36C78625Q50072 Annapolis and Loudon Grounds Maintenance Svcs.doc

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Document Type:

Combined Synopsis Solicitation

Solicitation Number:

36C78625Q50072 Title: Grounds Maintenance Services

Post Date:

05/13/2025 Response Date:

06/12/2025 at 10:00am EST

Applicable NAICS:

561730 – Landscaping Services Classification Code:

S208 – Housekeeping – Landscaping/groundskeeping Set Aside Type:

Serviced Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Period of Performance:

Base Year from Date of Award + 4 Option year periods Issuing Contracting Office:

Department of Veterans Affairs

National Cemetery Administration, Contract Services

18434 Joplin Road

Triangle, VA 22172

Places of Performance:

Annapolis National Cemetery 800 West St

Annapolis, MD. 21401 Loudon National Cemetery

3445 Frederick Ave

Baltimore, MD. 21229 Attachments:

A – Statement of Work (SOW) B – Past Performance Questionnaire

C – Services and Prices/Costs D - Wage Determination – 2015-4265, Rev 29, 12-23-2024 This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.603 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ), solicitation number 36C78625Q50072.

This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2025-03, (eff. 01/17/2025).

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE:

The (NAICS) code for this procurement is 561730. The business size standard number of employees is $9,500,000.00.

This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach.

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, anticipates the award of an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) requirement for a base year and 4-one-year options, if exercised. The contractor shall be responsible for providing Complete Grounds Maintenance Services at both the Annapolis National Cemetery located at, 800 West St., Annapolis, MD. 21401 and at Loudon National Cemetery located at 3445 Frederick Ave, Baltimore, MD. 21229.

DIGNITY CLAUSE:

Respect for Headstones and Markers in National Cemeteries; Handling of Markers and Headstones

Every action by Offeror personnel at a national cemetery must be performed with the special care, reverence, dignity, and respect that acknowledges the cemetery as the final resting place that commemorates the service and sacrifice that service members, Veterans and their families made for our Nation. Critically important is the awareness required of the Offeror employees of the remains buried in the grounds where the work is performed. The utmost care must be given to these remains and the headstones and flat grave markers that mark those gravesites and memorialize the service of individuals.

Offerors cannot walk, stand, lean, sit or jump on headstones or markers. Nor can they drive over them.

No tools, equipment or other items will be placed or leaned on headstones or markers.

Use care not to scratch or damage markers in any manner.

Offeror shall be responsible for replacing damaged headstones and markers and for restoring turf damaged during performance of this work.

Additionally, should any activity result in the exposure and/or damage to any remains, container for remains (e.g., casket or urn), or outer burial container, the Offeror must contact the COR, Director/Assistant Director, or Contracting Officer (CO) for guidance.

Any doubts as to proper procedures shall be brought to the attention of the COR, Director/Assistant Director, or CO for guidance or resolution.

The Offeror is required to discuss the guidance with employees and/or subcontractors and have each employee sign a statement of compliance and deliver the signed statement to the COR before work may begin.

Contracted Site Supervisor will ensure that no Offeror personnel work will cause any funeral, ceremony, procession or visitation to be delayed, altered, or otherwise impacted in such a way that the dignity, security, or safety of the event or visit is compromised.

A list of scheduled ceremonies will be provided the week prior to the event, and a list of scheduled committal services will be provided on the day of the service. The Site Supervisor shall communicate not less than daily with the COR, to ask questions and ensure he/she and contracted personnel understands the off-limit areas.

SITE VISIT:

Offerors are urged and expected to inspect all sites where services are to be performed and to satisfy themselves regarding all general and local conditions that may affect the cost of contract performance. In no event shall failure to inspect one or all sites constitute grounds for a claim after contract award. If you plan to conduct a site visit / inspection for both the Annapolis National Cemetery located at, 800 West St., Annapolis, MD. 21401 and at Loudon National Cemetery located at 3445 Frederick Ave, Baltimore, MD. 21229.

