QUESTIONS and ANSWERS.pdf

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS FOR THE N. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACT – 100% HUBzone set-aside

47PF0020R0060

1. Question about the contract regarding onsite visits. – With the COVID 19 pandemic, this virtual conference is taking the place of an onsite visit.

2. Question about the incumbent staff. – The Stokes and Celebrezze in Cleveland and the Seiberling in Akron currently are staffed. The part-time position at the Metzenbaum is currently not filled. The backfill employee is not filled due to COVID-19.

3. Question about the current staff and what their status is during the COVID 19 pandemic. – The General Clerk III is still working full time onsite in Akron, Ohio at the Seiberling. At the Celebrezze in Cleveland, Ohio, the Secretary II is teleworking from home in office 2 days a week). The Secretary II position at the Stokes, is onsite at the Stokes on Monday, but is working Tuesday through Friday at the Metzenbaum to assist property management there.

4. Question on Supervisory Personnel – Is travel reimbursable for them? See Section B “All the contractor’s labor hour prices must include expenses for overhead, General and Administrative (G&A) and profit. Thus no separate allowance for travel time, parking, over-head, G&A or profit will be applied when hourly services are ordered.” The answer to this question is no. If an admin staff member is out sick for a full or half day and there is no backfill coverage, a deduction will be taken. If the staff member is out for only a few hours, the Property Management at that location may allow the time to be made up.

5. Question on Background checks – See “SECTION H – SPECIAL CONTRACT

REQUIREMENTS”

H.1 “Security” through H.1.7 “GSA Criteria for Adjudication”

6. Question on Clearances – See “SECTION H – SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS”

H.1 “Security” through H.1.7 “GSA Criteria for Adjudication”

7. For a delay in USG “clearance,” after approval of the resumes we submit, will our payment(s) be “deducted” for the delay for which the USG is responsible? I understand that these delays can be 4- 6 weeks, so this is important to us as a small business. No, GSA will not inforce deductions for abnormal delays caused by the clearance process. This is why we emphasis that the awardee start the clearance process as soon as they receive the award letter for the contract.

8. Will the USG reimburse the contractor for training costs on USG systems (40 hours)? See page 21 under “Days off and Transitions”: “The Government will not be charged extra for the training of replacement personnel. Only the time of the primary worker will count as chargeable toward the fulfillment of this contract. Any trainee or observer will be considered non-productive for the purpose of this contract.” The answer to this question is no.

9. Are temporary / replacement hours due to vacancies caused by permanent employees’ PTO / sick leave billable to the USG? See 20 under “Vacancies” …” All temporary qualified proficient relief personnel shall be provided at no extra cost to the Government.” The answer to this question is no.

10. Section C.3, Exhibit 1 & Section L.3 pg. 112 & pg. 134 - Strike Contingency Plan (SCP) deliverable states that the SCP “must be submitted 5 days prior to contract start date…” however the Exhibit 1 and Section L.3 state the SCP as due with Proposal Submission.

Please clarify. Yes, the QCP is to be submitted with the bid proposal.

11. Section L.3 pg. 134 Pandemic Plan is omitted from QCP submission instructions. Please clarify if the Pandemic Plan is to be included in QCP submissions. Yes, the Pandemic Plan should be submitted with the bid proposal.

12. Section C.8 pg. 27 Will the government provide laptops to contractors for instances when telework is approved? Laptops are only to be taken home if approved for telework and have taken all training.

13. Closing Date & Time pg 1 Will the government consider extending the submission due date? No, there are no plans to extend the date for submissions at this time.

14. Section C.1 pg 19 Will the government confirm that the part time General Clerk II works 31.5 hours/week? The hours for this position at the Metzenbaum US Courthouse are:

Monday 7 am – 1 pm - 6 hours Tuesday 7 am – 1pm - 6 hours Wednesday 7 am – 1pm - 6 hours Thursday 7 am – 1pm - 6 hours Friday 7 am – 2:30 pm 7 hours (1/2 hr lunch included) - no change in hours

Total of 31 hours per week

15. Section L – Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Bidders/Offerors, pg. 135 Regarding past performance, the RFP states that Offerors shall complete Attachment A – Past

Performance References. The RFP further states that, “Past Performance will be evaluated by analysis of information provided by the offeror and by interviews with the offeror’s past and/or current customers.” Given the heavy weight of past performance in the evaluation criteria, can the

Government allow Offerors to submit a past performance narrative to provide additional insight into relevant past performance? Can the Government include a review of CPARS completed on behalf of the Offeror to gain further insight on past performance? Offerors can submit a narrative, if they choose, but it is not mandatory. CPARS database is a review tool for Contracting Officers.

16. Proposal Due Date, page 1 The Pre-proposal virtual conference is scheduled for Tuesday September

1st. Questions are due September 3rd COB. All offers are due to the Government by Thursday September 17th. There are less than 10 business days between the pre-proposal conference, question due date and the due date of final offer submission date. Would the Government consider extending the offer due date? No, there are no plans to extend the date for submissions at this time.

