Amendment 001 QA Analytical Laboratory Testing Services.pdf

Amendment 001 Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Division of Procurement

DATE: August 23, 2021

FROM: Matthew Richards, Contract Specialist

SUBJECT: SAM.gov RFQ #20356221Q00004 – Chemical Hazard and Safety Investigation Board (CSB) – Analytical Laboratory Testing Services Amendment 001 - Questions & Answers (Q&A).

The purpose of this amendment is to:

1. Provide the Government’s response to Vendor submitted questions below.

2. Extend the proposal due date to Monday, August 30, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. EST in order to provide Vendor’s the opportunity to reflect the responses in their proposals.

1. Past Performance

Are government and commercial past performance references for the same kind of work that are requested in this solicitation weighted the same during proposal evaluation?

The Government Response:

Yes.

2. Evaluation Factors

I want to confirm that the evaluation factors, Factor 1: Technical Approach, Factor 2:

Minimum Qualifications, Factor 3: Past Performance, and Factor 4: Price, are ranked by the offeror in order of importance during the evaluation process. Technical approach and minimum qualifications are more important than past performance and all non-price factors are more important than price. Is that a correct interpretation?

The Government Response:

The above interpretation is not correct, the non-price factors Factor 1: Technical Approach, Factor 2: Minimum Qualifications, Factor 3: Past Performance when combined, are weighted more important than price. No other factor ranking will be utilized.

3. Personnel Credentials

In the solicitation it states, "Contractor personnel in support of the tasks under the contract shall have, at a minimum, the following experience and credentials:

d. Contractor personnel shall possess or acquire any training or certifications needed to enter chemical facilities, where necessary;

e. A degree in Chemistry or a related field;

f. At least five years of analytical chemical testing experience."

Are these minimum requirements only for each PWS task manager or must every analyst, technician, and scientist performing work on a PWS task be held to this requirement?

Many of our scientists are multidisciplined in their education and work experience. Many have years of experience in their fields of chemical testing but may not have a degree exactly matching that work. For example, could "related field" include biochemistry, microbiology, biology, engineering, materials science, minor in chemistry with degree in another scientific field, etc. if they also possess XX years of experience in their field(s) of testing?

The Government Response:

The overall project / task manager(s) must meet the degree and experience requirements. Related fields may include other science or engineering fields. Individual contributors, such as technicians, will not be held to this requirement.

4. Contract Type

Is a "Labor Hour Contract" the same as a "Time and Materials contract?”

The Government Response:

No. As Labor Hour contracts are for level of effort, and Time and Materials contracts are for level of effort and any materials purchased in support of performance of the contract.

5. Factor 2: Minimum Qualifications

Factor 2 there is mention of "personnel roles and responsibilities." How detailed should this description in the staffing plan be to address organizational roles and responsibilities?

For example, should the staffing plan include only personnel roles and responsibilities for those directly involved with project work or should it also include support groups such as purchasing, contracting, QA, and other ancillary groups?

The Government Response:

Including only personnel roles and responsibilities for those directly involved with the project work will be sufficient.

6. Factor 2: Minimum Qualifications

To address how we will "ensure continuity of service throughout the life of the contract through a staffing plan," a qualified project manager will be assigned to the project/PWS tasking to monitor and control the work and mitigate risk associated with testing and consulting, for example. In Factor 2 there is mention that contractor personnel in support of the tasks under this contract shall have at minimum the following experience:

d. Contractor personnel shall possess or acquire any training or certifications needed to enter chemical facilities, where necessary;

e. A degree in Chemistry or a related field;

f. At least five years of analytical chemical testing experience

Are these minimum experience requirements applicable to a project manager as well or more applicable to PWS task managers? The proposed project manager likely meets the minimum requirements.

The Government Response:

The overall project / task manager(s) must meet the degree and experience requirements. Individual contributors, such as technicians, will not be held to this requirement.

