47QFNA25R0001_CBRN_IDIQ_RFP_ Att 1 - RFP QAs_AMEND_1_2025_2_28.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 26 KB Posted
- Attached to
- CBRN Commercial Items IDIQ
- Solicitation number
- 47QFNA25R0001
About this file
This is a Questions and Answers (Q&A) document for RFP 47QFNA25R0001, which is for a Multiple Award IDIQ contract for CBRN Commercial Items. The document provides clarifications on various aspects of the RFP including proposal formatting requirements, OEM relationships, ASSIST system usage, and technical submission requirements.
Key details clarified include: proposals are due March 24, 2025 at 4pm EST with anticipated award in July 2025; the technical volume is limited to 10 pages (excluding title page and table of contents); letters of support/authorization from OEMs can be included as attachments outside the page limit; offerors are not required to have relationships with all OEMs listed in Attachment 5; awarded contractors must provide either a "Bid" or "No Bid" response to all RFQs; the US Army is identified as the biggest user of the current contract; and a new C-SCRM questionnaire will be required within 90 days of award. The Q&A also confirms this is a standalone vehicle, not under OASIS+, and pricing catalogs are not required with proposal submissions.
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RFP Q&A
| RFP Number 47QFNA245R0001 |
| Attachment 1 - Questions and Answers |
| RFP Reference | Contractor Question | Government Answer | |
| 1 | Attachment 5, OEM List | Can the government please provide additional information on the following 3 suppliers? |
Row 30, Honeywell - which division?
| Rows 40, 41 Life Sciences and Lion - can you provide a cage code so that we can accurately identify these OEMs? | Line 30 Honeywell is specific to the Federal Division. Line 40 Life Sciences is Cage Code 5ABV3. Please review Attachment 5 OEM List for updates to the OEMs listed. | |||
| 2 | RFP Section 8. Contract Deliverables | Are the awarded Contractors required to respond to all RFQs? | Awarded Contractors are required to provide a "Bid" or "No Bid" response for each RFQ. A "Bid" response would be in the form of a Quote submitted by the due date. | |
| 3 | RFP Section 11. Order Electronic Invoicing Process | Will GSA provide a user manual and/or work instructions for ASSIST Collaboration for offerors who have not used it before? | Outlined in RFP Letter under Section 11 "It is the responsibility of the contractor to gain access to ASSIST prior to award." GSA will provide assistance as necessary during contract execution. | |
| 4 | RFP Section 11. Order Electronic Invoicing Process | Are there any EDI requirements? | All invoicing will be completed through ASSIST. Outlined in RFP Letter under Section 11 "It is the responsibility of the contractor to gain access to ASSIST prior to award." | |
| 5 | RFP Section 11. Order Electronic Invoicing Process | Will there be any opportunities for direct integration into ASSIST rather than downloading RFQs manually? | All individual delivery order RFQs will be solicited through ASSIST. Each Awardee will have an ASSIST account and have direct access to the Solicitation of the individual delivery order requirement. Outlined in RFP Letter under Section 11 "It is the responsibility of the contractor to gain access to ASSIST prior to award." | |
| 6 | RFP Section 18, a. ii. 1-2. (page 11) | Are the title page and table of contents included with the 10 page limit? | Title Page and Table of Contents is excluded from the 10-page Technical Volume limit. | |
| 7 | RFP Section 18, a. iv.2. (page 12) | Please clarify and provide more detailed instructions regarding the requirement for offerors to identify any major technical issues in sufficient detail for the Government to assess the Contractor’s general understanding of the requirements and to evaluate the proposal technical approach to satisfy the IDIQ requirements. Shall the offerors provide relevant examples of technical issues from past performance? Or shall the offerors identify potential or perceived risks with applicable mitigation plans specific to the SOW? | If the Offeror identifies any perceived or actual risk with regards to fulfilling the requirements of the IDIQ, they are required to provide sufficient details on any mitigation strategy or approach. | |
| 8 | RFP Section 18, a. v.2. (page 12) | Please clarify obligated amount(s) of orders for each year. | In the event Past performance includes any IDIQ vehicles, in addition to the IDIQ ceiling, offerors should also include obligated amounts of delivery order. | |
