ATTACHMENT - 8 -Questions-Answers_36C26226Q1007.pdf

SOLICITATION No.36C26226Q1007 - VENDOR INQUIRIES AND ANSWERS

1. Does the VA have an established budget ceiling, available funding amount, or anticipated contract-value range that may be disclosed for the Base Year and four Option Years?

Answer: The VA does not share established budget ceilings, available funding amounts or other protected information during Solicitations.

2. Please confirm that offerors should price CLIN 0001 and CLINs 1001 through 4001, and that the Government will calculate the additional six-month FAR 52.217-8 evaluation amount without offerors separately pricing it.

Answer: Offerors should follow the Solicitation Instructions and Price/Schedule provided.

3. Please provide or identify the Prioritized Building List, including the anticipated number of buildings, floors, rooms and approximate square footage covered during the Base Year and Option Years.

Answer: Building 126 is the Base Year priority and is approximately 338,058 gross square feet (GSF). Option Year 1 consists of the following 26 facilities, comprising approximately 1,050,034 GSF in aggregate: Buildings 1, 2, 5, 5A, 5B, 5C, 6, 7, 8, 126OP, 136, 138, 149, 150, 160, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167T, 46, 50, 600, 800, CC, and FH. The detailed sequence among the 26 Option Year 1 facilities will be approved by the COR based on mission priority, source-data readiness, facility access, and the accepted project schedule. The Government does not currently provide authoritative floor counts, room counts, or individual GSF values for those facilities.

Available Government records will be furnished after award, and the Contractor shall verify facility areas, floors, rooms, source-data conditions, and access constraints during data assessment and field verification. Option Years 2 through 4 do not include additional mandatory building implementation; they cover support for the accepted solution and any Attachment A tasks separately ordered through a contract modification.

4. What ArcGIS Indoors, ArcGIS Online, hosting, user-type, service-credit and related Esri licensing will be Government-furnished? Which licensing or hosting costs must be included in the contractor’s firm-fixed prices?

Answer: The production target is the existing National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment hosted on the VA network. For the mandatory Base Year and Option Year 1 work, the Government will furnish the applicable ArcGIS Enterprise hosting and infrastructure; authorized portal accounts, user types, roles, and privileges;

ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Indoors authoring access; the ArcGIS Indoors Maps entitlement; ArcGIS Network Analyst; and any ArcGIS 3D Analyst capability required by the Government-approved design. ArcGIS Online is not the production hosting environment. Offerors shall exclude contractor-furnished ArcGIS licenses, ArcGIS Online organization or subscription costs, Esri service credits, ArcGIS Enterprise hosting, and server-infrastructure costs from their firm-fixed prices. If the Government approves use of an ArcGIS Online utility or premium service that consumes credits, the Government will provide or authorize the applicable account and credits. The Contractor shall not substitute a contractor-controlled ArcGIS Online organization or another external Esri-hosted environment. Before an Attachment A task begins, the Government will confirm and furnish the applicable entitlement, account, device, service, or credit dependency required for the ordered task, which may include ArcGIS Indoors Spaces, ArcGIS IPS, ArcGIS GeoBIM, ArcGIS Business Analyst or GeoEnrichment, Site Scan for ArcGIS or an identified ArcGIS Reality product, or an approved real-time processing capability. Listing a capability does not represent that it is included in the National VA Enterprise Agreement or approved for use. The Contractor shall identify version, compatibility, user-type, privilege, extension, and credit prerequisites but shall not purchase, resell, host, or substitute Government-furnished Esri entitlements. Any non-Esri license responsibility must be expressly identified in the applicable written order.

5. Please clarify whether the optional tasks contained in Attachment A are included within CLINs 1001 through 4001 or will be separately ordered and funded outside those annual firm-fixed-price CLINs.

Answer: Please reference the updated Price/Schedule. Optional tasks for the base and each option period are denoted by an asterisk *

6. Please provide the approximate square footage and available source documentation for Building 126, including the availability and condition of CAD, BIM, floor-plan and existing Space Viewer data.

