It is popular and generally wise advice that if you seek to be a government prime contractor, start as a government subcontractor. It can be an excellent training ground and acclimation environment to the many differences and nuances between government and commercial contracts. It can also be a minefield of traps, surprises, poachers, and evil overlords.

The relationship between prime and subcontractors is a critical component of success in meeting project objectives. The parties should act as an integrated team, and as such, the success or failure of the project will reflect on all the team members. Recent data suggest that subcontractors typically cover 60 to 80% of the prime contract scope. If that much of the ultimate success is dependent on the subcontractors, it would seem that we should collectively focus at least that much attention on that segment of the contract team. The collective goal should be to reduce performance risk and improve the bottom line of both the prime and the subcontractor.

Read more from the web post at https://www.ncmahq.org/stay-informed/cm-magazine/article/april-2019/seven-pitfalls-in-government-subcontracting