Attachment_D_Rev_2_-_Quote_Instructions_and_Evaluation Criteria.pdf

Solicitation 2031ZA24Q00040 Attachment D – Quote Instructions and Evaluation Criteria

QUOTE INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

Instructions to Offerors

1) The Government intends to award a single Task Order from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose quote represents the best value to the Government in accordance with the factors set forth in this Request for Quote (RFQ). The Government reserves the right to reject any quote that does not comply with this quote preparation/submission instructions.

2) Quotes must be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist listed in the combined synopsis/solicitation by the solicitation closing date and time in order to be considered.

Failure to submit a complete quote prior to the solicitation closing date and time will render the quote late and non-responsive and will not be considered.

3) Offerors must comply with the detailed instructions for the format and content of the quote;

quotes that do not comply with the detailed instructions for the format and content of the quote submit quotes in response to this solicitation in English and in U.S. dollars.

4) This procurement is conducted under FAR Subpart 13.5 simplified acquisition procedures for commercial products and services.

5) Offerors may submit questions requesting clarification of this requirement via email. Any clarifying information issued by the Government will be provided to all prospective Offerors. All questions regarding this solicitation must be submitted to Chad Underwood via email to charles.underwood@bep.gov no later than 9:00 AM (ET) on March 11, 2024. Questions received after the due date and time will not be considered. Proprietary data, if so noted, will be protected. Quotes must be signed by an official authorized to bind your organization and submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist listed in the combined synopsis/solicitation no later than 9:00 AM (ET) on March 29, 2024.

6) If this solicitation is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged.

Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by the date and time specified in the amendment(s).

Submission, Modification, Revision, and Withdrawal of Quotes

1) Quotes and revisions of quotes shall be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist listed in the combined synopsis/solicitation.

2) Quotes may be withdrawn at any time before contract award. Withdrawals are effective upon receipt of notice by the Contracting Officer.

3) Offerors shall identify the expiration date of their quote, and of any special discounts.

4) This RFQ does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a quote. In addition, the Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this acquisition.

Quote Format mailto:Charles.Underwood@bep.gov

1) Offerors shall submit a quote in accordance with the following guidelines:

• All filenames shall include the Offeror’s company name and title/subject of content.

• All documents requested herein shall be compatible with Microsoft Office formats or Adobe

PDF.

• To the maximum extent practicable, the Offeror shall not submit Non-FSS items in their quotations. In the event that Non-FSS items are proposed, each Non-FSS item must be clearly identified.

2) The quote shall be submitted in three (3) volumes as outlined below and clearly labeled. Each of these parts shall be separate and complete in itself so that the evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the evaluation of the other, as follows:

Volume I – Technical Volume II – Past Performance Volume III – Price

Volume I – Technical

1) The Technical Quote shall not contain any references to cost/price; however, resource information such as data concerning labor hours and categories, materials, subcontracts, etc., may be contained in the technical quote so that your understanding of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) may be evaluated. It must disclose your approach in sufficient detail to provide a clear and concise presentation that includes the requirements of the quote instructions.

2) Where data/information appears in one part, it does not have to be repeated in any other part.

However, it shall be cross referenced by indicating the specific location including the volume and page number as a minimum. The clarity, relevance, and conciseness of the quotation is important, not the length. Proprietary data, if so noted, will be protected.

3) The Technical Quote shall be single spaced, maximum of 20 pages (excluding attachments, addendums, resumes and other required appendices), and shall be printable on 8.5 x 11-inch paper containing text no smaller than font size 12 – Times New Roman. Each page shall be numbered, and each section shall be tabbed to correspond to the table of contents. Offerors may include 11 x 17-inch foldouts only to display graphics, flow charts, organizational charts, or drawings. Fonts in graphics or charts shall be 10-font.

1) The Offeror(s) shall include three (3) past performance references where the Offeror was the prime contractor or subcontractor for relevant work completed within the past five (5) years as required by this solicitation. “Relevant” is defined as similar in size, scope, and complexity to this contract. The Offeror must clarify the percentage of work, dollar allocation and personnel roles as it relates to the key labor category requirements.

2) The past performance reference submission shall be single-spaced, maximum of one (1) page per reference, and shall be printable on 8.5 x 11-inch paper containing text no smaller than font size 10 – Times New Roman. Each page shall be numbered.

1) The Price Quote shall include a statement indicating whether any exceptions are taken to the terms and conditions of the RFQ. Any exceptions must include identification of the specific paragraphs and rationale for each exception. Exceptions shall also be noted in the quotation at the location of the exception.

2) Where data/information appears in one part, it does not have to be repeated in any other part.

However, it shall be cross referenced by indicating the specific location including the volume and page number as a minimum. The clarity, relevance, and conciseness of the quotation is important, not the length.

3) There is no page limit for the Price Quote. The quote shall be single-spaced (excluding spreadsheets and other required appendices) and shall be printable on 8.5 x 11-inch paper containing text no smaller than font size 10 – Times New Roman.

