47QTCB20R0005 Questions and Responses_3.pdf

8(a) STARS III Questions and Responses Number 3

Thank you for your interest in the 8(a) STARS III GWAC. GSA is providing the following responses to questions received regarding RFP 47QTCB20R0005. Please also review the STARS III Highlights posted with the pre-solicitation notice on Jun 22, 2020, as well as the questions and responses posted on July 6 and July 17, 2020. Many of the questions received to date are clearly addressed in the documents already available to potential offerors.

In addressing questions it is the Government’s position that if the response to a question is self-evident in the Request for Proposals (RFP), the response to a question may simply be that the RFP already addresses the matter in the manner the Government intended for it to be addressed, or “The RFP is clear”.

While hundreds of questions have been submitted and considered, a response will not be provided for every question received. Only questions which were deemed frequently asked and/or those deemed to benefit the procurement process are shown. Where the response to a question indicates the reader should consider the response to a previous question, that reference encompasses both the previous question and the response to it, not just the response.

While these responses may include one or more specific RFP passages, interested parties are reminded that the RFP, including all attachments and amendments, serves as the official guidance regarding STARS III proposal preparation.

Questions and responses are organized into the topic areas shown below. Interested parties stand to benefit from reviewing all questions and responses, including previous question and response documents.

● Eligibility

● Relevant Experience

● Past Performance

● Evaluation Criteria

● General topics

Questions regarding STARS III may still be sent to S3@gsa.gov for potential inclusion in a future Questions/Responses document. Inquiries directed elsewhere (including items submitted via the US Postal Service or other delivery service) are not official, might not be received, and may go unaddressed. TELEPHONE INQUIRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

As a reminder, STARS III will use a web-based portal for proposal submission. The offer portal is the ONLY method of proposal submission. Please follow the portal registration and offer submission instructions in Section L as well as the STARS III Offer Portal User Guide (v2) provided as an attachment to the STARS III RFP on beta.Sam.gov.

mailto:S3@gsa.gov

Eligibility

Question Response

Q1) The questions and responses posted on July 17, 2020 say an 8(a) firm is not eligible to receive an award as a Prime and as part of a Joint Venture. Please remove this restriction.

STARS III GWAC is a total set-aside for 8(a) firms. As such, 8(a) program eligibility determinations are within the purview of the SBA, not the GSA.

Q2) We have paused our 8(a) certification by invoking the COVID 19 voluntary suspension option. Do we have to revoke the voluntary suspension before we turn in the proposal?

8(a) firms must be in good standing at the time their offer is submitted. Any firm who has elected to be voluntarily suspended must lift the suspension prior to submitting an offer for

STARS III.

Q3) What constitutes clear and convincing evidence of the SBA approved mentor-protege relationship that must be submitted with the offer according to L.9.6.1?

Submit the SBA Mentor-Protégé Agreement and the SBA approval letter to meet the requirement at L.9.6.

Q4) There is a backlog in processing Mentor-Protege agreements. Please remove the requirements at L.9.6.

GSA does not have the authority to change or waive this SBA requirement.

Q5) There is a backlog in processing DUNS number requests and SAM.gov registrations.

Can we submit an offer without an active SAM.gov record?

An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM at the time an offer is submitted. Refer to

FAR 52.204-7.

Relevant Experience

Q1) For a commercial contract, a contract or subcontract without a NAICS code, or when FPDS-NG reflects a NAICS code that is not listed at L.17.4.1 but the work performed was an IT service, can the project be submitted to demonstrate Relevant Experience?

Yes, if the project meets the requirements of L.17 and verification is provided through the method identified within L.17.4.2

Q2) Can we electronically highlight or tag the part of the SOW or PWS which identifies the IT service being provided?

Use the Project Description field of J-7 to identify where the information is located in the supporting documents, but highlighting or tagging it as well is allowable.

Q3) Can we edit J-7 to remove text and make more space for our project description?

Only enter the required/requested data in the locations indicated on the template.

Amendment 02 increased the page limit on J-7 to three pages and adjusted the instructions at Part III: Project Description..

Q4) Can a project submitted by a firm offering as a prime contractor also be used if the same firm is also a proposed subcontractor for a different offeror, or can it be submitted by more than one firm if multiple firms have the same proposed subcontractor?

There is no specific prohibition in the RFP in regards to this. Also refer to L.10 for special instructions for proposed subcontractors and H.12.3 for related contract performance requirements.

Q5) We have several orders issued against a BPA/IDIQ where the work performed was an IT service. All orders are less than $100,000 but the cumulative amount is over $900,000.

Will this meet the requirement for a REP and/or a scope sub area?

No. Multiple orders against an IDIQ/BPA can not be combined to meet the REP thresholds at L.17.3 or the sub-scope requirements at L.17.7 or L.17.8.

Past Performance

Q1) If we are a subcontractor to a Prime who is performing a U.S. government contract, should the past performance survey (Attachment J-8) be signed by a Corporate Official of the company or the government Contracting Officer, or Contracting Officer’s Representative, or Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative?

A subcontract would be considered a commercial project, so J-8 should be signed by a Corporate Officer/Official of the customer with cognizance over the submitted project. Refer to L.18.4.2.2

Evaluation Criteria

Q1) Will the Government provide Not to Exceed (NTE) labor rates and/or the Dept of Labor BLS rates for each labor category to ensure the offered prices are not determined to be unreasonable?

