2017-N-18051_Questions_and_Responses.pdf

RFP NO. 2017-N-18051

Project Title: Rapid Communications Services and Support for Sudden and Ongoing Environmental Health

Urgent and Emerging Issues Technical Assistance Support

1 For Technical Volume 1, will the Basic Section and

Tasks A & B (Sections 2.1., 2.2, and 2.3) be reviewed together or separately? Is it acceptable to reference information in the Basic Contract section within the Task

Order sections?

The evaluations will be performed separately. All offers should contain the offeror’s best terms from a cost/price and technical standpoint.

2 Section L- Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to

Offerors

1. Should the Section K Representations and

Certifications be executed and provided even if we are current in SAMS? Page 67, L.13, (f), states that

“certifications in Section K” are required as a

“complete proposal.” However, Page 31, Section

H.11 states that Representations, Certifications, and

Other Statements of Offerors submitted by ORCA

(now SAMS) are hereby incorporated by reference.

Section H.11 applies to Part 1 – Schedule

(postaward).

Section K applies to Part IV –

Representatives and Instructions

(solicitation)

Follow the guidance provided in Section L.

3 Page 67. Paper stock. Please clarify whether the hard copies of the proposal should be provided on “minimum

30 percent post-consumer fiber paper” (L.11, p. 65) or

“high grade white paper which can be recycled” (L. 13g,

p. 67)?

Follow the guidance cited in FAR

4.302(b).

See Amendment No. 0001

4 Resumes. The instructions conflict regarding the length of resumes (3 pages or 5 pages) and whether the resumes will be counted inside/outside specific

Section page limits. Please clarify.

For example:

Sect L, p. 66. Resumes are excluded from the technical proposal page limit.

Sect L, p. 70. Resumes shall not exceed three (3) pages per person. Resumes do not count against the technical proposal page limit for this section.

Sect L, p. 71, The written technical proposal is limited to ten (10) pages, including the cover page and table of contents. Appendices may be included in this section.

However, appendices shall only include resumes and requested literature (if any). Appendices do not count against the page limit.

ATT J6, Sect L, p. 8. Resumes and appendices count toward the 10 page limit.

ATT J7, Sect L, p. 8. Resumes and appendices count toward the 10 page limit.

ATT J7, Sect L, pp 9. including resumes from key personnel (limited to 5 pages (total))

ATT J7, Sect L, pp 9. including resumes from key personnel (limited to 5 pages (total))

Item No. Contractor Questions CDC Responses

5 Key Personnel Resumes. Resumes are requested separately for the Basic Contract and Tasks A & B. Is it acceptable to present all resumes in a single Appendix?

Refer to response to Question No. 1

6 Page 71. For Task Orders A & B, should the proposal structure include a separate cover page and a separate

TOC for these subsections? If so, do the separate cover/ToCs count as part of the 10-page limit for each of these subsections?

Sect L.15 B, p. 71. “The written technical proposal is limited to 10 pages, including the cover page and table of contents.”

Sect L.15 B, p. 71. “The written technical proposal must include, at a minimum, the following sections: Cover Page (including solicitation number and name of offeror); Table of Contents; and Discussion of Evaluation

Criteria.”

The Basic, Task Orders A and B will be evaluated separately; therefore, the response is yes.

7 Page 74/ Sect L.18 – Business Proposal Instructions, Past

Performance Information. This section has a stated limit of 3 pages. The RFP information requested includes 1) a list of current/previous relevant contracts; 2) a narrative of relevant past performance experience in eight areas, and 3) copies of the reference cover letters. Is the 3-page limit correct?

Under Section L.18, the 3-page limit for the past performance information applies to the past performance narratives.

Offerors may submit as many narratives as long as they are within 3 pages (total).

8 Section C- Description/Specification/Work Statement

Page 8, Task 4 - Will the contractor have access to a repository of multi-media components (e.g. photos, videos, audio) already purchased by CDC or will the contractor be responsible for curating those components for the social media or digital channels?

Yes. The contractor will have access to in-house multi-media components.

9 Page 8, Task 4 / Bullet 7 and 8 - Does the government already have subscription services and/or licenses for the social media analytics tools and social media and news media monitoring tools it would like the contractor to support for this project (e.g., HootSuite, Simply

Measured, Radian 6, Crimson Hexagon, Meltwater, SproutSocial, etc.)? If not, will the government be procuring those licenses though this contract or another procurement method? Will the contractor have access to those accounts to perform the social media analytics and monitoring for this contract?

