Response_to_Solicitation_Questions_09.26.18R2.docx

Response to Questions for Solicitation 19AQMM18R0131

1. Will the State Department consider a submittal responsive without the IAF and ANAB accreditations at time of proposal submission?

Answer: No. At the time the proposal is submitted the Contractor shall be accredited to ISO 17021-1:2015 by a U.S. based accreditation body that is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) whose accredited scope includes ISO9001:2015 quality management system certification.

2. References to ANSI-ANAB must be changed as they unfairly and unnecessarily limit competition.

Answer: The Contractor shall be accredited to ISO 17021-1:2015 by a U.S. based accreditation body that is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) whose accredited scope includes ISO9001:2015 quality management system certification.

3. Provide an unredacted copy of the current Certificate of Conformance for EACH standard. Note: Please do not respond that this information will be provided post-award or that it is subject to FOIA. This information must be provided upon request and is a public document.

Answer: See attached.

4. Clarify whether the quantity of personnel stated includes all FTE, PTE, and contracted personnel working within the scope of each certification at each site.

Answer: Yes – includes all.

5. State the number of auditor days previously used for recertification.

Answer: The following audit days were used by the registrar (using one auditor) for recertification audits:

6. State the number of auditor days previously used for surveillance audits.

Answer: The following audit days were used by the registrar (using one auditor) for surveillance audits:

7. Does the organization have in its possession the previous 3 years of Audit Reports? Yes or No.

Answer: Yes

8. Does the organization have in its possession the previous 3 years of non-conformances and corrective actions as accepted by the current certification body? Yes or No.

Answer: Yes

9. State whether semi-annual or annual surveillance audits are required.

Answer: Annual.

10. State when the organization achieved certification to each of the standards listed.

Answer: There is only one Standard (ISO-9001:2015) which applies to all locations. Listed below is the most recent certification periods for each location:

· Charleston, South Carolina - April 27, 2018 to January 15, 2021

· Bangkok, Thailand - April 27, 2018 to January 4, 2020

· Paris, France - April 27, 2018 to January 4, 2020

· Sofia, Bulgaria - April 27, 2018 to July 1, 2019

· Washington, DC - April 27, 2018 to January 4, 2020

· Manila, Philippines - April 27, 2018 to April 5, 2019

11. State whether this certification has been continuous without interruption for each standard.

Answer: Certification has been continuous without an interruption for all locations.

12. Indicate whether Management Review, Internal Audits, and Corrective Action processes are centralized in Charleston OR occur at each site.

Answers:

a) Management Review: This process is centralized in Charleston but all location managers participate in certain aspects of the process indirectly as necessary.

b) Internal Audits: The internal audit program is managed and centralized in Charleston even though we have a dedicated internal audit team located in Bangkok, Thailand.

c) Corrective Action: The management of the process and database is centralized in Charleston.

13. The table in the Appendix includes a prepopulated number of auditor days. All accredited Certification Bodies must use International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Mandatory Document (MD) 5 to determine audit durations. The durations stated in the Appendix may not be consistent with these mandatory requirements and should be removed.

Answer: The intent of including a pre-set number estimated audit days by location in the appendix is so that a true cost comparison can be conducted between the various bidders (eliminating this variable within the comparison equation). We understand that the actual audit days will be calculated by the selected auditing firm using the IAF MD 5:2015 mandatory procedure for each location, as stated in paragraph 2.2 of section B.2 of the solicitation.