Q and A.pdf

Question # Clarifying Question Government Response 1 Is one annual price quote to be provided for all 10 of the listed data products (i.e. 5 price quotes in total, one for each year?) Are all 10 data products required and to be totaled in one quote?

The Census Bureau expects the offerors to provide one price per year for CLIN 0001 that is "all-inclusive" of the technical requirements defined in Sections C.3.1 - C.3.4.

2 As the data to be delivered is in the form of flat files, can it be considered that Section 508 would not apply?

Section 508 standards are not applicable to a flat file.

3 How many years of historical data is needed if any and for which products? See track changed Section B.4.1. A technical directive will be issued upon execution of Optional CLIN 0002 specifying the Government's need at that time.

4 What flexibility if any is available regarding data ownership rights and retention? Standard terms allow for annual license of the data.

The Government does not intend to claim ownership over the commercial data. However, as stated in the RFQ in Section C.4.1, the data will become commingled with other data and in effect become the property of the Census Bureau.

5 Is there a willingness to put an NDA in place given the offeror is required to submit data dictionaries? In absence of such, how shall the offeror be assured confidentiality is preserved?

Thank you.

All materials submitted in response to this proposal shall be treated as

Procurement Sensitive. Offerors are responsible for clearly marking any proprietary or restricted data. Government personnel handling

Procurement Sensitive information will abide by the appropriate confidentiality certifications.

6 Per Section C.4.1, sharing of data with ‘Federal Agencies’ is a broad request for use of the data. Please expand on which Federal Agencies are envisioned to collaborate with the Census

Bureau and to what extent.

See track changed Section C.4.1 of Amendment A001.

7 For U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, USVI, and Guam), is partial coverage acceptable where commercial data is limited or unavailable? If so, how will partial coverage be evaluated under the technical evaluation criteria?

Partial Coverage where commercial data is limited or unavailable shall be explicitly stated in the proposal submission. Dataset coverage will be considered in assessing the Government's level of confidence under

Factor 1 - Technical Capabilities.

8 Are there geographic regions where the Census Bureau has historically experienced coverage or quality limitations in commercial housing datasets that vendors should consider when evaluating potential data sources?

The specific sample areas referenced within instructions for the technical proposal (Question 0007 of "Section 1.0 - Technical

Capabilities") were selected based on prior experiences with coverage or quality limitations. Note - offerors are encouraged to review the delivery timelines defined in requirement G-3 in Section C.3.1 and

Deliverables #1 and #2 in Section F.5. Offerors MUST be able to meet the defined timelines.

9 Requirement DE-1 references housing data derived from public records. Does this require direct sourcing from municipal or county governments, or is licensed commercial data that originates from public records (for example ATTOM, CoreLogic, or similar providers) acceptable?

Requirement DE-1 is refering to data that originates/is sourced from public records. The requirement does not define how the data is obtained. Offerors are encouraged to review all requirements including the data delivery dates specified in F.5.

10 When multiple credible sources provide differing values for a housing attribute, does the Census Bureau have preferred reconciliation approaches, such as prioritizing recorded transactions, recency weighting, or consensus across multiple sources?

The Census Bureau does not have a preferred reconcilliation approach.

However, it is the USCB's preference to receive all data, the associated metadata, and the "differing values". Census Bureau subject matter experts will make a final determination on the best method for reconciling the differing values.

11 For vacancy status indicators, are there particular source categories or validation approaches that the Census Bureau considers especially reliable, such as public records, listing activity, utility indicators, or modeled signals?

The Census Bureau has found that vacancy status indicators sourced from public records are generally the most reliable.

12 When additional commercial data sources can improve the reliability or completeness of certain housing attributes in specific regions, does the Census Bureau prefer that vendors prioritize broader nationwide coverage and stronger multi-source verification, even if that approach increases cost, or prioritize a balanced approach that maintains strong coverage and validation while limiting the number of sources to control overall cost?

The Census Bureau is interested in obtaining data that meets the technical and delivery schedule requirements as defined in the RFQ.

13 For DE-10 Enhanced Characteristics (for example hazard risk, amenity access, or beneficial ownership of rental properties), are these elements strictly optional and intended only for special projects, or will a vendor's ability to provide DE-10 influence the technical confidence rating under Factor 1?

These elements are considered optional and may apply to special projects. The Government reserves the right to consider a Vendor's ability to provide DE-10 as an aspect that could potentially increase or decrease their confidence.

14 Does the Census Bureau have preferred linkage identifiers that would facilitate integration with existing Census housing unit or geographic datasets, such as parcel identifiers, standardized addresses, or other crosswalk keys?

Standardized full addresses (including Zip +4 and, if available, unit number) are required for the Census Bureau internal linkage processes.

The Census Bureau welcomes parcel identifiers (APNs or parcel ids from public records), although not required. If Offerors utilize internal linkage keys/identifiers (e.g. to link deeds to assessment files), the

Census Bureau is interested in receiving those, however, it is not required.

15 Section C.3.2 Requirement D-3 references fixed-length ASCII delivery, while Section

F.8 references CSV or Parquet via AWS, Azure, or Census Managed File Transfer

(MFT). Can the Government confirm which format is preferred and whether CSV or

Parquet via MFT is fully acceptable for all data element categories?

CSV or Parquet is preferred as delivery formats. Fixed-length ASCII is acceptable. Use of the MFT is required for delivery.