Answer: Building 126 is approximately 338,058 GSF as a planning estimate. The Government will furnish available Government-controlled CAD, BIM/Revit, PDF or floor-plan, legacy GIS, Life Safety, wayfinding, occupancy, Space Viewer, and current ArcGIS source data after award. The Government does not warrant that these materials are complete, current, spatially accurate, internally consistent, or suitable for direct conversion, and no pre-award file-by-file condition inventory is represented. The Contractor shall inventory and assess the available sources, identify and reconcile gaps and discrepancies, and document the resulting quality assessment and transformation approach. Offerors shall assume that Building 126 requires a complete new indoor LiDAR scan, field verification, and the conversion or digitization necessary to produce the accepted ArcGIS Indoors data and related deliverables.

7. Are all site visits described in the Statement of Work mandatory for pricing, or are the site visits associated with Tasks 2 and 3 included only when formally requested? Please also confirm the anticipated number of contractor personnel required for the two Base-Year Task 1 visits.

Answer: Pricing is required for all items on the Price/Schedule of the Solicitation.

8. Please clarify the LiDAR requirements for Building 126, including the required accuracy, format, level of detail and whether a qualified LiDAR subcontractor is permitted.

Answer: Building 126 requires a complete new indoor LiDAR scan. Before fieldwork, the Contractor shall submit a LiDAR Acquisition and QA Plan identifying the control, coordinate system, equipment, registration method, building and floor coverage, access restrictions, occlusions, exceptions, security controls, point-density approach, and schedule. The Contractor shall apply the U.S. Institute of Building Documentation Level of Accuracy Specification, Version 3.1, verification methodology or a Government-approved equivalent. Validation shall use at least 20 independent, well-distributed checkpoints per floor or one checkpoint per 10,000 GSF on that floor, whichever is greater. Checkpoints shall not be used in scan registration. Horizontal and vertical checkpoint root mean square error shall each be 2 inches or less, and at least 95 percent of checkpoint errors shall be 4 inches or less. Deliverables shall include all permitted raw and registered point clouds in E57 and ASPRS LAS 1.4 or losslesly compressed LAZ; the transferable native project when permitted; control and independent-checkpoint files; registration and trajectory logs when applicable; coordinate-system and vertical-reference definitions; equipment and calibration metadata; a scan and coverage index; an exceptions log; a QA report containing checkpoint coordinates, errors, RMSE, and the 95-percent result; and the derived DWG/PDF floor plans and ArcGIS Indoors data required for acceptance. No separate proprietary BIM level-of-detail designation or numeric point-density threshold is required. The proposed capture density and method must satisfy the specified accuracy, coverage, derived-deliverable, and acceptance requirements. A qualified LiDAR subcontractor is permitted, subject to all applicable solicitation provisions and limitations on subcontracting. The Prime Contractor remains responsible for subcontractor qualifications, key-personnel commitments, site access, security, safety, data handling, schedule, quality control, deliverable completeness, and Government acceptance.

9. The main solicitation states that price alone is the sole evaluation factor, while Attachment 2 describes a comparative best-value evaluation using Special Standards of Responsibility, past performance and price. Please confirm the evaluation method that will control. Attachment 2 also contains a reference to “Recurring Quarterly Ice Machine Maintenance Services”; please confirm whether that language is inapplicable to this GIS requirement.

Answer: This typo has been corrected, reference the updated Evaluation and Special Standards.

10. Please confirm whether an SDVOSB prime may satisfy the Esri Partner Network requirement through a named EPN-certified subcontractor and identify the documentation required to demonstrate that relationship.

Answer: Yes. An SDVOSB Prime Contractor may satisfy the organizational Esri qualification through a named subcontractor that is an active Esri Partner Network partner holding the current Indoor GIS Specialty, provided that the subcontractor will materially perform and oversee the ArcGIS Indoors work and the arrangement complies with all applicable SDVOSB limitations on subcontracting. The Offeror shall provide current official Esri documentation confirming the named subcontractor's active Esri Partner Network status and current Indoor GIS Specialty, together with a signed commitment or teaming letter identifying the parties, the ArcGIS Indoors work the subcontractor will perform and oversee, and its commitment and availability for contract performance. The proposed staffing and experience information required elsewhere in the solicitation shall also be provided for the personnel performing the work. A general Esri Gold or other partner designation without the current Indoor GIS Specialty does not satisfy this requirement. The Prime Contractor remains fully responsible for the contract performance.

