19AS2025Q0018 Pre Quotation Conference Transcript and QnA .pdf

03 July 2025 19AS2025Q0018

Q&A and Clarifications Please note that all questions asked in the transcript of the meeting are also represented here.

Question: Per Section I 5.iv. Completion Date, all work is required to completed within 10 days of receipt of the task order. In the event that blind condition is such that sending out for cleaning is required, is there flexibility in the delivery timeline?

Answer: No. The completion timeline for this work is based on the standard required turn around time necessary to meet other contingent deadlines and is therefore not flexible.

Question: What is expected for past performance and references if we have only had one client in the past seven years?

Answer: It is not required that you provide multiple references, as long as the existing client shows you are able to meet the requirements set forth in the RFQ.

Question: If one of our certifications is set to expire soon after bidding closes, will that cause issues with my bid? We can provide the renewal as soon as we receive it.

Answer: Provide your current license or certification and detail your plan/efforts made to obtain your renewal. You can provide renewal once it is received.

Question: Is the W-14 required to be filled out for this contract?

Answer: No, it is not required for contracts under $250,000.

Transcript

June 25, 2025, 10:47PM

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 12:05 Kyle Hewitt: I'm going to go ahead and get started.

So we are here today to discuss the solicitation for specialised curtain blind cleaning services for the US Embassy.

Today we have with us our contracting Officer, Terry Alston, COR Giulia Kelly and myself, Kyle Hewitt, who is working this particular solicitation.

[On this slide we’ve] got the RFQ number and this is an IDIQ contract for curtains and blind services IDIQ, meaning that it's an undefined quantity where we will request services via task order. You'll invoice us for costs. You'll get paid, we'll get cleaned blinds, everyone's happy.

Today we're just going to go over the sections of the RFQ and provide a little bit more information on a couple of things in each of those sections and then we'll do a recap and Q&A at the end.

So in section one you have a statement of work, which we'll go over in just a second.

This will be a multiple award, so we're hoping to award to about three people depending on the number of acceptable bids we have.

This the period of performance is one base year, two option years and an option to extend for six months.

Minimum of $5000 maximum of $250,000 over the 3 1/2 year.

[For currency] we're expecting bids in in AUD. We have a couple of people in the US who might do in USD, but AUD is the preference. We have pricing grids for you to fill out to specify how much each service will cost.

Section 1 also has ordering and invoicing instructions. If you not are not already familiar with how that works. And then the quality assurance and surveillance plan to ensure that work is performed to the to the standard expected by the US Embassy.

For statement of work, I'm going to pass it to Giulia to discuss.

Giulia Kelly: This one's pretty simple. Yeah, it's just very simple. Not much to it, but as you both know, properties are vacant access by lock box.

Kyle Hewitt: It's pretty simple, so yeah, we're going to clean curtains, shears, drapes, blinds, make sure they look good as new.

I do not know what a pelmet is.

Giulia Kelly: It's at the top of the curtains. Covers all the tracks and everything.

Kyle Hewitt: Let me write that down. I'm going to put specify that it's a helmet for the blinds.

In terms of pricing grids, there are there's a pricing grid for each section of the contract the base year, the two option years and the extension.

We do expect for you to price based on the descriptions that we've provided in these pricing grids and then do a grand total at the bottom, which is what we'll base our assessments on in terms of lowest price.

Your prices should exclude GST and as mentioned ideally be an AUD.

In Section 2, we discuss contract clauses.

The ones that are applicable to this particular contract in the RFQ are marked with an X. This section also discusses ordering limitations - how much we're allowed to ask of you before you can reject a task order, things like that. The option to extend for six months at the end, what the payment schedule looks like, what expectations should be on in terms of invoicing and how quickly we pay. And then all holidays - here you're allowed to work on US holidays if you like, but not Australian holidays obviously.

Section 3 are the solicitation provisions. This is what needs to be provided as part of your bid. You are required to fill out the SF1449 which we'll discuss on the next slide.

Proof of your ability to perform. This includes identifying a project manager, giving your business identifiers - in Australia that's your ABN - and then proof of active Sam registration.

We also require past performance, ideally three years worth of experience. If you have more clients then seems reasonable to enumerate, we ask that you have at least three to five similarly sized clients to the work that we're asking for here.

You also need to provide proof that your business can provide staff and equipment to support the work and any required business licenses or certifications. If any of those certifications are expiring soon, just give us everything you have and then prove you are attempting to obtain or renew your certifications.

The standard 1449 - I assume everyone's familiar with this, we I've highlighted what boxes need to be filled out for a box. I think it's 23 and 24 where it's unit price you'll fill in with the grand totals for all options. Not for the individual years. And then you'll sign this.

[The SF 1449] should also be included in the RFQ, so you can just pull it from that.

All acceptable bids have to be SAM registered.

If you are not currently Sam registered, which I believe currently all the attendees are, but if you need any assistance with it, we have a How To guide.

Additionally, if you have an active SAM registration right now, you can follow any updates to the solicitation on sam.gov you just subscribe to it and then you'll get emails or anything when changes are made to the solicitation.

Which can be handy as we'll post probably one or two more before the end, just with more information.

Section 4 is our evaluation standards. We're evaluating this based on lowest price technically acceptable. So if you've provided everything that you are supposed to provide in compliance with Section 3, we will then award based on who comes in at the lowest.

We base that on the grand total pricing from the pricing grids we provided.

And you also have to show compliance with responsible perspective contractors. So you know comporting yourself as good business owners and good business practices etcetera.

