S06 - 36C25227Q0007 0002.pdf

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE 7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER 3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO. 1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office. is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30 PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

(Type or print) (Type or print)

(Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code)

(If other than Item 6)

(Specify type of modification and authority)

(such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

1 13

0002 09-02-2026

Department of Veterans Affairs 36C252 115 South 84th Street, Suite 101

Milwaukee WI 53214-1476

Department of Veterans Affairs 36C252 Great Lakes Acquisition Center - HC 115 South 84th Street, Suite 101 Milwaukee WI 53214-1476

To all Offerors/Bidders

36C25227Q0007

X

X X

X 1

Reference solicitation 36C25227Q0007 for janitorial services at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and amend to reflect the following:

1. The following clause is hereby added to the solicitation and contract BY REFERENCE: 52.223-2 Reporting of Biobased Products Under Service and Construction Contracts (MAY 2024).

2. The SOW is amended in section A (5) Staffing. See below for amended language.

3. Answer vendor questions received during Q&A period. See below.

Solicitation close date remains 9/8/2026 at 9:00AM Central time. All other terms and conditions remain the same.

Dustin Biermann Contracting Officer

SOW Amendment:

The following paragraph in the Statement of Work is hereby amended:

“Staffing: As the mission and staffing requirements of the Hines VAH may change, the number of staff required for this contract may be adjusted only via a written modification from the Contracting Officer (CO). Any possible future increase in staffing, or added buildings/areas, shall be considered within the scope of this contract.”

CHANGED TO:

"Staffing: The Contractor's 40-person daily staffing requirement may be reassigned by the COR to any building, floor, or area of the Hines VA campus as facility need dictates, including areas not specifically identified in Appendix I, provided the nature of work remains within the scope of this SOW. Such reassignment, standing alone, does not constitute a change in scope and shall not result in a price adjustment.

Any increase in the total staffing level required under this contract, or any material change in the type/nature of work required, shall be implemented only through a written modification issued by the Contracting Officer (CO), which shall include an equitable adjustment to the contract price commensurate with the change."

Vendor Questions & Answers:

Q: The required shifts are listed as 6:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m.–10:30 p.m., and 10:00 p.m.– 6:30 a.m. Please confirm whether each 8.5-hour shift represents eight paid working hours plus a 30-minute unpaid meal period. Additionally, during employee meal periods, is the Contractor required to maintain the full 17/18/5 staffing levels actively working, or are the stated staffing levels based on personnel assigned to each shift?

A: Contractors may stagger mealtimes to maintain coverage. Compensation concerning mealtimes and durations is subject to prevailing labor laws and is the contractor’s responsibility.

Q: The SF1449 references DOL Wage Determination 2015-5017, Revision 30 dated 7/30/2025, while Attachment A provided with the solicitation appears to contain a later revision dated 7/30/2026. Please confirm the specific Wage Determination revision offerors shall use for pricing and SCLS compliance.

A: This was a typo on SF1449, the correct DOL WD (2015-5017 Rev 34 dated 8/12/26) is included in previous amendment.

Q: The SOW states that each shift's required staffing includes the Shift Leader/Supervisor. The Shift Schedule requirement separately references a "Lead Housekeeping Supervisor." Please clarify whether the Lead Housekeeping Supervisor is an additional position outside of the required 40 daily personnel, or whether one of the three Shift Leaders/Supervisors may also serve as the Lead Housekeeping Supervisor.

A: Shift supervisors are included in the 40 daily personnel

Q: The SOW states that the Hines campus encompasses approximately 3.5 million square feet, that services are shared with VA housekeeping personnel, and that the assignment schedule shown in the SOW is a sample and is not all-inclusive. Please provide the approximate total cleanable square footage currently anticipated to be assigned to the contractor, preferably by building/floor or functional area, and confirm whether Attachment B reflects all areas contemplated for contractor performance at contract start.

A: We are unable to provide a more specific square footage for cleaning. Contractor staff will augment Government cleaning staff and assigned areas will vary. As indicated in the Statement of Work, this contract’s primary purpose is to augment Government staff, it is important that the contractor provides the requisite number of staff (40) per day.

Q: The SOW states that assigned areas may change based on need and that future increases in staffing or added buildings/areas may be considered within the scope of the contract, while staffing requirements may only be adjusted by written modification from the Contracting Officer.

