36C25626Q1289_RFQ_A0001.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 5 NA J

0001 09-03-2026

TBD

None

36C256

Department of Veterans Affairs

Network Contracting Office 16

Galleria Financial Center

5075 Westheimer Road, Suite 750

Houston TX 77056-5643

Shasta Britt, Contracting Officer

Shasta.Britt@va.gov

36C256

Department of Veterans Affairs

Network Contracting Office 16

Galleria Financial Center

5075 Westheimer Road, Suite 750

Houston TX 77056-5643

To all Offerors/Bidders

36C25626Q1289

08-28-2026

X

X X

X One (1)

THIS AMENDMENT IS ISSUED TO:

A. Answer vendor questions received in response to the solicitation.

B. Incorporate the following Questions & Answers into the solicitation.

CONTINUATION PAGE….

Shasta Britt, Contracting Officer

VA-VHA-RPOC-2026-0041

mailto:Shasta.Britt@va.gov

CONTINUATION PAGE…

Amendment 0001 — Questions & Answers (Binding)

These Questions & Answers are hereby incorporated into Solicitation 36C25626Q1289 and are binding on all offerors. Offerors must acknowledge this amendment (SF 30) and conform proposals to the clarifications and requirements herein. In the event of any inconsistency, the most recent amendment governs.

General Note on Consolidation

Several vendors submitted duplicate or substantially similar questions; these have been consolidated and addressed under the corresponding unified question to ensure clarity and consistency in this amendment.

Interpretation Principles

The Government applies the plain-meaning rule and whole-text interpretation. Answers below clarify the solicitation without adding conflicting or unintended requirements.

Where a clarification modifies a requirement, it is effective upon publication of this amendment.

Questions and Answers:

1. Historical usage or actuals by facility and CLIN (past 1–3 years)

Answer: Historical usage data is not provided. Offerors should propose unit prices based on the annual ordering ceilings in Section B.2. As noted in the pricing schedule, quantities are estimates only and no volume is guaranteed.

The current contract covered only Alexandria, Fayetteville, Little Rock, and

Houston. The new VISN‑wide expands ordering eligibility to all VISN 16 facilities;

therefore, historical usage does not represent the broader VISN‑wide scope.

Please refer back to Section B.2 and the pricing notes in Section B.

2. Page and line definition, and billing of partial pages

Answer: The solicitation does not define pro-rata billing; bill per page per CLIN as defined. Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §7.c–d.

3. Are per-page and per-hour unit prices fixed for all five years; may offerors propose annual escalation; does VAAR 852.216-71 apply?

Answer: Offerors may account for escalation by proposing separate firm‑fixed unit prices for each fiscal year of the five‑year IDC. Each CLIN must identify a distinct FFP unit price for FY27, FY28, FY29, FY30, and FY31. VAAR

852.216‑71 is incorporated, any economic price adjustment requires a formal contract modification. For price evaluation, all annual CLIN‑level unit prices will be totaled to determine the offeror’s overall evaluated price.

4. CLIN 0003 minimum billable increment; are travel, appearance and wait time separately billable?

Answer: Unit of measure is Hour, must be fully-burdened hourly rate; no separate charges outside the firm-fixed price will be accepted. Please refer back to

Section B.2 and the pricing notes in Section B.

5. For virtual or on-site attendance, who provides the platform and equipment?

Answer: The contractor provides the communications or videoconferencing solution; contractor will not have access to VA desktops or systems. Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §6.b and §16.

6. How are “urgent” 48-hour requests identified; any caps on urgent volume?

Answer: VA identifies urgent requests at time of order. No ratios or caps are stated. Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §7.g.iii.

7. Is the 48-hour urgent turnaround clock hours or business hours; when does the clock start?

Answer: 48 clock hours from date and time the VA urgent request or order of notification. Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §7.g.i–ii.

8. Four-hour corrections: business hours only; how handled near close of business, weekends or holidays?

Answer: Corrections are due within four hours of notification. No business-hours exception is stated. Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §10.c.

9. Are state court-reporter licenses required for transcription-only work from recorded audio (CLINs 0001/0002)?

Answer: Licensing applies to court-reporter attendance (on-site or virtual).

Transcription from recorded audio follows Legal Transcription Minimum

Requirements in §27; state court-reporter licenses are not required for transcription-only. Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §§26–27.

10. SAC adjudication timeline; may personnel begin off-site transcription before adjudication completes?

Answer: Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §15 of the solicitation.

11. Volume I requires evidence of active state-specific licensing for all proposed court reporters; will a staffing plan plus representative panel suffice?

Answer: No. Provide evidence of active and valid state-specific licensing for all proposed court reporters. A staffing or recruitment plan or a representative panel does not substitute. Please refer back to Section E.1 §4.i.8.

12. IT Contract Security (Section D.2) applicability given no VA system access per

PWS §§15–16

Answer: Please refer back to Section D.2 IT Contract Security of the solicitation;

compliance applies as written and to the extent applicable to contractor-hosted handling of VA information. PWS §15–16 state no VA system access.

13. Is a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) required?

Answer: No. PWS §15 states no access to PHI; therefore a BAA is not required.

Please refer back to Section D.1 (PWS) §15.

14. Approved secure file-transfer and encryption methods; will VA provide them or must the contractor supply?

Answer: Contractor shall supply and use FIPS 140-2 validated encryption and

TLS per NIST 800-52 for storage or transmission of VA sensitive information; VA does not furnish a platform. Please refer back to Section D.2 §2.h and Section

D.1 (PWS) §6.b.

15. Price evaluation across CLINs with mixed units; will VA apply annual ceilings as evaluation quantities?

Answer: Evaluation is LPTA. Price is evaluated for reasonableness, completeness and mathematical accuracy, and options per Section B. The solicitation does not state that annual ceilings will be used as evaluation quantities. Please refer back to Section E.5 (Factor 3 – Price) and Section B

(Price Evaluation of Options).

16. Volume I page cap of 15 pages: may the QC Plan, staffing plan and QASP be attachments outside the page limit?

Answer: No. These items must fit within the 15-page Volume I limit. Only the exclusions listed — title pages, dividers, tables of contents; resumes or certificates; compliance matrices, commitment letters and the reference list — are outside the page limit. Please refer back to Section E.1 §4.i.1–4.

17. Past performance: will commercial and subcontract references be accepted; is there a recency or relevancy window?

Answer: Alternate forms, including commercial and subcontract references, are accepted. No specific recency window is stated. Provide up to three relevant references. Please refer back to Section E.5 (Factor 2) ii–iii.

18. Mandatory signed forms: beyond VAAR 852.219-75 LOS certification and

Section B contract administration fill-ins, are SF30s and other reps or certs required?

Answer: Please refer back to Section B.1 §5, Section E.1 §12 and Section E.2.

19. Is there an incumbent?

Answer: Contract 36C25622D0006. May obtain publicly available information through FPDS reports or by submitting a FOIA request to

VAOPALFOIA@va.gov.

Administrative Notes

No other changes are made by this amendment. Offerors are responsible for monitoring

SAM.gov for updates. All quotes must acknowledge this amendment and reflect these clarifications.

(End of A0001) mailto:VAOPALFOIA@va.gov