Section 5 is reps and certs. If you are registered in SAM, your reps and Certs are basically covered, but this does encompass things like telecommunication equipment or NDAA, trafficking in persons, and any business representations you have like veteran owned, small business, et cetera, et cetera.

We do still recommend reading through Section 5 just to make sure everything's covered, but your SAM registration in this case will likely cover everything.

And then that brings us to the recap.

The quote requirements - the filled out SF1449, the filled out pricing grid (and it does have to be the grid we provided, It cannot be a grid that you come up with on your own), the business details and past performance from Section 3, anything detailed in there reps and certs from Section 5, and then proof of your ACTIVE SAM registration.

We’ll obviously do Q&A here, but if you do come up with any other questions that you'd like to discuss, those are due by June 30th.

And we'll make sure any questions or any information is posted by July 3rd to support quotations being submitted by July 21st.

Any questions?

Potential Vendor 1: Sorry. What is…where does July 3rd come into?

Kyle Hewitt: That's if any questions are submitted by like by potential quoters or anything, we'll make sure that answers to those questions are posted on SAM by July 3rd, so that all of that information is available well before bids are due.

Potential Vendor 1: Sorry, am I able to speak? Yeah. Yeah, OK. The only thing that that came to my mind was where you mentioned that you need a reference from clients.

I haven't had any clients for about 7 years, I only do the Embassy work now, so I couldn't be going back many years to dig up some clients who could.

Kate Costan: Use the embassy as past performance.

Potential Vendor 1: Yeah, and I'll use you as clients. Yeah. OK.

Kyle Hewitt: So I think past performance does it. I don't think it has to be an actual reference from your past clients. It's just a description of the performance that you've done. So if you put, I've done the work you're describing here for you guys.

You know, in a in a you know more formal manner.

Anything else?

Potential Vendor 1: Well, I'd just like to say something. I talk too much, but I've been doing work for so many years for the embassy and the sort of stopping work is almost like a marriage breakup to me now. But I just want to say that the pricing, the way that it's being worked work works out now. It's really good.

It's changed over the years where you've come to this unit of measure because as you all know, all properties are different and it depends what you get when you go to a property you can go there and you know it's a fairly easy run and then you can hit a property where there's two lots of blinds and curtains and draughts and Vertical Blinds all in the one window. So that's a whole difference in the area so. You know the way that it's worked out for I was a bit worried when I saw we were going to have this meeting because I was concerned that, you know, that was all going to change, but it's really, it's been really good for me and I really enjoy. I really enjoy it for the, for the industry, excellent. changed after that. Yeah. Anyway, I won't talk anymore.

Kyle Hewitt: [Potential Vendor 2], do you have any questions?

Potential Vendor 2 28:56 I'm just wanting to confirm so this we've got 10 days to have the job completed.

I was reading that contractor gets 10 days so, by the time we take [the blinds] off -

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 29:14 Kate Costan: I think it's within 10 days from receiving the task order to accept it to complete the work and have everything done. It's not that you'd be in the house for 10 days, but we can clarify that.

Kyle Hewitt: What page number are you referring to?

Potential Vendor 2 29:17 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't have - I'm not in the office and I was late on this, but there was some a section that pretty much said what you said. Then it's 10 days to have it completed by from when? From when you when you send the work, when we start the job, when you give us the date for the work order?

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 29:57 Giulia Kelly: Now usually we always e-mail and we give you a date during the make ready and when we need it, you know need that to be done. On that actual day. So just take that into account. I don't know about the contract. I haven't seen it.

Kyle Hewitt: So I don't know that if you can find where that reference is and e-mail me and let me know. We can also look for it and we can just clarify what's meant. I think my understanding is that the scheduling is sort of done between you and the housing team and there's, you know, a certain amount of flexibility with making sure that it gets done on time.

Potential Vendor 2 30:39 Yeah. The only reason I have to know is talking to a company and if the blinds are really bad, they've gotta come down and get sent out. They need five days to have them done and then I can put them back up. If there's a lot of mold in there, I was talking to someone they'll be able to do that and remove it, but they need five days, you know, have that work done from.

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 31:05 Kyle Hewitt: Right. Well we'll clarify if we can find what you're referring to, take into account the amount of time it actually takes to clean and dry.

Giulia Kelly: So you're referring to actually pulling the blinds down, sending them up, having them professionally cleaned and then reinstalling them.

Potential Vendor 2 31:21 Yeah.

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 31:28 Kyle Hewitt: Yeah. Well, we'll clarify that in our Q&A.

Potential Vendor 2 31:29 But if there's too much mold down the bottom, we like with steam clean and everything. But you know there is a lot of mold down the bottom, it’s a lot better [to pull them] off and send them get them done, that's all.

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 31:45 Kyle Hewitt: Yeah, no, definitely, that's what we'd want you to do. So, yeah, no, we'll clarify that and we'll post that in our questions and answers on SAM.gov.

Potential Vendor 2 31:58 And that's all questions I have.

Canberra-EMB-Atrium-DVC 32:02 Kyle Hewitt: OK. Excellent. Well, we appreciate you both coming and if you have any thoughts or questions or anything after this, feel free to e-mail us and we'll be happy to help. Look forward to seeing everyone's bids. Thank you.

Potential Vendor 2 32:04

OK.

Thank you.

Thanks very much.

Thank you. Bye bye.

Hewitt, Kyle (Canberra) stopped transcription