11. Suggested question:

“Attachment 1 and Attachment 2 reference past-performance/management-plan subject matter (negative pressure fan system maintenance; quarterly ice machine maintenance) that does not correspond to the ArcGIS Indoors / GIS scope described in the Statement of Work. Please confirm the intended subject matter for the Past Performance submittal and the Special Standards of Responsibility narrative is GIS/Esri ArcGIS Indoors implementation experience, and issue a corrected attachment if appropriate.”

Answer: This has been corrected/clarified.

12. Suggested question:

"If the Government intends to provide ArcGIS Indoors licensing through an existing VA enterprise license in Option Years. Offeror believes and understands that the Government will also be able to access the existing VA enterprise license for ArcGIS Indoors in the base year based on current experience with the VA. Can the offeror assume that licensing costs are Government-furnished in the Base and Option Years and therefore excluded from the scope of proposed pricing in the Base Year? If the Government has a concern about availability of VA enterprise licensing in the Base Year, will the Government access that licensing costs can be proposed as an optional cost item the Government could exercise is VA enterprise licensing is not available?"

• Answer: The Government will furnish the applicable ArcGIS licensing and host the production solution in the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment on the VA network during the Base Year and all exercised Option Years. Offerors shall exclude contractor-furnished ArcGIS license, subscription, and hosting costs from proposed pricing. The Contractor remains responsible for source-environment assessment, migration, configuration, deployment, integration, documentation, testing, and authorized solution-level support within the Government-provided environment. A separate contractor-hosted production environment and a contingency licensing cost item are not required. Residual references in the SOW to acquiring licensing, contractor hosting, or contractor licensing maintenance are superseded by this response.

13. IPS (blue-dot) timing and pricing treatment “We propose delivering the IPS requirements as part of the solution. Can the Government confirm whether this approach is acceptable?”

Answer: ArcGIS IPS implementation may be proposed and priced only under Attachment A, Optional Task 1.2, if separately exercised by the Government during an Option Year. The Base Year includes compatibility and readiness considerations and an

IPS deployment plan, but it does not include operational blue-dot deployment, radio or beacon infrastructure, calibration, or IPS acceptance testing. Any IPS implementation is contingent on separate funding, VA cybersecurity approval, infrastructure approval, and though a contract modification. Please reference the updated Price Schedule in the Solicitation.

14. “Can the Government confirm that, for the up to three prior contracts or projects, per standard FAR/VA past-performance practice, active and in-progress contracts that have reached interim milestone completions relevant to the SOW will be considered in the evaluation of the respondent's demonstrated capabilities?”

Answer: It is up to each Offeror to demonstrate successful past performance and how they will demonstrate meeting that requirement.

15. Software that may want to connect with the ArcGIS Indoors solution What different systems or VALBMC software (i.e. work orders) will be integrated with the VALBMC ArcGIS Indoors; and will these be accessible to contractors if solution is hosted in a contractor hosted environment?

General, Attachment 5 Statement of Work, and Attachment 6, Optional Tasks - Scope of Work

Answer: The mandatory migration is from the existing Space Viewer/current contractor-supported ArcGIS environment to the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment.

During the Base Year, the Contractor shall inventory candidate systems and prepare the Integration Requirements Matrix. References to CMMS, work-order, safety, access-control, and emergency-management systems do not require full Base Year integration with every referenced system. Production system integrations and work-order launch actions described in Attachment A Tasks 3.1 and 3.2 will be performed only if separately exercised. Contractor access will be through VA-approved, least-privilege accounts on the VA network; no contractor-hosted production environment is contemplated.

