SF30 -Amendment_1 GL Edits 02242022.doc

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

National Institutes of Health, DHHS OD – Office of Logistics and Administrative

Operations (OLAO)

6701 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817

National Institutes of Health, DHHS

OD – Office of Logistics and Administrative

Operations (OLAO)

6701 Rockledge Drive

Bethesda, MD 20817

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

X

75N98022R00004

9B.

DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

10A.

MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/

ORDER NO.

10B.

DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

FORMCHECKBOX

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

FORMCHECKBOX

is extended, FORMCHECKBOX is not extended.

Offerors must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning 1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (if required)

See Schedule

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor FORMCHECKBOX is not, FORMCHECKBOX is required to sign this document and return ____copy to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

PURPOSE: The purpose of this amendment is to answer questions and extend the proposal due date from March 4, 2022 to March 8, 2022 at 1:00 eastern time.

The contractor will be required to provide Translation and Interpretation Services for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/Office of Director (OD)/ Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Except as provided herein, all items and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A.

NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A.

NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

Aseia Chaudhry Contracting Officer, OA, OLAO

15B.

CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

15C.

DATE SIGNED

16B.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

16C.

DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign.)

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

PREVIOUS EDITION UNUSABLE

Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

1. Is this an existing contract (up for rebid) or a new contract? Yes

2. If this is a rebid, who is the incumbent contractor and what are (or were) the rates charged on the previous/ending contract? This is a multiple award contract with four contractors. Kramer Translations, Ad astra, Commgap, and Effectiff.

3. If this is a rebid , can you provide historical spending, either totals or details, for previous years?

4. What are the biggest challenges for fulfilling services under this contract that you anticipate? Providing quality translations in a timely manner and fulfilling last minute request for interpretive services.

5. If we do not have any lobbying activity at all, do we need to fill out and submit the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form? Yes, you still have to fill that form out.

6. In the document 75N98022R00004_Language Access Services_RFP, on page 47, it says “No oral, emailed, or faxed offers will be accepted”. But then in the next paragraph it says proposals are “submitted to Ms. Aseia Chaudhry at aseia.chaudhry@nih.gov”. Could you confirm if we are to submit our proposals by email or by hardcopy only? This is an error. Only emailed offerors are accepted. Please email your proposals to the Contracting office, Aseia Chaudhry at aseia.chaudhry@nih.gov.

7. Could the agency elaborate on the “testing protocol” for translation services mentioned in the Statement of Work? To ensure that NIH is receiving the highest quality translations vendors must adhere to Language Service Providers (LSPs) best practices.

8. The agency requires maintenance of a hard-copy Master File for each interprter as part of the Qquality Controls and stated the “Master File” is a critical factor within the overall Quality Assurance Plan. Will an electronic version of Master File with backup storage be sufficient to satisfy the rqeuirement? Yes.

9. Is it a new inquiry from NIH and Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) or a rebid for an existing contract? If later, may we ask who is the incumbent for the services? This is a Re-compete for an existing contract. See question #2.

10. Is it going to be a single or multiple award under the current solicitation? Multiple Awards

11. What are the projected volumes for interpretation and translation services (ideally devided by languages) from EDI? It varies.

12. Will it be acceptable for the vendor to submit labor categories that might be different from the template provided? For example, we anticipate the on-site simultaneous interpretation will involved technician/engineer for the setup and testing. We also anticipate desktop publisher/graphic designer, copywriter, programmer/coder and project coordinator to be involved for translation assignments depends on the deliverable format. Yes

13. Are proposals accepted in PDF format via email? Yes. Because there is conflicting information in the RFP regarding whether only mailed proposals will be accepted. Please email the proposals.

14. What are the names of the incumbents? See question #2.

15. In order for the incumbents not to have an advantage over other bidders, could you please share the incumbents' rates? Their rates cannot be released.

16. If multiple awardees are expected, how will work be apportioned among the different vendors? Task order rfps will be issued and competed among all awardees.

17. Could you please share past usage statistics broken down by service and language? It varies based on program office demand and individual task order requirement.

18. What percentage of interpreting assignments are in the consecutive mode vs those in the simultaneous mode? Information not available

19. Did the incumbents cover every single assignment successfully? Yes

20. What challenges have you faced with similar scope of work from vendors you worked with? none

21. Statement of Work, page 9, Place of Performance Question: What cities are the place of performance for North Carolina, Arizona and Montana?

Durham, NC, Phoenix, Arizona, Hamilton, Montana

24. RFP page 5, "...the fixed price of this contract..."

Question: Are the amounts stated for each year, for each contractor? OR, are those the grand total amounts for each year for all contractors? Those are estimated maximum amounts for the contract not each contractor.

22. Pg 2 of SOW refers to "Appendix 1" for listing of 90 commonly encountered languages - Can that be provided? It was missing from the initial RFP release. See attachment “language list”

23. Pg 3 of SOW refers to "multilingual interpretation services" - Are these events where multiple languages will be required to be interpreted to and from a specific Source Language or where relay interpreting will be necessary? It is possible yes.

24. Pg 4 of SOW refers to "Audiovisual files" for translation - What kind of translation services would be requested (e.g., subtitling/captioning, dubbing/voice over recording, translation of script, etc.)? It depends on the program offices requirement.

25. Can offerers bid on only select services of the RFP or do they have to submit a response for all services (oral interp, on-site interpretation, telephonic interpretation, translation, digital translation, etc.)? Please submit rates for the services you offer.

26. Will the government accept different translation word rates based on the language or does it have to be a flat rate for all languages? You may submit different rates based on the language or service.

27. The Price chart refers to the labor category of "Interpreter" but not "Translator." Should they be different categories or is "Interpreter" supposed to be general to "Linguist"? you may add additional categories as needed.

28. The “Price Chart” spreadsheet does not allow for a breakdown of rates per language. Since different languages have different rates for different services, will the government modify the Price Chart spreadsheet to allow for this breakdown or will the government allow proposers to modify the Price Chart spreadsheet to accommodate our rates per language? First tab on the price chart is for the main contract. Offerrors should insert the languages they are bidding on. The second tab is for the sample task for which the language is known to be Spanish for that particular sample task order. You may provide your rates for different languages you service in your business proposal.

29. Will the government please provide descriptions or specific requirements for the personnel listed on the “Price Chart” spreadsheet? For example, what does the government require when listing a “Manager” and a “Project Controller” and how do they differ in the government’s view? Please use industry standards.

30. In the SOW, Section II, subsection 1 on page 5 the government notes that one of the requirements is to provide translation services for audiovisual materials. Will the government require transcription services for this requirement? If so, will the price schedule be modified to account for this service? Transcription services are usually priced by the hour of work Yes.

31. On page 9 of the RFP, Section G, Article G.2 the government notes the need for key personnel. Will the government please clarify who are the key personnel that it requires for this contract? Please utilize the industry standards what defines these positions or utilize the SOW.

32. On pages 18-19 of the RFP, Part II, Section I, Article 1.3, Subsection b.1 the government notes the salary rate limitation. Will the government please clarify how this applies to the services being requested or if this clause applies at all? Does not apply.

33. On page 25 of the RFP, Part II, Section I, Article 1.4, Subsection a. Clause (17)(i) “Small Business Subcontracting Plan” is marked as a requirement. However, this clause does not apply to small business concerns, which is what this solicitation is set-aside for. Will the government please clarify if it will or will not require a subcontracting plan from small business vendors? This is a small business set-aside requirement, therefore, subcontracting plan does not apply.

34. On page 38 of the RFP, Section L, Subsection 1.a.2.v the government requires that proposals be signed by a person authorized to sign the proposal and be accompanied by evidence of this person’s authority to sign the proposal. Will the government please clarify what it would deem as acceptable evidence of this person’s authority? Signed proposals are sufficient.

35. On page 49 of the RFP, Section L, Subsection 2.a. “Business Proposal Instructions” Numeral 3 the government instructs proposers to consult Section J, Attachment entitled TECHNICAL PROPOSAL COST SUMMARY. However, this attachment is not listed on Section J nor was it provided as one of the RFP’s documents. Will the government please make this attachment available? There are not additional attachments. Please refer to the RFP for business proposal instructions.

36. On page 53 of the RFP, Section L, Subsection 2, Section b.1.a “Statement of Work” the government requires that proposers include in their proposals information such as “pertinent work already published”, “phasing of research”, “probable outcome of approach”, “schedule for completion of work”, “unused expenses” and other requests that don’t seem to apply to this requirement for language services. Will the government please clarify this section and/or provide updated instructions for proposers’ Technical Proposals? This is just the standard language. Does not apply in this requirement.

37. Attachment 3, Past Performance Survey, notes that these surveys are due on March 15, 2022. However, on page 52 of the RFP, Section 8.III notes that these surveys are due on the same date that proposals are due (March 4, 2022). Will the government please clarify what date these past performance surveys are due? All past performance surveys are due by March 4, 2022 at 1:00pm

38. In Attachment 1, Statement of Work, and also Attachment 2, Price Chart, it lists services to be provided. Would the NIH, in the interest of added flexibility and cost savings for the government allow a line item quotation for HIPAA compliant Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) as a supplement to or substitute for on-site interpreting services? No there will be on-site requirements

39. Attachment 2, Price Chart: In the interest of securing the optimal pricing for the NIH we would like to provide pricing for translation based on individual languages rather than one blended rate. Will this alternative pricing model be acceptable? Yes

40. Attachment 2, Price Chart: In the interest of securing the optimal pricing for the NIH, we would like to provide pricing for on-site and remote interpreting based on language rather than the blended rate. Will this alternative pricing model be acceptable? Yes

41. In order to be eligible for award, does a vendor need to bid on all languages services? For example: Can a vendor bid for oral interpretation only? You may bid on the services you offer.

42. Do you require formatting for translation services?

43. Would you be providing the script of the audio visual files to translate? Or transcription of the audio will be necessary? In some instances, yes, but not all situations.

44. The price chart provided it doesn't include word-price per language. Can we be able to modify the chart or provide our own price chart? Yes. Price your proposal any way you see fit or use industry standard.

45. The price chart indicated unit word/page? Could you provide the work count rather, as is the most common unit price for translation for all categories. We are unable to provide a word count as it depends on the task orders.

46. As per the sample task order, formatting services seems to be missing. Can we add this category? Yes

47. We do not have any control of whether or not a government agency will fill out and send the request for past performance, would you consider the description of our past performance in our response. Past performance surveys are required.