36C78619Q0433-004.docx

B.3 STATEMENT OF WORK/SPECIFICATION

1.0 Background

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Cemetery Administration (NCA) furnishes headstones, markers, niche covers and memorial wall markers for deceased veterans worldwide. Memorial headstones, markers and niche covers are also furnished to memorialize veterans whose remains are non-recoverable.

2.0 Purpose

The purpose of this contract is to perform Off-Site Inscription Services on government furnished marble niche covers for National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on a Multi-years contract.

3.3 Required Drawing(s):

A-NCIS-1, thru 2, Rev. - dated 11/18/13, Niche Cover Inscription Scenarios A-LFN&OC-1 thru 3 Rev. A, dated 11/26/13, Letters, Fonts, Numbers, & Other Characters for Stone Niche Covers

3.4 Emblems

A-EM-1 thru 5, Rev, dated 12/23/2017, Emblems

3.5 Government Furnished Property

The contractor shall be responsible for the security and protection of Government Furnished Property provided to the contractor in connection with this contract. All niche covers that do not meet the specifications following inscription will be considered scrap and the quantity will need to be reported to the cemetery and to MPSProgSupport@va.gov. The contractor is responsible for disposing of covers which are scrapped at the contractor’s location.

1. Scope of Work

4.1 Contract Period

This contract covers the period from February 20, 2019 through September 30, 2020.

4.2 Contractor Services

This service includes all labor and materials necessary to provide and deliver, FOB Destination, inscriptions on Government Furnished blank marble niche covers (ref technical drawing, A-BNC-1) within a radius of 80 miles of the cemetery’s address noted in section 11.0 (per MapQuest) The contractor shall provide all labor, equipment, and materials necessary to pick up government-furnished niche covers and deliver completed covers to the cemetery. The contractor must use covers provided by the cemetery.

The contractor is responsible for pick-up and packaging to prevent damage during shipment, palletizing if necessary, handling, and returning niche covers to the cemetery. The cemetery is responsible only for making blank niche covers available to the contractor and is not responsible for packaging the blank niche covers. The contractor must regularly pickup blanks from the cemetery to ensure work is completed within the required performance period. The contractor is not responsible for unwrapping, uncrating, or installing completed niche covers. The contractor must give the Cemetery Director or his/her designated representative at least 24 hours advanced notice prior to arriving at the cemetery for either picking-up or delivering niche covers.

4.3 Workmanship

Inscribed niche covers shall be free from defects due to broken or blown out lettering. Repairs or patching of any such defects are not allowed and will because for rejection. Inscribed niche covers shall be free of oils, glue, crayon marks, dirt, adhesives, and dust. Inscriptions shall be made using an air blast abrasion method with a suitable grit. The inscription shall have a depth consistent with the technical drawing and shall conform to the dimensions of letters and inscriptions as shown on the drawings. The layout of the letters, numbers and emblems shall conform to scenarios in the contract drawings.

Any inscribed niche covers that are delivered broken to the cemetery will be replaced at contractor expense by the contractor and re-delivered to the cemetery within five (5) calendar days from the date that the Memorial Program Service (MPS) notifies the contractor of damaged delivery. The contractor shall provide tracking information to MPSProgSupport@va.gov on the re-delivery of the inscribed niche covers for the cemetery.

4.4 Product

The contractor shall inscribe all information contained on niche cover orders. The contractor’s pricing in the Schedule is an all-inclusive price. This all-inclusive price includes all items as shown on drawings listed in Section 3.0. The end or limit of each line shall be indicated on a line-by-line basis as shown on the order. If any deviation from this is encountered, contact the MPS Program Support Unit at MPSProgSupport@va.gov.

4.4.1 Lettering

· Only CAPITAL LETTERS shall be used in inscriptions.

· Surname letters must be as shown in line L-1 on drawings. All other inscriptions must conform to line L-4 letters.

· The dimensions and spacing of the letters and numerals must conform to the drawings.

· If a last name cannot be inscribed because its length exceeds usable space on the niche cover, the contractor must use the L-2 size letters for surname. The contractor must consult with the COR before work is begun to request a deviation in the normal size lettering.

· Small capital letters shall be used, if feasible, in accordance with the contract and drawings in regards to the last name in the following manner: e.g., for “c” in McDONALD, “ac” in MacDONALD and “r” in Jr. They shall have the same depth or rise as the larger letters. The size of the lettering (i.e., “c”) shall be L-2 when used with L-1 letters (refer to drawings).

