20250221_U_SABER_III_BPA_Ordering_Guide_DRAFT.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED

Software Aqua Badge Engineering Resources III (SABER III)

Ordering Guide

Version 1.0

Date: 21 February 2025

Table of Contents

(U) GENERAL

(U) ORDERING INSTRUCTION

(U) PROCESS

(U) OPPORTUNITY EXCEPTIONS

(U) BASIS for AWARD & EVALUATION CRITERIA

(U) PROPOSAL PREPARATION

(U) PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

(U) AWARD

(U) UNAUTHORIZED WORK

(U) FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

(U) ORDER CLOSEOUT

(U) GENERAL

(U) Services will be procured with the award of orders issued against the basic Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). The designated NGA Contracting Officer is empowered to place orders in accordance with the terms and conditions of the BPA.

(U) In accordance with FAR 8.405-3(c)(2) the contracting officer will:

1. (U) Provide a Request for Quotation (RFQ) to all BPA holders (if multiple) offering the services under the BPA, to include a description of the services to be performed and the basis upon which the selection will be made.

2. (U) Afford all BPA holders responding to the RFQ an opportunity to submit a quote; and

3. (U) Fairly consider all responses received and make award in accordance with the selection procedures.

(U) One or more orders may be issued during the performance period of the BPA.

1. The period of performance (POP) for each individual order awarded shall be specified in the order when it is initially awarded. Individual orders will be limited to a maximum performance period of 24 months - a base period (12 months) and additional two (2) 6-month option periods if needed.

2. Requirements determined to be set-aside for small businesses will only be competed among small business BPA holders.

(U) Each individual order may be Time and Material (T&M) or Labor-Hour (LH) and include a ceiling price.

(U) ORDERING INSTRUCTION

(U) Work under this BPA will be ordered by written orders issued on DD Form 1155 (Order for Supplies or Services) to the contractor by the Contracting Officer.

(U) Each award as a result of the RFQ will cite an individual order number.

(U) The Government will not be obligated to reimburse the contractor for work performed, items delivered, or any costs incurred, nor shall the contractor be obligated to perform, deliver, or otherwise incur costs except as authorized by duly executed orders. RFQ for proposals will indicate funds availability. The Government may request proposals with no assurance of funding and provides no assurance that orders will be issued.

(U) PROCESS

(U) For each order, an RFQ, shall be provided to each of the prime contractors via direct electronic communication, typically email, or to small businesses when set-aside procedures are used. All Contractors are highly encouraged to submit a proposal for every RFQ under this BPA. Each prime contractor shall evaluate the opportunity and determine whether or not to submit a proposal. If unable to perform a requirement, contractors shall submit a "no proposal" reply in response to the proposal request. All "no proposal" responses shall include a brief statement as to why the contractor is unable to perform. A contractor’s participation rate will be considered in the Government‘s decision to execute the Off Ramp provisions contained in the Section 2 “On/Off ramp clause”, for a contractor.

(U) The RFQ will include a due date for proposal submission and either a Statement of Objectives (SOO), Performance Work Statement (PWS) or a Statement of Work (SOW) that will include a detailed description of work to be accomplished, a listing of the deliverables required and any additional data, as appropriate. The RFQ will also include specific instructions for the submission of proposals. If oral proposals are to be used in lieu of or in conjunction with written proposals, the RFQ will specify such.

(U) The amount of time for proposal submission will be based on the complexity and urgency of the requirement and will be stated in individual RFQ.

(U) The RFQ (unless the contracting officer determines that an exception to fair opportunity procedures applies) will include, at a minimum, the following information:

1. (U) Tracking number (assigned by CO)

2. (U) Date of announcement

3. (U) Statement of Work (SOW), Performance Work Statement (PWS) or

Statement of Objective (SOO)

4. (U) Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) package

5. (U) Anticipated BPA type(s)

6. (U) Proposal due date

7. (U) Evaluation criteria and factors for award

(U) OPPORTUNITY EXCEPTIONS

(U) The CO will issue an RFQ to all prime contractors, unless a fair opportunity exception exists, or a small business set-aside is selected. For a proposed order with an estimated value exceeding the micro-purchase threshold not placed or established in accordance with the procedures in, 8.405-2, or 8.405-3, the only circumstances that may justify the action are:

1. (U) An urgent and completing need exists, and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays.

2. (U) Only one source is capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required because the services are unique or highly specialized

3. (U) In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to the original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original offer was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedure. The original order of the BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited–sources procedures.

(U) BASIS for AWARD & EVALUATION CRITERIA

(U) The Government will award to the offeror, whose proposal is deemed most advantageous to the Government based upon an integrated assessment using the evaluation criteria. The Government will evaluate proposals against established selection criteria specified in the RFQ. Generally, the Government's award decision will be based on selection criteria which addresses, Technical Approach, Past Performance, and Cost. The order of importance for the factors will be identified in the RFQ.

(U) Generally, the Evaluation Factors will consist of:

• (U) Technical Solution/Approach. The Government will assess the offeror’s demonstrated understanding of the task order requirements, the quality and completeness of their technical solution/approach, to include the implementation of technical process/procedures in describing the staffing of the work required to meet the Statement of Work (SOW)/Statement requirements and objectives.

