Attachment 3-RFQ Question Matrix_Government Responses_4_8_2021.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 23 KB Posted
- Attached to
- NCSES Technical and Analytical Support Services Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 49100421Q0050
About this file
This document contains a solicitation for technical and analytical support services for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. The solicitation seeks proposals for an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity multiple award contract to provide expert analytic and technical support on tasks involving science and technology issues. Services may include survey development, statistical analysis, data visualization, database management, and workshop organization. The period of performance is a five-year base period with one five-year option. Proposals are due by April 8, 2021 and oral presentations will take place from May through July 2021, with award by September 2021. The small business subcontracting goal is 17.5% of total contract value. Key personnel requirements and labor category rates are included for the base and option years.
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Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Attachment 1_SOW_Appendix D.pdf | ||
| Attachment 1_SOW_Appendix C.pdf | ||
| NCSES Analytical and Technical Support IDIQ_Solicitation_Final_Amendment 1.pdf | ||
| Attachment 3-RFQ Question Matrix.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment 2-Key Personnel Qualifications_Final.pdf | ||
| Attachment 1_IDIQ SOW_Final.pdf | ||
| NCSES Analytical and Technical Support IDIQ_Solicitation_Final.pdf |
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Acquisition Related Q&A
| ATTACHMENT 3-RFQ QUESTION MATRIX | ||||
| 1 | Question [Input by Potential Quoter] | Request for Quote (RFQ) Reference [Input by Potential Quoter] | Response to Question [Provided by Government] | Change to RFQ based on Government Response [Provided by Government] |
| KEY PERSONNEL RELATED QUESTIONS | |||||
| 1 | Please confirm if there is a limit on the number of resumes that can be provided. | Phase I, Factor 3: "The quoter shall provide resumes for all Key Personnel listed in Attachment 2-Key Personnel Qualifications. Resumes shall not exceed three (3) pages each" (Instructions to Offerors, p. 20). | Quoters shall provide a minimum of one (1) resume and a maximum of two (2) resumes for each of the eight (8) Key Personnel positions listed in Attachment 2-Key Personnel Qualifications. | N/A | |
| 2 | Would NSF allow resumes to be organized under some framework (i.e., Table of Contents)? If so, would the Table of Contents count towards the page count? | Phase I, Factor 3: "Provide any differentiators that set your company apart, including experience, equipment, personnel, and facilities? This response is limited to two pages." | |||
| "The quoter shall provide resumes for all Key Personnel listed in Attachment 2-Key Personnel Qualifications. Resumes shall not exceed three (3) pages each" (Instructions to Offerors, p. 20). | Page 19 of RFQ has been amended to include a Table of Contents. | See Revised RFQ, Page 19. | |||
| 3 | The Key Personnel positions NSF provided may vary per task order. Please confirm if these categories will be determined as contractually key or non-key on a per task order basis rather than at the IDIQ contract level. | Attachment II - Key Personnel Qualifications | The positions outlined in Attachment 2 will be considered Key Personnel at the IDIQ level and will flow-down to the individual task order level. | N/A | |
| 4 | The RFP indicates the Key Personnel categories will be labor categories for the life of the contract; however, they are very limited. What will the process be for adding labor categories that become necessary as task orders are released? | Attachment II - Key Personnel Qualifications | Attachment 2 only includes Key Personnel positions. Quoters shall include other positions as they determine to be necessary to complete the work; these non-key personnel positions shall be included in the quote for the IDIQ. | N/A | |
| 5 | Is there a limit to the number of resumes that may be submitted? | Solicitation p. 20 | See response to Question #1 | N/A | |
| 6 | For Attachment 2 – Key Personnel, are we allowed to submit more than one resume per key personnel category? | Attachment 2 - Key Personnel | See response to Question #1. | N/A | |
