RFTOP GHANA QA_042923.pdf

RFTOP Ghana

ITOPSS 4.0 RFTOP (Do not list any IDIQ questions and other RFTOP’s on this document)

THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR RFTOP Ghana ONLY!

Q and A

Page Section Question Answer (CDC will answer)

1 6 C.1 Is there currently an incumbent providing the services requested under the RFTOP?

Yes.

2 6 C.2.B The SOW includes little information on the in-country work site.

a. Will the contractor personnel working in-country be providing services from a

Government-furnished work site?

b. Should the offeror budget or plan to provide a work site for its in-country personnel?

The work site location for the contractor will be offered by the Noguchi

Memorial Research

Institute for Medical

Research. This will be negotiated by CDC. The offeror should not budget to provide work site for the in-country personnel. See Page

13 regarding office/workspace.

3 8 C.2.B Section C.2.B. contemplates “additional services within 30% of those originally completed” being recompeted. It is unclear if this reference to 30% applies to types of tasks or costs. What is the

30% referencing in this section?

This is referring to additional services (e.g., tasks), not costs.

No response from the contractor is required as it is for the Government (CDC).

4 8 C.2.C The Service Title is listed as “Senior

Research & Evaluation Specialist” in

The service title should read as follows: Epidemiology the table. Please confirm that the

Service Title should be “Senior

Epidemiology and Laboratory Services

Advisor” or another title.

and Laboratory Services

Advisor for Influenza

Program.

5 12 C.2.C The minimum qualifications require a

MD degree in addition to other required qualifications. Since medical services are not required under this RFTOP, would the Government also consider a candidate with a Ph.D in lieu of an

MD?

No.

6 42, 52 L.2, M.2 In the RFTOP for Ghana, on page 42 in

Section L, the following is stated with regards to criteria ii and ii:

Technical Evaluation Criteria in descending order of importance: Note that criteria (ii) and (iii) are of equal weight.

(i) Ability to Legally Provide Services

Overseas

(ii) Understanding the

Requirements/Technical Approach

(iii) Management Approach

However, on page 52, in Section M.2 it simply states that the three criteria are in descending order of importance and the RFP lists the criteria in a different order:

1. Understanding the

Requirements/Technical Approach

2. Ability to Legally Provide Services

Overseas

3. Management Approach

Can the Government please clarify:

a. The correct order of the criteria;

and

This language in Section L will be deleted in the

RFTOP to prevent duplication and confusion.

Section M lists the correct order of importance.

Section M is the evaluation factors for Award.

a. In section M.2, the table displays the order of importance for the evaluation criteria.

b. The Government will not disclose the specific rating method which includes the weight.

The criteria are listed in descending order of importance.

b. The weight of each criterion and if any two are of equal weight?

7 44 L.2 2II On page 44, in L.2, sub-section 2II, the

RFTOP instructs the following:

II. Describe the proposed technical approach to comply with each of the requirements specified in the Statement of Work of this RFTOP. The proposal must be consistent with the stated goals and objectives. The detailed plan must include the various recruiting efforts and hiring options that would be used for each task; and the process that will be used on vetting the candidates with

CDC.

Given that this RFTOP only requires recruitment of one position and not recruiting efforts for each task, can the

CDC confirm you are asking us to detail the recruiting and vetting efforts made for the specific candidate for this

Task Order?

Yes, we would like you to provide your recruitment plan and vetting efforts for identifying the candidate to fulfill this task order.

8 Page 2 Table The heading row of the table states

‘ITOPSS 3.0 Request for Task Order

Proposal (RFTOP)’.

Will the government confirm the following:

• the table should state ITOPSS 4.0 that this is an existing TO with incumbent staff

This should be ITOPSS 4.0.

See answer to question 1 about the incumbent.

9 Page 2 RFTOP States that the POP is from

6/15/2023 to 6/14/2028, but that there are also 4 Option Years.

Does the Government mean that there is a 1-year base POP from 6/15/2023 to

6/14/2024, and then 4 1-year options to be exercised?

This has been corrected in the RFTOP.

In addition the period of performance dates have been revised in the RFTOP

10 Page 3. With the pricing structure of the POPs, it is inferred that a single price for

CLIN 0001 (with a POP from

See answer to question 9.

6/15/2023 to 6/14/2028) should be provided, and CLIN 1001 (with a POP from 6/15/2024 to 6/14/2025) should be provided.

