Sample Solicitation Wording:
"Implementations of Standards offered as a result of these requirements shall conform to the requirements in the specified STANDARD (i.e., voluntary consenses standards such as FIPS, IEEE, ANSI). These implementations shall implement all of the elements of the STANDARD and require [insert 'Delayed Validation', 'Prior Validation Testing' or 'Prior Validation' (choose one)] as specified elsewhere in this document [insert reference]."
[Procurement Officers should refer to Part 2 below on guidance for selection of above 'Delayed Validation', 'Prior Validation Testing' or 'Prior Validation' terminology].
Delayed Validation - When an procurement activity determines that it is acceptable for implementations of a STANDARD to be offered that have not yet been tested for conformance to that STANDARD the 'Delayed Validation' solicitation wording option shall be included as part of the Sample Solicitation Wording as identified in Part 1 above.
Prior Validation Testing - When an procurement activity determines that it is essential for implementations of a STANDARD to be previously tested for conformance to that STANDARD before being offered, and the nature of the requirement is such that an implementation of that STANDARD may be initially offered that has not been fully validated (i.e., implementation has areas of nonconformance or does not fully demonstrated compliance to the STANDARD), the 'Prior Validation Testing' solicitation wording option shall be included as a part of the Sample Solicitation Wording as identified in Part 1 above.
Prior Validation - When a procurement activity determines that it is essential for implementations of a STANDARD be validated (i.e., implementation has been tested and has demonstrated compliance to the FIPS) for conformance to that STANDARD prior to being offered the 'Prior Validation' solicitation wording option shall be included as part of the Standard Solicitation Wording as identified in Part 1 above.
For information concerning the validation of STANDARD implementations contact the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), SSD, Attn: IT STANDARD Validations, Building 820 NN, Room 517, Gaithersburg MD 20899, (301)975-3274.
Sample Solicitation Wording:
"In addition to the STANDARD implementation requirements specified elsewhere in this requirements document, all implementations of the STANDARD that are brought into the organization's inventory as a result of this document for which validation is specified, and those implementations used by vendors to develop programs or provide services shall be validated using the official Validation System specified by the ________________________________ (organization name). Validation shall be in accordance with ___________________ (organization name) validation procedures for that STANDARD. The results of validation shall be used to confirm that the implementation meets the requirements of the applicable STANDARD as specified in this document.
To be considered responsive the offeror shall:
(1) Provide validated standard implementations through 'Delayed Validation', 'Prior Validation Testing' or 'Prior Validation', as specified for each STANDARD that is specified elsewhere in this requirements document."
(Option 1) - "Delayed Validation"
"The offeror shall certify in the offer that all implementations of a STANDARD, including applicable STANDARD options, offered in response to this document will be submitted for validation upon contract award. Implementations submitted for validation shall have the validation completed at the earliest possible date permitted by the testing laboratory validation procedures. Unless specified elsewhere, proof of submission for validation shall be in the form of a letter scheduling the validation and the subsequent delivery by the offeror of a validation summary report or Certificate of Validation. Proof of testing shall be provided in the form of a registered validation summary report. Proof of fully validated implementations shall be in the form of a Certificate of Validation."
(Option 2) - "Prior Validation Testing"
"The offeror shall certify in the offer that all implementations of a STANDARD, including applicable STANDARD options, offered in response to this document have been previously tested or validated and included on the current list of validated products maintained by the ________________________(organization name). Unless specified elsewhere, proof of testing shall be provided in the form of a registered validation summary report. Proof of fully validated implementations shall be in the form of a Certificate of Validation."
(Option 3) - "Prior Validation"
"The offeror shall certify in the offer that all implementations of a STANDARD, including applicable STANDARD options, offered in response to this document have been previously validated and included on the current list of validated products maintained by ______________________ (organization name). Unless specified elsewhere, proof of validation shall be in the form of a Certificate of Validation."
(2) Agree to correct all implementation nonconformance from the applicable STANDARD reflected in the validation summary report not previously covered by a waiver. All areas of nonconformance must be corrected within 12 months from the date of contract award unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this document. If an interpretation of the STANDARD is required, such a request for interpretation shall be made within 30 calendar days after contract award. Any corrections that are required as a result of any interpretations made shall be completed within 12 months of the date of the formal notification to the contractor of the approval of the interpretation. Proof of correction in either case shall be in the form of a Certificate of Validation or registered validation summary report showing that the implementations nonconformance has been corrected. Failure to make required corrections within the time limits set forth above shall be deemed a failure to deliver required software. The liquidated damages as specified for failure to deliver the operating system or other software shall apply."