CDC have an annual subscription with

Sysmos for social media monitoring. The contractor will have access to those services.

10 Page 9, Task 5- Can CDC provide examples of emerging events (i.e., are they ongoing issues such as PFAS, or does this only include disaster events such as cham/rad/nuc or natural disaster events)?

Emerging events could include ongoing issues such as PFAS, hurricanes or other natural disasters, and other environmental health issues such as chemical spills. CDC are not limited to natural disasters.

11 Page 15, C. 6 Special Considerations. Should the proposal include three separate HHS Section 508 Product

Assessment Templates – one each for the Basic Contract, Task A, and Task B – or should a comprehensive Product

Assessment Template be provided? Should the PAT(S) be included as an Appendix(es) to Volume I?

No. Only one template is necessary. It can be included as an Appendix to the base

IDIQ proposal. It will not count toward the page limit.

12 Should a Quality Control Plan be provided as part of

Task Order Sections? If so, should we provide separate

QCPs for Task A and Task B? And if so, are these QCPs included in the 10-page limit for RFTOP Tasks A and B or should they be appended?

Page 16, Sect C, C.9 Contractor Quality Control.

A description of the quality control inspection plan shall be provided as a part of the Offeror’s task order technical proposal.

The plan must be included as part of the contractor's proposal, and shall include….

Under both task orders A and B, no QCP is required.

13 RFTOP A (Attachment J6)

Page 6, C.10 Deliverables - The paragraph makes reference to items 1-7 but the table in section C.10 only has 6 items. Is there a missing 7th item?

14 RFTOP B (Attachment J7)

General: Are all tasks under RFTOP B associated with

DTHHS (note that the title states that the support is for

DTHHS but the subtasks indicate applicability for the entire Center and Agency)? (ATT J7, 4-5)

No. All tasks in task order B are not associated with DTHHS. Tasks may involve a variety of staff from various parts of NCEH/ATSDR. Tasks are not exclusive to DTHHS.

15 RFTOP B (Attachment J7)

Task 3: It is stated on page 4 that the initial plan is due 3 months after the task order award, which conflicts with the table in C.10 "Deliverables" (page 6), which states 18 months. Please clarify.

The initial plan is due within 3 months after the task order award.

16 RFTOP B (Attachment J7)

Page 6, C.10 Deliverables - The paragraph makes reference to items 1-5 but the table in section C.10 has 6 items. Should the paragraph reference 6 items?

17 Are there any incumbents for this IDIQ solicitation? If so, which companies?

CommunicateHealth: 200-2012-42204

Xenophon Strategies: 200-2012-42272

18 Page 3 states “The intent is to issue two task orders (see

Attachments J6 and J7 and Section L herein) upon award of this IDIQ.” Please confirm that the specific task orders described in J6 and J7 will be awarded.

Yes, CDC anticipate the award of both task orders.

19 On page 71, L.16, is past performance limited to contract work performed during the last 3 years (i.e., 2014-2017)?

A list of the last 3 contracts completed during the past three years and ALL

CONTRACTS currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation workscope.

20 On page 71, L.16, is past performance limited to work done by the prime or can it also include work done by subcontractors?

Offerors may submit past performance information that is relevant to the RFP;

therefore, the response is yes.

21 On page 71, L.16, what is the page limit for the past performance section (Volume 1 Section 3)?

Up to 5 pages.

22 n page 2, B.2, the size standard is $15 million;

however, on page 54, K.1, the size standard is listed as $7 million. Can you please confirm that the size standard for this solicitation is $15 million?

The NAICS Code is 541810, Advertising

Agencies, with an average annual receipt of $15 million dollars size standard…is correct.

See Amendment No. 0001

23 On page 67 it states to submit the proposal in CD-ROM format. Can we submit a USB drive containing the proposal instead of providing a CD-ROM?

Due to security reasons, a CD-ROM is preferred.

24 Base IDIQ

Can attachment J4 be excluded from the page count?

See page 70, Subfactor 2.

25 Sample Task Order A

Can the government please provide the incumbent’s name and contract number for the work associated with this task order?

