FINAL_Janitorial_Questions&Answers.docx

JANITORIAL SOLICITATION QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

19PM0718Q0019

1. Question: Is there a Cleaning Contract currently?

Answer: Yes

2. Question: What is the company that is executing the contract?

Answer: The current contractor is WA&CA Corporation. The contract number is SPM07013C0001 and the award value was $1,176,157.00 (total ceiling price for the base period and all option years).

3. Question: How many employees do they have working under the embassy contract?

Answer: The number of employees varies between 14 and 18 for the current contract; however, the new solicitation includes additional areas like EQUIPMENT ROOMS (3,134 m2) that were not included in the existing contract. Please notice that EQUIPMENT ROOMS have a semi-annual cleaning requirement.

4. Question. How many employees are required to work under this contract?

Answer. Each prospective offeror should propose the number of employees they will need to perform the job taking into consideration the requirements stated in the solicitation.

5. Question: Are there currently any personnel with a contractor badge dedicated to Maintenance?

Answer: No

6. Question: How long does the security check take to grant a Contractor's card to the cleaning staff?

Answer: Refer to Solicitation Document Paragraph 4.4 Personnel Security (Page 12) “The Government will run background checks on these individuals. It is anticipated that security checks will take at least four (4) weeks to perform.”

7. Question: What area is available for the storage of the machines for maintenance?

Answer: Each floor has a Janitorial Room and there are two larger storage areas in the Basement of the Main Building (NOB) and in the Annex Building.

8. Question: What area is available as "Shop" or "barracks" of janitorial? As for example: Dressing rooms, office, common bathrooms.

Answer: Janitors can change clothing and use bathrooms in the MEN and WOMEN CHANGING ROOMS, or in the Janitor’s Rooms.

9. Question: Is the contract paid in Balboas or in Dollars?

Answer: The contractor is paid in U.S. Dollars.

10. Question: What is the estimated date to announce the award of the contract?

Answer: The Embassy intention is to announce the award of the contract around the last week of July. The estimated start date for this contract is September 1, 2018.

11. Question: How is the DBA (Defense Base Act) insurance handled in Panama? In other post in which we have participated, there are local laws that prohibit hiring foreign insurance for people who work in the country so we have not been required to present the DBA quotation. And since DBA insurance must be contracted to a company authorized by the Department of Labor, we always ask this question.

Answer: Panama does not have laws prohibiting hiring foreign Insurance for people who work in the country. The Offeror shall include Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance premium costs covering employees. The offeror may obtain DBA insurance directly from any Department of Labor approved providers at the DOL website at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm - See attachment.

12. Question: Please advise the capacity and thickness of the recycling, shredder & garbage bags required?

Answer:

a. Recycling bags - We have about 28 recycle containers located in the kitchenettes that use two 30 gallons clear bags, .45 mil.

There are three (3) large recycle containers that use 60 gallons bags each, .90 mil.

b. Shredder bags - There are approximately 52 shredders in the Embassy and they use 60 gallons heavy duty trash bags, .45 mil.

c. Garbage Containers - Each office and conference rooms have a small office trash container that uses size 23x40 trash bags, .31 mil.

Each kitchenette has one trash container that uses 32x40 trash bags, .39 mil.

Each bathroom has three trash containers that use 23x40 trash bags, .31 mil and another container that uses 32x40 trash bags, .39 mil.

13. Question. What is the procedure for trash disposal?

Answer: The bags are collected daily and transported to a COLLECTION POINT at the Deliveries Door on the East side of the NOB. The Embassy has provided a TRAILER where the bags are deposited, and the trailer is transported to a DUMPSTER outside of Service CAC.

14. Question. Where do we get water to clean the Consular visitor area?

Answer: Janitors get water from the lavatories inside the Men’s and Ladies’ bathroom of the Public Area. The Embassy plumbing shop is working on the installation of a 3/4” garden faucet.

