Questions.pdf

3.10 FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY DAY QUESTIONS

1. How is HUD ranking the Score Cards? The Scorecard are monthly metrics used by HUD to reflect the contractor progress in each category. A scorecard presentation will be attached to this Sources sought question

2. I am an 8(a) certified firm and a sub-contractor with the current AM in GA. Would this be considered a conflict of interest if I apply to be the FSM Vendor? No. However, to the extent that you receive an FSM award, you would be prevented from providing future AM subcontract services while the FSM contract was ongoing in the same area.

3. How do we get around the past performance verification with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae?

Unfortunately, HUD is not aware of a way to avoid the past performance verification issue associated with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In evaluating the performance, HUD needs to be able to verify quantities, as well as quality from a 3rd party source independent of the offeror. Neither Fannie or Freddie have been historically willing to furnish this information.

4. Is HUD planning on doing a full and open award that is not restrictive? Market Research will determine the extent to which HUD sets-aside specific areas for the various categories of small business awards. Set-aside information will be posted in a pre-solicitation synopsis on FBO. HUD intends to maximize SB participation wherever possible.

5. How will this be procured by HUD or GSA? The solicitation will be issued by HUD based on market research.

6. When is the RFP coming out? The solicitation is tentatively scheduled for a September 2016 release date.

7. Please explain how a Mentor’s past performance is evaluated vs a Protégé on Mentor-Protégé submission? Once the evaluation factors and the Source Selection methodology are established then this question will be answered in Section M of the solicitation.

8. How many of the contracts will be set aside for 8a, woman-owned small business and unrestricted? All set asides will be determined by Market Research for each designated area.

9. RFP: What is the estimated timeframe of the release of the solicitation? See question 6

10. Will the contract run its full term, Base plus the option years? The resulting contracts are intended to be awarded for a Base Year plus 4(four) option periods, if exercised. Many factors influence actual contract duration, including burn rate against the contract ceiling and contractor performance.

11. Is there a chance that M&M 4.0 will replace it? If an alternate disposition model is developed prior to exhausting all available options against the 3.10 contracts, HUD would conduct market research to determine the best viable course of action to the Government.

12. What areas are up for bid in each HOC? The Atlanta HOC and the Santa HOC areas. Please refer to the 3.10 mapped areas.

13. Will HUD again encourage contractors to incorporate the PP/PE of Key Personnel? Once the evaluation factors and Source selection methodology are established then this question will be answered in Section M of the solicitation.

14. Will HUD again only evaluate PP, or will HUD revert to a focus on both PP and PE? See answer 13.

15. What is the anticipated schedule of events worst case scenario for this procurement? It is impossible to forecast a “worst case scenario” as there is always a possibility of both pre and post award protests. GAO operates under a fixed schedule of 100 days to resolve protests.

However, Court of Federal Claims does not have definitive timelines. HUD is assuming some time for protests to avoid possible extensions to the existing contracts.

16. How confident is HUD that proposals will be collected before Dec. 31, 2016? Assuming the solicitation receives no protests, HUD is very confident that proposals will be due on or before Dec. 31, 2016.

17. Will there be additional PTE opportunities in the forthcoming PWS? We are unable to answer the question, as the acronym “PTE” is not familiar to the Contracting Officer.

18. How will you contractually/legally limit contractors to X amount of contracts per HOC? HUD does not intend to limit the number of areas an offeror may respond to in the solicitation, and therefore any such restriction would not require a separate FAR Part 6 Justification and Approval. However, as identified during the Industry Day event, it is imperative that HUD maintains the ability to realign contract areas quickly to avoid a lapse in service. If a single contractor receives awards in all areas within a given HOC jurisdiction, it prevents HUD’s ability to realign quickly, as it takes 60+ days for a new contractor to establish operations within a new HOC jurisdiction.

19. Will there be any new COI in the forthcoming PWS? HUD does not anticipate additional conflicts of interest to be identified in the forthcoming PWS. However, any COIs identified in the solicitation will be available for comment once the solicitation is released.

20. How probable is it that you will use the janitorial NAICS code instead? 531311 will be the NAICS code for this requirement. Probability will be small for a change.

21. If there is a joint venture and larger business does higher percentage of work at onset, is there a schedule for when smaller takes on larger than 50% of work? The only permissible Joint Venture between a large and small business that is recognized for SB set-aside purposes is a Mentor-Protégé between a qualifying 8(a) SDB and a large business. Such relationships are required to be approved in advance on 8(a) set asides and prior to award for other set-asides.

Under this relationship, the SBA rules require that the large business perform no more than 60% of the total labor. The percentage is measured over the life of the contract, and there is no definitive schedule for when the SB must perform a majority of the work, if ever.