| 9 | RFP Section 10. Packaging/Labeling Requirements | Does GSA have an estimate for how many orders may require a DD254 form? | The Government does not have an estimate of how many future orders may require a DD254 Form. All Awarded Contractors will be provided all necessary documentation at the order level, if a DD254 Form is required. | |
| 10 | N/A | Is the Contractor allowed to market the CBRND contract to adjacent customers and promote contract expansion? | No outside promotion is allowed for awardees of the IDIQ. | |
| 11 | RFP Letter, Due Date, Page 1 | Will the Government please consider the extending the proposal due date by one week to March 31 to give us more time to collect letters of support or authorization(s) to distribute and/or Authorized reseller documentation from OEMs? | The Government will not be extending the due date for proposals. Proposals are due March 24, 2025 4pm EST. | |
| 12 | RFP Letter, 18. Instructions to Offerors/Proposal Submission Requirements, Page 10 | It will be challenging to cover everything asked for in Volume 1 in 10 pages, especially since we have to address both OEM Management and Past Performance in in addition to our Management Approach in that volume. Will the Government please consider increasing the page limit for Volume 1 to 15 pages? | Letters of support and/or Authorized Reseller documents can be an attachment to the Technical Volume and are not considered part of the 10 Page limit outlined in RFP Letter Section 18, a. | |
| 13 | RFP Letter, 18. Instructions to Offerors/Proposal Submission Requirements, Page 11 | Will the Government please consider allowing offerors to submit the letters of support or authorization(s) to distribute and/or Authorized reseller documentation from the OEMs in an attachment to Volume 1? If so, to facilitate evaluation, suggest the Government require or allow offerors to include 1) a Table of Contents (TOC) in the attachment with page numbers to guide evaluators to the letters or authorization documentation provided by each of the OEMs and 2) an index specifying the type of relationship the offerors have with each of the OEMs. | Letters of support and/or Authorized Reseller documents can be an attachment to the Technical Volume and are not considered part of the 10 Page limit outlined in RFP Letter Section 18, a. | |
| 14 | Attachment 5- OEM List | On the current JPEO CBRND COTS procurement contract, some of the OEMs listed in Attachment 5 we have worked with have referred us to their distributors or resellers to procure products the OEMs manufacture. For OEMs that have operated this way (e.g., Markes International, Qiagen, Sartorius, etc.), can we provide letters of support from the distributors or resellers the OEMs intend to work with on the follow-on JPEO CBRND COTS Procurement contract? | Prospective offerors can submit Letters of authorization or reseller documentation from OEM designated distributors. When submitting these letters, prospective offerors shall include a letter from the OEM that lists the designated distributors. | |
| 17 | RFP Letter | Can the USG confirm that the intended end users will all be U.S. federal agencies? Will the items ever be purchased with the intent to provide them as technical aid to a foreign partner? If so, does the USG disclose the intended end user at the time of task order request for proposal? | Points of contract are specific for each Delivery Order. End users will be identified for specific Delivery Orders at time of solicitation if deemed necessary by JPEO CBRND. | |
| 18 | RFP Letter - Instructions to Offerors/Proposal Submission Requirements | Can the contractor be permitted to submit a proposal that contains one page in horizontal orientation/with different dimensions to accommodate a graphic? | Yes, as long as it adheres to all other formatting requirements and page limits. | |
| 19 | SOW 1. Background | Which USG customers are the biggest users of the current contract? | US Army | |
| 20 | RFP Letter | When does GSA anticipate award of the IDIQ contract? | The anticipated award date of this solicitation is July 2025. | |
| 22 | Att 5 OEM List | When the Government states there is no page count for Attachment 5 under OEM Management, does this include all documentation that an offeror may provide to support the Attachment 5 spreadsheet? | Letters of support and/or Authorized Reseller documents can be an attachment to the Technical Volume and are not considered part of the 10 Page limit outlined in RFP Letter Section 18, a. | |
| 23 | Proposal | The Government has stipulated 11-point font, but did not specify a font type. Does the Government have a preferred font type? | The font shall be no smaller than Times New Roman 11-point font. | |