Please clarify how added buildings or areas will be handled when they materially increase workload. If additional staffing or labor hours are required, will the resulting modification include a corresponding adjustment to the firm-fixed contract price?

A: The Contractor's 40-person daily staffing requirement may be reassigned by the COR to any building, floor, or area on the Hines VA campus as facility need dictates, including areas not specifically identified in the sample assignment list (SOW Appendix I / page 23), provided the nature of work remains within the scope of this SOW (i.e., routine janitorial/environmental cleaning services as described herein). Such reassignment does not constitute an increase in scope and will not result in a price adjustment, because the total contracted staffing level (40 personnel/day) remains unchanged.

A price adjustment via written contract modification will only be considered where the Government determines that additional staffing beyond the 40-person daily requirement, or a material change in the type/nature of work required, is necessary to meet mission needs. The mere addition of a new building or area to the Contractor's assigned cleaning locations, without a corresponding increase in required staff or change in service type, is not by itself grounds for a price adjustment.

Q: Is the incumbent workforce subject to a collective bargaining agreement or other wage/benefit requirements beyond the attached DOL Wage Determination? Additionally, to the extent available and without providing employee PII, can the Government provide incumbent/predecessor workforce information sufficient for offerors to understand applicable predecessor-service tenure for SCLS vacation-benefit purposes?

A: CBA is not in place; employees shall be paid and compensated according to DOL Wage Determinations. No information concerning current Federal or contracted staff is available.

Q: Please identify the anticipated processing timeline for required SAC/NACI investigations and PIV credentials for newly assigned contractor personnel. Are temporary credentials or supervised access available while processing is pending? For qualified incumbent employees retained by a successor contractor, can existing VA credentials/background determinations remain active or otherwise be transferred to the successor contract?

A: If incumbent employees are retained, they may retain their clearance. The timeline for new hires for security screening varies depending on workload of PIV staff, the individual employee, etc, so firm timelines are unable to be offered. It is expected that this contract will be awarded with adequate time for the contractor to submit security packages for their employees, and they will be expected to start performance at the period of performance start date.

Q: The solicitation identifies Price, Technical Capability/Experience, and Past Performance under the comparative evaluation approach. Please clarify whether these factors are listed in descending order of importance, are considered approximately equal, or whether no predetermined relative weighting applies.

A: No predetermined order of importance or relative weighting has been assigned among the Price, Technical Capability/Experience, and Past Performance factors. Consistent with the comparative evaluation approach at FAR 13.106-2, the Government will compare quotations to one another to determine which provides the best value and reserves the right to select a quotation other than the lowest-priced if the Contracting Officer determines that the additional benefits offered justify a price premium.

Q: (Experience requirement) Please clarify whether “prime contractor” experience means only contracts performed under the offeror entity's own legal name as prime, or whether the VA will accept any of the following when fully documented and attributable to the proposed management team:

1. Qualifying experience of an SDVOSB joint-venture member or formal teaming partner;

2. Qualifying experience of proposed key personnel performed for another employer;

3. Qualifying predecessor/affiliate experience; or

4. Qualifying subcontractor experience where the SDVOSB prime retains required contract-management and Limitations on Subcontracting compliance.

A: SDVOSB Joint Ventures will be accepted/evaluated in accordance with the FAR providing that JV has the required experience. VA will not accept experience for proposed key personnel who worked at a different firm, predecessor experience, or subcontractor experience.

Q: Is this a follow on to an existing contract? If so, who is the incumbent and what is the contract value?

A: This a follow on to a short-term contract with Modesto Management LLC. Contract value (for sixteen months): $3,201,904.00. Contract number 36C25225P1064.

Q: Please confirm that the requirement to demonstrate four (4) years of experience may be satisfied through the Offeror’s collective relevant contract experience, and that a single referenced contract is not required to independently demonstrate the full four-year period and every listed experience element, provided the submitted experience, when evaluated collectively, demonstrates the required duration, size, scope, complexity, and capabilities.

A: The required size, scope, and capability elements (a workforce of at least twenty (20) janitorial/environmental services personnel operating concurrently across multiple shifts on a 24/7 or near-continuous basis) must be demonstrated on a single contract. Experience split across multiple contracts, where no single contract independently satisfies these elements, will not be considered responsive to this requirement.

Experience (length) may be gained across multiple contracts provided that the total period of performance encompasses three years (see previous solicitation amendment). Overlapping contracts across concurrent performance periods, however, shall not be additive (i.e. if a vendor submits experience across two contracts, two years for each, but the period of performance exactly overlaps, this will be evaluated as only two years of experience, not four).

