Attachment J-6 - 030ADV25R0017 QandA_03272025.pdf

Attachment J-6

Solicitation 030ADV25R0017

Question and Answers

# Question Response 1 Can we request the Government for the

Incumbent vendor’s Name & their contract number (which is currently underperformance)?

This is a new requirement. The Library will award new IDIQ contracts as a result of this solicitation. The Library is not sharing information on other contracts.

2 What is the total award value (size) of the current contract, which is presently ongoing by the Incumbent vendor?

See answer to question 1.

3 Is this activity considered a new requirement or a follow-on to an existing contract? If there is an incumbent, would you be able to share the vendor’s name, the contract number, value, award date and expiration date?

See answer to question 1.

4 Would you kindly confirm if this is an entirely new effort or is there an incumbent currently providing these services? If so, would you please provide the incumbent contract details?

See answer to questions 1.

5 [C.3.5, page 9] Does the reference in this section to the right to publicly distribute relate also to working papers, or is this statement primarily in relation to any final issued reports?

This statement is primarily in relation to any final issued reports.

6 [F.1 LC52.215-5, Page 13] While either can be supported, does the Government have a preference or expectation as to how much of this work is performed onsite at the LOC versus at the contractor's office?

Expectations for work performed onsite versus at contractor’s office will be defined in orders issued under the IDIQ contracts.

Such requirements will be based on whether performing work in-person provides a more effective audit outcome or not.

7 [H.6 LC52.204-4, Pages 18-19] If someone has an active interim secret clearance or higher granted by DoD will the Government grant reciprocity or will they still be required to be processed by the Government and go through a complete and successful adjudication of a security application (release forms, fingerprints, and a full background investigation)?

Reciprocity is an option, however, if the person’s investigation/adjudication does not meet the reciprocity standard, then the Library is authorized to collect certain forms or complete forms as needed to meet the vetting standard.

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8 [I.14 LC52.228-70, Page 36] Our insurer will not notify a third-party. Will the Government accept that the contractor will agree to notify the Government of any change that would cause noncompliance with this Agreement?

No. It is a condition of the insurance policy that the Insurance Company furnish written notice to the Library of Congress in care of the Contracting Officer, thirty (30) days in advance of any material change or cancellation of this policy as stated in the clause.

9 [L.3, Pages 56-57] Outside of the file size limitation, is there a page limit to the Technical proposal? If yes, are tables of contents, cover letters, and legal disclosures included within the response volumes from page count limitations?

Technical proposals must not exceed 75 pages. See revision to Section L in Amendment 0001 to the solicitation.

10 Will the Government permit 1 submission of the offerors Quality Assurance to cover both the IDIQ and Sample Order?

As stated in Section L, Offerors shall provide a response for the requirements of L.3.A – Technical Approach – IDIQ and also a response for the requirements of L.3.B – Technical Approach – Sample Order.

11 Can you please clarify the type(s) of IT audits that will be performed under the IDIQ?

See Section C.3.

12 Can the government clarify if there is an expected level of effort (LOE) for any of the IT audits? Further, can the government confirm whether the IT audits will be requested in the same fiscal year or through multiple fiscal years?

No.

13 Can the government confirm if estimated LOE is to be provided with the price schedule or if only proposed labor categories and labor rates is needed only?

No.

14 Is this a GSA Schedule procurement? No.

15 Is this a new IDIQ or is this a re-bid? If a re-bid, who are the current incumbent contractors on the IDIQ?

See answer to question 1.

16 Will the Government please clarify whether NDAs and/or OCI statements must be included with the submission package? If so, how would the Government prefer they be included?

NDAs or similar documents do not need to be included in the submission package.

17 While D. Corporate Experience requests examples of relevant projects from the last 5 years, no such time requirement is given for the Past Performances. Will the government please clarify if Past Performance must also be within the last 5 years?

Past Performance is also limited to the last 5 years.

