Response to Vendor Questions.pdf

15JPSS24Q0000025 Library Services

Response to Vendor Questions

No. Bidder’s Question DOJ Answer

1 The instructions for the Technical Quotation only require an

Executive Summary and Staffing Plan. However, the Evaluation

Criteria mentions a Technical Approach that describes a work plan and methodology, quality control approach, and proposed monthly report format. Will the Government please clarify what the requirements and evaluation criteria for the Technical Quotation are?

Please see the updated solicitation. All requirements are outlined in the solicitation and in the SOW.

2 If offerors are to provide a Technical Approach, will the

Government please provide a page limitation?

Please see the updated RFQ, it states “Staffing Plan/

Technical Approach – not more than ten (10) pages, excluding resumes (2 pages per person).”

3 The Instructions state that offerors are to describe the "experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, education/training, and capacity of proposed personnel that will meet the requirements of the RFQ.

However, the RFQ does not specify any requirements for the personnel. Will the Government please provide the requirements for the personnel?

Please see the updated RFQ.

The government prefers librarian candidates with

Masters of Library Science, or similar degrees. Library technicians should have knowledge and experience with performing the duties outlined in the SOW.

4 The instructions state that offerors are to provide resumes and letters of commitment for "Key Personnel." Will the Government please clarify which positions are considered key as the solicitation does not identify these?

Please see the updated RFQ.

All librarians and library technicians are viewed as key personnel.

5 The instructions for Corporate Experience state that offerors are to discuss their management/organizational structure and other management elements proposed for supporting the contract. Can the

Government confirm that offerors are to provide this as part of the

Corporate Experience section and not in a separate Management

Approach?

Yes, please see updated RFQ.

6 Both the Corporate Experience and Past Performance instructions state that offerors are to provide past performance references. Can the Government please clarify whether offerors are required to provide the same references in each section or can offerors provide different references for each section (e.g., 3-5 references under

Corporate Experience and 3 different references under Past

Performance?

The references can be the same but at least 3 references will be needed for each.

7 The Evaluation Criteria for Corporate Experience states that offerors will be evaluated based on experience and knowledge of "GSA

Leasing Policies, Procedures, and Program" including budgeting and

This has been removed, please see updated RFQ.

15JPSS24Q0000025 Library Services cost estimating. However, Since this is a library services contract, leasing, project budgeting and cost estimating do not appear to be relevant. Will the Government please clarify how Corporate

Experience will be evaluated?

8 Will the Government please provide an explanation of the acronym

"FEW" which appears in CLIN 0003 and the difference between

Librarian and Librarian (FEW)?

FEW stands for Federal Expert Witness. FEW librarians solely find and vet expert witnesses.

9 Will the government provide job descriptions, qualifications, and security clearance requirements for the 3 positions specified in the

SOW?

The tasks in the SOW cover this. Please see the updated

RFQ as well.

10 Will the government provide a mapping of the positions to the SOW requirements?

No, it is left to the vendor to determine the mapping of positions.

11 Can the government clarify what type of security clearance the contractor needs in order to pursue this opportunity?

A basic background check will be needed. The lowest level of security clearance.

12 C.3 SCOPE OF WORK & C.4 TASKS. - These two sections and sub sections do not match each other.

Should they match?

No, they do no need to match. They are correctly labeled.

13 Will you assign a total page count of 35 pages for the entire Technical Approach (60 Evaluation Points) to include the Executive Summary (2 pages), Staffing Plan

(10 pages), and approach to performing the SOW Task

Areas (23 pages)?

Please use the page limits as specified in the RFQ.

14 Is our email to the Contracting Officer with our proposal submission sufficient for the "Cover Letter" instead of company letterhead? If not, please confirm that the Cover

Letter is exempt from page limitations.

Yes, the email can count as a cover letter. The cover letter will not count towards any page limits.

15 Would DOJ please confirm that the Volume Title Page and

Table of Contents are exempt from the page limitation for the

Technical Quotation?

Those would be exempt from the page limits

16 The Statement of Work skips from C.4.5 - Task 4 to C.4.7 Task 6.

Will the Government please provide the missing Task 5 or else confirm that there is no missing task?

The government confirms there is no Task 5.

15JPSS24Q0000025 Library Services

17 Price Quotation Instructions under Volume II (v) state that offerors are to complete Section B.1, Additional Contractor Information.

However, no such section exists. Will the Government please provide a copy of this section?

There is no section B.1, please see updated RFQ

18 The Pricing Table includes a CLIN for Other Director Costs.

However, neither the statement of work nor the RFQ references other direct costs. Will the Government please clarify if offerors are to propose any ODCs and what these might be?

There are no ODC’s please see the updated pricing sheet.

19 Per the Price Quotation instructions, we are to provide a breakdown by individual showing hours and hourly rate. Are offerors to provide a separate spreadsheet with this information or can we modify to existing spreadsheet to include this information?

There is no need to break down the pricing by the individual please use the pricing sheet as is.

20 The instructions for Corporate Experience states that offerors are to describe "specific experience working with technologies" described in the Statement of Work. Since the SOW only mentions a couple of specific technologies (OCLC Worldshare, DOCLINE, and

SharePoint) should offerors speak to the general types of technologies used in libraries or only the specific ones mentioned?

It is acceptable to discuss any general technology the is used in libraries.

21 Can the Government please confirm whether or not Wage

Determination will apply to this solicitation?

This contract will be a wage determination solicitation.

Please see the updated RFQ and its new attachment –

Attachment 4 – Wage Determination.

22 Will the Government consider moving the requirement to discuss the management and organizational structure to a separate section so that offerors can use the entire 5 page allotment for Corporate

Experience to discuss relevant past performance?

This should be discussed in the Staffing Plan/Technical

Approach. Please see the updated RFQ.

23 For the requirement that the signed letter of commitment's provide evidence that the agreed upon compensation falls within the proposed rate structure, is reference to the proposal labor category used in the price quote sufficient to meet this requirement?

Yes, that would be sufficient.

24 The solicitation states “Provide the name, title, telephone number, and email address for the individual designated as the central point of contact for this quotation. Provide the same information for the individual that would be identified in Section ___ of the task order” Can the

Please see the updated solicitation.

15JPSS24Q0000025 Library Services government please clarify what Section ___ of the task order it is referring to.

25 The solicitation states “Insert “NONE” in paragraph

(b)(2) of FAR 52.212-3 if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certifications electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM).”

Can the government please clarify. Is this an action to take, or a mental note to ensure compliance with FAR

52.212-3 (b)(2)? If action is needed, request the government advise where we are to show NONE?

SAM registration is required for award.

26 Since the Librarian and Library Tech positions are on the

Service Contract Act wage determination job title, A) Please send the applicable Service Contract Act wage determination for this solicitation, so we can price based on the staff's compensation of WD hourly rate plus health and welfare fringe rate.

B) Or will you clarify that this solicitation is NOT a wage determination solicitation?

This contract will be a wage determination solicitation.

Please see the updated RFQ and its new attachment –

Attachment 4 – Wage Determination.