Sol_72061222R00008_Lab Equipment Amendment 1.docx

Attachment A

Amendment announcement of the following solicitation for the procurement under the Secondary Education Expansion for Development (SEED) program:

SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT No 72061222R00008 – Amendment 01

SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

Date Issued: August 8, 2022

The purpose of the amendments is to:

(a) Provide summary of changes to the original solicitations as outlined in Attachment A of each amendment.

(b) Provide responses to Applicant’s questions raised as outlined in Attachment B of each amendment.

(c) Solicitations issued under full and open competition

(c) Clarify the deadline for receiving applications as Monday September 5, 2022, at 16:00 hours Malawi Time.

Issuance of these amendments do not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in preparation or submission of proposals. Submissions are made at the risk of the Applicant.

It is the Interested Applicant’s responsibility to download the amendment documents and attain thorough understanding of the changes made before engaging in the application development phase of the process.

Attachment B

Questions and Answers

Q1. Will the award be per line item as I. Chemical liquids, II. Solid liquids, III .laboratory instruments Various Laboratory Equipment or will awards be Per School or per schools per District or Region.

Response: This will one award. If the vendor envisioned to subcontract part of the work, then the vendor must provide a description of the sub-contract as per Section L: 1(a) p. 41

Q2. Date of submission is 26/8/22, please clarify how many copies to submit.

Response: technical and financial proposals – refer to section L -Instructions to offerors

Q3. Date of submission. Will there be any bid opening presence for the bidders, if so, provide a place?

Response: No bid opening presence, all submissions should be done through email as specified in the solicitation.

Q4. On submission, please clarify if its hand submission, by email or will be deposited in tender box only , if so, please provide a place.

Response: By Email as per instructions in the section L of the solicitation

Q5. B 4(b) On Part payment, of 50% of Contract, please clarify if this will be done soon on contract award signing?

Response: B4 (b) The payment will be after the Contract is signed with verification of the functioning/unbroken lab equipment in the vendor’s warehouse.

Q6. C.3.3 Duty Free import, please clarify, if the bid should include taxes or should be Zero/exempted

Response p. 11 C.3.3 Duty-Free Import of Furniture or Components USAID will facilitate the Contractor to obtain the necessary documents to allow for the duty-free import of furniture or components of furniture in the quantity required under this contract to be presented to the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).

Q7. C.3.4 inability to obtain certain item, please clarify if the item in the required specs is Discontinued, should we provide an alternative spec /item.

Response: If the item is discontinued this should be listed in the bidding document as per C.3.4 p. 11

Q8. Group 1, 2 Delivery of school, please clarify if the cost of transportation, be quoted separately or should be included in the full Bid.

Response: Cost of transportation should be factored in the bid.

Q9. On Delivery time, as we are facing Forex shortage in Malawi, please clarify if USAID will arrange the process with Authorities so that Delivery is done timely.

Response: No. The vendor must make arrangements with the Authorities to access forex and ensure delivery is done timely.

Q10. C.6. and C. 7 and C. 7.1. Submittal of samples /notice to proceed, presenting details /Specifications /manufactures info, we feel this is easy but issues of upon final of a notice to proceed will be issued by USAID, please advise if this could be done after the contractor has imported all items and Inspection could be done at the contractor warehouse before delivery or if the Pre-inspection could be done at the manufacturer site outside Malawi before the shipment to Malawi.

Response: The Notice to proceed will be issued once the samples have been approved by the COR. When submitting the samples, the vendor should include details/specification/manufacturers information.

Q11. Instruction, Conditions, and notices. Price proposal, the item numbers 001,002,003, in the price summary, please clarify if we should use the same numbers continuously of all items to the end in same order of items.

Response: Yes, use the item numbers in the price summary for the cost proposal

Q12. D. 3. Implementation of branding and marking, logos, should this cost be in quoted separately or be included in the full bid cost.

Response: The Vendor will be advised on the approved branding and marking, logos of USAID. Cost for printing these on the packages should be included in the bid

Q13. Question: Are we supposed to register now with sam.gov of after award.

Response: Vendor registration in SAM.GOV is mandatory requirement to do business with the United States government and should be done before submitting of solicitation.