Amend 0003 - Revised Solicitation Provisions.pdf

SOLICITATION PROVISIONS

ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations, Federal Protective Service (FPS) is issuing this competitive request for proposals (RFP) to solicit offers for the purpose of awarding a contract to provide the services described herein. DHS/OPO/FPS (the Government) will conduct this acquisition using the procedures of Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

Proposals are due no later than Friday, 03/11/2022, at 12:00 PM Eastern Time.

Submissions shall be made via email to: danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov and thomas.schrank@fps.dhs.gov.

Any proposal received at the Government office designated in the RFP after the exact time for receipt of proposals specified above will be deemed “late” and will be considered only in accordance with the provisions set forth under FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items, paragraph (f).

By submitting a proposal, the Contractor agrees to comply with all terms and conditions set forth in this RFP, including the Statement of Work (SOW).

FAR 52.212-2 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS (NOV 2021) (Tailored)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. In addition to price, the following technical evaluation factors shall be used to evaluate offers and are listed in descending order of importance.

Relevant Past Performance

Management Approach

The technical evaluation factors, when combined, are more important than price.

In considering the relevance of an offeror’s past performance, the Government reserves the right to evaluate submitted projects individually or in the aggregate in order to determine relevance and will do so consistently across all evaluated offers. If subcontractor past performance is provided, the subcontractor past performance will be given weight proportional to the scope, magnitude and complexity of the aspects of the work under the solicitation for which the subcontractor is proposed. The Government reserves the right to obtain information for use in the evaluation of past performance from any and all sources including sources outside of the Government. Offerors lacking relevant past performance history will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. However, the proposal of an offeror with no relevant past performance history, while not rated favorably or unfavorably for past performance, may not represent the most advantageous proposal to the Government. The Government will consider the quality of an offeror’s past performance. This consideration is separate and distinct from the mailto:danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov mailto:thomas.schrank@fps.dhs.gov

Contracting Officer’s responsibility determination. The assessment of the offeror’s relevant past performance will be used as a means of evaluating the relative capability of the offeror and other competitors to successfully meet the requirements of the RFP. In determining the rating for the Past Performance evaluation factor, the Government will give greater weight to the contracts or efforts which are determined to have greater relevance to the RFP. An offeror whose past performance demonstrates either a low expectation or no expectation that the offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort may not present the best value to the Government.

The Government reserves the right to award the contract to other than the lowest priced offeror.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options (including the 6 month option available under FAR 52.217-8) to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End of provision)

Proposal Evaluation Information

Non-price factors, when combined, are more important than price. However, the Government contemplates the possibility that it may identify an offer(s) of such a high technical quality that it would not be in the Government’s interest to pay an additional price premium for any additional technical (non-price) advantage. As a result, offerors are advised that the Government may not evaluate the technical proposals of all offerors under this RFP. The Government will first review the total evaluated price of all proposals received. The technical proposals of those offerors whose pricing is determined by the Contracting Officer to be most competitive may be reviewed prior to, or instead of, other technical proposals received. Based on the initial review of these technical proposals, the Government may not evaluate the technical proposals of other offerors, whose total evaluated pricing was higher than that of one already evaluated and already assigned the highest possible technical adjectival rating. This would occur when the Contracting Officer determines that one or more of the technical proposals already reviewed is of such a level of quality that it would not be in the interest of the Government to incur cost beyond the price of the technical proposals already reviewed.

Proposal Submission Requirements

1. The resulting contract requires access to classified information. Offerors shall possess a Secret Facility clearance by the time and date established for submission of offers. Offerors shall provide a certified statement of current Secret Faciilty Clearance which will be verified by the Contracting Officer prior to award.

2. Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items – When responding to this RFP the Contractor must use the Standard Form 1449 as a cover page to the proposal.

3. Proposals shall be comprised of TWO (2) separate electronic files. The first file shall contain one (1) copy of the technical (non-price) submission. The second file shall contain one copy of the pricing submission and all other documents required by the solicitation (e.g. SF 1449, Pricing Schedule, Price Element Breakdown, Disclosures, Representation & Certifications, Subcontracting Plan (if applicable), etc.). Both of these files should clearly identify the RFP for which it is being submitted. The Price Element Breakdown shall be submitted in Excel Format. Vendors are reminded to submit files one and two via email to danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov and thomas.schrank@fps.dhs.gov.

