Attachment 12 Questions and Answers Amendment 0002.pdf

Atachment 12 – Ques�ons and Answers, Amendment 0002

Q1: Is there a minimum and/or maximum number of contractors the agency will be selec�ng for a MATOC award?

A1: Please refer to solicita�on paragraph M.1 “The Government reserves the right to make mul�ple awards (subject to availability of funds)”. The intent is to make mul�ple awards.

Q2: Under Proposal Submission Documents, it states “informa�on shall be confined to the appropriate file.” Is USDA wan�ng the proposal volumes to be 5 separate documents/files, or can the volumes be combined into a one overall file?

A2: Please refer to solicita�on paragraph L.9 “Proposal Submission Documents” Volume table matrix. Each Volume should be 5 separate document(s) for each volume as appropriate. Please do not submit one single combined file for the overall proposal. *Note* The specifics for the submission documents, it is required to keep the original file format: for example an original submission of the excel file Atachment 9 “Seed Project Proposal Template” which must be pulled out of the volume and submited on its own in excel file format. Offerors however may choose (for example) to addi�onally PDF their Atachment 9 and include it in the volume, in addi�on to the stand-alone excel file, which is acceptable.

Q3: Under Volume 4, Factor 3 Past Performance, USDA is reques�ng 3 to 5 Past Performance Ques�onnaires (PPQs). Do the PPQs need to be submited for the same 3-5 projects featured in Volume 3, Factor 2 Prior Experience, Subfactor A, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Prior Experience?

A3: No. The PPQs submited for Volume 4, Factor 3 Past Performance, may be (but not required) the be the same project submited for Volume 3, Factor 2 Prior Experience, Subfactor A, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Prior Experience. However, it is noted in Volume 4, Factor 3 Past Performance that “Offerors are cau�oned to submit informa�on specific to MEP work considered relevant to the requirements of this Request for Proposal.”

Q4: If a CPARS evalua�on is available for one or more of the projects the contractor intends on submi�ng under Volume 4, Factor 3 Past Performance, can the contractor furnish a copy of the CPARS in lieu of a PPQ?

A4: No. The PPQ(s) must be submited as required in the submission documents. Offerors are more than welcome to include the CPARS evalua�on to supplement the PPQ, but it cannot replace the PPQ.

Q5: In Volume 2, Factor 1 Technical, Subfactor A, Key Personnel Qualifica�ons and Experience, it states the Site Safety & Health Officer (SSHO) “shall be independent from Project Superintendent.” Please confirm USDA is requiring both a full-�me Superintendent and SSHO on all task orders issued under the MATOC, including the seed project.

A5: Please refer to C.11 for the site superintendent requirements. No�ce this paragraph doesn’t explicitly state “full �me” which the USDA interprets as 40 hours a week, every week working solely superintendent du�es. The requirement is that during construc�on ac�vi�es that a site superintendent be onsite and that the individual may also be “dual hat” with the “superintendent du�es are the first priority of the superintendent.” This expecta�on would be the same for a Site Safety & Health Officer. The only excep�on is that a Site Superintendent cannot execute the du�es of a SSHO, they need to be independent to avoid any conflicts of interest. The USDA (as the ques�on is writen) does not require a “full �me” Site Superintendent or SSHO, rather these posi�ons shall adhere to the requirements iden�fied in C.11

Q6: Under Volume 3, Factor 2 Prior Experience, Subfactor C, Concurrent Mul�ple State Region Prior Experience, it states: “Offerors shall submit contracts in which they performed prime contractor work in one state, while also performing another federally awarded contract in another state.” Please confirm by “contracts” USDA is looking for instances when the contractor executed individual projects (single-project contracts) or IDIQ task orders concurrently in two different states.

A6: Yes. Offerors may submit stand-alone awarded single-project contracts or task orders issued from an IDIQ to fulfil this requirement.

Q7: In Atachment 9, Seed Project Pricing Template, there is one line dedicated to Div 01 General Requirements. However, this division is comprised of numerous individual items that roll up to the total direct costs, such as a job trailer, safety supplies, waste disposal, temp power, etc. Since only one line is provided in the spreadsheet for Div 01, how does the offeror show the breakout of individual items comprising the total direct costs? Can the offeror add extra lines, as needed, beneath the Div 01 heading? (Note: To various degrees, this ques�on applies to all divisions in the spreadsheet.)

A7: Offerors are allowed to insert addi�onal lines to the excel document as necessary to provide detail and context to “Atachment 9, Seed Project Pricing Template”. However, offerors shall not disturb the format template subtotals, labor burden, totals etc. Addi�onally, offerors shall not remove any sec�ons, for example profit, overhead, bonding, etc.