Q: Please provide the current contractor responsibility matrix identifying contractor-assigned areas versus Government housekeeping-assigned areas. The solicitation states that cleaning responsibilities are shared with Government housekeeping staff and assignments may change based on facility need.

A: The responsibility matrix is the same as provided in the solicitation, contracted shift supervisors will be advised of their work assignments, in order to supplement Government staff, on a daily basis.

Q: Please provide a flooring inventory identifying flooring types by area, including carpet, VCT, LVT, rubber flooring, terrazzo, ceramic tile, epoxy, and any other floor finish. Please also provide the square footage of carpeted and hard-floor surfaces assigned to the contractor, including areas requiring periodic floor-care services.

A: These exact numbers are not available and total square footage that will be assigned to the contractor is unknown, as these assignments will vary.

Q: Please provide annual square footage and anticipated frequencies for strip/refinish, scrub-and-recoat, burnishing, and carpet extraction/shampoo services.

A: Government cleaning staff, along with contractors, shall conduct floor care on third shift (unless urgently needed otherwise), this responsibility will be shared between Government and contractors.

Q: Please identify which party is responsible for furnishing, maintaining, repairing, and replacing major cleaning equipment, including vacuums, auto scrubbers, burnishers, floor machines, wet vacs, carpet extractors, and related equipment. If major cleaning equipment is Government furnished, please provide an inventory of available equipment and identify whether contractor personnel will have unrestricted access during all required shifts.

A: Hines VAH will provide all needed equipment; a full inventory is not currently available.

Q: Please describe the process used to communicate patient discharges, room turnovers, terminal cleaning requests, and urgent cleaning requirements to contractor personnel. Please identify any software platforms, mobile applications, radios, or other systems used by the facility.

A: The communication of the bedmaking and work assignments process is led by a housekeeping supervisor or lead person, through verbal communication with the vendor supervisor or lead. The facility personnel will communicate to the vendor, the work load is verbalized on where to go and what to do if the needs changes after the initial huddle for incoming of all personnel, after incoming huddle all communications are through the facility personnel, through the vendor supervisor or lead.

Q: Is the contractor required to furnish any software, mobile devices, bed-management integration, rounding applications, dispatch systems, or work-order management platforms? If so, please identify the required systems and interfaces.

A: This is not a part of the requirement.

Q: Please identify required turnaround times for patient discharges, room turnovers, terminal cleans, isolation room cleaning, and other patient-bed availability requests. Please indicate how performance is measured and reported.

A: The required turnaround for terminal cleaning or deep cleaning of a room is 45 minutes to an hour, which is industry accepted time for a room turnover. General cleaning of a patient room is normally performing assigned cleaning duties of the room which should be accomplished within a 15-to-20-minute period. The daily upkeep will include sweep, mop, trash removal, and a cleaning of the restroom.

Q: Please clarify whether required floor-care operations are to be performed by personnel included within the mandatory overnight staffing level, or whether additional dedicated floor-care personnel are required.

A: Floor care shall be conducted by night staff in cooperation with Government staff, no additional personnel or specialized floor care team is needed.

Q: Please identify all specialized cleaning areas assigned to contract personnel and provide associated cleaning procedures and training requirements. This includes operating rooms, compounding rooms, dental areas, and any other specialized healthcare environments.

A: All cleaning shall be accomplished in accordance with the Statement of Work. As stated in the solicitation, contracted employee cleaning areas may vary based on the needs of the hospital and contractor supervisors will be advised of cleaning locations/assignments as needed to augment Government staff.

Q: Please identify any areas requiring escorts, special access procedures, competency validation, additional screening, or advance coordination prior to cleaning. Please indicate whether contractor personnel will have independent access to operating rooms, compounding rooms, pharmacy areas, dental suites, and inpatient units, or if they will require a staff escort.

A: A full list of all security sensitive locations is not available; contractors shall be security/PIV screened in accordance with Hines VAH policy and any special access will be handled on an as-needed basis.

Q: Please confirm whether this contract includes only routine interior glass cleaning and spot cleaning, or whether comprehensive interior and/or exterior window washing is required. The solicitation indicates another contract currently performs deep window cleaning twice annually.

A: See page 10 of solicitation, no comprehensive window cleaning needed.