Establishing offered labor rates is a business decision. NTE rates and/or BLS rates will not be provided.

Q2) Section M.4.2 states that the type of Emerging Technology (ET) used in the offeror’s Relevant Experience Project must come from the list in that same section. This seems to contradict section C.2.1.5 which uses the phrase ‘but not limited to’. Will the government please clarify if the Emerging Technology project must meet the requirements of M.4.2 or the broader description of ET in section C.2.1?

Experience in one of the seven emerging technology areas listed in L.17.7 is required for an award in the Emerging Technology scope sub-area, which supports a common basis for offer evaluation. Also refer to Question 1 in the Relevant Experience section of the Question and Response document issued on July 6, 2020.

Q3) For a Joint Venture or Mentor-Protege, should the Cybersecurity and SCRM assessment (L.16), Professional Employee Compensation Plan (L.22), and the Uncompensated Overtime Policy (L.23) be submitted by each of the members of the JV or should we provide a consolidated submission for the JV which addresses all elements for all members of the joint venture.

As stated in L.9.4, “... it is the joint venture as a whole, and not the individual members, that submits the information required of offerors.”

It is understood that these joint venture documents may make reference to and/or incorporate assessments/plans/policies of the individual JV members.

Q4) It is understood that each JV member has to submit a SAM record and solicitation Reps and Certs. Does the JV entity also need to submit its SAM record and Solicitation Reps and Certs under its name?

Yes. Refer to L.9.5 and L.21. The required documents for the offeror and all JV members should be combined into a single file to upload into the offer portal.

Q5) How do I fill out J-11? J-11 is not intended to be exhaustive or complete, but rather to serve as a starting point for your submission. The required content is stated at L.16 and the evaluation criteria is at M.6. Base your submission on the requirement and the stated evaluation criteria rather than ‘filling in’ J-11.

General Topics

Q1) We registered in the Offer Portal under the name of the 8(a) Managing Venturer. Is it necessary to re-register under the name of our JV?

Portal registration should be based on the legal name and DUNS number of the offering entity. Each offering entity needs to have a unique portal registration.

Q2) We are in the process of forming a JV to submit an offer in response to the STARS III RFP. Can we register for the offer portal without a DUNS number and without having an active SAM registration?

If your DUNS number/SAM registration is pending, you may register for the offer portal using 000000000 but you must have an active registration in SAM at the time of offer submission. Refer to FAR 52.204-7.

Q3) What metric will be used to assess participation in the STARS III ordering process required at H.12.1?

Participation in the STARS III ordering process will be assessed using the Minimum Contract Sales requirement at H.12.2.

Q4) Are successful Prime offerors allowed to use subcontractors at the Task Order level if the subcontractors were not identified in the Master Contract bid?

Teaming with a proposed subcontractor for the purpose of submitting an offer does not limit post award subcontracting decisions by a successful offeror. Refer to G.16 and L.10.4. During post-award performance, STARS III primes will have to comply with FAR 52.219-14, Limitation on Subcontracting (G.16) and submit an annual subcontracting report (G.19)

Q5) Should offer documents which require a signature be signed digitally or is a handwritten signature required ?

Digital signatures and handwritten signatures are both acceptable.

Q6) If my firm exits the 8(a) Program during the first five years of the STARS III GWAC will we be eligible for the option?

Not being an active participant in the 8(a) Program is one of several conditions which will prevent a STARS III contractor from receiving the option. Refer to H.12.3.

Q7) Since Cybersecurity and CMMC certification standards and processes are still being developed, please clarify the CMMC requirements in Sections H and L.

There are no offer evaluation criteria which require an offeror to have CMMC, or any other industry credential. As stated in Section H offerors are encouraged to begin preparing for future accreditation requirements. The requirement at L.16 is an assessment, and the evaluation criteria are outlined at M.6.

Q8) Will GSA acknowledge receipt of offers? The GSA will not acknowledge receipt of offer documents. Refer to the Offer Portal User Guide (v2) for instructions on how to use the Proposal Management Tab and Active Document Tab to manage documents in the portal.

Q9) Will the GSA use a single contract for the master contract scope and the scope sub-areas listed in C.2 for which an offeror qualifies, or will separate contracts be used?

GSA reserves the right to use a single contract for the main and any sub-area(s) awarded to the same legal entity.

Q10) Are current STARS II contractors who have graduated from the SBA 8(a) program restricted from teaming or subcontracting with a current SBA 8(a) certified contractor that will be submitting a proposal for the STARS

III GWAC?

STARS III offerors may make their own business decisions on teaming based on the

RFP.

Q11) What information are you expecting in the Cover Page? Can we have one Cover Letter and also add a Cover Page for every separate document upload to the portal (multiple cover pages).

A cover letter is neither required or desired.

The optional cover page affords the offeror an opportunity to identify proprietary data in accordance with L.11 and FAR 52.215-1.

Including other information is at the offeror’s discretion. Also refer to L12 and Q5 in the General section of the Question and Response document issued on July 17, 2020

Q12) Should offerors submit the SAM FAR report or the DFARS report to meet L.21.

Submit the FAR Report.