| Att. 3 - Pricing Sheet EDI | Pricing for the Expansion options is only requested for the option years. Please confirm that the volumes in the base year are not expected to exceed the amounts shown in Technical Exhibit 1. | The government does not expect to expand the EDI Center in the base year of the contract, so the option was not included. | | |
| Contract Scope & Requirements | | Will the government provide detailed historical workload by firm type/industry to help estimate staffing levels? | The workload can vary slightly based on the number of files and records received, but the pricing sheet has been updated with the quantity of labor hours for each of the labor categories in the current contract, which is sufficient to meet or exceed AQLs. Of 247 firms evaluated for complexity, 229 are low complexity, 17 are medium, and 1 is high. |
| | | How much of the data processing is currently automated vs. manual (analyst-driven)? | About 95% of incoming records are completely matched via automation. The remaining records need to matched manually (though there are some automation tools to assist with "manual" matching as well). The number of manual edits/interventions for things like single-records, missing-records, birthed-records, detail errors, end employment and wage edits amount to about 20% of the incoming records. |
| | | Are there specific Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for turnaround times (per firm or per batch)? | No. The contractor should moniter their turnaround times to ensure Acceptable Quality Levels are met or exceeded. |
| Telework & Staffing | | Is there a minimum or maximum percentage of contractor staff expected to be on-site vs. telework? | There is no set percentage. The government's expectation is that staff must be meeting or exceeding AQLs to be granted telework privileges. In the current contract, analysts telework three days a week and report on-site two days a week. The government reserves the right to revoke telework privileges. |
| | | Will the government allow fully remote staff outside of the Chicago area (beyond programmers)? | Remote work is not allowed for analysts and supervisory staff. |
| | | Can telework staff use contractor-provided equipment, or must all work be on government-furnished equipment? | All work must be performed on government-furnished equipment, connected via VPN. Contractor staff will be provided laptops that can be used both on-site and while on a telework posture. |
| Technical Systems | | Which programming languages and tools are officially supported by BLS for the EDI Center? (Currently VB, possibly migrating?) | VB is supported and used by current EDI programmers. Other languages may be used if approved by BLS IT security, and if they can be accommodated by the BLS budget. |
| | | Will the government provide training on SPIFF, SLED, COMET systems for contractor staff? | Training for new analysts is typically handled by contract managers and programmers. Special trainings and training of trainers are provided by government employees. |
| | | How often are systems updated or modified, and will the contractor be responsible for testing upgrades? | Historically across all systems, upgrades and modifications that require testing by contract staff are less frequent than once per quarter. |
| Security & Compliance | | What is the typical timeline for security clearances for new hires, and can staff begin work before final clearance (with interim approval)? | The average time it takes for the Division of Personnel Suitability and Security to perform a check based on the subset of the last 50 candidates who have been cleared to onboard is 11 calendar days from the date they are sponsored, with a median of 10 calendar days. The minimum was zero days (for candidates who have worked on other federal jobs or contracts to whom reciprocity was applied) and the maximum was 42 days. Delays are usually caused by candidates not responding to DPSS requests in a timely manner, or lacking required documentation to schedule USAccess enrollment appointments with GSA (recently due to REAL ID requirements). Once cleared by DPSS, they have to be given an enter on duty date based on the contractor's training schedule. The government attempts to onboard staff as quickly as possible, but requests five business days for network accounts and equipment to be prepared for new hires. |
| | | How are contractor teleworking sites validated against security requirements? | Contractor staff who are deemed eligible for telework will complete an Employee Safety Self-Certification Checklist to ensure that their alternative work location meets security requirements prior to assuming a telework posture. Teleworking staff will rely on government-issued laptops to connect to the BLS network via a secure VPN. |
| Performance & Oversight | | How frequently will BLS conduct formal Quality Assurance reviews? | Government quality assurance activities are ongoing through the entire performance period. |
| | | What are the penalties for not meeting Acceptable Quality Levels (AQLs)? | The contract does not have financial penalties for not meeting AQLs. CPARS evaluations will reflect poor performance should AQLs not be met. |
