Attachment_9_-_Amendment_0001_-_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

1282A718R0004

RFP

Washington State – Construction and Facility Maintenance and Repair Services ID/IQ

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS REGARDING:

SOLICITATION/REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NO. 1282A718R0004

Amendment 0001

(AMENDMENT 000001)

QUESTIONS RECEIVED AS OF 4/28/2017:

1. Under Proposal Format for Volume I Technical Proposal at Pg. 77 of 84 it states in part “5. Biobased Certification: Offerors shall also identify the Biobased products to be purchased and used under this contract”. Is this a requirement as it relates to the Seed Projects? Outside of the seed projects, the contractor is not able to project the myriad specific product needs for this contract.

ANSWER: Biobased products and certification is required throughout performance under any awarded ID/IQ and any related Task Order. While it is understood that the specific Biobased information cannot be known in advance on future Task Order requirements; the contractor should be able to address their compliance to any and/or all of the specific items listed in 3.1 – Biobased and Sustainable Products that maybe used throughout the entire Period of Performance of any ID/IQ. This Biobased certification information is required to be reported in SAM per FAR 52.223-2 (see G.9 in Solicitation).

Specific Biobased requirements were not listed separately for the specific seed projects included in solicitation, so the contractor does not have to address each project specifically in terms of Biobased certifications. They should be able to identify any Biobased products that they may use in these seed projects. In some cases, some may not be available or used, and to state not-applicable is considered an acceptable response.

Contractor should also review the D. Evaluation Method for specific Biobased evaluation criteria.

2. On Pg. 77 of 84 at the end of the Volume I requirements it states “The above information shall be provided for all proposed subcontractors in the same format and level of detail as prescribed for the prime offeror. Additionally, the proposal shall include the following information: (A) A description of the work to be conducted by the subcontractor and (B) Identification of the proposed subcontractor and an explanation of why and how the proposed subcontractor was selected including the extent of competition obtained”. The Technical Proposal is limited to 35 pages. Is it the governments intent that the prime will provide all of the information for all potential subs? Based on the requirements of the 6 categories, providing information for all proposed subcontractors in the same format and level of detail would greatly exceed the 35 page limit, eliminate many subcontractors as their willingness to provide this information , especially the “Experience Questionnaire” has always proven difficult in the past, and, place undue burden on the Small Business prime contractor as the prime will have to obtain all of this information from every subcontractor prior to bid date and time and then select subcontractors based on completeness of technical information before price.

ANSWER: The Government concludes that the level of information being requested may be too much regarding the statement on page 77. The Governments intent is only to obtain the information from the Prime Contractor; however the contractor is required in its Volume I – Technical Proposal – 1.

Technical Approach and Capability to “indicate which work is self-performed and which work is to be subcontracted.” This must apply to the overall ID/IQ in general terms about the types of work that are self-performed and which types of work maybe sub-contracted. On the seed projects included with solicitation the Government requires the offeror to identify which work will be self-performed and which work will be sub-contracted in performance of the proposed Task Orders. The maximum page limit remains unchanged at a maximum of 35 pages.

Additionally the language on page 77 is changed as follows through Amendment 0001:

“Additionally, the proposal shall include the following information:

(A) A description of the work to be conducted by the subcontractor on each seed project.

(B) Identification of the proposed subcontractor on seed projects and an explanation of why and how the proposed subcontractor was selected including the extent of competition.”

The original language “The above information shall be provided for all proposed subcontractors in the same format and level of detail as prescribed for the prime offeror,” is hereby removed from page 77 and no longer required for subcontractors.

The actual solicitation document will not be corrected for this change to prevent duplicate documents, and all potential contracts shall refer to Amendment 0001 for any changes herein.

3. In the past, we have had some difficulty acquiring Past Performance Evaluations from customers who have already completed an evaluation and placed it in CPARS or PPIRS. If a completed, final evaluations exists in PPIRS or CPARS, may we eliminate the need for the customer to fill out another Past Performance Questionnaire?