See response to Question No. 17

26 Sample Task Order A

Under task 2 (page 4), communication support products, the 2nd bullet reads “Atlanta-based post production support and editing for one short information video, not to exceed five minutes in length.”

a. The government is specifically requesting post production support.

Please confirm that the video has already been shot and support for shooting the video or writing a script is not required.

Shoot video or writing support is not required in this instance.

27 Sample Task Order A

Under task 2 (page 4), communication support products, the 7th bullet reads “One audio news release.”

a. What is the anticipated length for the audio news release?

The length of the audio new release is not known at this time.

Sample Task Order A

Under task 2 (page 4), communication support products, the 9th bullet reads “Communications training. The contractor shall deliver communication training sessions for CDC staff….”

a. Are all the participants that will be involved in key message training located in ATL or will travel be needed? If travel is needed, will the government consider setting an NTE amount for travel?

b. Can the government please provide the number of anticipated participants that will be involved in each (i.e., spokesperson training classes, risk communication training, clear writing training) communications training exercise?

a. No travel required for participants.

b. The number of participants for spokesperson training will be small (<10). Risk comm training may involve 10-25 participants, and clear writing training may involve 15-35 participants.

30 Sample Task Order A

On page 6, under deliverables, the 1st sentence reads

“The contractor shall deliver, within the time frames specified, items 1 through 7 to the COR at the address shown in Section G.” However, the table immediately below only has items 1 – 6. Can the government please advise on the 7th item?

31 Sample Task Order A

On page 9 under subfactor No 5: Staffing plan it reads

“Contractors shall provide a detailed statement of staffing proposed for this task order, including (1) resumes from key personnel (limited to 5 pages (total) outlining the credentials and background of key management, professional, and technical personnel to be used for this task order…” Can the government make an exception to exclude resumes and appendices from the 10 page limit?

See Amendment No. 0001

32 Sample Task Order A

What is the government’s estimate for this task order?

This is a competitive acquisition; therefore, all offers should contain the offeror’s best terms from a cost/price and technical standpoint.

33 Sample Task Order B

Can the government please provide the incumbent’s name and contract number for the work associated with this task order?

Sample Task Order B

On page 4, under task 2, the contractor is to work with

NCEH/ASDTR web team to incorporate updates. Is the project website fully developed?

Yes. The website is fully developed.

35 Sample Task Order B

On page 9 under subfactor No 5: Staffing plan it reads

“Contractors shall provide a detailed statement of staffing proposed for this task order, including (1) resumes from key personnel (limited to 5 pages (total) outlining the credentials and background of key management, professional, and technical personnel to be used for this task order…”Can the government make the exception to exclude resumes and appendices from the 10 page limit?

36 Sample Task Order B

What is the government’s estimate for this task order

See response to Question No. 32

37 1. Are there incumbents for this requirements?

2. If yes, what companies?

3. If yes, what are the contract numbers?

38 Page 65, L.9 and Page 66, L.12 and page 67 L.13: Will you consider allowing for electronic proposal submission, rather than the paper copies?

No

39 Page 74 of 83: Past performance: It is unusual for government to request past performance (I.e. Knowledge and ability information) to support the business proposal. Can you confirm that this request is accurate?

The request for past performance in this section does not support the business proposal. The information is placed in this section in lieu of another volume for a few pages.

40 Are Task Orders A and B illustrative only? Or does the government plan to make awards for these tasks based on the submitted budgets?

The Government anticipates the award of both task orders.

41 Page 72, L.17; Attachment J1 CPARS and Attachment J2

Evaluation form; We would like to submit copies of

CPARS evaluations in place of the J2 attachments. Are there any issues with doing this? Note: Most government clients are too busy to submit new evaluation forms every two weeks to other government procurement offices in care of vendor bids and so the CPARs is the preferred method for evaluation

Vendors should follow the instructions provided in Attachment J2. CPARS evaluations are acceptable; however, they should not be used as a replacement of

Attachment J2.

42 Questions - General IDIQ On page 64, you state “The Government contemplates awarding a multiple award IDIQ Contract resulting from this solicitation.” Can you clarify if you intend to award more than two IDIQ Contracts if proposers meet the evaluation criteria?

Without evaluating the responses, no.

43 Questions - General IDIQ

Page 3 notes your intent to issue two task orders upon award of the IDIQ. Can you estimate the number of additional individual task orders you intend to award under this IDIQ in the current fiscal year?