Quote Instructions for Contents to be Evaluated

Volume I – Technical

FACTOR 1 – TECHNICAL (NON-PRICE)

The Government will evaluate quotes for technical acceptability and to determine the Offeror's overall understanding and capability to meet or exceed the Government’s requirement. Offerors shall propose a technical and management approach that demonstrates a successful approach for performing all services required by the PWS, to include the Offerors understanding of the requirement, ability to provide appropriate and qualified personnel, and effective recruiting and retention strategy. The Offeror’s technical and management approach shall clearly reveal an approach to meet or exceed the following Subfactors:

Subfactor 1 – Technical Approach and Understanding. The Offeror shall:

a. Provide a statement of purpose, scope, and challenges of the project that demonstrates a complete understanding of the intent and requirements of the Government’s requirement.

b. Submit a narrative that fully describes the proposed technical approach necessary to meet each of the requirements in the PWS. The technical narrative shall include:

• description/understanding of the content of each task and subtask to be performed to achieve the project objectives;

• process or methodology to be used to accomplish tasks or subtasks in the PWS; and

• detailed technical approach necessary to meet or exceed the Government’s requirement in the PWS, as well as capture anticipated major problem areas and solutions.

Subfactor 2 – Key Personnel. The Offeror shall:

a. Submit resumes of no more than three (3) pages in total length, for the following Key

Personnel, as also identified in the PWS:

• Project Manager I: Resumes shall reveal a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience that meets or exceeds the specifications per Section 3.1.3 of the PWS. Minimum education requirement includes a Bachelor of Arts (BA)/Bachelor of Science (BS) or related Business or relevant field

• Analyst II: Resumes shall reveal a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience that meets or exceeds the specifications per Section 3.1.3 of the PWS, and a minimum of one (1) year experience working as a Quality Assurance Specialist, Auditor, or Engineer. Minimum education requirement includes a Bachelor of Arts (BA)/Bachelor of Science (BS) or related Business or relevant field.

• Functional Specialist I: Resumes shall reveal a minimum of ten (10) years of relevant experience that meets or exceeds the standards per Section 3.1.3 of the PWS and required experience in computer programming and/or computer graphic experience. Minimum education requirement includes a high school diploma with industry certifications in computer programming or computer graphics.

Subfactor 3 – Project Plan: The Offeror shall:

a. Submit a Project Plan that clearly reveals a viable strategy to accomplish tasks and subtasks in the PWS, project schedule, task completion/adherence metrics, deliverables schedule, staffing plan, and comprehensive labor mix (to include subcontractors and/or consultants) necessary to meet the entire scope of the PWS. The Project Plan shall also include:

• specify the professional capabilities necessary to perform tasks and subtasks in the PWS, and describe labor categories, other than Key Personnel, used to perform services of entire scope of the PWS;

• involvement of consultants or subcontractors and specify arrangements to manage their roles; and

• organizational structure for Contractor personnel supporting the Government’s requirement, identifying roles and responsibilities.

FACTOR 2 – PAST PERFORMANCE (NON-PRICE)

1) Offerors shall submit a total of no less than three (3) past performance references where the Offeror was the prime Contractor for recent and relevant work. For the purposes of this procurement, “recent” is defined as work completed in the last five (5) years from the issuance date of this solicitation;

“relevant” is defined as similar in size, scope, and complexity to the Government’s requirement in this solicitation.

2) Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQ) found in Attachment E, shall be submitted for each past performance reference. Offerors shall forward the PPQ to each respective client to complete and for the client to submit directly to the Contract Specialist via email at charles.underwood@bep.gov no later than 9:00 AM (ET) on March 29, 2024.

mailto:charles.underwood@bep.gov

3) In addition to information submitted by the Offeror in support of Factor 2, the Government reserves the right to obtain information for use in the evaluation of past performance from any and all available Government resources, to include Contracting Officer knowledge and Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), as well as sources outside of the Government.

FACTOR 3 – PRICE

1) The Offeror shall submit a Price Quote to propose appropriate labor categories and labor hours necessary to adequately fulfill the requirements per the PWS, any proposed discounts, and any other relevant pricing information.

2) The volume shall include a detailed breakdown of the cost/price being proposed by task (including optional tasks, if applicable) and all option periods. This includes a breakdown of the labor categories, proposed hours, rates and discounts, other direct costs, indirect costs (if applicable), etc.

3) The Offeror is required to complete and certify FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (AUG 2020) as part of their Price volume. If the Offeror does not comply with representations and certifications, the Offeror is considered non-responsive and may be removed from consideration for award per FAR 4.2103.

Evaluation Criteria for Quote Contents

1) The Government will utilize the Best Value Tradeoff continuum to evaluate quotes, whereby the Government may award to other than the lowest priced Offeror or other than the highest technically rated Offeror. The following factors, and their respective subfactors, will be evaluated in determining contract award:

Factor 1: Technical (Non-price) Subfactor A: Technical Approach and Understanding Subfactor B: Key Personnel Subfactor C: Project Plan Factor 2: Past Performance Factor 3: Price

2) Factor 1 (Technical) is more important than Factor 3 (Price). Factor 3 (Price) is more important than Factor 2 (Past Performance). All Factor 1 (Technical) Subfactors are of equal importance.

