Amendment 1 RFP CACS 71818 QA 1.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

PAGE OF PAGES

1 3

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

00002

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

See Block 16C

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.

5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

6. ISSUED BY CODE 436 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE 436 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC)

Office of Acquisition Services (OAS) 626 Cochrans Mill Rd Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0070

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Acquisition Services (OAS) 626 Cochrans Mill Rd Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0070

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

X

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

75D301-21-R-71818

9B. DATED (See Item 11)

04/27/2021

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (See Item 13)

CODE FACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

X The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers X is extended, is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning 1 copy of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, X is required to sign this document and return 1 copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

The purpose of this amendment is to answer questions.

See Pages 2-3.

Additional answers to questions are anticipated to be forthcoming.

The due date for proposals is extended until June 3, 2021, 2:00PM ET.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16A. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

Diane J Meeder

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

15C. DATE SIGNED

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BY ___________________________________________

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

16C. DATE SIGNED

NSN 7540-01-152-8070 STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

PREVIOUS EDITION UNUSABLE 30-105 Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

ITEM 10A.

Answers to Questions RFP#71818

1. How would you like us to demonstrate 508 compliance? Would it be possible to submit a report with our internal 508 checklist included? This internal checklist is generated directly from Adobe PDF software, would that suffice? (Page 10 of RFP, section C). A1. This would be acceptable. Please provide the version of the software, and other necessary details of the software that you are using.

2. Has anything changed in regards to reimbursement for NIOSH only purchases? There is no mention in this bid regarding purchases over $25.00. Would these be invoiced monthly as materials and supplies? A2.

Under a cost contract, purchases that are allowable and allocable to the contract for performance, such a lab supplies (filters, test tubes, etc.) are to be invoiced in accordance to the organization’s accounting principles and may be invoiced monthly.

3. The 2021 bid does not discuss Subcontracting program Reports. Is this still a requirement? Are Standard

Forms 294 and 295 still required? . A3. eSRS reporting is still a requirement under this contract. Please see G.4 page 46.

4. What level of management are you looking for to be the representative for the CPARS? (Page 69). A4.

Any level of management is appropriate, as long as they are familiar with the work under this contract and can review the assessment and provide comments as necessary.

5. It is stated on page 22 that staff is required to have HHS/CDC training for this contract. Is this internal training? If so, will training documents be provided or is it expected to internally generate work instructions for training? A5. As stated under Section B. Training, page 22., the CDC will provide the following training: HHS/CDC Contractor Information Security Awareness, CDC Security Awareness Training (SAT), Privacy, and Records Management training, Role-Based training (RBT)(as applicable). All provided training shall be compliant with HHS training policies. Training will be provided upon contract award and or shortly thereafter, certain training must occur before performing any work under this contract.

6. Can proposals be delivered via Fed Ex (or another carrier if there is a preference), or must they be hand delivered? If requirement is hand delivery, is it to the Pittsburgh, PA address and your attention? A6.

Proposals are to be sent via common carrier. Hand carry by a representative is not necessary.

7. Due to Covid-19 constraints, would CDC allow the proposal to be only submitted electronically and not also require a hard copy submission? A 7. Although receipt of one hard copy proposal is stated as being required, due to current circumstances an Electronic proposal submission is acceptable as the official proposal submission. However, it is preferred that one hard copy is submitted.

8. We request an extension of the due date for the proposal due to the constraints and interruptions caused by Covid-19. A 8. The due date is extended until June 3, 2021, 2:00PM ET.