However, successful Mentor Protégé relationships typically start with the large business performing a larger share of the work, and gradually phasing-in increased responsibility to the 8(a) SDB.

22. Will there be a bonding capacity requirement at this time? Bonding will not be required at time of proposal submission, but will be required prior to the start of performance for any offerors receiving award.

23. Will a list of attendees and contact information be distributed? A list of attendees and their represented company will be posted. All other information should be obtained by other means.

24. Will the deck be available on line for reference? The Questions and Answers will remain publicly available on the FBO website.

25. When will the RFP be released and what will be the due date of the submission? See question 6, approx. 30 days after release.

26. Are there volumes available for each activity? Also, can this be broken down by seasonality? (i.e grass cuts versus winterizations). See the historical data sheet for historical volumes per area.

There is no breakdown by seasonality.

27. Are there volumes available for each HOC? See historical data sheet within the sources sought notice.

28. What is the current headcount for the current contractor(s)? Contractor staffing varies between FSM contractors based on area and number of awards received, as the non-key personnel resources can be shared across multiple areas. The FSM requirements are performance based, and the decision on total staffing will need to be made independently by the offerors.

29. When bidding, are contractors required to submit bids for all activities? MCM, Field Service and Asset Manager No

30. Please confirm, from the Q&A session, it sounded like awards will be given to contractors for specific HOC jurisdictions and not for all jurisdictions? Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factors established in Section M of the solicitation. Any restriction on the number of awards per HOC jurisdiction will not prevent contractors from receiving more than one award in each HOC jurisdiction, nor will it prevent the same contractor from receiving separate awards in all HOC jurisdictions. HUD’s only intention is to prevent a single contractor from receiving all awards in a given HOC jurisdiction.

31. Are there specific timing, quality and financial SLA’s HUD is looking for the contractor to meet?

Any such requirements will be listed in the solicitation.

32. Does HUD have a list of preferred property inspection vendors they would like the contractor to utilize or is this totally up to the contractor to decide? The Contractor has full authority to make subcontracting decisions.

33. Does HUD have specifics on what automation improvements they are seeking? No specific requirements have been identified at this time, but any technological advances will be identified in the solicitation.

34. Can your email me a Copy of the Slide Show that was used during the presentation. The slide show will be attached to these questions and posted in FBO.

35. Are the payment of utilities not going to be a part of this contract? For a small business, this would be a determining factor of economic stability. Historically, FSMs have maintained responsibility for utilities. HUD does not anticipate a change to this requirement. HOAs and tax payments are anticipated to remain with the AM contractors.

36. Can you explain in detail the CIN (Contractor Identification Number)? A Contractor Identification Number (CIN) in most federal agencies is synonymous with the DUNS number. However, HUD refers to a Contractor Identification (CID) as the number that is assigned to Contractor personnel upon completion of the Personnel Identification Verification (PIV) process. A CID is required to access HUD’s P260 case management system.

37. . Please provide an email for Ralph Jackson, Tammy Massone and Thomas Kum. Please see the slide presentation.

38. if HUD is still going to be using the LPTA procurement model for the next contract or are they going to utilize the "best value " model and conduct Cost Realism Analysis to evaluate proposals?

HUD is still considering the best evaluation methodology for FSM 3.10 and has not made a final decision at this time. The general methodology will be identified in the pre-solicitation synopsis, and the specific factors will be identified in the resulting solicitation.

39. Can you please tell me which firm was awarded the most recent iteration of this solicitation, (4S - Idaho and Nevada), and how much that award was for? Prior award information is publicly available in the archives of FBO, to include the award values.

40. Can you please provide any and all issues that have caused HUD to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the current contract and explore other sources? The current contracts are expiring may 31,2017. The purpose of this Industry day is to explore other sources for this requirement.

41. Can you please provide the services provided by the awardee of the most recent iteration of this solicitation? The services provided are the same that is listed in the sources sought notice.

Copies of the previous solicitation are publicly available via the FBO archives.

42. Can you please provide the scope of work provided by the awardee of the most recent iteration of this solicitation? See answer to 41 above. Please keep in mind that any previous requirements are subject to change.

43. Is there any space for a contractor who does not take on entire states for coverage but a couple of counties? The contract award will be based on areas. IE Awardee for area 5A will assume full responsibility for the states of North and South Carolina. It is possible for multiple small business contractors to execute a teaming agreement that further breaks up territorial performance. However, one prime contractor will assume full responsibility for performance of the entire area at award.

44. Will the webinar for the 3.10 Field Service Manager be made available for review. Yes