B08_SOL_-_Attachment_7_-_Pre-Solicitation_Q_A_Responses_Amend_001_0001.xlsx
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- 140D0423R0055
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Sheet1
| 140D0423R0055 |
| HHS ACL IDIQ |
| Attachment 2 - Q&A Responses |
| Q# | Document | Page | Section | Question | Government Response | |
| 1 | Draft Solicitation | 1 | Basic IDIQ Information | Can you please confirm that the government plans to awards contracts with only three organizations per functional area? | That is the intent, however the Government reserves the right to award more than three at their discretion. Functional Area Six (6) will be included in all Small Businesses who receive an award under FA 1 - 5, which is expected to exceed the three (3). | |
| 2 | Draft Solicitation | 3 | Basic IDIQ Information | States the ceiling value is $75M, are there projects or funding designated for this IDIQ? It looks like the spend in 2021 and 2022 has been around $3M/year for ACL. Has the increase in funding/projects already been budgeted? | This information is unknown and not necessary for submission of proposals. | |
| 3 | Draft Solicitation | 3 | Basic IDIQ Information | Does the government plan to issue a sample task order (TO) for one or more functional areas in the final RFP? | We have provided an Attachment that illustrates what a potential task order under each functional area may look like. This is not intended to represent the entirety of a functional area and there are no submission or evaluation requirements associated with this attachment. | |
| 4 | Draft Solicitation | 7 | Section 1.14 IDIQ Contract Manager | Does the IDIQ Contract Manager have to be part of the key personnel? | Yes, however the solicitation has been updated to reflect that this information is not due to the CO until 15 days ARO of the IDIQ award. | |
| 5 | Draft Solicitation | 7 | Maximum Contract Value | Will the government be providing hours and labor categories? | Possible labor categories will be provided within the IDIQ Pricing Sheet (Attachment 3), however offerors may provide additional labor categories at the task order level if not originally priced. | |
| 6 | Draft Solicitation | 7 | General Contract Terms and Conditions, Section 1.14 | The government identifies the IDIQ Contract Manager as a "key person" and refers to an alternate that "shall have full authority to act for the contractor…" | ||
| Question: Does the government require both an IDIQ Contract Manager and an Assistant IDIQ Contract Manager proposed as Key Personnel? | No proposed key personnel are required at the IDIQ level. Once award is made, Contractors are required to submit the applicable information within 15 days. | |||||
| 7 | Draft Solicitation | 7 | 1.14 IDIQ Contract Manager | In what Volume shall the contractor detail their authorized IDIQ Contract Manager? | The IDIQ Contract Manager information is not required until 15 days after receipt of award. The solicitation has been updated to reflect. | |
| 8 | Draft Solicitation | 7 | 1.13 Personnel Requirements | Please confirm that contractors are not expected to submit resumes/CVs, staffing bios, or any information to validate the staff being bid for each FA | No resumes are required or will be accepted/evaluated at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. | |
| 9 | Draft Solicitation | 7 | 1.14 IDIQ Contract Manager | The draft solicitation states that the contractor's IDIQ Manager shall be designated as a key person. Where in the response should this person be named, since Vol. II does not include a personnel section? | No proposed key personnel are required at the IDIQ level. Once award is made, Contractors are required to submit the applicable information within 15 days. | |
| 10 | Draft Solicitation | 26 | 1.27: FAR 52.216-19 | This section states that the contractor is not obligated to honor any order for a single item in excess of $5M. Does that mean that ACL will not fund any task orders over $5M under this IDIQ? | It does not mean that ACL will not fund any task orders over $5M; however, it is our expectations most or all task orders will be under this amount. | |
| 11 | Draft Solicitation | 35 | 1.28 Documents, Exhibits, and attachments | Can the government please provide Attachment 3 with the question responses (prior to release of the final RFP)? | It will be provided as soon as available. | |
| 12 | Draft Solicitation | 35 | 1.28 Documents, Exhibits, and attachments | Will the government provide labor category descriptions in Attachment 3? | The Government has updated the SOW to provide labor category descriptions. These are not all encompassing, but provide a brief overview of the labor categories. | |
| 13 | Draft Solicitation | 36 | I.29 | Section AQD Evaluations Options Provision, states that "the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic award.... The agency’s price evaluation will mathematically document the calculation of adding the six months of services for the option to extend services to the total contract price in the award summary." In order to ensure all offerors are consistently evaluated, can the government provide the baseline hours and/or LCATs they will use to conduct the mathematical calculation for the agency’s price evaluation? | The agencies price evaluation will include a price analysis of the proposed labor rates for each of the labor categories. The evaluation will include review of pricing that would be associated with the Extension of Services provided under 52.217-8. There will be no calculation/adding. | |
| 14 | Draft Solicitation | 40 | I.29 E | Section "HSAR provision 352.239-73, Electronic and Information technology Accessibility Notice | ||
| (Dec 2015)" states, "In order to facilitate the Government's determination whether proposed EIT supplies meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, offerors must submit an HHS Section 508 Product Assessment Template, in accordance with its completion instructions." Can the government confirm that a 508 PAT is required and that it may be submitted as a separate appendix? | 508 PAT is not required with the IDIQ proposal submission. Where it is applicable at the task order level, there will be submission requirements with the Task Order Request for Proposal. | |||||
| 15 | Draft Solicitation | 41 | PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS | Will there be any sample or funded task orders to bid on as part of the IDIQ solicitation? | There will not be any sample or seed task orders issued with the solicitation. | |