0. Other Inscription Requirements

· Products must be inscribed as shown on an order document that shall be emailed to the vendor.

· Inscriptions must be made by the blast abrasive method. The incision shall be a uniform depth and must conform to dimensions on the drawings.

· No inscription line shall begin or end closer than ½-inch from either edge.

· Lines of inscription must be horizontally centered on the niche cover.

4.4.3 Emblems

· Emblems as shown on the drawings must be incised on niche covers per the ordered formatting. The emblem’s inclusion is considered part of the unit price.

· The size of the emblems shall be two (2) inches at their largest point-to-point measurement inclusive of circle for those emblems encircled.

· Occasionally, requests shall be received for emblems different from those on the approved drawings. These emblems shall be considered by the Government on a case-by-case basis. Upon receiving an order for an emblem that differs from the approved drawings, the Contractor shall present the order to the COR for verification prior to inscribing any such emblem. If approved, the Contractor shall be furnished the necessary drawing or illustration. The Contractor shall incise these emblems at no additional cost to the Government.

4.4.4. Lithichrome Application:

Lithichrome shall be applied to all covers. . Whenever lithichrome is not required, “NO LITHICHROME” will be notated in the remarks section of the order. When lithichrome is applied, it will be N4 or lower as judged against the Munsell Neutral Value Scale, Matte (31-step scale).

5.0 Submittal by Potential Offerors

All potential offerors shall submit at their expense one (1) marble inscription sample by the closing date of this solicitation. The sample shall be used to determine the potential awardees’ ability to perform I1 inscriptions.

All potential offerors who have submitted and received approval notification for a sample of same type within the last 12 months shall submit a copy of that approved review with the proposal to avoid submitting an additional sample.

· Sample Requirements: One marble inscription sample on a 15-3/4 inches long by 11-1/4 inches wide by ¾-inch thick plaque to be inscribed and packaged to prevent any damage during shipping. The sample should conform to government specifications for lettering, inscription depth and layout. The sample shall be clearly marked on the back with permanent marker to show the following: Contractor Name, Solicitation Number and Name of Cemetery.

The following inscription shall be used for this sample submission:

Emblem #09 (refer to drawings for actual emblem to be inscribed)

O’DAY

KENNETH Jr (refer to drawing for correct size of “r”) 2ND LT USAF (refer to drawings for correct size of “ND”)

VIETNAM

(BLANK LINE)

MARY J

1938 2005

WE MISS YOU

· Failure to meet any of the requirements shall result in the rejection of the sample.

· The sample shall establish the minimum acceptable product for all inscriptions under this contract and will be the basis for comparison of all inscription services provided under this contract.

Sample shall be received by Memorial Programs Service (MPS) prior to closing date. If the sample is disapproved by MPS, you will receive an email notification and you will have until the closing date of solicitation to resubmit samples.

NO samples shall be accepted after closing date.

Once submitted, samples become the property of the Department of Veterans Affairs and will not be returned. Submit sample and test results to the following address:

Department of Veteran Affairs Memorial Programs Service Program Support Unit, Rm. 650 1575 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20005

Full size copies of drawings are available upon request at no additional charge to potential vendors. The request should be e-mailed to the NCA Memorial Programs Service (MPS) Program Support Unit at MPSProgSupport@va.gov and should include the contractor’s name, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address and the name and drawing number of the drawing(s) requested. MPS recommends vendors use full size versions for determining work requirements. Once the request is received, the drawings will be mailed directly to the vendors.

Vendors should e-mail the request for drawings to MPS with sufficient lead time to allow for mailing and use in preparing the vendor’s submittal.

Occasionally, it will be necessary for MPS to request either a correction or cancellation involving a previous order which is not yet delivered. These corrections/cancellations will be forwarded by e-mail to the contractor only by the MPS Program Support Unit and within three (3) calendar days following receipt of order. The contractor is required to respond to each e-mailed request from the MPS Program Support Unit with one (1) workday from the date the request was sent.

7.2 Processing of Orders and Time of Delivery

All niche covers will be inscribed in the order in which received, that is, on a first-in/first-out basis unless the order is flagged for special handling.

7.3 Normal Delivery

All inscriptions, with the exception of those identified for accelerated delivery, ordered under this contract shall be completed within ten (10) calendar days following the date the order was sent by MPS.