| 24 | Attachment 5- OEM List | Is there a minimum number of OEM relationships that contractors must establish to be considered for award? | Offerors are not required to have a relationship with all the vendors identified on Attachment #5. Offerors must identify which OEMs listed in Attachment #5 they have an established relationship. The Government will evaluate Offerors against the provided evaluation criteria. | |
| 26 | RFP para. 18.a.i.2, page 10 | Instructions to Offeror for Volume 1 indicate a 10 page limit. Would the Government place the Introduction section of Volume 1 outside the 10 page limit? | The introduction section for Volume 1 counts toward the 10 page limit outlined in Paragraph 18.a.i.2. | |
| 27 | RFP para. 18.a.iii, page 11 and Q&A Attachment 1 | In the Q&A released with the updated RFP, the answer to question 9 states "Offerors are not required to have a relationship with all the vendors identified on Attachment #5. Offerors must identify which OEMs listed in Attachment #5 they have an established relationship." The RFP instructions state, "The contractor shall provide documentation identifying an established relationship with any and all OEMs listed in Attachment 5." Please clarify if letters of support/authorization are required for each OEM listed in Attachment 5. | Offerors are not required to have a relationship with all the vendors identified on Attachment #5. Offerors must identify which OEMs listed in Attachment #5 they have an established relationship. The Government will evaluate Offerors against the provided evaluation criteria. | |
| 28 | RFP para. 18.a.v, page 12 | Past Performance asks for contracts and/or delivery orders completed within the past five years. Can we use contracts and/or delivery orders that are not yet completed but have a period of performance within the past five years? | Yes | |
| 29 | RFP para. 18.a.v, page 12 | Past Performance 6a and b ask for the number of orders awarded to the offeror for each year and the obligated amount(s) of orders for each year. Is this meant to be determined by contract years or calendar years from the RFP release date? | In the event Past performance includes any IDIQ vehicles, please include the numbers of order awarded during each year of performance and include obligated amounts of delivery orders. | |
| 30 | Attachment 5 OEM List | Honeywell, RAE Systems, and MultiRAE are all listed on the OEM list. Since RAE Systems is part of Honeywell, and MultiRAE is a product under RAE Systems, will an LOA for Honeywell suffice for all three entities? | Please review Attachment 5 OEM List for updates to the OEMs listed. | |
| 31 | Attachment 5 OEM List | RedWave is listed on the OEM list but was acquired by 908 Devices. Because 908 Devices also requires an LOA, can RedWave be removed from the requirement? | Please review Attachment 5 OEM List for updates to the OEMs listed. | |
| 32 | Attachment 5 OEM List | APPI Technology falls under ITL Solutions. They’ve requested that the LOA be issued from ITL Solutions, not APPI Technology. | Please review Attachment 5 OEM List for updates to the OEMs listed. | |
| 33 | 18. Instructions to Offerors/Proposal Submission Requirements | The RFP indicates that the Technical Volume "Must not exceed ten (10) pages in length." However, the volume contains three main sections, including past performance, which is typically allotted two or three pages for each example (IAW with traditional GSA standards). Compliance with 9 pages of SOW requirements, Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM), and regulatory compliance (e.g., Section 508) require comprehensive writeups to provide fully compliant proposals that will be difficult to provide within the 10 page limit. |
| Q. To provide a level playing field (especially for non-incumbents), would the government please consider increasing page count to 20 pages, or increase page limits for some sections, such as past performance? | Please note the following: The title page and table of contents are not included in the 10-page limit. Letters of support and/or Authorized Reseller documents can be an attachment to the Technical Volume and are not considered part of the 10 Page limit outlined in RFP Letter Section 18, a. A C-SCRM Plan is not required for proposal submission. | ||
| 34 | 18. Instructions to Offerors/Proposal Submission Requirements | The text requirements indicate that "Text font must be no smaller than 11-point; however, limited text included on figures, charts and/or matrices may be reduced to 8-point." |
| Q. Would the government confirm that this formatting requirement also applies to tables as well? | Yes | ||