| | | Will the contractor be required to provide performance dashboards or reports, and in what format? | The contractor will be required to submit a monthly written report (pdf or doc format) that outlines performance metrics. Section 5.6.1(b) contains some elements required in this report, which is cited in Technical Exhibit 2. Metrics are also available ad hoc via the EDI Website. |
| Pricing & Contract Management | | How should offerors propose labor-hour estimates given the variable workload (e.g., CES vs. QCEW)? | Historically, staff have worked on both CES and QCEW concurrently. The volume of work is steady throughout the year. |
| | | How will Expansion Options (Levels 1 & 2) be triggered – based on volume thresholds or government discretion? | The expansion options will be exercised based on government discretion. |
| | | Is there a ceiling on the number of expansion options exercised per year? | While there is no stated ceiling on the number of expansion options exercised per year, BLS will not exercise more than one expansion option per contract year. |
| General | | Will the outgoing contractor provide knowledge transfer support during the 45-day phase-in? | The current contract requires the present vendor to perform any other actions required to ensure continuity of operations. Furthermore, vendors have historically hired staff from the previous contractor to remain working on the EDI center under the new award. |
| | | Will BLS provide training materials in advance of contract start for new staff onboarding? | Yes. |
| | | Is any data in hard copy format? If yes, will the DOL conduct OCR activities and provide the output to the awarded contractor? | No data arrrive in hard copy. |
| | | Is there a need for the contractor staff required to be at the Chicago site full-time or would as needed meetings with DOL staff be acceptable? | Project managers and programmers are not required to be on-site in Chicago, and can meet with BLS virtually. Analysts are required to be within commuting distance of the office. While telework privileges are available, the government reserves the right to rescind telework. In the current vehicle, analysts report on-site two days per week. |
| | | What is the ticketing system that the government is utilising? | The EDI Center's internal ticketing system is a custom module in the EDI Website. It is entirely internal within the EDI Center. For IT hardware or network issues, a BLS IT support contractor maintains a separate ticketing system (LAN Support) accessible through the intranet. |
| | | Is Tier 1 support for tickets to be handled by the contractor? | Presuming the question is about IT hardware or networking issues, programmers have access to submit Tier 1 tickets directly to BLS LAN Support. Other contract staff will have the EDI Center Manager submit LAN Support tickets on their behalf. |
| | | Who handles the Tier 1 helpdesk for tickets and routing? What is the process that the awardee has to follow to resolve the tickets? Is it at Tier 2 or Tier 3 level? | LAN Support tickets (i.e., tickets for IT general hardware and network issues) are routed to the appropriate BLS tech support department based on the issue. Often they are routed to the Chicago Regional Office IT staff (available on site). After initial submission, ticket progress is updated regularly via email and searchable within the intranet through resolution. Local EDI Website help tickets can be submitted directly by all EDI Staff, and are directed to the EDI Center contractor programmers. |
| | | The place of performance table on Page 14 of the soliciation document is cutting off. Please clarify the title of the last column of that table. | The title of the last column is Contractor Work Stations. It refers to cubicles and offices available to contractor staff. |
| Solicitation Information | Section A (Page 1-2) | Please confirm the incumbent contractor’s name and period of performance for the previous award.(If any) | The current contractor is TelaForce, LLC. They have been working on this requirement since September 9, 2020. |
| | | Can the Government provide the total obligated/Spent amount for the incumbent contract? | No, we cannot provide that information at this time. |
| | | Is there a budget or estimated value for this procurement? If not, can the Government provide a rough order of magnitude? | No, we cannot provide that information at this time. |
| | | Is there any chance to extend the proposal submission date? | Yes, the proposal submission date has been extended via solicitation amendment. |
| Supplies or Services and Prices | Section B (Page 9–10) | Please clarify if the Labor Hour CLINs represent ceiling amounts, estimates, or are strictly usage-based. | The labor hours will be used to calculate the contract ceiling. The contractor will be paid for hours worked. |
| Performance Work Statement | Section C (Pages 10–29) | Are there any anticipated changes in workload volumes during the option years? | If the number of records processed increases due to an exercised option, workload is expected to increase. The government expects proposals for the expansion options to account for additional labor hours. |
