36C26023Q0442 0004.docx

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)

06/20/2023

36C260 Network Contracting Office 20

ATTN: V4CONT

1601 E. Fourth Plain Blvd Bldg.17, Suite B428 Vancouver WA 98661

36C260 Network Contracting Office 20

ATTN: V4CONT

1601 E. Fourth Plain Blvd Bldg.17, Suite B428 Vancouver WA 98661 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C26023Q0442 05-26-2023

X

See CONTINUATION Page

The purpose of this amendment is to address vendor questions and amend the solicitation.

Solicitation 36C26023Q0442 is hereby amended to include additional submission requirements. See section E.11 Basis of Award for Part IV submission requirements and amended attachment- 36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002.

See continuation pages for vendor questions and amended attachment- 36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged and in full effect.

Krystal Weeks Contracting Officer

1.) Will there be a need or has there ever been a request for realtime or rough ASCII? Realtime and ASCII can only be done be Court Reporters with the additional training and abilities and the rates that these special request type transcripts are billed at a higher rate. If the Government has ever required or there is a possibility of requiring these types of transcripts, there would need to be an additional CLIN for Realtime / Rough ASCII added to the pricing proposal.

That is not part of this requirement.

2.) Is the requirement under this contract only for machine reporters (stenograhpers) or can Digital Reporters also be used to support the court reporting requirements under this contract? If Digital Reporters are acceptable, would the Government also include the certifications for Digital Reports, since NCRA only recognizes machine reporters (stenographers). Any education facility it would endorse would only be for stenographers.

The solicitation does not specify the instrument the Court Reporter will use to record proceedings.

NCRA is not specified as the sole certifying body acceptable for this solicitation. A certifying body that certifies Court Reporters and is recognized by all state governments within the service area is acceptable.

3.) If Digital Reporters will be allowed under this contract, will the Government accept the AAERT certification as an equivalent credential? American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers. Nationally recognized organization of digital court reporting that is not given by NCRA.

See answers provided to previous questions.

4.) Would the Government also accept the NVRA certification as an equivalent credential? National Verbatim Reporters Association. Nationally recognized organization of voice reporting that is not given by NCRA. Is a copy automatically given to the complainant for depositions and/or hearings.

See answer provided to question 2.

5.) Is a copy automatically given to the complainant for depositions and/or hearings

The number of deliverables or transcripts (hard copies or digital) will be dictated by each individual Task Order placed against the BPA.

6.) Once a Task Order is awarded under the BPA, what is the normal lead time for setting up a job after award? A week out, two weeks out, or will the TO specify the date required? This lead time information will required to ensure resources are identified and in place to support the job.

Each Task Order will specify the date and time of service required. The solicitation identifies that the vendor must be able to provide services on an emergency basis. Vendors that doubt their ability to meet service requests with less than 24-hours’ notice should carefully consider whether they will be able to meet VA’s service requirements before responding.

7.) Since the contract is requesting both Hard copy and electronic delivery of deliverables, will the Government add a shipping CLIN for when a hard copy is required?

This solicitation is to establish a Firm-Fixed Price contract as outlined in the Price/Cost Schedule (Attachment B). The government cannot give potential offerors advice or guidance on how to structure their firm’s pricing to fulfill this requirement. There will be no CLIN added for delivery or shipping of hard copies or deliverables as outlined in the Price/Cost Schedule (Attachment B).

8.) Would the Government add a CLIN for waiting time? Meaning time during a proceeding that is off the record and no pages are being generated by the reporter. We have seen many times due to unforeseen circumstances with supporting similar Government EEO customers that issue arise and the reporter is required to wait either before the estimated start time, or there is an unforeseen break, which causes the reporter to have to wait, and it is industry practice to pay the reporter for this “waiting time”.

Task Orders for appearances placed under this BPA are for services priced in advance in 4-hour blocks of the Court Reporter’s time. This is not a reimbursable contract where services are rendered in advance and prices reckoned after the fact.

Should an ordering facility’s time with the Court Reporter paid for in advance expire prior to the end of the period for which they need the Court Reporter’s services, the Court Reporter should cease rendering services at that time specified in the Task Order.