No, not at this time.

44 Questions - General IDIQ

On page 71, Section L.16, you ask for “A list of the last 3 contracts completed during the past three years and ALL

CONTRACTS currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation workscope.” Does that mean all contracts we believe to be relevant to this solicitation, or all contracts of a certain dollar size?

A list of the last 3 contracts completed during the past three years and ALL

CONTRACTS currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation workscope.

45 Questions - General IDIQ

Should the Past Performance narratives requested on page 74, Section L.13, be the same as the contracts requested on page 72?

For each narrative submitted there may be a corresponding past performance questionnaire.

46 Questions - General IDIQ

On page 7, under section C4, Task 2, you call for web development and design capabilities. Do you anticipate a task which might require the development and design of a website after the IDIQ award, and if so, would it be a stand-alone website or part of the CDC website?

At this time, it is unknown.

47 Questions - RFTOP A On page 4, under section C4, Task 2, the second deliverable calls for “Atlanta-based post production support and editing for one short information video.”

Does this deliverable require the video editor to live in

Atlanta, or can we budget for video staff to travel as needed for on-site work?

It is up to the offerors to determine the most efficient and economical way to fulfill this requirement.

48 Questions - RFTOP A

On page 8, you state that resumes and appendices count toward the 10-page technical proposal page limit. On page 9, under SubFactor No. 5: Staffing Plan, you state that Contractors shall provide ... resumes from key personnel, limited to 5 pages (total). Of the 8 labor categories listed in the estimated level of effort on page

10, which would you consider key personnel?

This is only an estimate. Offerors are advised to carefully review the requirement in deriving the level of effort they believe necessary in providing their best value proposal

49 Questions - RFTOP B

On page 8, you state that resumes and appendices count toward the 10-page technical proposal page limit. On page 9, under SubFactor No. 5: Staffing Plan, you state that Contractors shall provide ... resumes from key personnel, limited to 5 pages (total). Of the 8 labor categories listed in the estimated level of effort on page

10, which would you consider key personnel?

See response to Question No. 48

50 General SOW

Page 6: C.4 Technical Requirements

Please define what other support might be required by

CIO’s and Offices within CDC who may also request support using this IDIQ contract?

Other Centers, Institute, Offices (CIO) may require communication-related work within the scope of the contract.

General SOW

Page 6-7: Task 2: Communication Support

a) Recognizing that in Task 4 Social Media activities are to be provided in both English and

Spanish, are all outreach materials described in

Task 2 (letters/emails to target populations, website information, advertising materials, marketing materials, etc.) to be written in English only?

b) What are the differences between Sub-bullet 12-

Coommunications Training and Sub-bullet 14

Specialized Marketing Services?

c) Who is the intended audience for the

Communications Training?

a) Yes (English only).

b) Bullet 12 covers communication training; bullet 14 covers specific marketing services and support for environmental health issues.

c) Internal staff.

53 General SOW

Page 9: Task 5: Responding to Urgent and Emerging

Issues o Based on the comment in the RFP that emerging issues occur approximately 2 times per year, can you provide an approximation as to the duration of these events? It is important to know how long a requirement for surge communications needs might be required.

Duration varies according to event.

54 General SOW

Page 65, section L.9 references “see paragraph L.11 for instructions for submitting entire proposal on CDRom” section L.11 does not address CDRom formatting instructions. Please clarify all specific requirements for

CDrom submission or formatting.

Page 66, Offerors shall submit an original, five (5) hard copies, and a CD-

ROM of the entire proposal. The CD-

ROM which comprise the offeror's proposal shall be in MS Word .doc file format except the cost proposal quantitative data shall be provided in a spreadsheet in MS Excel .xls format.

Files shall be unprotected (i.e. require no passwords). Cells in spreadsheets shall include formulas used to derive values. Do not convert data to absolute values. Do not submit the CD ROM versions of these files in PDF form.

55 General SOW

Page 70, Subfactor 2.1: Pages for Attachment J4 do not count against the page limit. Should Attachment J4 be placed in Section 2.1 of document or in an Appendix of the Technical Volume?

Attachment J4 may be an appendix in

Section 2.1.

56 General SOW

Page 69, L.15, Technical Proposal, Section 3: Past

Performance, Offerors are instructed to follow the instructions in Section L.13; however, there do not appear to be any instructions regarding submission of

Past Performance information. Please clarify the requirements for Past Performance.