16. Kiosk Requirements: Can the Government clarify whether public-facing wayfinding kiosks are expected to support anonymous visitor access and/or require authentication through VA systems?

Attachment 5 Statement of Work – general and 2.1 Project Objectives, g) “Establish and deploy Kiosk wayfinding system simultaneously with core platform, providing patient-friendly navigation and operational support.”

Answer: The intended kiosk experience is patient- and visitor-facing wayfinding without requiring each user to hold or enter individual VA credentials. The kiosk device and any technical authentication session will use a VA-approved managed configuration within the VA network. Only Government-approved, sanitized wayfinding content may be displayed. Occupant information, restricted locations, staff-only routes, security information, and administrative functions shall remain protected by role-based access controls.

17. Kiosk Requirements: Does the Government anticipate kiosks being accessible from outside the VA’s or VALBMC’s internal network?

Attachment 5 Statement of Work – general and 2.1 Project Objectives, g) “Establish and deploy Kiosk wayfinding system simultaneously with core platform, providing patient-friendly navigation and operational support.”

Answer: No. Offerors shall assume that kiosk access will be provided only through Government-furnished devices located at VALBHS and connected through a Government-approved path on the VA network. General off-site or public-internet access to the kiosk application is not required. Any future external access would require separate VA authorization, cybersecurity review, and, if it changes contract scope, a written contract modification.

18. Blue-dot IPS deployment: If IPS capabilities is pursued, are there preferred positioning technologies, infrastructure standards, or existing VALBMC wireless assets that offerors should assume can be leveraged?

Attachment A 1.2, Section 6.2 Constraints Bullet 4, “ArcGIS IPS deployment is contingent on IT security clearance, infrastructure requirements, and funding.

Answer: The Government does not represent that a particular IPS technology or reusable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, beacon, or sensor infrastructure is currently available. If Optional Task 1.2 is exercised, the Contractor shall assess authorized existing infrastructure and propose an Esri-supported approach that is compatible with the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment, approved VA devices, and VA security requirements. Offerors shall not assume existing infrastructure is suitable without validation. Any physical installation or network configuration requires prior Government approval and shall be included only to the extent expressly stated in the exercised optional task.

19. Blue-dot IPS deployment: Since IPS deployment is identified as contingent upon funding, should offerors include IPS implementation within the Base Period scope or only when specifically authorized and funded by the Government?

Attachment A 1.2, Section 6.2 Constraints Bullet 4, “ArcGIS IPS deployment is contingent on IT security clearance, infrastructure requirements, and funding.

Answer: IPS implementation is not included in the Base Period firm-fixed-price scope. It may proceed only after the Government separately exercises and funds Attachment A, Optional Task 1.2, and the required VA security and infrastructure approvals have been obtained. Base Period responsibilities are limited to compatible design/readiness considerations and the required IPS deployment plan.

20. Real-time data integration requirements: Can the Government identify any anticipated real-time data sources, update frequencies, and expected integration architecture associated with the real-time data requirements?

Attachment General, 2.1 Project Objectives “Ensure integration with VA operations, work order systems, safety workflows, and IT infrastructure in compliance with all VA security, privacy, and information governance requirements.” and general.

Answer: Real-time indoor data integration is Attachment A, Optional Task 3.4, and is not mandatory Base Year integration. No specific live data source, update frequency, retention period, threshold, or interface architecture is represented at this time. If the task is exercised, those parameters will be defined and approved by the COR, the applicable data owner, the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise system owner, and VA cybersecurity personnel before configuration begins. Examples in Attachment A are illustrative and do not guarantee the availability of any particular source system.

21. Existing Data: Could the Government indicate the approximate completeness and currency of these datasets, or will the contractor have to do complete creation of these files and datasets?

Answer: The Government will furnish available Government-controlled CAD, BIM/Revit, PDF, legacy GIS, Life Safety, wayfinding, occupancy, and related source data. The Government does not warrant that all source data will be complete or current before award. The Contractor shall inventory and assess the furnished materials, document gaps, convert or digitize required content, perform field verification, and correct discrepancies necessary to deliver the authorized buildings. The Contractor is not responsible for unrestricted campus-wide dataset creation beyond the buildings and tasks authorized by the contract.

