693JJ318R000025_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

693JJ318R000025 Questions and Answers

Question

Number

Date

Received RFP Section Question Government’s Response

12/19/2018 Section L

Past Performance is requested (page 95), but no PPQ was included with the posted solicitation.

Would you please provide?

Past Performance Questionnaire is posted with

Amendment 2 and revised RFP clarifies this information on page 95.

2 12/20/2018 Section L

On page 94 of 104, (b) Format and Content, (2) Labor

Rate Chart: The government references labor rate chart as

Attachment No. J.3. however, the posted J.3 attachment is the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities and not the Labor

Rate Chart. Respectfully request that the government post the labor rate chart.

Government posted Amendment 2 on FBO with revised RFP to clarity this information on page 94 of the RFP.

3 12/21/2018 General

We respectfully request a two week time extension for the delivery of the proposal. We are requesting this time extension in light of the holidays and the TRB conference.

Government posted Amendment 1 of the RFP to extend the proposal due date to January 22, 2019.

4 12/21/2018 Section L

The RFP lists January 7th on page 2 as the due date for questions. On page 96, the RFP lists December 28th as a due date for questions. Please clarify.

Government posted Amendment 2 with revised RFP to update this information on page 96 of the RFP.

5 12/26/2018 General

We would like to formally request an extension on the proposal deadline given the current government shutdown.

We would propose that the extension be for as many days as the shutdown lasts for. Please refer to response 3.

6 12/28/2018 Attachment J.2

Form J.2 - Will the government provide additional information on the format and layout of the tabs?

Specifically, is the Government requesting a single set of rates to be used for both T&M and LH Task Orders, whereby tabs “Cost Elements” and “Unburdened Rates” support the buildup of final rates in the “Loaded Rates” tab?; OR Is the

Government requesting two separate sets of rates?.

Government is requesting a single set of rates to be used for both T&M and LM Task Orders.

The Tabs “Cost Elements” and “Unburdened

Rate” have been removed. The revised attachment J.2 is posted with Amendment 3.

Question

Number

Date

Received BAA Section Question Government’s Response

7 12/28/2018 Attachment J.2

Form J.2 - The “Unburdened Rates” tab, row 27 states

“OFFERORS ARE REQUESTED TO PROPOSE ALL

OF THE POTENTIAL LABOR CATEGORIES TO

SUCCESSFULLY FULFILL THE COST PLUS FIXED

FEE REQUIREMENT.” The Solicitation refers only to

T&M, LH, and FFP contract types. Will the Government please clarify the CPFF requirements? Please refer to response 6.

8 12/28/2018 Attachment J.2

Form J.2 - The “Loaded Rates” tab uses the headings of

Base and Option Years. The Solicitation (section F.1) states a 5 year Period of performance. Will the

Government please clarify the period of performance?

The Period of Performance is 5 years total;

12-month Base Period and 4 12-month

Optional Periods. Please see revised attachment J.2 under Amendment 3.

9 12/28/2018 Attachment J.2

Form J.2 - The “Cost Elements” tab notes “OFFERORS

MUST PROVIDE THE BASIS OF ESTIMATE.” Given that offerors are only bidding rates at this time (and not work efforts associated with task execution) and context of the cost elements, will the Government provide more detail as to the intended meaning or context for Basis of

Estimate? Please refer to response 6.

10 12/28/2018 Attachment J.2

Form J.2 - In the “Cost Elements” tab, space is given to identify

Fee for T&M and LH rates. However, space is not specifically dedicated to specify fee for FFP tasks. Does the Government have a preferred method or location for providing this information? Please refer to response 6.

11 12/28/2018 Attachment J.2

Form J.2/Delivery of “Cost Elements” data - Cost element information used to build rates is generally considered proprietary. To maintain proprietary data of subcontractors, is it acceptable for subcontractors to deliver this information as a separate package to the Government? Please refer to response 6.

12 12/28/2018 Section C & L

Will the Government accept commensurate experience in lieu of education for the less technical labor categories

(specifically the Administrative Assistant and Research

Assistant Categories)?

Yes, the Government would accept commensurate experience in lieu of education for the less technical labor categories

(specifically the Administrative Assistant and

Research Assistant Categories).

13 12/28/2018 Section L

Page 94 of the Solicitation requests a Labor Rate Chart.

“Complete the schedule of rates chart [Attachment No.

J.3] including the hourly fully burdened rate and the estimated number of hours of each position to meet the full performance objectives of this contract.” Attachment

J.3 is the Disclosure of Lobbying form. Is the labor rate chart referring to attachment J.2? Please refer to response 2.

14 12/28/2018 Section G

Section G.11 notes past performance as an evaluation criterion, however, no Past Performance Questionnaire is provided. Will the Government provide this form? Please refer to response 1.

15 12/28/2018 Section L

The SF33 states offerors should submit an original hard copy + 6 copies. However, there is a note at the bottom of page 90 which states, “The FHWA requests offerors submit each original proposal in electronic format.” The table on page 91 shows one original proposal + an emailed copy for both the Technical and Price Proposal. Please clarify how FHWA would like to receive the proposal.

The hard copies are not required. Only the electronic submission will be accepted.

Amendment 1 and 2 of the RFP has been submitted to clarify this information on the

SF33 and page 91 of the RFP.

16 12/28/2018 Section B and Attachment J.2

Section B.2 of the solicitation states: “Labor category requirements and labor rate ceilings governing task orders under this contract shall conform to the descriptions found in J.2 and shall be listed in the Microsoft (MS) Excel format found at J.2 and apply for each of the described categories for each of the contract years.” However, the labor category tab indicates a request to “amend as necessary” and the unburdened rates tab states

“OFFERORS ARE REQUESTED TO PROPOSE ALL

OF THE POTENTIAL LABOR CATEGORIES.”

• The information is seemingly conflicting. Does the

Government request proposed additional labor categories to meet the potential needs of the solicitation (e.g., an editor identified in section F.6 “All drafts submissions and the final must be reviewed by an editor on the Contractor’s staff before being sent to the COR for review.”)? If so, what is the preferred method of delivering this information? For example, a separate table with rates but unknown hours to be determined upon later task order award?

Offerors do not need to propose additional labor categories. In many cases, the ‘editor’ could be a Research Psychologist / Human

Factors Specialist, or some other staff member that has sufficient editing experience for the requirements of the task order.

17 12/28/2018 Section B and Attachment J.2

Section B.2 of the solicitation states: “Labor category requirements and labor rate ceilings governing task orders under this contract shall conform to the descriptions found in J.2 and shall be listed in the Microsoft (MS) Excel format found at J.2 and apply for each of the described categories for each of the contract years.”

• In J.2, the Labor Categories for both the Research

Psychologist(s)/Human Factors Specialist(s) and

Transportation Engineer include descriptions for both mid and senior level professionals. To provide the best value to the government, is it acceptable to amend the Loaded

Rates tab to parse each into separate Labor Categories with associated rates (i.e., Mid-Level HF Specialist, Senior-Level HF Specialist, Mid-Level Transportation

Engineer, and Senior-Level Transportation Engineer)?

No, Offerors shall not amend the “Loaded

Rates” tab. The offerors shall only provide the rates for the categories that are listed on attachment J.2. Note that price proposal that changes or deviates from the attachment J.2 shall not be considered or evaluated.

18 12/28/2018 Section I

Within Part 2 of the solicitation, pieces of FAR clause language are omitted. Is it FHWA’s intent to incorporate the full language of all FAR clauses listed?

FAR clauses that can be incorporated by reference will not be fully stated but the clauses that are required to be fully stated, shall be.

19 01/03/2019 General

Does the work on the Human Factors On-Site contract involves research on bicyclists/ bicycles in particular, or with bicyclists/bicycles and their interaction with cars?

The research involves the interactions of bicyclists/bicycles with cars, trucks, other vehicles, pedestrians, and the roadway environment in general. Pedestrian and bicyclist research examined countermeasures aimed at reducing crashes, and improving roadway safety.

20 01/07/2019 General Is there an incumbent contractor? Yes.

21 01/07/2019 General

Is the scope of the incumbent contractor the same, less or more than the requirements of this solicitation? The scope is defined in the current RFP.

22 01/07/2019 General Is the incumbent contractor fully staffed? Yes.

23 01/07/2019 Section L

Page 93 of the solicitation States: “The offeror shall propose fully burdened fixed labor rates to include all indirect rates and fee for each labor category across the period of performance proposed in accordance with the

Statement of Work. The Price Proposal shall include both fixed hourly rates and Price reimbursement rates with supporting documentation.” Will FHWA provide clarification to the intended meaning of reimbursement rates? Is the intent “Price Reimbursement Amounts” such as ODC/Travel? Or something else?

Price Reimbursement Rates/Amounts for this requirement are for ODC/Travel. A ceiling price for Travel is provided in Attachment J.2.

for the Base and Option Periods.