ANSWER: No – Past Performance Evaluations are required. The Government reserves the right to review CPARS and/or PPIRS on Prime Contractor, and is required for anything in excess of simplified acquisition threshold per FAR 9.104-6 (a)(1). CPARS and/or PPIRS is not required nor will be reviewed for any proposed subcontractors, as the Governments relationship is with Prime Contractor not the subcontractors. See further clarification and information with Question and Answer number 7 below.

4. Providing bid bonds; page 78, pricing proposal indicates that we need to provide a separate bid bond for Fort Simcoe lighting & Curlew Flooring. Does this mean that no bid bonds are required for the other seed tasks? What is your $ threshold for bond requirements?

ANSWER: Bid Guarantees per FAR 52.228-1 (page 74) are required only for the Fort Simcoe – Lighting Upgrades and the Curlew – Flooring Replacement, as the Government estimates indicate the value is over the simplified acquisition threshold for each project. Per FAR 28.102-1 (a) The Miller Act requires performance and payment bonds for any construction contract exceeding $150,000.00. Since

Washington State – Construction and Facility Maintenance and Repair Services ID/IQ

Performance and Payment bonds are required, a bid guarantee is required per FAR 28.101 (a) for those two (2) projects only.

The Government is not requiring Bid Guarantees for any of the other seed projects, because our estimates indicate that the values are below the simplified acquisition threshold. If a contractor’s proposed amount for any of the other seed projects exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, a bid guarantee for those projects may be provided at contractor’s discretion, but will not be required by the Government nor considered in the evaluation process.

In regards to what the threshold are for bonds, please refer to Page 47, FAR 52.228-13 – Alternative Payment Protections, and Page 50, FAR 52.228-15 – Performance and Payments Bonds. What is required will be determined at Task Order Level only, and will be based on awarded value of Task Order.

5. Is it possible to change your bid submission requirements to an electronic copy with a hard copy of the bid bond with original signature & hard copy of the proposal to follow?

ANSWER: Yes – Under Submission Instructions electronic proposal shall now be accepted with hard copy of the bid bond and original signature to follow, but NO facsimile proposals will be accepted or considered if received. Hard copies will also be accepted, but electronic is preferred by the Government.

Hard copies must be received by the closing date and time stated in solicitation and /or any Amendments if changed. Contractors are strongly encouraged to review FAR 52.215-1 – Instructions to Offerors – Competitive Acquisition that is included in solicitation, as submission requirements for electronic copy are different than hard copy.

Further under Volume I – Technical Proposal it current states: “Volume I – Technical Proposal shall be submitted with one (1) original and three (3) copies.” This is hereby changed with Amendment 0001 to read as follows: “Volume I – Technical Proposal shall be submitted with one (1) original only.”

Only one (1) original is required via electronic or hard copy, not three (3) as stated in solicitation. If submitting electronic copy, one (1) hard copy of Bid Guarantee, and forms that require original signatures must also be submitted, in addition to the electronic copies.

6. Do we need to bid on all seed tasks?

ANSWER: Yes – All of the Seed Projects will be used in the determination of fair and reasonable. Per Volume III – Price Proposal – Six (6) Tasks (Page 78), the contractor is required to provide a “Schedule of Items for all six (6) seed Projects…” Additional the requirement to address all six (6) seed projects is stated on page 80 under 1. Technical Approach and Capability (non-price) where “Potential contractor

(s) must also address their approach to meeting the six (6) seed projects included in solicitation.”

7. Do we include the PPQ’s in our proposal or do they need to be sent directly to you? It is difficult to verify that our clients have responded when we ask them to send them directly to you.

ANSWER: The Government is OK with the Contractor submitting their proposal with the Past Performance Questionnaires included, and they do not have to be submitted separately or directly to the Contracting Officer from the Customer Organization. The last sentence under C – Evaluation Factors, 3.

Past Performance (Page 80) is hereby changed to read:

“Fill out Item 2 and Part I and provide to a reference, who should complete the remainder and return the form to the Prime Contractor so they can include in their proposal package.”