Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings.

Location:	Federal
Posted:	Mar 24, 2026
Due:	Apr 7, 2026
Agency:	U.S. Government Publishing Office
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	G - Social Services
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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Program 2529-S

Specifications by; TF

Reviewed by; TN

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

Government Publishing & Print Procurement

Page 1 of 35

GENERAL TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND SPECIFICATIONS

For the Procurement of

Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings

as requisitioned from the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) by the

Department of Veterans Affairs

Single Award

TERM OF CONTRACT: The term of this contract is for the period beginning May 1, 2026 and ending April 30,

2027, plus up to four (4) optional 12-month extension periods that may be added in accordance with the

“OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT” clause in SECTION 1 of this contract.

BID OPENING: Bids shall be opened virtually at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time (ET), on April 07, 2026 at the U.S.

Government Publishing Office. All parties interested in attending the bid opening shall email bids@gpo.gov one

(1) hour prior to the bid opening date and time to request a Microsoft Teams live stream link. This must be a

separate email from the bid submission. The link will be emailed prior to the bid opening.

BID SUBMISSION: Bidders must email bids to bids@gpo.gov for this solicitation. No other method of bid

submission will be accepted at this time. The program number and bid opening date must be specified in the

subject line of the emailed bid submission. Bids received after the bid opening date and time specified above

will not be considered for award.

BIDDERS, PLEASE NOTE: These specifications have been extensively revised; therefore, all bidders are

cautioned to familiarize themselves with all provisions of these specifications before bidding.

Abstracts of contract prices are available at: https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/contract-pricing.

ADDITIONAL EMAILED BID SUBMISSION PROVISIONS: The Government will not be responsible for

any failure attributable to the transmission or receipt of the emailed bid including, but not limited to, the

following –

1. Illegibility of bid.

2. Emails over 75 MB may not be received by GPO due to size limitations for receiving emails.

3. The bidder’s email provider may have different size limitations for sending email; however, bidders are

advised not to exceed GPO’s stated limit.

4. When the email bid is received by GPO, it will remain unopened until the specified bid opening time.

Government personnel will not validate receipt of the emailed bid prior to bid opening. GPO will use

the prevailing time (specified as the local time zone) and the exact time that the email is received by

GPO’s email server as the official time stamp for bid receipt at the specified location. For information

of a technical nature, contact Thomas Ferguson at (312) 353-5783 or email tferguson@gpo.gov

Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings

Program 2529-S

Page 2 of 35

SECTION 1. - GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

GPO CONTRACT TERMS: Any contract which results from this Invitation for Bid will be subject to the

applicable provisions, clauses, and supplemental specifications of GPO Contract Terms (GPO Publication 310.2,

effective December 1, 1987 (Rev. 1-18) and GPO Contract Terms, Quality Assurance Through Attributes

Program for Printing and Binding (GPO Publication 310.1, effective May 1979 (revised September 2019).

Contract Terms, Forms and Standards information for contractors can be found on the GPO website at

http://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/programs-for-vendors. The Contract Terms publication noted

above can be downloaded at http://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-

vendors/qatap.pdf.

DOING BUSINESS WITH GPO: Contractors wishing to do business with the GPO are referred to the GPO

web site http://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/programs-for-vendors, where one can register as a

GPO contractor using the ‘GPO Publish information’ link in accordance with the furnished instructions on this

page.

PREDOMINANT PRODUCTION FUNCTION: The predominant production function is printing and mailing.

Bidders who must subcontract this operation will be determined to be non-responsible for award. Subcontracting

is allowed for manufacturing of the envelopes only.

QUALITY ASSURANCE LEVELS AND STANDARDS: The following levels and standards shall apply to

these specifications:

Product Quality Levels:

(a) Printing Attributes – Level III.

(b) Finishing Attributes – Level III.

Inspection Levels (from ANSI/ASQC Z1.4):

(a) Non-destructive Tests – General Inspection Level I.

(b) Destructive Tests – Special Inspection Level S-2.

Specified Standards: The specified standards for the attributes requiring them shall be:

Attribute

P-7. Type Quality and Uniformity

P-10. Process Color Match

Specified Standard

Approved Priors/ Average type dimension per publication

Approved Priors/ Approved Proofs

PREAWARD SURVEY: In order to determine the responsibility of the prime contractor or any subcontractor,

the Government reserves the right to conduct an on-site preaward survey at the contractor’s/subcontractor's

facility or to require other evidence of technical, production, managerial, financial, and similar abilities to

perform, prior to the award of a contract. As part of the financial determination, the contractor in line for award

may be required to provide one or more of the following financial documents:

1) Most recent profit and loss statement

2) Most recent Balance Sheet

3) Statement of cash flows

4) Current official bank statement

5) Current lines of credit (with amounts available)

6) Letter of commitment from paper supplier(s)

7) Letter of commitment from any subcontractor

Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings

Program 2529-S

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The documents will be reviewed to validate that adequate financial resources are available to perform the contract

requirements. Documents submitted will be kept confidential and used only for the determination of responsibility

by the Government. Failure to provide the requested information in the time specified by the Government may

result in the Contracting Officer not having adequate information to reach an affirmative determination of

responsibility.

