RFIs and responses.docx

Nationwide AE Services RFIs and responses:

1. Is there an opportunity for RFI’s and responses for this pre-solicitation notice?

1. Would the USDA allow for an extension to this announcement for the submission of questions and answers from the entire offeror pool? With the intent of gaining a better understanding of your requirement, submission, and selection. There won’t be an extension.

1. Section 1. Are the engineering disciplines listed in order of precedence? Will any discipline be assigned more weight than others for purposes of evaluation? No to both questions.

1. Section 1. How will experience be assessed in terms of individual experience, education, certification, etc? Which takes precedence, if any? Resumes will be assessed as a whole.

1. Section 1. As stated, if offeror is selected, they will need to submit a subcontracting plan. Selected large business firms will need to include a SB subcontracting plan with their proposal. Could you clarify if that means selected as a "most highly qualified firm" or awarded a contract under this solicitation? The posting isn’t a solicitation. (Is the subcontracting plan going to be a pre-award deliverable?)

1. Section 2. Under the “associated services” (not included in the primary engineering disciplines), how will the firms be evaluated for those services? That’s an opportunity to provide anything over and above your engineering disciplines.

1. Section 3a. Are the engineering disciplines listed in order of precedence? No

1. Section 3b. Are the types of experience/buildings listed in order of precedence? No

1. Section 3c. Will the firms be compared to the $3M/year? I don’t understand the question. Will the firm be evaluated by SF330 Part II? The 330 as a whole.

1. Section 3c. What is the typical task order duration that offerors should strive to demonstrate their abilities? Completely depends on the project.

1. Section 3c. How will the board evaluate the retainage of the secondary disciplines listed in this section? A resume is not required. You can include resumes.

1. Section 3d. Will the government pull the Firm’s CPARS for this factor or is the firm supposed to provide CPARS/PPQs/Evaluation copies in the submission? Past performance is a measure of the degree to which an offeror has satisfied customers in the past, and complied with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The assessment of past performance will be subjective and based mainly on offeror reputations with customers and adherence to schedules. The Government may evaluate the performance data provided by offerors or obtained from other sources. Past performance assessments may be based on information such as the contracting officer’s and evaluators’ knowledge of previous experience with the service being acquired, customer surveys, or other reasonable basis. The assessment will consider the contractor’s record of conforming to specifications, and to standards of good performance/customer service. In addition, adherence to contract schedules, including the administrative aspects of performance, will be taken into consideration. The currency and relevance of the information, source of the information, context of the data, and general trends in contractor’s performance will be considered.

1. Section 3d. Will the evaluations need to correspond to the example projects? Please note that the notice asks for 12 projects, collecting CPARS for each would be difficult in the 30-day response period. We will evaluate whatever information is out there and what you provide.

1. Section 3d. Will the USDA use personal knowledge of firm's performance under this factor?

1. Section 3d. Are the codes and regulations listed above the target for this factor?

1. Section 3e(1-3). How will this evaluation differ from providing resumes? It won’t.

1. Section 3f. How will the firm's knowledge of the locality be assessed as stated in FAR 36.602-1(a)(5)? I don’t see it being an issue if you’ve never worked in a particular state, for example.

1. Section 3f. Could you clarify the intent of using the closest office? Will firms be assessed in terms of straight-line distance, travel distance, or travel time? A firm’s location in relation to a project locale is considered but doesn’t have a lot of weight. It’s only a consideration.

1. Section 3g. Assuming that the small business goals are as listed in Section 1, how will firms be differentiated in this factor? This is the last of the selection criteria so it doesn’t have a lot of weight.

1. Section 3g. Are the types of small business listed in order of precedence? No

1. Section 4 Item (1) this information does not generally comprise a Management Plan, please clarify. You could encapsulate the info provided in 3c.

1. Section 4 Item (2): Please see above comments: 3c

1. Section 4 Item (3) Please see above comments: 3g