Amend._1_Annex_1_Q&A_A&E_MSP.pdf

ANNEX 1

USAID Lebanon “Architecture and Engineering Mission Support Program” IDIQ

RFQ No. 72026819R00001 / Questions and Answers

QUESTION 1: On Page 15 of the RFP there is a List of Disciplines (Function Codes); 1-a: Do the list of disciplines have to be licensed locally or internationally and have experience in-country Lebanon? Or 1-b: Do the list of disciplines have to be USA licensed with USA experience?

ANSWER 1: The only requirement is that the individuals proposed for the list of disciplines, must have all licenses, registrations, or certifications as professional engineers, as applicable. No reference to a specific country is made.

QUESTION 2: Is the contractor supposed to be stationed in Lebanon or they can be stationed in their home office(s)?

ANSWER 2: The Contractor is expected to mobilize and be stationed in Lebanon.

QUESTION 3. On Page 11 the RFP indicate section (d) “Small Business Participation. USAID encourages the participation to the maximum extent possible of small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned business concerns in this activity. In this respect, it is anticipated that the prime contractor will make every reasonable effort to identify and make maximum practicable use of such concerns”. If the contractor is a Prime and a Small Business, do they have to meet the above small business requirements?

ANSWER 3: No.

QUESTION 4: Attachment #1, Section #4, Page 15, Paragraph 4 from the bottom indicates key personnel to have a Bachelor of Science degree, ten years relevant experience in the proposed discipline, and the applicable licensing requirements are desirable, but the next paragraph indicates that the individuals proposed in the above disciplines must have all licenses, registrations, or certifications as professional engineers, as applicable. Kindly clarify.

ANSWER 4: Please refer to amendment no. 1 of the RFQ.

QUESTION 5: Attachment #2, Page #14, (Table showing organization of proposal) under the Technical Proposal section of the table, sections A through F are not shown in order, is this on purpose or is this a typo?

Also, Section H of the SF330 form (Additional Information) is not listed on the table to be included in the Technical Proposal. Kindly Clarify.

ANSWER 5: Sections must be submitted in alphabetical order. Section H is now reference in the table, please refer to amendment no. 1 of the RFQ.

QUESTION 6: Attachment #2, Page #15, Paragraph 2 from the top states “The IDIQ Manager Narrative must be placed in Section H. While the organization table (Page 14) states the Narrative to be 1 Page under Item A of the Annex. Kindly clarify. Also the same question applies to the placement of the Organization Chart Narrative. (See first paragraph from top on Page 16).

ANSWER 6: Please refer to amendment no. 1 of the RFQ.

QUESTION 7: Cover Letter – Would USAID consider extending the deadline to at least July 29th 2019 which will allow bidders sufficient time to integrate feedback from the Questions and Answers into their proposals?

ANSWER 7: The RFQ due date remains unchanged.

QUESTION 8: Cover Letter and RFQ Page 3, Section 2 - Can you please confirm that the entire contract duration will be 7 seven years (2019-2026) rather than 5 years, as stated in the cover letter?

ANSWER 8: The Cover Letter refers to the ordering period only which is five years. The period of performance of this IDIQ is seven (7) years from date of award, although, Task Orders may only be ordered during the first five years from the date of issuance. In addition, two constraints apply to the period of performance for the Task Orders. First, the period of performance for a Task Order may not go beyond two (2) years after the end of the ordering period of the IDIQ. Second, a Task Order Contracting Officer (TOCO) may not award a Task Order for a period of performance exceeding five (5) years, including modifications.

QUESTION 9: RFQ Page 14, Section 4c - The current page limit for Section E (Professional Qualifications) is 8 pages. USAID has asked for CVs of 8 team members (1 Key Personnel and 7 discipline-specific team members). This means each CV can only be 1 page long, which is very limiting. Can USAID increase the page limit for Section E to at least 16 pages?

ANSWER 9: Yes. Please refer to Amendment No. 1 of the RFQ.

QUESTION 10: RFQ Page 15, Section 1 – For the 3 references to be provided specifically for the proposed IDIQ Manager, does USAID have a specific template that they want suppliers to use?

ANSWER 10: No.