| 16 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions and C0nditions | Are both the Small Business Participation Plan and the Small Business Subcontracting Plan to be included within the 10-page limit for Volume III? | This has been revised within the solicitation to reflect no page limit. | |
| 17 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions and Conditions | Given that Past Performance is integrated into the Technical volume, is the government willing to expand the page limit for Volume II from 16 pages to 20 pages? The additional pages will allow offerors to provide greater specificity and details which would eliminate the need for further clarifications from the offeror, saving time and resources that could be dedicated to the government's evaluation process. | The Government believes 16 pages is adequate to provide required past performance information that only require no more than five (5) past performance projects. Note that this 16 pages does not include PPQs or CPARS. | |
| 18 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions and Conditions | Given that the Small Business Participation Plan and Small Business Subcontracting Plan have been combined into a single Volume, and it includes all Small Business subcontractors across all functional areas, will the government extend the page limit to 20 pages for the full Volume III? | This has been revised within the solicitation to reflect no page limit. | |
| 19 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions and Conditions | The draft solicitation notes that "each page shall be 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper except for Volume II - Pricing completed in Microsoft Excel. Can the government please confirm that this should read "Volume IV-Price" and Volumes 1-3 should be in Microsoft Word or PDF? | You are correct. The solicitation has been revised to reflect Volume IV as Price. | |
| 20 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | Proposal Preparation Instructions, 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions and Conditions | Are resumes excluded from the page limit for Volume II? Should resumes be included in the Appendix of Volume II? | No resumes are required or will be accepted/evaluated at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. | |
| 21 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions and Conditions | Since there is no page limit for Volume I, please confirm if vendors are able to include additional content besides what is required within the Draft Solicitation. | Unsure of what other content would be included, however the Government will only evaluate the requirements set forth within the solicitation. The remaining "content" will not be evaluated. | |
| 22 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS, Section 1.1: Solicitation Response Instructions and Conditions | The proposal instructions seem to indicate that proposals should only include an explanation of relevant past experience and NOT a "technical approach" response to particular tasks and activities described in the SOW (as is typical for many of these kinds of proposals). Can the government confirm that this understanding is correct? | Past performance is the only factor being evaluated for this requirement but should reflect previous experience in the functional area and subject matter. | |
| 23 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | Volume I - Introductory: g. Assumptions, Conditions, and Exceptions | Does the GSA schedule/labor rate support go into Volume I as an assumption? | Inclusion of the GSA schedule/labor rates are not required. | |
| 24 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions | The table on page 42 states that the page limit for Volume II - Technical Experience/Past Performance excludes PPQs and CPARS documents. Should these documents be put in an appendix? | They can be included in the submission but will not count towards the maximum allotted page value. | |
| 25 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.1 Solicitation Response Instructions | Resumes are not listed anywhere in the instructions. Is the government interested in reviewing resumes for proposed staff with relevant expertise and if so, is it acceptable to include an appendix to Volume II for resumes? | No resumes are required at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. | |
| 26 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | 1.3 Submission Details, Volume II | Instructions for Volume II state that Offerors should provide a Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) or CPAR, in conjunction with the technical experience submission. Can the government confirm that just one PPQ or CPAR is required per Functional Area? | A PPQ or CPARS is required for every past performance submission (3-5 total submissions) for each functional areas submitted. If an offeror does not have a CPARS, a PPQ is required for that past performance submission. | |
| 27 | Draft Solicitation | 42 | PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS | Will the page limit depend on the number of functional areas we apply for? | The page limits are for each submission. If you are submitting against two functional areas, you are afforded 16 pages for your first functional areas submission and 16 pages for your second functional area submission. | |
| 28 | Draft Solicitation | 43 | PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS, Section 1.3: Submission Details | Would a small business be able to be on two different teams for the same functional area? | Yes, a small business may be a subcontractor for multiple Prime contractors as long as the relationship is meaningful. | |
| 29 | Draft Solicitation | 43 | PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS, Section 1.3: Submission Details | Would a small business be able to prepare two different proposals, one as a prime and another as a sub? | A small business may submit a proposal as the offeror/prime. This does not prevent other offerors from including the small business as a subcontractor in their submissions as long as the solicitation requirements (i.e. meaningful involvement, at least two projects completed by the prime, etc.) | |
