12FPC325R0001 through 12FPC325R0006 Questions and Answers.pdf

Solicitation Notice – 12FPC325R0001, 12FPC325R0002, 12FPC325R0003, 12FPC325R0004, 12FPC325R0005, 12FPC325R0006

Professional Land Surveying - USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service – LOUISIANA, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, ARKANSAS, DELAWARE, TEXAS

Questions and Answers

December 6, 2024

***PLEASE NOTE: THIS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS COVERS MULTIPLE STATES AND

MULTIPLE SOLICITATIONS. THERE ARE SOME STATE/SOLICITATION SPECIFIC

QUESTIONS.***

Q1. Does this solicitation allow for teams to bid jointly?

A1. There is no bidding – this is a request for qualifications under FAR Part 36.6 acquisition procedures. Please review the SF330 form that you are to submit, one firm may submit as prime with the other as a sub, but it the firm designated as Prime that would be responsible and awarded a contract – and the only firm that the government would hold discussions with. Unless you establish a formal JV partnership agreement (which you would have to document).

Q2. Is the project throughout Illinois? Can we obtain parts of the entire project in select locations?

A2. Yes, the IDIQ will cover the whole state of Illinois. At this time, IDIQ’s will not be awarded for specific areas of Illinois, instead will encompass the whole state.

Q3. If we submit a revised version updating the owner of the firm, will we need to separate the SF330 now that Louisiana and Arkansas have been advertised separately? OR can we submit an updated SF330 for the original Solicitation No. 12FPC324R0004?

A3. We have saved SF330 previously submitted in our database individually for both states, and will be considered as is, unless you update. If you update, please reply individually for each state you wish to be considered for as they now each have individual solicitation numbers.

Q4. I would like to know if there will be a need for a Licensed State Land Surveyor (LSLS) in addition to an RPLS? An LSLS deals with lands owned by the State of Texas. Will any of the easements adjoin State owned Land?

A4. There is no way to know how many will adjoin state property. But yes, it is possible and the probability they predict in the 5% - 10% range. Having said that, due to this nuance of surveying in Texas, firms need to be able to survey all lands regardless of who the adjoiner is. Firms will not be required to have a LSLS.

Q5. I have started the application process for a sam.gov registration etc. Besides this is the SF 330 and proof of registration all that is needed for this solicitation?

A5. Basically, yes, but it is your responsibility to review the Instructions to Offerors and be sure that your submission meets and addresses all the minimum and mandatory requirements.

Q6. In regard to the above referenced RFQs posted, I just wanted to confirm whether the agency will consider qualifications from companies that are not SBA certified.

A6. I do not know what you mean by SBA certified. There is no specific SBA certification required.

However, the surveying requirements are Total Small Business set-asides, so if your business does not meet the threshold established to meet the size standard of a small business under NAICS 541370 which is $19.5 million (which is established by the SBA), then you are not eligible for award. Proposals received from firms that do not meet the small business size standard will not receive consideration and will be rejected.

Q7. Section F of the SF330 as mentioned in Criterion 3 is Example Projects.

Criterion 1 also mentions providing example projects and Criterion 5 states The CPARS or PPQ are limited to an evaluation for each project under Criterion 1. IF A COMPLETED CPARS EVALUATION IS NOT AVAILABLE, the Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) (Attachment 2) included in this notice is provided for the firm or its team members to submit to the client for each project included under Criterion 3, Specialized Experience and Technical Competence.

• Is this correct or are the CPARS and PPQ’s only needed for Criterion 3 (the 6 example projects in SF330 Section F)?

Criterion 1 Professional Qualifications (SF330, Part I, Sections D, E, & G and Part II)

Includes the statement “Examples of previous legal boundary and easement survey work shall be provided for review as well as a description of the type of surveys performed and references with phone numbers.” The referenced SF330 sections D, E, & G and Part II do not address this requirement.

• Would you like us to add additional project examples as a separate section following the SF330 along with the CPARS and PPQ’s or possibly include in Section H of the SF330?

Finally, in reference to Criterion 1 qualified personnel

• Does the USDA NRCS consider a Survey Technician to be a field employee (Instrument Man) or an office employee (CAD Technician).

