Government's_Responses_to_Industry_Questions.pdf

RFQ 75N96019Q00003 Amendment 00001 - Government's Responses to Industry Questions

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.No. Questions Answers

Would an offeror be eliminated from the entire solicitation if his/her company was unable to supply a particular bulk gas but who otherwise has a strong ability to supply “all other” items detailed in the solicitation?

The following excerpt from Attachment I – Statement of Work (SOW) section 2.0 expresses that the Government’s requirement and need is for the

Quoter to not partially but fully satisfy the requirement:

“The Contractor shall provide all necessary personnel, labor, equipment, tools, materials, vehicles, travel, supervision, and services necessary to perform the subject services for approximately 900-950 compressed gas cylinders and 3 bulk tanks on campus. The contractor shall be responsible for replenishment, delivery, and maintenance of all containerized compressed gas cylinders associated with the operations at NIEHS.”

Furthermore, the RFQ states that, “the technical factor evaluation provides an assessment of the Quoter’s capability to satisfy the Government’s minimum requirements.”

In addition to this, the document titled, “FAR Clause 52.212-2, Evaluation -

Commercial Items” states what the basis of award is and explains how the submission will be evaluated. If a Quoter’s technical approach includes the objective of supplying all but one particular bulk gas, this should be articulated in the submission as an area of anticipated difficulty. It will then be up to the Quoter to ensure that their technical approach demonstrates an arrangement that will result in the greatest efficiencies with maximum service to the Government.

Line # 40 – 95 (except line# 45) of Attachment VI have a CYL prefix and appear to be on hand balances. Are we to quote rental rates for the CYL items or gas prices?

Line # 40 – 95 (except line# 45) of Attachment VI with the CYL prefix are the cylinders that are being charged for rental and not gas prices. The items that do not have CYL by them are the items that need to be priced.

Clause 4.4.6. of RFQ Attachments I-VI states that “The Contractor shall also provide other supplies such as hoses and needles without additional charges for all containers requiring them.”

• Since this is a very open ended clause, could NIEHS please provide an idea of how often we can anticipate providing hoses and needles

(assuming needle valves) in a given year?

The Contractor may have to replace or provide needles and hoses once or twice a year.

The needles that are being referred to are needle valves.

The following lines on Attachment V have a typo on the “Unit” listed.

• Is it okay if we note on the spreadsheet as follows so our pricing is clear?

Please see Amendment 1 with revisions to Attachment V

RFQ 75N96019Q00003 Amendment 00001 - Government's Responses to Industry Questions

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5 Will this be set aside for Small Business? This acquisition is being competed on a full and open competitive basis.