3.10.1  Relevant Contracts

It is strongly suggested that you ask the offerors to send your past performance questionnaire to the points of contact for completion concerning the various efforts they have identified as this will result in your obtaining past performance information earlier.  If you elect to do this, be sure to provide clear instructions within the questionnaire directing the respondent to return (usually via fax) the completed form directly to the Contracting Officer (CO) or Performance Confidence Assessment Group (PCAG), not the offeror.  It is a good idea to include return fax cover sheets (and pre-addressed return envelopes if using mail) in the solicitation for the offeror to send along with the questionnaire.  A cover letter which briefly describes your acquisition and asks for the respondent's input, will likely result in more timely, thorough, and useful responses.  If you are sending the questionnaires, the cover letter should be from the PCAG chair or CO.  If the contractor is sending the questionnaires, you may want the cover letter to come from them, so they can provide a company point of contact in case they have provided the questionnaire to the wrong point of contact or address, or included incorrect, incomplete, or vague identifying information, such as, contract numbers, program identification, etc.  Be sure the cover letter includes a Government point of contact (the CO) for questions about your acquisition or the questionnaire.  You may want to provide the contractor with a sample transmittal letter.  Although the questionnaire is requesting information from the respondent because a specific contract/effort has been identified as potentially relevant, consider asking the respondent to include information on any other contracts with the offeror that the respondent believes are relevant to your source selection.  For all subcontractors proposed, request offerors identify which portion of the requirement they will be performing.  This will be used to determine relevancy of subcontractor citations.

Attachment 3 to this guide has a sample past performance questionnaire that should be tailored to meet the needs of your specific requirement/acquisition.