19TC1021Q0001 - Attachment A_Minutes of Meeting.pdf

Solicitation No.: 19TC1021Q0001 Gardening maintenance services

Pre-Quotation Conference and Site Visits

Minutes of Meeting

Date: January 5, 2021 Time: 09:15 am – 01:05 pm

Venue: CMR, DCMR & U.S. Embassy Abu Dhabi

Panel: Supervisory Maintenance Engineer

Contract Management Specialist and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

Government Technical Monitor (GTM)

Procurement Supervisor

Procurement Agent

Attendees: 16 representatives from 16 companies

Introduction:

The Procurement colleagues welcomed all interested bidders, explained the purpose of the meeting, and introduced the Embassy’s panel. The rest of the meeting attendees introduced themselves. Attendance was taken; however, distribution of a sign-in sheet was not done in consideration of the current pandemic situation.

The due date for submitting questions concerning this meeting and RFQ was set to 01:00 PM on

January 7th, 2021 via email to AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov or JohnJM@state.gov.

Note to Bidders:

The information contained within these questions and answers is provided for informational purposes and under no circumstances shall it be construed to change any terms and conditions or requirements within the solicitation. If any answer does address a change in the solicitation, it will reference an Amendment.

Overview:

The Procurement Agent explained the following:

This is a firm-fixed price contract. The pricing should be in the same format as specified in the RFQ. The pricing must be provided for one base and four one-year options to renew

(totally for five years). Any price quote that does not meet this requirement will be considered incomplete.

The required blocks (17a, 23, 24, 30a, 30b & 30c) of the Cover Page (SF1449) must be filled in accurately.

The contract will be awarded to the Lowest Priced Technically Acceptable (LPTA) offer.

The U.S. Government is very transparent and treating all bidders equally and without prejudice. The Government may hold negotiation with vendors that are deemed capable of being technically acceptable.

mailto:AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov mailto:JohnJM@state.gov

Attachment A – Minutes of Meeting Page 2 of 3 Gardening maintenance services (19TC1021Q0001)

VAT is not part of the pricing format. VAT shall be included as a separate charge on the invoice when the invoice is submitted.

All UAE-licensed companies are required to provide a UAE Workmen’s Compensation

Plan (WCP). A Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance is a separate requirement of the U.S.

Government, which is mandatory on supplies/services contracts. The list of U.S.

Department of Labor approved DBA insurance providers is here:

https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm. The prospective bidders shall contact one of the insurance providers and obtain an estimated quote to submit along with the price quote for the requested service. DBA insurance premium must be quoted for each year. Price quote without a DBA insurance cost will be considered “incomplete”. However, the DBA cost is not a price evaluation criterion. Once awarded, the Embassy will instruct the

Contractor to submit a quotation for review. Once the quote is approved, the contractor will procure the DBA insurance, and submit the invoice separately as soon as the policy is issued. The DBA insurance amount will then be reimbursed to the contractor. The policy start date must be the same as the contract’s effective date. The Contractor’s name on the policy must be the same as the Contractor’s license and their SAM registration.

The U.S. Government has zero tolerance in regard to Trafficking in Persons. Hence, the bidders should submit their housing and recruitment plans along with the proposals in compliance with FAR Clause 52.222-50 – Combatting Trafficking in Persons. A

Housing plan is required only if labor/staff accommodation is provided by the employer.

If a housing allowance is provided instead, then that must be mentioned in the proposal.

Bidders must include the lease contract for the staff accommodations. The labor/staff accommodation would be inspected prior to awarding the contract; and subsequently inspected twice a year after the award is made. These labor/staff camp visits would be unannounced. The Recruitment plan must also be included. It needs to describe the recruitment process and specify if the company uses the services of a recruitment agent.

The Contracting Office is the point of contact (POC) until the contract is awarded.

Prospective bidders may get disqualified if they correspond with others than the

Contracting Office. The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) becomes the primary

POC after the contract award. The Government Technical Monitor (GTM) assists the COR in his duties. Once the contract is awarded, COR/GTM designation memos will be sent to the winning contractor.

Section 3 and 4 of the solicitation must be followed while preparing the proposal. The technical experts (Technical Evaluation Panel) per the criterion that are indicated in Section

3 of the solicitation will evaluate the proposal. They do see the financial/cost proposal.

Each of the blanks in Section 5 must be filled in.

The price quote should be in the local currency: Arab Emirate Dirhams (AED / Dhs).

U.S. Embassy will be closed on U.S. Holidays per Section 2, DOSAR 652.237-72.

However, the gardeners will be working on those days.

Your quotation must be submitted both physically to the Embassy AND electronically via e-mail. Pricing and Technical Quotations must be submitted separately.

The Physical Quotation must be submitted in a sealed envelope marked "Quotation

Enclosed – Solicitation No.: 19TC1021Q0001" to the Contracting Officer, Embassy of the

U.S.A, P.O. Box 4009, Abu Dhabi or to the main entrance of the U.S. Embassy’s security gate. Quotations must be received on or before January 27, 2021 at 04:00 pm (UAE time). No quotation will be accepted after this time.

https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm

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The Electronic Quotation must be submitted to AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov copying

JohnJM@state.gov marking the subject line "Quotation Enclosed – Solicitation No.:

19TC1021Q0001". Quotations must be received on or before January 27, 2021 at 04:00 pm (UAE time). No quotation will be accepted after this time.

Additional Instructions: Only PDF formatted documents will be accepted. Please ensure your attachments do not exceed 10MB. If there are more files to be attached, send separate e-mail(s) within the stipulated file size restriction, following the aforementioned subject line marking instruction. Each e-mail should not be more than 10MB with attachments. No other file formats will be accepted. No CD will be accepted.

Pricing and Technical quotes must be submitted separately.

Though not required when submitting your offer, the Embassy strongly recommends that vendors register in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting their offers. Registration is free. There are three steps to complete the process; see our webpage for the links and explanations. (Browse to https://ae.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/abu-dhabi/contract-opportunities/ and click look for “Notice to Prospective Vendors”). The contract shall not be awarded to a vendor who is not registered on SAM. Hence, prior registration will be beneficial.

The answers to the questions (contractual and/or technical) will be sent to all the interested bidders along with the meeting minutes.

The COR explained the Scope of Work (SoW) of the solicitation in detail.

o The SOW is very descriptive with sufficient information to provide a competitive quote.

o Go through Section 3 (Solicitation Provision) thoroughly as it explains how a technical quote must be submitted.

o Do not send any generic “Risk Assessment Plan” from the Internet. Prepare your

“Risk Assessment Plan” specific to the requirement.

The pre-quotation conference adjourned at 01:05 pm.

mailto:AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov mailto:JohnJM@state.gov https://ae.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/abu-dhabi/contract-opportunities/