QA 2.docx

1. Please confirm that the bonding capability letter, contained in an Appendix per Amend 0001, does not count towards the page limitations.

DOS Response: I am confirming the information in Amendment 01 is correct.

2. Please confirm that the Financial Report may also be included in an Appendix and does not count towards the page limitations.

DOS Response: The offeror can submit their financial reports as an Appendix in Volume I and it does not count toward the page count.

3. In which volume should the SF 1442 should be placed?

DOS Response: The offeror shall submit the SF1442 as a standalone document from Volume I or II.

4. In which volume should Section K, Reps and Certs, be placed?

DOS Response: The offeror can submit the Reps and Certs as a separate document from Volume I or II.

5. RFP pg. 53, indicates inclusion of Attachment 3: Total Evaluated Price. In the issued solicitation documents, Attachment 3 is a listing of DOD-Fed Facilities, not a pricing document. If required, would the Government please provide Attachment 3: Total Evaluated Price.

DOS Response: This is an administrative error. Attachment 2 will be used to determine the evaluated price. Attachment 3 remains as the listing of DOS and GSA Facilities.

6. Please confirm submission of Attachment 2: Section B Pricing Spreadsheet is to be included in lieu of RFP pg. 7-8 "Section B - Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs."

DOS Response: This is correct. The CLINs identified on Page 7 and 8 will be completed by the Government at the award level. The offeror is required to complete Attachment 2 for price evaluation.

7. Relevant to FAR Clause 52.236-1 Performance of Work by the Contractor, on pg. 3 of Amendment 1’s RFP, the requirement states “The Contractor shall perform on the site, and with its own organization, work equivalent to at least thirty-five (35 percent)”. For set-aside (FAR 19.5) contracts of the same scope and complexity, contractors perform no more than 15-25% in the required zones. Additionally, it is unknown what specialty trades or subcontractors will be needed on future Task Orders and thus unknown which similarly situated subcontractors will be performing on the applicable contract. Will the Government support Master Contract terms that are favorable to the Statement of Work Clause 7b4, which requires Contractors to self-perform 15% of the cost of the contract?

DOS Response: Revised FAR 52.236-1 to match the SOW at 15%.

8. Relevant to the Pricing Evaluation requirements, an Attachment 2: Section B Pricing Spreadsheet and Attachment 3: Total Evaluated Price are referenced. Please confirm offerors have all the required attachments to successfully comply with requirements. Currently, Attachment 3 lists the DOS facilities by Zone rather than “total evaluated price”.

DOS Response: See the response to question #5.

9. Relevant to M-008 Past Performance Evaluation, it is stated that “An offeror’s team member or major subcontractor’s performance may be used as a Past Performance reference.” Will the Government confirm that a subcontractor may submit Attachment 5 directly to the CO/CS to satisfy the past performance requirement?

DOS Response: No past performance questionnaires will be accepted directly from the offeror or their subcontractor. Any past performance questionnaires shall be completed by the offeror or subcontractor’s customer and submitted directly to the CO and CS.

10. M-010: Please confirm where offerors should place information related to this section. Our assumption is that this information should be placed at the end of the Price Proposal – unless it is excluded from the Technical Proposal page limit.

DOS Response: The offeror shall provide a short statement on the first page of Volume I: Technical proposal on whether they possess an Active FCL or not. This information will assist in identifying the offerors who will need sponsorship.

11. L-002 Factor 2 “NOTE”: Should offerors submit evidence of an active SAM registration in the proposal? Our assumption is that this information should be placed at the end of the Price Proposal – unless it is excluded from the Technical Proposal page limit.

DOS Response: The does not need to include any separate evidence of an Active SAM registration. The offeror shall provide their CAGE or UEI code on the title or cover page on their proposal and the SAM registration will be verified prior to submitting for technical evaluation.

12. L-002: Please confirm if a Title Page and Cover Page are excluded from the Technical Proposal page limit.

DOS Response: A title and cover page are excluded from the page count and shall include the offeror’s name, point of contact information, and the offeror’s CAGE or UEI code.

