4.0 Creating a Presolicitation Notice

Please Note: When a user logs into the FedBizOpps System, the user is issued a session number. There is a thirty (30) minute time limit for each user when using the FedBizOpps system . Once thirty minutes has passed, the system will terminate the session and the user will receive a "Your session has timed out." message. When this situation occurs, the user should log into the system again to start a new session. When the session times out, any unsaved and non-posted data is lost.

The first thing that should be posted for a procurement notice is a synopsis. You will not be able to upload solicitation documents until a synopsis is posted. A synopsis can be any one of the following:

• Presolicitation Notice
• Sources Sought Notice
• Special Notice
• Foreign Government Standard
• Sale of Surplus Property
• Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

Please Note: Before you begin, please refer to the templates listed under the “Interface Description” link on the FedBizOpps home page. These templates will specify the data format for each field.

The “Combined Synopsis/Solicitation” allows the buyer to publish both a notice (synopsis) and a solicitation in a single FBO submission for commercial items, as defined by the FAR (Sub Parts 5.202 & 12.603). The combined synopsis/solicitation notice does not require a minimum 15-day delay between notice and solicitation release.

Please Note: You "CANNOT" upload files to a “Combined Synopsis/Solicitation”.

To create a notice, click on the "CREATE" button.

Figure 4.1: Creating a Presolicitation Notice

For this example, we will create a Presolicitation Notice. Select “Presolicitation Notice” and click on “Next”.

Figure 4.2: Presolicitation Notice Worksheet

4.1 Action Code

The synopsis type will be indicated at the top of the page. In this case, the action code is “P” for “Presolicitation Notice”.

4.2 Date

The “Date” field is generated by the system based on the date the notice is entered into the FedBizOpps System.

4.3 Classification Code

The first item you will need to select is a Classification Code. To select a classification code, scroll down to the appropriate classification code and highlight it. You can only select one classification code.

Please Note: Questions regarding the appropriate classification code for your notice should be directed internally to your agency. The FedBizOpps Help Desk cannot advise you on which classification code to select.

Figure 4.3: Presolicitation Notice Worksheet

4.4 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code

The next item you need to select is a three digit NAICS code. To select a three digit NAICS code, scroll down to the appropriate NAICS code and highlight it. You can only select one three digit NAICS code.

After selecting a three digit NAICS code. You must click on the button titled “Display full codes for selected part”. Clicking on this button will cause the screen to be refreshed. You will be taken back to the top of the worksheet. Scroll back down to the NAICS codes. You now have a list of six digit NAICS codes to select from. Scroll down to select the appropriate six digit NAICS code and highlight it. You can only select one six digit NAICS code.

Figure 4.4: Presolicitation Notice Worksheet

Please Note: Clicking on the button titled “Back to first three Digit codes” will remove the six digit NAICS code you selected. If you do not select another six digit NAICS code you will receive the following error message when you go to post your notice “NAICS code error: NAICS code must be sent”. If you receive this error, go back and reselect your 6 digit NAICS code.

4.5 Contracting Office Address

The system will automatically generate the data for the “Contracting Office Address” field, based on the Agency/Office/Location associated with your FedBizOpps account.

If your Agency, Office or Location information is incorrect, you will need to contact your Agency FedBizOpps Administrator for further assistance. If you do not have contact information for your Agency FedBizOpps Administrator, please contact the FedBizOpps Help Desk at 877-472-3779 or fbo.support@gsa.gov for assistance.

4.6 Title

Please enter a brief description of the services, supplies, or project in this field.

Please Note: We recommend that you only use alphanumeric characters, dashes, and commas in this field.

Figure 4.5: Presolicitation Notice Worksheet

4.7 Response Date

The “Response Date” is the deadline for the receipt of bids, proposals, responses, etc. Two digits should be entered for the month and day, while four digits should be entered for the year.

If there is no closure date, you can leave the response date field blank. If you leave the response date blank, you will need to set your archiving policy to “Automatic, On Specified Date” or “Manual”. You will not be able to use the default archiving option of “Automatic, 15 Days After Response Date”. The archiving policy is specified in Section 4.12 of this manual.

4.8 Point of Contact

A Point of Contact (POC) is listed in each notice for vendors who have specific questions regarding the notice. You can choose a Primary and/or Secondary Point of Contact for this notice, but you need to AT LEAST pick a Primary Point of Contact. The system will automatically display the names, titles, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses of any points of contact chosen.

