Amendment A00002 Travel and QA.pdf

Request For Quote (RFQ) #12318722RFQ1

“Heavy Equipment Services”

Amendment A0002 *The purpose of this amendment is to address Travel and provide answers to industry submitted questions during the RFI period. Due to the emergent need, no additional questions will be answered unless deemed in the best interest of the Government by the Contracting Officer.

Place of Performance Task requests for these services may be located throughout California and Nevada. Travel may be required by the contracted organization, must be approved before the services take place, and shall be in accordance with government travel regulations (http://www.gsa.gov).

Travel: Travel may be required in support of this contract. Travel will be identified in individual BPA Calls. Coordinate all travel with the Call Order CO/COR prior to incurring any cost. The Government will reimburse fair and reasonable expenses using the Federal Travel Regulations (https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/regulations/federal-travel-regulation-ftr) and established per diem rates (https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates) as a guideline, and FAR Part 31.205-46 in determining allowability of costs. Travel receipts are required to accompany and support the Contractor’s request for reimbursement.

Reimbursement will not be provided for travel within a 50-mile radius of the Contractor’s or employees place of business. For each trip, the Contractor shall submit to the Call Order CO/COR or the task inspector a Request for Travel Authorization (RTA). The RTA will identify the purpose of the travel, an agenda for what is to be accomplished by the travel, and a detailed estimate of the costs to be incurred. Unauthorized travel, travel expenses in excess of the approved rates, or travel not coordinated with the Call Order CO/COR or task inspector shall not be reimbursed.

A separately priced line item will be included in the RFQ Price Schedule at the Call Order level for BPA holders to complete Per Diem estimates as needed.

THE TERMS, CONDITIONS AND CLAUSES OF THIS BPA WILL APPLY TO ALL SUBSEQUENT CALL

ORDERS MADE USING THIS VEHICLE. NO PARTY OTHER THAN THE CONTRACTING OFFICER (CO)

OF RECORD MAY MAKE MODIFICATIONS TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS

AGREEMENT.

The terms and conditions of this Request for Quote (RFQ) 12318722RFQ1 shall be incorporated into any resultant award.

https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/regulations/federal-travel-regulation-ftr) https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates)

*A Wage Determination (WD) will be provided at the individual Call Order level by the Contractor if determined as non-professional or not exempt from Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS).

INDUSTRY SUBMITTED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question 1:

“How or where, do we add per diem rates? Is it fixed into the hourly rate, or on a separate line item?”

ANSWER:

Per Diem will be listed on a separate line item and is based on applicable GSA rates for the place of performance at the time of call/order solicitation and will be quoted on call/order solicitations.

*See Amendment A0002 “Travel” Section.

Question 2:

“Is the mobilization cost on a separate item line for the lowbed? Its difficult to bid when you don’t have the mileage.”

ANSWER: See “Amendment A0002 BPA Price Schedule”.

Question 3:

“How long will the project last?

ANSWER: Each individual Call Order will specify a period of performance based on its scope of work.

Question 4:

“Is the deadline extended?”

ANSWER: Yes, see Amendment A00002.

Question 5:

“Is the firm fixed price the price that will be for any solicitation that falls under this 1-2 year contract (Like an emergency contract through VIPR) or is this a price for the solicitation but each job/project that falls under this solicitation can have it's own price based on the job (like an IDIQ that the USFS does)?”

ANSWER: Each Call Order will be solicited amongst the BPA awardees with its own pricing based on performance location, performance period, and scope of work.

Question 6:

“I see that this solicitation is asking for pricing for Feller Bunchers, Road Graders, Boom mounted mulcher/masticator, Skidder & Strip mulcher/masticator but under section 3.2 (p) page 8 it talks about additional requirements for excavators. Are they also in need?”

ANSWER: Contractors should quote on all equipment items they are able to provide. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 7:

“Does the price for each piece of equipment need to have transport included in that price OR can I give a separate line pricing for transport? Transport pricing can vary greatly depending on the location of the job site and the piece of equipment that is being transported.”

ANSWER: See “Amendment A00002 BPA Price Schedule”.

Question 8:

“Does this mean that a contractor must have available, every single piece of equipment listed here in order to be considered for call outs under this BPA? If a contractor only has some of the equipment on this list, are they still able to offer a quote and be offered work under this RFQ?”

ANSWER: Contractors should quote on all equipment items they are able to provide. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 9:

“For some reason i can only view on sam.gov and there is nothing in VIPR.”

ANSWER: This is not a fire support VIPR BPA solicitation. As a result, the solicitation has only been posted to www.beta.sam.gov under “Contract Opportunities”.

Question 10:

“Are there opportunities in Lincoln County?”

ANSWER: Unknown at this time. Each individual Call Order will specify the Place of Performance.

Question 11:

“Would the transport cost need to be figured into each piece of equipment, or listed separately, in addition to each piece of equipment?”

ANSWER: See “Amendment A0002 BPA Price Schedule”.