| 30 | Draft Solicitation | 43 | PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS, Section 1.3: Submission Details | Would the Government be okay with the following: For FA1, Company X primes and Company Y subs in a joint proposal; For FA2, Company Y primes and Company X subs in a joint proposal. And if this is acceptable, should these be two completely separate proposals (i.e., two of each for Volume I, II, III, and IV) or should we submit two Volume IIs and just one of each for Volumes I, III, and IV? | It is acceptable for a Prime to subcontract for other companies. In the scenario presented, both companies would have to provide their specific proposal as the Prime with all required volumes for the functional areas they are submitting against. | |
| 31 | Draft Solicitation | 43 | 1.3 Submission Details | Can the government clarify in the instructions if a business narrative can be submitted with the pricing excel file and if so, provide the requirements for the business narrative? | A business narrative is not requested and will not be evaluated. | |
| 32 | Draft Solicitation | 43 | 1.3 Submission Details | Can the government confirm that contractors should submit only one IDIQ pricing sheet/Business Volume regardless of how many technical responses they submit. | It is our experience that the Labor rates do not vary between Functional Areas; therefore, only one Pricing Sheet is required. If Pricing varies between functional areas, multiple price sheets are required. | |
| 33 | Draft Solicitation | 44 | Volume I - Introductory, Section 1.3 Submission Details, Item "f" | The government states " Assumptions, Conditions and Exceptions. The Offeror shall submit a separate statement that states all (if any) assumptions, conditions, or exceptions with any of the contractual, technical, and/or cost/price terms and conditions of this RFP. If no assumptions, conditions, or exceptions exist, then a statement should be made stating this." | ||
| Question: Should the offeror include Pricing Assumptions in both Volume I/Introductory and in Volume IV/Pricing? If so, is it acceptable to provide specific pricing references in Volume I/Assumptions? | All pricing to include assumptions, conditions and exceptions may only be included within Volume IV - Price. There is a summary tab within Attachment 3 - IDIQ Pricing Sheet, that provides a space for a summary that can include any of this pertinent information. | |||||
| 34 | Draft Solicitation | 44 | Volume I. Introductory | Please confirm that contractors who have completed their reps and certs in sam.gov must only submit a completed Section B to be compliant with Section H Volume I | That is correct. | |
| 35 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan and Subcontracting Plan | To confirm, Offerors other than small business, shall submit both a Small Business Subcontracting Plan and Small Business Participation Plan at the IDIQ stage. | That is correct. | |
| 36 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan and Subcontracting Plan | Concerning the Small Business Participation Plan, beyond the listed requirements on Page 45 (1-3), is there a suggested format? | No required format for the Small Business Participation Plan; however, the Small Business Subcontracting Plan must meet the requirements of FAR 52.219-9. | |
| 37 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume IV – IDIQ Price | Should this Volume be submitted in two parts, one containing the Summary Statement in PDF, and one containing the pricing sheet in excel, as noted on page 40, instructional information? | A pricing summary tab has been added to the IDIQ Pricing sheet to allow for a Summary Statement to be included and the verbiage within the solicitation instructions has been revised. | |
| 38 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | The draft solicitation asks bidders to identify 3-5 previous or current examples of past performance "within the last three (3) years." Can the government please confirm that this list can include projects which were completed at any time in 2020? | The Government has updated the solicitation to reflect that all past performance submissions must be conducted within the last five (5) years which means projects completed must not be more than five years past the date of proposal submission. | |
| 39 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume II - Technical Experience/Past Performance | Does the government require a Technical Approach presented in Volume II in addition to the Past Performance submissions? | There is no technical submission requirement at the IDIQ level. | |
| 40 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume II - Technical Experience/Past Performance | If a Technical Approach is required, will the government provide an outline and Evaluation Criteria for this additional section? | There is no technical submission requirement at the IDIQ level. | |
| 41 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume II. Technical Experience / Past Performance | Please confirm if contractors can submit a past performance that has at least one year completed but is in progress | All past performance submissions must be at least 50% completed as of the date of proposal submission to be considered/evaluated. | |
| 42 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Instructions to Offerors - Volume III | Does ACL expect the offeror to include resumes/CVs for the named staff who will work on task orders under the IDIQ? And if so, should we assume that those CVs do not count against the 16-page limit for each FA? | No resumes are required at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. | |
| 43 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Instructions to Offerors - Volume III | Does ACL expect the offer to include short biographies of the named staff who work on task orders under the IDIQ? And if so, would those count against the 16-page limit? | No resumes are required at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. | |
| 44 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details, Volume II | The draft solicitation requests three (3) to five (5) previous or current contracts or grants/cooperative agreements (within the last three (3) years). To enable us to better demonstrate the breadth of our capabilities, can we include contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements that are current or ended within the last five (5) years? | The Government has updated the solicitation to reflect that all past performance submissions must be conducted within the last five (5) years which means projects completed must not be more than five years past the date of proposal submission. | |