Q: Please clarify the extent of linen-related responsibilities. Is the contractor responsible only for collection and distribution of linen, or are any laundry-processing, sorting, stocking, inventory-control, or laundry-plant functions included?

A: See page 9 of solicitation.

Q: Please provide the anticipated contract award date, notice-to-proceed date, and transition period available prior to the December 1, 2026 performance start date.

A: This is unknown, the Government expects extremely high competition for janitorial requirements which take extra time to process.

Q: Please confirm whether terminal cleaning of inpatient rooms, discharge cleaning, and operating-room terminal cleaning are included in the contractor's scope of work. If included, please provide applicable cleaning standards, frequencies, and performance expectations.

A: Cleaning of patient rooms is covered in the solicitation, see above for room turnover requirements.

Q: Please confirm if the employee count notated for 1st, 2nd and 3rd shifts for Monday - Friday represents 2080 paid working hours per employee on an annual basis.

A: The contract line items for this procurement are based on monthly units and are not broken down hourly. The SOW requires that 40 staff are to be on site daily during the listed shift breakdown. How the vendor staffs this contract is their responsibility (hours worked per employee, which shifts are worked, etc), provided that the required staff are present regardless of call outs or absent workers.

Q: Is there currently an incumbent contractor and workforce? If yes, in order to understand the availability of a trained workforce pool for the follow-on contract, please provide the government requirement of FTEs under the incumbent contract on a daily basis Monday through Sunday?

A: See above for incumbent contractor. The current shift breakdowns is as follows:

Day Shift: 17

Second Shift: 18

Third Shift: 5

This shift requirement was modified into the contract effective 8/1/26. Original shift numbers were:

Day: 10

Second: 10

Third: 5

Q: Please confirm whether "40 FTEs" represents the minimum number of personnel physically present/on duty each operating day, which would require the contractor to provide additional relief FTEs to maintain 40-person coverage during weekends, holidays, vacation and sick leave, or if VA would accept 40 total contractor FTE/headcount.

A: The 40 staff requirement is the minimum number of personnel physically present each day in accordance with each duty shift. The VA expects that the required number of staff is provided every day per the shift breakdown.

Q: Has there been any change in scope of work requirements since the last solicitation?

A: The incumbent contract was an emergency short term contract. The solicitation prior to that was for approximately 25 staff. Other minor changes to the scope of work have since been implemented but will not be addressed here.

Q: it states that contractor personnel shall properly segregate the various waste; does this mean that if other waste is comingled with general waste that the contractor is to go through the trash and separate the different waste/recycle material?

A: No, staff will only need to segregate waste which is already in the marked/assigned containers when moving them to centralized collection points, they will not be required to physically separate trash from within containers.

Q: Reusable medical equipment- what is the historical amount of RME that needs to be cleaned on a monthly basis?

A: RME is not part of this contract. Facility staff will handle cleaning of RME.

Q: What is the height limitation for cleaning HVAC vents and fluorescent lights? If lifts are required will the VA provide them?

A: Exact height is unknown, but cleaning staff are afforded eight feet platform ladders to reach the ceiling if needed.

Q: If lifts are required, will the VA provide the use of lift/OSHA Fall risk training?

A: See above.

Q: Floor Cleaning services- is the contractor to work alongside with EMS staff when doing stripping and waxing or is the contractor to perform the work themselves?

A: Contractors shall work with and augment facility staff.

Q: Is floor buffing required?

A: Shall be completed in conjunction with facility cleaning staff

Q: Equipment, Materials, and Supplies- 1 doesn't call out equipment is being provided by Hines VA- please confirm that the VA is providing equipment.

A: All equipment, unless otherwise noted in the solicitation, shall be provided by Hines VAH.

Q: Equipment, Materials, and Supplies- what type of equipment that is operational will be provided by the VA?

A: A full list is not available, equipment types, makes, models, etc. shall be provided to the contractor. If there are concerns regarding equipment it will be addressed with COR. The facility will be responsible for maintenance of equipment outside of any damage caused by staff.

Q: Equipment, Materials, and Supplies- will equipment be available to the contractor on each shift?

A: Yes

Q: Will the VA conduct reasonableness calculation on price being quoted by contractors? There have been instances where a bidder's price is less than the required FTE multiplied by wage+HWB+ related payroll taxes, yet they were still awarded the contract.

A: Price realism, as defined in FAR 15, is not incorporated into this contract.

Q: Is the contractor to only provide staff and uniform and the VA provides everything else in order for the contractor to perform these services?