13. L-002/M-008 Past Performance: CPARS and other past performance records may not be submitted in lieu of new PPQ forms submitted directly to the Government. We understand that the Government has already addressed related RFIs, but would the Government nevertheless reconsider by amending this requirement to allow offerors to submit existing CPARS evaluations or existing federal-form PPQ evaluations, if needed and in lieu of new PPQ forms? Such existing federal-form evaluations are designed for this purpose and would evaluate the categories applicable to the PPQ form included with this solicitation. As has been noted already, evaluators/references are often reluctant to complete new evaluations when existing evaluations are already available and have already been completed for this type of situation and purpose. In addition, over a five-year recency look-back, references are very often no longer available. These are circumstances that are beyond an offeror’s control and that can impact proposal scores unnecessarily and an offeror’s ability to present its most recent and relevant work. Allowing such existing evaluations – in lieu of new PPQ forms – helps offerors provide the best experience information and most thorough proposals possible for the Government’s consideration and to the Government’s potential benefit. And because they would be evaluations on official, federal forms, they would still allow the Government to assess offeror past performance effectively.

DOS Response: As noted in Amendment 01, the Government will not accept CPARs for Factor 4. In the event no PPQs are submitted the Government will use its discretion to determine the sources of past performance information used in the evaluation, and information may be obtained from references provided by the offeror, the agency’s knowledge of contractor performance, other government agencies or commercial entities, past performance databases (to include CPARs), or any other information available.

14. For the Technical Proposal, are a title page and the cover page excluded from the 20-page limitation?

DOS Response: See response to question #12.

15. Will an income statement be acceptable to serve as a financial statement per L002 Factor 1?

DOS Response: Yes, an income statement will be acceptable as a financial statement.

16. Confirm if the delivery method is either hand delivery or electronic. SF1442 states that it is to be a hard copy and L002 states that it’s to be emailed.

DOS Response: Please follow the submission method noted in L-002.

17. Is there an anticipated workload percentage based off the total budget allocated for this MATOC at each zone that can be shared?

DOS Response: Currently the Government does not have a workload percentage for each zone. Task orders will be competed and awarded when there is a need for services.

18. Are reps and certs used from SAM.gov or does the bidder need to provide them? If they need to be provided, please advise as to where this should be inserted in the proposal package.

DOS Response: The offeror isn’t required to submit the SAM Reps and Certs. The Government will verify the offerors SAM registration at the time of proposal receipt to verify the offeror has an active SAM registration. Once the offeror’s SAM registration is confirmed the proposal will be sent for evaluation.

If the offeror chooses to submit their SAM Reps and Certs please follow the process from Question #4.

19. If reps and certs are to be included, does the bidder need to only provide a list or does the bidder need to include certificates as backup in the proposal package?

DOS Response: See response to question #18

20. Different than PPQ’s, what is the required number of past performance projects that can be included in the proposal package?

DOS Response: There are no required minimums the offeror needs to meet for past performance projects.

21. Attachment 2 - Section B Pricing Spreadsheet does not have a category for Architecture and Design roles. Will the Government please confirm that those rates are to be provided for these positions?

DOS Response: Yes. Attachment 2 – Section B Pricing Spreadsheet will be revised to include the architecture discipline with labor categories.

22. Will the government extend the due date for PPQ submissions?

DOS Response: The due date for the PPQs will remain due at the proposal due date and time. The new proposal due date is February 20, 2026 by 4pm ET.

23. Which key personnel is the government expecting resumes for?

DOS Response: The Government is requesting resumes for the Project Manager and Superintendent. When the task order requests for proposals are issued the Government will seek resumes for personnel required in performance of the work.

24. Would the Government consider adding another 10 pages, to the updated 20 that you gave us for the technical write up.

DOS Response: The Government does not intend to extend the page limit past 20 pages.

