Compliance matrix
Also called: requirements matrix, cross-reference matrix, shred, L and M matrix
A compliance matrix is a table that lists every instruction, requirement and evaluation factor in a solicitation and maps each one to the section of your proposal that answers it.
The matrix comes from reading Section L (instructions), Section M (evaluation), Section C or the statement of work, and the clauses in Section I, line by line, and giving each a row with its source paragraph. In the Uniform Contract Format described in FAR 15.204-1 those sections have fixed letters; in a state RFP the same material is scattered through the instructions to proposers, the scope of work and the terms. Proposal teams build the matrix before outlining so that the outline follows Section L and the content answers Section M.
What to check: that every shall, must and will in the solicitation has a row, that page limits and formatting rules are in it, that amendments are folded in, and that a second reader can trace each row to a proposal page before submission. Many agencies ask for the matrix in the proposal itself.
What it is not: the outline. The matrix proves nothing was missed; the outline decides what the reader sees first.
See also: Section L, Section M, Technical volume, Amendment and the Q&A period
Questions that use this term
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