A7. Here is what Criterion 1 says, since this seems to be where the confusion is:

(1) Criterion 1 - Professional Qualifications (SF330, Part I, Sections D, E & G and Part II): The firm must identify the qualifications of personnel in the following key disciplines: Professional Land Surveyor (PLS); Survey Party Chief, and Surveying Technician. The PLS must be a licensed registered land surveyor in the State of Louisiana. Firms shall possess professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of required services similar in nature to those required as part of this requirement. Submittals should demonstrate that the firm’s staff is capable of certifying that all work is in compliance with the state laws and regulations. Examples of previous legal boundary and easement survey work shall be provided for review, as well as a description of the type of surveys performed and references with phone numbers.

The Government will evaluate and consider the education, training, certification, overall and relevant experience and longevity with the proposed team. Evaluation will include the level of formal education, continuing education, the number of years licensed, the number of years of experience, and involvement in professional activities/organizations. Evaluation will be based upon the professional land surveying registration and qualified personnel work experience associated with legal boundary surveys, and their availability to work on this contract. Previous legal boundary work examples will be evaluated based on the complexity of work.

• Firms with three or more licensed PLS in the state of Louisiana, will be rating higher than those with less;

• Firms with Survey Party Chiefs and Surveying Technicians with 5 or more years of experience will receive higher rating than those with less; and,

• The higher degree of complexity of legal boundary survey work, the higher the rating.

Q8. Do the PPQ’s and CPARS count against the 75 page limit?

A8. The 75 page limit is on the SF330 Part I – “The SF330 Part I shall not exceed 75 pages (8.5-in x 11-

in) in total, including no more than 20 pages for Section H.” See page 1, Section A, second paragraph of the Instructions to Offerors. Part II is a one page form, per firm (prime and subcontractor(s).

The CPARS or PPQ are limited to an evaluation for each project under Criteron 1. There is no specific page limit. See page 7, Item (5) Criterion 5 – page 7 of the Instructions to Offerors.

Q9. You mentioned these are follow-on to original Solicitation 12FPC324R004 and upon checking, I show that Solicitation 12FPC324R004 was recently awarded in August 2024. Will the contracts awarded under Solicitation # 12FPC324R004 be close out because they will be replaced by the Solicitations per State (state specific requirements)?

A9. 12FPC324R0004 if you read is an open solicitation – a call for qualifications.

There actually have been a few awards under the short selection process under R0004. To clarify, 12FPC324R0004 stated that states were developing requirements, and that we intended to maintain SF330 qualification packages to be able to use the short selection process for requirements that states would have under the simplified acquisition threshold, and “when formal selection procedures were anticipated, an additional notice with specific details and evaluation criteria will be posted to this site.” “SF330 qualifications received as a result of this general notice, as well as any received as a result of the additional and specific public notice will be evaluated in accordance with 36.602-1 and detailed in the notice.”

So we are now following on with a related notice for each State now that they have their longer term requirements solidified. To be considered for a state, you must respond to each request. If you previously submitted and were prequalified for one or more states (which you were), we have that SF330 package on file and will evaluate as submitted for each state, unless updated.

We will continue to request updates to qualifications each Spring to keep the database of firms updated and for use of the short selection process, when necessary, but do have several states that have a magnitude of requirements that necessitate longer term contracts, so that is what we are announcing and requesting now.

Q10. We noticed Solicitation Notice 12FPC325R0003 was issued recently for Illinois. Is this separate from 12FPC324R0004?

If so, do you anticipate awarding 12FPC324R0004 prior to 12FPC324R0003?

A10. See answer for Q9.

Q11. Will you consider an extension to the submission due date to allow Offerors more time to submit a high-quality proposal? If possible, we would appreciate an additional 7-10 business days.

A11. An extension to the submission due will not be granted. As stated in the solicitation, this is a request for qualifications and proposals are not being accepted at this time. Please refer to the Instructions to Offerors that is attached to the solicitation.

Q12. Could you provide clarification if the file size limitation is 20MB or 20GB? The synopsis states “…the file size limitation is 20B due to email server restrictions.”

A12. File size limitation is 20MB.

Q13. Do cover pages, dividers, and any appendices (firm registrations, past performance evaluations, etc.)

count towards the page limit?

A13. The 75 page limit is on the SF330 Part I – “The SF330 Part I shall not exceed 75 pages (8.5-in x 11-

in) in total, including no more than 20 pages for Section H.” See page 1, Section A, second paragraph of the Instructions to Offerors. Part II is a one page form, per firm (prime and subcontractor(s).

The CPARS or PPQ are limited to an evaluation for each project under Criteron 1. There is no specific page limit. See page 7, Item (5) Criterion 5 – page 7 of the Instructions to Offerors.