25. Please confirm if the SF1442 and any SF30s issued with future amendments are to be included in a Price volume.

DOS Response: See the response for Question #3.

26. Section L, Price Evaluation, references an Attachment 3: Total Evaluated Price. The Attachment 3 issued with the solicitation is Attachment 3 – DoS Fed Facilities. Section M does not reference the necessity of completing an Attachment 3. Please confirm Attachment 3 is not required, or provide correct spreadsheet.

DOS Response: See the response to Question #5

27. H-031 Security Requirements notes a Secret FCL requirement, and the attachment of a DD254. Was a sample supporting DD254 to have been issued with the documents?

DOS Response: There was no DD-254 issued with the documents. The DD-254 will be issued with the TOPR.

28. M-010 Security Clearance references “pre-qualified” firms, and the necessity for a Secret FCL with Secret level safeguarding. Is there a pre-qualification requirement?

DOS Response: There is no pre-qualification requirement. If the offeror doesn’t currently possess an FCL, DOS will sponsor the offeror, and the offeror will be required to proceed through the DCSA investigation process.

29. M-010 Security Clearance references the necessity for a Secret FCL with Secret level safeguarding. In Section L or M, no guidance has been provided on if the Offeror has a responsibility to share their current FCL. Please advise if additional information is needed to address this requirement.

DOS Response: See the response to Question #10.

30. Section L., Factor 1, in addition to the financial statement, what is required to provide “evidence of binding capability and availability to the value of the proposed price in Section B?” Is the Government requesting confirmation of the Offeror’s current bonding capacity?

DOS Response: Yes, this should be the offeror’s bonding capacity.

31. When do you expect base contract award to be issued?

DOS Response: The Government intends to issue the awards late March to early April.

32. How many contracts per Zone will be awarded?

DOS Response: See contract language M-003 basis for award.

33. Following the Letter of Interest phase / selection, since this is lowest priced technically acceptable (LPTA), typically, how many firms will be invited to bid.

DOS Response: The IDIQs will be awarded using the Best Value: Tradeoff process. Once the IDIQs have been established the task order request for proposals will be awarded on a lowest priced technically acceptable basis.

34. Section 3. Capacity and Estimated Usage per Contract Period and Geographical Area: The total capacity of all awarded Contracts, including the Base Period plus four (4) Option Periods, shall not exceed $50,000,000.00.

Does this mean the $50M is split between all zones or is it $50 per zone?

DOS Response: The $50M is the ceiling for each IDIQ issued.

How much will be allocated to each Zone?

DOS Response: See the response to Question #17

35. Section E. UNCLASSIFIED AND SBU PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS (PROJNET)

We understand Dept of State is moving to Kahua. Will Kahua be used instead of, or, in addition to ProjNet?

DOS Response: The Department will eventually move to Kahua but is currently only authorized by Diplomatic Security to use ProjNet for domestic projects.

Will ProjNet C be required for any of this work?

DOS Response: No. Only ProjNet.org as a Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) platform will be used.

Will Google FAN be used or available for use for this work?

DOS Response: Yes. Department of State employees are able to create a FAN.gov account for accessing Google Meeting invites, but the file sharing should be accomplished with ProjNet or Kahua (if approved for domestic DOS use)

36. Labor Categories and Rates

Is there a standard escalation rate for each new option years?

DOS Response: The offeror shall identify the escalation rate for the zone they are submitting their proposal for.

37. The A/E disciplines listed in the Statement of Work do not align with the Labor Categories and Rates sheet. Will the Labor Categories and Rates sheet be revised and reissued to include these missing categories listed below?

i. Registered architect,

ii. Registered geotechnical,

iii. Registered environmental,

iv. Interior designer,

v. Certified environmental survey/design personnel.

DOS Response: See response to Question #21.

38. Pricing / Labor Rates: Can the Government confirm whether the fully burdened labor rates submitted at the IDIQ level will act as ceiling rates for future task orders issued under this contract?

