11-18-25 M002 QA.odt

11/18/25 M002 Q&A Monthly workload: What is the realistic monthly page/volume expectation (rather than the maximum potential listed in the SOW)? THE SCOPE OF WORK DOES NOT LIST MAXIMUM POTENTIAL. WORKLOAD VARIES. CONTRACTOR CAN ESTIMATE MONTHLY PAGE/VOLUME FROM THE SCOPE OF WORK.

New content vs. repetitive content: Do you have a sense of how much of the material is brand-new versus updated or repetitive content that benefits from MemoQ and translation memory? APPROXIMATELY 200 LETTERS PER YEAR ARE REPETITIVE CONTENT.

Turnaround expectations: How often do rush or 1-day turnaround assignments occur? And do expectations differ depending on document type? RUSH ASSIGNMENTS MIGHT OCCUR ONCE PER MONTH. RECURRING LETTERS, 1-3 PAGES IN LENGTH, ARE CONSIDERED PRIORITIES AND ONE-DAY TURNAROUND TIME IS GENERALLY EXPECTED. CONTRACTOR SHOULD NOT WAIT TO PERFORM TRANSLATIONS.

Document quality: Do documents sometimes arrive with handwritten notes, scanned pages, or lower-quality formatting that may require extra time to interpret or clean up? NO. IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY RARE TO RECEIVE A LOW-QUALITY DOCUMENT FOR TRANSLATION.

Point of contact: Would there be a single point of contact for the contractor to ask terminology questions or clarifications? THE CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE WOULD BE THE MAIN POINT OF CONTACT BUT, ON OCCASION, MIGHT REFER THE TRANSLATOR TO AN AGENCY ENGINEER, After-hours or emergency requests: Do urgent requests outside normal business hours happen occasionally? NO.

Communication flow: Will feedback typically come from one reviewer or from multiple people? FROM ONE REVIEWER. ON RARE OCCASION, A HIGHLY-TECHNICAL DOCUMENT MIGHT ALSO INVOLVE FEEDBACK FROM AN AGENCY ENGINEER.

Scheduling: Should the translator follow a defined Monday–Friday schedule, or can it set its own schedule as long as all expectations and deadlines are met? PER THE SCOPE OF WORK, “The contractor will be available during normal U.S. business hours.”

Hours per translator: Could you please confirm whether the 30 hours are expected per translator? 30 HOURS PER WEEK IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT ESTIMATED FOR THE CONTRACT, NOT PER TRANSLATOR.

1. WOSB Certification Verification Could you confirm whether the SBA WOSB certification must be active at the time of proposal submission, or is certification in-process acceptable? Certification must be active at time of proposal.

Should proof of certification be included with the proposal, or will you verify through SAM.gov? Proof will be verified via SAM.gov

2. Translator Qualifications Are specific certifications (e.g., ATA, State Department, NAJIT) required, or is demonstrated technical competency through samples and references sufficient? SPECIFIC CERTIFICATIONS ARE NOT REQUIRED.

For the "documented track record" requirement, approximately how many years of experience and/or how many comparable projects would meet the technical acceptability threshold? TRANSLATORS WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON THE ENTIRETY OF THEIR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS..

3. Workload and Volume Based on the volume estimates provided (15-20 letters/month, 2-4 articles/week, etc.), what is the anticipated annual page count or word count? THE SCOPE OF WORK PROVIDES ESTIMATES PER WEEK OR MONTH THAT THE BIDDER CAN USE TO CALCULATE ANNUAL AMOUNTS.

Are there seasonal fluctuations in volume we should anticipate? WE MAY RECEIVE NO DOCUMENTS FOR TRANSLATION DURING THE HOLIDAY PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 19-JANUARY 6. CORRESPONDENCE AND NEWS ARTICLES ARE RECURRING THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. OTHER TYPES OF DOCUMENTS CAN VARY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR BUT ARE NOT TIED TO ANY SEASON.

4. Technical Performance Is there a current incumbent contractor? If so, may we know the incumbent's name for past performance research purposes? 191BWC25P0046, Tilde Language

What are the most common performance challenges or quality issues the agency has experienced with translation services in the past? UNTIL RECENTLY, WE HAD A STAFF TRANSLATOR WHO WAS WITH THE AGENCY FOR 17 YEARS. THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE A CONTRACT TRANSLATOR WOULD HAVE IS GAINING EXPERTISE IN OUR UNIQUE TECHNICAL VOCABULARY.

5. MemoQ and Software What version of MemoQ does USIBWC currently use? MEMOQ 10.5 TM

Are there any other specialized software tools or platforms beyond MemoQ, Word, PowerPoint, and OneDrive/SharePoint that contractors need to use? EXCEL SPREADSHEETS ARE USED TO LOG CORRESPONDENCE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF SOLICITING A MACHINE TRANSLATION PLUG-IN FOR MEMOQ.

6. Meetings and Collaboration Are the weekly webinar staff meetings and quarterly trilateral meetings conducted virtually, or is any onsite presence in El Paso required? THEY ARE VIRTUAL, MS TEAMS OR ZOOM.