22. LiDAR Availability: Will Building 126 require a completely new indoor LiDAR survey, or does the Government already possess point cloud datasets that may be reused or updated?

Answer: Offerors shall assume that the Contractor must perform a complete new LiDAR scan of Building 126 during the Base Year, as required by SOW Task 3. If Government-owned point-cloud or related data is located, it will be made available for evaluation and approved reuse; however, its existence shall not be assumed and does not remove the scanning requirement unless the Contracting Officer modifies the requirement in writing.

23. Building Prioritization: Beyond Building 126, has the Government already established the priority sequence of buildings for the remaining implementation period?

Answer: Building 126 is the Base Year initial operating capability. All other buildings identified in SOW Section 3.1, including the separately listed 126OP facility, are Option Year 1 implementation scope. The sequence within Option Year 1 will be established through the requirements and data-assessment process and approved by the COR based on mission priority, source-data readiness, facility access, and the Government-approved project schedule.

24. If available, could the Government provide the approximate number of buildings, floor area, and total square footage expected during the Base Year and each Option Year? Or is this also a scope that the contractor will have to carry out to determine the floor area and the square footage?

Answer: The Base Year implementation scope is Building 126, approximately 338,058 gross square feet (GSF). Option Year 1 implementation scope is the 26 facilities named in SOW Section 3.1, approximately 1,050,034 GSF in aggregate. The total implementation portfolio is approximately 1.4 million GSF. These are planning estimates; the Government does not currently provide authoritative floor counts or individual GSF values for the Option Year 1 facilities. Available Government records will be furnished after award, and the Contractor shall verify facility areas, floor counts, and source-data conditions through the requirements, data-assessment, and field-verification work.

25. Accuracy Requirements: Could the Government confirm the required positional accuracy, vertical accuracy, and quality assurance acceptance criteria for indoor mapping and LiDAR deliverables?

• Answer: LiDAR acquisition and validation for Building 126 in the Base Year and the 26 named Option Year 1 facilities shall comply with the U.S. Institute of Building Documentation (USIBD) Level of Accuracy (LOA) Specification, Version 3.1, or a Government-approved equivalent. Accuracy validation shall use at least 20 independent, well-distributed checkpoints per floor or one independent checkpoint per 10,000 GSF per floor, whichever is greater. Checkpoints shall be independent of registration control. Horizontal and vertical root mean square error (RMSE) shall each not exceed 2 inches, and at least 95 percent of checkpoint errors shall not exceed 4 inches. The Contractor shall document inaccessible or occluded areas and their effect on coverage or accuracy. Building 126 requires a complete new scan. The same core acquisition, validation, accuracy, and deliverable requirements apply to each named Option Year 1 building. Deliverables shall include E57 and LAS or LAZ files; raw and registered scan data; survey control and registration logs; a QA report with checkpoint results and calculations; coordinate-system and metadata documentation; and all specified derived deliverables needed for ArcGIS Indoors implementation. Any proposed equivalent standard or method requires prior Government approval.

26. Indoor Positioning System (IPS): The Statement of Work references blue-dot Indoor Positioning System (IPS) capabilities contingent upon VA IT security clearance. Should offerors assume that the Indoor Positioning System (IPS) infrastructure is already in place, or is the Contractor expected to design and implement it as part of this contract?

Answer: Offerors shall not assume that IPS infrastructure is already in place. If Attachment A, Optional Task 1.2, is exercised, the Contractor shall assess existing conditions and design, configure, publish, test, and document the Government-approved IPS solution. Any physical hardware procurement, installation, network change, or ongoing hardware maintenance is included only when expressly stated in the exercised optional task and approved by the Government.

27. Enterprise Systems: The Statement of Work requires integration with existing enterprise systems. Could the Government identify the enterprise applications and systems (other than the System Facility Space Viewer) that are expected to be integrated as part of this contract (e.g., CMMS, asset management, BIM/CAD, SharePoint, or other facility management systems)?