DOS Response: The labor rates requested are for evaluation purposes only. Due to the numerous locations, ceiling rates cannot be established.

39. Past Performance Evaluation: The solicitation states that the Government may consider past performance information from multiple sources, including CPARS. Can the Government confirm whether Offerors may rely on existing CPARS evaluations in lieu of submitting completed Attachment 5 – Past Performance Questionnaires, or whether submission of PPQs by references is required for past performance to be evaluated?

DOS Response: The offeror shall not rely on the Government evaluating CPARS and should submit PPQs to the maximum extent possible. In the event, there is no past performance information the Government may use CPARS or any other means identified in M-008.

40. In the Attachment 2 - Section B Pricing Spreadsheet, there is no category for Architecture or Design roles. Please confirm that rates are to be provided for those positions.

DOS Response: See response to Question #21.

41. Attachment 3 - DOS Project Locations - In order to choose a Zone, will a map or other document be provided identifying the project location Zones?

DOS Response: Below is a copy of the map showing the zone breakout:

42. Document 19AQMM26R0012, M007, Factor 2, Project Understanding - Since this section would be outlined at the task order level, please confirm this section is not required for this solicitation.

DOS Response: For Factor 2, Project Understanding, the offeror shall demonstrate the overall requirements of the Statement of Work. Specific project requirements will be requested at the task order level.

43. Please advise if Section K Representations and Certifications are to be completed and returned, and if so, in which Volume.

DOS Response: See the response to question #4.

44. The solicitation establishes a 15-page limit and requires submission of the “latest financial report” under Factor 1. Financial statements typically exceed 15 pages. Please confirm whether the financial report is excluded from the 15-page limit.

DOS Response: The current page limit has been increased to 20 pages via Amendment 0001. However, the financial report may be included as an Appendix.

45. The SOW references “Phase 1” and “Phase 2” personnel; however, the RFP does not define proposal phases and appears to contemplate a single base proposal, with scope and staffing defined at the task order level. Please confirm whether offerors are required to identify Phase 1 and Phase 2 personnel in the base proposal, or if personnel identification will be addressed at the task order level.

DOS Response: The reference to Phase 1 and Phase 2 has been added in error. The Statement of Work has been revised.

46. Section M states that a Neutral rating will be assigned when no past performance is available, while Section L-002 indicates that failure to provide a Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) will result in a Neutral rating. Please clarify whether “failure to provide” applies to situations where the offeror has no relevant past performance, or where the offeror submitted the PPQ, but the client did not return it despite the offeror’s timely submission.

DOS Response: The “Neutral” rating will be assigned when the offeror does not possess relevant past performance in scope, size, and complexity. In the event the Government does not receive any PPQs for an offeror, the DoS at its discretion can determine the sources of past performance information used in the evaluation, and information may be obtained from 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.

47. Are Cover Pages, Table of Contents, Executive Summaries, and Compliance Matrices subject to the page limitation?

DOS Response: See response to question #12 for Cover Pages and Table of Contents. Executive Summaries and Compliance Matrices apply to the page count and shall follow the formatting noted in L-002 under the “General” header.

48. Is the Cover Page subject to the formatting restrictions (i.e., margins, font size, etc.)?

DOS Response: Yes, the cover page shall follow the formatting noted in L-002 under the “General” header.

49. Is there an incumbent currently performing this work? If so, please provide the name of the contractor and the contract number.

DOS Response: This is a new requirement to the Department of State. There are no incumbent contractors.

50. What is the estimated period of performance start date?

DOS Response: See response to question #31.

51. Can the government please provide historical workload data for all positions?

DOS Response: This is a new requirement and there is no historical workload data.

52. Can the government please provide all updates in red or a highlighted font within the amended solicitation to clearly demonstrate the exact changes made?

DOS Response: All changes to the RFP terms and conditions in Amendment 01 and Amendment 02 have been made in red font.