If the Court Reporter’s time is near to running out, the Task Order’s Contracting Officer (CO) may authorize continued performance.

9.) Could the Government provide some additional information on the statement withing the Certification requirements that state “Appropriate credentials must be provided within one week, upon request by a WSNC CO.” Can the Government expand on when/how often do they require proof of certification from reporter? Is that required to be provided before each job? Just generally? Only when asked for?

The plain language of the quoted text is the intended meaning and applies to post award of this BPA. When a WSNC CO asks the vendor for Court Reporter credentials, the vendor has 1 week to provide them. If immediately upon award of the BPA the WSNC CO requests copies of certifications for all of the vendor’s Court Reporters, the vendor has 1 week to provide them. Therefore, certification and the appropriate credentials of Court Reporters may be requested by the WSNC CO for individual task orders, contract performance monitoring (Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan), or other situations where such documentation is required in performance of this BPA.

10.) Section C.4 Certification regarding responsibility matters, has a requirement to have the offer check the “Are /are not” and “have/have not” boxes, but there is no mention in the instructions as to which Part to include this filled out certification? Can the Government confirm if this certification needs to filled out, and which Part of the submission it should be included with? Or if our Reps and Certs are up to date in SAMS if this requirement is satisfied by our electronic Reps and Certs in SAMS?

Section E.11 BASIS OF AWARD “GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTE/OFFER SUBMISSION” on pages 57 -58 has been amended to include PART IV: . Responses to the following Clauses & Provisions:

1. E.3 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT

2. E.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS

3. C.11 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting

4. C.4 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (AUG 2020) 19

5. E.12 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (DEC 2022)

See Attached Document “36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002 " for clauses and provisions. Offerors must fill out and respond to those clauses & provisions and submit with any offer.

11. Section C.11 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting – Certification, has a requirement to fill this out and sign the bottom of the certification, but there is no mention in the instructions as to which Part to include this filled out certification? Can the Government confirm if this certification needs to filled out, and which Part of the submission it should be included with? Or if our Reps and Certs are up to date in SAMS if this requirement is satisfied by our electronic Reps and Certs in SAMS?

Section E.11 BASIS OF AWARD “GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTE/OFFER SUBMISSION” on pages 57 -58 has been amended to include PART IV: . Responses to the following Clauses & Provisions:

1. E.3 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT

2. E.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS

3. C.11 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting

4. C.4 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (AUG 2020) 19

5. E.12 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (DEC 2022)

See Attached Document “36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002 " for clauses and provisions. Offerors must fill out and respond to those clauses & provisions and submit with any offer.

12.) Section E.3 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT, has a requirement to have the offer check the “will /will not” and “does/does not” boxes, but there is no mention in the instructions as to which Part to include this filled out certification? Can the Government confirm if this certification needs to filled out, and which Part of the submission it should be included with? Or if our Reps and Certs are up to date in SAMS if this requirement is satisfied by our electronic Reps and Certs in SAMS?

Section E.11 BASIS OF AWARD “GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTE/OFFER SUBMISSION” on pages 57 -58 has been amended to include PART IV: . Responses to the following Clauses & Provisions:

1. E.3 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT

2. E.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS

3. C.11 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting

4. C.4 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (AUG 2020) 19

5. E.12 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (DEC 2022)

See Attached Document “36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002 " for clauses and provisions. Offerors must fill out and respond to those clauses & provisions and submit with any offer.

13.) Section E.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS, has a requirement to have the offer check the “has/does not have” box, but there is no mention in the instructions as to which Part to include this filled out certification? Can the Government confirm if this certification needs to filled out, and which Part of the submission it should be included with? Or if our Reps and Certs are up to date in SAMS if this requirement is satisfied by our electronic Reps and Certs in SAMS?

Section E.11 BASIS OF AWARD “GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTE/OFFER SUBMISSION” on pages 57 -58 has been amended to include PART IV: . Responses to the following Clauses & Provisions:

1. E.3 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT

2. E.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS

3. C.11 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting

4. C.4 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (AUG 2020) 19

5. E.12 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (DEC 2022)

See Attached Document “36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002 " for clauses and provisions. Offerors must fill out and respond to those clauses & provisions and submit with any offer.