15. Question: Do employees have to be enrolled in the Panama Social Security Program “Caja de Seguro Social”?

Answer: Yes. Please refer to Section 7.3 (page 13) & Section 8.2 (page 14). “The Contractor shall obtain any other types of insurance required by local law or that are ordinarily or customarily obtained in the location of the work. The limit of such insurance shall be as provided by law or sufficient to meet normal and customary claims.”

“The Contractor shall comply with all local labor laws, regulations, customs and practices pertaining to labor, safety & health and similar matters, to the extent that such compliance is not inconsistent with the requirements of this contract.”

16. Question: Is there a limit on the number of employees or is it the company’s decision?

Answer: The offeror decides the number they require to perform the work detailed in the solicitation package. There is no set limit on the number of employees by the U.S. Embassy.

17. Question: What insurance company is required for our employees?

Answer: Please refer to questions 11 & 15 above & Section 7 of the Solicitation.

18. Question: Is it possible to subcontract maintenance personnel for the maintenance of cafeteria electrical equipment such as Fryers, stove, kitchen hood & extractor, taking in consideration this work will be performed on a quarterly basis?

Answer: The Janitorial contractor does not have to provide Maintenance Service to the Cafeteria Equipment. Please refer to Paragraph 1.3.4.6 under Quarterly Cleaning Requirements (page 8) shall consist of: 1.3.4.6 Deep cleaning the Cafeteria including, but not limited to, floors, walls, and ceilings. Also, cleaning and degreasing ALL food service equipment.

1.2.4. Temporary Additional Services shall not be subcontracted, but you may subcontract for performing cleaning for specialized equipment, this need to be contemplated in your proposal. All contract clauses applies to your subcontractors as well.

19. Question: Do we need to submit Police Record for each one of our employees?

Answer: To accelerate the Security Check process, it is recommended that the company that gets the contract award provide the Police Record in addition to the documents listed in Paragraph 4.4.1 (page 12).

“After award of the contract, the Contractor shall provide the following list of data on each employee who will be working under the contract. The Contractor shall include a list of workers and supervisors assigned to this project. The Government will run background checks on these individuals. It is anticipated that security checks will take at least four (4) weeks to perform. For each individual the list shall include:

Full Name Date of Birth Place of Birth Current Address Identification number (Cedula) Current Phone Number Nationality”

20. Question: What type of uniform is required?

Answer: Please refer to paragraph 4.2.1 under Section 4.2 Standard of Conduct (page 11). 4.2.1 “Uniforms and Personal Equipment. The Contractor's employees shall wear clean, neat and complete uniforms when on duty. All employees shall wear uniforms approved by the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR).”

21. Question: Do the Embassy provide the cart/trucks/trailer required to move the garbage bags to the outside dumpsters or shall we include them in our inventory?

Answer: See question 13. The Embassy will provide the trailer to collect and to transport the garbage bags to the dumpster outside the SCAC. The contractor shall provide the labor to load the garbage bags into the trailer and unload the bags from the trailer to the dumpster outside the SCAC.

22. Question: The gutters described, do they refer to the exterior gutters?

Answer: The gutters are located in the lower edges of some areas of the roof to collect the rain water.

23. Question: The Janitorial supplies such as bags, paper towel, and antibacterial hand soap must be of a particular brand or is up to the company to decide?

Answer: Please refer to Section 5 Materials and Equipment (page 12) where it states “or equivalent to the suggested brand name”

“The contractor shall provide all necessary janitorial supplies and equipment, including mops, brooms, dust rags, detergents, cleaners, etc. required to perform the job. All materials and chemical products shall be of an environmentally friendly (Green) type and must be submitted for approval of Occupational Safety and Health Officer (POSHO) and/or COR at the US Embassy-Panama.