| 45 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | Can offerors use Past Performance References (PPRs)/PPQs from partners/subcontractors? | Per the solicitation: Offeror shall identify three (3) to five (5) previous or current contracts or grants/cooperative agreements (within the last three (3) years) that best demonstrate the offeror’s past performance on projects similar to the tasks in the SOW that relate to the FA. At least two (2) of the previous contracts or grants/cooperative agreements must be for projects completed by the offeror. The offeror may utilize past performance for subcontractors for the remaining one (1) to three (3) contracts/grants/cooperative agreements provided the offeror or other affiliated company will have involvement in the acquisition and the involvement is meaningful. The offeror must describe the involvement such company will have on/in the acquisition. The past performance submission should clearly indicate how the resources of the subcontractor or other affiliate company – its workforce, management, facilities, or other resources – will be provided or relied upon for contract performance. The relevant portion of the rating included in the past performance evaluation will include an evaluation of this relationship. | ||||
| 46 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | Will the government consider favorably PPR submissions that highlight strong FA-relevant work performed by our existing staff prior to joining our firm? | |||||
| Offerors may submit FA-relevant projects performed by existing staff; however, this will not be considered as favorable over past performance projects that are submitted for prime contractors (offerors). If submitting FA-relevant work performed by existing staff, the Government will evaluate whether the individual has meaningful involvement. As a reminder, at least two projects must be from the prime/offeror. | ||||||
| 47 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | The solicitation notes that PPRs/PPQs may be provided for contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. May PPRs/PPQs be provided for non-federal projects performed for commercial or non-profit clients (assuming a PPQ would be available)? | Yes, however since CPARS will not be available, a PPQ will be required. | ||||
| 48 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | Will the government consider Past Performance References/PPQs from non-profit entities for directly relevant FA work performed as part of its operating mission (e.g., logistics to coordinate and host a national conference for its internal members and volunteers as opposed to performing those logistics functions for donors or funding clients)? | Yes, however since CPARS will not be available, a PPQ will be required. | ||||
| 49 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | In addition to the 3-5 PPRs/PPQs allowed under the instructions, may offerors include brief, high-level information on other relevant expertise and experience of our staff and/or intended partners'/subcontractors' in our introduction to Volume II? If so, can this include relevant work outside the 3 year recency time limit? | The solicitation has been updated to reflect past performance up to five years from the date of proposal submission. The past performance submission has a 16 page limit which should provide adequate space for a high-level overview of experience and expertise. | ||||
| 50 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | If one PPR is being used for multiple Functional Areas, should offerors request a separate PPQ from the COR for each Functional Area? In some cases, this may mean that one COR/evaluator is providing 5 separate PPQs for the same project. | A single PPQ for a specific reference is acceptable, however it should be included in each FA submission since there will be multiple evaluation teams. | ||||
| 51 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | While the draft solicitation says that "Completed PPQ forms should be submitted with your proposal. The PPQ does not have to be sent directly from the client." (page 45) and that completed questionnaires may be sent directly to Stephanie Gibbs and Stephanie McCullough at the client's request (page 46), the draft PPQ form itself indicates that they should be submitted directly to Stephanie McCullough via email (presumably by the COR/evaluator). |
Can you please clarify whether the government prefers to have PPQs submitted directly from the client or included as part of Volume II?
| Please note that the option for the offeror to collect PPQs directly from evaluators and submit them with the proposal also seems to contradict the statement on page 46 that "At no time during this process... will the names of individuals providing reference information about an offeror’s past performance be revealed to the offerors or to any other party." | There is not a preference. They can be sent with your submission or directly to the Government. It is at the PPQ respondent's discretion and their preference. | |||||
| 52 | Draft Solicitation | 45 | Volume IV-IDIQ (2) Pricing Sheet | The solicitation notes that "All hourly rates shall be fully burdened rates and shall include the maximum rate that will be charged per labor category for the duration of the five (5) year IDIQ ordering period plus the possible TO options for a total of eight (8) years." Can the government please confirm we are expected to use the same fully burdened rate for all 5 years and possibly 8 years for any TO options or will the contractor be able to add escalation each year in the pricing worksheet? | The pricing sheet requests fully burdened labor rates to be filled in throughout the total of eight (8) years which allows for escalation. | |
| 53 | Draft Solicitation | 46 | Volume III Small Business Participation Plan and Subcontracting Plan | if you are a certified small business do you need to validate that within Volume III? | Per the solicitation: Small business offerors self-certified in sam.gov do not need to submit any documentation supporting this evaluation factor. | |