Answer: No enterprise application other than the existing Space Viewer/current ArcGIS source environment is identified as a mandatory Base Year integration. Base Year work includes discovery, system inventory, solution architecture, and preparation of the Integration Requirements Matrix. Integration with CMMS, asset-management, access-control, BIM/document repositories, SharePoint, or other systems requires an identified system, data owner, approved interface, security approval, and written authorization. Attachment A Tasks 3.1 and 3.2 are separately exercisable optional tasks.

28. Reality Capture Technologies: Attachment A includes Site Scan for ArcGIS and ArcGIS Reality support. Should offerors assume responsibility for all reality-capture field data acquisition, or will the Government provide existing imagery, LiDAR, or other source datasets for processing where available?

Answer: The Base Year requires Contractor-performed LiDAR scanning of Building

126. Attachment A, Optional Task 5.3, may involve field collection, processing of existing source data, or both, as defined in the written scope when that task is exercised. The Government will provide approved existing imagery, LiDAR, and other source data when available. Each exercise will identify the site, required products, field-collection responsibility, control requirements, deliverable formats, and acceptance criteria.

29. Remote Work: Could the Government clarify whether tasks such as GIS configuration, database development, dashboard development, and application configuration may be performed remotely, with on-site presence limited to field activities, stakeholder engagement, testing, and other tasks requiring physical access?

Answer: Yes. Day-to-day GIS configuration, database and data-model development, dashboard and application configuration, documentation, and other work not requiring physical access may be performed at the Contractor site, subject to VA network-access and security requirements. On-site presence is required for LiDAR/reality capture, field verification, restricted-area review, kiosk software integration/testing when physical access is needed, and other activities that require facility access. Required site visits and travel remain governed by the Place of Performance provisions in the SOW.

30. Data Standards: Does the Government maintain existing GIS or ArcGIS Indoors data standards (e.g., geodatabase schema, naming conventions, metadata, or symbology) that the Contractor will be expected to adopt during implementation?

Answer: The Contractor shall align the implementation with the current Esri ArcGIS Indoors Information Model, standards and reference implementations furnished by the National VA Office, and applicable VA governance and security requirements.

Existing VALBHS naming, metadata, symbology, CAD/BIM, and GIS conventions will be furnished when available during Task 2. The Contractor shall assess those materials and develop the project data dictionary, naming standards, metadata requirements, field mappings, QA rules, and governance documentation for Government approval.

31. Planned Facility Changes: Are there any planned building renovations, space reconfigurations, or capital improvement projects during the contract period that may require updates to the ArcGIS Indoors datasets?

Answer: The solicitation does not currently identify or quantify specific planned renovations or space reconfigurations. Known projects and available A/E files will be identified during kickoff and data assessment. SOW Task 5 establishes the controlled process for Government-requested CAD, Life Safety, and ArcGIS Indoors updates. Updates shall remain within the authorized building and contract scope;

material additions or an unanticipated volume of work require prior written authorization and, when applicable, a contract modification or separately exercised optional task.

32. Attachment 1 Page 3 under Required Submittals bullet 2: States "The Management Plan shall address: Staffing: How the Offeror will provide the required number of certified staff, including ensuring appropriate licenses and endorsements." Please define the specific Certifications, Licenses, and Endorsements that are required.

Answer: No individual professional certification, license, or endorsement is required beyond the experience qualifications stated in SOW Section 5.1 unless expressly added by solicitation amendment. The organization/team qualification in SOW Section 5 is separate and requires evidence of the applicable Esri Partner Network Indoor GIS Specialty or an expressly permitted qualifying teaming arrangement. References to a required number of certified staff and to licenses and endorsements shall be interpreted as qualified staff meeting the SOW experience requirements and should be corrected by amendment.

33. Attachment 2 Page 1 section (b) (1): States "The evaluation will focus on the adequacy and feasibility of proposed certified staffing". Please define the specific Certifications that are required by specific staff.