Approximately how long are these meetings (duration)? 20 MINUTES IS A TYPICAL WEEKLY CHECK-IN. OCCASIONALLY A MEETING COULD LAST 2-3 HOURS, BUT THAT IS VERY RARE, PERHAPS ONCE A YEAR.

7. Pricing Evaluation For LPTA evaluation, once technical acceptability is confirmed, is the lowest price automatically selected, or does the Government consider price reasonableness relative to quality factors?

Evaluation of Offer – The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate Offers: Technical acceptability to meet IBWC requirements; Technical Approach and Past Performance.

The Government will award a contract resulting from this combined synopsis/solicitation to the lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA), responsible offeror.

Are there any incumbent pricing benchmarks or Government estimates you can share to help us develop competitive pricing? The previous contract was awarded for $54,600.00.

8. Wage Determinations Since FAR 52.222-41 (Service Contract Labor Standards) applies, should we obtain the applicable wage determination from the Department of Labor, or will one be provided? If we should obtain it, what is the SCA Directory Number or WD Number for this requirement? I will add WD on solicitation via SAM.gov

9. Contract Administration After award, who will serve as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for day-to-day oversight? Sally Spener. Her direct POC information will be provided at time of award.

The SOW lists Sally Spener as COR - should technical questions during proposal preparation be directed to her or to you? All questions need to be directed to my attention only at angelica.baca@ibwc.gov

10. Funding Timeline Given FAR 52.232-18 (Availability of Funds), when does USIBWC anticipate funds will be available for contract start on January 1, 2026? As soon as Congress releases the funding our budget department will be able to distribute.

If the CLIN cannot be changed, can you provide historical annual workload (page/word volumes) to help establish an accurate fixed price? THIS IS INCLUDED IN THE SCOPE OF WORK, WHICH DISCUSSES AVERAGE PAGES OR WORDS OR TASKS PER WEEK, MONTH, OR YEAR.

Can you confirm that this requirement is strictly for Spanish→English translation, with occasional English→Spanish, and that no interpretation services are required? YES. NO INTERPETATION IS REQUIRED. NO OTHER LANGUAGES. BUT, PER THE SCOPE OF WORK, IT REQUIRES MORE THAN TRANSLATION, SUCH AS LOGGING DOCUMENTS ON SPREADSHEETS, ATTENDING MEETINGS, ETC.

Are any additional languages needed now or anticipated in the future? NO.

What specific documents must be submitted with the proposal to be considered responsive? PER THE SCOPE OF WORK, “Translator(s) assigned to this contract must be able to demonstrate a high level of competency in Spanish to English translation by verifying such things as: previous work for the Department of State as a Spanish to English translator, submission of technical documents the contractor has translated from Spanish to English (including both the original Spanish as well as the English translation), client references in the water, engineering, or scientific field, other accreditations or certifications as a Spanish to English translator.”

Can all proposal documents be submitted via email, or should we use a designated submission portal? Please submit your proposal via email to angelica.baca@ibec.gov

Are digital/electronic signatures acceptable on all forms? Yes

Will USIBWC provide MemoQ licenses, or must the contractor furnish them? USIBWC WILL ALLOW ACCESS USING OUR MEMOQ LICENSE. CONTRACTOR DOES NOT HAVE TO OBTAIN ONE SEPARATELY.

What security requirements apply for handling Sensitive But Unclassified documents (e.g., encryption, storage, access controls)? ENCRYPTION NOT REQUIRED. DOCUMENTS SHALL NOT BE SHARED OUTSIDE OF THE PERSONNEL WHO REQUIRE ACCESS TO PERFORM THE CONTRACTURAL REQUIREMENTS. OF COURSE, DOCUMENTS MAY BE SHARED WITH USIBWC PERSONNEL.

Which Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS) labor category applies, and will a wage determination be issued? Wage Determination has been posted on solicitation.

Are weekly and quarterly meetings required for both translators or only the lead translator? PURPOSE IS TO COORDINATE ASSIGNMENTS AND PRIORITIES. ONE PARTICIPANT WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE IF THEY COMMUNICATED WITH THE OTHER TRANSLATOR.

Will all source documents be provided in editable format, or should we expect significant OCR work from PDFs? MOST DOCUMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED IN EDITABLE FORMAT, BUT PERHAPS A FEW PER MONTH COULD REQUIRE OCR CONVERSION FROM PDF.

What is the anticipated award date for this contract? NLT January 1, 2026

What is the expected contract start date, and will it shift if award is delayed beyond January 1, 2026? The expected start date is Jan. 1st, 2026

Is there an incumbent contractor currently supporting this requirement? Tilde Language 191BWC25P0046

Will a debriefing be offered to unsuccessful bidders? It will be provided as requested

The CLIN structure requires a pricing quote based on 52 weeks. However, the industry standard is to price translation services on a per word basis. A per word pricing structure also allows the government to receive quotes and services that are both more accurate and more cost effective. Will the government amend the price schedule to reflect the industry standard of translation services on a per word basis? NO. THE CONTRACT REQUIRES ACTIVITIES OTHER THAN PURE TRANSLATION, THEREFORE, PER WORD TRANSLATION QUOTE WOULD NOT COVER THE OTHER ASEPCTS OF THE CONTRACT, AS DISCUSSED IN THE SCOPE OF WORK.