| 7 | It is unclear in which section Key Personnel resumes should be included. Per the second table on page 19 of the RFQ, resumes are listed for both Factors 2 and 3. On page 20, resumes are requested as part of Factor 3 but not Factor 2. Should resumes for Key Personnel be included in Factor 2 instead of Factor 3? |
| If resumes are to be included in Factor 3, can NSF verify what type of information, if any, it expects to see in Factor 2? Between the requirements listed in the second table on page 19 and on page 20, it is unclear what information offerors should provide for Factor 2. | RFQ pp. 19-20 | Key Personnel Resumes shall be included as part of Factor 3; See edits to RFQ, pages 19-20 | See Revised RFQ, pages 19-20 | ||
| 8 | Are offerors permitted to submit more than one person for a Key Personnel position? | N/A | See response to Question #1. | N/A | |
| 9 | Are offerors permitted to suggest additional Key Personnel labor categories? | N/A | Offerors are permitted to propose additional Key Personnel labor categories. | N/A | |
| 10 | Would NSF allow offerors to include letters of commitment along with resumes? If so, would these letters be exempt from the resume page limit restrictions? | N/A | Letters of Commitment are not required at this time. | N/A |
| PAST PERFORMANCE RELATED QUESTIONS | ||||
| 11 | This section indicates that the description of projects should include “any associated formal performance evaluation”. Should quoters summarize the content of any performance evaluations or simply indicate whether the client produced a formal performance evaluation and if so, whether it included a CPARS assessment? | Solicitation p. 20, Phase I, Factor 1: Corporate Experience | Please indicate whether the client produced a formal performance evaluation, and if so, whether it was captured in a CPARS assessment. | N/A |
| 12 | When including any associated formal performance evaluations, how should the evaluations be presented (e.g., links to site where available, attachments, or other)? | Phase 1, Factor 1 | Please indicate where the formal evalutions can be located (i.e.-CPARS assessment) | N/A |
| 13 | For Past Performance, is a response required, or will the Past Performance information be gathered by NSF/NCSES based on quoter's response to Corporate Experience? | Phase 1, Factor 2 | Past Performance will be gathered by NSF based on information provided in the corporate experience section. | N/A |
| 14 | If Past Performance will be separate from Corporate Experience, is there a required number of projects to list? | Phase 1, Factor 2 | Please see page 20 of the RFQ that has been updated to three (3) projects for Corporate Experience; the three (3) projects will be used to obtain past performance information. | See Revised RFQ, page 20. |
| 15 | If Past Performance is separate from Corporate Experience, does NSF/NCSES request a summary write-up for Past Performance, or is it sufficient to provide a list of projects and points of contact? | Phase 1, Factor 2 | The information/projects/point of contact listed for Corporate Experience will be used by NSF to gather past performance information; the past performance section can be left blank; past performance is a factor. | N/A |
| 16 | Does NSF/NCSES request a summary write-up for past performance, or is it sufficient to provide a list of projects and points of contact? | Phase 1, Factor 2 | See response to Question #15. | N/A |
| 17 | Is the Past Performance section a place for only contact details related to Past Experiences provided or should the projects described in two sections be unique? | Past Performance instructions | See response to Question #15. | N/A |
| CORPORATE EXPERIENCE RELATED QUESTIONS | |||||
| 18 | The Corporate Experience Factor (Phase I, Factor 1) states that "the quoter shall provide a summary of recent (last three years) and relevant projects completed." Is it acceptable to include projects where work is ongoing? | Solicitation p. 19 | Yes, it is aceptable to include projects where work is on-going as part of corporate experience. | N/A | |
| 19 | Does NSF/NCSES request a summary write-up for Corporate Experience, or is it sufficient to provide a list of projects and points of contact? | Phase 1, Factor 1 | Please see page 20 of the RFQ | N/A | |
| 20 | For Corporate Experience, is there a required number of projects to list? | Phase 1, Factor 1 | Page 20 of the RFQ has been updated to require three (3) projects. | See Revised RFQ, Page 20. | |