YOU MUST CONTACT Baltimore National Cemetery’s Program Specialist, Mr. Rodger Portz, at 410-644-9696 ext. 9607 or email him at Rodger.Portz@va.gov to make arrangements. Both Annapolis National Cemetery and Loudon National Cemetery are satellite cemeteries administered by Baltimore National Cemetery and therefore the site visit will take place at the Baltimore National Cemetery Administration Building. The Site visit will be on May 21, 2025, at 10AM EST and will not be rescheduled.

RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (RFQ): Offerors are due to both the Contracting Specialist and the Contracting Officer no later than 10AM EST on June 12, 2025. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary and the Government will not pay for information provided nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided for the Government. Offerors are responsible for obtaining all amendments or additional information concerning this announcement at www.SAM.gov.

SOLICITATION QUESTIONS:

All questions regarding this solicitation are to be submitted via email, no later than close of business, May 22, 2025. Questions pertaining to this announcement shall be sent to the Contract Specialist, Mr. Hugh O’Neil by email to: Hugh.ONeil@va.gov and cc’d to the Contracting Officer, Mr. Joselito Roman at Joselito.Roman@va.gov. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Associated answers to questions submitted will be provided via a solicitation amendment. Should an amendment not be endorsed by the interested Offeror, the quote may be considered ineligible for award.

INSTRUCTIONS TO QUOTERS:

Interested Offerors MUST be registered with the System of Award Management (SAM) at http://www.sam.gov and must compete the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) at http://www.sam.gov prior to the solicitation closing date. Failure to comply will result in the offeror being considered Non-Responsive.

Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) socio-economic category concerns MUST have an active/current registration with www.veterans.certify.sba.gov. Failure to comply will result in the offeror being considered Non-Responsive.

Interested Offerors who do not have a current/active SAM account registration or who are not certified as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business or certified as a Veterans Owned Small Business in the SBA website (veterans.certify.sba.gov) upon solicitation close date will be considered Non-Responsive.

INFORMATION REGARDING SUBMISSION OF OFFEROR:

Offers will be considered only from Interested Offerors who are regularly established in the business called for and who are financially responsible and have the necessary equipment and personnel to furnish the supplies and services required under this contract. Offers will be only accepted electronically via email to Hugh O’Neil (Contracting Specialist) at Hugh.ONeil@va.gov and cc Joselito.Roman@va.gov no later than June 12, 2025, at 10AM Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Offerors shall submit Volume A through C in three (3) Adobe Files (pdf.) and Volume D as an Excel Spread sheet (xlsx). Interested Offerors who fail to submit the four (4) separate documents as directed may be considered Non-Responsive. In the event as Interested Offeror must notify the Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer of the impending issue via electronic submittal. The subject header shall be titled Submittal Issues and shall include the RFQ number. Interested Offerors must ensure that they have a read and delivery receipt on their email to provide proof if necessary. Failure to notify the Contracting Officer of such issues may constitute the submittal as Non-Responsive.

In the event an Interested Offeror has issues in submitting the GANTT Chart in pdf format, the GANNT Chart may be submitted in xlsx. Format if authorized by the Contracting Specialist (CS), or by the Contracting Officer (CO). An email request must be submitted on time, prior to the solicitation closing date for the request to be approved.

Note: The Contracting Officer may or may not respond to your submittal therefore it is crucial that a copy of the email correspondence be provided.

OFFERORS CONTENTS INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Company’s Information (Volume A)

2. Company’s relevant experience in performing Complete Grounds Maintenance Services (Volume B) and will include the following:

a. Targeted Capability Statement.

i. Corporate Data

ii. Short Summary

iii. Core Competencies

iv. Similar Work Performed

b. Key Personnel(s)managerial and technical qualifications in performing Grounds Maintenance Services. To include Resumes.

c. Work Plan/Staffing Plan

i. Man Hours

ii. Methodology

iii. List of Equipment/Vehicles

iv. Licenses/Permits and Insurance information

d. GANTT Chart

3. Past Performance (Volume C) information must meet Recency and Relevancy requirements.

4. Pricing (Volume D) will be submitted as an Excel Spread Sheet. The Offeror shall include only one copy of each Volume.

EVALUATION PROCESS

The Government intends to award an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract resulting from this Solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose proposal provides the best benefit to the Government, price and other factors considered. Offerors will be evaluated by performing a comparative evaluation in accordance with FAR 13.106-2(b)(3) to determine which response represents the “best” as a whole.