4. Page Limitation-Excluding the cover page, table of contents, past performance project forms (attachment 3), past performance questionnaires (attachment 4), field level supervision exhibit (attachment 8), teaming agreement, teaming narrative or narrative demonstrating an affiliate’s meaningful involvement, the technical proposal (covering all non-price factors) is limited to fifteen (15) pages in at least 11pt. font and 1” margins. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be evaluated. The pages excluded from evaluation will be at the discretion of the Agency.

5. Contractors are informed that it is the Government’s desire to make award on initial proposals when deemed possible by the Contracting Officer, however the Government reserves the right to communicate and/or negotiate with offerors if later determined necessary. If the Contracting Officer determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Contracting Officer may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

6. Proposals shall specify the offer expiration date. Offerors shall hold their offers valid for 120 days after the solicitation closing date, unless requested to further extend it by the Contracting Officer.

8. Offerors, other than small businesses, shall prepare and submit with their proposal an Individual Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

a. Offerors should thoroughly review the requirements set forth in FAR 19.704, Subcontracting plan requirements, and FAR Clause 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, before submitting their Plans.

b. Subcontracting plans must be consistent with the provisions of the above Clause and are subject to negotiations along with the terms and conditions of any contract resulting from this solicitation. The successful offeror’s subcontracting plan must be approved by the Contracting Officer prior to award and shall be incorporated into the resultant contract. The Contracting Officer will monitor, evaluate and document contractor performance in adhering to 52.219-9 and meeting its subcontracting goals as set forth in its approved plan.

c. The current DHS subcontracting goals are listed below and shall be utilized for developing a subcontracting plan in response to this solicitation.

Percentage of Total Subcontracting Dollars SB Subcontracts 42.5% SDB Subcontracts 5.0%

WOSB

Subcontracts 5.0% HUBZone Subcontracts 3.0%

SDVOSB

Subcontracts 3.0%

Technical Proposal (Non-price factors) – The Government shall incorporate all elements of the successful Contractor’s technical proposal (in full or by reference), except for Relevant Past Performance information, into any contract resulting from this RFP. The Contractor is required to submit the following technical (non-price) information:

1. Relevant Past Performance:

The Contractor is provided an opportunity to demonstrate relevant past performance on contracts currently being performed or performed within the past three (3) years. The Government will determine relevance by analyzing the “scope”, “magnitude” and “complexity” of the reference contracts and comparing them to the instant requirement. The Government reserves the right to evaluate submitted projects individually or in the aggregate in order to determine relevance and will do so consistently across all evaluated offers. The Government will consider the quality of the Contractor’s relevant past performance. The Government reserves the right to use any and all of the information available to include the contractor’s proposal, the past project forms submitted with the proposal, the past performance questionnaires submitted on behalf of the contractor, CPARS assessments, close at hand information and any other source to determine relevancy of projects and quality of performance by the offeror.

Reference Contracts:

a. The Contractor may submit up to a maximum of three (3) contracts for evaluation. The Government reserves the right to obtain information from sources other than those identified by the Contractor. The Government reserves the right to utilize any and all information on the Past Project Form including but not limited to hours, dollars, number of posts, number of PSOs as well as the Past Performance Questionnaires and CPARS Assessments to determine magnitude.

b. If a teaming arrangement is being proposed, refer to Notes #1 and 2 below for additional proposal submission requirements.

c. The Contractor may submit reference contracts performed by an affiliate. In order to receive credit for the past performance of an affiliate, the contractor must clearly demonstrate in its proposal that the affiliate will have meaningful involvement in the solicited requirement.

Refer to Note #3 below for additional proposal submission requirements.

Past Project Form. The Contractor shall complete a Past Project Form (Attachment 3) for each reference contract submitted.

Past Performance Questionnaires.

a. Past Performance Questionnaires (Attachment 4) may be submitted for each reference contract.

b. If the Contractor chooses to submit a Past Performance Questionnaire (Attachment 4) for any of its reference contracts, it shall forward the Past Performance Questionnaire to a cognizant representative of the customer organization that purchased the services from your company to provide feedback (e.g. Project Manager, Contracting Officer’s Representative). The Contractor shall instruct the customer representative to complete the questionnaire and return it, by the RFP submission due date, directly to Danielle Brown by email at danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring its customer reference returns the questionnaire to the Agency if it wishes the Agency to consider the questionnaire in its evaluation. The Agency is not obligated to follow-up with references to locate questionnaires that have not been received from customers other than FPS. The Agency may decline to reach out to FPS customers who have not returned a questionnaire if an assessment for the most recently completed performance period is resident in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) for the reference contract.