Answer: The staffing evaluation will assess whether the proposed personnel and staffing approach meet the role and experience qualifications in SOW Section 5.1.

No certification is required for a specific individual unless expressly identified by solicitation amendment. The phrase 'certified staffing' should be revised to 'qualified staffing.'

34. Attachment 2 Page 2 Special Standards section (SP4): States "The Offeror must produce documentation through the aforementioned via a diploma or certificate." Please confirm this is an error and that the past performance narratives will be sufficient evidence of experience integrating ArcGIS with enterprise systems.

Answer: Confirmed. The requirement to prove enterprise-integration experience through a diploma or certificate is an error and should be removed. The required proposal narrative, relevant project examples, past-performance citations, and reference information will be sufficient evidence of organizational experience, subject to Government verification.

35. Attachment 2 Page 2 Special Standards section (SP4): States "The Offeror must produce documentation through the aforementioned via a diploma or certificate." Please define the specific diploma/certificate(s) that are acceptable and required beyond what is explained in the past performance narrative explanations.

Answers: No diploma or certificate is required to demonstrate the organizational experience described in SP4. The erroneous sentence should be removed. The proposal and past-performance evidence described in the response to Q22 will apply.

36. Attachment 2 Page 2 Special Standards section (SP1-7): State "The Offeror must produce documentation of the aforementioned." Please confirm that the content of the proposal and past performance narratives will suffice as the required documentation or define the specific acceptable documentation for each.

Answers: Please reference the updated Special Standards and Price/Schedule Resumes shall support individual personnel qualifications, and current Esri documentation shall support the proposed EPN Indoor GIS Specialty or approved teaming arrangement. No diploma or certificate is required unless a specific credential is expressly identified by solicitation amendment.

37. Attachment 5, Section 2.1, Project Objectives (f) and (j): Reference Survey123 tools for “maintenance workflows” and integration with “work order systems.”

Please clarify the Contractor’s expected role in physical facility asset maintenance workflows. Is the Contractor’s responsibility limited to configuring GIS/ArcGIS Indoors tools, integrations, data collection forms, dashboards, and work-order launch actions that support VA maintenance activities, or is the Contractor expected to have a broader operational role in defining, managing, or performing facility asset maintenance workflows?

Answers: The Contractor's role is limited to ArcGIS and ArcGIS Indoors technical implementation and support, including data models, forms, maps, dashboards, launch actions, approved integrations, training, documentation, and related technical workflows. The Contractor is not responsible for performing physical facility maintenance, dispatching or supervising VA maintenance personnel, operating the VA work-order program, or establishing VA maintenance policy. VA remains the operational and policy authority.

38. Attachment 5 section 3.2 under Responsibilities: States "Coordinate with National VA Office to establish a clear migration timeline and integration plan for transition to VA-provided platform." Is the "VA-provided platform" this requirement refers to the GIS system to be developed by the contractor under this contract?

Answers: No. 'VA-provided platform' means the existing National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment hosted on the VA network under the National VA Enterprise Agreement. It is not a contractor-hosted platform developed under this contract.

The Contractor shall migrate, configure, test, document, and support the VALBHS solution within that Government-provided environment using authorized access.

39. SOW: Are the "kiosks" referred to throughout the SOW existing/to be provided GFE or contractor provided/procured hardware? If existing or government provided, can you describe the general unit specs? How many Kiosks will be required in the base year vs. overall POP including option years?

Answers: Kiosk hardware will be purchased, installed, managed, and maintained as Government-furnished equipment under a separate contract. Offerors shall not include kiosk computers, displays, mounts, power, network installation, hardware warranty, or physical installation in this contract's price. This Contractor shall build the indoor wayfinding network and configure, deploy, integrate, test, and document ArcGIS Indoors Viewer in kiosk mode for use with the Government-furnished kiosk environment on the VA network. The Contractor shall support software integration and acceptance testing but is not responsible for hardware procurement.

40. Attachment 5 section 3.7 Task 7 under System Support and Maintenance Transition: States "At the conclusion of the Base Year, the Contractor shall provide comprehensive documentation and training to enable VALBMC to understand and manage the contractor-hosted system." Does this imply that the contractor will continue to host the system after the overall POP concludes?