• (U) Past Performance. Evaluation of Past Performance may be based on

Government’s past performance assessments of individual orders performed throughout the life of the BPA.

• (U) Security. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s ability to meet the security requirements of the Order and will be evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis.

• (U) Price/Cost. The Government will evaluate price quotes for reasonableness.

(U) PROPOSAL PREPARATION

Technical Proposals. Technical proposal information will be streamlined. The Government will specify the maximum page limits for each order technical proposal in the RFQ. Proposals shall not merely restate SOO/PWS/SOW requirements. Written technical proposals shall normally address:

1. (U) Technical Solution/Approach and descriptive narrative of the contractor's understanding of the requested effort

2. (U) Past Performance. Descriptive narrative of any past performance on any similar task or purchase orders or actual orders under this BPA that is pertinent.

3. (U) Key personnel assigned (if applicable)

4. (U) Cost/Price data and justifications in the format specified in the RFQ

5. (U) Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE)/Government-Furnished Information

(GFI)

6. (U) Other Pertinent Data, such as assumptions made

(U) Past Performance. Contractors are not required to submit past performance information on subsequent orders in response to an RFQ.

(U) Price Proposal. A price proposal will be required for all orders to determine if the proposed price is reasonable and to determine which contractor represents the best value. The price proposal shall include the labor hours, labor mix with applicable GSA labor rates, travel, and materials required to accomplish the task being ordered.

(U) Other Relevant Information. This information shall always be in writing and shall address other relevant information as required by the BPA or requested by the RFQ.

For example, the proposal shall identify any situation in which the potential for a conflict of interest exists. If travel is specified in the order SOW, PWS or SOO, airfare and/or local mileage, per diem rates by total days, number of trips and number of contractor employees traveling shall be included in the proposal.

(U) Clarification of Proposals. The Government intends to evaluate the proposals IAW the selection criteria set forth in the RFQ and award an Order without holding exchanges or communications with Offerors. Therefore, proposals should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price/cost and technical standpoint. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and award Orders without holding interchanges with Offerors. Therefore, quotes should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct interchanges with some or all Offerors if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary.

(U) Proposal Preparation. The contractor shall assume all costs associated with preparation of proposals for order awards under the proposal process as an indirect charge (bid and proposal costs). The Government will not reimburse awardees for proposals as a direct charge.

(U) PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

(U) The Contractors’ order proposal shall be submitted to the CO on or before the time and date specified in the RFQ letter. Pricing on the order proposals shall be valid for 90 calendar days after the required submission date.

(U) Any questions pertaining to the RFQ package shall be submitted to the CO in writing within three (3) business days of RFQ issuance date. In the event issues pertaining to an RFQ package cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the CO, the CO reserves the right to withdraw or cancel the proposed RFQ package. In such event, Contractors will be notified, via letter or email, of the CO's decision, and the decision shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to the "Disputes" clause or the "Contract Disputes Act".

(U) If no proposals or only one proposal is received, the Government, at its discretion, may revalidate the RFQ requirement. The validation process may include exchanges with some or all of the Contractors to determine the concerns about the RFQ requirement. Should the requirement be valid, the CO may re-issue the RFQ package.

After the Government revalidates the RFQ requirement and if only one proposal is received, the Government will follow the procedures at DFARS 215.371.

(U) AWARD

(U) Awarded orders may be issued by e-mail, regular mail or facsimile. It is anticipated that all awarded orders will be issued electronically. If mailed, an order is considered "issued" when the Government deposits the order in the mail.

(U) UNSUCCESSFUL AWARD

(U) After an order has been awarded, the unsuccessful offerors will be notified. If an unsuccessful offeror requests information on an award that was based on other factors other than price, a brief explanation of the basis for the award decision shall be provided.

(U) UNAUTHORIZED WORK

(U) The contractor is not authorized at any time to commence order performance prior to issuance of a signed order or other written approval provided by the CO to begin work.

(U) FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

(U) No unfunded orders are allowed. Orders shall either be funded at the time of award or awarded under the authority provided within Section I Clause 52.232-18, entitled, “Availability of Funds”.

(U) ORDER CLOSEOUT

(U) Notification that a closeout of an order is complete must be provided to the CO once accomplished. The contractor shall work in partnership with the Government to closeout orders as soon as possible after they are physically complete by using the "Quick Closeout” procedures described in FAR 42.708 as much as practical

ATTACHMENT A – SUMMARY OF ACRONYMS

Acronym Expansion

CDRL Contract Data Requirements List

CO Contracting Officer

CWBS Contractor Work Breakdown Structure

DFARS Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement

DD Department of Defense

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation

FASA Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act

FFP Firm Fixed Price

GAO General Accounting Office

GFE Government Furnished Equipment

GFI Government Furnished Information

IAW In Accordance With

IDIQ Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity

LH Labor-hour

PWS Performance Work Statement

SOO Statement of Objectives

SOW Statement of Work

T&M Time and Material