*Important Notes for Relevant Past Performance:

1. Where a teaming arrangement (as defined at FAR Subpart 9.6) is proposed, an additional maximum of up to three (3) projects for partner(s)/subcontractor(s) may be submitted. Thus, a maximum of no more than six (6) projects (3 for the prime and 3 for the subs or other partners) may be submitted in total. (Note for Joint Ventures: For Joint Ventures, a maximum of up to 6 projects may be submitted in total from the JV and JV partners (no more than 3 projects may be submitted for any one entity, JV or JV partner)).

2.Where a teaming arrangement is proposed, a narrative and/or the actual Teaming Agreement, if one exists, shall be submitted as part of the proposal by the managing partner of the joint venture or the prime contractor. The Government is interested in the roles, responsibilities, and distribution of effort (by type and percentage) between the parties in performance of the Government’s requirement and this narrative may enhance the Government’s understanding of your proposal. If subcontractor experience is provided, the subcontractor experience will be given weight relative to the scope, magnitude and complexity of the aspects of the work under the solicitation that the subcontractor is proposed to perform. Therefore, the offeror’s proposal shall detail clearly the aspects of the work in the solicitation that the subcontractor is proposed to perform. It is the offeror’s responsibility to adequately explain the relevance of a reference provided for a subcontractor’s past performance to the effort that the subcontractor is proposed to perform under the solicitation. Be sure to consider the portion of effort proposed to be performed by partners or subcontractors in determining the most relevant references to submit.

This narrative and/or Teaming Agreement will not count against the stated page size limitation.

If the Contractor fails to submit a narrative and/or the actual Teaming Agreement or if it lacks sufficient detail, the Agency, at its discretion, may decline to consider the past performance record of the teaming partner in the past performance evaluation.

3. In order to receive credit for the past performance of an affiliate, a separate narrative shall be submitted as part of the proposal clearly demonstrating that the affiliate will be meaningfully involved in performance of the solicited contract. That is, the resources of the affiliate, (e.g., workforce, management, facilities, or other resources that demonstrably contributed to the affiliate’s performance on the submitted project(s)) will be provided or relied upon by the Contractor for contract performance on the solicited requirement to an extent that warrants attribution of the affiliate’s past performance to the offeror. While there may be multiple ways to demonstrate meaningful involvement, generally reach back capability to the affiliate’s or common parent’s resources alone does not establish meaningful involvement. The Agency will not consider an affiliate's record where that record does not bear on the likelihood of successful performance by the offeror. The narrative must also describe in detail, and with specificity, the relationship between the offeror and the affiliate as well as the current status of the affiliate as a going concern. If the offeror purchased or merged with the affiliate, state the date of purchase/ merger and the affiliate’s personnel and resources that were retained by the offeror after the purchase/merger. The Agency will assess the narrative to determine whether, and to what degree, to attribute the affiliate’s past performance to the offeror. This narrative will not count against the stated page size limitation. If the contractor fails to submit a narrative or if the narrative lacks sufficient detail to establish meaningful involvement by the affiliate, the Agency, at its discretion, may decline to consider the past performance of the affiliate in the evaluation.

Notwithstanding, because the meaningful involvement of an affiliate goes to the relevance of the affiliate’s past performance projects to the evaluation, the Agency reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to conduct exchanges with an offeror or offerors, as necessary and appropriate, pursuant to FAR 15.306, concerning its relationship with the affiliate or the affiliates proposed involvement in the solicited requirement.

Note: This section does not apply to any entity identified in the proposal as a teaming partner, subcontractor, joint venture member, etc., in accordance with Past Performance section 1(b).

The roles of such entities must be described in accordance with Note 2 above. Further, Note 1 does not apply to entities described in this section. That is, this section does not increase the number of past performance projects that may be submitted by the offeror. Additionally, where meaningful involvement of the affiliate(s) has not been established, the Agency has no obligation to evaluate the past performance of affiliates, other than the affiliate project(s) submitted as part of the proposal.

2. Management Approach:

FPS desires that offerors provide management strategies and proposed solutions demonstrating how they will result in better value to the government. In response to this Evaluation Factor, offerors shall address Quality Assurance, Transition, and Participation in the DHS Mentor Protégé program.

