G. Meeting Minutes.pdf

1 Meeting Minutes from pre-proposal conference for RFQ nr. 19EN1024Q0003

SBU - CONTRACTING AND ACQUISITIONS

Meeting Minutes of Pre-proposal Conference

U.S. Embassy Chancery & residential properties exterior janitorial services –

RFQ nr. 19EN1024Q0003

Date: February 27, 2024

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Venue: U.S. Embassy Tallinn, Estonia – GSO Office

Attendees: Tiia Tanvell – LES Contracting Officer

Katrin Lipstal – Procurement Agent

Representatives from three Janitorial companies took part. A fourth company who had earlier expressed interest failed to participate.

Introduction:

• Agenda is distributed to all the offerors.

• Sign in sheet was filled in and signed by all participants.

• Introduction was given by the Contracting Officer (CO)

• Introductions were given by all the offerors followed by the introduction of the Embassy team and their expertise.

• The CO informed all the offerors that any questions contractual pertaining to the contract will have to be written and submitted by email to

TallinnProcurement@state.gov by close of business March 4, 2024.

Project Overview:

• The CO explained the purpose of the solicitation and mentioned that the solicitation is a

“Full and Open Competition, where all potential offerors are given a fair and equitable opportunity to win the award. She also added that the contract has a performance period of one-year from the date of the contract award, with three (3) year options to renew.

• The CO informed the offerors that the technical questions would be answered by the

Contracting Officer - CO. She also added that any contractual questions relating to the mailto:TallinnProcurement@state.gov

2 Meeting Minutes from pre-proposal conference for RFQ nr. 19EN1024Q0003 contract should be submitted to TallinnProcurement@state.gov by March 4, 2024.

Contractual questions can only be in writing. Once received, the CO will compile the questions, answer them. All answers will be disseminated before the submission date of the proposal.

• Procurement Agent explained the Statement of Work (SOW) and overall intention of the

SOW.

• Procurement Agent explained the SOW and added that the solicitation is for the provision of exterior janitorial services to the Embassy of the United States of America in

Estonia as specified in the SOW, section 1 of the solicitation.

• Procurement Agent explained the SOW in detail and covered all technical aspects of the solicitation.

• Procurement Agent explained the pricing schedule in Section 1 of the solicitation.

• Procurement Agent explained that the terms and conditions of the solicitations are the same terms and conditions of the contract. If any question or inquiry should result in a change in the solicitation, an Amendment will be prepared.

Submittal requirements:

The CO informed the offerors about the submittal requirements which are:

• Proposal should be submitted by or before close of business on March 11th, 2024 (local time). Proposals will be delivered electronically via e-mail and they cannot be signed digitally as the Embassy is unable to open them. Scanned signature is acceptable.

• Offerors should follow the directions given in Section 3 for submitting the proposal.

• Potential offerors will have to submit complete packages, with appropriate representations and certifications, technical and price proposal, and signatures.

Evaluation factors:

The CO and Procurement Agent informed the Offerors about the evaluation factors:

• She stated that the evaluation would first be on the technical merits of the proposal, and for those that were technically acceptable; the proposals would be evaluated on pricing. The process is to identify the Best Value technically acceptable proposal that meets the Embassy’s other criteria as well.

• To be an acceptable proposal, it must be prepared in accordance with Section 3, and must meet all the requirements set forth in the other sections of the solicitation.

• Proposals will be evaluated in two phases: Technical Evaluation and Price Evaluation.

• Technical Evaluation: Technical Evaluation Panel includes the COR and other individuals, who determine the acceptability of the proposal based on the solicitation’s technical requirements.

• Price Evaluation: The CO will evaluate the price and will consider best value, technically acceptable offer, and will follow with negotiations, if the proposal falls within mailto:TallinnProcurement@state.gov

3 Meeting Minutes from pre-proposal conference for RFQ nr. 19EN1024Q0003 the competitive range.

• On numerous occasions the CO reiterated the need for potential offerors to complete all the relevant sections of the proposal, to sign it and submit it in a timely manner.

• The conference concluded at 11:50 am and attendees were thanked for their presence and expression of interest in serving the U.S. Government.