Pub K
GAO Decision Provides Cautionary Reminder on Page Limitations in Solicitations
Many of you may recall training on proposal writing in which the instructor demonstrates what the evaluation committee member does by ripping out the pages of a proposal that exceed the page limit. PDF proposals do not lend themselves to ripping, but exceeding page limitations can be just as consequential.
- In this bid protest case, the evaluation committee did not read the entire submission beyond the 50 pages stipulated in the solicitation, rating the submission “unacceptable.”
- Contrary to the details of the solicitation, the protester did not include the Table of Contents in the total count.
- The takeaway: do not assume the Table of Contents is not included in the page count. If it’s unclear, ask.