A: See above

Q: Can you provide a seniority list for all current employees?

A: No, a list of staff employed by the incumbent will not be provided. The awardee may work with the incumbent vendor if they choose to retain staff to obtain employee information, however the Government will not facilitate this.

Q: Can you provide an equipment list, manufacture, and date of purchase?

A: See above regarding equipment.

Q: Please clarify which training requirements, certifications, and hiring qualifications the contractor is responsible for providing and maintaining beyond any task-specific training provided by the facility’s EVS team. This includes Bloodborne Pathogens, hazardous waste, regulated medical waste handling, infection prevention, and any other required healthcare- or VA-specific training.

A: Training requirements are outlined on page 17-18 of solicitation, contractor will be notified of any additional training required by COR.

Q: Please provide the facility’s current in-house EVS/housekeeping staffing levels by shift and indicate whether supplemental contractor staffing is currently being utilized.

A: Supplemental contractor staff are currently being used on the incumbent contract. Exact Government FTE numbers are not available.

Q: Please confirm this will be awarded and administered as a firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract with no cost-reimbursement or T&M elements.

A: This is a firm-fixed price contract.

Q: What specific remedy or consequence applies if the Contractor falls short of the 40-staff-per-day requirement on a given day (e.g., due to unplanned call-outs)? Specifically, is there a deductions/liquidated-damages schedule, an invoice/payment reduction methodology, or is the sole remedy a cure notice under the Inspection/Acceptance and Termination for Cause clauses (FAR 52.212-4(b) and (m))? If a price deduction applies for a staffing shortfall, how is it calculated?

A: All contractual remedies for contractor non-performance or poor performance will be in accordance with applicable FAR requirements (i.e. Cure Notice, Letter of Concern, etc.).

Contractor is expected to staff the contract adequately despite call outs or unplanned absences.

The Government retains full rights under FAR 52.212-4 to reduce payment to reflect services not rendered and reserves the right to pursue further remedies — including a Letter of Concern, Cure Notice, or Termination for Cause under FAR 52.212-4(m) — where shortfalls are recurring, significant in magnitude, or otherwise indicate a pattern of inadequate staffing. The Contracting Officer will evaluate the facts and circumstances of each instance in determining the appropriate response.

Q: The SOW states that the Hines VA campus encompasses approximately 3.5 million square feet and that cleaning responsibilities will be shared between Government housekeeping staff and the Contractor. Please provide the approximate total square footage specifically assigned to the Contractor, preferably by building, floor, and/or service area, so that all offerors may price a consistent workload baseline.

A: Answered above, contractor assignments will vary based on need of the facility and Government FTE.

Q: The SOW states that any possible future increase in staffing or added buildings/areas shall be considered within the scope of the contract. Please clarify whether additional staffing, buildings, or service areas added after award will result in a written contract modification and equitable adjustment to the contract price.

A: See above.

Q: The SOW requires 17 employees on the first shift, 18 employees on the second shift, and 5 employees on the third shift, for a total of 40 contracted housekeeping staff daily. Please confirm that the requirement represents 40 staffed positions per calendar day, rather than 40 unique employees on the Contractor's total workforce or payroll.

A: This is correct, the contractor shall appropriately staff their workforce to ensure that 40 staff are present, per the shift breakdown, every day.

Q: The Contractor is required to ensure each shift remains fully staffed regardless of call-outs or other employee absences. Please confirm that relief, substitute, or backup personnel maintained by the Contractor are not counted toward the required 40-person daily staffing level unless they are actually working an assigned shift.

A: See above.

Q: The SOW requires performance coverage 24 hours per day, seven days per week; however, several Contractor Assignment areas identify cleaning schedules such as 6:00 AM-10:00 PM and certain areas are closed on weekends. Please identify the areas and specific services the five employees assigned to the 10:00 PM-6:30 AM shift are expected to perform.

A: See above, location assignments may vary based on facility FTE.

Q: The SOW requires the same 40-person staffing level on Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays as on weekdays; however, several Contractor Assignment areas are identified as closed on weekends. Please confirm that all 40 contracted personnel are required on Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays regardless of the operating status of specific assigned areas.

A: Stated staffing requirements are required as indicated in SOW.

Q: Because the solicitation states that cleaning of the Hines VA campus will be shared between VA housekeeping staff and the Contractor, please provide a definitive list or matrix identifying:

(1) Contractor-exclusive areas, (2) Government-exclusive areas, and (3) areas designated as shared responsibilities.

