INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATIONS.Rev1.pdf

Hurricane Maria Mortality Investigation -1333ND20QNB730038

Instructions to Offerors, Evaluation Criteria, and Basis of Award

I. Instructions to Offerors

I.1. General

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is issuing this Request for Quotation (RFQ) on behalf of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the NIST, to solicit qualified contractors for the purpose of entering into a single firm fixed price contract award for Hurricane Maria Mortality Investigation services.

This is a Request for Quotation (RFQ) 1333ND20QNB730038 for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Parts 12 and 13.5, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2020-01/12-12-2019.

This is a Firm Fixed Price Request for Quotation.

The associated NAICS code for this RFQ is 561611 with an established small business size standard is $22 M. This solicitation is competed using full and open competition.

Upon receipt of quotations, the Contracting Officer (CO) will review them to determine if each offeror submitted a quotation in accordance with submission instructions. A quotation that does not include all sections and information required may be deemed non-responsive and, thus, unacceptable at the outset of the quotation evaluation process and will not be further evaluated.

The offeror, in this case would be notified.

I.2. Questions and Inquiries

Questions and inquiries regarding this RFQ shall be submitted electronically via e-mail only to Lynda.Horton@nist.gov not later than 10:00AM Eastern Time (ET) on December 5, 2019.

The Government does not intend to respond to questions or inquiries submitted after the cutoff date identified above. The Government will collect all questions and inquiries, incorporate responses and distribute to all Offerors through an amendment to this solicitation via Fedbizopps (FBO). Beta.SAM.gov.

If further questions arise following the outcome of answers provided to initial questions, the CO has sole discretion to determine if a new question closing date will be allowed. If a new question closing date is approved notification will be posted publicly via amendment to the Beta.SAM.govFBO posting.

The offeror shall reference the RFQ number 1333ND20QNB730038 and the project title, Hurricane Maria Mortality Investigation, in the subject line on all correspondence.

A pre-quotation conference and site visit is not necessary for this type requirement and will not be held.

mailto:Lynda.Horton@nist.gov

I.3. Amendment to RFQ

The Government will provide any amendments, if applicable, to this solicitation via Beta.SAM.gov FBO with regard to this RFQ.

I.4. Submission of Quotations

Quotations are due by 4:00 PM (ET) on December 20, 2018. The CO reserves the right to modify any quotation due dates as required, via amendment. The Offeror's quotation shall be submitted in electronic format compatible with MS Office or Adobe PDF to Lynda.Horton@nist.gov.

Quotations received after the prescribed date and time will be considered late and will not evaluated.

Quotations shall conform to the instructions identified herein, and the evaluation factor submittal requirements. Furthermore, quotations shall consist of one attachment per part. Significant deviation may result in the possible exclusion of such quotations from further consideration or may be reflected in the overall evaluation of the quotation.

Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of this RFQ may result in the Offeror's quotation being removed from consideration for award. The quotation must include page numbers and be clearly and concisely written. Submission of quotations in response to this RFQ assumes the Offeror agrees to all terms and conditions unless specifically excepted in offeror's quotation.

I.5. General:

The quotation shall be submitted in electronic format, via email to Lynda.Horton@nist.gov.

To aid in evaluation, the quotation shall be clearly and concisely written as well as being neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and be assembled according to the provisions in this section. All pages of each part shall be appropriately numbered and identified with the name of the Offeror, the date, and the solicitation number (1333ND20QNB730038).

The quotation shall be typed, with one inch margins, using a fixed font, 10-12 pitch type (or equivalent), unreduced in size, on 8-1/2" by 11" paper. There is no page limit for Volumes I and III. However, Volume II Technical Volume shall not exceed 45 pages, single sided, exclusive of resumes, past performance questionnaires (if applicable), sample written reports/papers as required under Factor B, and other administrative documentation such as a one-page cover page and table of contents or list of tables/figures. Actual tables/graphics/figures are included in the page limit. Any pages in excess of 45 may be disregarded and may not be included in the quotation evaluation.

It is the responsibility of the Offeror to confirm and maintain receipt of quotation delivery date and time and ensure delivery is on time.

I.6 Overall Arrangement of Quotation:

Volume 1: Business Quotation:

(A) Volume I must include required representations, certifications, and acknowledgments of amendments; identification of technical data to be withheld; and any other administrative information.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its amendments have resulted in an increasing number of requests from outside the Government for copies of offeror qualifications and quotations submitted to Federal agencies. If an offeror's submissions contain information that they believe should be withheld from such requestors under FOIA on the grounds that they contain "trade secrets and commercial or financial information" [5 USC§552(b)(4)], the offeror shall mark its submissions in the following manner:

The following notice should be placed on the title page: "Some parts of this document, as identified on individual pages, are considered by the submitter to be privileged or confidential trade secrets or commercial or financial information not subject to mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Material considered privileged or confidential on such grounds is contained on page(s) "

Each individual item considered privileged or confidential under FOIA should be marked with the following notice: "The data or information is considered confidential or privileged, and is not subject to mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of lnformation Act".

