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Module 4: Capture and Read the Package. Written explanation, fictional example, and sources.
Educational content. Follow the applicable solicitation and contract. Official sources are provided below.
12 min · Progress tracking is not available yet
After this lesson you should be able to find the instructions and evaluation language, list every named attachment, and match those names to files you uploaded into an AsherGate draft. You should know that AsherGate flags missing Attachment, Attach, and Attch references only when no uploaded file matches, and that an analysis flag is not a bid.
In the uniform contract format, Section L holds instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors. Section M holds evaluation factors for award. FAR 52.215-1 is a common instructions provision for competitive negotiated acquisitions. When that provision is in the solicitation, paragraph (b) says that if the solicitation is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged, and that offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment by the date and time specified in the amendment. It also says offerors are responsible for getting proposals to the designated Government office by the time specified in the solicitation. Do not apply 52.215-1(b) unless the provision is in the files.
Commercial packages often point to FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and may include 52.212-2 evaluation language. Whatever heading the file uses, copy the submission method, page limits, required forms, and evaluation factors from those pages. AsherGate does not send the proposal to that address.
Section J, or the commercial list of contract documents, exhibits, or attachments, names the extra files. The cover may say Attachment, Attach, Attch, Att, Exhibit, or Annex plus a number. After you upload files to a saved company draft and run analysis, AsherGate looks for those labels in the extracted text. Attachment, Attach, Attch, and Att are treated as the same family. If an uploaded file name covers that family and number, such as Attch 2 Price Sheet Amendment 0001.xlsx, the product does not mark that reference missing. If several files could match, the item stays flagged for bidder review. If no uploaded file matches, the analysis lists it under Referenced attachments missing from this upload.
A missing-attachment line is a review flag, not proof that SAM.gov omitted the file. Download the named file from the official listing if it exists. PNG and JPEG uploads are stored but not analyzed, so they will not satisfy an analysis match the way a PDF or Excel file with that name can.
If FAR 52.215-1 is in the solicitation and no time is specified, paragraph (c)(3)(i) of that provision sets the time for receipt at 4:30 p.m., local time, for the designated Government office on the due date, with additional late-proposal rules. FAR 52.212-1(f)(1) uses the same default when that commercial provision applies. Those defaults apply only if the matching provision is in the solicitation. AsherGate does not apply either default. If the uploaded files do not state a time of day or a time zone, the extract shows Not found and a review flag. Never substitute a regulatory default for missing source text in the AI result.
Using the Riveroak story below, Section J names Attachment 1 specifications, Attch 2 Price Sheet, and Exhibit A site photo. The draft at first holds only the RFQ PDF and Attachment 1. Analysis lists Attch 2 as missing and does not treat the site-photo JPEG as an analyzed match.
Upload Attch 2 Price Sheet Amendment 0001.xlsx. Choose Re-analyze documents. Confirm Attch 2 is no longer listed as missing, then open the workbook and copy quantity 36 kits from the sheet. Leave Exhibit A as a stored image. Do not submit a quote.
Fictional example
Riveroak Spill Kits LLC is a fictional spill-response supplier in Paducah, Kentucky. It finds a fictional RFQ, AG-ATT-26-0711, from a fictional Ohio River Maintenance Desk for 36 marine spill kits.
Section J names Attachment 1 Kit Specifications.pdf, Attch 2 Price Sheet, and Exhibit A Dock Photo. A teammate creates an AsherGate draft and first uploads only the RFQ PDF and Attachment 1. Analysis lists Attch 2 under Referenced attachments missing from this upload. Exhibit A is a JPEG, stored but not analyzed.
They download Attch 2 Price Sheet Amendment 0001.xlsx from SAM.gov, upload it, and choose Re-analyze documents. Attch 2 is no longer flagged missing because the file name matches that family and number. They open the workbook and copy 36 kits. They still do not treat the analysis as verified, and they do not submit a bid.
Each official source is listed with the teaching claim it supports. Product behavior is labeled separately. Review dates are when AsherGate last checked the page.
Acquisition.gov · Official source · Reviewed 2026-09-27
Supports: Section J lists attachments. Section L is instructions to offerors. Section M is evaluation factors for award.
Acquisition.gov · Official source · Reviewed 2026-09-27
Supports: When this provision is in the solicitation, paragraph (b) keeps unamended terms unchanged. If no time is specified, paragraph (c)(3)(i) uses 4:30 p.m. local time. AsherGate does not invent that default in the extract.
Acquisition.gov · Official source · Reviewed 2026-09-27
Supports: Commercial packages often incorporate 52.212-1 by reference on SF 1449 instead of a full Section L. Read that provision and any addendum for submission rules.
Acquisition.gov · Official source · Reviewed 2026-09-27
Supports: Part 12 assemblies include contract documents, exhibits or attachments, 52.212-1, and 52.212-2 evaluation language if used.
Acquisition.gov · Official source · Reviewed 2026-09-27
Supports: Amendments can change attachments and closing dates. Unchanged-terms language is in FAR 52.215-1(b) when that provision is in the solicitation, not in 15.206 itself.
AsherGate · AsherGate product · Reviewed 2026-09-27
Supports: Analysis matches Attachment, Attach, Attch, and Att plus a number to uploaded file names. A matching uploaded file is not marked missing. Ambiguous matches stay flagged for review. PNG and JPEG are stored but not analyzed. AsherGate does not submit bids.