A. Quality Assurance:

1. Field Level Supervision of Protective Security Officers (PSO)

a. Offerors shall complete Attachment 8 entitled “Field Level Supervision Exhibit” clearly delineating and establishing the minimum level of field/onsite supervision the offeror shall provide under this effort. The proposed minimum level of field/onsite supervision will be evaluated by the Government to assess the level of oversight offered by the Contractor and shall be incorporated into the successful offerors’ contract. For purposes of completing the “Field Level Supervision Exhibit” the following individual(s) are not considered field level supervisors:

Contract Manager Training Instructor Quality Control Personnel “Lead” PSOs (Note: The Government defines a Lead PSO as a single point of communication at a facility, identified by post orders, for the purpose of communicating operational and facility specific info to the security force at a facility.)

Note: The “Field Level Supervision Exhibit” attachment does not count against the page limitation in the technical proposal.

b. Offerors may, at their discretion, provide a narrative to enhance the Government’s understanding of their proposal, containing their rationale for the proposed staffing levels, supervisory labor mix, and geographic placement of supervisors as contained in Attachment 8 as well as the processes, procedures and methods to be used by supervisors to ensure that effective supervision is provided contract-wide.

c. Minimum Submission Requirements for Field Level Supervision of Protective Security Officers (PSO): Offerors shall submit as a minimum the following to demonstrate the above:

Attachment 8 entitled “Field Level Supervision Exhibit

Note: The Government’s review and acceptance of an offeror’s proposed field level supervision will not alleviate the vendor from modifying (e.g., increasing) the amount of supervision after contract award should the Government’s or Contractor’s oversight and inspections reveal systemic problems with performance. If at any time the vendor determines that additional supervision, beyond what was initially proposed, is needed to address performance issues, such additional supervision will be provided at no additional cost to the Government.

2. Quality Control: Quality Control (QC) as used in the context of this evaluation area refers to the Contractor’s formal QC Plan and the activities to be undertaken by the QC monitors in accordance with that plan. While routine activities undertaken by field level supervisors may be part of the overall QC Plan, under this evaluation area the Government is most interested in those QC activities conducted by other than field level supervisors.

a. Offerors shall address their Quality Control Plan which will be provided as a post award deliverable. At a minimum, the summary shall detail what will be inspected, the methods of inspection to be used and the frequency of inspections. Offerors may, at their discretion, include a discussion of any other aspect of their Quality Control Plan to enhance the Government’s understanding of the proposal such as location of inspections, inspection of remote posts, inspection of high-visibility and/or high traffic posts, and the methods of documenting inspections.

b. Offerors shall discuss their processes for addressing non-compliance issues (employee and other) which are identified through their Quality Control efforts.

c. Minimum Submission Requirements Quality Control: Offerors shall submit as a minimum the following to demonstrate the above:

Offerors shall address their Quality Control Plan which will be provided as a post award deliverable. At a minimum, the summary shall detail what will be inspected, the methods of inspection to be used and the frequency of inspections.

Offerors shall discuss their processes for addressing non-compliance issues identified through their Quality Control efforts.

B. Transition:

1. Offerors shall outline significant transition steps and the associated timeframes for completing these steps to assure timely contract start-up and performance. While there is no comprehensive list of significant transition steps that are required to be addressed, it is recommended that offerors address how they will accomplish the timely provision of all contract required equipment, licensing, permits and training to enhance the Government’s understanding of the proposal. Offerors, at their discretion may also discuss any nuances of the subject requirements and/or local conditions that might present a risk to successful transition and how this risk will be mitigated. This discussion may enhance the Government’s understanding of the proposal.

2. Minimum Submission Requirements Transition: Offerors shall submit as a minimum the following to demonstrate the above:

Offerors shall outline significant transition steps and the associated timeframes for completing these steps to assure timely contract start-up and performance.

Note: In no event shall any proposed transition timeline include assumptions that the Government will waive or defer any contract requirements. Additionally, in no event shall any proposed plan for transition training be dependent upon availability of Government personnel after normal business hours (e.g. overseeing training during evenings and weekends).

Notice to Offerors: Submission of information under the “Management Approach” factor in response to the solicitation does not take the place of or otherwise diminish the successful contractor’s requirement to submit detailed related contract deliverables (e.g., Transition Plan, Quality Control Plan, etc.) after contract award. Rather, the information provided in response to this factor should be detailed enough (without exceeding prescribed page limitations) to present the offeror’s strategy and/or innovative solutions to delivering the highest quality security services in full compliance with all contract requirements. After award of the contract, the successful contractor's Management Approach will be incorporated into the contract.

