47QTCB20R0005 Questions and Responses_5.pdf

8(a) STARS III Questions and Responses Number 5

Thank you for your interest in the 8(a) STARS III GWAC. GSA is providing the following responses to questions received regarding RFP 47QTCB20R0005 which are related to submitting offers via the STARS III Offer Portal but not addressed in the previously issued question and response documents. Please review those as well.

General Topics

Question Response

Q1) Do the document margin requirements listed in L.12.1 apply to all documents, including FDPS and SAM reports, award documents and other PDF documents from government systems or other sources?

The guidance at L.12.1 (1) through L.12.1(6) applies to ‘offeror created’ content such as the optional cover page, subcontractor letter(s) of commitment, the cybersecurity and SCRM assessment, an adverse past performance narrative, the professional employee compensation plan and the uncompensated overtime policy. It does not apply to GSA provided attachments (J-6, J-7, J-8 or J-9) or “existing” supporting documents required by L.17 and L.18 such as reports from FPDS-NG or SAM.gov.

Q2) If we acknowledge the Amendments on the SF33, do we also sign the SF30s and include them with our offer?

Acknowledge RFP amendments in block 14 of the SF33 only. There is no requirement to sign and return the SF30s as well.

Q3) If we submit our proposal via the portal before the due date, but then find that we need to make a change to an uploaded document, are we able to re-submit our proposal in the portal?

You can revise your offer up to the offer due date. However, you cannot edit or change a document once it is uploaded. You will need to upload a revised document. Additionally, the portal will not accept two files with the same name, so add “v2” or something similar to clearly identify the latest version.

Q4) Should J-6 list the document name itself or include the various revision numbers in the file name?

J-6 should reflect the full file name of all offer documents being submitted. Also refer to Q3.

Q5) In the portal under the general category there is not a mentor-protege category type.

What do I select to upload mentor/protege related documents?

Upload a mentor-protege agreement and the SBA approval letter as well as the associated joint venture agreement under the joint venture agreement category type. Follow the file naming conventions at L.12.2.

Q6) FAR 52.204-24 is confusing. Please provide clearer guidance:

Assisting in the interpretation of this representation is not the role of the STARS III Team. Please see the following link for Section 889 Part B guidance, https://www.acquisition.gov/FAR-Case-2019- 009/889_Part_B

Q7) Can you provide further clarification on the filling out of Attachment J-10

Completing and returning Attachment J-10 is the way offerors should provide their representations and certifications contained in Section K of the RFP. The highlights were simply to draw your attention to the locations where a representation is located.

Determining how to represent is an offeror responsibility.

Q8) If we answer that we "do not" provide covered telecommunications equipment or services in FAR 52.204-26 section c, do we also have to fill in the representation at FAR 52.204-24 (d)(1) and (d)(2)?

Because FAR 52.204-24 (AUG 2020) is a new provision, it includes representations which are not covered by FAR 52.204-26 which is dated AUG 2019. Also refer to Q6 and Q7.

Q9) As we finalize our pricing proposal for the GSA STARS III submission, we are trying to determine if the pricing should be based on a 1920 hour year or an 1880 hour year.

It seems like the question frames the issue from a payroll standpoint. There is no requirement in L.19 to base your labor rates on a set number of hours per year.

Q10) Why is the deadline to register for the offer portal earlier than when offers are due?

There is an administrative processing time associated with creating an offer portal account and ensuring the offeror has access to the portal before offers are due.

Q11) Is J-11 a required template or are we allowed to create our own Cybersecurity and SCRM Assessment based on the requirements of L.16?

A Cybersecurity and SCRM Assessment is required; but, using J-11 as a template is not required. It was provided as a starting point for the offeror’s assessment. Refer to L.16 for the submission requirement and M.6 for the evaluation criteria.

Q12) We noticed there was no "SUBMIT" button for all our files. We can see they have been successfully uploaded, but wanted to be sure there were no final steps we needed to take to ensure GSA received the files.

There is no final “Submit” action. Offerors should review a list of documents in 8(a) STARS III Active Documents under the Proposal Management Tab to ensure all proposal files have been uploaded. Refer to the Offer Portal User Guide v2.

https://www.acquisition.gov/FAR-Case-2019-009/889_Part_B https://www.acquisition.gov/FAR-Case-2019-009/889_Part_B

Q13) We are awaiting validation of our CAGE Code. Will the government allow prospective offerors submit a proposal with a status of "Submitted" in the SAM.gov system?

Refer to FAR 52.204-7.

Q14) We submitted questions via email before the deadline for questions but they have not been addressed in the published Q&A posted on beta.sam.gov.

Although the question and response (Q&R) documents posted to beta.sam.gov may not have included the exact language of all questions submitted, we believe we have addressed the topics related to all inquiries unless the conditions outlined in the first page of each Q&R document as well as at L.7.3 in the RFP applied.

Q15) Attachment J-7, REP Template, only allows me to select one claimed emerging technology (ET) area, but the project I am submitting includes work in several ET areas.

Will the government allow offerors to enter more than one ET area?

No. Select the ET area that most accurately aligns with the work performed, then use Part III to describe the work in greater detail.