Please differentiate between Past Performance information required in the Technical Proposal and the

Past Performance information required in the Business

Proposal.

Page 69, L.15, Technical Proposal, Section

3 should read:

…Follow the instructions in Section L.16 instead of L.13.

Also, see the response to Question No. 45.

57 General SOW

On page 69, the government states the following, “In the event that the offeror is planning to propose a teaming, mentor/protégée, or a subcontracting relationship, narrative statements must also be included for the additional organizations, as well as a clear delineation of tasks that they will be expected to support.” Can ATSDR please be more specific about what is meant by the

“narrative statement”?

A statement of the teaming arrangement and the expected support will suffice.

58 General SOW

Page 71 of the RFQ states that “Page Limit: 10 pages for each task order. A separate task order technical proposal shall be provided for each task order. The written technical proposal is limited to ten (10) pages, including the cover page and table of contents. Appendices may be included in this section. However, appendices shall only include resumes and requested literature (if any).

Appendices do not count against the page limit.”

Attachment J6. And J.7 (on page 8 of each) state “

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL PAGE LIMITATION: 10

pages. Resumes and appendices count toward the 10 page limit.:

o Please clarify: are resumes are included or excluded from the 10 page limit for the two sample task orders?

59 General SOW

Page 71, L 16, Past Performance: Are subcontractors required to provide a list of all contracts currently being performance that similar in scope, or is this requirement specific to prime offerors?

See response to Question No. 20

60 General SOW

Page 73: Section H (past/present performance information) notes a 3 page limit.

Please clarify: is this 3 pages for all required information, or 3 pages PER past/present performance?

The past/present performance narrative has a 3-page limitation (total).

See response to Question No. 7

61 General SOW

On page 74: Does a subcontractor need to provide past performance information or just the prime offeror?

See response to Question No. 20.

62 General SOW

Are forms J1 and J8 to be included in the response. If so, where?

Attachments J.1 and J.8 are not required in your response to the RFP.

63 General SOW

Please clarify that the RFP’s reference to telework would only apply to contractor staff assigned to work full time on CDC premises as the majority of contractors working off-site have a multiple of telework arrangements.

Telework arrangements depend on the

Contractor’s internal policy as well as

CDC guidance.

64 Business and Evaluation

Should subcontractors submit their own set of rates for the RFTOP or are they considered an ODC to the small business prime?

Depends on the Contractor’s internal accounting system.

65 Business and Evaluation

Reference H.33.2.(b) Task Order Evaluation and

Selection Procedures – The solicitation states that offerors’ proposals shall include a ‘Person Loading’ chart which ‘shall indicate for each proposed labor position, the number of man-hours subdivided by the specific components of the task’. Attachments J.6 (RFTOP A) and J.7 (RFTOP B) do not include ‘specific components’ for the tasks. Is the term ‘specific components’ meant to correspond to Tasks 1 – 4 for RFTOP A, and Tasks 1 – 5 for RFTOP B, such that a labor position is subdivided by each RFTOP Task? If not, would the Government provide a more detailed description of ‘specific components’ or provide the ‘specific components’ for each RFTOP?

66 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section L.18, Business Proposal Instructions

(Applicable to Task Orders A and B only) – Please confirm that the information requested in this Section should pertain only to the two RFTOPs, A and B, and that none of the information pertains to the overall

Business Proposal for the IDIQ Award. It appears that some of the guidance pertains specifically to the

RFTOPs, and some guidance pertains specifically to the overall Volume II - Business Proposal. If parts of

Section L.18 guidance apply only to the overall Business

Proposal, or only to the RFTOPs, please clarify and delineate the instructions accordingly

The Cost Data Information pertains to

Task Orders A and B.

67 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section L.18, Business Proposal Instructions

(Applicable to Task Orders A and B only) - Please clarify the intention of the third paragraph which reads:

“SPECIAL NOTE: PLEASE PROVIDE BUDGETS AS

FOLLOWS: A 18-MONTH BUDGET BY TASK AND

A CUMULATIVE BUDGET”. Does this guidance pertain to the two RFTOPs, A and B? If not, please provide sufficient information to develop a budget.

The guidance pertains to both task orders.

