36C10X26R0010 BETPSS_Responses 0003.pdf

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RFP Question #2

Solicitation No. 36C10X26R0010 - National VHA Biomedical Engineering Technical

Professional Support Services

Question

No.

Question Answers

1 Issue: “The Contractor shall provide an availability calendar sixty (60) days out indicating the number of qualified personnel available each week through the course of the year to aid in scheduling activities.”

Clarification: Can the government clarify the following:

1. Is an availability calendar required for each

LCAT?

2. Are availability calendars needed to identify the geographic location where the qualified personnel are available?

3. Will availability calendars be used primarily as planning tools, or as enforceable capacity commitments for task order performance?

The availability calendar is required at the IDIQ level for all LCATs, but not specific to geographic location. It is meant as a communication and planning to identify the people that are qualified and available to work and be a back-up if needed.

2. Issue: A Biomedical Technician / Equipment

Support Specialist – Information Systems have different skill sets.

Clarification: Can the Government clarify if the

Biomedical Equipment Technician for this TO is interchangeable with a Biomedical Engineer /

Clinical Engineer with experience supporting networked medical systems?

1. Per para 15.2 is this TO a requirement for 1

FTE. If not, how many FTEs are required?

2. Is there still a deliverable requirement for an availability calendar in the case of this1

FTE requirement?

3. Can the Government explain the purpose and use of the availability calendar for TOs that require a specific number of FTEs?

4. Is this requirement for 100% a remote contractor? There are many references in the TO re: site requirements (like badging and parking) that would imply this position is not 100% remote.

Yes, the initial TO can be either a

Biomedical Equipment Technician or a Biomedical Engineer / Clinical

Engineer with experience supporting networked medical systems. This TO is for 1 FTE. The availability calendar is for the overall IDIQ and not a TO deliverable. This is a 100% remote contractor. However, to obtain a

VA badge, this must occur at a supporting government facility.

3. Issue: Task Order Services requested is a subset of the IDIQ Servies Overview.

Yes, if the information being submitted is applicable to the task order.

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Question: Task Order Services requested is a subset of the IDIQ Servies Overview. Can the government confirm if it will be permissible to submit the same information in the duplicate sections?

4. Issue: The Period of Performance lists overlapping periods. Base 9-20-26 to 9-19-2027. OPT 1 : 8-03-

27 to 8-03-28, OPT 2 – 8-03-28 to 8-03-29. 1. option starts >30 days before base ends. 2. OPTION period

1 ends the same day as Start of Option 2.

Question: Request Government correct the period to remove overlap period.

Anticipated base should be July 20, 2026 – July 19, 2027

OPT 1: July 20, 2027 – July 19, OPT 2: July 20, 2028 – July 19,

5. Issue: In the BETPSS IDIQ – SF 1449, page, Section B, Item 14.4. the staffing plan language in both is exact requiring a 72 hours’ notice of staff changes

Question: Request government allow for exemptions that covers unplanned staff changes

(immediate resignations/terminations for cause)

Section 14.4 language is for planned staffing changes.

6. Can the Government confirm Initial Task Order resumes will not count towards the page count/page maximum for that volume?

Resumes for the Initial Task Order will not count towards the page count. Section E is added with

Resume page count.

7. Please clarify the intended scope of the Initial Task

Order to be awarded with the IDIQ. Specifically, is the Initial Task Order intended to represent a single individual, a single VA facility, a single VISN, multiple facilities, or another defined subset of the national requirement?

The initial task order is for 1 remote

FTE to provide technical and professional support to the VHA

Office of HTM to accomplish networked medical system and cybersecurity-related corrective and planned maintenance, professional

Biomedical Engineering services, and project management work.

8. If the Initial Task Order is not limited to a defined facility, VISN, or geographic area, please clarify how the Government intends to ensure consistent evaluation of offerors’ Initial Task Order technical approaches, given potential differences in scope and assumptions.

The initial task order is for 1 remote

FTE to provide technical and professional support to the VHA

Office of HTM to accomplish networked medical system and cybersecurity-related corrective and planned maintenance, professional

Biomedical Engineering services, and project management work.

