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Solicitations, proposals and contract management

Price Volume (Price Volume (Cost/Price Proposal))

Price Volume stands for Price Volume (Cost/Price Proposal). The price volume, also called the cost or price proposal, contains your pricing. It usually includes the completed CLIN pricing sheet, totals for the base and option periods, and any supporting data the solicitation requires, such as labor rates or a breakdown of materials.

The government checks that prices are fair and reasonable, and in some cases checks that they are realistic, meaning not so low that you could not actually do the work. Price is evaluated separately from the technical volume.

Why it matters to a small contractor

Your price volume must match your technical volume. If your technical plan says four workers, your labor hours should support four workers. Mismatches raise red flags. Also make sure your price covers the wage determination rates, fringe benefits, insurance, travel and supplies. XL Eagle writes complete proposals for $19.99 at xleagle.com/proposal-writing/.

Example

A janitorial price volume lists monthly prices for 12 buildings over a base year and four option years, uses the wage determination's custodian rate plus health and welfare, and adds a 3 percent escalation for each option year as the solicitation allows.

Price Volume: common questions

What is price realism?

A check some solicitations use to see whether a low price shows you misunderstood the work. A price can be rejected or rated high risk if it is unrealistically low.

Should I round prices?

Follow the format of the pricing sheet. Math errors between unit and extended prices are a common problem, so double-check every line.

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