The supplies detailed below must meet these specifications:

a. Bath tissue and hand towel manufactured by Kimberly-Clark or approved equivalent products:

i. Kleenex or equivalent Jumbo Roll Bath Tissue, 250 meters roll, two-ply, white, embossed, with fragrance and pre-cutted.

ii. Kleenex or equivalent Multi-Fold Hand Towel, 150 towels each pack - 25.1 x 24.1 cm, 2 ply, white, ultra-absorbent.

b. Provide hand soap & sanitizers manufactured by ECOLAB or approved equivalent products: Ecolab antibacterial Clean - Smooth Hand Soap 4/1gal. Gel formula with excellent degreasing and hand coverage (0.3% Triclosan).

c. Provide Janitorial Supplies such as bleach, brooms, brushes and handles, cleaners, degreasers, disinfectants, dusters, floor and carpet care, mops, handles & holders manufactured by ECOLAB or approved equivalent products.

Materials, Janitorial Supplies and Equipment Submittal

5.1 Product Data: The contractor is required to submit product data and specification sheets for POSHO and/or COR approval of all the janitorial materials, supplies and equipment that he intends to use in the execution of the janitorial services.

24. Question: How many employees does the U.S. Embassy currently have?

Answer: About 500 (Five hundred).

25. Question: What is the current contract amount?

Answer: See question 2.

26. Question: Do the incumbent employees have the first right of refusal?

Answer: Refer to Section 4 Evaluation Factors. “The Government intends to award a contract/purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror/quoter who is a responsible contractor.

27. Question: Will a wage determination be issued for this contract?

Answer: No. Please refer to Section 4 Evaluation Factors. “The Government intends to award a contract/purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror/quoter who is a responsible contractor

28. Question: Is this an SCA contract, and will it be subject to the FAR?

Answer: No this is not a SCA Contract. All FAR applicable clauses are already included or referred to in the solicitation package.

29. Question: During the site visit, we were shown a recycling area to dump recyclables; however, are we also responsible for breaking down boxes and organizing the area?

Answer: The contractor shall break down all boxes collected from the different Embassy buildings inside the compound and shall dispose all recyclables to their proper location in the recyclable dump area. However, the contractor is not responsible for breaking down boxes left in the recyclable dump area by the Embassy community directly.

30. Question: Can you please provide the number of employees versus the number of visitors for each site?

Answer: No, this information is not available.

31. Question: Will the attendee sign in sheet be released?

Answer: Please see attached Site visit sign in sheet.

32. Question: Is there a place at the Consulate Public Area (Visa) for washing mops and other janitorial equipment?

Answer: No. There are two closets to store janitorial equipment and supplies.

33. Question: Can the provider for the required workman’s compensation insurance (DBA) be a local insurance company.

Answer: The DBA Insurance Company must be one of the Department of Labor approved providers listed at the DOL website at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm.

34. Question: Since contractor has to provide bath tissue, hand towels, hand soap and sanitizers, do you have an average monthly consumption? Shall we quote based on that consumption or a price per unit?

Answer: No, we do not have currently a monthly consumption average. This is a fixed price Performance Based Service Contract. You may do you average based on the quantity of the employees – see question 24 plus an additional estimate of 150 daily visitors.

35. Question: Have you stablished the amount of employees that contractor has to have on a daily basis to fulfill the requirements? How many does the actual contractor have right now and are they all working 8 hour shifts (48 hours / Week). Is this team able to take care only of the daily cleaning or they can handle weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual and annual cleaning requirements. Please specify as much as possible headcount per shift requirements. Have you stablished a minimum?

Answer: No, please refer to Question 4.

36. Regarding the insurances and coverages do they have to be exclusive for this contract or they can be general covertures, we have some of them that cover different clients simultaneously?

Answer: See Section 7.7, “The general liability policy required of the Contractor shall name "the United States of America, acting by and through the Department of State", as an additional insured with respect to operations performed under this contract.”

37. Does the representative designated by the contractor responsible for on-site supervision of the workforce has to be present permanently on site or will it be enough if he passes on a daily basis to coordinate? In other words could it be not exclusively dedicated to this contract but available at all times?

Answer: The Janitorial Services Contract Supervisor shall be present at the Embassy for on-site supervision. If the supervisor needs to go out, he/she will leave a designated alternate.