| 21 | Within the instructions for Corporate Experience the NSF is requesting a summary of recent (last 3 years) relevant projects completed to include how each project is relevant, the period of performance (recency), the clients POC information, and any associated formal evaluations. With that being said can the NSF clarify what they would like provided in the proposal for Factor 2 past performance section. We are for clarification because Factor 1 Corporate experience specifically calls out most items we would normally provide in our proposal packages for past performance sections and we do not want to duplicate information, our understanding is that this section of the proposal will be left blank is this a correct assumption? | Phase I, Factor 1: Corporate Experience, The quoter shall provide a summary of recent (last three years) and relevant projects completed. The summary shall establish the recency and relevance of the cited project. It shall also include the points of contact (phone number and email address) for the client, the contract/order number (if applicable), and any associated formal performance evaluations. This section shall not exceed three pages. Please note: Quoters may provide references either as a prime contractor or a subcontractor and there are no restrictions on submissions of corporate experience as an affiliate or subsidiary so long as the summary clearly details how the affiliated concerns would contribute meaningfully to contract performance. Phase I, Factor 2: Past Performance | |||
| The NSF will review past performance related to the projects submitted as corporate experience. NSF may choose to review past performance databases (e.g. CPARS), call project points of contact, or use any other method of obtaining information to assess past performance. | See Response to Question #13. | N/A |
| ORAL PRESENTATION RELATED QUESTIONS | |||||
| 22 | The criteria refers to a 90 minute presentation, and then notes it as an hour. Please confirm if the oral presentation will be one hour or 90 minutes. | Phase II, Factor 5: "The oral presententation will be 90 minutes long. Prior to the start of the 90 minutes, there will be a short period to allow for introductions. At the conclusion of the hour...." (Instructions to Offerors, p. 21). | The oral presentation will be 60 minutes for the presentation; 15 minutes for the government to convene; and 15 minutes for questions/answers; total time is 90 minutes; RFQ, page 21 has been updated accordingly. | See Revised RFQ, page 21. | |
| 23 | We understand that NCSES will provide additional guidance to offeres that are selected for Phase II. However, we are hoping NSF would provide some clarification at this time about the duration of the Oral Presentation. | ||||
| The Instructions to Offerors states that “oral presentation will be 90 minutes long” but also states “At the conclusion of the hour, the NSF evaluation team will meet for 15 minutes to determine if there are any followup questions requireed”. Would NSF be willing to clarify at this time, whether there would be 90 for the initial presentation, or whether the 90 minutes is made up of the 60 minutes of presentation, 15 minutes of NSF internal meeting, and an additional 15 minutes of questions if necessary? | Solicitation p. 21, Phase II, Factor 5: Oral Presentation of the IDIQ | See Response to Question #22. | N/A | ||
| 24 | Will the three Task Order Statements of Work presented for the oral presentations be sample orders or orders available for award? | 49100421Q0050, IDIQ Solicitation Document, Page 21, Instructions to Offerors | Currently, the SOWs for the three sample task orders are for oral presentation purposes only. The work outlined in the sample task orders are indicative of the type of work NSF is responsible for on a regular and re-occurring basis. | N/A |
| SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN AND SUBCONTRACTOR RELATED QUESTIONS | ||||
| 25 | General - May a contractor participate in more than one bid (e.g., submit a bid as a prime contractor and serve as a subcontractor on another firm's bid)? | 49100421Q0050, General | Yes. | N/A |
| 26 | General - Does the Government intend to release task orders specifically set-aside for the small business awardees? | 49100421Q0050, General | No. However, the small business subcontracting plan shall be included in all quotes submitted for Task Order Requests for Quote. | N/A |
| 27 | Can IDIQ awardees bid on requests for task order proposals (RFTOPs) with subcontractor organizations not listed in their original IDIQ proposal? | Not applicable | Yes, as long as the small business subcontracting plan goal of 17.5% of small business participation is met. | N/A |