Technical Capabilities and Past Performance when combined are significant are more important than price.

Proposal will be evaluated by performing a direct comparison of one proposal with another in a uniform manner to determine which Offeror provides the best as identified in the RFQ. The Government reserves the right to consider a response that offers more than the minimum and select that response if it provides a benefit to the government. The Government has the discretion to accept other than the lowest priced offer that provides additional benefits.

QUOTATION PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Offerors shall submit Volume A through C in three (3) separate Adobe Acrobat (pdf.) and Volume D as an Excel Spreadsheet (xlsx). Interested Offerors who fail to submit the four (4) separate documents as directed may be considered Non-Responsive. In the event an Interested Offeror must notify the Contracting Officer of the impending issue via electronic correspondence. The subject header shall be titled Submittal Issues and shall include the RFQ number. Interested Offerors must ensure that they have a read and delivery receipt on their email to provide proof if necessary. Failure to notify the Contracting Officer of such issues may constitute the submittal as Non-Responsive.

Note: The Contracting Officer may or may not respond to your submittal therefore it is crucial that a copy of the email correspondence be provided. Additionally, failure to provide all Volumes within the Solicitation’s response time may also constitute an Interested Offeror as Non-Responsive.

Company Information (Volume A)

The following information shall be included in Volume A:

· Legal Business/Company Name (as listed in www.sam.gov). Should Legal Business/Company Name not coincide with what is listed in the Government’s website HYPERLINK http://www.sam.gov the Interested Offeror will be considered non-responsive

· Complete Company Address (No P.O. Boxes). Should an Interested Offeror submit the Company’s address as a P.O. Box, the Interested Offeror will be considered non-responsive.

· Data Universal Number System (DUNS) Number

· SAM Unique Entity Identification (UEI)

· Company Point of Contract Name and Title

· Telephone Number

· Email Address

· Solicitation Amendments acknowledgement. Interested Offerors will acknowledge all amendments by either providing a signed copy of the Amendment(s) or by filling out page 4. Titled ACKONWLEDGEMENT OF AMENDMENTS. Failure to acknowledge all subsequent Amendments as directed will result in Interested Offeror being considered non-responsive.

· One (1) Copy of completed FAR Clause 52.223-3 “Hazardous Material Identification and Material Safety Data” (if applicable).

· One (1) copy of Completed FAR Provisions 52.212-3 “Certifications and Representations” or indicate whether contractor has completed the annual representation and certifications electronically at www.sam.gov (copy of current SAM status)

· In accordance with Public Law 116-183 a Small Business Technical Proposal (Volume B)

The following shall be included as part of the Offeror’s technical submission, Volume B:

· Company relevant experience descriptions in providing Grounds Maintenance services. Grounds Maintenance services is defined as providing complete mowing, trimming, edging and trash / debris removal & cleanup, tree maintenance, and snow removal services. See Statement of Work (SOW) to fully gauge what the Grounds Maintenance services entails.

· Managerial & Technical Qualifications of Key Personal to include Resumes. Contractor shall demonstrate a Management Team that have the necessary experience in performing Grounds Maintenance services.

· Work Plan/Staffing Plan to accomplish the required services to include man hours, methodology, list of equipment/vehicles to be used, licenses, permits and insurance information.

a. Man hours: Contractor must provide an estimate as to the total amount of labor hours required in the performance of this service. Failure to provide man hours will result in the Contractor being considered non-responsive.

b. Methodology: Contractor’s system of methods and principles in providing the service. Failure to provide a Methodology will result in the Contractor being considered non-responsive.

c. List of equipment: Equipment necessary for the Grounds Maintenance Services are not limited to Mowers, Trimmers & Edgers, Cutting Blades, Trash & Debris, Removal Services, Tree Maintenance, and Snow Removal.

d. Licenses, permits and, Insurance information: Licenses/permits and Insurance must be up to date and meet the State of Maryland. Contractor must provide copies of any Licenses, permits and Insurance. Failure to provide copies of applicable Licenses/permits and Insurance will result in the Contractor being considered non-responsive.