| 36 | 20. Evaluation Factors and Basis for Award | The RFP indicates that "OEM Relationship Management: The Government will evaluate documentation that demonstrates an established relationship with any and all OEMs provided in Attachment 4." |
Q. Because OEMs are referenced in Attachment 5, would the government clarify that this section references Attachment 5? The OEM List is under Attachment 5
Draft RFP Q&A
| RFP Number 47QFNA245R0001 |
| Draft RFP Questions and Answers |
| RFP Reference | Contractor Question | Government Answer | |
| 1 | RFP Letter | For incumbent contract holders who have previously submitted a Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Assessment (C-SCRM) Plan, will a new Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Assessment (C-SCRM) Plan be required upon award? | If awarded a new C-SCRM questionaire and documentation will be required NLT 90 days after award. |
| 2 | IDIQ Catalog | How should we address any obsolete part numbers? Would you like it noted that they are no longer available and/or provide alternate options with the same form, fit, and function? | Attachment #4 IDIQ Catalog is only included as a reference for the types of items historically purchased on the IDIQ. Pricing will not be required for this proposal. |
| 3 | IDIQ Catalog | There are a few shipping lines on the catalog attachment, but not for every item. Should pricing be provided? Will the task order state when the shipping will be FOB Origin? | Attachment #4 IDIQ Catalog is only included as a reference for the types of items historically purchased on the IDIQ. Pricing will not be required for this proposal. Each Delivey Order will specify delivery instructions. |
| 4 | Statement of Work | Does the Government anticipate any of the awarded Task Orders with DOD Order Ratings? | The Government does not anticipate utilizing DOD Order Ratings. |
| 5 | IDIQ Catalog/SOW | The SOW states that the scope includes Ancillary Training and Services. What is the scope of those services under the contract and how will they be solicitied in future Task orders. | Ancillary Training and Services will be related to the items being procured on specific delivery orders. |
| 6 | RFP Letter | Will GSA consider releasing a complete section L & M with evaluation criteria of the requirement in draft form to afford industry time to evaluate and ask related questions prior to release of a final proposal? | Sections L&M are both contained in the RFP letter |
| 7 | Att 5 OEM List & RFP Letter | Are we afforded the ability to draft an executive summary up to 3 pages that would precede OEM list response introducing our overarching strategy and approach for the solicitation? | Offerors may draft an executive summary to be provided with their proposal submission, however it will be counted against their page total. |
| 8 | RFP Letter Page 3 | The Draft solicitation discusses a 1 year contract with 4 one year options. Is the government open to a 1 year contract with 9 one year options? | The anticipated period of performance for this IDIQ is 1 base year and 4 option years. |
| 9 | RFP Letter Page 11 | The OEM Relationship Management portion of the RFP Letter discusses Letters of support. Will the government require 100% coverage of all suppliers in the OEM list to consider the offer responsive or what percent coverage will the government accept as responsive? | Offerors are not required to have a relationship with all the vendors identified on Attachment #5. Offerors must identify which OEMs listed in Attachment #5 they have an established relationship. The Government will evaluate Offerors against the provided evaluation criteria. |
| 10 | Will the solicitation allow for delivery orders requiring the use of DD254 documents in the case that subcontractors are required clearances to access government documents, spaces, and equipment to perform their work? | Delivery Orders that will require a DD254 will be handled at the Delivery Order level and not at the IDIQ contract level. | |
| 11 | SOW Page 1 | The govenrment allows for Unmanned vehicles in the Statement of Work. Is it possible to alos include Manned vehicles that have a CBRN mission? | The Government will not include Manned vehicles within the Statement of Work |
| 12 | SOW Page 1 | The statement of work allows for Personal Protective Equipment. Can bulk PPE raw material be included in the statement of work so customers can cut and sew the finished product themselves? | Bulk Raw Materials will not be included in the Statement of Work for this IDIQ. The purpose of this IDIQ is to procure Commercial Items, not manufacture. |