Will the Government clarify if that this is the correct structure for pricing, and that the Government does not wish to receive a separate price for the first year of performance (i.e., 06/15/2023 to

06/14/2024).

11 Page 3-5. Section B Within CLINs 0001, 1001, 2001, 3001 and 4001 it is indicated that ‘Severable

Services’ as outlined in Section C of the task order are required.

Request the Government confirm offeror’s understanding that “severable services” means services that are continuing and ongoing in nature – such as help desk support, maintenance, or janitorial services – for which benefit is received each time the service is rendered. A description of the

Severable Services required does not appear to be described in Section C of the task order.

Will the Government please clarify what Severable Services are required for this RFTOP?

All the tasks listed for each

Service Letter are continuous and recurring.

The Government views these tasks as severable services.

12 Page 8 Individual

Service Table

(top of page) and

C.2.C – Service

Table A

Service Letter A table at the top of page

8 states ‘Epidemiology and Laboratory

Services Advisor’. Table C.2.C –

Service Table A states ‘Service Title:

Senior Research & Evaluation

Specialist’.

Please confirm that the ‘Epidemiology and Laboratory Services Advisor’ is the correct position and should be in Table

C.2.C.

See answer to question 4.

13 Page 12. Minimum

Qualifications

Within this section it is indicated that only US citizens or non-US citizens Yes, this statement only applies to the Epidemiology and/or

Certifications.

who have lived in the US at least of the last five years are eligible to provide services under this task order, with exception to this being an incumbent non-U.S. citizen contractor employee with current, valid security clearance for physical and logical access to CDC and embassy facilities and network.

Will the Government confirm that this statement only applies to the

Epidemiology and Laboratory Services

Advisor position?

Offerors may have other non-US citizen employees providing key business operations functions (e.g., Human Resources, Contracts, Accounting, Finance) from international / hub offices that would be involved in the delivery of a task order.

Please confirm these employees can support the task orders.

and Laboratory Services

Advisor for Influenza

Program position.

The Government will not tell you how to set up your own additional support staff for this requirement. This will be your own business decision.

14 Page 12. Travel

Amount.

Are the travel requirements provided in the RFTOP the only travel that is required to be priced during the base year of the task order?

You will not provide any provide any additional pricing for these travel trips.

The amount listed for travel

($34,000 USD/Per Option

Period) is the total plug figure.

For this RFTOP the maximum dollar amount allowed for travel is

($34,000 x 5) $170,000 for five years (i.e., 1 Base Year, plus 4 Option Years).

Therefore, use only this price amount exactly per period of performance in your proposal.

15 Page 12. Travel

Amount.

Travel table includes multiple trips to

Atlanta (2), Burkina Faso (2) and Abuja

(2).

Please confirm offerors should price two trips for each of these locations and they are not inadvertent duplicates.

See answer to question 14.

16 Page 12. Travel

Amount.

Is the NTE $34,000 USD/Per Option

Period meant to be used as a ‘plug number’ for pricing in each of the

Option Periods?

See answer to question 14.

17 Page 12. Travel

Amount.

Did the Government include travel pricing for Home Leave/Rest and

Recuperation (R&R) in the Option

Years NTE pricing of the TORP?

No. These are not considered part of the trips listed in RFTOP.

You can add them in your proposal under the category of Other Direct Costs.

18 Page 15. Section C.6.

Security

Background

Checks.

The RFTOP indicates that the contractor employees are required to receive Level 5/NACI security/background checks prior to task order performance. It is assumed that this process begins upon notification of successful award, however if this process is required to be complete prior to task order performance – could the government please clarify how much time is anticipated between task order award and task order performance to complete this.

Furthermore, if this is required prior to task order performance, does the

Government expect that the effort required to obtain and receive a security background check is performed at the contractor’s own expense.

To clarify, the required security level is Tier 1, not

Level 5. The corrections have been made in the

RFTOP.

All contract employees that need network or physical access will be required to obtain a Tier 1 (Position

Sensitivity Level 1) –

Includes fingerprints;

Background records searches for the past 5 years; Complete the

Standard Form 85 through the e-QIP system

This process can take from

2 weeks to 1 month depending on the location.

The Government cannot estimate how much time is anticipated between task order award and task order performance.

It will be performed at the contractor’s expense.

However, any costs incurred by the contractor can be reimbursed by the

Government.

19 Page 17. Section 5.

Travel.

