Comb. SynSol_Instructions and Provisions.pdf

COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION DESCRIPTION, INSTRUCTIONS & PROVISIONS

Title: Acquisition of Bioinformatics Subject Matter Expert Services in the

Clinical and Basic Cancer Research Field, in Support of the NCI Center for Cancer Genomics

Notice Type: Combined Synopsis / Solicitation Solicitation Number: 75N91024Q00077 Posted Date: 4/8/2024 Response Date: 4/23/2024 PSC Code: R499 – Other Professional Services NAICS Code: 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management

Consulting Services

SECTION 1 – DESCRIPTION:

This Request for Quote is issued by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Office of Acquisitions (OA).

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items, prepared in accordance with format in FAR 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice, and shall be processed in accordance with FAR subpart 13.5 – Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation, #75N91024Q00077, is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ), and includes all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through FAR Federal Acquisition Circular

(FAC) 2024-03 (2/23/24).

This requirement is a total Small Disadvantaged Business Set-Aside. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services, with a size standard of $24.5 million.

The anticipated award shall be a hybrid time and materials and firm fixed price purchase order.

The Government intends to issue one award as a result of this notice. The period of performance shall be for a base period of twelve (12) months with two (2) 12-month option periods.

SECTION 2 – QUOTE SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION:

2.1 - GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

This Request for Quotation (RFQ) does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a quote. In addition, the Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this proposed acquisition. By submitting a quote in response to this solicitation, it is understood that your firm’s quote shall become a part of the official contract file.

QUESTION SUBMISSION:

Questions must be submitted via email to Contracting Officer, Megan Kisamore, at megan.kisamore@nih.gov in Microsoft (MS) Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), no later than 3:00 PM EST on Thursday, April 11, 2024 (4/11/24). Please be advised that the Government reserves the right to transmit any questions and answers of common interest to all prospective quoters.

QUOTATION SUBMISSION:

Quotations must be submitted via email to Contracting Officer, Megan Kisamore, at megan.kisamore@nih.gov in MS Word or Adobe PDF, no later than 3:00 PM EST on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 (4/23/24).

NOTE: It’s the Quoter’s responsibility to read the RFQ and all related documents carefully.

Additionally, it is the Quoter’s responsibility to ensure/verify the Government receives its submission on or before the date/time specified above. The Government reserves the right to not accept late quotes or quotes that are not submitted in accordance with the RFQ instructions. Quotes must provide a technical description of the items/services being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may include product literature, or other documents, if necessary. The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information the Quoter does not include in their quotation. Quotes submitted by any other means other than email will not be accepted. All emails must include the solicitation number in the subject line.

All quoters must have an active registration in SAM.gov and be eligible for all awards.

At a minimum, all quotes shall include the following:

1. Cover letter including:

a. RFQ Number

b. Federal Tax Identification Number (TIN);

c. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI);

d. Cage Code;

e. Business size and designation (i.e., Small, Other than Small, etc.);

g. Point of Contact information of individual(s) authorized to commit on behalf of the organization, including name and signature, address, and telephone number of the quoter;

i. A statement to the effect that pricing is firm for a period of at least 60 days from the date of receipt thereof by the Government;

mailto:megan.kisamore@nih.gov mailto:megan.kisamore@nih.gov

j. Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments, if applicable;

2. Detailed pricing of the proposed items, including unit price, extended price, and discounts applied, as applicable. Quoters shall submit a completed copy of the pricing information located in section 1.4 of the RFQ.

Note: To assist quoters in the preparation of their quote, the Government has provided the total estimated costs for optional tasks 1 and 2 of each performance period, located in section 1.4 of the attached RFQ. Quoters should assume the estimated costs provided.

3. A completed copy of the representations and certifications at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212-3 (see attached, FAR 52.212-3(b)) for those representations and certifications that the quoter shall complete electronically)

4. One of the following:

a) a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications

Equipment or Services-Representation, dated October 2020 (see the full text of this provision in section 3 below); OR

b) a copy of the firm’s completed annual representations and certification in SAM.gov, to include the completed provision at FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation, dated October 2020.

2.2 - BASIS FOR AWARD AND EVALUATION

Evalua�on and award will be conducted in accordance with the requirements of FAR 13.106.

The Government intends to evaluate quota�ons and make a single purchase order award.

Therefore, quotes must contain the best terms from a price standpoint; clearly and fully demonstrate the quoter's ability to meet the technical requirements including the quoter’s knowledge and experience regarding the technical requirements; and, detailed pricing that aligns with the quoter’s technical approach. Quotes which merely offer to conduct services in accordance with the requirements of the Government's scope of work will not be eligible for award.

The Government may perform a comparative evaluation (comparing quotes to each other) to select the quoter that is best suited to fulfill the requirements, based on the quoters’ responses to the criteria outlined in this RFQ. Once the Government determines the quoter that is the best-suited (i.e., the apparent successful quoter), the Government reserves the right to communicate with only that quoter to seek additional price discounts, resolve minor or clerical errors, or clarify aspects of the quote. If the Government seeks revisions or clarifications, the Government will provide a reasonable deadline based on the complexity of the request. If the parties cannot successfully address any remaining issues, as determined pertinent at the sole discretion of the Government, the Government reserves the right to communicate with the next best-suited quoter based on the original analysis and address any remaining issues. Once the Government has begun communications with the next best-suited quoter, no further communications with the previous quoter will be entertained until after the purchase order has been awarded. This process shall continue until a purchase order is awarded. The Government reserves the right to request revisions or clarifications from only one or a select number of Quoters, if doing so would be in the public’s interest. The Government may reject any or all quotes if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest quote; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in quotes received.