18 Would the government please confirm that offerors may propose labor categories in

Yes. As stated in Attachment J-1 – Price Schedule, offerors may insert additional

3/27/2025 2 addition to the key personnel and other staff roles listed in the solicitation, in order to demonstrate the ability to staff all levels of personnel?

rows and include labor categories and rates for roles not listed in the solicitation.

19 Would the government please confirm that offerors should include their representations and certifications as part of the price volume of their proposals?

As stated in 52.212-3, The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (v) of this provision.

20 The solicitation states, “(ii) Offeror shall provide resumes for the Key Personnel and Other Key Staff positions described in Section C (Statement of Work) and Sample Order (Attachment J-3). The resumes must include relevant certificates and applicable experience for all the positions described in the Statement of Work.”

Would the government please confirm that offerors do not have to include copies of proposed personnel licenses/certifications, and instead may provide a list of certifications, including license numbers as appropriate?

Certificates of licenses and certifications are not necessary.

21 Would the government please confirm that offerors may include a pricing narrative, in addition to the completed Price Schedule?

This is not a requirement of the solicitation and is at the discretion of the offeror.

22 Section C of the RFP includes a listing of other staff which consists of IT Manager/Principal and IT Supervisory Senior Auditor.

Can the Government remove the Principal part of the IT Manager/Principal as the Principal typically has over ten (10) years of experience?

No.

23 Does the government anticipate using and/or having the requirements for any specific type of audit management software for the IT audit contract?

The Library does not require audit management software for the IT audit contract. The Library will need to open submitted workpapers in a common format

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If not, would the government be open to allowing the offeror to propose a secure audit management software solution as part of the technical approach?

(such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF), and place workpapers into our own workpaper management system

24 Section L of the RFP states, “(ii) Offeror shall provide resumes for the Key Personnel and Other Key Staff positions described in Section C (Statement of Work) and Sample Order (Attachment J-3).”

Please confirm the resumes can be added as an Appendix to the Technical Volume.

Resumes must be included in the Management and Staffing section as stated in Section L of the solicitation.

25 For resource planning purposes, could the Government confirm whether the Sample Order (J-3) will be awarded as part of the IDIQ award or if it is solely being used to evaluate pricing across vendors?

If the Sample Order is intended to be awarded as part of the IDIQ, could the Government provide an anticipated award date?

The sample order is for evaluation purposes only.

26 Please confirm the Sample Order is required to be performed as a Performance Audit under GAGAS.

See answer 25.

27 Would the Government allow for columns to be inserted to show side-by-side comparison of the discount provided for the various labor categories?

This is not a requirement of the solicitation and is at the discretion of the offeror.

28 (Price Detail Tab) Would the Government allow columns to be inserted to show side-by-side comparison of discount provided for the various labor categories and total discount provided to the Government for the Sample Order?

This is not a requirement of the solicitation and is at the discretion of the offeror.

29 The Offeror’s labor category requirements and descriptions for Partners, Principals, and Managing Directors are similar and meet the minimum requirements outlined in subsections b) and c). Would the Government please include “Managing Director” as a category in the minimum experience requirements subsection a)?

No. As stated in Attachment J-1 – Price Schedule, offerors may insert additional rows and include labor categories and rates for roles not listed in the solicitation.

30 Would the government please provide clarification on whether there are any additional requirements for the Price

There are no additional requirements.

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Proposal in relation to the two FAR clauses included in the Price Proposal Instructions Section?

31 Would the government please confirm whether or not the contract will be awarded under a GSA Schedule? If so which one?

See answer to question 14.

32 Would the government please clarify that the offeror is permitted to retain copies of working papers, published works, and reports issued and is permitted to make certain audit documentation and work papers available to other auditors or reviewers, including the GAO and other U.S.

regulators, in a timely manner pursuant to Government Auditing Standards, other applicable auditing standards, AICPA consulting standards and applicable provisions of laws and regulations?

Yes, because contractors need to be peer reviewed on their work ("make certain audit documentation and work papers available to other auditors or reviewers") and need the working papers/files in order to do that.

And clarifying language that the end product is the property of the government.

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