MESC Draft Request for Proposal Q and A Round 2.pdf

Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) Questions and Answers

Mission Enabling Services Contract (MESC)

36 Section L.22.2.3 JSC 52.215-113

Proposal Formatting Instructions Paragraph (b)(4) states an electronic coversheet is required only for the non-page limited sections of the proposal.

Will the government extend this requirement to all volumes so there is consistency across all volumes? Can the government update Table L-2 in Section L.20.2.2 to reflect the requirement of a cover page for each volume?

Refer to JSC 52.215-113(a)(4) for title pages for page limited sections.

The Government doesn’t anticipate making any changes to Table L-2.

37 Is a cover letter allowed as a sperate file to include the statements regarding:

Proposal Valid for 365 days?

Who can negotiate with the Government?

What files are included in the upload?

Refer to JSC 52.215-113(a)(4) for information.

38 Can NASA post the Source Selection team to the MESC website?

Information was provided at the time of Final RFP release.

39 Section L.20.4 page L-29 Provides direction for the technical volume which for the IDIQ technical Scenario has a. – e requirements. Are these requirements for each technical area?

The Government updated Section L.20.4 in the RFP to make it consistent with Attachment L-02, Technical Scenario.

40 Requirement (iii) For IDIQ: (a).1.b.

“The narrative discussion shall provide a description of your management approach.” Seem to be a redundant requirement as indicated Attachment L-2 IDIQ Technical Scenario and L.20.2.2 Table L-2 which indicates only one page for Management Approach.

Can the government clarify the technical volume directions across Sections L.20.2.2, L.20.4 and Attachment L-2 so there is consistency across all sections?

Refer to MESC Q&A #39.

41 Is there only one page allowed for the proposed management approach for all technical area?

Yes, refer to Section L.20.2.2, Table L-2 for page limitations.

42 Does Paragraph b on page L-29 which states, “The narrative discussion shall provide a description of your management approach.” Require a description of the management approach must be included in each two pages response of the technical areas?

43 Requirement (iii) For IDIQ: (a).1.e.

“Offerors shall provide one response per proposal.” Seems to contradict the directions found on Attachment L-2 IDIQ Technical Scenario which states, “All offerors shall provide a response to Technical Areas 1 through 3 in the table below. . . . . Offerors are also required to provide a response to one of the technical Areas 4 through 6.”

44 What is the difference between a Scenario and a Technical area?

The Term Technical Scenario refers to the overarching IDIQ Technical Scenario in attachment L-02. The term Technical Area in Section L.20.4, Technical Acceptability Factor Volume I, (iii) IDIQ refers to the six areas included in the Technical Scenario.

45 Due the Section L.20.4 instructions apply to each technical area?

RFP was updated to clarify the Section L.20.4 Instructions.

46 Can NASA clarify what is a Scenario and what is a Technical Area and which Section L requirements apply to each?

Refer to MESC Q&A #44.

47 Section L.20.6 Cost and price Factor –

Volume III.(c).2. Pricing for FFP Specficed Resources (SR) [IDOQ] has the following requirement: “Offerors are required to develop a contractor team composite FBR per SLC, per contract year, and then apply those rates to the respective hours provided in Table 19.6-1.”

We could not find Table 19.6-1 did the government mean to reference the tab TOPT – SR in Attachment L-04 IDIQ EMP Template?

No, the Government updated the table numbering in the Final RFP.

48 Does the government require a bidder to bid on all the labor categories?

Yes, the Government requires offerors to provide rates for all labor categories.

49 Can a bidder only bid the labor categories the believe are necessary to perform the work?

Refer to MESC Q&A #48.

50 We have been unable find the Historical Incumbent Rate file in the technical library. We have reviewed all documents available on SAM. Can the government provide the location of the file wit the Historical Incumbent Rates?

The “MESC Technical Library Incumbent Rates” file has been added to the Technical Library.

51 Can the government confirm all documents on SAM under active notice ID 80JSC21MESC2 is the location of the technical library and all documents a downloadable?

Yes, the technical library is located on SAM under active notice ID 80JSC21MESC2 and are all downloadable.

52 Can the government confirm the complete is of the technical library are contain in the following zip files:

Draft Attachment.zip Joist SOW.zip Misc. Documents.zip Nasa Policy Documents.zip Reference JOIST Task Orders.zip Software Documents.zip

The complete technical library is located on SAM under active notice ID

80JSC21MESC2.

53 Can the government identify which zip files contain the Historical Incumbent Rate File?

Refer to MESC Q&A #50.