16 For parcel boundary data (DE-6), will GeoJSON, GPKG, and ESRI Geodatabase formats be equally acceptable alternatives to ESRI Shapefile for delivery post-award?

Yes, these are acceptable.

17 Requirement D-3 states that data should be delivered as a single file or as few files as practicable. For a national dataset spanning multiple data element categories, is one file per data element category acceptable, or is a single unified file expected?

A single file is preferred. However, as stated in the RFQ, it is also acceptable to use multiple files (while keeping the total number of files to as few as possible).

18 For the sample data required under Technical Quote Question 0007, must the sample be delivered through Census Managed File Transfer (MFT) prior to the March 25 proposal deadline? If so, what is the process for vendors to establish MFT credentials before contract award?

The sample data MUST be delivered via the MFT. Instructions for obtaining credentials are contained on Attachement J.3. Offerors are encouraged to proceed with the creation of accounts. If there are problems creating the accounts that would prevent the timely delivery of the sample data, the offeror must notify the Contracting Officer

PRIOR to the final due date for the quotes/sample data.

19 Requirement D-1 requires a flag indicating how each field value was obtained. When data is licensed from a commercial aggregator that originally sourced it from county records, should the flag reflect the prime contractor's sourcing method or the underlying data lineage from the original source?

The flag shall reflect the underlying data lineage. Data altered in any way must be indicated.

20 Is a single data dictionary acceptable for all deliveries and updated only when the schema changes, or must a complete data dictionary accompany every data file delivery, including the initial delivery within 30 days of contract award?

Per requirement D-1, "The contractor shall deliver a data dictionary or description of data fields with valid values with each delivery."

Therefore, it is REQUIRED that the data dictionary accompanies each delivery, including the inital delivery within 30 days of contract award.

21 The 48-business-hour resolution service level agreement described in Section C.3.4 references support for data delivery issues. Does this SLA apply to data quality and content inquiries as well, or only to file delivery and technical format issues?

Per Section 3.4, "The Contractor shall provide technical support for questions and/or issues relating to all aspects of the data delivered under this contract." This is not limited to delivery and technical format issues.

22 Based on historical experience with similar contracts, what is the expected volume of technical support inquiries per month, and how many Census technical points of contact are typically designated post-award?

Historically, heavier interaction occurs within the first few months following contract award and kick-off as questions and technical challendes related to delivery are resolved. Following the delivery of the first dataset, inquires per month may reduce to approximately five

(5) inquiries per month; however, this is an estimate based solely on historical information and is not to be considered as a Contractual baseline. The Census Bureau routes all inquiries through an internal

Point of Contact to ensure that any questions/issues are resolved internally prior to engaging with the Contractor.

23 Delivery Frequency: Section F.5 lists two deliverables for the Base Year (Deliverable

1 within 30 calendar days of award and Deliverable 2 by 5/1/26). Can the Census

Bureau please clarify what are the separate data needs for these two deliverables?

Refer to revised Section F.5 of Amendment - 001.

24 Interim Deliveries: Section F.5 lists an "Interim Delivery of subsets Housing Data" with the frequency "Determined after award." What is the anticipated frequency

(monthly, quarterly?) and expected volume of these subsets?

For Special Projects referenced in Section C.3.5, the due date, frequency, and volume of such Projects are unknown at this time. If a

Specific Project is later identified, a Technical Directive will be provided to the Contractor including a description of the Government's need.

25 Delivery Preference: Section F.8 lists CSV or Parquet as delivery formats , while

Section C.3.2 mentions "fixed-length ASCII". Please clarify the preferred delivery method.

CSV or Parquet is preferred as delivery formats. Fixed-length ASCII is acceptable. Use of the MFT is required for delivery.

26 Geography: Section C.2 states data is required for U.S. territories "to the extent that the information for such territories is available." Can the Census Bureau provide a list of specific priority territories beyond Puerto Rico to ensure all parties are pricing the same geographic footprint? Our working assumption is that this is likely the standard

US Territories PR, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands, please confirm or define.

The specific Priority/Standard U.S. territories beyond Puerto Rico include American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

27 Data Usage/Sharing: Section C.4.1 states that because data will be commingled, it will "in effect, become the property of the USCB." Does the Government intend to claim ownership of the underlying commercial data, or does this refer only to the derivative statistical products created by the Bureau?

The Government does not intend to claim ownership over the commercial data. However, as stated in the RFQ in Section C.4.1, the data will become commingled with other data and in effect become the property of the Census Bureau.

28 Data Usage/Sharing: per Section C.4.1 the solicitation requires the right for the

USCB to share the data with "other Federal Agencies." Is this restricted to specific research partners, or is it an open license for any federal entity?

See track changed Section C.4.1 of Amendment A001.

29 Pricing: The Government has set an NTE amount of $4,500 per period for CLIN

0002. Given the complex nature of "Special Projects" (e.g., natural disasters, new executive orders), is the $4,500 ceiling intended to cover only the initial assessment/technical directive, or is it the total budget for the actual data acquisition?

The Not-To-Exceed Ceiling of $4,500 is strictly for any unknown, additional requests outside the core data that the Government intends to procure. The Not-To-Exceed amount for CLIN 0002 serves as a base-line at time of Award. If and when the need for a Special Project is deemed necessary, the Government will work with the Contractor to assess a fair and reasonable price for the Technical Directive. Note:

The Government reserves the right not to utilize CLIN 0002. Upon the issuance of a Technical Directive and via the formal obligation of funds, CLIN 0002 will be activated.