| 28 | For the Small Business Subcontracting Plan, do we need to have 17.5 percent utilization across the 3 task orders, or 17.5 percent utilization in each task? | Phase II, Factor 4: "The small business subcontracting plan shall describe the quoter’s approach to achieving a minimum of 17.5% utilization of small business subcontracting. The plan may be a corporate plan or an individual plan" (Instructions to Offerors, p. 21). | 17.5% utilization for each of the individual task orders; if awarded an IDIQ, the 17.5% utilization shall be implemented on each task order awarded to the contractor. | N/A |
| 29 | Question: Does NSF intend to set-aside some portion of the IDIQ awards to only small businesses? | RFQ Reference: RFQ Synopsis, page 1. | No, the IDIQ awards are not small business set asides. However, the small business subcontracting plan will apply to the IDIQ and all subsequent task order awards. | N/A |
| 30 | Question: Can a firm both prime and be a subcontractor on another team? | RFQ Reference: RFQ Synopsis, page 1. | See Response to Question #25. | N/A |
| 31 | Question: How will NSF monitor and enforce awardees Small Business Subcontracting Plan? | RFQ Reference: Phase II, Factor 4: Small Business Subcontracting Plan. | As part of the evaluation of each task order quote submitted, the Government will review the proposed small business utilization; if awarded the task order, the CO and COR will monitor the utilization of small businesses; however, the reporting of the small business utilization is the contractor's responsibility. | N/A |
| MISCELLANEOUS RELATED QUESTIONS | |||||
| 32 | Is it permissible to include in the proposal links to reference examples and materials? | Overall | No, the information that the Government will evaluate needs to be included in the specified page counts. | N/A | |
| 33 | Is it permissible to include references outside of the maximum page counts (as an attachment)? | Overall | Yes, a reference page is acceptable. | N/A | |
| 34 | Please confirm if language around the compliance of "Applicable Laws and Regulations" and "Applicable Standards and Guidance", pages 5-14 must be included in the Phase 1 submission. | NSF 030, pages 5-14 | No, NSF030 is a clause that is included in the solicitation and will also be included in the subsequent award. | N/A | |
| 35 | If language around compliance of "Applicable Laws and Regulations" and "Applicable Standards and Guidance" is required, may it be provided as an attachment? | NSF 030, pages 5-14 | See response to Question #34. | N/A | |
| 36 | Please confirm headers and footers may use font sizes smaller than 11 point. | 49100421Q0050, IDIQ Solicitation Document, Page 19, Instructions to Offerors | Yes, headers and footers may use font sizes smaller than 11 point. | N/A | |
| 37 | Are offerors permitted to include a cover and Table of Contents? If so, are these pages exempt from currenet page limit restrictions? | RFQ p. 19 | Yes, see page 19 of the RFQ that has been updated accordingly. | See Revised RFQ, page 19. | |
| 38 | What is NSF’s expected date range during which Orals will take place? | N/A | Estimated date of oral presentations is 5/13/2021 to 7/2/2021 | N/A | |
| 39 | Can the NSF NCSES provide how many awards they expect to make for this mutiple award IDIQ? | 52.216-27 Single or Multiple Awards (OCT 1995) | |||
| NSF anticipates making multiple awards. | NSF does not have an estimated number of IDIQ awards; however, NSF anticipates making multiple awards. | N/A | |||
| 40 | Will the NSF allow for proposal front data to be included in the proposal package such as a title page, table of contents, abrreiviation listing, and exhibit listing? If the NSF will allow these items in the proposal package how may pages are we allowed to use for these items? | NA | See response to Question #37. | N/A | |
| 41 | On page 22 of the solicitation, it states “The quoter shall provide a price quote for each of the three (3) standard task orders provided for the oral presentation. The quoter may quote on a fixed price, time and materials, labor hour, or a hybrid basis.” Does this instruction mean we should choose one of these cost proposal types for each of the three task orders and submit our cost proposal on that basis or can we provide more than one type of cost proposal for a single task order (e.g., submit both fixed price as well as a time & material cost proposals for the same task order proposal)? | On page 22 of the solicitation | The quoter shall choose one of these cost proposal types for each price quote. | N/A | |