54 The Attachment L-04 IDIQ EPM Template contains the tab IRAP which instructs the proposer to complete “Incumbent Retention (Column 1). To complete this and other Incumbent Retention information a company would need the current incumbents supporting IDIQ work and the direct labor rates for each incumbent. Can the government provide the labor categories and direct labor rates for any personnel who have supported IDIQ task orders in the last three years?

Refer to MESC Q&A #50.

55 Can the government provide a list of all current IDIQ task orders for the past year and the incumbent labor categories and direct labor rates for each task order?

All current IDIQ task orders are located in the technical library on SAM.gov.

56 Can the government clarify where the minor subcontractor rates are blended, if at all, to the prime contractor rates in the cost templates?

The minor subcontractor rates are to be included in the team composite rates.

Team composite rates include prime, major subcontractors and minor subcontractors.

57 Attachment L-04 IDIQ EPM Template contains additional LCATs that are not listed in Table J-03-3: Standard Labor Categories (SLCs) for IDIQ found in the draft RFP. Please advise which list of LCATs should be used for the IDIQ pricing.

The Government updated Table J-03-3 in the Final RFP.

58 The DRD 05 states Initial Submission - The Offeror(s)/Contractors will be notified by the Contracting Officer when the PMP submittal is due. The JSC Data Requirements List (Line Item

5) states OCI Plan is due with proposal.

L.20.7 Responsibility Considerations states Offerors will be notified by CO of this requirement, with an anticipated 10 days allowed for submittal. Please clarify if the PMP is due with proposal submission or not.

The Government updated DRL Line Item 5 in the Final RFP.

59 Question number 7 on page 407 regarding OCIs appears to be misnumbered.

The Government updated the numbering in the Final RFP.

60 The RFP states that “Sections of the proposal which are page limited shall be prepared and submitted using noncompressed Arial font with single-spaced 12 point text.” Will the government clarify if this requirement is a font minimum or the only allowable size? For example, will the government allow fonts larger than 12pt for headings or other text we want to stand out?

No, offerors should refer to L.20.2.3(a)(2) for proposal formatting instructions.

61 The RFP states that “Title pages, table of contents, cross-reference matrices, glossaries, acronym lists, page tabs, and section dividers that do not contain information that can be construed as proposal information will not be counted as part of the page limitations.” and “An electronic cover sheet should be contained as the first page of each electronic file.” Will the government confirm that this electronic cover sheet can be considered the title page and will not count towards the volume page limitations?

Yes, electronic cover sheet can be considered the title page and will not count towards the volume page limitations. Offerors should refer to section L.20.2.3 for proposal formatting instructions.

62 The RFP states that “Title pages, table of contents, cross-reference matrices, glossaries, acronym lists, page tabs, and section dividers that do not contain information that can be construed as proposal information will not be counted as part of the page limitations.” Will the Government allow a list of tables and a list of figures to accompany the table of contents? Please confirm that these lists will not count as part of the page limitations.

Yes, offerors refer to section L.20.2.3 for proposal formatting instructions.

63 In the Past Performance Factor - Volume II section, it specifies that Environmental and Safety Data, Insurance Information, PP Attachments, and Organizational Chart should be submitted in Native Format.

Please clarify whether or not the organizational chart should be submitted in its native format as an editable PowerPoint or Adobe Illustrator graphic or if a non-editable image in a Word or PDF file is acceptable.

The Government provided clarification in the RFP.

64 In Table L-2 Overview of Proposal Volumes, Page Limitations, Copies, and Format, please clarify what is meant by native format. Does that include PDFs? Policy documents and official letters covering the topics such as Environmental and Safety Data, Insurance Information, Subcontracting Agreement Information, Business System, Responsibility of Information, and the CMMI level 3 Response may include protected PDFd pages or PDFs from third party sources. Please confirm that PDFs are acceptable formats for those sections.

Refer to MESC Q&A #63.

65 If PDFs are acceptable as native formats, please confirm they can be included as PDF screenshots images within the word file, rather than as separate individual attachments.

No, offerors may not use a font size other than the size specified in the final RFP.

Offerors should refer to L.20.2.3(a)(2) for Proposal Formatting instructions, which states: "Text in diagrams, charts, tables, artwork, and photographs shall be no smaller than 12-point text size. Diagrams, charts, tables, artwork, and photographs shall not be used to circumvent the text size limitations of the proposal."

66 Instructions state that all pages in each volume shall be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) for contents subject to page limitations.

Please confirm that starting numbering over within a volume where a section number prefix is used is acceptable, such as A-1, A-2 for appendices.

Offerors refer to section L.20.2.3 for proposal formatting instructions.

