheet 
        • Signed copy of the conformed contract award document or subcontract award document to include all modifications
        • Project verification form
        • PWS/SOW or equivalent contract requirement documentation
        • Teaming agreement(s), if applicable
  • Volume III: Price
    • Proposed price for the Post Award Conference (CLIN 0002)
    • Completed Contractor Labor Category Pricing (Attachment 3)
  • Volume IV: Contract Documentation 
    • Part I: schedule
    • SF 1449
    • SF30s as applicable
    • Part II: contract clauses
    • Part III: terms and conditions, contract documents, and attachments
    • Part IV: solicitation provisions/instructions/evaluation

View PACTS III solicitation documents on SAM.gov:

Evaluation Criteria

As a self-scoring IDIQ procurement, PACTS III allows for no technical or management approach, win themes, discriminators, or other typical proposal content. Objective evidence of the requisite qualifications, certifications, experience, and past performance is all that may be submitted.

Documentation Management is Key!
Maximize scores and minimize duplication of effort by establishing a detailed decision tree for each project under consideration. Record any decision not to use a project and the rationale. If bidding multiple FCs, use advanced search or data management features to identify duplicate entries to avoid losing points.

The evaluation criteria includes:

  • Factor 1: Technical
    • Experience and Past Performance (Subfactor 1.1)
      • Projects may be Federal, non-federal, or 1st tier subcontracts
      • No limitation to the number of qualifying projects a bidder can claim
      • No project can be used more than once across FCs
      • Must be recent (performance within 2 years of the solicitation date)
      • Must be relevant
      • Funds must be obligated within the specified dollar amounts
      • Points per project depend on the qualifying dollar amount:
        • $250,000.00 < $400,000.00: 28 points each
        • >$400,000.01 < $600,000.00: 18 points each
        • >$600,000.01 < $1M: 26 points each
        • >$1,000,000.01 < $1.5M: 17 points each
        • >$1,500,000.01 < $2.5M: 11 points each
        • >$2,500,000.01 < $5M: 12 points each
        • >$5,000,000.01 < $10M: 10 points each
        • >$10,000,000.01: 17 points each
    • Adequate Accounting System (Subfactor 1.2)
      • May be held by JV or Mentor Protégé partner
      • Not mandatory for award
      • Documentation required: 60 points
        • DCAA/DCMA letter or
        • Written opinion from the bidder’s CPA firm
    • Facility Clearance (Subfactor 1.3)
      • May be held by JV or mentor-protégé partner
      • Not mandatory for award
      • Documentation required
        • Top Secret: 9 points
        • Secret: 8 points
  • Factor 2: Price
    • Minimum Quantity Pricing (Subfactor 1.1)
      • Proposed price for the Post Award Conference (CLIN 0002)
    • Contractor Labor Category Pricing (Subfactor 1.2)
      • Completed Contractor Labor Category Pricing (Attachment 3)
  • Volume IV – Contract Documentation
    • Model Contract/Representations and Certifications
      • Part I – Schedule
        • SF 1449
        • SF30s as applicable
      • Part II – Contract Clauses
      • Part III – Terms and Conditions, Contract Documents and Attachments
      • Part IV – Solicitation Provisions/Instructions/Evaluation

Summit Strategy Services

We provide a full spectrum of proposal support services tailored to help both large and small businesses secure a position on the DHS PACTS III IDIQ. Our expert team is equipped to guide you through every stage of the proposal process, from draft solicitation and final solicitation review to initial planning to final submission.
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Understanding and Analysis:
We analyze the final RFP to provide a clear understanding and insights.

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Scoring Systems:
Our experts explain the scoring system and offer strategic tips to maximize your score.

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Proposal Planning:
We assist with compliance matrix creation, proposal initialization, proposal outlining, template development, and detailed planning to ensure a well-structured and compliant proposal.

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Full Proposal Development:
Our dedicated proposal managers, along with supplementary resources such as writers, graphic designers, and desktop publishers, work to develop a top-notch high-scoring proposal. We will also actively monitor for RFP amendments and Q+A releases, and adjust your strategy as needed.

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Reviewing and Auditing:
We conduct thorough reviews, including compliance, color reviews, and QC checks, to optimize your proposal and enhance its competitiveness.

Success Stories

Hear from our satisfied clients who have benefited from our expert proposal support and secured significant federal contracts.

Game-Changing Win

"Partnering with Summit Strategy was a crucial strategic decision for us. Their extensive experience in assisting companies like ours pursue large, complex opportunities was instrumental in managing our team and the phased approach for this proposal effort. Winning this contract is incredibly impactful for our small firm, serving as a launch pad to pursue similar large contract opportunities. We look forward to relying on Summit for all our future proposal efforts, big or small, as our go-to proposal management team."

- CEO,
GovCon IT Consulting Firm

Elite Team

"It has been wonderful partnering with Summit Strategy. I highly recommend this elite team to any organization looking to take your performance to the next level.”

- Chief Growth Officer,
GovCon Intelligence + Security Solutions Firm

Exceeded Expectations

“My previous experiences with companies that do this type of work led me to have very low expectations, and you blew us out of the water! Everyone assigned to the [proposal] was professional, calm, helpful, thorough, and a pleasure to work with. You provided expertise and guidance to us throughout, and we really appreciated all you and your staff did. Thank you!

- Director of Contracts,
GovCon IT Consulting Firm

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Ready to maximize your chances of securing a position on the DHS PACTS III IDIQ?

Contact us for more details and inquiries about our proposal support services.