| 54 | Draft Solicitation | 46 | Instructions to Offerors - Volume III | Can you please confirm that small businesses self-certified in SAM.gov should not submit a Volume III at all? | Per the solicitation, Small business offerors self-certified in sam.gov do not need to submit any documentation supporting this evaluation factor. | |
| 55 | Draft Solicitation | 46 | 1.3 Submission Details. | |||
| Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | The solicitation notes that, when CPARS assessments are available, "[o]offerors may include a copy of the official performance assessment; however this is not mandatory." Does the government have a preference for the inclusion or exclusion of copies of the CPARS assessments? | We prefer it be included; however, if it is not we will pull from the system. | ||||
| 56 | Draft Solicitation | 47 | Instructions to Offerors - Volume IV | The draft solicitation refers to a "provided IDIQ pricing sheet (Attachment 3)." Can you please provide this sheet? | It will be provided with the solicitation. | |
| 57 | Draft Solicitation | 47 | Instructions to Offerors - Volume IV | Can you please clarify if the fully burdened rates in the Pricing Sheet should specify an annual escalation rate over the five year IDIQ ordering period, or if we should provide one set of hourly rates for the entire period? | The spreadsheet allows for yearly escalation rates over a total of eight (8) years. | |
| 58 | Draft Solicitation | 47 | Volume IV - IDIQ Price | Can the government confirm that offerors may utilize their GSA schedule rates for pricing | Offerors may propose GSA schedule rates if they believe they are appropriate. A price analysis will be conducted, as stated in the solicitation. | |
| 59 | Draft Solicitation | 47 | Volume IV - IDIQ Price | The IDIQ Pricing Sheet (Attachment 3) was not included in the solicitation documents. Can the government provide the Attachment? confirm that | Upon release of the solicitation, the pricing attachment will be included. | |
| 60 | Draft Solicitation | 47 | Volume IV - IDIQ Price | In order to provide for consistent assessment across offerors, could the government include expected IDIQ labor category (LCAT) descriptions as part of the IDIQ Pricing Sheet (Attachment 3). | Yes, labor category descriptions will be included with the Solicitation. | |
| 61 | Draft Solicitation | 47 | EVALUATION FACTOR FOR AWARD | Will small businesses automatically receive the highest possible rating on small business participation criteria? Or will small businesses benefit from engaging additional small business partners? | Small Business Subcontracting Plans and Participation Plans are evaluated on an acceptable/unacceptable basis. Small business offerors self-certified in sam.gov do not need to submit any documentation supporting this evaluation factor. | |
| 62 | Draft Solicitation | 48 | Basis for Contract Award | States the Government anticipates awarding 3 IDIQ contracts per FA, but reserves the right to award up to five. That means there could be upto 15-25 awardees, on an IDIQ with a ceiling of $75M over 8 years, considering TOs can run 3 years after IDIQ expiration. The potential is less then $10M/year across 15-25 companies/teams. Would the government consider going single-award otherwise there may be limited companies interested in responding to the RFP. | Thank you for the recommendation, the Government does not wish to consider a single award and have sufficient interest based on the current intent. | |
| 63 | Draft Solicitation | 50 | 1.2 Evaluation Criteria, Volume II - Technical Experience/Past Performance | The government states, "The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s demonstrated capabilities and experience to successfully perform the scope of work in the IDIQ based on the recent/relevant project submissions." |
Question: Can the government confirm that the Evaluation criteria presented for Volume II refer only to experience/capabilities included in "recent/relevant project submissions?"
| Per the solicitation: Quality Assessment: The Government reserves the right to use any information obtained from the Offeror’s Past Performance references and any information obtained from other sources available to the Government, to include, but not limited to; CPARS, PPQ, FAPIIS, eSRS, or other databases; interviews with Program/Project Managers, Contracting Officers or their representatives, or other Government or commercial sources personnel to establish the quality of the Offeror’s past performance. The Government will review all past performance information collected and determine the quality of the offeror’s performance, history of successful completion of projects; history of producing high quality reports and other deliverables; history of staying on schedule and within budget, general trends, and usefulness of the information and incorporate these into the evaluation rating. | ||||||
| 64 | Draft Solicitation | 51 | 1.2 Evaluation Criteria, Volume II - Technical Experience/Past Performance | The Government states, "The Government will review the information to evaluate the extent and relevance of the offeror’s experience in order to determine how well they demonstrate the Offeror’s capability to successfully perform the requirements included in the solicitation for the FA to which the proposal applies, inclusive of the subject matter areas of focus for the Administration for Community Living. The Government will evaluate how well the Offeror demonstrates company experience providing services similar to those necessary to complete TOs issued under the IDIQ." | ||
| Question: Could the government confirm that "subject matter areas of focus" refers to the Administrations, Centers, and Offices listed in Section 1 of the draft SOW (B08_SOL_-_Attachment_1_-_IDIQ_SOW_Draft_1)? | That is correct. | |||||
| 65 | Draft Solicitation | 52 | Vol III Evaluation Criteria | The evaluation criteria for small business participation states: "For the purpose of this evaluation, total contract value shall be $10 Million." However, the only cost information required in the submission is IDIQ labor rates. How would the offeror demonstrate that $10M will go to small businesses on the IDIQ team with no cost budget requirements? | The solicitation has been updated to reflect a "contract value" of $5 Million. Understand there is no specific requirement to tie the dollar value to; however, these are requirements that must be evaluated. Offerors should estimate the percentage of work they intend to provide to the different socio-economic concerns based on the types of work illustrated in the Statement of Work and then calculate the dollar value based on your percentage and the dollar value we have instructed offerors to assume. | |