| | | Will the Government provide historical performance metrics or lessons learned from the incumbent contract? (If any) | The government will not provide specific information about an individual company's specific performance metrics, but for CES in the past year the contractor has processed an average of approximately 240,000 records from an average of 72 firms. For QCEW in the past year, the contractor has processed an average of 510,000 worksites from an average of 246 files. All AQLs were met. |
| | | Please confirm if remote work is permitted beyond contingency use, or if contractor staff must be fully on-site in Chicago. | Analysts must be within commuting distance of the EDI Center. Telework privileges may be granted, but fully remote work is not permissible, except for the programmers. |
| | | Will the Government consider transition of incumbent staff (rebadging) under this requirement? | The contractor determines who will staff the contract. Historically, a significant amount of staff has remained working on the requirement across vendors transitions. |
| Contract Clauses | Section I (Pages 29–75) | Are key personnel required to be named at proposal submission, or may resumes be provided post-award? | Key personnel should be named at proposal submission. |
| | | Please confirm subcontracting with small business is mandatory for large business | See solicitation amendment. Sections L and M updated. |
| Instructions to Offerors | Section L (Page 78) | Is there a page limit or formatting requirement for the Technical Proposal? | Page limit and formatting requirements are included in the INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS section of the solicitaiton. |
| | | How many past performance references are required, and are state/local/private sector contracts acceptable in addition to federal? | The contractor shall provide past performance information for no more than three (3) of the most relevant contracts performed for Federal agencies, state/local governments and/or commercial customers within the last five (5) years from the issue date of this RFP or are currently being performed. |
| Evaluation Factors | Section M – (Page 78) | Please confirm if evaluation will follow a Best Value Tradeoff approach versus Lowest Price Technically | The evaluation will be a best value tradeoff. |
| General | N/A | Is this a wage determination contract? If so, please provide the latest DOL wage determination document. | Wage determinations have been provided. |
| | | Is this contract an exempt employee contract? | Analyst positions are covered by the SCA. Programmer positions are not. |
| | | Please provide the anniversary date for incumbent personnel. It is important for us to determine benefits based on these anniversary dates. | The government can not provide this information at this time. |
| | | Is it mandatory to provide the incumbent personnel the first right of refusal? | No. |
| Due Time | SF 1449, p.1; Section L, p.78 | The solicitation references two different proposal due times: 1400 ET (p.1/SF1449) and 1:00 PM ET (p.78). Please confirm the correct due time for proposal submission. | The proposal submission date has been extended via solicitation amendment. |
| Past Performance Questionnaire | Attachment 1 - PPQ | The solicitation requests that offerors submit the PPQ form with their proposal, however, the form itself requests the recipient to submit to DOL directly. Please confirm that DOL would like to receive the form directly. | The PPQ recipient should submit to DOL directly. |
| Submission Instructions | Section L, p.79 | Please confirm that the expected complete technical proposal volume should include a technical narrative (including Experience/Subfactor 1) NTE 30 pages, accompanied by Management Plan (Subfactor 2), Quality Control Plan (Subfactor 3), Phase-In Plan (Subfactor 4), and Draft Telework Plan as appendices that do not count against the 30-page limit. | Yes, draft deliverables, such as the Contractor Quality Control Plan, Phase-In Plan, Telework Plan, and Management Plan may be submitted as an appendix and will not count toward the 30-page limit for Volume I – Technical Approach. An amendment will be issued to clarify this. |
| Pricing | Attachment 3 - Electronic Data Interchange Center (EDIC) Pricing Sheet | Can the government provide LOE for the labor hours line item on the pricing sheet? In viewing the JOLTS solicitation it appears that the government is using 1912 as an FTE. Please confirm. | The pricing sheet contains estimated hours for the base and option years without extensions. The government uses 1912 hours in its FTE calculations. |
| Pricing | Attachment 3 - Electronic Data Interchange Center (EDIC) Pricing Sheet | Can the government provide total number and type of positions required for this effort? | The government has provided level of effort estimates in the pricing sheet. Currently, there are three supervisors and a task manager in addition to analysts and programmers. The PWS has been updated to clarfy the supervisory roles required for the requirement. |
| | PWS | Oracle Experience Substitution: The RFP lists "Experience in Oracle databases" as a qualification. Would the Government consider extensive experience (e.g., 5+ years) in other major enterprise SQL databases, such as MS SQL Server or PostgreSQL, as an acceptable substitute? | While the EDI Center currently uses Oracle, experience with other enterprise SQL databases will be considered acceptable. That said, the government expects the incumbent to be proficient in the systems used by the government at the beginning of the performance period. |