68 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section L.18, Business Proposal Instructions

(Applicable to Task Orders A and B only) - Is the requirement at L.18(b), Past/Present Performance

Information, to ‘list ongoing and previous Government contracts held during the past three years’ intended to mirror the list required in Volume I - Technical Proposal?

Also, please confirm that the ‘narrative of the offer’s past/present performance describing that work and the relevance of such work/experience’ is intended for inclusion in Volume II – Business Proposal.

Providing the same/corresponding past performance information/references in both volumes are acceptable.

69 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section L.18, Business Proposal Instructions

(Applicable to Task Orders A and B only), paragraph (a)

Contract Proposal Cover Sheet – In the second paragraph, please explain the requirement to provide

“proposed cost, profit, or fee (as applicable) per year and total for all years”. It appears that sufficient data or information has not been included in the solicitation to develop an estimate for the Base Year and four Option

Years. Does the Government intend to provide additional information for offerors to use in developing estimates for this requirement?

70 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section L.18(d), Cost Data Information -

(PER TASK ORDER) - - Is it the Government's intention that, for RFTOP's A and B, and for all potential future

RFTOP's, Offerors are required to provide salary information, a separate fringe benefit cost category, subcontractor cost or price analysis, computation and application of indirect costs for labor rates, escalation and

Facilities Capital Cost of Money factors used, in developing T&M and Labor Hour rates that are separate from the anticipated contractual rates contained in

Attachment J5- FULLY BURDENED LABOR

RATES? It appears that this paragraph (d) may contain requirements typically applicable to Cost Reimbursable type contracts. Additionally, it seems that T&M or Labor

Hour rates used in response to RFTOP's would be those negotiated for Attachment J5 - FULLY BURDENED

LABOR RATES, which apply to all years of any resultant contract. Please clarify the requirements for complying with this Section and for responding to

RFTOPs.

The labor hourly rates used will be those contained in Attachment J5.

Other Direct Costs (ODC) may include the other categories listed.

71 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section M.4.4 Business Proposal Evaluation

Factors (Volume II) – the paragraph states that the

“Business Proposal will be evaluated for its successful completion of all requirements outlined in the Specific

Proposal Instructions . . . . “ and further that “proposed pricing is fair, reasonable, and supportable . . . . . “. The paragraph does not mention if, or how, the Past

Refer to Section M.5.1, Non-Price

Evaluation Factors, and M.5.2, Past

/Present Performance.

The past performance information will be evaluated under Section M.5.

Performance contract relevance narrative required at solicitation Section L.18(b), Past/Present Performance

Information, will be evaluated. Please clarify.

72 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section C.5(5), Notification of 75%

Completion Report (Time-and-Materials and LH Task

Orders) - Please confirm that this reporting requirement is intended to be the Contractor’s good faith estimate of completion of 75% of the Task Order ‘work’, and not a spent funds requirement in accordance with FAR

52.232.20 or 52.232.22. Please confirm the intent of this reporting requirement.

Per the Basic Contract:

In a separate report, Contractor shall provide written notification to COR, and

Contracting Officer when project work has reached 75% completion.

73 Business and Evaluation

Reference Section C.5(6) Financial Reports – This paragraph appears to require Contractors to provide a report on their ‘actual costs’ for the anticipated Firm

Fixed Price, T&M, or LH Task Orders. Please confirm if this requirement for reporting ‘actual costs’ is correct, or is the intent for a Contractor to provide reports on Task

Order funding spent (T&M and LH only) compared to

Task Order dollars actually funded/awarded? It appears that a report of ‘actual costs’ to the Contractor would not be required for FFP, T&M, or LH work. Please clarify the reporting requirement.

Invoices are based on “actual costs” and report the funds spent, the cumulative total, and the remaining balances.

74 Sample Task Order A: Attachment J6

Is there an incumbent for this task order? If so, who?

75 Sample Task Order A: Attachment J6

In the list of deliverables on page 4, post-production video is requested. Has the video footage already been shot? How long is the video? Has the vendor been chosen for post-production?

CDC is requiring post-production support only for videos estimated to be 5 minutes long or less.

76 Sample Task Order A: Attachment J6

What is the anticipated length of the fact sheets and backgrounders mentioned in the deliverables list on page

4?

Fact sheets and backgrounders are generally 1 to 4 pages long (each)

77 Sample Task Order A: Attachment J6

Have the trainings that are to be delivered (3 are mentioned in the list of deliverables) been developed or is the contractor awarded the work expected to develop them? If they are pre-existing trainings, who developed them?

