APO ALSS RFP Amend 2 - RFP Questions and Responses.pdf

USCG RFP 70Z02321RPAP02500

Amendment 2 - Offeror Questions & Government Responses

Question Attachment Paragraph/Page No. Question Government Response

Amend 1 - RFP

Questions &

Responses

Question 42

We are concerned the Government’s answer to Contractor Question 42, and the Question itself, may be interpreted as overly restrictive in establishing the authenticity of an Offeror’s WOSB status — as it gives the impression that only

3rd party certification will satisfy the certification requirement. This is incorrect.

While the Small Business Administration (SBA) is instituting a number of

Congressionally mandated changes to the WOSB Federal Contracting Program, as established via the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), “3rd party certification” is but one method for achieving/maintaining or documenting an Offeror’s WOSB status.

In addition to 3rd Party Certifiers (TPCs), acceptability for participation/competition for WOSB procurements can still be achieved through direct online certification using the SBA’s new online portal ( beta.certify.sba.gov ). Additionally, the SBA indicates offerors with “in progress” certification requests are permitted to compete for WOSB opportunities while their program eligibility requirements are being confirmed. Moreover, self-certified firms currently performing active WOSB or EDWOSB engagements may delay SBA or TPC approved certification until the end of the fifth year of the contract. Our company obtained SBA certification when formed and has maintained certification for the past several years. Our company is currently obtaining SBA recertification and we presently hold multiple WOSB contract vehicles. Our status is properly documented in GSA SAM.

What methods will the Government accept to document an Offeror’s WOSB status? (Is GSA SAM sufficient?)

To document an Offeror's WOSB status the

Government will accept the following: 1) SBA certification as a WOSB, 2) TPC by one of the four approved organizations that has been submitted to the SBA , or 3) verification that a complete submitted application is "in process" with the SBA for certification. Please note that if an offeror is selected for award that does not have an SBA certification, but has an "in process" application for certification with the SBA; the Contracting

Officer will be required to contact the SBA who will have 15 calendar days to respond and verify the apparent awardee's WOSB eligibility. If the SBA response does not certify that the apparent awardee is a WOSB then they will be removed from consideration for award. RFP Sections L-5 and L-6 have been updated to reflect this change.

Amend 1 - RFP

Questions &

Responses

Question 42

Our understanding is that this new submission requirement is inconsistent with

SBA's WOSB eligibility rules. To be eligible according to SBA’s new WOSB eligibility rules, an Offeror must either be a certified WOSB pursuant to §

127.300 (through either SBA or a 3rd party), or represent that it has submitted a complete application for WOSB certification to SBA or a third-party certifier and has not received a negative determination regarding that application from SBA or the third party certifier. In other words, if an Offeror has applied for certification with the SBA or a Third-Party Certifier and not received an ineligibility determination, then it is eligible to submit an offer on a WOSB set-aside. Will the USCG amend the solicitation to address the aforementioned concerns? See the response to Question 1.

Amend 1 - RFP

Questions &

Responses

Question 13

The answer to question 13 states, in part, “On-site and off-site rates will not be used. The labor rates proposed in Attachment 2 will be used for both on-site and off-site work.” There is a significant difference between the cost of supporting an employee that is working on the Government’s site versus in the

Contractor’s facility. Using the same rate for both on-site and off-site requires us to blend a rate to account for the facilities cost of the contractor’s site supported employees. In order to propose those costs accurately, we need either a percentage of the work to be worked on-site and off-site or to be allowed to propose both on-site and of-site rates. In order to provide a level playing field for the Government to evaluate the cost proposals, will the

Government provide an estimated percentage of the work to be performed on-site and off-site or allow for both on-site and off-site rates to be proposed?

We are only expecting that the contract PM and task order key personnel (most likely task order leads) be on-site at the APO. Other contractor employees can be off-site at a contractor facility or work remotely. It is not known at this time how many key personnel will be required for the duration of the contract, however, the majority of the work under this contract will occur off-site.

Amend 1 - RFP

Questions &

Responses

Question 44

The answer to question 44 states, in part, “The contractor will have to provide the licenses for software required for this contract and this will be at the contractor's expense. The Government will not pay for the software required to perform the requirements of the contract.” Will the Government provide the computers and peripherals (printers, plotters, scanners, etc.) on which this software will be installed? If so, will installing contractor owned software on government computers create a accreditation or certification issue? If the software must be installed on contractor owned computers, will the government provide an estimate of the computers and peripherals that the contractor will need to provide in order for us to accurately estimate the impact of these additional burdens in the cost build ups?

Government computers and peripherals will be made available to those individuals working on-site at the APO. However, contractor owned software can only be installed on contractor owned equipment. It is unknown at this time how many task orders will require the contractor to use the software required to perform the specific requirements in Section C of the RFP.

5 RFP Section F-3 Can the contractor site be CONUS and/or OCONUS?

The contractor site should be CONUS only.

RFP Section F-3 has been updated to reflect this clarification.