| | PWS Section 5.4 | Approved Programming Languages: PWS Section 5.4 notes that future programs can be in "other BLS approved" languages. Could the Department confirm if Python, with standard data science libraries like Pandas and NumPy, is on the approved list for developing new data transformation programs? | Python versions 3.12.5 and 3.11.9 are currently authorized. Pandas for paython 1.3.5 and 2.2, and numpy for python 1.2.60 are also currently authorized. |
| | PWS | Database and System Access: For development and troubleshooting, what level of access (e.g., read-only, read/write) will contractor programmers have to the underlying Oracle databases and the back-end of the SPIFF, SLED, and COMET systems? | There is read/write access for SPIFF/EDI Website and Read access for COMET. Access to SLED is normally on a request basis from the SLED team in the National Office, although some interfacing has been automated with the EDI Website. |
| | PWS | Development & Deployment Process: Does the government provide separate, sandboxed development and testing environments that mirror production? What is the standard process for deploying contractor-developed code to these environments? | Yes. We have test environments for all systems. They are separate and sandboxed. Contractors are able to deploy contractor-developed code to SPIFF/EDI Website and related test servers. |
| | PWS | Intranet Technology Stack: What technology stack (e.g., SharePoint, custom ASP.NET site, etc.) is the EDI Center's intranet website built on? | EDI utilizes SharePoint sparingly, and .NET extensively (two separate sites). |
| | PWS | Balance of Work: What is the anticipated balance of work for the programming staff between (a) maintaining existing legacy code (Visual Basic, C#) versus (b) developing new data transformation programs or systems? | Both are important parts of the job.It is approximately a 50/50 split. |
| | PWS | Source of Increased Volume: For the optional expansion levels in PWS Section 5.7, is the increased record volume expected to come primarily from new firms requiring new data transformation programs, or from the organic growth of existing firms? | Any increase in volume would be primarily from new firms. |
| | PWS | Technical Training on Government Systems: What is the scope and format of the technical training that will be provided to contractor staff specifically on the government-furnished systems (SPIFF, SLED, COMET)? | Training for new staff is typically handled by contract managers and programmers. Special trainings are provided by government employees. It is largely on-the-job training. |
| | PWS | Can BLS share the current KPIs used to evaluate contract performance? Please specify how frequently they are collected or conducted. | The contract is evaluated based on the Acceptable Quality Levels indicated throughout the PWS and Technical Indexes. |
| | Section 1.5, Page 12 | The scope of work described in Section 1.5 Item (e) on page 12 indicates that the contract is required to “contact respondents for incomplete or missing information …”; what is the mode of contact to be applied in contacting respondents, and is the Contractor expected to perform any work relevant to this item via BLS contact centers, or is the Contractor expected to make use of their own call centers and call-back staff (etc.)? Would BLS provide information on the volume of call backs anticipated for the specified POP? Is the volume of this work such that it typically required additional full-time staff members? | The most common mode of contact is email. Phone calls are less frequent. The volume of contacting respondents is minimal and would not require additional staff. Typically if the contract staff has not gotten a response after two or three attempts, government staff will intervene and make contact attempts. |
| | Section 1.5, Page 12 | The scope of work described in Section 1.5 Item (e) on page 12 indicates that the contract is required to “answer questions from the states or government, making changes requested by states within the government-designated timeframes”; what is the anticipated volume of questions from state or government, and what is the associated volume of interactions with states/government? Is the volume of this work such that it typically requires an additional full-time staff member? | An analyst can expect about 5 questions from states per quarter. Most questions can be resolved in 5-10 minutes. Analysts will only answer questions that arise for firms that they proccessed. No additional staff is required for this task. |
| | Section 1.5, Page 12 | The scope of work described in Section 1.5 Item (g) on page 12 indicates Contractor “…may be required to evaluate systems redesign and new data processing systems”. How much annual system redesign and system enhancement work has BLS done in a typical program year? Is the nature of the work required for this particular item such that it would require a dedicated, part-time (50% FTE) on the project? | New EDI Website modules are introduced a few times per year. COMET and SLED updates occur less than once per year. No more than a couple of hours of system testing time is needed from a contract staff in a typical year. Dedicated staff would not be needed. |
| | Section 1.5, Page 12 | The scope of work described in Section 1.5 Item (i) on page 12 indicates Contractor “…may be required to troubleshoot and resolve problems identified by the government, and formulate recommendations on complex technical problems, as well as provide recommendations on software and hardware changes when needed”. What is the scope of problems the Contractor is expected to inform upon (i.e., data capture methodology, call-back, DP, reporting, automation, etc.)? Is the nature of the work required for this particular item such that it would require dedicated, part-time staff not otherwise noted in the RFP (and, is the Bidder permitted to propose one or two auxiliary staff categories relevant to satisfying this particular requirement) ? | Contract staff are asked to evaluate new tools and provide feedback on how they can be improved to make the contract work more efficient. This would not require dedicated staff, as the value comes from feedback from daily users. No more than a couple of hours a year is needed from contract staff in a typical year. |
| Staffing and LOE | | Can the Government confirm the anticipated level of effort (in hours or FTEs) by position for this project, specifically for both Level 1 and Level 2 service options? Please provide a breakdown by role/position type if available. | The pricing sheet has been revised to contain estimated hours for the base and option years without extensions. The government uses 1912 hours in its FTE calculations. |
| Staffing and LOE | | Does the Government anticipate or desire that the contractor transition existing staff from current projects to the new BLS EDI project team? If so, please clarify any preferences regarding continuity of personnel versus new team formation. | It is the contractor's prerogative to decide how to staff the contract, with only changes in key personnel requiring Contracting Officer approval. Historically, staff for this contract has transitioned between vendors. |
| Wage Determinations | | Can the Government confirm the applicable Service Contract Act (SCA) wage determinations for the defined positions under this contract? Please specify which SCA wage determination number(s) will apply and for which labor categories. | Wage determinations have been provided. |
| Training | | Can the Government confirm the total amount of time required for contractor personnel to complete all mandatory trainings for this project? | Due to the amount of on-the-job training, this is not possible to estimate. New hires are typically certified to process CES independently after three months of supervised processing, and certified to process QCEW/MWR indepentently after two quarters of supervised processing. |
| Training | | Can the Government describe the nature and format of the required trainings? Specifically: | |
| • | Are trainings self-guided/self-paced? | | | |
| • | Are trainings instructor-led? | | | |
| • | Are trainings classroom-based (in-person or virtual)? | | | |
| • | What is the mix of training delivery methods? | EDI trainings are largely on-the-job, with an occasional instructor led training. Department trainings (BLS and/or DOL-wide) are typically self-guided. | | |
| Training | | Will training time be considered as direct labor hours for billing purposes, or should it be treated as indirect costs? | Training delivery will be provided by supervisors under the firm-fixed-price component; analysts undergoing training will be billed as direct labor hours. |
| Section K - Representations, Certifications, And Other Statements of Bidders | N/A | Section K - Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Bidders is missing form the RFP. Will DOL confirm that bidders should provide representations and certifications in accordance with FAR 52.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications (Jan 2025), and provide Section K? | Section K added. FAR 52.204-8 is not needed. |
| Project Manager Minimum Quals | 5.8 Personnel Qualifications and Duties, page 25 | For the Project Manager position, will DOL permit relevant work experience to substitute for the level of education qualification, particularly where the candidate demonstrates extensive experience in the other qualification areas, as outlined in the RFP? | The government expects the project manager to have a Bachelor's Degree. |
| Clarifying Instructions for Charts, Graphics, and Tables | L - Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents, page 78 | The RFP indicates that charts are excluded from the 30-page limit for the Technical Approach. Will DOL please confirm that when it refers to "charts" it is referring to large tables and graphics? | Yes, "charts" is referring to large tables and graphics. |
| Allowing CPARS | L - Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents, page 80 | For contracts that have CPARS reports, will DOL allow offerors to provide a CPARS in lieu of or in addition to a PPQ? If yes, can offerors include the CPARS reports as an appendix in the Past Performance volume that does not count toward the 5-page limit? | Offerors may include CPARS reports as an appendix in the Past Performance volume that does not count toward the 5-page limit. |
