Amendment 0001_Extend and QA.pdf

36C10E22Q0061 - Amendment 0001 – 03/17/2022

Shredding at VA/VBA Phoenix Regional Office.

A. The closing date is here by changed to Tuesday, March 22, 2022, NLT 5:00PM Eastern.

B. VA answers to interested vendor’s questions are hereby incorporated into the above referenced RFQ.

1. The contract states that there are around 300 + bins per year and it is monthly service, that come out to around 25 bins per service, but there are only 9 (95) gal bins on site. Are there purges or other servicing that makes up the short fall in the estimate.

VA Answer: 300 is an estimate (Yes, there could be a surge of shred, so this is the buffer to allocate the funds in case this happens). There is no guarantee that there will be 9 full bins a month for pickup.

2. How is this service completed, are the bin filled up by EMS Dept then are Driver pick up the bins from a site location and taken to the truck or is the Driver walk the facility and if so where is he pulling the material from?

VA Answer: Item g. in the SOW---The contractor shall be responsible for collecting the locked containers from the secured shred room inside of 3333 N Central Ave location and from the 11th floor at the 3838 N Central Ave address. The contractor shall return the empty shredding containers to the location from which they were collected. The contactor will always be escorted by a VA employee.

3. Is this a GSA contract only?

VA Answer: No, this is an Open Market procurement, 100% set-aside for CVE Verified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).

4. We are hoping to find out if there is (was) an incumbent contractor performing these services, or if this is a brand-new contract. If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?

VA Answer: Yes, these services are currently be performed by a contractor under contract number VA101V-17-P-3870.

5. P. 4, Price Schedule, and p. 10, B. While the price schedule is for 300 bins annually, page ten indicates that service is monthly for 8 bins, which equals 96 bins annually.

This is a relatively large discrepancy in anticipated service, could you please share what quantities have been getting serviced both monthly and annually for the past couple of years?

VA Answer: Before covid at least 8 bins per month. This is not a guaranteed number as times have changed. We do get a surge in materials hence the 300 if this happens.

6. P. 7, A. X-rays contain silver, a heavy metal that contaminates the environment and so they must be destroyed through a special process. VA medical facilities typically handle x-rays via contracting with a specialty company under a hazardous waste contract. Could you please clarify if they are included in error or if the contractor will be responsible for x-ray destruction?

VA Answer: All references to X-Ray are hereby removed from the Statement of Work.

7. P. 8, d. and p. 10, B. Can the exact hours and day for the service be collaboratively adjusted post-award?

VA Answer: Probably but things happen, and exact hours and days may have to be changed. What if your truck breaks etc. Or we are closed for some reason?

8. P. 10, B. Monthly service results in irregular times between services since months have varying lengths. Could service frequency be changed to every 4 weeks?

VA Answer: Once a month

9. P. 12, 5. Classified information is not normally generated by a medical facility or office, which typically generate sensitive but unclassified material such as PHI and PII. Classified material (e.g., Secret, or Top Secret) generally requires special handling, security clearance and tracking, plus special shredding equipment, all of which will increase the price of onsite shredding if it can be done at all. Please confirm that there will not be any classified material presented for destruction.

VA Answer: We are not a medical facility. They will not be any secret or top-secret material.

10. With a proposed start date of 4/1/22, how quickly will containers need to be delivered post-award? Given that production has been impacted by supply chain slow down, and transportation has also been affected, it can take several weeks to purchase, ship, and install even this small number of containers.

VA Answer: By mid-month

11. Will the offeror’s past performance be taken into consideration during evaluation?

VA Answer: See Clause E-4 – 52.212-2 Evaluation – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2021) regarding how the quotation(s) will be evaluated.

12. Accessibility:

a. Will any containers be located above/below the ground floor? If so, are freight elevators available to move them?

VA Answer: The contractor shall be responsible for collecting the locked containers from the secured shred room inside of 3333 N Central Ave location and from the 11th floor at the 3838 N Central Ave address. The contractor shall return the empty shredding containers to the location from which they were collected. The contactor will always be escorted by a VA employee.

b. Please confirm if there is a loading dock at either location, or is there a ramp to the ground?

VA Answer: 3333 ramp and dock, 3838 ramp

c. Is there sufficient and appropriate parking for our truck at each location for the time it will take to perform the work?

VA Answer: Yes

d. Please confirm that removing/returning containers at each facility does not involve negotiating any steps.

VA Answer: No steps

13. Incumbent

a. Is there a current contract for the work being solicited?

VA Answer: Yes

b. If so, please provide that awarded contract number or task order number (not the incumbent GSA contractor number).

VA Answer: See answer to Number 4.

c. Please provide the name of the incumbent contractor and when the contract is ending.

VA Answer: ASSURED DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION, INC.

d. Please provide the annual contract amount.

VA Answer: Currently funded at $ 13,280.00. However, contract is paid for actual number of bins collected, not a fixed monthly price.

e. Is the level of effort being performed under the current contract fundamentally the same as what will be required to fulfill the new contract? If not, please explain how the work will be different under this solicitation.

VA Answer: The new contract estimated number of annual bins is reduced from 500 to 300 per annual.

f. Is the incumbent eligible to bid on this solicitation?

VA Answer: It depends on if they are a CVE verified SDVOSB.