QA 1.docx

1. According to the contract documents (attach 2), a contractor can only bid on one of the 4 zones.

Will DoS select one contractor for each zone, or multiple contractors for each zone?

DOS Response: As noted in M-003 Basis for Award, “The Government anticipates award three (3) to five (5) IDIQs for each zone. The Government reserves the right to award less or more IDIQs per zone.”

2. Would it be acceptable to submit previously completed Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) or Contractor Performance Assessment Reports (CPARS) in lieu of obtaining new PPQs? We’ve encountered increasing difficulty in securing updated PPQs because many Government Points of Contact (POCs) have either left their positions or been reassigned, making it challenging to obtain timely responses. In recent solicitations many other agencies (GSA, DoD, NPS, DHS) have accepted the use previously completed PPQs.

DOS Response: The Government will not accept any PPQs that are not completed by the offeror’s prior customers and submitted directly to the CO and CS from the customer.

3. The Solicitation document 19AQMM26R0012 (Page 51 of 55, Proposal Format) states: “The shall only submit a proposal for one (1) zone.” Please confirm whether an Offeror is allowed to submit on multiple Zones, by submitting multiple proposals (i.e., one proposal per zone).

DOS Response: The offeror shall only choose one zone to submit a proposal for. Any proposals for other zones will not be considered for evaluation.

4. Can a separate proposal be sent for 2 regions? We are currently performing work in 2 of the regions and would like to send separate proposals for each.

DOS Response: The offeror shall only submit a proposal for one region.

5. In reviewing the solicitation, it states that the offeror shall describe the number and scope of similar projects completed within the past five years. I did not see a specific limit identified and wanted to confirm whether there is a maximum number of projects the government would prefer to see addressed.

We have numerous relevant projects completed during the past five years, and including all of them would exceed the fifteen page limit for the technical proposal.

DOS Response: There are currently no maximum limits on PPQ submissions.

As a reminder, the offeror shall not submit the PPQs directly or include them as part of their technical volume. The offeror is responsible for submitting the form to their past customers and the past customers shall submit the PPQs directly to the CO Meghan Klipfel and CS Ryan Edwards directly. If the offeror includes the PPQ in their proposal submission they will not be included for evaluation.

6. Is it acceptable to use CPARS in lieu of PPQ; this is normal with USACE/NAVFAC Proposals.

DOS Response: No, the Government will not accept CPARS directly from the offeror. However, as noted in M-008 the Government will use its discretion the sources of past performance information used during evaluation. In the event there are no PPQs submitted from an offeror, DOS can use references provided by the offeror, the agency’s knowledge of contractor performance, other government agencies or commercial entities, past performance databases, or any other information available.

7. The solicitation says that resumes will not count against the 15-page count for Volume1, but will the financials? Also, the solicitation says that financials must be dated no more than 90 days before proposal submission. There’s a chance we may have our 2026 financials ready by the submission date, but it’s not likely. We will have an in-house financial statement, but not our CPA reviewed financials. Will that be acceptable? If not, the only CPA reviewed financials we will have will be 2025s.

DOS Response: L-002 Factor 1 has been revised to allow for financials to be submitted within 365 days of the proposal due date to allow the offeror to provide 2025 financials.

8. I also want to ask the same question about the letter required from our bonding company. Does it count against our page count?

DOS Response: The offeror shall provide their bonding capabilities as a statement for Factor 1 and then can provide the bonding capability letter as an Appendix to their Volume I: Technical Volume.

9. Lastly, the solicitation references 52.236-1 Performance of work by the contractor. It specifies 51%. This is a higher percentage than we’ve ever seen. We would just like to confirm that this is correct.

DOS Response: FAR 52.236-1 has been revised to change the percentage from 51% to 35%.

10. Will the government accept projects over the $3 million value at the same level of confidence as projects that fall between $2K to $3M? These jobs are a bit more complicated, the higher the dollar value.

DOS Response: The Government is seeking only demonstrated experience and past performance for projects similar in size, scope, and complexity to what is identified in the RFP and Statement of Work.

11. Will the government accept projects that we performed as a Joint Venture with equal value if we spell out our role in the Joint Venture (Superintendent, QCM, etc.) We are not bidding this as a Joint Venture but would love to use some of the past performance we have from our JVs. The government sole sourced to these Joint Ventures because they wanted us on these projects.

DOS Response: The offeror can use experience as a JV as long as it addresses the requirements of the RFP.

12. Is it possible to increase the page count for the technical write up, or at least specifically Factor 2? There is a lot of information for us to input for just the Technical/Management section alone to cover scheduling, cost control, quality assurance, mitigation strategies, safety protocols, contingency planning, sustainable construction practices, waste management, and energy efficiency.

DOS Response: The page limit for the technical volume has been increased to 20 pages.