A: This is not available as these locations change, and contractors will work with Government FTE. See solicitation.

Q: The SOW states that daily flushing of approximately 800+ toilets and 1,100+ sinks is a shared responsibility between Government and contracted housekeeping staff. Please identify the buildings, floors, fixtures, or approximate percentage of this requirement that will be assigned to the Contractor.

A: Same as above.

Q: The SOW states that basement cleaning is a shared responsibility with Government housekeeping. Please identify the specific basement areas and/or percentage of the basement workload that will be assigned to the Contractor.

A: Same as above.

Q: Floor stripping, scrubbing, waxing, and carpet cleaning are described as being performed on a continual rotational basis and/or as needed. Please provide historical floor-care frequencies and approximate square footage by floor type to assist offerors in developing comparable staffing and pricing assumptions.

A: This is not available, the facility’s Government FTE cleaning staff has a night floor team, and contractor staff will supplement them.

Q: The SOW states that the floor-care team operates overnight between approximately 2200- 0630, while Section F requires five employees on the 10:00 PM-6:30 AM shift. Please confirm whether these five overnight employees are intended to constitute the floor-care team or whether a separate floor-care team is required in addition to the five overnight personnel.

A: See above.

Q: The SOW states that Hines VA will provide consumable supplies, housekeeping carts, disinfectants, general cleaners, brooms, and mops. Please provide a complete list and approximate quantities of Government-Furnished Equipment and Government-Furnished Supplies and identify any equipment, machinery, or supplies that the Contractor is required to furnish.

A: Exact list not available, see above and solicitation reference Government furnished equipment.

Q: The SOW includes segregation and handling requirements involving general waste, regulated medical waste, pharmaceutical waste, recyclables, and sharps. Please confirm whether the Contractor's responsibility for regulated medical waste, pharmaceutical waste, and sharps is limited to collection, segregation, and transport to designated VA collection points, with final disposal performed by the Government or another VA contractor.

A: This is correct, the Government contracts with hazardous waste companies to handle waste leaving the facility.

Q: The solicitation states that only the experience of the prime contractor will be accepted and considered. Please confirm whether qualifying experience performed by the offeror while serving as a subcontractor may be considered as the offeror's experience, provided the work performed meets the stated size, scope, staffing, clinical/hospital, multiple-shift, infection-prevention, and medical-waste requirements.

A: See above and solicitation, only the experience of the Prime contractor will be accepted.

Q: Please define what constitutes a clinical/hospital environment of similar size and scope for purposes of the experience requirement. Must the reference approximate the Hines VA campus size, or will a qualifying contract satisfy this requirement by meeting the stated minimum of at least 20 janitorial/environmental services personnel operating across multiple shifts on a 24/7 or near-continuous basis?

A: There is no definite square footage cutoff regarding size and scope. The experience must be in a clinical or hospital environment (i.e. providing the requisite staff in a warehouse or other facility will not count).

Q: Past Performance is identified as a separate evaluation factor; however, the Instructions to Offerors primarily request customer information under Technical Capability/Experience. Please confirm whether the customer information submitted under Technical Capability/Experience will also be used for the Past Performance evaluation or whether offerors are required to submit a separate Past Performance narrative, PPQ, CPARS report, or additional references.

A: No separate past performance narrative is required, see page 49 of solicitation.

Q: Please confirm whether there are any page limitations for the Technical Capability/Experience submission, including the experience narrative, draft work schedule, SCLS Compliance Statement, and supporting documentation.

A: There are no page limits. However, offerors are encouraged to be concise; the technical evaluation will focus on the substance and clarity of the information provided rather than volume.

Q: The Price Schedule provides a 12-month Base Period and one 12-month Option Period, while FAR 52.217-8 permits up to six additional months of service extension. Please confirm whether offerors are required to provide a separate price for the potential six-month FAR 52.217-8 extension or whether the Government will evaluate that extension using the applicable monthly rates already proposed for the Base and Option Periods.

A: This is answered in the solicitation (see clause 52.217-8 specifically).

Q: The Instructions require offerors to submit a draft work schedule identifying the proposed number of employees daily by shift and time. Please confirm whether the draft schedule must also allocate personnel by specific building, floor, or service area, or whether staffing by shift is sufficient for quote submission.

A: Staffing by shift/day is acceptable.