3) Each factor will be evaluated on a stand-alone basis.

FACTOR 1 – TECHNICAL (NON-PRICE)

1) Factor 1, and its associated subfactors, will be evaluated using adjectival rating methodology found in Table 1 below. When using this methodology, evaluators will assign an adjectival rating to each Non- Price Subfactor, found in the Technical Quote in Volume I, culminating in one overall adjectival rating for Factor 1. The technical rating reflects the degree to which the proposed approach meets or does not meet the threshold performance or capability requirements, and the risk associated with its technical approach.

2) The combined technical/risk rating includes consideration of risk in conjunction with the strengths, weaknesses, and deficiencies used in Table 2 below, in determining technical ratings. The adjectival rating represents the evaluators’ conclusions as to the quality and performance risk of the quote. That conclusion will have a written narrative identifying the analysis to support the rating. In order to be considered awardable, there must not be a rating of “unacceptable” for Factor 1.

Table 1 – Adjectival Combined Technical/Risk Rating Method

Adjectival Rating Adjectival Rating Description

Outstanding

Quote demonstrates an exceptional approach and understanding of the requirements and contains multiple strengths and/or at least one significant strength, and risk of unsuccessful performance is low.

Good

Quote demonstrates a thorough approach and understanding of the requirements and contains at least one strength or significant strength, and risk of unsuccessful performance is low to moderate.

Acceptable Quote demonstrates an adequate approach and understanding of the requirements, and risk of unsuccessful performance is no worse than moderate.

Marginal Quote has not demonstrated an adequate approach and understanding of the requirements.

Unacceptable Quote does not meet requirements of the solicitation and, thus, contains one or more deficiencies and is un-awardable.

Table 2 – Definitions of Strengths and Weaknesses

Comment Adjectival Rating Description

Strength

An aspect of the Offerors quote that has merit or exceeds specified performance or capability requirements in a way that will be advantageous to the Government during contract performance.

Weakness A flaw in the quote that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

Significant Weakness

A flaw that appreciably increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

Deficiency

A material failure of a quote to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a quote that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level.

Subfactor A: Technical Approach and Understanding. The Government will evaluate the Offerors:

a. statement of purpose, scope, and identified challenges (in Offerors own words) that demonstrate a complete understanding of the intent and requirements of entire scope of the PWS; and

b. technical approach to ensure that it meets or exceeds the Government requirements in the PWS.

Subfactor B: Key Personnel. The Government will evaluate the Offerors:

a. professional capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the tasks in the PWS and the resume of each of the professional persons who will perform under the contract.

Resumes will be evaluated based on the following capabilities:

• knowledge of and experience with the specific tasks found in Sections 5 and 7 of the PWS; and

• knowledge of and experience with the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Standards.

Subfactor C: Project Plan. The Government will evaluate the Offerors:

a. project plan for a successful approach to manage and adhere to the proposed performance schedule, tasks and personnel utilized to successfully accomplish each requirement in the PWS, and overall compliance process and approach to submit timely and accurate deliverables;

b. involvement of consultants and/or subcontractors, and arrangements to manage their roles; and

c. proposed organizational structure to support the entire effort.

FACTOR 2 – PAST PERFORMANCE

1) The Government will evaluate past performance to assess the relative risks associated with an Offeror’s likelihood of success in fulfilling the Government’s requirement, as indicated by the Offeror’s record of past performance. The past performance evaluation may be based on the Contracting Officer’s knowledge of and previous experience with the service being acquired, the PPQs submitted by Offeror references, the CPARS information located at http://www.cpars.gov/; and/or any other reasonable basis.

2) In the case of an Offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available or so sparse that no meaningful past performance rating can be reasonably assigned, the Offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.

Therefore, the Offeror shall be determined to have unknown or neutral past performance. In the context of acceptability/unacceptability, a neutral rating shall be considered acceptable.

Table 3 - Past Performance Acceptable/Unacceptable Rating Method Standards

Adjectival Rating Rating Definition

Acceptable Based on the Offeror’s performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the Offeror will successfully perform the required effort, or the Offeror’s performance record is unknown.

Unacceptable Based on the Offeror’s performance record, the Government does not have a reasonable expectation that the Offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort.

FACTOR 3 – PRICE

1) The Government will evaluate the overall total price proposed, which contains proposed prices for all line items, including all options. Additionally, the Government will evaluate the table of labor categories and loaded hourly rates proposed, as well as the detailed breakdown. All other information required in the price quote will be evaluated for completeness and accuracy. The Government reserves the right to clarify any discrepancies discovered during the evaluation. The Government will evaluate Offeror’s proposed price to determine if the price is fair and reasonable.

http://www.cpars.gov/

QUOTE INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA