CMR_RFQ_Final_Revised_0001.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) NO. 75N97023R00011

(Dated: 09/12/2023)

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO SUPPORT

COLLECTION MAINTENANCE AND REFORMATTING ACTIVITIES

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Purpose

This RFQ solicits proposals to obtain professional services of highly qualified staff to support the following collection maintenance and reformatting activities: project management; professional librarian services; shelving and re‐shelving collection items; retrieving library materials for use by patrons; preparing and shipping items for commercial binding and reviewing newly bound volumes;

maintaining collections; reformatting collection materials; and using a library services platform, currently Alma, in conjunction with these activities for the Preservation and Collection Management

Section within the Public Services Division of the National Library of Medicine. The requirements are described in the attached Statement of Work (SOW), as Attachment 1.

2. Background

See Statement of Work, posted as Attachment 1 to this solicitation.

3. Method of Acquisition

Offers are solicited only from small business concerns expressly certified by the Small Business

Administration (SBA) for participation in the SBA's 8(a) Program. Proposals received from others will be considered non‐responsive.

This acquisition is an 8(a)‐competitive set‐aside and the NAICS code is 519210.

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in

FAR 12.6 as supplemented with additional information contained in this notice. This procurement is being conducted under Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13.5 and Part

19.8. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect as of August

8, 2023. Federal Acquisition Regulation revision, which includes the consolidation of all Federal

Acquisition Circulars through 2023‐05.

5. Number of Awards

It is anticipated that one (1) award will be made from this solicitation.

6. Date of Award

It is anticipated that award will be made on or before September 28, 2023.

7. Period of Performance

It is anticipated that the award from this solicitation shall be for a twelve (12) month base period of performance with the option for two additional twelve‐month periods.

The Period of Performance of this contract is from September 29, 2023, through September 28, 2024, plus two 12‐month option periods. Options are not guaranteed. Options are exercised at the

Government’s discretion in accordance with the terms of the award.

8. Labor Categories/Pricing

*A description of each labor category can be found in the Statement of Work under section II. Vendor

Requirements.

Labor Categories Activity 1 Project Management: 1 FTE Project Manager Activity 2 Professional Librarian Services: 3 to 5 FTE Professional Librarians

Activity 3 Shelving and Retrieval of Collection Items: 3 to 5 FTE Library Technicians

Activity 4 Binding Preparation & Review Bound Items: 2 FTE Library Technicians Activity 5 Collection Maintenance: 4 to 5 FTE Library Technicians

Activity 6 Reformatting Collection Materials: 9 to 12 FTE Library Technicians

Please submit Labor Hour rate for activities listed above.

9. Commitment of Public Funds

The Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with the proposed acquisition. Any other commitment, either explicit or implied, is invalid.

10. Communications Prior To Award

Offerors shall send all questions by electronic mail by the deadline to:

Janna Weber, Contract Specialist, janna.weber@nih.gov and;

Ladonna Stewart, Contracting Officer, Ladonna.stewart@nih.gov

Communications with other officials may compromise the competitiveness of this acquisition and result in cancellation of the requirement and or exclusion of the offeror from competition.

E‐mails with questions must include “75N97023R00011” in the subject line.

Questions regarding this RFQ shall be submitted electronically no later than 12:00 PM Eastern Local on

September 14, 2023. All questions must be emailed to the Point of Contact(s) stated in this RFQ. All emails MUST reference the RFQ number in the subject line and be submitted no later than the date and time specified. Questions which fail to reference the RFQ in the subject line or are submitted after

Labor Anticipated Hours

Program Manager 1,912

Professional Librarian (5FTE) 9,560

Library Technicians (24) 44,932 the date and time for questions may not be acknowledged to receive a response by the closing due date and time for submission of offers.

11. Preparation Costs

This RFQ does not commit the Government to pay for the preparation and submission of a proposal.

B. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

1. Ordering Terms and Conditions

Prices quoted shall be fixed unit prices (per labor hour) per labor category and fixed‐per‐item, per period of performance (base, option year 1, and option year 2). The proposal must indicate the Quantity, Item, and any other applicable information, quoted for each line item.

2. Terms and Conditions

Resultant contract shall incorporate FAR 52.212‐4, Contract Terms and Conditions ‐ Commercial Items and FAR 52.212‐5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders ‐

Commercial Items and are attached to this solicitation as Attachment 2.

3. Addendum to Terms and Conditions

Any resultant contract shall incorporate an Addendum to Terms and Conditions including invoice payment terms and conditions.

4. Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference

(FAR 52.252‐1, FEBRUARY 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 Contract 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 proposal. In lieu of submitting the full text provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its proposal. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this address:

http://www.acquisition.gov.

Vendor shall comply with all applicable Federal, State and Local laws, executive orders, rules and regulations applicable to its performance under this solicitation/contract. Full text of clauses and provisions are available at Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). The following clauses and provisions shall apply to this acquisition and may be obtained from the web site: FAR 52.212‐1, Instructions to

Offerors‐Commercial Items (June 2020), FAR 52.212‐2, Evaluation‐Commercial Items (October 2014).

Offerors are advised to provide with their offer a completed copy of the following provisions: FAR

52.212‐3, Offeror Representations and Certifications‐ Commercial Items (June 2020).

The following FAR clauses apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.217‐5, Evaluation of Options (July 1990); FAR

52.222‐41, Availability of Funds (August 2018); FAR 52.232‐7 Payments under Time‐and‐Material and

Labor Hour Contracts (August 2012); FAR52.242‐17, Government Delay of Work (April 1984); and FAR

52.232‐33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer‐System for Award Management (October 2018).

5. Selection of Vendor

You are advised that the award will be made to the 8(a) company that the Government determines to represent the best value to meet the Government’s needs.

The technical evaluation will be based on the demonstrated capabilities of the 8(a) Offeror in relation to the needs of the project as set forth in the SOW and Evaluation Factors. The Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the low‐priced offeror if the superior technical submission, or the submission indicating a reduced performance risk, warrants paying a premium.

A final best‐value analysis will be performed taking into consideration the results of the technical evaluation, price analysis, and adequate resources to respond to the Government’s need. The

Government reserves the right to make an award of the best value to the Government, technical merit, price, and other factors considered. The NLM reserves the right to make a single award, multiple awards, or no award at all as a result of this RFQ. In addition, the RFQ may be amended or cancelled as necessary to meet NLM’s requirement.

Upon conclusion of the evaluation and analysis the NLM will directly advise the servicing Small Business

Administration District Office of the apparent successful offeror. The SBA will review and determine the eligibility of the apparent successful offeror.

6. Award Type

The Government intends to award a Labor Hour contract.

7. Oral Presentation

The offeror is advised that it may be invited to provide an oral presentation to the Government after the

Government completes its initial evaluation of the proposal.

8. Potential Award Without Discussions

The Government reserves the right to make an award without discussion if the Contracting Officer determines that the initial offer is fair and reasonable and that discussions are not necessary.

9. Contractor Quality Control

The Contractor shall establish and maintain an inspection system in accordance with FAR 52.246‐6

“Inspection—Time‐and‐Material and Labor‐Hour” clause and the provisions of this paragraph.

Contractor performed inspections are independent of those performed by the COR. The Contractor shall perform its inspections prior to requesting acceptance of the work by the COR.

10. Invoice Processing

The Contractor shall follow the Invoice and Payment Provisions (2/2014) that will be incorporated into the resultant contract. The Provisions are attached to this solicitation as Attachment 4.

11. Non‐Personal Services

(1) As stated in the Federal Register, Volume 57, No. 190, page 45096, dated September 30, 1992, Policy

Letter on Inherently Governmental Functions, no personal services shall be performed under this contract. All work requirements shall flow only from the Project Officer to the Contractor's Project

Manager. No Contractor employee will be directly supervised by the Government. All individual employee assignments, and daily work direction, shall be given by the applicable employee supervisor. If the Contractor believes any Government action or communication has been given that would create a personal services relationship between the Government and any Contractor employee, the Contractor shall promptly notify the Contracting Officer of this communication or action.

(2) The Contractor shall not perform any inherently Governmental actions under this contract. No

Contractor employee shall hold him or herself out to be a Government employee, agent, or representative. No Contractor employee shall state orally or in writing at any time that he or she is acting on behalf of the Government. In all communications with third parties in connection with this contract, Contractor employees shall identify themselves as Contractor employees and specify the name of the company for which they work. In all communications with other Government contractors in connection with this contract, the Contractor employee shall state that he/she has no authority to, in any way, change the contract and that if the other contractor believes this communication to be a direction to change their contract, they should notify the

Contracting Officer for that contract and not carry out the direction until a clarification has been issued by the Contracting Officer.

(3) The Contractor shall insure that all of its employees working on this contract are informed of the substance of this article. Nothing in this article shall limit the Government’s rights in any way under the other provisions of the contract, including those related to the Government’s right to inspect and accept the services to be performed under this contract. The substance of this article shall be included in all subcontracts at any tier.

C. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING THE TECHNICAL PORTION OF THE PROPOSAL

1. PREPARING THE TECHNICAL PORTION OF THE PROPOSAL

The offeror shall include in its proposal a discussion of the offeror's proposed technical approach in conjunction with the tasks to be performed in achieving the project objectives as specified in the

Statement of Work. Proposals which merely offer to conduct the work in accordance with the requirements of the Government’s scope of work will be considered nonresponsive. The offeror shall include in its proposal a discussion of the offeror's proposed technical approach to respond to the requirements in the SOW. Proposals that do not address the work to be performed in a specific requirement will be considered nonresponsive.

The technical proposal is expected not to exceed 10 pages in length. Offerors are encouraged to focus their response on items in the attached SOW.

2. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING THE TECHNICAL PORTION OF THE PROPOSAL

In its proposed technical approach, the offeror shall summarize its corporate experience (including results) with contracts similar in scope and size to this solicitation that the offeror has successfully performed in the past three years. The information presented shall be in sufficient detail to describe the previous experience and effectiveness of the offeror in similar or closely related work, and to demonstrate the offeror’s current ability to accomplish the tasking in this solicitation.

Include the following information for each contract and subcontract:

• Name of contract or project;

• Contract Number;

• Role (Prime or Subcontractor);

• Sponsoring Organization or Company;

• Contract type;

• Period of Performance;

• Total Contract Value;

• Contract Manager, telephone number, and email address;

• Program Manager, telephone number, and email address;

• Project description, scope of work performed, services or products delivered;

• Major success or accomplishments, and

• Major problems, lessons learned, and solution(s) applied if applicable.

Resumes shall include the following:

• Name of person;

• Proposed position, function, or role;

• Proposed labor category;

• Education (including, in reverse chronological order, colleges and/or technical schools attended

(with dates), degree(s)/certification(s) received, major field(s) of study, and approximate number of total class hours);

• Experience (including, in reverse chronological order, area(s) of work in which a person is qualified, company and title of position, approximate starting and ending dates (month/year), concise descriptions of experience for each position held, and

• Certification that the information contained in the resume is correct and accurate.

D. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING THE BUSINESS PORTION OF THE PROPOSAL

1. Price Information

Offerors shall submit a detailed breakdown of estimated labor hours and fixed‐per‐item prices shall also be provided. All labor hours shall be fully burdened. Separate overhead and administrative costs shall not be considered.

The business portion of the proposal must contain sufficient information to allow the Government to perform a basic analysis of the proposed price of the work.

2. Information Other Than Pricing Data

The vendor shall submit sufficiently detailed information to permit the Contracting Officer and authorized representatives to evaluate the offer.

Unless otherwise stated in this solicitation, the information may be submitted in the offeror’s own format.

E. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

Any award will be made based on the best overall (i.e., best value) proposal that is determined to be the most beneficial to the Government, with appropriate consideration given to the three following evaluation Factors: Technical, Price and Past Performance. The Technical Factor is significantly more important than the Price which is slightly more important than the Past Performance. To receive consideration for award, a rating of no less than "Acceptable" must be achieved for the Technical Factor. The non‐Price Factors combined are significantly more important than the Price Factor. Offerors are cautioned that the award may not necessarily be made to the lowest Price offered or the highest rated Technical proposal.

F. FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED

1. TECHNICAL

2. PRICE

3. PAST PERFORMANCE

G. EVALUATION APPROACH

Proposals, which include all volumes, shall be subject to evaluation by a team of Government personnel.

The Government reserves the right to award without discussion based upon the initial evaluation of the proposal. The proposal will be evaluated strictly in accordance with its written content. Technical

Volumes which merely restate the requirement or state that the requirement will be met, without providing supporting rationale, are not sufficient. Proposals which fail to meet the minimum requirements of the solicitation will be rated Unacceptable.

1. Technical Evaluation Approach

The evaluation process will consider the following:

a. Understanding of the Problem ‐ The Technical Volume will be evaluated to determine the extent to which it demonstrates a clear understanding of all features involved in solving the problems and meeting and/or exceeding the requirements presented in the task and the extent to which uncertainties are identified and resolutions proposed.

b. Feasibility of Approach ‐ The Technical Volume will be evaluated to determine the extent to which the proposed approach is workable and the end results achievable. The Technical Volume will be evaluated to determine the level of confidence provided with respect to the offeror’s methods and approach in successfully meeting and/or exceeding the requirements in a timely manner.

2. Price Evaluation Approach

A Labor Hour contract is anticipated. The Total Evaluated Price will be the sum of the total evaluated

Labor Hour Price and will be based on the information provided in the Government provided “Price

Evaluation Spreadsheet” found as Attachment 4 to the RFQ.

The total evaluated price will equal the sum of the total labor price for the entire contract period, including option periods. Further, the Offeror shall provide fully loaded blended Labor Hour rates.

The fully loaded blended Labor Rates shall not exceed the GSA Labor Rates on its Basic Contract. The proposed fully loaded blended Labor Rates will be incorporated into resultant contract, as binding, Not to Exceed (NTE) ceiling loaded blended labor rates. The proposed fully loaded blended labor rates will be used for the prime and all subcontractors/team members in performance of this contract. The total labor price will be calculated by multiplying the Offeror’s proposed fully loaded blended hourly labor rates by the corresponding estimated labor hours for each labor category specified by the Government. The estimated labor hours are for evaluation purposes only and do not obligate the Government to award such labor hours.

All prices shall be rounded to the nearest cent. The Government reserves the right to correct any rounding errors identified in the Offeror’s TEP.

The Government will verify the Offeror’s calculation of the total proposed price. Further, the

Government may make adjustments to the evaluated price if mathematical errors are identified.

Overtime rates will not be permitted.

3. Past Performance Evaluation Approach

The Past Performance evaluation will assess the relative risks associated with an Offeror's likelihood of success in fulfilling the solicitation's requirements as indicated by that Offeror's record of past performance. In this context, “Offeror” refers to the proposed prime contractor and all proposed major subcontractor(s). A major subcontractor is defined as one who will be providing more than

25% of the total proposed price. In either case, the prime contractor and proposed major subcontractor(s) will be assessed individually and the results will then be assessed in their totality to derive the Offeror’s Past Performance rating.

The Government will conduct a performance risk assessment based on the quality, relevancy, and recency of the Offeror's past performance, as well as that of its major subcontractors, as it relates to the probability of successful accomplishment of the required effort. Offerors are cautioned that the

Government will review available past performance data available in the Past Performance

Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source and may contact customers other than those identified by the

Offeror when evaluating past performance. Since the Government may not necessarily interview all of the sources provided by the Offerors, it is incumbent upon the Offerors to explain the relevance of the data provided. Offerors are reminded that the burden of proving low performance risk rests with the Offerors.

The Government will review aspects of cost, schedule, and performance. Areas to be evaluated may include, but are not limited to, quality of product or service, timeliness of performance or adherence to delivery schedules, controlling project cost, and/or effectiveness in program management (to include use and control of subcontractors).

In the case of an Offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the Offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on Past

Performance.

H. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

1. Instructions

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) requires proposals to be submitted via eCPS.:

1. All proposals received via eCPS by 12:00 PM Eastern local time on September 18, 2023 will be considered by NLM.

2. Electronic copy via the NLM electronic Contract Proposal Submission (eCPS) website at https://ecps.nih.gov/ .

3. For directions on using eCPS, go to https://ecps.nih.gov/home/howto

NOTE: To submit your electronic proposal using eCPS, all offerors must have a valid NIH External

Directory Account, which provides authentication and serves as a vehicle for secure transmission of documents and communication with the NLM. The NIH External Directory Account registration process may take up to 24 hours to become active. Submission of proposals by facsimile or e‐mail is not accepted.

The Offeror shall include its UEI number on its proposal, preferably the cover page.

Any concerns regarding the submission of proposals can also be addressed to

WARNING: Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your proposals! Late proposals will not be accepted for evaluation. To avoid submission of late proposals, we recommend the transmission of your complete proposal file 24 hours prior to the required proposal due date and time. Please be advised that timeliness is determined by the date and time an Offeror’s complete proposal is received by the

Government, not when an Offeror attempted transmission. Offerors are encouraged to review and ensure that sufficient bandwidth is available on their end of the transmission.

2. Proposal Files

Offeror’s responses shall comply with and be submitted in accordance with the following instructions:

The Offeror’s proposal shall be conformant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the

Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) for Electronic Documents which is attached and made a part of this RFQ. Additional information about testing documents for Section 508 compliance, including specific checklists, by application, can be found at: http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html under "Making Files Accessible." Document formatting instructions and checklists can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/web/section‐508/making‐files‐accessible/index.html. The Government reserves the right to reject a proposal that is not conformant with Section 508. Offerors shall submit Technical

Proposal Volume of the proposal in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format to be‐ evaluated for accessibility according to the checklist found at http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/accessiblefiles/checklistpdf.html and by running the Full Check Accessibility Report within Adobe Acrobat Professional XI.

Each page size shall be 8.5 by 11 inches with 1‐inch margins. Paragraphs shall be single spaced.

Minimum font size/style shall be 10‐point Times New Roman font; for Text, 9‐point font in the Arial family for Tables; and 8‐point font in the Arial family for Graphics. Tables and graphics may be landscape; all other text must be portrait.

If the Offeror uses a different format (font size, margin, etc.), the Government reserves the right to adjust the proposal to fit the parameters of the format as stated in the RFQ, and if this results in information from the proposal being cut off, the cut information will not be considered for evaluation.

All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The Offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal and provide an adequate basis for evaluation.

Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details, in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal.

The titles and page limits requirements for each file are shown in the Table below:

Volume Number Factor File Name File Folder

Submission

Page Limitations*

Volume I Technical Tech.docx Technical 10 pages

Volume II Price Price.xls Business None

Volume III Past Performance Past Perf.pdf Business None

Volume IV Solicitation, Offer &

Award Documents, Certifications &

Representations

OfrRep.pdf Business None

A Cover Page, Table of Contents and/or a glossary of abbreviations or acronyms will not be included in the page count of the Technical Volume. However, be advised that any and all information contained within any Table of Contents and/or glossary of abbreviations or acronyms submitted with an Offeror’s proposal will not be evaluated by the Government.

The Technical Volume page limit excludes: the Offeror’s response to the NIH Information and Physical

Access Security requirements as noted in the SOW and any resumes.

See also Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212‐1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items.

(i) VOLUME I – TECHNICAL

Offerors shall propose a detailed approach that addresses the following:

1. Meeting the requirements of the Statement of Work to include experience and understanding with the following: Project Management, Professional Librarian Services in Collection Maintenance and Reformatting, Shelving and Retrieval of Collection Items, Preparation of serials for commercial binding, Collection Maintenance activities, and Support for Reformatting Collection materials.

2. Providing specific methods and techniques for completing each discrete task, to include such items as quality assurance and customer service. The proposal shall provide technical solutions to indicate requirements and goals will be met on schedule. The proposal shall address the ability to handle potential problem areas. The proposal shall demonstrate suitability of planned methods of communication among the Project Manager, the Contracting Officer’s Representative, and the Contracting Officer, as well as establishment of lines of communication between all performance sites and activities.

3. For Personnel, the Offeror’s approach shall include:

a. The percentage of time each staff member will contribute to the program is adequately identified. The extent to which outside consultants and specialists will be used is documented and evidence of their availability is provided.

b. Proposed Resumes for Key Personnel. Individual resumes shall be no more than three pages in length. Commitment letters are not required; however, encouraged.

c. The ability to quickly fill openings with qualified personnel for the initial award and with personnel turnover. In addition, a demonstrated ability to retain staff on projects.

(ii) VOLUME II – PRICE

The Price Volume shall be submitted by completing and submitting Attachment 4, Price Evaluation

Spreadsheet.

Submission of certified cost or pricing data is not required.

Price Rounding Issue ‐ The Government requires Offerors to propose unit prices and total prices that are two decimal places and requires the unit prices and total prices to be displayed as two decimal places.

Ensure that the two‐digit unit price multiplied by the item quantity equals the two‐digit total item price

(there should be no rounding).

The labor categories and hours shown below are estimated, not to exceed hours. Offerors shall respond to hours listed below in the pricing spreadsheet. Please note the Government considers one (1) full‐ time equivalent employee as equaling 1,912 direct labor hours. The 1,912 hours are based on the most recent common direct work year of 2,080 hours less 80 hours for vacation and sick leave and 88 hours for holidays. Therefore, the contractor is expected to propose 1,912 for a full‐time equivalent employee including all overhead expenses in the fixed hourly rate. Note: Contractor staff are not paid for Federal

Holidays and any other time in which Government Offices are closed. Contractors may not bill for time in which contract staff are not working in direct support of this requirement.

Annual number of hours (Base plus two option years) ‐

Labor Category

Qty/Each not to

Exceed

Unit Price

Discounted

Amount

Total Price

Project

Manager

1,912 Hours

Professional Librarian

9,560 Hours

Library

Technician

44,932 Hours

(iii) VOLUME III – PAST PERFORMANCE

Offerors shall submit a list of a maximum of three contracts, (including Federal, State, and local government and private) (prime contracts, task/delivery orders, and/or major subcontracts) in performance at any point during the three years immediately prior to the proposal submission date, which are relevant to the efforts required by this solicitation. Areas of relevance include professional librarian services. Data concerning the prime contractor shall be provided first, followed by each proposed major subcontractor, in alphabetical order. This volume shall be organized into the following sections:

1. Section 1 – Contract Descriptions. This section shall include the following information:

(a) Contractor/Subcontractor place of performance, CAGE Code and UEI Number. If the work was performed as a subcontractor, also provide the name of the prime contractor and Point of

Contact (POC) within the prime contractor organization (name, and current address, e‐mail address, and telephone and fax numbers).

(b) Contracting activity, and current address, Procuring Contracting Officer's name, e‐mail address, telephone and fax numbers.

(c) Technical representative/Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and current e‐mail address, telephone and fax numbers.

(d) Contract administration activity and the Administrative Contracting Officer's name, and current e‐mail address, telephone and fax numbers.

(e) Contract Number and, in the case of Indefinite Delivery type contracts, GSA contracts, and

Blanket Purchase Agreements, include Delivery Order Numbers also.

(f) Contract Type (specific type such as Fixed Price (FP), Cost Reimbursement (CR), Time &

Materials (T&M), etc.) In the case of Indefinite Delivery contracts, indicate specific type

(Requirements, Definite Quantity, and Indefinite Quantity) and secondary contract type (FP, CR, T&M, etc)).

(g) Awarded price/cost.

(h) Final or projected final price/cost.

(i) Original delivery schedule, including dates of start and completion of work.

(j) Final or projected final, delivery schedule, including dates of start and completion of work.

2. Section 2 ‐ Performance. Offerors shall provide a specific narrative explanation of each contract listed in Section 1 describing the objectives achieved and detailing how the effort is relevant to the requirements of this solicitation. For any contract(s)/task order(s) that did not/do not meet original schedule or technical performance requirements, provide a brief explanation of the reason(s) for the shortcoming(s) and any corrective action(s) taken to avoid recurrence. The Offerors shall list each time the delivery schedule was revised and provide an explanation of why the revision was necessary. The Offerors shall indicate if any of the contracts listed were terminated and the type and reasons for the termination.

3. Section 3 – Subcontracts. Offerors shall provide an outline of how the effort required by the solicitation will be assigned for performance within the Offeror’s corporate entity and among the proposed subcontractors. The information provided for the prime Offeror and each proposed major subcontractor must include the entire company name, company address, CAGE Code, UEI Number and type of work to be performed by citing the applicable Government PWS paragraph number.

4. Section 4 – New Corporate Entities. New corporate entities may submit data on prior contracts involving its officers and employees. However, in addition to the other requirements in this section, the Offeror shall discuss in detail the role performed by such persons in the prior contracts cited. Information should be included in the files described in the sections above.

(iv) VOLUME IV ‐ SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD DOCUMENTS AND

CERTIFICATIONS/REPRESENTATIONS

Certifications and Representations ‐ An authorized official of the firm shall sign the SF 1449 and all certifications requiring original signature. An Acrobat PDF file shall be created to capture the signatures for submission. This Volume shall contain the following:

1. Solicitation Section A – Standard Form (SF1449) and Acknowledgement of Amendments, if any.

2. Any proposed terms and conditions and/or assumptions upon which the proposal is predicated.

The Government will not be held to any terms and conditions and/or assumptions found in any other Volume and is not responsible for reviewing other Volumes for any terms and conditions and/or assumptions.

Offerors are hereby advised that any Offeror‐imposed terms and conditions and/or assumptions which deviate from the Government’s material terms and conditions established by the Solicitation, may render the Offeror’s proposal Unacceptable, and thus ineligible for award.

I. ATTACHMENTS

(1) Statement of Work

(2) Terms and Conditions: FAR 52.212‐5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders ‐ Commercial Items

(3) Wage Determination 2015‐4269 Rev 23

(4) Price Evaluation Spreadsheet

J. CONTRACT CLAUSES

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE GENERAL CLAUSE LISTING(S) WILL BE APPLICABLE TO MOST CONTRACTS

RESULTING FROM THIS RFP. HOWEVER, THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE SUCCESSFUL

OFFEROR(S) WILL DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC GENERAL CLAUSE LISTING TO BE CONTAINED IN THE

CONTRACT(S) AWARDED FROM THIS RFP:

The complete listing of these clauses may be accessed at:

https://oamp.od.nih.gov/DGS/reference‐material‐prospective‐offerors‐and‐contractors

1. Clauses Incorporate by Reference Additional clauses other than those listed below which are based on the type of contract/Contractor shall be determined during negotiations. Any contract awarded from this solicitation will contain the following:

This contract incorporates the following clauses by reference, (unless otherwise noted), 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.

a. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) (48 Cfr Chapter 1) Clauses

1. FAR 52.202‐1 Definitions (Jun 2020)

2. FAR 52.203‐5 Covenant Against Contingent Fees. (May 2014).

3. FAR 52.203‐7 Anti‐Kickback Procedures. (Jun 2020)

4. FAR 52.203‐17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement to Inform Employees of Whistleblower Rights. (Jun 2020).