The reference to subsistence on a per diem bases indicates a calculation structure based on a day divided into quarters, and provides an example that is interpreted as follows:

• Departure Day of Travel:

o 100% Per Diem if departing between 12-midnight and 6:00am o 75% per diem if departing between 6:00am and 12-noon.

o 50% per diem if departing between 12-noon and 6:00pm o 25% per diem if departing between 6:00pm and 12-midnight.

• Full Day away from assigned location:

o 100% Per Diem

• Returning Day of Travel:

o 25% Per Diem if returning between 12-midnight and 6:00am o 50% per diem if returning between 6:00am and 12-noon.

o 75% per diem if returning between 12-noon and 6:00pm o 100% per diem if departing between 6:00pm and 12-midnight.

o

For the purposes of pricing subsistence per diem associated with travel, which percentage of per diem should the

Your requested information is not needed in order to respond to the proposal since there is a total plug figure provided for travel.

However, the U.S.

government complies with the U.S. General Services

Administration (GSA) per diem rates and guidelines.

Per GSA, the first and last calendar day of travel is calculated at 75 percent.

https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates/mie-breakdown?gsaredirect=mie contractor assume for a departing day of travel and a returning day of travel.

20 Page 43. Section

2.52.217-9.

Option Term of the Contract.

In subsection C it is stated that the total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 4 Years.

However, the estimated period of performance is 06/15/2023 to

06/14/2028 and the CLIN structure reflects a 5-year period.

which is correct?

This has been corrected to 5 years.

21 Page 45 L.3 Business

Proposal

The second paragraph states the following: “Supporting

Documentation for proposed cost must be included (payroll records, indirect rate agreement, vendor quotes, etc).”

Does the Government require all of these supporting items to be submitted?

If yes, please provide additional information regarding ‘payroll records’

– what payroll records are required and for what positions?

Vendor quotes can encompass a variety of items and costs.

what ‘vendor quotes’ mean in this requirement?

If vendor quotes are required, will the government define dollar threshold and time allowability? (for example ‘vendor quotes are required for items over

$1000 and must be quoted within the last 60 days’)

Do travel costs require vendor quotes or other backup documentation as part of proposal submission?

The business instructions for each RFTOP have been removed. There is a comment in section L.3 to refer to the IDIQ RFP for these instructions. This was done for simplicity since these business instructions for all three RFTOPS are the same.

Payroll records are not required.

For any proposed material or equipment over $1,000 vendor quotes must be within the last 60 days.

For travel, see answer to question 14 and no documentation is needed for the proposal response.

22 Page 46 Section L.3(1) RFTOP requests a weekly breakdown See first part of the answer of labor hours, rates, and cost by appropriate category.

Does the government intend the for the offeror to provide a week by week schedule of work for the entire POP of the TO?

If so, will the government provide a template as to how this should be broken out?

If not, is the expectation that the base unit on the Detailed budget tab of

Attachment 13 Sample Business

Proposal Spreadsheet be a weekly rate?

to question 21 on the business instructions.

A weekly breakdown is not required.

The base unit is intended to represent the total weeks in a year. See explanation in the revised business instructions for all RFTOPS in the IDIQ RFP.

23 Page 2 Section B Current RFTOP CLIN structure includes all costs for performance of the TO, including travel.

Typically, travel is considered a reimbursable item and is segregated into a separate cost reimbursable CLIN.

Request that the government add a separate travel CLIN with a government provided estimate for all program travel to alleviate variations and risk due to length of PoP and other inflationary items.

Since this RFTOP is Cost

Type contract, travel will remain in the same CLIN.

The Government will not separate travel into a different CLIN.

24 General Travel/Pricing For travel pricing, will the government confirm offerors should use Accra, Ghana as the post?

See answer to question 14.

25 1 Cover Page The solicitation number on page 1 of the IDIQ RFP is 75D30123R63271.

The solicitation number on page 1 of the Ghana RFTOP is

75D30122R63271. Can CDC confirm the correct solicitation number?

The correct IDIQ RFP is

75D30123R63271.

26 3 B The period of performance for CLIN

0001 is 6/15/2023 to 6/14/2028. Can

CDC confirm that there is a typo and that the period of performance for

See answer to question 9.

CLIN 0001 should be 6/15/2023 to

6/14/2024?

27 8 C.2.C Service

Table A:

Service Title

Could CDC please update C.2.C

Service Table A: Service Title with the title of the position listed in this

RFTOP “Epidemiology and Laboratory

Services Advisor for the Influenza

Program”?

It has been corrected.