If the appropriate names are not available in the “Primary Point of Contact” or “Secondary Point of Contact” fields, you will need to contact your Agency FedBizOpps Administrator for further assistance. If you do not have contact information for your Agency FedBizOpps Administrator, please contact the FedBizOpps Help Desk for assistance.

4.9 Solicitation/Reference Number

A Solicitation Number or Reference Number must be entered for each notice. If you do not have a Solicitation Number, please enter a unique number into the Reference field (such as a PR or contract number).

Please Note:

• The Solicitation Number must be unique. You will not be able to enter two solicitations with the same Solicitation Number.
• The Solicitation and Reference Number fields can only contain alphanumeric characters and dashes. If you input any other characters into this field, your notice may not post. An example of an acceptable solicitation number is GS-01P-02.

4.10 Description

A narrative description of the notice should be entered in this field.

We recommend that you type the text in a word processing application (e.g. MS Word, Word Perfect) and paste into FedBizOpps in order to:

• Ensure that your data is not lost if you are timed out or experience an unanticipated outage.
• Complete a character count (to ensure that your text fits within the 24,000 character maximum for the description field).
• Spell check your text, as the FedBizOpps System does not have a spell check function.

Figure 4.6: Presolicitation Notice Worksheet

4.11 Place of Contract Performance

The “Place of Contract Performance” field is not a mandatory field.

Please Note: We recommend that you only use alphanumeric characters, dashes, and commas in these fields. Please do not use apostrophes in this field.

4.12 Set Aside

The “Set Aside” field is not a mandatory field. The default is “N/A”. To select a specific set-aside type, click on the arrow on the right hand side of the drop down box. Then, scroll down and highlight the appropriate set-aside type.

4.13 Archiving Policy

When a notice is created, it remains in the “Active” database of FedBizOpps until it reaches the archive date set by the contracting officer. Once the archive date is reached, the notice is moved to the “Archive” database. This notice is still accessible on FedBizOpps, but will not show up in the active postings for an agency. There are three archiving options available:

• Automatic, 15 days After The Response Date – This is the default option. The notice will automatically archive 15 days after the response date entered by the contracting officer.

• Automatic, On Specified Date – The notice will archive on the date specified by the contracting officer. Two digits should be entered for the month and day, while four digits should be entered for the year.
• Manual Archive – The notice will not archive until the contracting officer manually archives the notice using the “Archive” button. Please see Section 10 for additional information on archiving.

Please Note: If you leave the response date blank, you will need to set your archiving policy to “Automatic, On Specified Date” or “Manual”, you will not be able to use the default archiving option of “Automatic, 15 Days After Response Date”.

4.14 Submitting the Synopsis

Once you have filled in the appropriate fields, you may choose to "Preview", "Save", or "Post" the information, or select the "Clear Form" button to erase the information on the form and start over again.

Please Note: If you exit the “Presolicitation Worksheet” without saving or posting, your data will be lost and you will need to recreate the notice.

The “Save” feature will allow you to edit and post your data at a later time. You will be able to edit and post using the “Edit” feature described in the next section of this manual. If you were to click on “Save”, you would receive the following confirmation screen:

Figure 4.7: Save Confirmation

Instead of clicking on “Save”, click on “Post”.

Please Note: We do not recommend that you click on “Preview”. You will receive a preview screen when you click on “Post”.

Figure 4.8: Pre-Post Summary

Figure 4.9: Pre-Post Summary

Use the scroll bar on the right side of the page to review the data and reach the bottom of the Pre-Post Summary screen. If you need to make any changes to the data, click on “No” under “Are you sure you want to post this notice?”. Clicking on “No” will take you back to the “Presolicitation Notice Worksheet” where you can make any necessary changes. You may choose to post at that time by clicking on “Yes” under “Are you sure you want to post this notice?”.

Click on “Yes” to post the Presolicitation Notice.

Figure 4.10: Confirmation Screen

If your notice posted successfully, you will receive a confirmation screen.

Click on “Ok” to clear the confirmation screen or “Ok – Receive Notice in 24h” to clear the confirmation screen and register to receive an email notification from the FedBizOpps System within 24 hours. This email notification will provide a link to your recently posted data on FedBizOpps.

Once you have posted the notice, we recommend that you check the status of your posting on FedBizOpps. Instructions on how to check the status of your posting can be found in Section 13 of this manual.

If you receive anything other than a confirmation screen, please check the status of your posting on FedBizOpps. If your notice is not on FedBizOpps, please contact the FedBizOpps Help Desk at 877-472-3779 or fbo.support@gsa.gov for assistance.