Checking submission compliance

Checking Submission Compliance

Run the last check before the proposal is submitted. A technically excellent proposal can still be thrown out for a format technicality — an over-length volume, a missing certification, price information in the wrong file, a late upload. The government can and does reject non-conforming proposals without evaluating them. This skill verifies, methodically, that the proposal will be accepted and evaluated.

When to use this skill

Use this skill at the end of the proposal process, after the Gold Team and before submission. Run it on the final or near-final proposal package.

It is not a content review — reviewing-color-teams assesses whether the proposal is good. This skill assesses whether the proposal is conforming: will it be accepted, opened, and evaluated rather than rejected.

Inputs

Required:

• The final proposal package — every volume and file intended for submission.
• 10-compliance-matrix.md, including its format and submission register.
• The solicitation Sections L and K, and any submission instructions or portal guidance.

Preferred upstream artifacts:

• 20-color-review-*.md: to confirm color team findings were resolved.

Read ../../shared/glossary.md, ../../shared/federal-solicitation-primer.md, and ../../shared/pursuit-workspace.md if not already read this session.

Intake

Ask these as a numbered list. Most answers come from the compliance matrix's format register and Section L.

1. The package. What files make up the submission package, and which volume does each represent? Is the package final?
2. Format rules. What are the page limits per volume, and the font, point size, margin, and spacing rules? What counts toward and is excluded from page limits?
3. File rules. What file formats, file-naming conventions, and file-size limits does Section L impose? What volume-separation rules apply (for example, price kept out of the technical volume)?
4. Forms and certifications. What forms, representations, and certifications does the solicitation require (Section K, the cover form, any solicitation-specific certifications)? Is the offeror's SAM.gov registration active?
5. Submission mechanics. How, where, and by exactly when must the proposal be submitted — portal, email, or physical; the due date, time, and time zone; any required pre-registration?

Workflow

Submission Compliance Check:
- [ ] Step 1: Load the format and submission register
- [ ] Step 2: Check format compliance per volume
- [ ] Step 3: Check file format, naming, size, and volume separation
- [ ] Step 4: Check required forms, representations, and certifications
- [ ] Step 5: Check submission mechanics and the deadline
- [ ] Step 6: Confirm every mandatory requirement is satisfied
- [ ] Step 7: Write the submission checklist (21-submission-checklist.md)

Step 1: Load the register. Read the format and submission register from 10-compliance-matrix.md and the Section L/K rules. Use references/submission-compliance-checklist.md as the master checklist.

Step 2: Format per volume. For each volume, verify the page count is at or under the limit (counting only what counts), and verify font, point size, margins, spacing, and any line-per-page rule. An over-length volume is a common rejection cause; the government may simply not read the pages past the limit, or reject the volume. For PDF volumes, run scripts/pdf_page_count.py <file.pdf> to get an exact physical page count, then apply the solicitation's rule for what counts toward the limit.

Step 3: Files and separation. Verify file formats, file names (exact naming conventions matter on portals), and file sizes against the rules. Run scripts/check_file_package.py <dir> --max-mb N --pattern REGEX over the submission directory to check every file's size and name against the Section L rules. Verify volume-separation rules — most critically that price and cost information appear only where permitted and nowhere else; run scripts/scan_price_leakage.py <textfile> over the extracted text of each non-price volume and review every candidate hit.

Step 4: Forms and certifications. Verify every required form, representation, and certification is present, complete, and signed where required — the cover form, Section K reps and certs, and any solicitation-specific certifications. Confirm the offeror's SAM.gov registration is active (an inactive registration can bar award).

Step 5: Mechanics and deadline. Verify the submission method, the portal or address, any required registration, and the exact due date, time, and time zone. Late is late: FAR rules on late proposals are strict. Confirm the team's plan submits with margin, not at the deadline.

Step 6: Mandatory requirements. Walk the compliance matrix: confirm every mandatory requirement has status "Compliant". Any mandatory requirement not compliant is a go/no-go issue, not a checklist footnote.

Step 7: Write. Write 21-submission-checklist.md using templates/submission-checklist.md, with a clear go/no-go line for each item and an overall submission-readiness verdict.

Output

One artifact: 21-submission-checklist.md — the completed checklist with a pass/fail on every item and an overall verdict.

Present the user with: the overall go/no-go, every failed or at-risk item with what must be corrected, and the submission deadline and mechanics restated for certainty.

Utility scripts

Deterministic checks are more reliable than reading by eye. This skill bundles three. They report facts; the skill applies the solicitation's rules to the results.

• scripts/pdf_page_count.py <file.pdf>: exact physical page count and metadata of a PDF volume. Requires the pypdf package (pip install pypdf).
• scripts/check_file_package.py <dir> [--max-mb N] [--pattern REGEX]: checks every file in the submission directory against a size limit and a naming pattern. Standard library only.
• scripts/scan_price_leakage.py <textfile>: scans the extracted text of a non-price volume for price and cost terms. Every hit is a candidate for human review. Standard library only.

Run them where they help; fall back to manual inspection where a script does not apply (for example, font and margin checks, which the script set does not cover).

References

• references/submission-compliance-checklist.md: the master checklist of everything to verify, and the common causes of proposal rejection.
• templates/submission-checklist.md: the submission checklist artifact template.

Guardrails

• Conformance, not quality. This skill checks whether the proposal will be accepted and evaluated, not whether it is persuasive. Do not drift into content review.
• A failed item is go/no-go. An over-length volume, a missing certification, or misplaced price information is not a minor note — it is a reason the proposal could be rejected. State it as such.
• Verify, do not assume. Check the actual files against the actual rules. "It should be fine" is not a check.
• The deadline is absolute. Treat the due date and time as immovable and build in margin. Do not normalize a plan to submit at the last minute.
• Section L and K govern. Where this skill's checklist differs from the solicitation, the solicitation wins.