7. Personnel Credentials

Of note, our organization will assign qualified scientists as managers to PWS tasks to exceed the minimum experience requirements in d - f above. The thought is that some PWS task manager expertise may overlap, or one expert may have expertise for multiple tasks. Would it be acceptable for a single scientist to be assigned to multiple PWS tasks, if they possess expertise and at least the minimum requirements, as well as including documented evidence in the proposal? It is envisioned that PWS task managers will be assigned to oversee their PWS task in their field of expertise.

This approach is acceptable.

8. Factor 1: Technical Approach

Should actual technical approach examples be included in the Technical Approach section of the proposal? Reference, Factor 1: “…the creativity and breadth of the examples provided…”

Yes. Please provide detail for how you will approach each of the PWS tasks.

9. Personnel Credentials

Are detailed resumes required for everyone proposed to support a task from top to bottom? In other words, aside from resumes of experts, managers, and chemists proposed for each task, should we also include resumes in the proposal for everyone else in a support role for each task? Can resumes be included in a proposal appendix and referred to in the org chart? Is it required that names and resumes be associated with every labor category in the pricing sheet?

The Government Response:

Please provide resumes of experts, managers, chemists, and all other project / task leads.

Resumes of other individual contributors are not required. Resumes may be included in an appendix and referred to in an org chart.

10. Subcontracting

Our organization is a non-profit organization. In conjunction with non-profit status, are teaming arrangements with small business and/or disadvantaged/minority owned subcontractors weighted favorably during evaluation? Are there contract limitations in the percentage of work that can be done by a small business?

This solicitation was unrestricted.

11. Pricing Sheet

Should the offeror add costs to the pricing sheet for equipment fees, travel reimbursement, and contingency reserve fixed costs?

Equipment fees must be priced per the Attachment A Pricing Sheet, with the exception if the contractor’s pricing structure does not meet the structure of the spreadsheet (see questions and answers below). Travel reimbursements and the contingency reserve costs will be not-to-exceed amounts established by the Government upon contract award.

12. Pricing Sheet

Attachment A (Pricing spreadsheet) of the solicitation appears to require hourly rates/pricing, based on Labor Category, per task.

Some of the laboratory tests which we provide (as listed in Scope Item 4 of your solicitation) are typically offered by us on a unit price basis.

Please advise if/how this unit price, per test, should be reflected in the pricing spreadsheet?

If your pricing structure does not meet the format of the spreadsheet, please provide a separate attachment detailing the pricing structure.

13. Contract Type

Typically, a lot of the tests we perform to support our safety analyses are quoted on a fixed price, per test basis with consulting billed on an hourly basis. The RFQ states the anticipated contract will be a labor hour contract. Is this an absolute requirement? In other words, if we submit an offer that includes some fixed price items along with hourly rates for consulting services, will our offer be considered?

The Government Response:

Yes, your offer will be considered if you price differently than what is indicated in the pricing spreadsheet. If your pricing structure does not meet the format of the spreadsheet, please provide a separate attachment detailing the pricing structure.

14. Subcontracting

We have subject matter expertise and the capability to self-perform the majority of the work in the RFQ. However, there are some items I’d consider to be more of supporting type services such as crystallography analysis, EDS, or microscopy. If some of those types of services are required to supplement a particular investigation, we would have to subcontract a portion of the work as we’ve done in the past for other clients. Will a listing of potential subcontractors for these services be required for consideration of our proposal?

Please list potential subcontractors for the services that cannot be performed in-house.

15. General

Will this be a sole-source contract or is a likely result being multiple consultants approved for incident investigation work moving forward?

This is a contract with a single firm for analytical laboratory services, for a duration of up to 3 years.

16. General

Does the CSB have an anticipated number (or a goal) of how many incidents they would like to investigate in a year? Can you make any statements regarding the anticipated volume of work expected from this contract?

The CSB will deploy to about 5-10 major incidents each year. Not every investigation requires analytical laboratory testing services.