| 42 | On page 22 of the solicitation it states “The quoter shall also provide an hourly rate for each of the proposed Key Personnel positions (see Attachment 3 for Key Personnel Qualifications); an hourly rate shall be provided for each of the five (5) years of the IDIQ.” If we are selected for the orals round and want to submit our cost proposal, can we propose labor categories that are different from those listed in Attachment 3 – Key Personnel Qualifications (i.e., Project Manager, Task Manager, Senior Scientists, Scientist, Research Assistant, Senior Survey Director, Technical Writer/Editor, Data Visualization Specialist)? | On page 22 of the solicitation, where it states “The quoter shall also provide an hourly rate for each of the proposed Key Personnel positions (see Attachment 3 for Key Personnel Qualifications); an hourly rate shall be provided for each of the five (5) years of the IDIQ.” | At a minimum, quoters shall propose rates for each of the eight (8) Key Personnel positions. Quoters should also include labor rates for any other proposed positions outside of the Key Personnel positions. See page 22 of the RFQ that has been updated accordingly. | See Revised RFQ, page 22. | |
| 43 | Including resumes in the Phase I, Factor 2 section of the proposal might take up a lot of space in the middle of the proposal and may make the document more tricky for reviewers to go through the full document. May we place resumes after the Questionnaire Response section (i.e., at the end of our proposal document)? | Not applicable | Yes, but Key Personnel resumes should be submitted as part of Factor 3 (see RFQ, page 19). | N/A | |
| 44 | Will there be another round of Q&A for Phase 2 when invitees receive the price proposal and oral presentation instructions? | Not applicable | No, the Government will only respond to this set of questions. Quoters will not have an opportunity to submit questions during Phase II. | N/A | |
| 45 | What level of detail will NSF require for justifying the basis of the labor category rates during Phase II? Does NSF envision offerors providing custom labor category rates, using established GSA labor categories/rates, etc.? | Phase II, Factor 5, Price (page 22) | Since this is a commercial acquisition, proposed labor rates shall include supporting documentation such as GSA labor categories/rates, established catalogue pricing rates, etc, if available. | N/A | |
| 46 | May offerors ask additional questions during Phase II? | Outline of Phase I and Phase II timeline (page 19) | No, the Government will only respond to this set of questions. Quoters will not have an opportunity to submit questions during Phase II. | N/A | |
| 47 | The Instructions to Offerors specify font size, but not spacing. Is single spacing of paragraphs acceptable? | Solicitation p. 19 | Yes, single spacing of paragraphs is acceptable. | N/A | |
| 48 | The solicitation states in Phase II, Factor 5 that “The quoter shall also provide an hourly rate for each of the proposed Key Personnel positions (see Attachment 3 for Key Personnel Qualifications); an hourly rate shall be provided for each of the five (5) years of the IDIQ. If awarded a contract, these labor categories/rates will be incorporated into the IDIQ and used for pricing task orders.” Should quoters also include additional labor categories for non-key personnel that are not included in the Key Personnel Qualifications attachment? | Solicitiation p. 22, Phase II, Factor 5: Price | See response to Question #42. | N/A |
Technical Q&A
| ATTACHMENT 3-RFQ QUESTION MATRIX | ||||
| Question [Input by Potential Quoter] | Request for Quote (RFQ) Reference [Input by Potential Quoter] | Response to Question [Provided by Government] | Change to RFQ based on Government Response [Provided by Government] | |
| 1 | Requirement: Describe how you would use convenient surveys/samples in supplementing a traditional probability sample. |
| Question: Does this question refer to convenience (that is, nonprobability) samples? | Phase I, Factor 3 (p. 20) | Yes, concenience samples are non-probability samples. | N/A |
| 2 | Requirement: Describe how you would use convenient surveys/samples in supplementing a traditional probability sample. |
| Question: Please clarify what NCSES means by "supplementing a traditional probability sample?" Respectfully request that NCSES provide an example of the purpose of this kind of approach to aid offerors in responding. | Phase I, Factor 3 (p. 20) | We would like to use quick and cost-economical convenience samples to guide us quick directions on how to handle questionnaire designs, or estimation of variables of interests in the traditional probability sample. | N/A | ||
| 3 | The SOW makes reference to Appendices C and D . Would NSF please supply the referenced Appendices at this time, or with the Phase II instructions? | SOW p. 4, Section C.2b | Yes we will provide now. Appendix C is Guidelines for Preparing Technical Documentation for NCSES Surveys. Appendix D is Manual of Editorial Style and Publication Standards | N/A | |
| 4 | The solicitation states "Describe your approach to overcoming challenges in survey sample collection, processing, and/or estimation." Would NCSES please provide some clarification: | ||||
| Does "survey sample collection" refer to "survey sample selection"? Does it refer to both survey sample selection and survey collection? Or something different? | Solicitation p. 20, Phase I, Factor 3, 5th bullet | "Survey sample collection" can include both survey sample selection and its collection. | N/A | ||
| 5 | For purpose of responding to factor 3, second question: does public use data sets include both data sets that anybody can download from the NCSES website without restriction and restricted data sets available under some restricted access process such as a data license or just downloadable public use data sets? | Factor 3, second question, topic: public use datasets | A public use microdata set (PUMS) is data that are available publicly to enable users to create custom estimates and tables, that are not available through pre-tabulated data products. PUMS are a set of records from individual respondents with disclosure protections enabled so that individual respondents cannot be identified. | N/A | |
| 6 | Attachment 1, SOW, section C.2.b Content and Style Standards, references appendices C and D. Can the NSF please verify to which appendices it is referring and provide them if applicable to this quote? | Attachment 1, SOW, p. 4 | Provide Appendixes C and D | Provide Appendixes C and D | |
| 7 | The Key Personnel description for the Data Visualization Specialist mentions both "basic" and "advanced" visualization packages. Can NSF provide examples of what it deems are "basical" and "advanced" visualization packages"? | Attachment 2, Key Personnel Qualifications, p. 2 | Examples of basic visualizations are those available within MicroSoft Excel while advanced visualizations generally utlize more specialized visualization software. | N/A | |
| 8 | Could you provide examples of “data products” mentioned in the final bullet of the instructions for “Phase I, Factor 3: Questionnaire Response and Key Personnel Qualifications” on page 20 of the solicitation? Does this question concern evaluation of NCSES-generated data products or external data products that NCSES may utilize? | The final bullet of the instructions for “Phase I, Factor 3: Questionnaire Response and Key Personnel Qualifications” on page 20 of the solicitation | The subject of the methodological study or evaluation could be either NCSES data products or external data products that NCSES may utilize. | N/A | |
| 9 | Phase I, Factor 3: The second question on creating a public use data set requests the quoter to “[i]nclude a description of the data.” Could you provide information on the possible topic or specific data source for this hypothetical public use data set so that we can tailor our response accordingly? | Phase I, Factor 3 | A description of the data would include an overview of the survey, key survey information, survey design information, data collection and processing information. | N/A | |
| 10 | Phase I, Factor 3: Could you provide examples of “data products” mentioned in the final question of the questionnaire? Does this question concern evaluation of NCSES-generated data products, or external data products that NCSES may utilize? | Phase I, Factor 3 | Data products for evaluation include both NCSES produced data products and data products utilized by NCSES in publications and analysis. For examples one can refer to NCSES congressionally mandated reports Science and Engineering Indicators and Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering or NCSES InfoBriefs and Detailed Statistical Tables. | N/A |
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