67 The instructions state: "Sections of the proposal which are not page limited do not need to abide by the font type or size, page size, or margin requirements of the page limited sections, though the offeror should ensure readability."

Please confirm that in any section whether page limited or not that text included in graphics of screenshots does not need to be readable.

Refer to MESC DRFP Q&A #65.

68 In the RFP, the instructions state:

"Resources: The labor resources proposed in the Baseline EPM Templates, TRST shall be consistent with the narrative discussion in paragraphs (a) and (b) above. For any efficiency proposed as cost savings in Volume III, Cost/Price Proposal, and reductions to labor resources in the TRST, the TRST shall reference the explanation in Volume I, Technical Acceptability, which provides the rationale that supports reasonability of the proposed savings as part of the specific technical understanding of requirements and BOEs." However, on Page 361, section 2 a states "Each section shall be independent of other sections; cross-references to responses for other areas of work will not be considered." These instructions seem to contradict each other, please clarify.

TRST shall be consistent with the narrative discussion in technical understanding of requirements and BOEs, for each area of work proposed. The TRST is not considered a cross reference.

Each Volume shall provide the rationale to support the proposal.

69 The RFP states that “Title pages, table of contents, cross-reference matrices, glossaries, acronym lists, page tabs, and section dividers that do not contain information that can be construed as proposal information will not be counted as part of the page limitations.” Will the government allow for the inclusion of a cover letter that will not count towards the volume page limitations?

Refer to MESC Q&A #61.

70 Table L-2, Past Performance Factor- Volume II references PP Information Spreadsheet. What is the PP Information Spreadsheet. Does the Government mean the Performance Relevancy Matrix, Attachment L-08?

The Government updated Table L-2 in the Final RFP.

71 Table L-2, Past Performance Factor- Volume II references PP Attachments.

What are the PP Attachments?

Refer to MESC Q&A #70.

72 L.20.5(g) states that the past performance questionnaire is to be sent to all the point of contract references in paragraph (c) for Government Agencies this is the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer's Representative. Does the Government intend that offeror's must have both the CO and COR send a PPQ or can a PPQ be sent to only one person because many times the CO wants the COR to send the PPQ.

As defined in Section L.20.5(c) offerrors should send the questionaire to both the CO and COR for government contracts.

73 Please confirm that only one Past Performance Questionnaire will be required if the same contract is selected for more than one work area.

Only one PPQ is required per source contract.

74 Would the government please clarify whether the offeror is meant to submit a separate proposal for each applicable area of work, or whether the applicable areas of work should be addressed in separate sections of the same proposal?

The Government provided clarification in the Final RFP.

75 Page L-27: For the technical evaluation to provide meaningful objective and acceptable evidence of the BOE, we estimate the need for six to ten pages and this is very difficult with a section limitation of 13 pages when we are requested to “Include sufficient narrative discussion of methodologies, processes and techniques used to accomplish your technical approach and convince the Government that the proposed resources are realistic for the proposed technical and management approach.” We ask the Government to consider either increasing the BOE section to an unlimited page count or an upper limit page count of ten pages.

The Government updated the page limitations in the Final RFP.

76 In the DRL, there are five references to L.16.2 and four references to L.16.7.

Section L.16 on page 346/L-13 is the

L.16 JSC 52.215-125 OFFEROR

ACCEPTANCE PERIOD (AUG

2018), which is not relevant has no subsections. Should those L.16 references be referring to L.20 instead?

Please clarify.

The Government updated the references in the Final RFP.

77 Line Item 12, block 6 states the first submission date for the Environmental Compliance Reports is in the past.

Please clarify.

The Government updated the submission date in the Final RFP.

78 Line Item 14, block 6 is empty. Please clarify.

The Government updated Block 6 in Line Item 14 in the Final RFP.

79 In the list of DRDs, the title of DRD-02 is Total Compensation Plan. On page 129, the title is Abbreviated Total Compensation Plan. Is there an unabbreviated version or should the line item in page 115 in the DRL be updated for consistency?

The Government updated DRD-02 in the Final RFP.

80 In Section L.13 on page 344/L-11, the instructions state "One proposal is allowed per Offeror per work area (ex.

1 proposal for Baseline A, 1 proposal for Baseline B and 1 proposal for IDIQ) and must be submitted separately with appropriate labelling;

alternate proposals will not be accepted. . . If an Offeror proposes on more than one area of work, refer to Table L.20.2, Proposal Arrangement, Page Limitations, Copies and Due Dates, for proposal requirements for each work area."

In Section L.20.2, there is no table and the section does not clarify instructions for proposing more than one area of work. Table L-2 Overview of Proposal Volumes, Page Limitations, Copies, and Format on Page 352/L-19 in Section L.20.2.2 seems the likely table that Section L.13 meant to refer to, please confirm.

The Government provided clarification in the Final RFP.

81 In Section L.13 on page 344/L-11, the instructions state "Each area of work will be evaluated individually for all factors; proposing on any one area of work will not enhance or diminish credibility in another area of work."

Please clarify the terms "area of work."

In this context, does "areas of work" refer to the three options Baseline A, Baseline B, and the IDIQ and not sections of the Statement of Work?

Yes, area of work refers to Baseline A, Baseline B, and IDIQ.

82 In Section L.13 on page 344/L-11, the instructions state "One proposal is allowed per Offeror per work area (ex.

1 proposal for Baseline A, 1 proposal for Baseline B and 1 proposal for IDIQ) and must be submitted separately with appropriate labelling."

In Section L.20.5 on page 362/L-29, the instructions state "Offerors shall provide a response for each area of work to which the Offeror is proposing.

Each section should be clearly labeled with the title of the area of work (e.g., Baseline A – NAMIS Services). Each section shall be independent of other sections; cross-references to responses for other areas of work will not be considered. For each area of work proposed, the Offeror shall provide the following in separate sections of the volume:" Please clarify whether past performance responses for more than one work area should be submitted in a separate proposal package as required in Section L.13 or in the same volume with clearly labelled sections as implied in Section L.20.5.

The Government provided clarification in the Final RFP.

83 In Section L.13 on page 344/L-11, the instructions state "One proposal is allowed per Offeror per work area . .

.and must be submitted separately with appropriate labelling." In Section L.20.5 on page 362/L-29, the instructions state "Offerors shall provide a response for each area of work to which the Offeror is proposing.

Each section should be clearly labeled with the title of the area of work (e.g., Baseline A – NAMIS Services). For each area of work proposed, the Offeror shall provide the following in separate sections of the volume"

If past performance information for multiple work areas should be included in the same volume, please revise the page limitation instructions. As it is stated now, Offerors who respond to more than one work area would be subject to the same page limitations as Offerors who respond to a single work area, which would not allow for equitable evaluations.

Offerors should refer to L.20.2.2 Table L- 2 in the Final RFP.

84 Format instructions include:

"Electronic format of all submissions shall be compatible with IRD-provided desktop standard applications." Please specify file formats that are acceptable.

The Government clarified file formats in the Final RFP.

85 Please confirm Past Performance Consent Letters are outside of page count and should be included at the end of the Past Performance Volume.

Yes, Past Performance Consent Letters are outside of the page count and should be included at the end of the Past Performance Volume.

86 Please confirm Offerors can modify Government templates by making them printer-friendly and adding content (such as company name/logo and page number) in the headers and footers.

No, offerors should refer to Section L.20.2.3 for formatting instructions.

87 The instructions say "You may include up to one page of introductory material about the experience and performance of your company and major subcontractors (if applicable). This introductory material is in addition to the page limitation constraints."

Considering page numbering is required to be sequential, please advise if these pages should be numbered differently or if this page should be placed at the end of the volume to separate it from the 7 page limit of the other sections.

Offerors should refer to Section L.20.2.2 Table L-2 of the Final RFP.

88 Please confirm Offerors should include consent letters from all subcontractors, not just significant ones.

Offeror should refer to Section L.20.5(c)(12).

89 In a case where an offeror is proposing past performance from affiliated entities, please confirm Offerors should include consent letters from affiliated entities and not the parent company.

Offeror should refer to Section L.20.5(e).

90 Please confirm it is acceptable to include meaningful involvement letters from affiliates and please confirm these letters are excluded from page count.

Refer to MESC Q&A #89.

91 In section L.20.2 (c), it states "Offerors shall arrange their proposals as set forth below in Table L.20.2.2." That structure is:

1. Environmental and Safety Data, Insurance Information, PP Attachments, and Organizational Chart

2. PP Information Spreadsheet

3. PP Introductory Material (7 page limit) The instructions also state that "Proposal sections excluded from the page limit shall be placed at the end of each volume."

In Section L.20.5 on pages 362/L-29 through 365/L-32, though, the structure of the Past Performance response lists response requirements in the following order:

c) The contract data

d) Relevancy Rationale Explanation

e) Meaningful involvement response

f) An organizational chart and attachment L-08

f) PPQs

i) Introductory material (1 page limit in addition to the overall page limit)

j) Performance data that includes a) Environmental Data and b) Safety and Health Data Please clarify the requirements for the structure of the past performance response.

Offerors should refer to Section L.20.2.2 Table L-2 of the Final RFP.