7.4 Accelerated Delivery (Casualties of War)

It is the goal of NCA to ensure the graves of active duty service members who die as a result of enemy action are marked on the day of interment. When the cemetery director or MPS is made aware of a pending burial request for a U.S. casualty of armed conflict, they will provide to the contractor the inscription desired for the niche cover. These orders are estimated to be less than 1% of the estimated orders for the life of the contract. The Government will provide the inscription to the contractor with not less than 3 calendar days advance notification and advise the contractor when the inscription needs to be completed. All inscriptions identified as an accelerated delivery shall be provided at no additional cost to the government.

· Deliver between 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

· Deliveries must be made to a destination within the cemetery.

· The contractor must ensure the palletized niche covers are placed at the rear of the delivery vehicle to ensure the ability of the cemetery personnel to offload the pallet using a forklift.

· The contractor must ensure that Attachment C– COMPLETION OF INSCRIPTION SERVICE(S) is completed, signed and dated, and a copy provided to the cemetery staff when delivery of inscribed niche covers is made.

Quality assurance (QA) inspections of the contractor’s manufacturing facility and of the completed on-site work at the cemetery may be conducted during the contract period by the designated COR of the Memorial Programs Service and the designated COR of the cemetery, to assure contract performance. Visits to the Contractor and the cemetery will be scheduled at a time so as to ensure inspection of the Contractor’s production. The Government reserves the right to perform quality audit inspections without prior scheduling or notifications to the contractor.

During each QA visit, a complete assessment of the Contractor’s operation shall be made, to include the following areas:

· Performance of quality assurance inspections,

· Maintenance of QA records indicating the quality of the inscribed niche covers and,

· Packaging of niche covers to assurance compliance with all contractual requirements.

9.2 Quality Complaints

The contractor is responsible for the performance of all inspections and quality assurance required by this contract. The contractor shall develop and maintain a written inspection system that documents the quality of all finished products resulting from the inscription of government headstones. The government reserves the right to perform any inspections deemed necessary to assure inscribed niche covers are supplied in accordance with the specifications of the contract.

The receipt of a quality complaint or a Quality Audit Inspection indicating non-compliance with the specification/contract will be considered reason for an immediate visit and review of the contractor’s quality assurance program. The Government reserves the right to impose 100% Government Quality Inspection for an indefinite period due to quality problems. Indicative, but not all-inclusive, examples are:

· Nonconforming inscriptions.

· Completed inscriptions that passed the contractor’s inspection system but fail the Quality Inspection of the designated COR.

· Deficiencies in the following areas that adversely affect performance:

· Inspection system

· Inspection personnel

· Manufacturing process

· Production control

· Planning and scheduling

· Employee training

· Safety The designated COR of the MPS Program Support Unit will inform the Contractor of the deficiencies noted during the inspection and will discuss with the contractor what corrective action(s) will be taken.

When issue(s) arise regarding an inscription on a niche cover not meeting the specifications and the issue(s) cannot be resolved between the Contractor and MPS, the Contracting Officer shall make a final determination as to whether the inscribed monument will be replaced at contractor’s or at Government’s expense.

Notwithstanding the Contractor’s responsibility for total management during the performance of this contract, administration of the contract requires coordination between the Government and the Contractor.

Not later than 12 noon on weekdays, MPS will email formatted orders, when available, to a contractor’s self-designated email address.

· Within 2 workdays, MPS will clarify formatting questions regarding ordered items or advise the contractor as to whether extra time is needed to provide a reply. The contractor must submit questions to MPSProgSupport@va.gov in order for MPS to provide guidance regarding questionable circumstances.

· Questions or issues regarding processing of order, which cannot be resolved through submission to MPSProgSupport@va.gov, will be routed by MPS to the Contracting Officer for resolution.

10.2 Contractor Records and Files

The contractor must maintain records and files of all documents relating to each order filled under each Government Headstone, Marker and Niche Cover contract. The files must minimally contain: manufacturing quality assurance checklists, final inspection and acceptance reports, Delivery Order Numbers, dates completed, date invoiced, and tracking documentation. Said files are in addition to any similar information provided to or by the Government and will be available upon request to the designated COR during on-site Quality Assurance inspections.

After contract has been awarded a running status report for all completions and available blank inventory must be e-mailed to MPSProgSupport@va.gov by the close of business every Tuesday (COR should be contacted regarding questions, format, etc.)

· If any order is completed late or projected to be completed beyond the contractually required due date, the contractor must identify the reason(s) for the delinquency, what actions are underway to resolve the tardiness, and the projected future date for completion (projected completion dates which are past the reporting date are unacceptable).