ADDITIONAL PREAWARD SURVEY REQUIREMENTS: Any contractor being considered for award of

this program must submit the following detailed plans during the preaward survey (due diligence) process, prior

to award of this contract. These proposed plans are subject to review and approval by the Government, and award

will not be made prior to approval of same.

The contractor MUST NOT provide this information with their submitted bid, but must instead provide this

information only upon request from the GPO contract administrator.

All requested materials and documentation must be provided within 2 workdays of request.

Production Plan: The contractor will be required to provide documentation to demonstrate how orders placed

against this program will be produced. Information required must include, but is not limited to, an equipment list,

breakdown of production steps and required labor, cost breakdowns, subcontractor information, sample invoice,

shippers to be utilized, etc.

a. A listing of all production equipment and equipment capacities to be utilized on this contract.

b. The production capacity currently being utilized on this equipment.

c. The capacity that is available for managing and producing the volume of work products identified within this

contract.

d. If new equipment is to be utilized, the documentation of the purchase order, source, delivery schedule and

installation dates are required.

Security Control Plan: The contractor will be required to provide documentation to demonstrate compliance with

the “Security and Privacy” section of these specifications. The contractor shall provide a security plan that

addresses all aspects of physical and logical data file handling, processing and transfer, including publication and

all associated mail handling as required. The security plan will address employee requirements for security

training, background investigations, and credit checks. The security plan will address inventory controls, network

security, visitor controls and applicable miscellaneous aspects of production. The security plan shall meet or

exceed the mandated VA security requirements and be approved by a designated VA Information Security Officer

and the Privacy Officer.

The contractor shall review the security plan at least quarterly and update it as soon as changes are indicated.

The security plan will be maintained throughout the life of the contract. After acceptance of the security plan, the

contractor shall inform the VA representative in writing, within seven (7) calendar days of changes made to the

document.

See Attachment B: In addition to the above, the contractor is also required to complete the Contractor Security

Control Assessment (Attachment B) annually and keep a copy with the Security Control Plan.

BAA: The contractor shall enter into a Business Associate Agreement (BAA), see below.

The proposed Security Control Plan must address the following:

Materials – The way that all accountable materials will be handled throughout all phases of production. This plan

shall also include the method of disposal of all production waste materials in accordance with VA directive 6371

and the NIST publication 800-88.

Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings

Program 2529-S

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Disposal of Waste Materials – The contractor is required to demonstrate how all waste materials used in the

production of sensitive VA records will be definitively destroyed (ex. burning, pulping, shredding, macerating, or

other suitable similar means). Electronic Records must be definitively destroyed in a manner that prevents

reconstruction. Definitively destroying the records means the material cannot be reassembled and used in an

appropriate manner in violation of law and regulations. Sensitive records are records that are national security

classified or exempted from disclosure by statute, including the Privacy Act or regulation.

If the contractor selects shredding as a means of disposal, it is preferred that a cross cut shredder be used. If a strip

shredder is used, the strips must not exceed one-quarter inch. The contractor must provide the location and

method planned to dispose of the material. The plan must include the names of all contract officials responsible

for the plan and describe their duties in relationship to the waste material plan.

Production Area – The contractor must provide a secure area(s) for the processing and storage of data for the

mailer items, either a separate facility dedicated to this product, or a walled-in limited access area within the

contractor’s existing facility. Access to the area(s) shall be limited to security-trained employees involved in the

production of the postcards and mailers.

Part of the Security Control Plan shall include a floor plan detailing the area(s) to be used, showing existing walls,

equipment to be used, and the printing and finishing locations.

Quality Control Plan: The contractor shall provide and maintain, within his own organization, an independent

quality assurance organization of sufficient size and expertise to monitor the operations performed, and inspect

the products of each operation to a degree and extent that will ensure the Government’s quality assurance,

inspection, and acceptance provisions are met. The contractor shall perform, or have performed, the process

controls, inspections and tests required to substantiate that the products provided under this contract conform to

the specifications and contract requirements. The contractor shall describe in detail their quality control/quality

assurance plan describing how, when, and by whom the plans will be performed.

