All federal goverment agencies pay for monthly service in arrears. At the end of the "first month" when service is rendered, an invoice is submitted. Then it usually takes 2 to 4 weeks to receive payments. Thereafter, payments are received every month. In other words, subcontractors need to have sufficient funds to cover expenses for the first two months.

Yes they do. The amount differs for different contract types.

Yes. Most of the time a guided onsite orientation, called "site visit", is conducted. These site visits are conducted once only. We will not work with a subcontractor who is unable to attend the site visit simply because without attending it, it is not possible to prepare an accurate quote.

The government needs to make sure that the subcontractor is competent and therefore at least 3 references that they can confirm are required before they issue a contract.

It is a simple agreement between the subcontractor and the prime contractor which is required by the government whenever a subcontractor is used. Its purpose is (a) for the subcontractor to acknowledge that it is aware it is being included in a proposal by the Prime Contractor, and (b) it is for the prime contractor to disclose when it will forward payment to the subcontractor. In our case, it is the only contract that will be agreed to between us and a subcontractor.