Questions and Answers_19TH2024Q0005_Janitorial Services.pdf

Embassy of the United States of America

Bangkok, Thailand

Solicitation No. 19TH2024Q0005 – Janitorial Services Questions and Answers

Q 1: “Is this contract open to vendors in the US?”

A: Yes, this solicitation is unrestricted.

Q 2: “Can we include the price of the business formation into the contract?”

A: According to paragraph no 1 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Prices, Block 23, the price shall include all labor, materials, insurance, overhead, and profit only, so price of the business formation should not be included separately.

Q 3 “Is this only limited to businesses already licensed and operating in Thailand?”

A: This solicitation is unrestricted. However, evidence that the offeror/quoter operates an established business with a permanent address and telephone listing in Thailand (e.g. Company’s registration, The Certificate of VAT Registration) shall be provided to be in compliance with paragraph no. A.2(2) in Section 3.

Q 4: “I was wondering if Contract ID: 19TH2020C0001 held by ISS FACILITY SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED is the incumbent for this requirement. If not, could you please provide the incumbent contract information?”

A: The current contract number is 19TH2020C0001 and the contractor of this contract is IFS FACILITY SERVICES CO LTD (former name: ISS FACILITY SERVICES COMPANY

LIMITED).

Q 5: “We would like to know if this is a brand new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?”

A: The current contract number is 19TH2020C0001.

Q 6: “Hi there I was curious if there was an incumbent on this contract and if so what was the contract number/ award amount?”

A: The current contract number is 19TH2020C0001 and the initial awarded amount was 61,087,691 Thai Baht.

Q 7: “Who is the current contractor?”

A: The current contractor of contract no. 19TH2020C0001 is IFS FACILITY SERVICES CO LTD (former name: ISS FACILITY SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED).

Q 8: “When is the anticipated award date?”

A: Post expects to award around or by January 31, 2025.

Q 9: “When is the start date for this contract?”

A: The starting date for the new contract is March 1, 2025.

Q 10: “Could you please provide an approximate value or range of the incumbent contract?”

A: The initial awarded amount of the current contract is 61,087,691 Thai Baht.

Q 11: “Could you please confirm whether this solicitation is set aside specifically for Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) or Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Businesses (EDWOSB)?”

A: This solicitation is unrestricted.

Q 12: “Would a financial commitment letter from our lender be acceptable to satisfy the financial requirements? If a commitment letter is not an option, please note that our company is a startup, and as such, we do not have bank account statements dating back three years. Our business bank account was opened in April of this year. In this case, would more recent statements from our bank suffice?”

A: Financial Statement shall be provided in compliance with the criteria which was specified in paragraph no. A.2.(12) in Section 3. Failure of the offeror to comply with a request for this information may cause the Government to determine the offeror to be irresponsible.

Q 13: “I would appreciate clarification on whether a notary public is considered a certified party according to your standards.”

A: According to paragraph A.2.(12) in Section 3, the offeror/quoter shall provide a current statement of its financial condition, certified by a third party which also includes notary public.

Q 14: “Could you please provide the value of the previously awarded contract?”

A: The initial awarded amount of the current contract is 61,087,691 Thai Baht.

Q 15: “What is the current number of cleaning technicians on staff?”

A: According to the SOW, there is no mandatory requirement on the number of staff, but all schedule cleaning requirements must be done in the order and time frame that are most efficient and have the least impact on normal operations.

The current contractor maintains both full time onsite staff members and temporary staff that come to perform the quarterly and semi-annual cleaning services, totaling approximately 80-90 staff members.

Q 16: “Who is the Incumbent?”

A: The current contractor of contract no. 19TH2020C0001 is IFS FACILITY SERVICES CO LTD (former name: ISS FACILITY SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED).

Q 17: “What is the contract number?”

A: The current contract number is 19TH2020C0001.

Q 18: “What is the total value of the contract?

A: The initial awarded amount of the current contract is 61,087,691 Thai Baht.

Q 19: “Can you provide the previous notice ID for the previous janitorial service that is currently being performed.”

A: The solicitation notice for the current contract is 19TH2019Q0002.

Q 20: “Would you be able to tell us the difference of the SOW from the current janitorial service to the one that we will be bidding on.”

A: This solicitation is not similar to the current contract, if you would like to know the difference, you can compare this solicitation with the solicitation notice no.19TH2019Q0002.

Q 21: “Can you provide us with an update of all the locations that we will be performing exterior window cleaning and their respective floors.”

A: We are unable to disclose the details of respective floors. All the leased offices outside the US Embassy compound are excluded from exterior window cleaning.

Examples of excluded buildings include Offices in GPF Tower A (paragraph no. 3.3), Sindhorn Building (paragraph no. 3.4), Millennia Building (paragraph no. 3.5), JUSMAG Compound (paragraph no. 3.8) and Athenee Tower (paragraph no. 3.9) under Section 1, continuation to SF- 1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement.

Q 22: “With the hours of cleaning from 0700 to 1400, the locations where we will be notified to clean it, how much advance notice will we get to clean those facilities.”

A: It depends on the urgency of the situation. Incident like spills should be tended immediately, whereas schedule an appointment for deep cleaning could be 24-48 hours in advance or more.

Q 23: “When the semi-annual cleaning will be done, there were some locations with many boxes on the floor, machines, etc, will we be expected to move those items and put them back?”