The plan must provide for periodic samplings to be taken during the production run, a control system that will

detect defective, missing, or mutilated pieces, and the actions to be taken by the contractor when

defective/missing/mutilated pieces are discovered. These actions must be consistent with the requirements found

in GPO Contract Terms (GPO Publication 310.2, effective December 1, 1987, (Rev. 1-18)) and any updates

thereafter. A recovery system is required to replace all defective, missing, or mutilated pieces. This control system

may use a unique sequential number to aid in the recovery program which has to be maintained in order to recover

any missing or damaged pieces. These pieces must be reprinted and 100% accountability must be maintained

throughout the run. The contractor must ensure that there are no missing or duplicated pieces.

The plan must include examples and a detailed description of all quality control samples and their corresponding

inspection reports or logs the contractor will keep to document the quality control inspections performed on each

run. The plan must provide for a complete audit trail (i.e., it must be possible to locate any piece of mail at any

time from the point it leaves the press, up to and including the point at which the mail is delivered to a USPS

facility). An explanation of the contractor’s sequential numbering system is required to understand the audit trail

required for each and every piece.

Note: The Government will not, as a routine matter, request that the contractor produce individual pieces in transit

within the plant, however, the contractor must demonstrate that they have an audit trail established that has the

ability to comply with this type of request if and when the need arises.

The quality control plan must also include examples of the documentation and a detailed description of the

random samples that document all of the contractor’s activities. Furthermore, the plan must include the names of

all quality assurance officials and describe their duties in relationship to the quality control plan. The plan must

include a detailed description of the number and types of inspections that will be performed as well as the records

maintained documenting these activities.

Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings

Program 2529-S

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The quality control plan must account for the number of pieces mailed for each order, including days when no

pieces are mailed.

The Government will periodically verify that the contractor is complying with the approved quality control plan

through on-site examinations and/or requiring copies of the contractor’s quality assurance records and quality

assurance random copies.

See Attachment A: Contractor Rules of Behavior. The contractor will be bound by these requirements upon

award.

Quality Control Sample Plan: The plan must provide a description of how the contractor will create quality

control samples for periodic samplings to be taken during the production run and provide for backup and

rerunning in the event of an unsatisfactory sample. The plan shall contain control systems that will detect

defective, missing, or mutilated pieces.

The plan should include the sampling interval the contractor intends to utilize. The contractor will be required to

create a quality control sample from each file, to be drawn from the production stream. Mailers samples should be

in unsealed envelopes with contents inserted. Mailer number and file date must be indicated on each sample. The

contractor must maintain samples as indicated in the contract specifications.

The plan shall detail the actions to be taken by the contractor when defective/missing/mutilated items are

discovered. These actions must be consistent with the requirements found in GPO Contract Terms (GPO

Publication 310.2, effective December 1, 1987, (Rev. 1-18)) or any updates thereafter.

Verification of Production and Mailing Plan: Contractor will be responsible for validating the integrity of every

item produced in all phases of printing, packaging, and mailing and to ensure all mailpieces were correctly

entered into the United States Postal System.

Mailpiece Integrity shall be defined as follows: Each mailpiece shall include all components (and only those

components) intended for the designated recipient as contained in the print files received from VA.

The contractor is responsible for providing the automated print integrity control systems and processes required to

prevent the commingling of mailer items intended for different recipients into a completed package. The

contractor’s printing process must have automated systems that include coding & scanning technology capable of

–

1. Validating the count of items in a set.

2. Validating the sequence of items in a set.

3. Validating the sequence of sets in a production batch.

4. Interrupting production if variances are detected.

Mailing integrity shall be defined as follows: All records received from the VA that are designated for printing

were printed, inserted (if applicable) and entered correctly into the U.S. Postal System.

The contractor is responsible for providing the automated inserted mailpiece tracking/reporting systems and

processes required to validate that 100% of all records received from VA which are designated for printing were

printed, inserted (if applicable), and mailed correctly. The contractor’s inserting equipment must have automated

systems that include coding and scanning technology capable of –

1. Reconciling letter counts and quantity counts from VA provided files to print order control totals provided by

VA; reporting variances.

2. Uniquely identifying each Product Types within a print order.

3. Unique identifier to be scanned after insertion to ensure all products are present and accounted for.

4. Tracking and reporting all products produced and mailed within a print order at the Product Type level.

5. Identifying and reporting all missing products that were lost or spoiled during production within a print order.

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

Veterans "High Risk Flag" (HRF) Mailings.

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See also