28 12 C.2.C Service

Table A:

Travel Amount

The government states, “Travel for conferences are not allowed without a formal bilateral modification by the

Contract Officer”. Can the Government please provide more guidance on the process of the formal bilateral modification for conference travel?

The requested information is not needed or required for your proposal response.

CDC will control and approve any conference travel. More information about conference travel and the bilateral modification process will be discussed during the kickoff meeting after the IDIQ awards and again when RFTOPS are awarded.

29 13 C.2.C Service

Table

A:Government-

Furnished

Property

“Office/workspace is offered by

Noguchi Memorial Research Institute.

Noguchi Memorial Institute for

Medical Research (NMIMR), Room

230 University of Ghana Legon, Accra, Ghana

Internet, printing, and fax etc. may not be included with office space.”-

Can the government please confirm if the cost for Internet, printing, and fax are billable?

Yes, these items are billable.

30 52 M.2 Evaluation of Technical

Proposal

According to section M.2:

“The following technical evaluation criteria are shown in descending order of importance.

1. Understanding the

Requirements/Technical Approach

2. Ability to Legally Provide Services

Overseas

See answer to question 6.

3. Management Approach”

However, according to section L.2.d

(Pg.42):

“d. Technical Evaluation Criteria in descending order of importance: Note that criteria (ii) and (iii) are of equal weight.

(i) Ability to Legally Provide Services

Overseas

(ii) Understanding the

Requirements/Technical Approach

(iii) Management Approach”

Considering the contradiction between

1. and 2. of section M.2, and (i) and (ii) of section L.2.d, which is the correct order of importance of the Technical

Evaluation Criteria?

31 42 & 52 L.2.(d) & M.2 L.2.(d) lists the Technical Evaluation

Criteria and states that “criteria (ii) and

(iii) are of equal weight”. However, the table presenting the Technical

Evaluation Criteria in M.2 indicates that criteria (ii) is more important than criteria (iii).

Could CDC please clarify the order of importance of the evaluation criteria?

See answer to question 6.

32 8 C.2.C - Service

Title A

C.2.C - Service Title A references a

“Senior Research and Evaluation

Specialist” (this is the position title for the Rwanda RFTOP). Can CDC confirm this is an error and should be corrected to Epidemiology and

Laboratory Services Advisor for the

Influenza Program, as appears elsewhere in the Ghana RFTOP?

See answer to question 4.

33 3 Section B Should offerors consider a 5-year period of performance in Base Year

(CLIN 0001), as indicated by the period

See answer to Question 10 of performance?

34 3-5 Section B Period of performance for the Base

Year is stated as 5 years (6/15/2023 to

6/14/2028) in the RFTOP. The sum of

Option Years, 1 through 4, each with one year, separately covers 4 years of the Base Year. Could CDC clarify whether this is an error and the Base

Year period of performance should instead be 6/15/2023 to 6/14/2024?

If this is not the case, could CDC please clarify how offerors should present their cost/budgets -- e.g., Base Year covering five years, and then also present by option years covering in total 4 years separately?

See answer to question 9.

35 3-5 Section B In the Option Years, there is no “$” sign in the Estimated Cost, Fixed Fee and Total columns. Does this mean offerors are not required to provide quotes for Option Years?

The “$” is a mistake as has been removed. A cost is required for all periods of performance.

36 10 C.2.C Service

Table A:

Travel Amount

Should offerors budget travel for the destination provided, with length of stay only for the base year and not budget travel in the Option Years? Can

CDC confirm that the places and length of stay outlined in the RFP is the maximum allowed travel per CLIN per person, or may offerors add additional travel?

See answer to question 14.

37 10 C.2.C Service

Table A -

Travel Amount

States that travel spending is limited to

“Not-To-Exceed (NTE)

$34,000USD/Per Option Period”.

Does this also include the Base Year?

Can CDC confirm that the maximum dollar amount allowed under this TO for travel is (34,000 x 5) $170,000 for five years(i.e., 1 Base Year, plus 4

Option Years)?

See response to question 14.

IDIQ

RFP

(page 96, Direct

Labor)

L.3.(1) Direct

Labor

L.7 (1) Direct

Labor:

In what detail should offerors present

Direct Labor costs? Ghana RFTOP

(page 46) states “Weekly breakdown of labor hours, rates, and costs by appropriate category, and furnish basis for estimates”, while the IDIQ RFP

(page 96, Direct Labor) states “Provide a time-phased (e.g., monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.) breakdown of labor hours, rates, and cost by appropriate category, and furnish basis for labor hour and labor rate estimates.” Would the CDC please clarify this?