| Excluding Contractor Quality Control Plan and Phase-In Plan from page count | Attachment 5, Technical Exhibit 2 – Deliverables Schedule | Will DOL allow the Contractor Quality Control Plan and Phase-In Plan to be included as appendices to the Technical Volume and be excluded from the 30-page limit? | Yes, draft deliverables, such as the Contractor Quality Control Plan, Phase-In Plan, Telework Plan, and Management Plan may be submitted as an appendix and will not count toward the 30-page limit for Volume I – Technical Approach. |
| Requirements for attachment 6 | Attachment 6 | Attachment 6 - SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN TEMPLATE was included with the solicitation but there are no instructions or evaluation criteria regarding this plan in the RFP. Please clarify what the requirements are for Attachment 6. | See solicitation amendment. Sections L and M updated. |
| Section L - Instructions, conditions and notices to offerors or respondents | Section L - page 78 | Would DOL please confirm that other than for Attachment 3 - Pricing Sheet, offerors may submit their proposals as PDF files? | Yes. Offerors may submit proposals as PDF files. |
| Section L - Instructions, conditions and notices to offerors or respondents | Section L - page 78 | Would DOL please confirm that offerors may include a cover letter as part of its technical proposal that is not subject to the 30-page limit? | Offerors may include a one page cover letter as part of its technical proposal that is not subject to the 30-page limit. |
| Service Contract Labor Standards and Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards | SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS, page 42 | If FLSA is applicable to this solicitation, would DOL please incorporate applicable wage determinations? | Wage determinations have been provided. |
| Service Contract Labor Standards and Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards | SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS, page 42 | For each position where SCA rates apply, can the government provide a cross walk for each of those positions and the Service Contract Act Labor Occupation Title? | Wage determinations have been provided. |
| Training Clarification | Page 22, Section 5.5.3 | The government states "The contractor shall ensure either the QCEW or the CES new hire module is completed by employees within three months of the new hire start date. The government reserves the right to determine the order in which the CES and QCEW training modules are completed." The government also states "The contractor shall ensure the CES new hire training module and the QCEW new hire training module are completed by employees within the first nine months of the new hire’s starting date." Please clarify the timing requirement from the new hire's starte date for completing the new hire training modules for QCEW and CES. | These timelines were created to account for CES being a monthly program and QCEW being a quarterly program. Three months is the minimum time necessary to go through three CES cycles, and nine months is the minimum amount of time to go through three QCEW cycles. The expectation is that new hires be fully certified within three QCEW/CES cycles of their onboarding date. |
| Pricing Workbook modifications | Section J, RFP Attachment 3 - Pricing Sheet | The pricing tables do not have columns to include a level of effort (LOE). May the offeror add columns to the Excel workbook as necessary? Will the client provide an updated Attachment 3 - Pricing Sheet? | The pricing sheet has been revised to contain estimated hours for the base and option years without extensions. |
| Pricing Workbook modifications | Section J, RFP Attachment 3 - Pricing Sheet | May the offeror add rows to the Excel workbook as necessary to provide rates and LOE for multiple labor categories? | The pricing sheet has been revised to contain estimated hours for the base and option years without extensions. The contractor may add rows to clarify their proposal. |
| Pricing Workbook modifications | Section J, RFP Attachment 3 - Pricing Sheet | There is not a place in the workbook to include a summary of the individual contract periods. May the offeror add additional tab worksheets to the Excel workbook as necessary? Will the client provide an updated Attachment 3 - Pricing Sheet? | The contractor may choose to add a summary to the pricing sheet. The pricing sheet has been revised to include labor categories for each expansion option, so this request may be moot. |
| General Instructions | Page 16, Section 1.7.15 Key Personnel | The government indicates that the project manager position has historically been part-time. To ensure offerors have an equal understanding of the definition of part-time, can the government please provide the estimated level of effort for this position? | Historically, this has been a 0.5 FTE. |
| General Instructions | Page 16, Section 1.7.15 Key Personnel | Can the government clarify if it is expected that the project manager will be local to the Chicago area? | The project manager does not need to be local to the Chicago area. |
