QA_19233SOL00036.pdf

Questions and Answers

Solicitation 19-233-SOL-00036

1) Can you tell me how many lives will access/participate in the Interactive Wellness and Health Promotion Web Portal?

Government Response to Q1: There are currently approximately 90,000 users.

2) Could you please provide the incumbent contract number? If not, is this a new requirement?

Government Response to Q2: The incumbent contract number is HHSP23320110002DI.

3) Are there plans to release this solicitation at a future date?

Government Response to Q3: No, RFQ 19-233-SOL-00036 replaces previously cancelled RFQ 18-233-SOL-00606 and 18-233-SOL-00036. RFQ 19-233-SOL-00036 closes on November 29, 2018.

4) Will this planned solicitation be consolidated with another requirement that is similar in scope?

Government Response to Q4: No, RFQ 19-233-SOL-00036 replaces previously cancelled RFQ

5) Are you or your peers currently working on other solicitations that are similar in scope?

Government Response to Q5: No, RFQ 19-233-SOL-00036 replaces previously cancelled RFQ

6) Can companies from Outside USA can apply for this (i.e. India or Canada)?

Government Response to Q6: The place of performance is expected to be the contractors controlled facility. It is important to note that all tasks including data hosting services must be covered by an Authority to Operate (ATO) and the total solution must be compliant with FISMA standards.

7) Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

Government Response to Q7: Yes, as per the RFQ the Contractor may be required to attend a Program review meeting annually to be held in either Bethesda, MD or Salt Lake City, UT.

8) Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA (i.e. India or Canada)?

Government Response to Q8: The place of performance is expected to be the contractors controlled facility. It is important to note that all tasks including data hosting services must be covered by an Authority to Operate (ATO) and the total solution must be compliant with FISMA standards.

9) Can we submit the proposals via email?

Government Response to Q9: Yes, the proposal submission instructions are stated in section L.3 in the RFQ.

10) On pages 35 (Service Contract Labor Standards) and 39 through 63 (or so), there are a variety of “certifications” that I believe we need to include even though none are referenced or included in the descriptions of the volumes due (e.g. technical, past performance, etc.). I have two questions regarding these certifications.

a) First, is it acceptable to place them as Exhibits at the end of the Technical Volume II?

b) Second, there is a lot of text describing the various items being certified such as a description of the conditions under which taxes are delinquent. Is it okay to just include the actual certification lines so that the reader doesn’t have to wade through all of the supporting text and the exhibit can be shorter?

Government Response to Q10 (a) and Q10 (b): All certifications applicable to clauses are to stay in the clauses and mostly require a check box or circle the correct answer. IAW the Business/Price instruction, reference page 72, ““Offerors must complete and sign the front page of Standard Form 1449 and include a complete copy with all applicable Section I and K clauses filled in, in the Price/Business volume. Completion of this form indicates that the Offeror agrees with all the terms and conditions contained in solicitation Sections A through M.” Please make sure the proposal instructions are followed. All tax delinquency certifications should also be applicable to clauses and also need to be answered within the clause. If for some reason you need to include additional information then please reference the clause the exhibit is applicable to.

c) Language on pp 72: “Offerors must complete and sign the front page of Standard Form 1449 and include a complete copy with all applicable Section I and K clauses filled in, in the Price/Business volume. Completion of this form indicates that the Offeror agrees with all the terms and conditions contained in solicitation Sections A through M.”

This language is ambiguous because it implies that SF 1449 has a section for I and K clauses – which it doesn’t. “Complete copy” is also ambiguous: is it a complete copy of SF 1449? Or of all 46 pages of Sections I and K?

Right now, I read this as “a complete copy of SF 1449” (which just has 2 pages in my case) plus just our “applicable” answers/certifications from Sections I and K of the RFP (about 4 pages). I don’t think that you want all 46 pages of the boilerplate pasted in but I would hate to have our proposal rejected because I didn’t.

Government Response to Q10 (c): The 1449 includes all sections, the entire document is 82 pages as shown in the top right hand block Page 1 of 82. The instructions require a complete copy (all 82 pages) be included.

11) The FAR 52.222-22 requirement for Equal Opportunity compliance asks whether we have participated in a previous contract with an EO clause and asks whether we’ve filed all “required compliance reports” (pp 64 of the RFQ). This leads to two questions.

a) Isn’t it true that all federal contracts have had an EO compliance clause for years and that our previous federal contracts must have had them? Am I safe in saying that we’ve participated via our previous FOH contract?

b) As far as I know, the only requirement for a business of our size when it comes to the EO regulations is the posting of an Equal Employment Opportunity Poster as described in section H.1. I’d like to check the box that says that we HAVE filed all required compliance reports based on this theory. Is it safe to assume that small businesses such as our do not have a compliance report requirement so that I can indeed check the “has filed all required compliance reports” box?

c) With respect to the FAR 52.222-25 requirement for Affirmative Action compliance, I am certain that we’ve “not previously had contracts subject to the written affirmative action programs requirement of the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Labor” so I have checked the box in Section (b). It appears that this means that we do not have to certify that we have (or don’t have) an AA program policy on file. Am I safe in just checking the FAR 52.222-25 (b) box as shown on pages 63-64 and not checking either option in Section (a)?

Government Response to Q11(a); Q11(b) and Q11(c): Contracts applicable to EO are $10 million or more, reference FAR Part 22.8. You will need to check your previous Government contracts and the FAR to see if they needed compliance or not.

12) Why does access to the PWS (Performance Work Statement) require signing the

MILITARILY CRITICAL TECHNICAL DATA AGREEMENT?

If so, how long will this process take? The form requires that it be mailed.

Government Response to Q12: It doesn’t, this for is not posted on FBO posting for 19-233-SOL- 00036. Please make sure you are signing into your FBO account and accessing the correct solicitation number.

13) What is the DOD connection with this project?

Government Response to Q13: There is no connection; this is not a DOD requirement.

14) Can an extension be given for this solicitation given the timing?

Government Response to Q14: Yes, the solicitation is extended to 4 Dec 2018 at 2:00 pm ET.