| 66 | Draft Solicitation | 53 | Volume IV - Price | Is there a daily rate cap for consultant fees? | There is no daily rate cap for consultant fees; however, all pricing will have to be determined fair and reasonable. This is expected to be accomplished based on responses received to the Solicitation (both with the IDIQ and task orders). | |
| 67 | Draft Solicitation | 54 | 1.2 EVALUATION CRITERIA, Volume IV | Can the government share what the percentage rate outside of the minimum/maximum acceptable rate that will be deemed reasonable? | The Government does not have established minimum/maximum rates. It is intended that the price analysis will include comparison with other competitive pricing received; however, other price analysis techniques may be utilized. | |
| 68 | Draft Solicitation | 4-5 | Place of Performance | In the event that a corporation has a formal telework policy in place, and it is documented in the TORFP submission, will the government consider a waiver of obtaining COR and Project Management consent? Also in light of the fact that today's global workforce is standard practice for most corporations the associated labor rates may already include cost reductions that are passed on to the government. We request that the government consider discount for work that may be performed by teleworkers in lieu of a government site bill rate. | This has been revised within the solicitation to remove COR/PM consent requirements. | |
| 69 | Draft Solicitation | 45-46 | Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | Can the government please confirm that CPARS or PPQs should be attached in an Appendix for each Volume II Functional Area application submitted? | Each functional area will have its own evaluation team. As such, all required documents must be submitted with the applicable functional area submission. If there is a PPQ being used for multiple functional areas, it must be included in each submission. All CPARS and PPQs are not counted within the page limits. | |
| 70 | Draft Solicitation | 45-46 | Volume II – Technical Experience/Past Performance | Will the government allow an appendix of resumes that will not count against the page limit for each Volume II Functional Area? The resume appendix will allow offerors to provide greater details about technical expertise which would eliminate the need for further clarifications from the offeror, saving time and resources that could be dedicated to the government's evaluation process. | No resumes are required or will be accepted/evaluated at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. | |
| 71 | Draft Solicitation | 46-47 | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan and Subcontracting Plan | Regarding the Small Business Participation Plan: We assume that the specific small businesses that would be engaged as subcontractors would be dependent upon the nature of specific Task Orders (TOs) to be released. Will ACL will hold awardees to their Small Business Participation Plan, or is an understanding that the specific small business an awardee may engage may change dependent on the needs of specific TOs? | That is correct, small business subcontractors utilized during performance are expected to be dependent upon the nature of the individual task orders. | |
| 72 | Draft Solicitation | Is this a new procurement or a renewal? Is there an incumbent on this contract? If so, will the government provide the incumbent name, current contract number, duration, historical level of effort, and value of the contract. Also, is the incumbent eligible to bid on this project? | This is a new requirement and does not have an incumbent. | |||
| 73 | Draft Solicitation | Will the government accept and evaluate past performance(s) from commercial clients? | Yes, however since CPARS will not be available, a PPQ will be required. | |||
| 74 | Draft Solicitation | After contract award, is the prime allowed to submit changes to the subcontractors used for task orders? | It is expected that contractor will have letters of commitments or teaming arrangements with subcontractors that are identified in the proposal/utilized to demonstrate past performance; however, it is expected that additional subcontractors will be utilized during performance based on specific task order requirements. | |||
| 75 | Draft Solicitation | If the vendor establishes a Prime /Subcontractor relationship - would the prime be able to use Past performance from the subcontractor? | Per the solicitation: The offeror may utilize past performance for subcontractors for the remaining one (1) to three (3) contracts/grants/cooperative agreements provided the offeror or other affiliated company will have involvement in the acquisition and the involvement is meaningful. The offeror must describe the involvement such company will have on/in the acquisition. The past performance submission should clearly indicate how the resources of the subcontractor or other affiliate company – its workforce, management, facilities, or other resources – will be provided or relied upon for contract performance. The relevant portion of the rating included in the past performance evaluation will include an evaluation of this relationship. | |||
| 76 | Draft Solicitation | 3 | Pricing: Does the government expect the pricing to include 3 rates per labor category? | Yes. There is a Senior, Mid and Junior rate requested for each labor category based on education and experience detailed within the IDIQ SOW. | ||
| 77 | Draft Solicitation | Does the Government anticipate releasing sample Task Orders as a part of the final solicitation? | We have provided an Attachment that illustrates what a potential task order under each functional area may look like. This is not intended to represent the entirety of a functional area and there are no submission or evaluation requirements associated with this attachment. | |||
| 78 | Draft Solicitation | Assuming letters of commitment do not count against the page limit, would the Government prefer to have them within the technical volume or in a separate appendix? | Letters of Commitment and Teaming Arrangements are not included in the past performance page limits but should be included with the Volume II submission. | |||