QUESTION 11: RFQ Page 17, Section 4a - For past performance information, USAID has stated that contracts must have been “performed within the last five (5) years”. Are contracts that were completed within the last 5 years acceptable, even if they were started longer than 5 years ago?

ANSWER 11: Yes that is acceptable.

QUESTION 12: RFQ Page 17, Section 4a - From the RFQ, we understand that suppliers do not have to send Performance Forms (Attachment 3) to the designated contacts prior to the submission of the IDIQ proposal. Rather suppliers will complete ONLY Part I of the Performance Form and then submit the Form to USAID by the submission deadline with the rest of the IDIQ proposal.

USAID will then send the Performance Form to the designated contact, who will complete Part II after proposals are submitted. Can USAID please confirm that this understanding is correct?

ANSWER 12: That is correct. The Prime is required only to fill out Part I of the form.

QUESTION 13: RFQ Page 6, Section 5.1 - Does USAID have a preference on where the IDIQ Manager is based? Specifically, is the IDIQ Manager expected to be based in Lebanon?

ANSWER 13: The IDIQ Manager is expected to be based in Lebanon.

QUESTION 14: RFQ Page 8, Section 6 - Will a third party firm be hired by USAID to support the implementation of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning plan (MEL Plan) and should the selected bidder account for the third party firm in their MEL plan?

ANSWER 14: Prime Contractors are responsible for adhering to their approved MEL Plan.

QUESTION 15: RFQ Page 13, Section 3.i - Can USAID confirm that bidders need to submit both a PDF and Word versions of the narrative responses?

ANSWER 15: Confirmed.

QUESTION 16: RFQ Page 14: please confirm that the page limit for resumes of the IDIQ Manager and the seven engineers is one page for each.

ANSWER 16: Please refer to Question no. 9 above and Amendment no. 1 to the RFQ.

QUESTION 17: RFQ Page 15, Second Paragraph: Letter of Intent for the IDIQ Manager regarding his/her “availability in terms of number of days after the award”, or “to serve for a specified duration”. Does this indicate that the position does not have to be posted in Beirut full time upon the award, and he/she can serve part-time based at the Home Office with necessary/frequent trips to Lebanon for task order team and office set up, meetings with the COR, and monitoring the implementation of the task orders?

ANSWER 17: Please refer to Question no. 13 above.

QUESTION 18: RFQ page 15, List of Disciplines: Are the 7 engineers expected to be STTA in support of the IDIQ and RFTOP managers? Or does USAID expect them to be based in Lebanon, or a combination of STTA expatriate and national experts?

ANSWER 18: The expected LOE of the each discipline will be determined at the Task Order level depending on the SOW of that Task Order.

QUESTION 19: RFQ page 15 second paragraph: Please confirm that the narrative for the IDIQ Manager along with LOI, references, intention to serve/availability shall be presented in Section H.

ANSWER 19: Confirmed. Please refer to amendment no. 1 of the RFQ.

QUESTION 20: RFQ page 5, Cross-Cutting Considerations: The link to the USAID Forward policy states that the policy ran from 2010 to 2016, and that in 2017, “the Agency determined that the work advanced under USAID Forward had largely been institutionalized”. Please confirm whether or not consultants should expect the Mission to incorporate USAID Forward policies into Task Orders under this IDIQ.

ANSWER 20: Please refer to amendment no. 1 to the RFQ.

Question 21: Offerors under this RFQ must be registered under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541330 - Engineering Services. In addition, offerors must be eligible in accordance with the authorized geographic code for this procurement which is 937.

Can a Lebanese Engineering consulting firm apply to this RFQ, or is this only for US/North American firms?

If the NAICS registration is required of all firms that wish to submit to this RFQ, then kindly advise on where to register, and if there is any specific information we should be aware of.

ANSWER 21: As stated in the Cover Letter of the RFQ, the prime offeror applying under this RFQ needs to be U.S. licensed.

NAICS registration is required. There is no central government agency with the role of assigning, monitoring, or approving NAICS codes for establishments. NAICS Codes are self-assigned based on the establishment’s primary activity (the activity that generates the most revenue for the establishment). USAID has no formal role in this assignment.