The CDC has not developed the training.

The government will identify the type of training to be conducted. It is the vendor’s responsibility to determine the most effective and cost efficient way to fulfill the requirement.

78 Task Order A Resumes: Instructions on page 71 state that resumes do NOT count toward the 10-page limit;

however Attachment J-7. page 8 states that resumes do count toward the 10 pages, and page 9 states that resumes are limited to 5 pages. Can CDC please confirm that an appendix with 5 pages of resumes do NOT count toward the 10-page task order response?

79 Who is the incumbent company?

If there is an incumbent contractor, what is the contract number?

See response to Question No. 17

80 On page 2, Section B –Supplies Or Services And

Prices/Costs, what figures go in the unit price column and the extended price column? We are guessing the aggregate bottom-line from the cost sheets, is that correct?

Completion of Section B applies to the

Task Orders.

81 On page 5, B.9 NON-Personal Services Contract

Statement, If the work is to be performed primarily off-site at the contractor’s locations, where the contractor needs to access CDC’s network, the CDC will not provide IT equipment and the computers used by contractor personnel shall meet CDC’s standard software and security configuration before logging onto CDC’s network. Question: Will the government reimburse the contractor to bring their equipment up to standard or is this to be covered under off-site overhead?

The Government will not reimburse the contractor to bring its equipment up to standard.

82 Can you please provide the current contract value?

No

83 What are the numbers of FTEs by labor category under the current contract?

This is only an estimate. Offerors are advised to carefully review the requirement in deriving the level of effort they believe necessary in providing their best value proposal. You are not bound to quote these labor categories or quantities, rather you are expected to provide your best solution citing the labor mix and quantity required to accomplish the tasks.

84 If there are multiple work locations, please provide the location names.

Under both Task Orders, place of performance will be at the contractor’s facility.

85 Where will the majority of On-Site work be performed?

See response to Question No. 84

86 Where will the majority of Off-Site work be performed?

See response to Question No. 84

87 What is the historical history of On-Site and Off-Site performance percentage?

Unknown.

88 On Attachment J.6 Task Order A, page 10, Estimated

Level of Effort, are there descriptions for the labor categories? Ex. Senior Health Communication

Researcher.

On Attachment J.7 Task Order B, page 10, Estimated

Level of Effort, are there descriptions for the labor categories? Ex. Senior Health Communication

Researcher.

See response to Question No. 83

Reference Sample Task A, B: Please confirm that the estimated level of effort provided for each task area represents hours per month for the duration of the performance period (rather than total hours for the entire performance period).

The estimated level of effort provided is for the duration of the performance period.

90 Reference L.16,Past Performance Instructions, pg. 71 of solicitation requests “A list of the last 3 contracts completed during the past three years and ALL

CONTRACTS currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation workscope.” Please clarify that the requirement for past performance questionnaires on page 73 in L.17 is limited to 3.

The Past performance questionnaires are not limited to 3.

91 Reference L.9 Proposal Submission. The solicitation requests a CD-Rom of the entire proposal. Please confirm that the offeror may submit the Basic Contract, Task

Order A and Task Order B as individual word documents

See response to Question No. 54

92 Reference B.6.2, Time and Materials and Labor-Hour, page 3. The solicitation indicates that task orders will be

FFP, T&M or labor hour. However, the Business

Proposal Instructions, Section L.18(d), page 73 requests substantial cost information typically related to cost plus type contracts. Given FAR 15.402(2)(i) and FAR

15.402(3), since adequate price competition exists, and no cost reimbursement task orders are anticipated, request removal of requirement for detailed cost data.

See response to Question No. 70

93 Reference L.18(b) Business Proposal Instructions, Past

Performance, p 74. These instructions required offeror to provide information on 3 past performance references. However, Section M.4.4, Business Proposal

Evaluation Factors, makes no reference to an evaluation of this material. How will past performance in the

Business Proposal be evaluated?

Refer to Section M.5.1, Non-Price

Evaluation Factors, and M.5.2, Past

/Present Performance.