| 79 | Draft Solicitation | In light of the varying potential task order types, which not every contractor may be prepared to pursue, can the Government please confirm that proposal requirements at the IDIQ level will not restrict competition and require every offeror to be able to pursue all potential task order types (e.g., any T&M-related requirements shall only apply at the task order level to T&M task orders)? | Task Order Request For Proposals (TORFP) will only be submitted for competition among the offerors awarded a contract within the specific functional area, regardless of task order type. | |||
| 80 | Draft Solicitation | Is this Solicitation replacing the previous AoA IDIQ RFI? (https://sam.gov/opp/e2aad7ad6803424da091acfe7927b568/view) | Yes, this solicitation is based on the original RFI. | |||
| 81 | Draft Solicitation | Would the listing of key personnel and resumes be included in technical narrative, Volume II? | Key personnel/resumes are not required at the IDIQ level. | |||
| 82 | Draft Solicitation | Once awards are made for the IDIQ, are awardees allowed to team with other subcontractors or consultants not part of the IDIQ bid on task orders that are released under functional areas? | Yes, it is expected that the subcontractors included with the proposal and others will be involved with performance of task orders. | |||
| 83 | Draft Solicitation | Does the Government plan to set aside awards for small businesses on the functional areas that are full and open? | Only the initial set-aside for the referenced functional areas will be conducted. Once the functional areas awardees are selected, all TORFP will be issued against all functional area awarded offerors without additional set-asides being conducted. | |||
| 84 | Draft Solicitation | If we clearly specify the alignment of partners for each functional area we are applying to, can we still submit one proposal as outlined in the draft solicitation, with submitting different technical volumes, and being able to submit one volume for the other requirements (e.g., introduction, price, etc.)? | See Solicitation Page 44 - 45. For example, if an offeror is applying to one FA (X), their submission should consist of: |
| - | Volume I – Introductory |
| - | Volume II – Past Performance FA X |
| - | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan/Small Business Subcontracting Plan |
| - | Volume IV – Price – IDIQ Pricing Sheet |
For example, if an offeror is applying for two or more of the FAs (X and Y), their submission should consist of a volume II for each FA:
| - | Volume I – Introductory |
| - | Volume II – Past Performance FA X |
| - | Volume II – Past Performance FA Y |
| - | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan/Small Business Subcontracting Plan |
| - | Volume IV – Price – IDIQ Pricing Sheet |
85 Draft Solicitation If an organization is applying for multiple functional areas, but have different teaming partners per functional area, can the proposal still be one document? Or are separate Volumes I, III, and IV required? See Solicitation Page 44 - 45. For example, if an offeror is applying to one FA (X), their submission should consist of:
| - | Volume I – Introductory |
| - | Volume II – Past Performance FA X |
| - | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan/Small Business Subcontracting Plan |
| - | Volume IV – Price – IDIQ Pricing Sheet |
For example, if an offeror is applying for two or more of the FAs (X and Y), their submission should consist of a volume II for each FA:
| - | Volume I – Introductory |
| - | Volume II – Past Performance FA X |
| - | Volume II – Past Performance FA Y |
| - | Volume III – Small Business Participation Plan/Small Business Subcontracting Plan |
| - | Volume IV – Price – IDIQ Pricing Sheet |
| 86 | Draft Solicitation, IDIQ SOW Draft | 3, 18 | Functional Area 2 title | Can the government please clarify whether the name of Functional Area 2 is "Statistical Projects" (as identified in the Draft Solicitation) or "Data Analysis and Statistical Projects" (as listed in the IDIQ SOW Draft)? | This has been revised within the solicitation/SOW. | |
| 87 | Draft Solicitation, IDIQ SOW Draft | 3, 24 | Functional Area 5 title | Can the government please clarify whether the name of Functional Area 5 is "Planning, Implementation, and Report Support Projects" (as identified in the Draft Solicitation) or "Logistical Support Projects" (as listed in the IDIQ SOW Draft)? | This has been revised within the solicitation/SOW. | |
| 88 | Draft Solicitation, IDIQ SOW Draft | Page 1 of the letter and multiple pages throughout Attachment 1 IDIQ SOW Draft | The pre-solicitation notice letter shows Functional Area (FA) 2 as "Statistical Projects" but Attachment 1 the IDIQ SOW Draft shows FA 2 as "Data Analysis and Statistical Projects." Can ACL please clarify the title and focus of FA 2? | This has been revised within the solicitation/SOW. | ||
| 89 | Draft Solicitation, IDIQ SOW Draft | Page 1 of the letter and multiple pages throughout Attachment 1 IDIQ SOW Draft | The pre-solicitation notice letter shows Functional Area (FA) 5 as "Planning, Implementation, and Report Support Projects" but Attachment 1 the IDIQ SOW Draft shows FA 5 as "Logistical Support Projects." Can ACL please clarify the title and focus of FA 5? | This has been revised within the solicitation/SOW. | ||
| 90 | IDIQ Pricing Sheet (Attachment 3) | IDIQ Pricing Sheet (Attachment 3), part of Volume IV – IDIQ Price, appears to be missing from the pre-solicitation materials yet is referenced in the Volume IV instructions. Can this be shared with offerors? | It will be provided as soon as available. | |||
| 91 | PPQ | 1 | N/A | Can past performance be examples from those other than the Prime? | Yes, reference page 46 of the solicitation. At least two (2) of the previous contracts or grants/cooperative agreements must be for projects completed by the offeror. The offeror may utilize past performance for subcontractors for the remaining one (1) to three (3) contracts/grants/cooperative agreements provided the offeror or other affiliated company will have involvement in the acquisition and the involvement is meaningful. | |
| 92 | PPQ | n/a | n/a | Can the government provide an alternative past performance questionnaire appropriate for projects funded as cooperative agreements? | An alternate form will not be provided. Offerors may revise contract number to reflect Cooperative Agreement number, so on and so forth. | |