53. Can the government please ensure that all questions provided to the government are responded to? We understand that some may appear to be duplicates between vendors, however this ensures all questions are accounted for.

DOS Response: The Government has replied to all questions received.

54. Per the formal recommendation through the “Guidance for CPARS” manual, in addition to lessen the burden on Offerors' clients, will the Government consider "not requiring" Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) for those contracts that have a recent Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)? In essence, will the Government accept a CPARs in lieu of a PPQ?

DOS Response: See response to Question #13.

55. In order to best reference in our proposal response, can the government please confirm the official contract title for this procurement?

DOS Response: The official title of this procurement is located on page 7 of the RFP under the “Title” header.

56. RFP, Page 53, “Price Evaluation: The offeror shall provide pricing for all labor categories included on Attachment 2: Section B Pricing Spreadsheet and Attachment3: Total Evaluated Price.”

Can the Government confirm that no Attachment 3 entitled “Total Evaluated Price” exists as mentioned?

DOS Response: See response on Question #5

57. RFP, Page 51, “General … Resumes are limited to no more than 4 pages and are excluded from the page limit.”

Can the Government please confirm that resumes are required in offerors’ responses? If so, please confirm for which positions resumes are required.

DOS Response: Yes, resumes are required. The required positions have been identified in question #23.

58. In order to effectively respond to the solicitation, can the government please provide a one-week extension once the Q/As are posted?

DOS Response: The Government has granted an extension for proposal submission to February 20 by 4:00pm ET. No further extensions will be granted.

59. Is there a maximum allowable email size for proposal submission (e.g., 20–25 MB)? If the total submission exceeds the limit, may offerors submit proposals across multiple emails, and if so, is there a preferred labeling convention?

DOS Response: There may be a 25mb limit on email exchange. It is the responsibility of the offeror to verify via email if the proposal has been received. Please attempt to submit the proposals in one email for tracking purposes. In the event, there is a size limit, and the Government does not receive the proposal, multiple emails can be submitted. If the offeror does send multiple emails the offeror shall put in the email subject box “Requirement Name, Email 1 of X).

60. The RFP requires proposals to be submitted in Word or “searchable PDF.” Please confirm whether scanned PDFs are unacceptable and whether digitally signed PDFs are permitted.

DOS Response: Scanned PDFs may not retain a searchable feature. If the offeror submits a non-searchable proposal, it can be considered non-compliant and not considered for award.

61. Does the Government require a specific file naming format (e.g., Volume I – Technical – Zone X – Offeror Name)? Should the selected geographic zone be identified in each file name?

DOS Response: There is no specific naming convention. However, the offeror shall note in their proposal submission email the zone they are submitting for.

62. Will the Government provide confirmation of proposal receipt? If confirmation is not received, what is the appropriate follow-up method without violating communication restrictions?

DOS Response: See response to Question #59.

63. Beyond the bonding letter and resumes, what materials (if any) may be included as appendices and excluded from the page limits? Can the cover pages be excluded from the page limits.

DOS Response: See response to Question #12 and #47.

64. Section M indicates that merely restating the SOW is unacceptable. Please clarify whether brief statements of understanding are acceptable when followed by a detailed execution approach, tools, and methodologies.

DOS Response: The offeror can provide a brief statement if it supports a detailed execution approach, tools, and methodologies. If the offeror’s proposal only restates the language from the SOW, it will be given an “Unacceptable” rating.

65. Please clarify whether the Government intends Offerors to select a representative subset of relevant projects completed within the past five (5) years for purposes of addressing Factor 1, or can the government define a specific minimum and/or maximum number of project descriptions (e.g., three (3) to five (5) projects).

DOS Response: There is no minimum or maximum number of relevant projects for Factor 1.

The solicitation requires detailed discussion of project size, scope, complexity, and challenges for similar projects completed within the last five years. For firms with substantial relevant experience, addressing all such projects would be impractical within the 20-page Technical Volume, which must also cover Factors 2 and 3.

DOS Response: The 20 page limit remains unchanged.

