9. Answer to Questions RFP 72011724R00003, Amendment 5 signed.pdf

Amendment Issuance Date: December 6, 2023

Subject: Amendment 05 to Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 72012124R00004

Reference: Harvest Activity, USAID/Ukraine

Dear Offerors, The purpose of Amendment 05 is to answer the questions received in response to the solicitation, and as a result revise the RFP. All changes made to the revised RFP are highlighted in yellow for ease of reference. All other terms of the RFP remain unchanged.

Thank you for your interest in USAID/Ukraine Harvest RFP, and we appreciate the thoughtful questions submitted. Your engagement is instrumental in ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the requirements.

Sincerely, Craig Riegler, Supervisory Contracting Officer USAID/Ukraine

RFP 72012124R00004, Amendment 5 Answer to Questions Harvest Activity

December 6, 2023

1. Section C.9, Page 14, of the amended RFP states: “Contractor must utilize a licensed A/E firm (licensed in the U.S.), at minimum for final design review, development, and liability.” The RFP also states on Page 14 that “The Contractor must undertake engineering and construction components through sub-contracts using a design-bid-build delivery method where architect and engineering (A/E) services and construction works are performed under two separate but complementary subcontracts.” As liability should be associated with the firm contracted to complete construction work, can USAID please confirm that the A/E firm will provide final design review?

Answer: Confirmed - the US-licensed A&E firm must assume final design liability but the Contractor may engage other firms (e.g. local Ukrainian firms) to perform design preparation and construction oversight based on the Offeror’s specific approach. See answer to question #8 as well.

2. For the infrastructure manager key personnel position, the minimum requirements include a degree in civil engineering. This requirement, combined with the U.S. professional license requirement, may overly restrict the pool of qualified candidates. Would USAID consider amending this requirement to read “a bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering”?

Answer: No. Other engineering disciplines are not appropriate for this role given that the anticipated works involve horizontal and/or vertical structures.

3. Regarding the minimum qualifications for the Infrastructure Manager (page 22, under F.6.2), would USAID please consider revising the requirement for a US PE license to also include the equivalent PE licenses issued by authorities in Europe (EUR-Ing), Canada (P.Ing), or the United Kingdom (C.Ing)?

Answer: We have updated the RFP to include professional engineering licenses from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

4. Regarding the minimum qualifications for the Infrastructure Manager (page 22, under F.6.2), would USAID please consider revising the degree requirement to include civil engineering “or other relevant engineering discipline”?

Answer: See answer to Question#2.

5. Regarding the $30-50 million irrigation construction and equipment budget range, can USAID please clarify if the associated design costs are included in those figures?

Answer: No, the $30-50 million budget range for irrigation construction and equipment does not include the associated design costs, just construction.

6. Given the expanded technical scope and associated staffing and budgeting requirements, would USAID please consider extending the submission due date?

Answer: No.

7. In Section L.7.2 (page 74), the RFP specifies Offerors may propose up to four total Key Personnel positions. Given the required addition of the Infrastructure Manager as Key Personnel, would USAID please modify the requirement to allow offerors to propose up to 5 total Key Personnel?

Answer: Yes, the RFP was revised to allow offerors to propose up to 5 total Key Personnel.

8. In Section C.9, Construction Activities (page 14) of the revised RFP, USAID writes, “The Contractor must undertake engineering and construction components through sub-contracts using a design-bid-build delivery method where architect and engineering (A/E) services and construction works are performed under two separate but complementary subcontracts” [emphasis added]. Please confirm that offerors may use multiple (two or more) complementary subcontracts as long as A/E and construction works are performed separately to enable the contractor to obtain the optimal blend of high-quality, cost-competitive services.

Answer: Yes.

9. Section H.1(e) of the RFP (page 34) states, “Consultants and similarly termed personnel classifications, if a non-employee of the Contractor, are subject to subcontracting requirements, including FAR 52.244-2…” This means that contractors would require consultants to be treated as subcontractors unless they are employees of the contractor. This language presents significant issues for many offerors, particularly related to NICRAs and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS).

USAID’s Overhead, Special Cost, and Closeout Branch Division approves NICRAs, and many offerors are required to treat consultants as short-term personnel and apply applicable indirect costs. Should an offeror begin to treat consultants as subcontractors and apply subcontractor-related indirect costs, this would be viewed as inconsistent treatment of direct costs across USG-funded contracts and would be in violation of the terms of an offeror’s NICRA and CAS. Based on the above, we respectfully request the removal of language requiring the treatment of consultants as subcontractors so each offeror may classify consultants according to its own NICRA and CAS.

Answer: No. While Contractors must adhere to their approved Disclosure Statements and ensure this meets CAS, consultants and similar are considered Subcontractors for contract-management purposes.

10. Section H.17, Security (page 44), states, “The Contractor has sole responsibility for approving all travel plans for its employees and/or his dependents traveling to post if allowed by the Contractor’s personnel internal policies…” Could USAID please clarify whether current USAID/Ukraine guidelines exist regarding at-post dependents?

Answer: Currently, USAID Ukraine is an unaccompanied post.

11. To allow space for a staffing plan of size and scope sufficient to implement the Ukraine Harvest Activity and to allow for readability, please confirm that offerors may present the organizational chart on legal-sized (8 ½ x 14) paper.

Answer: Yes. The offerors may use smaller font size on legal-sized paper for graphs, charts, tables, and text boxes, so long as the text is legible per page 73 of the RFP.

12. Regarding Section L.8, Part 6, Letters of Commitment (Subcontractors) (page 79), the header and two text references are to “subcontractors,” while a third text reference is to “major subcontractors.” Could USAID please confirm that letters of commitment are only required for major subcontractors?

Answer: Correct.

13. In Section J.1.2, Required Minimum Results (page 86), USAID writes the contractor must “reach at least 40,000 legally registered producers of target commodities with farms between 5 to 2,000 ha (small to medium)” [emphasis added]. However, in Section J.1.4, Operating Constraints (page 87), USAID writes, “For irrigation and drainage infrastructure activities, the Contractor may, beyond barley, corn, soybean, sunflower, and wheat, implement activities that will benefit all farmers in a target region regardless of crops that they produce.” Can USAID please confirm that the 40,000 target is for all farmers reached, including other producers of non-targeted commodities who benefit from irrigation and drainage activities?

Answer: The target of 40,000 is for producers of the target commodities across all Objectives.

14. The detailed budget in Attachment J.3 does not include a separate cost category for construction activities:

Could USAID please confirm that construction activities should be budgeted under the Subcontracts line item?

Alternatively, would USAID please provide guidance about where to budget for construction activities?

Answer: The main detailed budget contains a specific line item for construction in both the summary, detail, and subcontractor tabs. Offerors should add this line item to the contractor's budget as applicable per its individual approach.

15. USAID has not included “Information to Support Consent to Subcontract” as part of the requirements for the cost proposal. Could USAID please confirm that offerors may submit information to support consent to subcontract per 44.202-2 as an annex to the Cost/Business Proposal to ensure timely engagement of subcontractors?

Answer: Yes.

16. Apart from the DSSR allowances, please confirm the following:

USAID authorizes a special cost of living allowance (COLA) of $45/day for Ukraine.

USAID DSSR authorizes two R&Rs per year.

Answer: Special COLA: correct. USAID direct hires received a specialist COLA for full days served in Kyiv. R&Rs: current authorized R&Rs are two for USAID direct hire staff.