Answers: No. The Contractor will not host the production solution during or after the period of performance. The production solution will reside in the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment on the VA network. At contract completion, the Contractor shall transfer current data, configurations, scripts, documentation, dependency records, open-issue information, and support knowledge to the Government or a successor support provider. The phrase 'contractor-hosted system' is erroneous and should be replaced.

41. Attachment 5 section 5 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS: States "The Contractor must be part of the ESRI Partner Network (EPN) with specialty in indoor GIS, Or a partner with an EPN-certified subcontractor, OR partner with an ESRI Professional Services consultant". Is having an EPN "specialty in indoor GIS" specifically required? Or would an EPN certified Esri Gold Business Partner / Esri Gold Partner also acceptable.

Answers: A general Esri Gold Partner designation alone does not automatically satisfy the stated requirement. The prime contractor, a named subcontractor materially performing the Indoors work, or the approved Esri Professional Services arrangement must satisfy the qualifying path stated in SOW Section 5 and demonstrate ArcGIS Indoors implementation capability. The SOW should use the current term 'Esri Partner Network Indoor GIS Specialty' and should clarify the evidence required for any subcontractor or Esri Professional Services arrangement.

42. Attachment 5 section 5.1 Required Key Personnel: Which of these key personnel will reasonably be expected to physically visit the site?

Answers: No key-personnel role is required to be permanently located on site. The Project Lead/Indoors Specialist shall be available for required project-management site visits and key stakeholder activities. The Field Verification Lead and qualified field/capture personnel shall be on site for LiDAR scanning, surveys, and field verification. Other key personnel may work remotely unless their assigned responsibility, a scheduled event, or a Government request requires physical attendance.

43. Attachment 5 section 5.1 Required Key Personnel: Which of these key personnel are required to be located within the United States?

Answers: The current SOW does not impose a blanket requirement that every remote key person reside or be physically located within the United States.

Personnel performing on-site work must report to the designated VA location, and all personnel must comply with applicable VA background, badging, training, system-access, privacy, cybersecurity, and data-handling requirements. Remote access is permitted only through Government-approved methods and is subject to the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise system owner's authorization.

44. Attachment 5 section 6.1 Assumptions bullet 7: Refers to the "Government-provided hosting environment " while section 3.7 Paragraph 4 System Support and Maintenance Transition refers to the "contractor-hosted system". Please advise if these are referring to distinct systems or if this information is in conflict.

Answers: The clauses refer to the same production solution and are inconsistent.

The controlling requirement is Government hosting in the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment on the VA network. 'Contractor-hosted system' and similar language should be replaced with 'Government-hosted system within the National VA ArcGIS Enterprise environment.' Contractor responsibility is limited to authorized migration, application and data configuration, integration, documentation, training, testing, and solution-level support activities.

45. Attachment 1 Page 3 under Required Submittals Bullet 4: States "demonstrate its successful performance providing Recurring Maintenance Services on Negative Pressure Fan Systems" please confirm this is an error.

Answers: Yes, the typo has been corrected.

46. Attachment 1 Page 2 under Additional Instructions Quote Format: States that "The quote must be formatted on 8” x 11” sized paper" please confirm this is an error and the intended size is 8.5"x11".

Answers: This is a typo and should read 8.5 x 11. Solicitation has been corrected.

47. Attachment 2 Page 1 section (b) (1): States "The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s Management Plan to determine its understanding of, and ability to effectively implement and manage Recurring Quarterly Ice Machine Maintenance Services in accordance with the Statement of Work (SOW)" please confirm this is an error.

Answer: This is an error that has been corrected.

48. Attachment 2 Page 2 Special Standards section (SP5): States "Offeror must have experience with Quality of post-implementation support, maintenance services, user training, documentation, and knowledge transfer to VA Staff."

Please confirm if the language "Quality of" is an error.

Answer: Special Standards have been updated, please reference the updated Special Standards.