MINUTES_PREQUOTATION CONFERENCE_19RP3822Q0045.pdf

Minutes from Pre-Quotation Conference of June 3, 2022 RFQ No. 19RP3822Q0045

Janitorial Services for U.S. Embassy Manila, Philippines

Introduction

The Contracting Officer welcomed all attendees and introduced the representatives from the Contracting Section, the Facility Management and the Contracting Officer’s Representative

(COR).

Offerors were informed that the aim of the pre-quotation conference was to provide them with an overview of the solicitation.

Offerors were invited to submit written questions on or before June 10, 2022, 4:00 p.m.

(Philippine local time). They were also informed that oral answers during the conference are not binding unless provided in writing by the Contracting Officer. If answers to the questions will necessitate a change in the solicitation, an amendment will be issued. If not, it will be in the form of a general Questions and Answers. Updates to the solicitation will be posted on www.sam.gov.

Discussion of the Solicitation Package

The following sections of the solicitation were highlighted:

A) SF 1449 cover sheet (page 1) Due date and local time of submission of offers is on Block 8 (unless extended through an amendment issued by the Contracting Officer).

Any offer submitted after the due date and time will not be accepted.

Electronic submissions are acceptable. Offerors were referred to the Invitation Letter regarding size and format.

If submitting a physical offer, consider traffic conditions. Physical offers must be submitted to the address indicated in Block 9 of the SF 1449.

B) Section 1 – The Schedule

1) Page 4: Subsection 1: Prices and Period of Performance This is a firm-fixed price solicitation therefore the resultant award is a firm-fixed price contract.

Prices are not subject to adjustments due to any escalation in the cost of materials, tools, equipment, fuel, transportation, labor or inflation rate, or because of the contractor’s failure to properly estimate or accurately predict the cost or difficulty of achieving the results required, or due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

This solicitation covers Standard Services and Temporary Additional Services. The Government will pay the Contractor the fixed price per month for Standard Services and a fixed rate per square meter for Temporary Additional Services (TAS). TAS are Standard Services required at times other than the normal workday. These TAS shall be covered by a separate procurement document which is a TASK ORDER.

After contract award and submission of acceptable insurance certificates, the Contracting Officer shall issue the Notice to Proceed. The performance period of the contract is from the date indicated in the Notice to Proceed continuing for 12 months with 4 option years to renew. The exercise of the option years is the unilateral right of the Government, not the contractor.

There are 3 Requirements for an exercise of option:

Continued need for the services Funds are available Contractor’s performance is satisfactory

2) Page 5: Subsection 1.1. VALUE ADDED TAX – VAT is not applicable to this contract. The U.S. Embassy has a tax exemption certificate from the host government. A copy of the VAT Exempt Certificate may be provided to the winning contractor as needed.

3) Page 5: Subsection 1.2. Offers and Payment in U.S. Dollars U.S. firms desiring to be paid in U.S. dollars should submit offers in U.S. dollars. Any non-US firms shall submit their offers and receive payment in local currency. Any firm which is not a U.S. firm is a foreign firm.

4) Pages 5-7: Subsection 1.3. Prices. Offerors should indicate prices for all years – Base Year plus 4 option years

C) Continuation to SF1449: FAC discussed the SCOPE OF WORK in general:

1) Page 8: Subsection 1: Scope of Work Contractor employees are not authorized to perform any other cleaning services unless directed by the Contracting Officer through a contract modification or task order.

2) Pages 8-9: Subsection 1.2. Duties and Responsibilities Some areas require escorts and can only be entered during scheduled times

3) Pages 9 – 13: Subsection 1.3. Types of Services Offerors encouraged to carefully read the Types of Services.

4) Page 13: Subsection 2.0. Management and Supervision The contractor shall designate a representative who shall be responsible for on-site supervision of the contractor’s workforce at all times.

The contractor shall maintain the schedules. The schedules shall consider the hours that the contractor personnel can effectively perform their services without being a burden to the security personnel of the Embassy.

The contractor shall be responsible for quality control, perform inspection visits on a regular basis.

5) Pages 14-16: Subsection 3.0. Locations for Janitorial Services/ Scheduled Hours (page 17)

6) Pages 19-20: Subsection 5.0 Materials and Equipment

7) Pages 20-21: Subsection 7.0. Insurance The Contractor is required to provide whatever insurance is legally necessary.

Subsection 7.6: Government as Additional Insured. 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.

8) Page 21: Subsection 8.0 Laws and Regulations:

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

9) Page 24: Attachment 1: Government Furnished - Electricity and Water

10) Page 25: Attachment 2: Contractor Furnished Property– The Contractor shall provide all equipment, materials, tools, supplies and clothing, required to perform the standard and temporary additional services in this contract; The Contractor shall be responsible for identifying the type to perform the services required by the Scope of Work at no additional cost to the U.S.

Government.

D) Section 2 – Contract Clauses

1) Page 30: FAR 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons.