| 93 | PPQ | n/a | n/a | The PPQ is formatted in a way that suggests that the government anticipates that evaluators will complete it on paper and scan the completed form for submission. Would the government consider reformatting the document to allow electronic completion (including, potentially, the insertion of a digital signature)? If not, would the government consider allowing offerors to reformat the document for electronic completion and signature to streamline the process for CORs/evaluators? | There is no expectation that the form will be scanned in for submission. Offerors are authorized to convert the document to a PDF form to allow electronic signatures. | |
| 94 | SOW | 28 | Section 3 - Minimum Qualifications | Can LCATs be added to the rate card in subsequent years based on task order scope? | At this time, we do not anticipate adding additional LCATs to the IDIQs after award; however, if it task orders require additional LCATS they can be proposed at the task order level. | |
| 95 | SOW | 7 | 1 | In the SOO, AOA described five subject matter areas. These areas are not specifically delineated in the SOW draft. Should we continue to focus on those areas or is the focus of the IDIQ now expanded to include all of ACL? | The Statement of Work has been adjusted to reflect the ACL versus AoA, which encompasses all ACL organizations listed within the SOW (see Organizational Chart on Page 6). | |
| 96 | SOW | 19 | 2 | For Task 2 of Functional Area 2, the SOW states that "The Contractor should have capacity to conduct large scale data collections (e.g., 10,000 community‐based organizations or 35,000 clients or respondents)." What survey modes would the government consider acceptable for these projects? Do contractors need to demonstrate capabilities in all commonly used survey modes (i.e., telephone, mail-in, address-based, and online) or would it be acceptable to demonstrate strong capabilities in just one or two modes (e.g., online and mail-in)? | Demonstrate capabilities in one or more. We are looking for vendors that have experience in multiple modes to address the varying requirements that will be associated with the task orders. | |
| 97 | SOW | 19 | Functional Area 2, Task 2 | Can the government confirm that the contractor will not be responsible to purchase data from identified sources on behalf of the government for Functional Area 2 (Data Analysis and Statistical Projects). | There may be specific task orders that require the contractor to purchase data from identified sources on behalf of the Government. Those task orders will likely be Time & Materials. | |
| 98 | SOW | 22 | Functional Area 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING PROJECTS | Functional Area 4 specifically references Aging and AOA. Will these be the primary areas of TTA services? Or will TTA services also support the other ACL offices listed on page 4 of the SOW? | That is not correct. The Statement of Work has been adjusted to reflect the ACL versus AoA, which encompasses all ACL organizations listed within the SOW (see Organizational Chart on Page 6). | |
| 99 | SOW | 22 | Functional Area 4 | Can the government confirm that the Administration on Aging is the only ACL organization that will issue task orders for Functional Area 4 (Technical Assistance and Training Projects)? | That is not correct. The Statement of Work has been adjusted to reflect the ACL versus AoA, which encompasses all ACL organizations listed within the SOW (see Organizational Chart on Page 6). | |
| 100 | SOW | 24 | Functional Area 4 | Is there a list of specific learning management systems (LMSs) that are approved for use by ACL, or can the contractor choose to use a LMS of their choice? | This is something that will be addressed at the task order level based on the specific requirement. | |
| 101 | SOW | 25 | Functional Area 5 | Will in-person meetings primarily take place in the Washington, DC area, or will they be in locations throughout the US? | This will be dependent on each task order and will be included within the Task Order Request for Proposal. | |
| 102 | SOW | 25 | Functional Area 5 | Will any in-person meetings take place in outside the contiguous US locations? | There is no expectations that meetings or field work will be required outside of the contiguous US locations. Circumstances may arise at the task order level, but is not anticipated now and does not need to be addressed at the IDIQ level. | |
| 103 | SOW | 28 | Section 3 - Minimum Qualifications | Can the contractor create their own LCAT names/descriptions so long as the levels and education/experience requirements meet Section 3 of the SOW? | Any additional proposed labor categories should be submitted within Attachment 2 - Q&A Templates at the bottom under Additional Labor Categories. The Government will review and determine if the labor category is needed at the IDIQ level. The recommendation should include a description of the labor category and why the offeror believes it is necessary. If the Government agrees, the labor category will be added via an amendment to the solicitation. | |
| 104 | SOW | 28 | Section 3 - Minimum Qualifications | Can we provide representative resumes? | No resumes are required at the IDIQ level, however they may be required within the TO solicitation requirements. Any resumes submitted will not be evaluated. | |
| 105 | SOW | 28 | Section 3 | Are the three levels (senior, mid, junior) the only three labor rates that should be bid on this project? | Yes, offerors should only propose the labor categories and rates provided in the Pricing Attachment. However, if additional labor categories are required for individual task orders, contractors will be able to include those in their task order proposals. | |
| 106 | SOW | 28 | Section 3 | In addition to the three levels of personnel in the table (senior, mid, junior), may contractors propose other labor categories? | Any additional proposed labor categories should be submitted within Attachment 2 - Q&A Templates at the bottom under Additional Labor Categories. The Government will review and determine if the labor category is needed at the IDIQ level. The recommendation should include a description of the labor category and why the offeror believes it is necessary. If the Government agrees, the labor category will be added via an amendment to the solicitation. |
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