9. Section B – Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs shows a period of performance for one (1) year for both the base period and option years and base period additional and option year additional samples, however under Section B.3 Estimated Cost – Incrementally Funded Contract, the period of performance is not a year for both the base and optional years and Additional samples for each clin. It is also stated under Section 6 – Period of Performance that the contract is a one (1) Base period with four (4) one (1) year option periods. How should bidders interpret the period of performance when budgeting? A.9 The period of performance under the contract is a base of one (1) year with four (4) one year option periods. B.3 is the anticipated funding increments that are the best estimate at this time for the government to fund each period of performance. The amount of funds received due to budgetary processes will determine how much of an increment in a specific performance period can be funded and is subject to change. At times an entire performance period may be able to be funded, or an increment of funding may cover more or less than an anticipated six months of performance within a 12 month performance period.

10. Should bidders submit a budget following the instructions listed under L. 10 CDC0_L015 Business Proposal Instructions, Cost Reimbursement (May 2020) for the base one (1) year period and four (4) one year option periods, separate budget for the additional samples for each clin (0001-1, 0002-1, 0003-1, 000-4-1, and 0005-1)? Should a budget be submitted for the option for increased quantity or will the price per sample indicated in Clin’s (0001-1, 0002-1, 0003-1, 0004-1, and 0005-1) be used if option for increased quantities are exercised and thus not requiring a separate budget? A 10. Offeror’s should provide support for how they arrived at the pricing for all CLINS under the RFP. If using a price per sample for Clin’s 0001-1, 0002-1, 0003-1, 0004-1, and 0005-1, the support for how you arrived at the pricing should be included.

11. Because of the significant number of internal quality control samples required to complete an analysis request using typical NIOSH methodology, the cost/sample to complete and report analysis results depends heavily on the size of the sample set. For the sample set costing mentioned in Section 11, p. 14 of the solicitation, will the request for costing be made by the CACS PO each time that a sample set is submitted under a sequence or subsequence or is this request only made periodically? A 11.The request for cost estimates will only be made periodically for specific planning purposes, not for every sample set.

However, a final actual cost will need to be submitted into the NIOSH LIMS for every sample set upon completion.

12. The example analytical request form provided with the solicitation indicates that the set contains 40 charcoal tube samples for benzene determinations using NIOSH Method 1501. What is the anticipated average number of samples for a typical sample set? What is the anticipated range of sample numbers contained in a typical sample set? A 12.The number of samples per set can vary greatly due to the wide variety of studies and surveys conducted by NIOSH. However, 20 samples could be used as an estimated average number of samples per set. The anticipated range of number of samples per set is typically 5-40 samples, although more or less is possible

13. Table I on p. 81 of the solicitation provides the estimated monthly sample loads expressed as a percent sample per instrument, the number at 100 percent, and the number at 150 percent but it does not identify the anticipated NIOSH reference methods that will be used to analyze these samples. What is the estimated monthly sample load expressed as percent sample per specific NIOSH reference method, number per specific NIOSH reference method at 100 percent, and the number per specific NIOSH reference method at 150 percent? A 13. As noted in the Background section, the contracted analytical services will serve the diverse project types and programs of NIOSH. Much of NIOSH’s analytical needs are request driven and concern a myriad of chemical hazards unique to those environments. Due to the many unknowns, the specific NIOSH methods to be used and their frequency of use cannot be anticipated.

14. There are also several documents referenced that are not included in the solicitation. Could the following documents be provided? A 14. These SOPs and their related forms are intended for use in the internal laboratory not external laboratories. While the contract laboratory is required to report results and quality control, they are not be required to use the reporting template or the QC Record Form.

Document Identifier Description and Reference SOP CBM-00372 SOP reference in QA Manual Feb 2021, p. 25 CBMB-372 Reporting template referenced in QA Manual, p. 25 NIOSH QC Record Form Form referenced in SOP CBM-00371, p. 2 SOP CBM-00385 SOP referenced in QA Manual, p. 26

15. When staffing changes, would you like to see a roster update in the form of a new organizational chart?

(Page 22) Should this information be provided to the CO or COR? A 15. It is acceptable to provide staffing changes in the form of a new organizational chart as long as the changes are clear and all of the roster information required on page 22 is included. This information should be provided to the CO and the COR.