66. If resumes are excluded from the page limit, may offerors include a one-page Key Personnel Matrix (role, experience, clearance status, availability) within the technical narrative?

DOS Response: Resumes are excluded from the page limit. The offeror can provide a Key Personnel Matrix within their proposal; however, it does count toward the page limit.

67. Can you define the specific positions and number of employees that should be submitted for each position so that the government is comparing apples to apples (ex. 1 project manager, 2 superintendents, etc.)

DOS Response: The number of personnel will vary from task order requirements. The purpose of Attachment, Section B Pricing spreadsheet requests the offeror to provide fully burdened rates for every labor category, and the price evaluation will use the Total Evaluated Price at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

68. Will task orders under this IDIQ allow ODCs such as materials, equipment rentals, and subcontractor costs, and if so, will task orders be issued as FFP, T&M, or hybrid?

DOS Response: All task orders will be awarded as a FFP task order.

69. Will the Government evaluate proposals for unbalanced pricing across labor categories at the IDIQ level?

DOS Response: Yes, the Government will review the price proposals for unbalanced pricing.

70. Please confirm whether the fully burdened labor rates submitted in Attachment 2 will function as ceiling rates for labor based pricing in future task orders, or if they are intended solely for evaluation and reference purposes.

DOS Response: See response to question #38

71. Please clarify whether escalation of fully burdened labor rates will be permitted in future task orders issued in option years, or whether the submitted rates are expected to remain static for the life of the MATOC.

DOS Response: The offeror can provide their own escalation rates. The fully burdened labor rates are being used for evaluation purposes only. The awardees will provide pricing for evaluation when competing for task order requests for proposals.

72. Please confirm whether all listed labor categories must be priced even if the offeror does not typically self perform those roles, or if subcontracted or incidental roles may still be priced for evaluation purposes.

DOS Response: See response to question #38

73. Please clarify whether zero dollar or placeholder entries are acceptable for labor categories that an offeror would not reasonably use, or whether all categories must contain a realistic fully burdened rate.

DOS Response: The offeror shall provide fully burdened labor rates for every labor category. If the offeror does not complete pricing for all labor categories the price proposal will be considered non-compliant and will not be considered for award.

74. Please confirm whether the total evaluated price derived from the pricing spreadsheet will be normalized across offerors, or whether the absolute total will be used as a comparative evaluation factor.

DOS Response: The total evaluated price from Attachment 2 will be used for comparative evaluations.

75. Personnel Clearance Requirements

a. Which positions typically require Secret Personnel Clearances versus DOS building access only?

DOS Response: That is dependent on the location and the areas work is being performed. Generally, there should be two or three personnel on-site to escort the laborers performing the work on site. Each individual that has escort privileges can escort up to 10 people.

b. Are cleared subcontractors permitted to perform classified task order work?

DOS Response: Any cleared subcontractors will require the prime contractor to submit a request for clearance in a DOS facility by working with DOS Security.

c. The solicitation references a DD Form 254. Please confirm whether this document will be provided pre-award or upon IDIQ/task order award.

DOS Response: The DD-254 will be completed upon task order award.

76. Will awards be made to all offerors rated “Satisfactory” or higher with fair and reasonable pricing, or will the Government limit awards based on relative ranking?

DOS Response: The Government intends to award 3-5 IDIQs per zone using the best value tradeoff means using the adjectival ratings in L-002. In order to qualify for an award the offeror’s proposal needs to be provided a rating of “Satisfactory” or higher for all four factors.

77. Will task orders be competed among all awardees within a zone and/or on rotation and will task order evaluations be conducted using Best Value or LPTA methodologies?

DOS Response: Every task order requirement will be solicited to all IDIQ holders within the applicable zone and will be evaluated on a LPTA basis.

78. May offerors copy the Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist when requesting Past Performance Questionnaires from references?

DOS Response: The Government requests that we only be sent the completed PPQs from the offeror’s customers.

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