At the time of Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III contract awards, any business concern that meets the following criteria:
Solicitations and the solicitation schedules are available at www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/solicitations
The SBIR and STTR solicitations list all the research topics under which DoD is seeking phase I proposals, and also contain detailed information on the parameters of the SBIR and STTR programs and how to submit a proposal. DoD issues three SBIR solicitations and one STTR solicitation each year.
Second, to resolve any questions you may have--
If you have a general question about the SBIR or STTR programs, please contact the Navy SBIR program office at (703) 696-0342 or try the DOD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at (866) 724-7457 (866-SBIRHLP), or send an e-mail to sbirhelp@navysbir.com. We have also prepared a set of answers to commonly-asked questions about proposal preparation, contracting with the government, and getting paid in a timely manner.
If you have a technical question about a specific research topic listed in the solicitation, you may ask it in two ways:
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Talk by telephone with the topic author, whose name and phone number is listed in the solicitation. You may only talk with a topic author during the pre-release stage of the solicitation.·
Submit a written question through the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes.
If the contract is Fixed-Price, the clause at FAR 52.232-2 will be included in the contract. This clause provides that contractors should be paid promptly as portions of work are completed. In order to provide for payment for a portion of the work, that portion of the work and price must be separately stated in the contract. If this is not done, the contractor will not be able to receive payment for portions of the work. The only other method of receiving interim payments on a fixed-price contract would be through progress payments, which can be authorized by the clause at FAR 52.232-16. Progress payment procedures are more complicated than partial payments and the contractor must have an approved accounting system if the progress payments clause is included in the contract.
a. If a fixed-price contract is incrementally funded, the clause at DFARS 252.232-7007 Limitation of Government’s Obligation will be included in the contract. This clause requires the contractor to notify the contracting officer in writing at least ninety days prior to the date when, in the contractor’s best judgment, the work will reach the point at which the total amount payable by the Government, including any cost for termination for convenience, will approximate 85 percent of the total amount then allotted to the contract. The notification will state the estimated date when that point will be reached and an estimate of additional funding needed to continue performance. This clause also provides that if such additional funds are not to be allotted, the contracting officer will terminate any items for which additional funds have not been allotted. However, the contract may be modified, by mutual agreement of the parties, to change the funding schedule and, if necessary, the period of performance.
If the contract is Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee,a Cost-Reimbursement type of contract, the clause at FAR 216-7 will be included in the contract. This clause allows for submission of vouchers approximately twice each month for actual costs incurred. The clause also allows a small business to voucher for recorded costs for items or services purchased directly for the contract, even though they have not yet paid for those items or services.
a. If a cost-reimbursement contract is incrementally funded, the clause at FAR 52.232-22 Limitation of Funds will be included in the contract. This clause requires the contractor to notify the contracting officer in writing when costs expected to be incurred within the next sixty (60) days (may be varied from 30 to 90 days) will exceed 75 percent (may be 75 to 85 percent) of the total amount allotted. This notice should state the estimated amount of the additional funds required to continue performance. This clause also provides that if additional funds are not to be allotted by the end of the period specified in the schedule or another agreed-upon date, upon the contractor’s written request, the contracting officer will terminate the contract.
NOTE: If the contract is incrementally funded (not fully funded at time of award) the contract will require the contractor to notify the contracting officer when additional funds will be required to continue performance.