36C25723Q0210_SolicitationQuestions_ Shred questions.pdf

Solicitation question and answers

• B.4 Statement of Work | Scope of Work | page 10 of 73: In the event that a location increases the number of consoles onsite over the amount that is specified in the contract, will the Government seek to award another, separate contract for the excess consoles? No, the Government will not seek to award another , separate contract. If a location needs to increase the number of consoles, then a modification request will have to be submitted and approved by the contracting officer.

• B.4 Statement of Work | Quality Control | NAID Certification | page 12 of 73: Can the prime contractor be in the process of obtaining certification through the National

Association for Information Destruction, Inc. (NAID) Program at time of offer?

The Contractor must be certified by NAID. Once the solicitation closes if the Contractor does not have NAID certification, they will be disqualified.

• B.4 Statement of Work | Contractor Vehicles | page 14 of 73: Is there a requirement for the Government to have access to the coordinates of contractor vehicles that are equipped with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking devices?

No

• P. 8, SOW. Some non-paper material can foul the shredding equipment and can also cause the truckload of material to be rejected by the recycling facility, forcing it to go to landfill which is contrary to VA policy. Can this type of material be separated from the paper material, and if necessary be shred off-site with a chain of custody and certificate of destruction provided? No, I don’t have to staff to separate. No, SOW states shredding will be done on-site.

• P. 8, Locations table.

o Will the contractor walk the hospital and empty all of the consoles and desk consoles, or will the VA staff collect the material and then present ten rolling bins at the dock for service? VA Staff will deliver rolling bins at Big Spring Campus. For CBOC’s, vendor will collect the bins.

o For the Hobbs and Ft. Stockton locations that require monthly service, routes are usually set up in weekly increments since this yields a uniform interval between services, whereas monthly service creates a 5-week gap between services several times each year. Will service every 4 weeks (13 services annually) be acceptable at these two locations? Hobbs and Ft. Stockton only need serviced once per month (12 times per year).

o

• P. 9, 2nd paragraph.

o If additional containers are requested, will those be added via contract modification that accounts for a price increase for service? Yes, if additional containers are requested by the service a modification will occur and approved only by the contracting officer.

o What is the historic frequency and scope of changing the quantity of containers at the various sites? We added to Big Spring Campus once in past 5 years. Did not add to any of the CBOC’s.

• P. 9, 3rd paragraph. Since consoles and rolling bins have different types of locks, traditionally all consoles are keyed alike, and all bins are keyed alike. Is this satisfactory?

Yes

• P. 9, 4th paragraph. For the 96-hour notice to provide additional service, both Hobbs and Ft. Stockton are more remote locations and service routes to such locations are generally scheduled with longer intervals. Can the response time for additional services be coordinated collaboratively with the COR so as to not disrupt service for other clients and to not incur undue expense for the contractor? Will these additional services be paid via credit card? No, there cannot be any additional services paid with a credit card. No additional services can be provided unless a modification is created and approved to provide those additional services by the contracting officer.

• P. 10, 3rd line and several other locations. Classified material is generally not associated with healthcare facilities and most classified material requires a different level of security clearance and handling. Please confirm that the material being destroyed is CUI, such as PHI, rather than classified. PHI, not classified.

• P. 52, 4). Instead of VAAR 852.219-78, which isn’t found in the solicitation, is this supposed to be VAAR 852.219-75 in C.7? VAAR 852.219-78 is not a valid clause anymore. VAAR 852.219-75 is correct.

• Accessibility o Our collection containers cannot negotiate steps, are freight elevators available to move between floors at any location where shred containers are located above/below the egress floor? Yes o Please confirm if there is a loading dock, and is there a ramp to the ground? Yes o Is there sufficient and appropriate parking for our truck at each location for the time it will take to perform the work? Yes

• Incumbent o Is there a current contract for the work being solicited? Yes, expires 05-31-2023 o If so, please provide that awarded contract number or task order number.

36C25718C0121 o Please provide the name of the incumbent contractor and when the contract is ending. EDM Enterprises, LLC o Please provide the annual contract amount. Total contract award $118,320.00 o 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. Yes, same services are required as the current contract.

• I have not been able to see a requirement for onsite destruction. It does say that the company must be NAID certified but NAID offers on site and off site certification. In the quoted VA Directive 6371 it breaks down the requirements. Please see below.

a. 9. Methods of interim destruction carried out by an information destruction contractor must be witnessed by a VA employee or, if authorized by the VA organization that created the temporary paper records, a contractor (or subcontractor or third party) employee may act as witness. If a contractor (or subcontractor or third party) employee April 8, 2014 VA Directive 6371 Appendix A A-3 is the witness, then that individual must, prior to departing the VA location, provide the designated VA representative with documentation that acknowledges receipt of the temporary paper records.

I would like to offer the VA my lowest price and was wanting to confirm, are you wanting bidders to provide a bid for onsite or offsite document destruction?

Onsite

• Is this contract lowest price technically acceptable? Or is best value to the VA? The proposals will be based on a comparative analysis in the following order: Technical, past performance, price.

• Will there be a time to change over consoles? My vendor has them in stock, I would just have to wait for shipping. I don’t know how long it will take vendor to get containers, so I really can’t answer this. We will certainly need containers in place when the contract begins though.

• Is it acceptable to substitute 2 64 Gallon cans for every 1 96 gallon. We do have some 96 gallons in stock but they are very hard to procure ever since COVID. Yes

• Can you provide the current contractor’s name? EDM Enterprises, LLC

• What is the contract number for the current contract? 36C25718C0121