F1B24R0002_Amendment_3_Q_and_A_7_30_24_5.pdf

140F1B24R0002 Amendment 3 – Q and A #1

Proposal date updated to 8/12/2024

Question 1: Is there a minimum percentage of the contract amount that the Small Business Enterprise is required to complete?

Answer: FAR 52.219-14(e)(1) notes that the Contractor “will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities . . . . [and] any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 50 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded.” 13 CFR

125.6 provides additional clarification on the FAR clause and some examples where a small business prime contractor could subcontract more than 50 percent of the work to a “similarly situated entity” and still comply with the limitations on subcontracting; however, clauses such as 52.215-23 “Limitations on Pass-Through Charges” sometimes require notification of excessive pass-through costs (when applicable) and provide remedies.

Question 2: If the minimum percentage of the contract amount that the Small Business Enterprise is required to complete is 51%, would two Small Business Enterprises be permitted to combine to complete the 51%, with a third Non-Small Business completing up to 49% of the contract?

Answer: Multiple small businesses can collaborate as long as the combined work of the prime contractor and similarly situated subcontractor entities totals at least 50% of the obligated amount.

See 13 CFR 125.6 and contact your local small business office or a personal attorney for further clarification on these rules.

Question 3: Will we be allowed to drive to the locations using a truck? If not, would we be allowed any type of vehicle for off-roading such as an ATV, or would those be limited to paved surfaces?

Answer: Vehicles can be utilized in the Refuges. Individual requirements for other vehicles will be identified after the award of the contract

Question 4: Are there existing features visible at the locations, or will there be any historical documentation of the prior operations available upon award to better target sampling?

Answer: The documentation available for the refuges and historical documentation will be provided after the award of the contract.

Question 5: I don’t seem to have Attachment #2; was that provided?

Answer: Attachment #2 was provided to all vendors.

Question 6: The amendment shows a proposal due date of August 9, 2024. However, on sam.gov, the posting (see screenshot below) shows an updated response date of August 1, 2024. Please clarify which due date is correct.

Answer: The due date is changed to 11 August 2024. We will seek to fix the error with the system generated System for Award Management time on the next Amended Solicitation.

Question 7: Our firm is interested in the Bridge Inspection services for the US Fish and Wildlife.

I was reading through the current documents and had a question. Will there only be 1 firm chosen to inspect all the bridges nationwide or if selected to perform these inspections will we be selected to a specific area?

Answer: The program anticipates awarding one firm-fixed-price IDIQ contract to provide nationwide coverage.

Question 8: On page three of the Second Amendment the following is referenced: Factor 2: Key Personnel, Personal Qualifications (SF 330, Part I, Section E & G) followed by Key Disciplines.

Are the Key Discipline roles listed required to have corresponding resumes or will showing those roles in our Organizational Chart be sufficient? I appreciate the clarity in order to provide the most comprehenive qualifications submittal.

Answer: The solicitation notes “resumes provided should be limited to and focus on bridge inspection personnel, including team leader(s), bridge rating engineer(s), underwater inspection diver(s), project/program manager, and project principal(s)”. An organizational chart is sufficient for other disciplines not listed.

Question 9: In Factor 2: Key Personnel, Professional Qualifications, the amended solicitation set a page limit on Sections E & G of being 7 total. G will be one, which means that only six resumes would be allowed. The solicitation identifies five Key Disciplines which would be five of the six resumes, however, based on some of the specializations required and the need for multiple inspection team leaders, the number of key personnel would be more than that. Would you consider allowing additional resumes for Section E?

Answer: See amended solicitation providing clarification and extending the pages for Factor 2.

Question 10: In the amended Solicitation, Section H was broken down by page numbers per Factor. If a Factor takes less space than what is allotted in the solicitation, can we utilize the extra pages for something that may take up more?

Answer: See amended solicitation providing clarification.

Question 11: Would there be any possible way to increase the pages allowed for Factor 5 General Project Approach? Or increase the overall page count for Section H?

Answer: See amended solicitation providing an increase in pages for the submission.

Question 12: In the amended solicitation on page 6, it states that the total pages of the SF330 shall not be more than 25 pages. The SF330 also includes Part I Sections A-D, and Part IIs which are not accounted for in the 25-page limit. Are these items excluded from the 25-page limit?

Answer: See amended solicitation providing an increase in pages for the submission.

Question 13: Can a cover letter and table of contents be provided and excluded from the 25-page limit?

Answer: See amended solicitation providing an increase in pages for the submission and that the cover page and table of contents are excluded from the SF 330 page count.

Question 14: Submission requirements state the total pages of SF 330 shall not be more than (10) ten pages. Cover page (1) and Small business participation plan will not count against SF 330-page count. Please clarify the submission package's SF 330 total page limit. Factor 2 - Key Personnel requests a minimum of 6 one-page resumes and Factor 3 – Specialized Experience requests a minimum of 5 with a maximum of 10 one-page project examples.

Answer: See amended solicitation providing an increase in pages for the submission and more details.

Question 15: For the 10-page requirement, does that refer just to Section H of the SF330 or the entire SF330 (sections A-H, SF330 Part II, and Past Performance Evaluations)?

Answer: See amended solicitation providing an increase in pages for the submission and more details.

Question 16: Does a small business need to be SBA certified in order to qualify for this contract?

Answer: No, but they must be registered in SAM.gov and fall within the small business requirements to be classified as a small business for the NAICS code 541330