Question 12:

“Are all items required to be available for this contract? Or can a contractor supply some of the items on the price sheet along with some other items such as dump trucks, log trucks, self loaders, loaders, etc.?”

ANSWER: Contractors should quote on all equipment items they are able to provide. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 13:

Exactly how do I submit a quote with pricing ? And how much of forms do I actually fill out ?

already having VIPR and SAM accounts ? is this solicitation in VIPR? Under open solicitations.

ANSWER: Offerors shall complete and return the attached Price Schedule (Excel spreadsheet) that reflects fully burdened prices and items required in Section 3 “Proposal Organization” of the RFQ. The scope of work does not support fire and the solicitation is not in VIPR.

Question 14:

http://www.beta.sam.gov/

“Is the covid vaccine mandated if we get the job to work for USDA? Will medical or religious exemptions be accepted in performance of this contract? The flow chart the Department of Defense sent out, contradicts what FAR is saying. The Department of Defense flow chart says the clause is not required in the contract for service contracts (i.e. work performed solely outdoors), yet you have the clause in the solicitation RFQ.”

ANSWER: Refer to FAR Clause 52.223-99 on page 20. We are seeking additional guidance for this particular emergency situation. Keep in mind, awardees under this BPA are not required to respond to all BPA Call Order requests.

Question 15:

Where does a VIPR wildfire agreement—with its B.1 (a) “all-hazard incidents” clause—fit into the "Heavy Equipment Services for Storm/Disaster Clean-up” solicitation process? Given that an awarded VIPR agreement has already been through a quote process, does it fulfill the requirements? To be considered for the Storm/Disaster Clean-Up solicitation, is my being in the VIPR system and then updating my IROC status to “Available” upon completing this current assignment enough? Or is there more that I need to do?

ANSWER: Offerors shall complete and return the attached Price Schedule (Excel spreadsheet) that reflects fully burdened prices and items required in Section 3 “Proposal Organization” of the RFQ. As this scope of work does not support fire, contractor status in VIPR is not relevant to this RFQ.

Question 16:

Just to confirm, this excludes other heavy equipt such as dozers and excavators?

ANSWER: See “Amendment A0002 BPA Price Schedule”. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 17:

Is there need for a Bulldozer and or Transport with End Dump trailer? I do not see them listed on the RFQ but do see a section for suggested Heavy Equipment Items? Is that section referring to those types of items?

ANSWER: See “Amendment A0002 BPA Price Schedule”. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 18:

Must we provided a quote for all items or CLINs (equipment listed)?

ANSWER: Contractors should quote on all equipment items they are able to provide. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 19:

Will Transport(s) (low boys) be required stay at the worksite for each Call Order, or only for mobilization and demobilization?

ANSWER: This will be determined at the individual Call Order level and indicated in Call Order solicitations.

Question 20:

This is in regards to the RFQ, in #2.) General Requirements; A. The contractor shall have, at a minimum, the following equipment available and delivered for call out under this BPA: (12 pieces of equipment). My question is, would the government accept our quote without the above minimum equipment list?

ANSWER: Contractors should quote on all equipment items they are able to provide. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”.

Question 21:

I'm reviewing the Solicitation 12318722RFQ1 and it refers to the Statement of work 11 times in the contract, and says see attached, But I don't see it anywhere in what has been provided, Can you please let me know where to find it?

ANSWER: The Statement of Work is located on pages 5 – 12 of the RFQ.

Question 22:

We are on VIPR right now, can we put the same equipment on this RFQ that is on VIPR? We live in NM, so will we be paid mileage to/from the incident? Will there be a base camp and if not, will we be paid lodging and a meal per diem?

ANSWER: As this scope of work does not support fire, contractor status in VIPR is not relevant to this RFQ. BPA holders are not required to respond to every Call Order RFQ if they are unable to deliver based on resources allocated elsewhere, etc. Base Camp availability and per diem will be determined at the Call Order level based on circumstances and scope. See “Amendment A0002 BPA Price Schedule” for quoting mileage.

Question 23:

Key Personal, would it be possible to use my Forman that is a operator as the Project manager?

ANSWER: Yes, as long as all Project Manager duties are performed.

Question 24:

“Can you give a better estimated scope of work in order to suggest other equipment more accurately? Based on code 002-013 it appears as if it is removing blown down trees from the roadway.”

ANSWER: See “Amendment A0002 BPA Price Schedule”. Any additional pieces of equipment identified by the contractor to benefit the scope of work should be added in the additional spaces provided in the BPA Price Schedule under, “Contractor Suggested Heavy Equipment Items”. Scope of work consists of Storm/natural disaster clean-up to include, removing debris, clearing roads, repairing roads, clearing mudslides, removing trees, etc. Specified scopes of work will be identified at the call order level.

Question 25:

“It appears as though federal prevailing wage rates apply. Is this correct?”

ANSWER: A Wage Determination (WD) will be provided at the individual Call Order level by the Contractor if determined as non-professional or not exempt from Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS).

(End Amendment A00002)