| Time of Submission | SF 1449 and RFP p78 | Block 8 of SF 1449 shows the submission deadline to be 9/15/2025 at 1400 ES; however, RFP page 78 states 1:00 p.m. as the deadline. Please clarify the time proposals are due to be submitted. | The offer submission deadline has been updated. |
| OCI and Limitation on Future Contracting | page 16, 1.7.18 Organizational Conflict of Interest | A Contractor performing on this contract could become privy to sensitive and confidential information from a variety of businesses. Would DOL confirm that the strict confidentiality and security provisions in Attachment 2 – BLS Confidentiality and Security Requirements, including employee non-diversion obligations and established firewall protocols, fully mitigate any potential Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) and therefore obviate the need for a separate OCI mitigation plan? | See section 1.7.18 of the PWS. |
| EDI Role Clarification | Page 14, Section 1.7.5 and 1.7.8 | On page 14, section 1.7.5, Unscheduled Dismissals and section 1.7.8, Telework, the RFP references the role of the DCC Manager. However, that role is not defined in Section 5.8 Personnel Qualifications and Duties. Does the government consider the DCC Manager role to be the same as the Project Manager role? If not, can the government please provide the expected Minimum Qualifications and Duties of the DCC Manager? | That is an incorrect reference. The PWS has been corrected by replacing all references to "DCC Manager" with "Government EDI Center Manager." |
| EDI Role Clarification | Page 18, Section 5.1.1 and Page 14, Section 1.7.5 | On page 18, 5.1.1 File Retrieval, a) Requirements, the RFP notes "If the file is more than one week late from the due date, the contractor shall notify the EDI Manager." Can the government confirm that the EDI Manager referenced in this statement is the same as the Government EDI Center Manager position that is referenced on page 14, Sectiton 1.7.5 Unscheduled Dismissals? | Yes. References to EDI Manager refer to the Government EDI Center Manager, a federal employee who oversees EDI Center operation on-site and supervises federal staff working on EDI efforts.The PWS has been revised for consistency. |
| EDI Role Clarification | Page 19, Section 5.1.3 | Can the government confirm that the EDI Manager is the same as the Government Task Manager mentioned in sections 5.1.3 Processing, 5.1.4 Postprocessing, 5.2.2 Pre-processing and 5.2.3 Processing? | The PWS has been revised to clarify that these are the same role. These will be standardized as "Government EDI Center Manager." |
| EDI Role Clarification | Page 24, Section 5.6.1 | On page 24, section 5.6.1 Phase-In of Work, subsection a) Personnel, the RFP references the position of "contractor's task managers." This position is not included in Section 5.8 Personnel Qualifications and Duties. Please provide the Task Manager minimum qualifications and duties, the expected number of Task Managers to be employed by the contractor and the annual level of effort for this position. | The PWS has been updated to include these position descriptions. |
| Submission Deadline | Standard Form 1449 (page 1) | | |
| Section L, Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents (page 78) | Will the Government please clarify the offer due date, as the SF 1449 and RFP Section L provides conflicting offer due date times (1400 ET and 1PM EST, respectively)? | The offer submission deadline has been updated. | | |
| Section K | pages 48-77 | Will the Government please confirm whether an updated RFP will be issued to specify that Section K is contained within pages 48-77? | Section K added. |
| Pricing Narrative | Section L Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents (page 78) | Will the Government please confirm whether the Contractor can provide pricing narrative in a Word document separate from Attachment 3, and, if so, please confirm the page count for that document? | The contractor may provide a pricing narrative in a word or PDF document separate from Attachment 3. This narrative should be no more than 5 pages. |
| Placement of SF 1449 | N/A | Will the Government please specify which proposal volume the completed and signed SF 1449 should be included? | The completed and signed SF 1449 may be submitted seperately from the proposal volumes. |
| Small Business Subcontracting Plan | Attachment 6 - SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN TEMPLATE_Final | Will the Government please confirm if Offerors are required to provide a Small Business Subcontracting Plan narrative? If so, will the Government please provide instructions for this narrative, including its required contents and placement within the proposal? | See solicitation amendment. Sections L and M updated. |
| Section L Subfactor Instructions | Section L Instructions, conditions, and notices to offerors or respondents (page 78) | Will the Government please confirm whether an updated RFP will be issued to provide instructions for the contents of each volume and subfactor? | See solicitation amendment. Sections L and M updated. |
| Holiday Observance Clarification: Good Friday | 1.7.4 Recognized Holidays (page 13) | REF: The Wage Determination for Chicago, IL (2015-5017 R30) identifies Good Friday as one of the twelve paid holidays; however, the "Recognized Holidays" listed in the RFP does not include Good Friday. | |