(B) Format and Content. Volume I shall include the following:

i. The solicitation number 1333ND20QNB730038;

ii. The name, address, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of the Offeror;

iii. Names, titles, and telephone numbers of persons authorized to negotiate on the Offeror's behalf with the Government in connection with this solicitation;

iv. Name, title, and signature of person authorized to sign the quotation. Quotations signed by an agent shall be accompanied by evidence of that agent's authority, unless that evidence has been previously furnished to the issuing office;

v. Any other business or administrative information that the Offeror wishes to include in its quotation.

vi. The Dun and Bradstreet Number for the offerors active registration at the System for Award Management, (www.SAM.Gov) website. Offerors must have an active registration at www.SAM.gov to be considered for award.

If the offeror’s representations and certifications do not reflect the NAICS code governing this solicitation, offerors must submit documentation of their business size under the NAICS code governing this solicitation.

vii. Acceptance Period - The acceptance period entered on the Quotation Form by the Offeror shall not be less than 120 days http://www.sam.gov/

Volume II: Technical Quotation:

General:

(A) Volume II must consist of the Offeror’s response to the technical aspects of the acquisition. It shall indicate your organization's capabilities and the means that the Offeror intends to use to satisfy the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW), of this solicitation.

It will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria contained below, identified as Evaluation Criteria, of the solicitation and it shall be specific and complete in every detail. The quotation must be practical and be prepared simply and economically, providing straightforward, concise delineation of what it is you will do to satisfy the requirements of the SOW.

The quotation shall not merely offer to perform the work in accordance with the SOW, but shall outline the approach proposed as specifically as practicable. A quotation that includes a mere repetition of the SOW, may not be considered further for award.

In order that Volume II may be evaluated strictly on the merit of the material submitted, no cost/price information is to be included in Volume II.

(B) Format. Volume II shall include:

i. Table of Contents;

ii. List of Tables and Figures;

iii. Technical Discussion. The technical discussion section should be the major portion of Volume II. It shall include two separate parts (A and B, as structured below). Offerors shall confine information pertaining to each part to its appropriate part.

Separate Parts:

Part A: Technical Approach: The Offeror’s quotation shall demonstrate its technical approach for successful completion of the requirements. Specifically, the offeror shall:

Offerors shall:

(a) demonstrate its overall understanding of the requirements,

(b) fully describe its technical approach and demonstration of its technical ability to successfully perform the requirements identified in the Statement of Work efficiently and effectively, (e.g., technical ability to carry out research to identify deaths attributed to building and/or building system failure(s), gather data related to deaths, conduct verbal autopsies and/or clinical panels to determine attribution of deaths that occurred immediately after the storm made landfall, approach and ability to handle technical challenges associated with the required efforts, etc.)

Part B: Staffing and Key Personnel:

(a) The offeror shall describe its proposed staffing structure, clearly identifying its proposed key personnel for this effort and the project team as a whole. The offeror shall clearly describe how its team will be organized to complete the SOW requirements. For instance, a proposed team may include designated sub-teams for specific tasks, such as project management and planning, development of integrated database, data collection and review, conducting surveys, field investigation, conducting verbal autopsies and/or clinical panels, etc., initial document collection and review, and each of the auxiliary evaluation tasks listed in the SOW.

(b) The offeror shall provide resumes and/or Curriculum Vitae (CV) that include their name, current employer, relevant education, relevant capabilities and experience, and their current country of citizenship for all proposed key personnel and shall clearly demonstrate that the proposed key personnel and the project team as a whole are qualified to effectively and efficiently address requirements in accordance with the SOW. The offeror shall also demonstrate the extent to which the proposed key personnel meet or exceed the minimum qualifications for key personnel given in the SOW (Section 10-Key Personnel Minimum Qualifications).

(c) The offeror shall provide up to two (2) sample written reports or papers written by any of the required proposed key personnel. The written reports or papers shall demonstrate relevancy to the overall technical methodologies identified in the SOW, and relevancy does not explicitly pertain to methodologies used in disaster relief situations. Relevancy is defined, within this factor, as the offeror’s ability to execute adequate technical methodologies, relevant or similar to those identified within the SOW, under any given situation and its ability to adequately, concisely, and clearly communicate findings and results to the appropriate audience.

(d) If additional Key Personnel are proposed outside of those key personnel identified in the SOW, the contractor shall identify the personnel, labor category, and detailed position description.

Position descriptions must include functional responsibilities, minimum years of experience, minimum educational/degree requirements, and any applicable training or certification requirements. If it is the firm's standard commercial practice to substitute experience for education, explain the methodology in the technical quotation narrative (e.g., five years' experience equates to a BA/BS degree).

(e) identify the number of labor hours proposed for each labor category and thoroughly describe the rationale for the proposed labor mix.

Volume III - Price Quotation

Factor C: Price:

The offeror’s standard pricing form may be utilized and submitted as the cover sheet (or first page) of Volume III.

ALL AMENDMENTS TO THE SOLICITATION MUST BE ACKNOWLEDGED within the offerors pricing quotation.

