Amendment Three.pdf

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AMENDMENT #3

75N93024R00003

“INTERVENTIONAL AGENTS SAFETY AND PHARMACOKINETIC SERVICES”

AMENDMENT No. 3

Amendment Number: Three (3)

Amendment Issue Date: April 10, 2024

Proposal Due Date: May 24, 2024, 3:00PM EST (UNCHANGED)

Issued By:

Miranda Adams Contracting Officer Office of Acquisitions, DEA National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health 5601 Fishers Lane

MSC 9821

Rockville, Maryland 20852-9821

Point of Contact:

Miranda Adams, Contracting Officer Email: miranda.adams@nih.gov.

Offerors must acknowledge receipt of the final posting of Amendment #3, on each copy of the proposal submitted. Failure to receive your acknowledgment of this Amendment may result in the rejection of your proposal.

The hour and date specified for receipt of proposals HAS NOT been extended.

PURPOSE OF SOLICITATION AMENDMENT:

The purpose of this amendment is to address questions regarding 75N93024R00003.

Question 1: Does the 50-page maximum limit for each Technical Proposal include the pages associated with the Sample Task Order?

Answer 1: The pages associated with the Sample Task Order count towards the 50-page maximum limit.

Question 2: FAR Part 16.301-3 restricts the use of a cost-reimbursement contract type, stating that "a cost-reimbursement contract may be used only when the contractor’s accounting system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract or order".

mailto:miranda.adams@nih.gov.

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The RFP states that resultant task orders issued under this IDIQ are expected to be either Cost Reimbursable or Firm Fixed-Price. Many qualified industry firms, including small businesses, may not have the infrastructure or certified Government accounting systems needed to support cost-reimbursable contract structures.

In the event a firm is only able to support Firm Fixed-Price task orders under this IDIQ, and establishes their intent in writing to do so in their proposal, would NIAID consider providing an exception to the requirements that are relevant only to cost-reimbursable contracts?

Answer 2: This section refers to the Prime having an adequate accounting system. The Government does not have privy of subcontract and therefore you may negotiate a fixed price-type contract with your subcontractors.

Question 3: In procurements for commercial services, requiring contractors to provide indirect cost information is unusual and unnecessary for the acquisition of fixed-price commercial item services (FAR Part 12). We acknowledge the intention to evaluate pricing at the IDIQ level by requesting all offerors provide the requested certifications and cost detail needed to support cost-reimbursable task orders, which is one of and the more complex of the two contract structures expected to be issued under this IDIQ. With respect to offerors who provide commercial services, and therefore do not work on a cost-reimbursement basis, will NIAID revise the RFP instructions to apply requirements associated only to cost-reimbursable task orders?

Answer 3: This is not a FAR Part 12 acquisition. If your subcontractor provides a commercial service, then that will be negotiated between the prime and subcontractor and the Government.

Question 4: In the event NIAID is amenable to revising the instructions for this RFP to not extend cost-reimbursable requirements to offerors who only intend to submit a proposal for a Firm Fixed-Pricing structure, would NIAID also consider removing the requirement for direct and indirect cost breakdowns in an offeror's employee compensation plan?

Answer 4: No, all offerors to this solicitation must provide the Total Compensation Plan. This refers only to the prime and not any proposed subcontractors.

Questions 5: Offerors are instructed to provide a breakdown of direct and indirect costs and profit (including direct labor rates, fringe benefits, overhead, and G&A expenses).

Would NIAID consider revising the RFP to indicate this information is only required for cost-reimbursable task orders?

Would NIAID also please clarify how offerors should address these requirements in the event they do not maintain accounting systems or pricing methodologies that are able to generate the direct and indirect costs and profit percentages that underlie their pricing?

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Answer 5: The business proposals requested are for sample task orders and Task Area F only.

Task Area F, which is the kick-off meeting, may be fixed price or cost-reimbursement. The task orders may be fixed price or cost-reimbursement. Task Area E specifically lends itself to a fixed price-type structure. Contractors will be required to include the amounts of the basic elements of the proposed cost or price, as applicable. It is expected that each Prime contractor to have an adequate accounting system in place.

Question 6: We recognize NIAID requires a diverse set of qualified industry partners with a broad spectrum of expertise to support the requirements for this IDIQ contract.

However, we are concerned that the application of requirements specific to cost-reimbursable contracts—such as the necessity for contractors to certify an adequate accounting system and to provide detailed direct and indirect rate information—might unduly restrict competition by excluding industry firms who do not support cost-based contracts from supporting NIAID on Task Areas for which this resultant contract structure may not be applicable.

Based on the description of each Task Area included in the SOW, Task Area A, specifically, seems uniquely suited to a Firm, Fixed-Price structure, as a scope with defined deliverables in the form of Product Development Plans (PDPs) can reasonably be expected to be estimated with sufficient accuracy for a fixed-pricing by Task Order. Would NIAID consider a revised contract structure that establishes Task A as FFP, thereby removing the need to extend cost-reimbursable requirements to offerors who receive an IDIQ contract to support Task A only?

Answer 6: Offerors may use a fixed price structure when proposing on the sample task areas.

End of Amendment 3