Past Performance (Volume C) The following shall be included as part of the Offeror’s Past Performance submission, Volume C:

Past Performance will be evaluated for recent and relevant experience. To demonstrate recency and relevancy, the Offerors shall submit three (3) past performance questionnaires from projects they worked on within the last five (5) years. The questionnaires should be for contracts that are similar in size, scope, and complexity. The questionnaires may include the same projects used to demonstrate experience in the technical qualifications section Volume A.

All Offerors are to utilize Attachment B, Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) and submit copies of the filled-out questionnaire with their offer. Past Performance information determined to be “not recent” will be rated Neutral. Not recent information is defined as PPQs submitted that were not performed within the last five years. Should an Interested Offeror provide Non-Relevant past performance is past performance that are not similar in size, scope, and complexity. PPQs that involve past performance that are somewhat similar in size, scope, and complexity will be rated Somewhat Relevant.

In accordance with FAR 13.106-2(b)(3), the Contracting Officer will base past performance on the following:

· The contracting officer’s knowledge of and previous experience with the supply or service being acquired;

· Customer surveys, and past performance questionnaire replies;

· The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) at https://www.cpars.gov; or;

· Any other reasonable basis.

Pricing (Volume D)

The following information shall be included in Volume D

· Proposed pricing shall be submitted on the Price/Cost Schedule of Services (Attachment A)

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES / COSTS

Price Schedule: See Attachment C. Contractor shall furnish all labor, supervision, equipment, materials and supplies necessary to provide complete Grounds Maintenance Services at the Annapolis National Cemetery located at, 800 West St., Annapolis, MD. 21401 and at Loudon National Cemetery located at 3445 Frederick Ave, Baltimore, MD. 21229. Services will be provided in accordance with all terms, conditions, specifications, requirements and schedules of the contract, including National Cemetery Administration Standard Operating Procedures and Operational Standards & Measures.

Contract period will consist of a base period from Date of Award through 1 year, with four (4) one-year renewal options if exercised.

FAR CLAUSES:

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2023)

52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

52.203-16 Preventing Personal Conflicts of Interests (JUN 2020)

52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (OCT 2018)

52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (AUG 2020)

52.216-18 Ordering (AUG 2020)

52.216-19 Ordering Limitations (OCT 1995)

52.216-21 Requirements (OCT 1995)

52.216-22 Indefinite Quantity (OCT 1995)

52.217-6 Option for Increased Quantity (MAR 1989)

52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999)

52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (MAR 2000)

52.228-5 Insurance-Work on a Government Installation (JAN 1997) 52.232-18 Availability of Funds (APR 1984)

52.237-2 Protection of Government Buildings, Equipment, and Vegetation (APR 1984)

52.237-3 Continuity of Services (JAN 1991)

VAAR CLAUSES:

852.201-70 Contracting Officer’s Representative (DEC 2022)

852.203-70 Commercial Advertising (MAY 2018)

852.211-72 Technical Industry Standards (NOV 2018)

852.219-75 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting-Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction (JAN 2023)(DEVIATION)

852.219-73 VA Notice to Total Set-Aside for Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (JAN 2023)

852.219-74 VA Notice to Total Set-Aside for Certified Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (JAN 2023)

852.222-71 Compliance with Executive Order 13899(DEVIATION)(APR 2025)

852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests (NOV 2018)

852.242-71 Administrative Contracting Officer (OCT 2020)

End of Addendum 52.212-4 52.212-5 Commercial Products and Commercial Services (JAN 2025)(DEVIATION FEB 2025)

FAR PROVISIONS:

52.201-1 Acquisition 360: Voluntary Survey. (SEPT 2023)

52.212-1 Instruction to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (SEP 2023)

52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

52.204-6 Unique Entity Identifier (OCT 2016)

52.204-7 System for Award Management (NOV 2024)

52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (AUG 2020)

VAAR PROVISIONS:

852.209-70 Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCT 2020)

852.233-70 Protest Content/Alternative Dispute Resolution (OCT 2018)

852.233-71 Alternate Protest Procedure (OCT 2018)

852.252-70 Solicitation Provisions or Clauses Incorporated by Reference (JAN 2008)

End of Addendum to 52.212-1 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items (NOV 2021)

52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (MAY 2024)(DEVIATION FEB 2025)