The past performance narratives are placed in the Business Proposal; however, they will be evaluated in accordance with

Section M.5. (non-price evaluation factors)

94 Reference L.18(d) Business Proposal Instructions, Cost

Data Information, p 73. This section requires substantial internal cost and pricing information not requested by

Attachment J.5. Request removal of detailed pricing, as sufficient price competition exists, and replacement with requirement to submit Attachment J.5 for labor rate pricing by year.

95 Reference H.30, Facilities, p 41. This section requires on-site and off-site overhead rates to be provided by the offeror. Since the task orders will be fixed-price, T&M or labor hour, and not cost reimbursable, it is not clear what these rates would be used for. Please clarify if the contract will use the on-site and off-site labor rates established in J.5 and described in H.9, or if the government intends to negotiate these rates on a task order basis if indirect costs change during the life of the contract.

See Amendment No. 0001.

96 SECTION L.16 PAST PERFORMANCE

INSTRUCTIONS

Offerors are required to submit “3 contracts completed during the past three years…” Is there a requirement that all three past performances are from the prime contractor or can past performance from subcontractors be used?

Yes, subcontractors past performance information is acceptable.

97 SECTION L.17 PAST PERFORMANCE

QUESTIONNAIRE

By what date should the past performance questionnaires be submitted to the government?

No later than May 15, 2017

98 LABOR FOR TASK ORDERS A and B

How does the government want offerors to write to the labor categories/FTE’s within the Base year and Task

Orders? Is the government requesting that offerors determine the labor categories and number of FTE’s required for the Task Orders or is the government requesting that offerors specifically use the Labor

Categories and FTE’s provided in the charts for each

Task Order.

The offeror should propose ALL labor categories it deems necessary to perform all required tasks per Attachment J4.

Cite the labor hourly rates in Attachment

J5.

99 Page 8 of J6 states that resumes and appendices count toward the 10 page limit, however page 71 of the IDIQ states the opposite. Will the government please clarify which is correct?

100 L15 Subfactor 3, page 70: May we include one set of resumes and refer to them in both the IDIQ (BASIC contract) and the Task Order responses, or must each proposal stand on its own?

Each technical proposal will be evaluated separately; therefore, each proposal stands on its own.

101 J6 Subfactor 5 Staffing Plan, page 9: If resumes are to be included as an appendix and do not count against the page limit, must the offeror limit the resumes for key personnel to 5 pages total? Will the government confirm that it means 5 pages for ALL resumes rather than 5 pages for each individual resume?

5 pages for ALL resumes.

102 L13 General Instructions, section (f), page 67: Would the government accept proposals on a thumb (flash/USB) drive instead of a CD-ROM?

No, due to security reasons.

103 L18 Business Instructions, page 75, section (d) Cost Data

Information: Will the government accept fully burdened

GSA schedule rates? If so, must the offeror break out fringe benefits (subsection ii) and indirect costs

(subsection vii)?

Information requested in Attachment J5 will suffice for the burdened labor rates.

104 Section 508 of the Rehab Act (29 USC 794d) p.15: Is the 508 Compliance Product Assessment

Template due at the time of proposal submission? If so, in which volume should it be included?

Yes, it should be included as an appendix to the base IDIQ proposal (and does not count toward the page limit).

105 Section L-Technical Proposal-Base Proposal; subsection

2.1 –Basic Contract.

P 69: Given the page limit of 30 for the base technical proposal, would it be acceptable in the technical approach to speak directly to each of the five task areas and incorporate the subtasks there, rather than address each sub-task separately?

It’s up to the offerors to determine the best way to structure their proposals.

106 C.1 Technical Requirements

Task 2, p.7:

Under Communication Training and Specialized

Marketing Services are the communication training sessions the same, or are they different?

Specialized Marketing Services (Logistical Support) –

What is the expected number of attendees for the two off-site meetings? Also, will the Contractor be expected to secure and pay for meeting space?

See answer to question 52.

Number of attendees has not yet been determined.

Yes, contractor may need to secure and pay for meeting space.

107 Task Order Proposals J-6 & J-7; Technical Proposal Page

Limitation

J-6 –p.8

J-7-p.8

Please clarify whether resumes are included in the 10 page limit. Under Subfactor 5 (Staffing), it appears that there can be up to 5 pages of resumes.

108 J-4 Labor Categories

Attachment

If the contractor does not propose labor categories in its base proposal that are later required in RFTOPs, will there be an opportunity to add categories at that time?

If you are referring to future task orders, then yes.