The following factors will be used to evaluate quotations:

Technical Approach

The technical evaluation will be a determination based on information furnished by the quoter.

The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information which is not identified/included in the quotation. The quoter’s technical approach will be evaluated based upon on their understanding of the requirements of the SOW and planned execution of the required tasks. This refers to the manner in which the quoter proposes to plan, manage, control, and provide the services and deliverables. The extent to which the quoter demonstrates a solid understanding of addressing anticipated problems, issues, constraints, organizations and system(s) involved and the approach and methodologies proposed to ensure successful accomplishment of all tasks in the SOW will be evaluated. The extent to which to quoter demonstrates relevant examples of organizational experience and expertise will be evaluated. Relevant is defined as work similar in complexity and magnitude of the work described in this SOW.

Personnel Qualifications

The proposed personnel will be evaluated to determine their ability to perform their proposed duties. The Government will evaluate the extent to which the proposed personnel have knowledge and experience in meeting the requirements in the SOW and are easily discernable from the proposed CVs.

Price

The Government expects to receive price competition through several quotations. The “total evaluated price” may be evaluated for price reasonableness through comparison with other quoted prices and may include other price analysis techniques. The Government may evaluate the alignment of the proposed pricing to the quoter’s proposed technical approach. Price that does not align with the quoter’s proposed technical approach may indicate an inability to understand the requirements.

The Government will evaluate price quota�ons for award purposes by adding the total price for all op�ons, to the total price for the basic requirement. Evalua�on of op�ons shall not obligate the Government to exercise the op�on(s). As part of price evalua�on, the Government will evaluate its op�on to extend services (see FAR Clause 52.217-8) by adding one-half of the quoter’s final op�on period price to the quoter’s total price. Thus, the quoter’s total price for the purpose of evalua�on will include the Base Period (including op�onal tasks), Op�on Period

1 (including op�onal tasks), Op�on Period 2 (including op�onal tasks), and 1/2 of Op�on Period

2. As indicated in FAR 52.217-8, the Government shall have the op�on provision to extend the performance of the purchase order up to an addi�onal 6 months when the Contractor is provided �mely writen no�ce. Providing pricing for the op�onal six-month extension period is encouraged, but not required.

SECTION 3 – SOLICITATION PROVISIONS

FAR 52.204-26 COVERED TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES-

REPRESENTATION (OCT 2020)

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision, "covered telecommunications equipment or services" and "reasonable inquiry" have the meaning provided in the clause 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment.

(b) Procedures. The Offeror shall review the list of excluded parties in the System for Award Management (SAM) (https://www.sam.gov) for entities excluded from receiving federal awards for "covered telecommunications equipment or services".

(c) (1) Representation. The Offeror represents that it □ does, □ does not provide covered telecommunications equipment or services as a part of its offered products or services to the Government in the performance of any contract, subcontract, or other contractual instrument.

(2) After conducting a reasonable inquiry for purposes of this representation, the offeror represents that it □ does, □ does not use covered telecommunications equipment or services, or any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services.

FAR 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this address:

www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) – provisions incorporated by reference:

PROVISION NO. TITLE DATE

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_204_25 https://www.sam.gov/ http://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

FAR 52.203-18 PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH ENTITIES THAT

REQUIRE CERTAIN INTERNAL CONFIDENTIALITY

AGREEMENTS OR STATEMENTS-REPRESENTATION

JAN 2017

FAR 52.204-7 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT OCT 2018

FAR 52.204-16 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE

REPORTING

AUG 2020

FAR 52.204-17 OWNERSHIP OR CONTROL OF OFFEROR AUG 2020

FAR 52.204-20 PREDECESSOR OF OFFEROR AUG 2020

FAR 52.204-22 ALTERNATIVE LINE ITEM PROPOSAL JAN 2017

FAR 52.204-26 COVERED TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT OR

SERVICES-REPRESENTATION

OCT 2020

FAR 52.209-2 PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH INVERTED

DOMESTIC CORPORATIONS – REPRESENTATION

NOV 2015

FAR 52.209-11 REPRESENTATION BY CORPORATION BY CORPORATIONS

REGARDING DELINQUENT TAX LIABILITY OR A FELONY

CONVICTION UNDER ANY FEDERAL LAW

FEB 2016

FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES

SEP 2023

FAR 52.212-2

EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

COMMERCIAL SERVICES

NOV 2021

FAR 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES

FEB 2024

FAR 52.217-5 EVALUATION OF OPTIONS JUL 1990

FAR 52.223-22 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

AND REDUCTION GOALS – REPRESENTATION

DEC 2016

FAR 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST SEPT 2006

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.203-18 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-7 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-16 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-17 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-20 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-22 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-26 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.209-2 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.209-11 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.212-1 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.212-2 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.212-31 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.217-5 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.223-22 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.233-2