5. FAR 52.204‐6 Unique Entity Identifier. (Oct 2016)

6. FAR 52.204‐7 System for Award Management. (Oct 2018)

7. FAR 52.204‐7 System for Award Management. (Oct 2018) ‐ Alternate I (Oct 2018)

8. FAR 52.204‐12 Unique Entity Identifier Maintenance. (Oct 2016)

9. FAR 52.204‐16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting. (Aug 2020)

10. FAR 52.204‐17 Ownership or Control of Offeror. (Aug 2020)

11. FAR 52.204‐18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance. (Aug 2020)

12. FAR 52.204‐19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications. (Dec 2014)

13. FAR 52.204‐20 Predecessor of Offeror. (Aug 2020)

14. FAR 52.204‐22 Alternative Line‐Item Proposal. (Jan 2017)

15. FAR 52.204‐24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment. (Nov 2021)

16. FAR 52.204‐26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services‐Representation. (Oct 2020)

17. FAR 52.209‐2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations‐Representation.

(Nov 2015)

18. FAR 52.209‐5 Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters. (Aug 2020)

19. FAR 52.209‐7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters. (Oct 2018)

20. FAR 52.209‐11 Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law. (February 2016)

21. FAR 52.212‐1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (Mar 2023)

22. FAR 52.212‐2 Evaluation—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (Nov 2021)

23. FAR 52.212‐3 Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (Dec 2022)

24. FAR 52.212‐4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

(Dec 2022)

25. FAR 52.212‐5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (Sep 2023).

26. FAR 52.216‐1 Type of Contract. (Apr 1984)

27. FAR 52.216‐22 Indefinite Quantity (Oct 1995)

28. FAR 52.219‐1 Small Business Program Representations. (Mar 2023)

29. FAR 52.222‐22 Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports. (Feb 1999)

30. FAR 52.222‐25 Affirmative Action Compliance. (Apr 1984)

31. (Multiple Year and Option Contracts) (Aug 2018)

32. FAR 52.225‐2 Buy American Certificate. (Oct 2022)

33. FAR 52.225‐25 Prohibition on Contracting With Entities Engaging in Certain Activities or Transactions Relating to Iran—Representation and Certifications. (Jun 2020)

34. FAR 52.222‐41, Service Contract Labor Standards (Aug 2018).

35. FAR 52.222‐43, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards‐Price Adjustment

(Multiple Year and Option Contracts) (Aug 2018)

36. FAR 52.227‐1 Authorization and Consent. (June 2020)

37. FAR 52.229‐3 Federal, State, and Local Taxes. (February 2013)

38. FAR 52.232‐1 Payments. (April 1984)

39. FAR 52.232‐8 Discounts for Prompt Payment. (February 2002)

40. FAR 52.232‐11 Extras. (April 1984)

41. FAR 52.232‐17 Interest. (May 2014)

42. FAR 52.232‐18, Availability of Funds (April 1984)

43. FAR 52.232‐19 Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year. (April 1984)

44. FAR 52.232‐23 Assignment of Claims. (May 2014)

45. FAR 52.232‐39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations. (June 2018)

46. FAR 52.233‐2 Service of Protest. (September 2006)

47. FAR 52.237‐1 Site Visit. (April 1984)

48. FAR 52.237‐2 Protection of Government Buildings, Equipment, and Vegetation. (April 1984)

49. FAR 52.237‐3 Continuity of Services. (January 1991)

50. FAR 52.242‐13 Bankruptcy. (July 1995)

51. FAR 52.242‐15 Stop‐Work Order. (August 1989)

52. FAR 52.244‐5 Competition in Subcontracting. (December 1996)

53. FAR 52.244‐6 Subcontracts for Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (March 2023)

54. FAR 52.246‐4 Inspection of Services‐Fixed‐Price. (August 1996)

55. FAR 52.246‐25 Limitation of Liability‐Services. (February 1997)

56. FAR 52.249‐2 Termination for Convenience of the Government (Fixed‐Price). (April 2012)

57. FAR 52.249‐8 Default (Fixed‐Price Supply and Service). (April 1984)

58. FAR Clause 52.222‐40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act

(Dec 2010)