17. Notice Concerning Solicitation, A-76 REQUIREMENT, pg. 3 – GSAR 552.219-72 Preparation, Submission and Negotiation of Subcontracting Plans (October 2016) This clause states that “when submitting a subcontracting plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9, the offeror shall submit a subcontracting plan with its initial offer. Is the submission of a subcontracting plan optional?

If RFP has already been set-aside for HUBZone companies, why the need for an additional subcontracting plan that focuses on small business? This is a small business (HUBzone) set aside. No subcontracting plan is required.

18. C. Statement of Work, C.3 Quality Control Plan (QCP), pg. 25 - Should the QCP be maintained electronically or hard copy? Or both? Electronic only.

19. C. Statement of Work, C.1.0 SUPPLIES, MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT AND UTILITIES, pg. 21 The Government will provide facilities, materials and services as listed. Will the Government provide laptops to contractor staff, if telework is authorized? Laptops are only to be taken home if approved for telework and have taken all training.

20. Notice Concerning Solicitation, A-76 REQUIREMENT, pg. 3 What does “A-76” mean? Normally it refers to OMB Circular A-76 which covers Commercial Activities and often involves public/private sector competition. How is it used here on page 3? A-76 does not apply to this solicitation.

21. Notice Concerning Solicitation, Project Labor Agreement, pg. 5 Please clarify the term Project Labor

Agreement and how it applies to this procurement. Project Labor Agreement does not apply to this solicitation.

22. Notice Concerning Solicitation, Pre-Proposal Virtual Conference pg. 7 Are proposals due 9/17/20 at

12 PM Eastern Standard Time…are bids due at 12 PM EDT? By 9/1 most of US will be on Daylight time. Daylight Savings for 2020 ends on November 1, 2020 and will have no effect on bid submittals. Electronic proposals are due to my email address, connie.bilek-hammond@gsa.gov before noon (12:00 p.m. EST) on September 17, 2020.

23. Section B – SERVICES, ORDERING AND PRICES, B.1 Description of Services (Administrative

Support Services), “44114“Pg. 15 What does “44114” Part Time in Location 4 mean? It is the zip code for the Metzenbaum.

24. Section C – DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATION/STATEMENT OF WORK, C.1 SCOPE OF WORK, Vacancies, Pg. 20 Does this mean if one of our staff members takes a 5-workday vacation, that a replacement must be performing the work for these days? Yes, this would be where you use your fill in/back up employees onsite.

25. Section H – SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS, Section H.14 Strike Contingency Plan, Pg. 45

Is this work currently or in the past covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement or other Union-type of agreement? No.

26. What is the specific penalty related to absences more than 24 hours? See Section E “Inspection and Acceptance” E.2 Deduction Rate:

a. “Determination of Deduction Amounts The deduction amount assessed will be determined based on the following: 1) actual costs incurred by the Government for having the work performed by other means; 2) use of the rate stated for Hourly Price for Additional Services if no cost was incurred by the government for having the work performed by other means, and/or 3) administrative costs. The awarded additional services rate to be used for deduction amounts will be the one in effect for the base or option period in which the event occurred.”

27. Per RFP Section L3. Instructions for Submitting Proposals, subsection b) 4), we understand that the government will only consider references in which the "offeror" has served as the prime contractor.

a) Will you consider past performance from a team member along with the prime contractor's references (all references where the team member has served as the prime contractor)? OR

b) Will you consider relaxing the requirement to allow for references where the offeror performed as either a prime or subcontractor? GSA only accepts past performance references for Offers who have been the Prime Contractor on the contracts. We cannot relax this requirement.

28. Section C.1 – Scope of Work: Vacancies a) This question was asked during the pre-proposal meeting, but I just wanted to clarify the language in the RFP regarding Vacancies. If an employee takes approved vacation / PTO that lasts for more than 1 day will the Contractor always be obligated to have someone fill-in during the absence or will it depend on the circumstances related to the employee’s total time away from the office? Yes, absences of any kind will result in a deduction; if there is no backfill coverage.

b) Will the Contractor need to submit resumes at the beginning of the engagement for temporary fill-in staff for each of the positions listed in the RFP? Will the fill-in staff have to get security clearances at the start of the engagement, and will those clearances remain in effect even if the person is not engaged daily on the project? The awardee will have time after award to submit resumes for the fill in/back up positions. They will have to get the same security clearance checks as the full time employees.

Those clearances will be in effect until they leave the position.

29. Section H.13.1 – Qualifications for Supervisory Employees. Are Supervisory employees needed or expected for this opportunity? Would the Project Manager be considered a Supervisory employee or is this a separate role? Yes, The Project Manager would be considered a supervisory position within the offeror’s organization.

30. Just would like to confirm, is this project subject to Service Contract Act (SCA) rules and regulations? Yes.