Notwithstanding this incorporation, the successful awardee will be required to submit detailed contract deliverables which not only provide greater detail than what is provided with the quote or proposal, but also fully delineates the planned implementation of the promised approach(s) and plans for communicating results to the COR throughout contract performance.

D. DHS Mentor Protégé Program Participation

a. Large Business Concerns shall address Prime Contractor Participation in the DHS Mentor Protégé Program within their Management Approach. In order to receive credit, the offeror shall provide a signed letter of mentor-protégé agreement approval from the DHS Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU).

Agreements approved by other agencies will not be considered.

b. Large Businesses may be given additional credit for participating in the DHS Mentor Protégé Program. Additional credit will only be applied when comparing the offer of one large business to the offer of another large business. A large business will not be given credit for this factor when comparing the offer of a large business concern to the offer of a small business concern.

c. Minimum Submission Requirements DHS Mentor-Protégé Program Participation:

Large Business Concerns shall submit as a minimum the following to demonstrate the above:

Large Business Concerns shall address whether they currently participate in the DHS Mentor-Protégé Program, have submitted an application to the OSDBU but have not yet received final approval from OSDBU or whether they do not participate in the DHS Mentor Protégé Program.

If the offeror currently participates in the DHS Mentor-Protégé program, the offeror must provide a signed letter of mentor-protégé agreement approval from the DHS Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU).

Price Proposal

1.The Government shall have the unilateral option of extending the services of this contract for an additional six (6) months at the end of any performance period (base or option periods) in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. To account for the option periods possible under 52.217-8 (maximum of six months), Options to Extend Services, the Government will evaluate the option to extend services by adding six months of the offeror’s final option period price available under FAR 52.217-9 to the offeror’s total price. This amount will be the total evaluated price. The Government may choose to exercise the Option to Extend Services at the end of any performance period (base or option periods exercised in accordance with FAR 52.217-9). Prices for the base and option periods including those available under FAR 52.217-9 and the 6-month option available under FAR 52.217-8, will be evaluated to ensure that they are fair and reasonable for performance of the requirements established in the solicitation and as proposed in the technical submission. The price for the effort associated with FAR 52.217-8 will not be included in the total awarded value at contract award. If, at the end of the contract’s period of performance (base or option periods exercised in accordance with FAR 52.217-9) and within the time period established in the clause, the Government chooses to exercise this option, the pricing will be pursuant to the rates specified in the contract for the preceding performance period. The Government will determine whether the price, inclusive of all options (including the options available under FAR 52.217-9 and 52.217-8), is fair and reasonable, and whether the price of the base period and all option periods (including the option(s) represented by FAR 52.217-9 and 52.217-8, in combination with the other evaluation factors specified in the solicitation, represents the best value to the Government.

2. Using the Pricing Schedule, the Contractor must submit unit prices and extended prices (i.e.

Unit Price x Estimated Quantity) for every line item listed under each potential ordering period (not including the 6 month option available under FAR 52.217-8). The Contractor must also provide a Total Estimated Price for each potential ordering period (i.e. the sum of all line items within that performance period). Contractors submitting partial pricing information shall be ineligible for award. The unit price prevails if a discrepancy exists between the unit price and the extended price.

3. The minimum wage rates and fringe benefits applicable to this contract are outlined in the attached Department of Labor (DOL) prevailing wage determination(s) and/or the predecessor contractor’s Collective Bargaining Agreement(s) (BA). For purposes of proposal preparation, where a predecessor contractor’s CBA applies, the minimum wages and fringe benefits of the predecessor contractor’s CBA corresponding to the initial period of performance of this contract shall be regarded as applicable to all additional period of performance under this contract. A list of all service employees including anniversary dates currently on the incumbent Contractor’s (or subcontractor’s) payroll is provided as Attachment #10.

4. The Contractor shall also provide a detailed breakdown of its proposed unit prices for each contract line item.

A. At a minimum the breakdown should clearly and adequately identify:

(1) Elements in the proposed unit prices that are associated with the level of supervision, staffing, quality control, transition, relief and other advantageous aspects proposed under the Management Approach factor.