92 In L.20.2.2 Table L-2 and the instructions in L.20.4, please clarify where the Key Personnel Resume should be included in the submission, what Format it should be, and whether or not the one page is outside of other page limits.

Offerors should refer to Section L.20.2.2 Table L-2 of the Final RFP.

93 Please clarify if J-XX was meant to specify a particular attachment number or was intentionally non-specific.

The Government updated J-XX in DRD- 02 of the Final RFP.

94 Instructions state "Offerors shall provide one response per proposal" for the Environmental and Safety and Health Data. Please confirm if what is meant is that if an Offeror is responding to more than one baseline, Offerors should only include the Environmental and Safety and Health Data once in the first baseline proposal and cross reference back to it in the others?

Offerors should refer to Section L.20.1 in the Final RFP.

95 In addition to the Environmental and Safety and Health Data, please specify which other attachments should be one per proposal.

Offerors should refer to Section L.20.1 in the Final RFP.

96 Instructions state "Offerors shall provide one response per proposal" for the Environmental and Safety and Health Data. Please clarify - in submitting afililiated past performances, is the Government requesting affiliated entities provide data on all their contracts within the last three years or just data on the past performance reference contract being cited?

Offerors should refer to Section L.20.1 in the Final RFP.

Offeror should refer to Section L.20.5 in the Final RFP.

97 Please clarify- Is only the bidding entity required to submit the Health Safey Insurance Data or is the Government requiring it from any affiliated entity performing the past performance contract being cited?

Offeror should refer to Section L.20.5 Safety and Health Data in the Final RFP.

98 Regarding the Past Performance introductory page which is not included in PP page count:

Will this page be evaluated as part of the past performance assessment?

If it will, how will it be evaluated?

If it is not an evaluated page, can the government add an additional page to the PP citation page count increasing page count from 7 to 8?

The Government is considering how to address this in the final RFP; please monitor amendments to that document for further information.

99 DRD-02 refers to clause 52.222-41 but Section I does not include this clause nor was a wage determination included in the DRFP. Please confirm clause 52.222-41 Service Contract Labor Standards is not applicable to this opportunity.

The Government anticipates FAR Clause 52.222-41 will be removed in a future amendment to the Final RFP.

100 Will the government please confirm that the only font permitted to be used for the proposal is Arial, 12 point and that no other Arial font types (Arial narrow, etc.), are permitted?

Refer to MESC DRFP Q&A #65.

101 In DRD 19 Key Personnel, 8f number

2. States “Initial: Paragraph c., Baseline B, item a. Program Manager is due with Proposal. Items b through h are due at start of Phase-In + 10 working days. Baseline B does not have anything past letter f.

The Government anticipates making this correction in an amendment to the Final

RFP.

102 Could the government please confirm that Past Performance references from a major subcontractor are acceptable for the IDIQ response?

Refer to Section L.20.5 (a) of the Final

RFP.

103 Is there an incumbent direct labor rate file included in the MESC draft RFP?

Refer to MESC DRFP Q&A #50.

104 Can NASA provide incumbent Direct Labor rates for the IDIQ task?

Refer to MESC DRFP Q&A #50.

105 Can NASA provide Total WYEs and the associated labor category currently supporting the IDIQ task?

The labor categories provided in the Final RFP are labor categories the Government anticipates to use for IDIQ TOs. The Government will not provide the total WYEs of current IDIQ TO.

106 With what data will NASA analyze the Incumbency Assumptions for the IDIQ part of the MESC contract?

The Government will not be evaluating Incumbency Retention on IDIQ EPM IRAP Worksheet. Columns G-I are blacked out.

107 What data should a non-incumbent use to estimate the number of incumbents supporting the IDIQ tasks?

Offerors should refer to Section M.3 (d) and M.5 II(A).

108 For the IDIQ cost volume cost templates should the proposer complete if they do not have a Forward Pricing Agreement?

Yes, the offeror needs to complete OHT and GAT if there is no FPRA covering OH and G&A. Please reference the instruction within the spreadsheets.

109 For the IDIQ indirect rates does the government require the last three years of overhead and G&A cost? If so, is there a template for the three years of overhead and G&A cost?

Yes, the Government requires the offeror to provide OH and G&A cost and rate history for the prior three (3) contractor's fiscal year. An updated IDIQ EPM including these two tabs will be posted with a RFP amendment.

110 If the offeror is bidding the IDIQ part of the MESC and does not have a Forward Pricing Agreement should the offeror complete the OHT – Overhead Template and GAT – G&A template in the “CompanyXYZ_III_Baseline.xls” workbook?

Refer to MESC Q&A #108.