59. FAR 52.222‐54, Employment Eligibility Verification (May 2022).

60. FAR 52.227‐14, Rights in Data ‐ General (May 2014)

61. FAR 52.229‐3, Federal, State and Local Taxes (Feb 2013).

62. FAR 52.237‐3, Continuity of Services (Jan 1991).

63. FAR 52.242‐3, Penalties for Unallowable Costs (May 2014).

64. FAR 52.244‐5, Competition in Subcontracting (Dec 1996).

65. FAR 52.245‐1, Government Property (Sept 2021).

66. FAR 52.249‐8 Default (Fixed‐Price Supply and Service) (April 1984)

67. FAR 52.249‐2, Termination for Convenience of the Government (Fixed Price) (Apr 2012).

b. Department of Health And Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR)

1. 352.222‐70 Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (Dec 2015)

2. HHSAR 352.231‐70, Salary Rate Limitation (December 2015).

Note: The Salary Rate Limitation is at the Executive Level II Rate.

See the following website for Executive Schedule rates of pay: https://www.opm.gov/policy‐ dataoversight/ pay‐leave/salaries‐wages/

(For current year rates, click on Salaries and Wages/Executive Schedule/Rates of Pay for the Executive Schedule. For prior year rates, click on Salaries and Wages/select Another Year at the top of the page/Executive Schedule/Rates of Pay for the Executive Schedule. Rates are effective January 1 of each calendar year unless otherwise noted.)

2. Additional FAR Clauses Included in Full Text Additional clauses other than those listed below which are based on the type of contract/Contractor shall be determined during negotiations. Any contract awarded from this solicitation will contain the following:

a. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) (48 CFR CHAPTER 1) CLAUSES:

1. FAR 52.217‐9 OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT (MAR 2000)

(a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor before contract expiration; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 7 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension.

(b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause.

(c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 60 months.

(End of Clause)

2. FAR 52.219‐17 Section8(a) Award (Oct 2019)

(a) By execution of a contract, the Small Business Administration (SBA) agrees to the following:

(1) To furnish the supplies or services set forth in the contract according to the specifications and the terms and conditions by subcontracting with the Offeror who has been determined an eligible concern pursuant to the provisions of section8(a) of the Small Business Act, as amended (15 U.S.C.637(a)).

(2) Except for novation agreements, delegates to the ______ [insert name of contracting activity]the responsibility for administering the contract with complete authority to take any action on behalf of the Government under the terms and conditions of the contract; provided, however that the contracting agency shall give advance notice to the SBA before it issues a final notice terminating the right of the subcontractor to proceed with further performance, either in whole or in part, under the contract.

(3) That payments to be made under the contract will be made directly to the subcontractor by the contracting activity.

(4) To notify the ___________ [insert name of contracting agency] Contracting Officer immediately upon notification by the subcontractor that the owner or owners upon whom 8(a) eligibility was based plan to relinquish ownership or control of the concern.

(5) That the subcontractor awarded a subcontract hereunder shall have the right of appeal from decisions of the cognizant Contracting Officer under the "Disputes" clause of the subcontract.

(b) The offeror/subcontractor agrees and acknowledges that it will, for and on behalf of the SBA, fulfill and perform all of the requirements of the contract.

(End of clause)

3. FAR 52.222‐42 STATEMENT OF EQUIVALENT RATES FOR FEDERAL HIRES (MAY 2014)

In compliance with the Service Contract Labor Standards statute and the regulations of the Secretary of Labor ( 29 CFR Part 4), this clause identifies the classes of service employees expected to be employed under the contract and states the wages and fringe benefits payable to each if they were employed by the contracting agency subject to the provisions of 5 U.S.C.5341 or 5 332.

This Statement is for Information Only: It is not a Wage Determination

Employee Class Monetary Wage/Fringe Benefits

13047 ‐ Librarian $42.46

13054 ‐ Library Information Technology Systems

$38.33

13058 ‐ Library Technician $24.07

b. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ACQUISITION REGULATION (HHSAR)

1. HHSAR 352.237‐74, Non‐Discrimination in Service Delivery (December 2015).

It is the policy of the Department of Health and Human Services that no person otherwise eligible will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in the administration of HHS programs and services based on non‐merit factors such as race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability (physical or mental).

By acceptance of this contract, the contractor agrees to comply with this policy in supporting the program and in performing the services called for under this contract. The contractor shall include this clause in all subcontracts awarded under this contract for supporting or performing the specified program and services. Accordingly, the contractor shall ensure that each of its employees, and any subcontractor staff, is made aware of, understands, and complies with this policy.

(End of Clause)