A: All the easily movable items must be moved and put back in the same location. COR will coordinate with the agency on the items that should not be moved and will inform the POC at the site.

Q 24: “Can you please provide timeline of bidding process after submission the proposal(12th Nov 2024)” A: The timeline of bidding process is uncertainty, but the contract is planned to be awarded within by or around ? January 31, 2025.

Q 25: “Can you please confirm the following sentence?

"New Contract period is Base Year +Year 1+Year 2+Year 3+Year4 + 6months = 5 Years and 6 month” A: According to paragraph no. 1 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Prices, Block 23, the performance period of the contract is from the start date in the Notice of Award and continuing for 12 months, with four one-year and one six-month options to renew, if exercised by the Government as per FAR Clauses 52.217-8 and 52.217-9.

Q 26: “Can you please confirm the contract of service issue by US Embassy or Supplier?”

A: The contract shall be issued by the Government (U.S. Embassy Bangkok).

Q 27: “Can we adjust/amend the contract if our legal review the contract?”

A: If the vendor is awarded the contract, they would be required to sign, as would the Contracting Officer. We do not anticipate amending the contract.

Q 28: “Is it possible to increase the price of each year which announce by Thai Government” A: According to paragraph no. 8.1 in Section 1, continuation to SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement, this is the firm fixed-price contract.

Q 29: “Do the price of each year(Base Year, Year1,Year2,…)have to be fix price for the whole contract period or can be different price for each year, or please clarify more details.”

A: The pricing of the base and options, is based on your proposed pricing. The government can’t state what the price of each year should be.

Q 30: “Can you please provide the details of insurance which the supplier have to add in this quotaion?”

A: According to paragraph no. 1 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Prices, Block 23, the insurance as per FAR 52.228-4 and FAR 52.228-5 shall be included in the price list. The quotation shall also include the Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance premium costs covering employees as required by paragraph no. A.1. in Section 3.

Q 31: “Can you please provide the details of Zadroga Act?(2% tax)” A: FAR Clause 52.229-12 TAX ON CERTAIN FOREIGN PROCUREMENTS—NOTICE AND REPRESENTATION (FEB 2021) is incorporated in Section 2. Further information can be found in FAR 25.1003 and FAR 29.204.

Q 32: “For Janitorial working time, Can you please confirm the time and date of working period.”

A: The scheduled hours for each location were specified under paragraph no. 3.0 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement. The periodic, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual cleaning services might be required at times other than the normal workday.

Q 33: “For each location, can you please provide number of janitorial's staff on each location” A: According to the SOW, there is no mandatory requirement on the number of staff, but all schedule cleaning requirements must be done in the order and time frame that are most efficient and have the least impact on normal operations.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/25.1003 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/29.204

The current contractor maintains both full time onsite staff members and temporary staff that come to perform the quarterly and semi-annual cleaning services, totaling approximately 80-90 staff members.

Q 34: “For each location, can you please provide number of US embassy' staff on each location” A: This question is not relevant to the solicitation.

Q 35: “Do I have to submit IRS Form W 14?”

A: IRS Form W-14 should be submitted to ensure compliance with FAR Clause 52.229-11 if the Offeror is the foreign person (non-US person as defined in 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(30)) and has indicated in its offer in the provision 52.229-11, Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements-Notice and Representation, that it is fully exempt from the withholding, and certified the full exemption on the IRS Form W-14. If the vendor doesn’t submit a completed W-14, then they’re subject to the 2% deduction off of each invoice.

Q 36: “Can you please confirm all the equipments provide by supplier?”

A: The contractor shall provide material and equipment under paragraph no. 5.0 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement.

Q 37: “Can you please confirm all the consumable items provide by Embassy such as garbage bag, soap, tissue,toilet paper, hand sanitizer..etc?”

A: Paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, dishwashing liquid, disinfecting spray, disinfecting wipe and trash bags under paragraph no. 1.3.1.4 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement, shall be supplied per inventory by the Government.

Q 38: “Can you please explain KPI methadorogy (head count base or performance base)” A: This is the performance-based contract.

Q 39: “Can you please provide more detail about the penalty ? For example, If I shortage of 1 staff for that day,” A: According to paragraph no. 11.2 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement, the performance standard is that the Government receives no more than two (2) customer complaints per month. The COR shall notify the Contracting Officer of the complaints so that the Contracting Officer may take appropriate action to enforce the inspection clause (FAR 52.212-4), if any of the services do not meet the standard. ?

Q 40: “Refer to RFQ: Section 1 , No. 7.2 - Liability (see picture below), stated that per occurrence 300,000(THB) and Cummulative 1,000,000 (THB), please confirm that is for one each year or for the whole year of contract period.”

A: According to paragraph no. 7.1 in Section 1, Continuation To SF-1449, RFQ Number 19TH2024Q0005, Schedule of Supplies/Services, Block 20 Description/Specifications/Work Statement, the insurance shall be provided and maintained during the entire performance period for each contract’s period. If the Government exercise the option, the contractor shall provide the insurance for each option as well.

Q 41: “When should we get the Q&A back, please specific timeline” A: The Q&A was posted on the solicitation notice on SAM.gov

Q 42: “Can we amend this following sentence in contract”

A: This section is not listed in the solicitation and shall not be included in the contract.

Q 43: “Will these questions be posted on sam.gov?”

A: The Q&A was posted on the solicitation notice on SAM.gov.

Embassy of the United States of America