It is the contractor’s responsibility to prevent such activities from occurring. USG has a zero tolerance policy regarding trafficking. Every instance of trafficking will be examined and could result in termination of employees or subcontractors, suspension of contract payments or contract terminations.

2) Page 4: James Zadroga 9/11 Victims Health and Compensation Act of 2010 and Page 34:

FAR 52.229-12 Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements This Act of the Internal Revenue Code imposes a tax of 2% on the amount of payment for each payment. Tax imposed under 26 U.S.C. 5000C may not be included in the contract price nor be reimbursed.

3) Page 37: FAR 52.228-4 Worker’s Compensation and War-Hazard Insurance Overseas or the Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance.

The DBA insurance provides workers’ compensation protection to employees working outside the U.S.

DBA coverage is required for all personnel working on the contract to include American citizens, individuals hired in the U.S., regardless of citizenship, Host Country Nationals or Third Country Nationals working overseas, unless a country specific waiver has been granted by the U.S. Secretary of Labor. Additional reference, FAR 28.305 and PIB 2017-04.

U.S. Embassy Manila has an active waiver. Although contractors are encouraged to review and read this clause.

4) Page 53: FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract.

Registration is free of charge.

For those that have active SAM registration due for renewals, you may receive emails from a third party for renewal services with a fee. It is the contractor’s prerogative if they will avail the paid service but renewals are free of charge.

5) Statute NDAA 889(a) (1) (B) and the prohibition on contracting with entities using certain telecommunications and video surveillance service or equipment.

Review FAR 4.21, PIB 2020-05 and FAR 52.204-25 in Section 2 (Page 33) and the provision 52.204-24 in Section 5 (page 57-60). Offerors are required to certify:

That they will or will not provide covered telecommunications equipment or services to the Government.

Whether they do or do not use covered telecommunications equipment or services that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services

If the offeror does not comply with representations and certification (either in their offer or in SAM), the offer is considered non-responsive. The Contracting Officer may remove the offer from consideration for award per FAR 4.2103. If the Offeror represents that it does use the prohibited technology or services, it is only eligible for award if a narrow exception applies or if a waiver is obtained.

6) Page 44: DOSAR 652.232-70 Payment Schedule and Invoice Submission (Fixed Price) Payment is monthly and will be made by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), net 30 days

All invoices shall be submitted electronically to the FMC electronic inbox only:

MNLFMCDBO@state.gov

7) Page 46-47: DOSAR 652.237-72 Observance of Legal Holidays and Administrative Leave The legal holidays observed by U.S. Embassy Manila includes Philippine and American holidays.

8) Page 48: DOSAR 652.242-70 Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) The COR is the Engineering Draftsman. Although the COR is authorized by the Contracting Officer in writing to perform specific technical or administrative contract functions, the COR is NOT authorized to issue changes to the contract terms and conditions. Only the CO has the authority to issue a change or changes to the contract terms and conditions through a contract modification.

E) Page 50: Section 3- Solicitation Provisions Please refer to the instructions indicated. Use the guidelines as a checklist in completing your offer. If a requirement does not apply, instead of leaving it blank, please indicate N/A or Not Applicable, then include as part of your submission. Otherwise, if it is left blank, it will be considered as “not submitted”.

F) Page 55: Section 4 – Evaluation Factors The Government intends to award a contract to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror, who is a responsible contractor.

Acceptability will be determined by assessing the offeror's compliance with the terms of the

RFQ.

Proposals which do not conform to the solicitation requirements may be eliminated at the discretion of the U.S. Government.

G) Page 57: Section 5 – Representations and Certifications All fill-ins must be completed and items that are not applicable should be marked “N/A”.

H) Questions

All questions must be in writing via email to ManilaContracting@state.gov, no later than June 10, 2022, 4:00 p.m. Written answers will be provided on a separate posting in www.sam.gov.

If answers to questions necessitate a change in the solicitation, an amendment will be issued. If not, a general Questions and Answers will be posted on the SAM.GOV website.

I) Reminders Zadroga Act – The Embassy will not issue a certification that payments are subjected to the 2% tax. Just to clarify, the 2% tax will be deducted for every invoice, for every payment

The outlets available are mostly 110V and some 220V.

The services required under the solicitation are all performance-based. The compliance assessment shall be based on satisfactory performance of all tasks as enumerated under the Scope of Work (SOW).

It is in the best interest of all participating offerors to ensure that their company has a valid System for Award Management (SAM) registration. The Contracting and Procurement is willing to extend assistance and guidance for any SAM-related concerns.

Deadline for submission of offers is on June 21, 2022 no later than 4:00 PM (unless extended through an amendment issued by the Contracting Officer).

Changes discussed (if any) shall not be binding unless an amendment to the solicitation is issued by the Contracting Officer.

Prospective offerors were reminded to check updates on the solicitation in www.sam.gov.

Conclusion:

The conference concluded and attendees were thanked for their presence and expression of interest in serving the U.S. Government. The meeting was adjourned.