(2) Price elements which may be subject to escalation under FAR 52.222-43, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards – Price Adjustment (Multiple Year and Option Contracts). Examples of such elements would include, but are not limited to:

• Anticipated hourly wage rates to be paid

• Health and welfare costs

• Vacation and holiday pay

• Unemployment insurance

(3) Price elements associated with providing the services described in the Statement of Work including, but not limited to: supervision (if not separately priced), PSO relief, uniforms, weapons, ammunition, training, drug testing, licensing and permits, taxes, range practice, overhead and general and administrative costs, etc.

B. To ensure the submission of an adequate price element breakdown for purposes of this RFP, the Government suggests that the Contractor complete the attached worksheet, “Price Element Breakdown” (Attachment 6). Attachment (6A) provides instructions for completion of the worksheet. The worksheet serves as a proforma for the expected format of the price element breakdown.

C. The Government may use this breakdown to conduct a price realism evaluation for the purpose of measuring the Contractor’s understanding of the solicitation requirements and for assessing the performance risk inherent in the Contractor’s price. In addition, the proposed rates/elements subject to escalation under FAR 52.222-43 as shown in this breakdown may be used in conjunction with submitted payroll records when evaluating price adjustment requests presented by the Contractor.

5. The Contractor’s price shall be inclusive of all the Contractor’s direct costs, indirect costs and profit and shall include all costs associated with providing the services described in the Statement of Work, the Post Exhibits and the Contractor’s technical proposal.

6. Prices (for the base and option periods including the 6-month option available under FAR 52.217-8) will be evaluated to ensure that they are fair and reasonable for performance of the requirements established in the RFP and as proposed in the technical submission.

7. The Contractor is cautioned that its proposal may be rejected if it is found to be materially unbalanced in the base period or any option periods. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more line items is significantly overstated or understated.

8. The Government shall not be responsible for compensating the Contractor for any costs tied to solicitation requirements but not factored into the proposed prices, either by the Contractor’s intention or by mistake.

9. Prior to award the Contractor may be required to furnish the following information to establish the company’s financial responsibility in accordance with FAR 9.104-1:

A. The last three years of audited financial statements (includes balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows). Unaudited financial statements may be requested if audited do not exist. The Contractor may be requested to provide written confirmation that the provided financial statements include disclosure of all off-balance sheet arrangements and related party transactions as defined as follows:

• Off-balance sheet arrangements may involve, but are not limited to, unconsolidated, non-independent, limited purpose entities, often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities. These entities may be in the form of corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, trusts, structured finance entities or other types of agreements, relationships or understandings.

These entities may be used to provide financing, liquidity, market risk or credit support, or involve leasing, hedging, and/or research and development services.

• Related party transactions are defined in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 57, Related Party Disclosures, and include, but are not limited to, transactions between any organizations, divisions, subdivisions, or affiliates under common control.

B. The last two quarters of filed payroll tax returns (Federal Tax Return Form 941) and evidence of payment. (Evidence of payment may include copies of canceled checks, receipts from the bank, receipts from electronic fund transfers, and/or similar information from an external payroll service). If unpaid payroll taxes are owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), provide any agreements with IRS to make timely payments and evidence those payments are being made.

Questions

The Contractor is requested to submit any questions regarding this requirement via email as soon as possible but no later than Tuesday, 02/22/2022, at 12:00 PM Eastern Time to danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov and thomas.schrank@fps.dhs.gov. Prospective contractors may contact the Government while preparing a proposal in order to obtain clarification of the statement of work or to obtain other information needed to prepare a proposal. Any clarifying information issued by the Government will be provided to all prospective contractors.

Pre Proposal Conference

A Pre-Proposal Conference will be conducted via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday, 02/09/2022, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. All interested parties are invited to attend a briefing of this procurement. The briefing will cover items as the evaluation criteria, technical factors, post exhibit, pricing, teaming arrangements, etc. Attendance is not mandatory; however, it is strongly recommended. Contractors wishing to attend the conference should email Tom Schrank (thomas.schrank@fps.dhs.gov) and Danielle Brown (danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov) with the Point of Contact information and all attendee information not later than Friday, 02/04/2022, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. The request shall include company information, such as the Company name, address, DUNS #, Cage Code, Business Size designation, address, phone number, and email address of the planned attendees. An invite to the meeting will provided once all attendee information has been received after 02/04/2022. This conference will be 100% virtual and there will be no dial-in provided for this conference.

Notice of Award

A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

mailto:thomas.schrank@fps.dhs.gov mailto:danielle.brown@fps.dhs.gov