The Offeror shall submit the following as part of Volume III, Price Quotation:

A firm fixed price quotation is required for CLINS 0001, 0002, and Option CLIN 1001, in the SOW. Although CLINS 0001 and 1001 must identify a lump sum, the price quote must also include a breakout of the proposed labor hours by labor category, rates, and tasks.

For Travel and ODCS: (CLIN 0002): All offerors shall propose a Not to Exceed cost of $90,000.00.

The offeror shall detail any anticipated travel. Anticipated travel, and local transportation shall be supported with a breakdown which includes: number of trips anticipated, cost-per-trip-per-person, destination(s) proposed, number of person(s) scheduled for travel, mode of transportation, and mileage allowances if privately-owned vehicles will be used.

Pricing shall be submitted considering all requirements of the Statement of Work.

Additionally, for each of CLINs 0001 and 1001 the offeror shall propose a payment schedule for the order under which payments are tied to the deliverables in the “Deliverables” section of the SOW, to the maximum extent practicable.

The purpose of this supporting information is to demonstrate the derivation of the firm fixed price proposed for each CLIN.

Price quotations shall be entirely compatible with the proposed approach, strategies, and staffing.

The Government reserves the right to ask for any additional price related information from the offeror in order to determine a price fair and reasonable.

The Service Contract Act does not cover bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees. If Contractor employees performing under this requirement fall within this exemption, offerors must state the applicable exemption. Reference Fact Sheet 17a at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17a overview.pdf (End of clause)

II. Evaluation of Quotations:

Initial Evaluation of Quotations:

All quotations received will be evaluated in accordance with the stated evaluation factors. The Contracting Officer intends to make an award without the request of revised quotations, based solely upon initial quotations. However, the Government reserves the right to request revised quotations if deemed to be in the best interest of the Government. Therefore, offerors should ensure that their initial quotation constitutes their best offer in terms of both price and the technical solution being proposed.

III. Evaluation Criteria:

The Government intends to award a Single Award.

Award will be made to the offeror whose quotation conforms to the solicitation requirements; who are determined to be responsible in accordance with the FAR by possessing the financial and other capabilities to fulfill the requirements of the contract; and provides the overall best value to the Government, cost/price and other factors considered.

The Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the lowest-priced offeror(s) or to the offeror(s) with the highest technical rating if the contracting officer determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government.

Each quotation will be evaluated against the factors described below. An offeror’s failure to address any factor may be considered indicative of the offeror’s lack of understanding of the Government's requirements and may result in the offer being determined unacceptable.

IV. Quotations will be evaluated based on the factors identified below:

In determining best value, non-price Parts A and B, when combined, shall be more important than price.

The Non-Price factors (Parts A and B) listed below are listed in ascending order of importance.

Part A; Technical Approach Part B: Staffing and Key Personnel

The factors that will be considered in evaluating the quotation have been tailored to this acquisition and include only those factors that will have an impact on the selection decision.

Evaluation Factors:

Part A: Technical Approach:

The government will evaluate, the extent to which the Offeror’s Technical Approach for all CLINs, demonstrates the following (which are not explicit subfactors):

(a) an overall technical understanding of the requirements;

(b) a successful and sound technical approach and ability to perform the requirements identified in the SOW efficiently and effectively, (e.g., technical ability to carry out research to identify deaths attributed to building and/or building system failure(s), gather data related to deaths, conduct verbal autopsies and/or clinical panels to determine attribution of deaths that occurred immediately after the storm made landfall, approach and ability to handle technical challenges associated with the required efforts, etc.).

Part B: Staffing and Key Personnel

(a) The Government will evaluate the proposed staffing structure and organization approach for effectiveness and soundness to ensure appropriate staff are hired or retained and placed in the appropriate team(s) to successfully provide the tasks identified in the SOW;

(b) The Government will evaluate the project team key personnel proposed by the offeror and the extent to which the resumes and/or CV’s submitted for these key personnel demonstrate that the proposed individuals, and the project team as a whole, demonstrated compliance with and possess appropriate and required education, qualifications, and experience to efficiently and effectively address requirements in accordance with the SOW;

(c) The Government will evaluate the sample written reports or papers to the extent the papers or written reports demonstrate the offeror’s ability to execute adequate technical methodologies, relevant or similar to those identified within the SOW, under any given situation and its ability to adequately, concisely, and clearly communicate findings and results to the appropriate audience;

(d) The Government will evaluate the described skills and experience required for each additional proposed Key Personnel (outside of the required Key Personnel) and labor category (if applicable). In addition, will be evaluated to determine the extent to which they have performed work similar to the current requirement; and the extent to which their education, training, qualifications and experience indicate that they will successfully perform the roles for which they are proposed, and appropriate for the services required;

(e) The government will evaluate the rationale for the proposed number of labor hours proposed for each labor category for reasonableness and appropriateness and the extent to which its rationale for the proposed labor mix indicates the offeror will perform the order efficiently and effectively.

Part C: Price:

(a) The Government will evaluate the offeror's proposed rates and prices to determine whether they are fair, and reasonable, and the realism of the mix of labor categories and hours proposed.

Proposed prices/labor rates must be entirely compatible with the technical quotation and minimum technical levels.