| 13 | SOW Page 1 | The statement of work mentions medical but there is no medical category. Can a medical category of products be included to allow for medical kits, refills, and the associated components? | Commercial Items may be updated throughout the period of performance of the contract. Attachment #4 IDIQ Catalog is included as a reference and can be updated through the period of performance of the IDIQ. |
| 14 | C-SCRM | As cybersecurity requirements continue to mature and the anticipated FAR Subpart 40.1 and 40.3 release, how will updates be incorporated into the contract extensions--addendums? Should we expect these to be treated as progressive changes during contract actions? | If awarded a new C-SCRM questionaire and documentation will be required NLT 90 days after award. If there are additional requirements, the Government will incoporate these at the IDIQ level for all holders through a contract modification and at the Delivery Order level, if applicable. |
| 15 | Catalog Additions | Are alternative products/services which meet the criteria able to compete? If so, what is the process for alternative solutions? | Alternate products shall be considered at the individual Delivery Order level. Only if the required items are not available in sufficient quantities. |
| 16 | Catalog List | Is this a partial list or the full FY'25 list? We noticed that Malvern is listed in the catalog but not on the Letter of Authorization list. Shall we assume this is just an example of the lists? Additionally, we have supported this program by providing products and services from other vendors like Rigaku, Waters Corp, Anton Paar, Showa Group, Peak Scientific... | Attachment #4 IDIQ Catalog is only included as a reference for the types of items historically purchased on the IDIQ. The catalog is an example of the catalog to be included on contract. |
| 17 | Will the RFP be issued under OASIS+ or another GSA vehicle? | This IDIQ will be a standalone vehicle. Delivery Orders will be competed among the IDIQ holders and awarded individually for each requirement. | |
| 18 | Confirming that there is no pricing requested for proposal submission. | Pricing will not be required for this proposal. | |
| 19 | Solicitation Attachments | The attachments are numbered with naming ATT 1-7, however, there is no ATT 3. Is this document missing? | Attachment 3 will be included in the Final RFP release. |
| 20 | RFP Letter- Page 5, Paragraph B | Since price will not be evaluated, will offerors be required to submit priced catalogs with their proposals? Or, will awardees be required to submit a priced catalogs within XX days after award and before they can respond to RFQs? If priced catalogs will be required to be submitted with proposals, will the Government consider giving offerors at least 45 days and preferably 60 days to respond to the RFP? | Pricing catalogs will not be required with proposal submission, nor will it be evaluated if provided by an offeror. |
| 21 | RFP Letter- Page 12, Section 18, Paragraph V | Can the Government confirm that contractors may submit entire IDIQ contracts, such as the current JPEO CBRND GSA COTS contract, as past performances? | Contractors may submit entire IDIQ contracts if they are completed within the past five (5) years which are similar in size and scope to this IDIQ. |
| 22 | Attachment 5- OEM List | Some companies on the list have proven to be difficult to work with and have not provided quotes when requested. Does the Government have any plans to eliminate these non-responsive companies from the list? The list of OEMs and vendors we are submitting with these questions identifies (by highlighting in red) a couple of vendors who have a history of not responding to requests for quotes. | Attachment #5 has been reviewed and consolidated. The updates will be included in the Final RFP posting. Offerors are not required to have a relationship with all the vendors identified on Attachment #5. Offerors must identify which OEMs listed in Attachment #5 they have an established relationship. The Government will evaluate Offerors against the provided evaluation criteria. |
| 23 | Attachment 5- OEM List- Attachment 5 | Will the Government be providing points of contact for the OEM List or will offerors have to identify them? | Offerors will be required to reach out to the OEMs. The Government will not provide any POCs for the RFP. |
| 24 | RFP Letter- Page 12, Paragraph iv. Management Approach. #3 | Much like the requirement for the C-SCRM questionnaire and plan, would the Government accept submission of the 508 compliance narrative 90 days after contract award rather than requiring them to be submitted with the proposal? | Evidence of 508 compliance will be required at the time of proposal submission. |
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .