Attachment (11) Submission and Evaluation of Proposals.pdf

ATTACHMENT ELEVEN (11)

General Instructions for the Preparation of Proposals

SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

A. Evaluation Criteria for Award

The Government anticipates awarding one (1) contract to the Quoter whose proposal has been determined to represent the best value to the Government. The Government may award without discussions.

The evaluation factors for award are listed in Descending Order of Importance. Factor 1 is more important than Factor 2, and Factor 2 is more important than Factor 3.

Factor 1 – Price Factor 2 – Technical Factor 3 – Past Performance

Each of the above factors are evaluated independent of other factors. Quote submission requirements are stated in paragraph B below.

B. Instructions to Quoters

Each Quoter’s quotation submitted in response to this solicitation shall be prepared in three (3) volumes as delineated in the table below. Each of the volumes and parts shall be separate and complete so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently from evaluation of the other. Quote submissions shall consist of a written submission. The Quoter shall submit its written quotation as summarized in the table below.

In order to be eligible for award, Quoters must provide written quotations consisting of the following:

Volume, Part

Title Page Limit Submission Due Date

I., Tab 1 Transmittal Letter with signed and completed SF 1449/SF30 for the contract.

Electronic (e-mail)

TBD

I., Tab 2 Technical 25 pages, single sided

Electronic (e-mail)

TBD

II., Tab 1 Past Performance No Page Limit Electronic (e-

III., Tab 1 Price Proposal for Contract

Electronic (e-

Electronic submissions shall be submitted via electronic mail to the Contract Specialist (CS), Dana L.

Blake at dana.l.blake@cbp.dhs.gov . All electronic submissions, unless otherwise stated, must be delivered in Microsoft® Word 2013 (or higher versions when available) format for text submissions, and Microsoft® Excel 2013 (or higher versions when available) for spreadsheet submissions. Quoters shall not submit PDF documents, with the exception of Tab I of Volume I.

mailto:dana.l.blake@cbp.dhs.gov

Quotations must be prepared in accordance with these instructions and provide all required information in the format specified. The Quoter is responsible for including sufficient details to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of the Quotation.

The required format is designed to ensure submission of information essential to the understanding and comprehensive evaluation of the Quoter’s quotation. Pages in excess of the maximum will be removed from the end of the quotation volume by the Contracting Officer without being evaluated.

No classified information shall be included in the Quoter’s written quotation. Proprietary information shall be clearly marked.

The Quotation shall be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume shall be clearly identified and shall begin at the top of a page. All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date and solicitation number in the header and/or footer.

Each volume of the Quotation shall consist of a Table of Contents. The Table of Contents, indexes, page separators, commitment letters and glossaries will not count against page limitations set forth in the above table.

MS Word files shall use the following page setup parameters:

Margins – Top, Bottom, Left, Right - 1” Gutter – 0” From Edge – Header, Footer - 0.5” Page Size, Width – 8.5” Page Size, Height – 11”

The following additional restrictions apply:

Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one blank line. A standard, 12-point minimum font size applies. Arial or New Times Roman fonts are required. Spacing shall be single-spaced. Tables and illustrations may be in landscape and shall utilize a standard, 12-point minimum font size.

Quotes must be clear, coherent, and prepared in sufficient detail for effective evaluation. Quotes must include convincing rationale and substantiation of all claims. Quoters shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Quoter’s submission.

Minimum Quote Acceptance Period. The Government requires a minimum acceptance period of at least sixty (60) calendar days from the Quote due date. A quote allowing less than the Government’s minimum acceptance period may be rejected.

Important note regarding email attachments: CBP’s email system limits incoming email attachments to 10MB per email. Contractors should NOT submit .zip files as these may be stripped by CBP’s email system. All incoming files are scanned so there may be a delay between the time the file is submitted and the time it is received. Therefore, Contractors must ensure they submit quotations with sufficient time to reach the required destination no later than the response due date identified above. Contractors are strongly encouraged to verify receipt of their response (via email) as noted above. Contractors may submit attachments in multiple emails due to size constraints; however, the complete quotation (including all required submissions) must be received by the due date and time identified in the solicitation.

Proposal Instructions

Volume I, Tab 1: Transmittal Letter with signed and completed SF 1449 for Contract

The Transmittal Letter shall be executed by a corporate executive with authority to bind the Quoter to its proposal. The Transmittal Letter shall contain the following information at a minimum:

1. The solicitation number;

2. Title of the RFQ;

3. The name, address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and e-mail of the Quoters primary point of contact;

4. Signed Proposal: The Standard Form 1449, (with Blocks 17, 23, 24 and 30 completed)

Solicitation, Offer and Award, (SF 1449) is being used for this solicitation. This form is used by the Government as a Request for Quote and upon submission by the Quoter it becomes the Quoter proposal.

Volume I, Tab 2: Technical Quotation (Factor 1)

The Technical Quotation shall be submitted via email by the submission due date. This volume must not contain any reference to price or cost; however, resource information as needed and to demonstrate resource levels, (such as data concerning labor hours and categories, materials, subcontracts, etc.) may be contained in the technical quotation so that the Quoters understanding of the requirements may be evaluated.

The Technical Quotation shall be prepared in such a manner as to enable the Government reviewers to make a thorough evaluation and arrive at a sound determination of whether the quotation meets all technical requirements of the solicitation. To this end, the Technical Quotation should be sufficiently specific, detailed, and complete to clearly and fully demonstrate that the Quoter has demonstrated a thorough understanding as well as ability to complete the requirements set forth in the solicitation.

Quotations which only offer to perform in accordance with the Government's requirements or which merely paraphrase the requirements document, or use phrases such as, "standard engineering practices will be employed," or "well established techniques will be employed," etc. may be considered non-compliant and ineligible for award.

The Contractor must submit an explanation of its proposed technical approach in conjunction with the tasks to be performed in achieving the SOW deliverables.

Volume II, Tab 1: Price Proposal

The Price Proposal shall also include Certification that the Quoter’s online representations and certification (ORCA) information is current and accurate.

"BALANCE OF THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALL BLANK".

Volume III: Factor 3 Past Performance

Tab 1: Cover Letter: The Cover Letter shall contain the following information at a minimum:

1. Solicitation Number and Solicitation Title

2. Contractor Name

3. SAM UEI Number

4. GSA Schedule Contract Number (if applicable)

5. Complete Business Mailing Address

6. Point(s) of Contact (Name, title, e-mail address, phone number);

7. Acknowledgement of any Amendment to this RFQ, to include signed copies attached to the

Cover Letter.

8. Acknowledgement of any representations and certifications required.

Tab 2: Past Performance (Factor 3):

As part of the Past Performance requirement, and associated with Factor 2 Past Experience projects that have been completed or substantially (50% or more of the overall period of performance) completed within the past three (3) years of the Phase I RFQ closing date, the Quoter shall send the attachment Past Performance Questionnaire in the solicitation to their respective customers and request they be returned electronically via e-mail to dana.l.blake@cbp.dhs.gov, for inclusion in Volume II of the proposal.

Past Performance Questionnaire submissions do not have a page limitation. In order to better evaluate submissions, Quoters are requested to match the projects submitted under Past Experience by sequentially numbering the projects in the upper right corner of the form. Quoters must indicate the name of the Contractor and Contract Number. The rating section should be left blank for the customer to complete. The Government reserves the right to contact identified customers to request additional information or provide clarifications. The Government will also consider past performance reports available on other past performance databases in the evaluation.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

The Government anticipates awarding one (1) contract to the Quoter whose proposal has been determined to be the lowest priced technical acceptable. The Government may award without discussions.

mailto:dana.l.blake@cbp.dhs.gov,