See answer question to 22.

39 8 C.2.A, C.2.C The RFTOP calls for an Epidemiology and Laboratory Advisor for the

Influenza Program position in C.2.A on page 8, but also on page 8 in C.2.C

Service Table A, the position is listed as a Senior Research & Evaluation

Specialist. QUESTION: What is the position the government wants the contractor to secure?

See answer to question 4.

40 8–13 C., C.2.C

Service Table

A

In the Minimum Qualifications and/or

Certifications for personnel to be hired, it is indicated (on page 12) that

Offerors can only propose US citizens and non-citizens that meet the specified criteria. QUESTION: Are Offerors only able to hire US personnel or non-citizens that meet the exceptions? Or can Offeror’s hire in-country staff native to and residing in the country?

The labor source for

Service Letter A must meet the minimum qualifications as stated.

The additional statement about citizens or non-U.S.

citizens must be followed along with the exception stated. You are not allowed to propose any person for

Service Letter A that does not meet those minimum qualification and instructions as listed in the

RFTOP.

41 45 L.2 Could the government confirm that

Times New Roman font, pt. 12 is acceptable for the 30 page, single space limit?

Yes.

42 3 Section B, CLIN 0001

The end date in Section B, CLIN 0001 seems to be incorrect. Can CDC confirm that the end date for CLIN

0001 should be 6/14/2024?

See answer to question 9.

43 2 Listed as “ITOPSS 3.0 Request for

Task Order Proposal (RFTOP)” however, should this be listed as

ITOPSS 4.0?

This is ITOPSS 4.0.

44 8 C.2.C Service Title in Service Table A appears to be a duplicate from the

Rwanda RFTOP. Please confirm that for the Ghana RFTOP, this is meant to say “Epidemiology and Laboratory

Services Advisor for the Influenza

Program” instead of “Senior Research

& Evaluation Specialist.”

See answer to question 4.

45 45 L.2(b) Will the government clarify and provide detail on what the “Staff Time

Percentage Information” requirement in the RFTOP appendices is meant to entail?

This has been removed in the RFTOP.

46 45 L.2(b) Please provide more detail on what is to be included in the management schedule in the RFTOP appendices?

A timeline, timetable or schedule on how the offeror plans to manage the contract.

47 45 L.2(b) Are the Letters of Commitment (LOCs) requested in the RFTOP appendices supposed to be personnel LOCs or subcontractor LOCs?

This will be for the person proposed for Service Letter

A

48 45 L.2.c.i. Please confirm the “contract number” required on the cover page is meant to be the “solicitation number.”

If not, please clarify which contract

Yes, it is the solicitation number.

number the government is requesting.

49 N/A General There are no instructions in the

RFTOPs to guide submission of the

RFTOP response. The document titled

“RFP 75D30123R63271 031516” gives some instruction regarding page count.

Given the 30-page limit per RFTOP response and the requested appendices, it would be easier for Offerors to submit each RFTOP response as a separate document (Word and PDF).

Please confirm that submitting each

RFTOP technical proposal in its own separate document is acceptable.

Submitting each RFTOP technical proposal in its own separate document is acceptable.

50 N/A General Does the RFTOP submission file/files need to be provided in both word and pdf?

Yes.

51 45 / 47 L.2.b

L.2.e.3.V

L.2.b notes “CVs” are allowed in appendices; L.2.e.III.v requires

“resumes”. Are the terms “CV” and

“resume” being used interchangeably?

If not, please provide clarification as to the correct instruction/term.

Yes, interchangeably.

52 48 L.2.e.3.VI-VII Requirements VI and VII under the

Management Approach for the RFTOPs are very redundant. Will the government provide an updated RFTOP where these items are combined or provide further detail on the different information the government is seeking in these sections?

The language in these two have be revised into one criteria (VI).

The new VI is below and has been added in the

RFTOP (VI).

The Offeror shall describe the approach/plan that will enable the employee’s relocation to the assigned

Country, which will range from relocation to repatriation. At a minimum, describe methods that address medical care, emergency evacuation, transportation, security, and housing. Attach any examples of orientation materials that will be provided to service employee(s) for this assignment. The attachments can be placed in the appendix.

53 48 L.2.e.3.VII Please confirm the examples of assimilation and/or any orientation materials that will be provided to service employee(s) for this assignment are to be inserted into the appendices for the RFTOP and will not count towards the page limit.

See answer to question 52 for the revisions.

As a result, the word

“assimilation” has been removed.