· Identify the on-hand inventory of blanks as of each week.

· Identify the number of blanks that were scrapped each week (due to blowouts, breakage, change in inscription, inscription error, etc…)

10.3 Government Headstone, Marker and Niche Cover Drawings

The Contractor must ensure that copies of all relevant Government-provided drawings for production of headstones/markers/niche covers under each contract are maintained on file and are available to the designated COR, upon request, during on-site Quality Assurance inspections.

10.4 Point of Contact at MPS, Program Support Unit

E-mail MPSProgSupport@va.gov

11.0 Cemetery Contact Information

National Memorial Cemetery of Pacific 2177 Puowaina Drive Honolulu, HI 966813-1729

11.0 Use of Appendix B – Transfer of Government-Furnished Headstones, Markers or Niche Covers and Appendix C – Completion of Inscription Service(s) (Process Responsibilities)

The cemetery is responsible for inspecting niche covers or memorial wall markers prior to packing for pick-up by the contractor or their transportation carrier. The contractor is NOT responsible for the inspection of blanks at initial pick-up.

Cemetery personnel will be responsible for completing Appendix B – Transfer of Government-Furnished Headstones, Markers or Niche Covers form (NCA Handbook 3320), stating the quantity of blanks for each type that has been inspected for pick-up by the contractor. A copy of Appendix B should be included in the shipment, a copy retained by the cemetery and a final copy emailed to the contractor and MPS.

Cemetery personnel must complete the top portion of the form, check the appropriate box and insert the quantity that is being transferred to the contractor.

If the contractor is on-site at the cemetery to pick-up the blanks, they shall confirm the quantity of blanks being transferred and accept and sign the bottom of the form. Both the contractor and the cemetery should retain a copy of the transfer for their records.

If the contractor is not on-site, as soon as the shipment of blanks is received by the contractor, the quantity should be confirmed from the Appendix B copy in the shipment or the email received from the cemetery and the bottom of the form should be completed and returned to the cemetery with a copy of MPS.

The contractor takes possession and is responsible for the care and protection of blanks following the receiving inspection by the contractor. The contractor shall be responsible for the cost of damage to blanks or inscribed monuments while in their custody.

The contractor processes inscription orders on a first in, first out basis. Completed orders shall be inspected for quality and errors and prepared to be shipped back to the appropriate cemeteries on a daily basis.

The contractor will be responsible for completing Appendix C – Completion of Inscription Service(s) form. The contractor will complete the top portion of the form, checking the appropriate box and inserting the quantity of monuments that are being returned to the specific cemetery. Shipment numbers will be inserted for each monument completed and being returned in a single shipment. The contractor will include a copy of the completed Appendix C in the return shipment and fax copies to the cemetery POC and MPS.

Once a return shipment is received, Cemetery personnel are responsible for a final inspection and acceptance of the completed monuments utilizing the Monument Order Acknowledgement Report (MOAR). Any rejects will be noted on the form (Appendix C) and the cemetery inspector will sign and date for the cemetery.

The cemetery will be responsible for scanning and emailing a copy of the Appendix C form, to the MPS COR, which will be used when certifying invoices for payment by the contractor.

END STATEMENT OF WORK

APPENDIX B - TRANSFER OF BLANK GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED HEADSTONES, MARKERS, OR NICHE COVERS

I certify that the blank headstones, markers, or niche covers specified below were transferred to the VA contractor listed at the bottom of the form.

Printed Name of Cemetery Personnel: ________________________________

Signature:_________________________________________Date:___________

Check the appropriate box and insert the quantity for the type of headstone, marker or niche cover being transferred to the on-site contractor.

(I1) Blank Marble Niche Cover Quantity: ______

List any rejects below, include type and quantity:

I certify that the headstones, markers, or niche covers specified above were received by me and the quantity of items has been verified.

Printed Name of VA Contractor:__________________________________

APPENDIX C – COMPLETION OF INSCRIPTION SERVICE(S)

I certify that the inscriptions have been completed per contract specifications on the government-furnished headstones, markers, or niche covers identified below.

Printed Name of VA Contractor: _______________________________________________

Check the appropriate box and enter the quantity of the type of headstone, marker or niche cover that has been completed and ready for inspection.

(I1) Blank Marble Niche Cover Quantity: ______

Shipment Number (s) (required) rejects are to be marked:

I certify that the headstones, markers, or niche covers identified above were received by me and the quantity of items has been verified.

Printed Name of Cemetery:_________________________________________________