14.) Under E.11 BASIS OF AWARD, the government states that the Contracting office will perform past performance checks on a list of three (3) relevant references, but there does not seem to be a requirement within the General instructions of Part I, II, or III as to where to identify these past performance references? Could the Government confirm what information is required to be submitted and if this information should be submitted in Part I, II or III or as a separate attachment? . Comment by Crockett, Derek M. (NCO20):

If an offeror has relevant references or other documentation regarding past performance for Court Reporter Services that aligns or supports with the requirements as outlined in the GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTE/OFFER SUBMISSION Part III, then documentation or references can be submitted with Part I, II, III, or as a separate attachment.

Also, as stated in E.11 Basis of Award- “The Government may also obtain past performance information from other sources and reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source and may contact sources other than those identified by the offeror when evaluating past performance”.

15.) E.12 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES, states “The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov.” But in looking for paragraph (b) there does not seem to be any thing specific that needs to “completed” other than an acknowledgment that our SAM is up to date, but there is no instructions as to how or which part to provide that acknowledgment. Can the Government confirm what is needed to “complete” paragraph (b) and which Part (I, II, III) that it should be included with the submission?

Section E.11 BASIS OF AWARD “GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUOTE/OFFER SUBMISSION” on pages 57 -58 has been amended to include PART IV: . Responses to the following Clauses & Provisions:

1. E.3 52.204-24 REPRESENTATION REGARDING CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT

2. E.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS

3. C.11 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting

4. C.4 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (AUG 2020) 19

5. E.12 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (DEC 2022)

See Attached Document “36C26023Q0442 Amended 0002 " for clauses and provisions. Offerors must fill out and respond to those clauses & provisions and submit with any offer.

16.) Given the updated guidance on OMB Memorandum M-22-18, Enhancing Security of the Software Supply Chain through Secure Software Development Practice, released on June 9, 2023, is the videoconferencing platform and/or system handling exhibits considered by the VA to be subject to the attestation requirements of M-22-18? If so, is the software considered “critical” or non-critical?

This solicitation is not for the purchase of software for use by VA itself, which is the kind of software the memorandum speaks to. VA is seeking Court Reporter services. The vendor is responsible for protecting VA information as outlined in the solicitation, regardless of the type of software the vendor uses.

17.-Spokane, WA is not listed on the rate sheet but listed in attachment C.

Attachment C gives usage estimates for transcript order information for the facilities and does not address which facilities want in-person Court Reporter Appearances.

The facilities that require in-person Court Reporter Appearances are listed on the Price/Cost Schedule.

All other facilities might use the Appearance Fee (Virtual) to order Court Reporter services.

18. When are we notified of contract award and when does it start?

Should a Contract Award(s) be made as a result of this solicitation, notice will be made IAW FAR 13 procedures and posted publicly.

19. Is the turnaround based on business days?

The performance of this BPA and contract will begin upon award and will be based upon the terms of the contract.

20.) Given the sensitive nature of the data that may be received during the course of depositions (e.g., healthcare and other PII data), does the VA have a standardized process or minimum expectations for handling the exchange of exhibits during virtual depositions?

The kinds of information to be addressed and the means to properly handle that information shall be specified in individual Task Orders. Should a Task Order include protected information, the vendor shall sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) that addresses the handling of protected information prior to accepting the Task Order award.

21. I know you had already provided an extension, but due to yesterday being a federal holiday and questions not being released yet, would the government consider providing an extension to this Friday to allow for time after questions are answered? Based on some of the questions we asked they will impact how we need to develop our pricing and decision to bid. Without knowing some of the answers to our questions on if digital reporters can be used or some of the other certifications we asked about and copy sales will greatly impact how to price this opportunity, so if at all possible and to give the rest of the bidders time to evaluate the final questions, we respectfully request an extension to this Friday to allow for the development of the pricing based on the government answers.

An extension has already been provided regarding this solicitation. Therefore, no extension will be granted for the submission of offerors regarding the date and time of this solicitation.