9. The solicitation references an anticipated nationwide staffing requirement of up to 150 FTEs and an average of 75–100 FTEs. Please clarify whether this requirement is intended to be addressed solely at the IDIQ level, or whether offerors are also expected to address this staffing scale within the Initial Task Order response.

At the IDIQ level.

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10. Given significant geographic labor rate variability, can the Government identify a specific VA facility or VISN for the Initial Task Order to ensure consistent pricing assumptions across offerors? If not, please clarify how pricing will be evaluated fairly when geographic assumptions differ.

Per section 5 of the TO, the work under this Task Order will be done remotely from any US location with secure internet connection.

11. Can the government clarify the NAICS code that is assigned to the initial task order?

Initial Task Order NAICS code is

541990.

12. Are resumes required for the Initial Task Order? If so, what is the page limit?

Yes, resumes are required for all task orders. 3 page limit.

13. PWS Statement: The anticipated period of performance of this task order (TO) is September

20, 2026 – September 19, 2027.

Task Order Options:

Option Year 1: period of performance August 03, 2027 – August 03, 2028

Option Year 2: period of performance August 03, 2028 – August 03, 2029

Clarification: Can the government clarify why there is overlap between the base year and option years? Additionally, the OYs end on the same date as the next begins.

Anticipated base should be July 20, 2026 – July 19, 2027

OPT 1: July 20, 2027 – July 19, OPT 2: July 20, 2028 – July 19,

14. PWS Statement: Both the Biomedical Technician /

Equipment Support Specialist – Information

Systems and Biomedical Engineer are listed in the

PWS but no quantities or hours are listed in the

PWS or Price Schedule.

Clarification: Can the government clarify the number of resources and hours required for the

Initial Task Order?

Initial Task Order is for 1 FTE of either a Biomedical Technician /

Equipment Support Specialist –

Information Systems or Biomedical

Engineer LCAT.

15. PWS Statement: The Offeror shall submit

Representative Pricing for the initial TO by completing Attachments E and F of the RFP.

Clarification: The Price Schedules included are identical between the Initial TO and the IDIQ.

However, the Initial TO only lists a Biomedical

Technician / Equipment Support Specialist –

Information Systems and Biomedical Engineer.

Should offerors submit pricing for every LCAT for the Initial Task Order?

Offerors should submit pricing for the LCAT that is being proposed for the Initial Task Order.

16. Given that individual Task Orders can use NAICS

541519, can a prime offeror submit a bid for the

IDIQ under NAICS 541519?

No. Offerors must submit proposals under the NAICS code assigned to the IDIQ solicitation. Even if task orders may use NAICS 541519, offerors cannot propose the IDIQ

pg. 4 under that code unless it is one of the NAICS codes formally designated for the IDIQ.

17. Will the government solely be issuing RFQs and including price as the only evaluation factor for awarding TOs on this IDIQ?

Please see B.1.2 section C. “TOPR issuance and competition” part (4)

18. Will the government consider providing an extension to offerors due to the changes in the solicitation?

No additional extensions will be provided.

19. PWS Statement: While none anticipated, the

Contractor shall provide their own general test equipment to perform services covered under this

Task Order.

Clarification: Can the government clarify if there is a need for test equipment and what would be needed?

No test equipment anticipated.

20. In the government’s answer to vendor question #33 re: Attachment E – Pricing Spreadsheet, the government stated, “The rate given for the role is what the Government will pay.” Customarily, IDIQ vendor rates represent ceiling rates for each labor category (LCAT) offered at the IDIQ level. Those ceiling rates can then be discounted at the task order (TO) level based on location, level of experience, availability of qualified resources, and competition to support task order requirements at rates most beneficial to the government.

Did the government intend to preclude vendors from bidding ceiling rates at the IDIQ level? Or is it the government’s intent that all vendors establish one rate for each LCAT which the government will pay at the TO level regardless of location and skill level required to satisfy TO level requirements?

The Government did not intend to preclude vendors from proposing ceiling rates at the IDIQ level. Each offeror may propose their own rate for each labor category in

Attachment E, and those proposed rates will function as ceiling rates for future task orders. At the task order level, vendors may propose discounts to those established rates, but the Government will not pay above the rates proposed and awarded at the IDIQ level.