Questions_and_Responses.pdf

ATTACHMENT 1

86548B18R00001, Amendment 00001

QUESTIONS & RESPONSES

1. Questions related to the current contract

a. I am hoping to find out if there is an incumbent contractor currently performing these services or if this is a new requirement. If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the contract number?

Response:

The incumbent contractor is Katmai Information Technologies, LLC

The contract number is DU208WR-13-D-04

The following task orders have been issued under this contract:

DU208WR-16-T-00004

DU208WR-17-T-00003

b. Could you please provide the contract value?

Response: The current contract value is $7,932,522.24.

c. What was the amount paid to the incumbent Contractor by contract period?

Response: The government declines to answer this question.

d. How many staff are currently working on the project?

Response: The government declines to answer this question.

e. Would the government be willing to provide the number of current FTEs that enter in the data for the transmittal processing?

Response: The government declines to answer this question.

2. Question: Will the work be performed on the government site or at a separate contractor location?

Response: The work will be performed at a contractor site.

3. Question: Please confirm the award of this contract will be limited to a firm designated as an

8(a).

Response: Only currently certified 8(a) firms are eligible to submit proposals. Therefore, award may only be made to an 8(a) firm.

4. Question: Please confirm the government intends to award to only one contractor.

Response: The government intends to award only one contract as a result of this solicitation.

5. Question: Please confirm there is no geographical requirement for the location of the contractor’s facility.

Response: The contractor facility at which the required services are to be provided must be located within the continental United States.

6. Question: Is there a rough number of hours or man-years estimated that it should take to handle this workload? I've got a projection based on my estimates of how long an average invoice would take to review against the required supporting info, but without having access to P260 or seeing the actual supporting documents it is difficult to know how long it will really take.

Response: The government declines to answer this question.

7. Question: Is there historical pricing available to review?

Response: No.

8. Question: What is the target award date for the contract?

Response: The target date for award is 4/7/2018; however, there is no guarantee that award will be made by that date.

9. Questions regarding HUD provided training:

a. How long is the HUD provided training at HOC Atlanta?

Response: The HUD-provided training will be conducted over a period of three to five consecutive days during one calendar week.

b. How many employees can the contractor send to that training?

Response: The contractor may send up to 12 employees to the training.

c. Does the contractor staff need to obtain PIV cards before they can participate in the training?

Response: No

10. Question: Is there an average target time for how long it should take to process a line item or transmittal for each type of vendor transmittal, e.g., 20 minutes to review standard SFS transmittal data in P260 plus 2 minutes for each line item on the transmittal?

Response: No.

11. Question: Are there seasonal swings in the receipt and processing of transmittals or is it consistent throughout the year?

Response: The receipt and processing of transmittals is inconsistent over time due to many factors, including the number of properties in HUD’s inventory and the length of time properties have been in HUD’s inventory.

12. Question: Can you provide estimated volume levels to be expected for each category: vendor transmittal processing, general HOC transmittal processing, and tax transmittal processing?

Response: There are many factors that affect the volume levels for the various types of transmittals. HUD cannot accurately predict future volume levels.

13. Question: What caused the wide variance in Task 3 (SFT transmittal) between the 2 historical periods provided in attachment L?

Response: We do not know. There are many factors that could have caused the wide variance in the Task 3 transmittal numbers between the two periods. Those historical numbers may or may not be indicative of future transmittal numbers.

14. What is the expected number of transmittals for task 3 in the future?

Response: HUD cannot accurately predict the number of transmittals for task 3 in the future.

15. Question: The contractor is required to secure office space. What is the minimum size of the office space required or for how many people and how much storage?

Response:

There is no minimum required space for the contractor’s office.

There is no required minimum staffing level.

There is no requirement for a minimum amount of storage space.

16. Question: What is the average number of fulltime equivalent contractor staffing required, including the specified key personnel?

Response: There is no required minimum number of fulltime equivalent contractor staff.

17. Question: Are records obtained from HUD and processed by contractor in performance of work required to be stored in the office space or can it be stored at an offsite secured location?

Response: Records may be stored at an off-site secured location. Paragraphs 5.2.5, 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5 of the PWS (Section C) have been revised to delete the “on-site” storage requirement.

18. Question: How soon after processing should the documents be returned to HUD?

Response: Documents are only returned to HUD upon the specific request of the Primary

COR.

19. Question: “The submittal of GSA burdened rates is unacceptable for this procurement.” Is this a cost plus or firm fixed price contract (fixed rate per transmission)?

Response: The government will award a firm fixed price contract.

20. Question: Based on the pricing table in Section B.2, Price Schedule, of the solicitation, it appears that unit pricing is based on number of transmissions per work area. However, Attachment K, Pricing Document to the solicitation requires price built-up using level of effort. Please what is the relationship between Section B.2, Price Schedule and Attachment

K, Pricing Document since Attachment K level of effort is not by task area?

Response: The Pricing Document, Attachment K, is designed to inform the Contracting

Officer’s price evaluation

21. Question: It is required that the Contractor provide services, at a minimum, from 8:30 am to

6:30 pm eastern time Monday thru Friday, except for Federal holidays. This exceeds the standard eight hours work day. Is overtime or shiftwork applicable, or the minimum service period is for ensuring availability of person(s) to respond to phone enquires?

Response: The required hours of operation has been set to ensure that contractor staff are reasonably available to staff at all four HUD Home Ownership Centers. It is up to the contractor to decide how it will meet the requirement.

22. Question: The offeror is required to complete the Representations and Certifications provided in Section K of the solicitation and include them in Part II, Business Proposal. Can we provide evidence of current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) in lieu of completing Section K.

Response? Offerors must include a properly completed copy of FAR 52.212-3 in Part II, Business Proposal. Per FAR 52.212-3, an offeror that has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via the System for Award Management

(SAM) Web site need only complete paragraph (b) of FAR 52.212-3. An offeror that is currently registered in SAM does not need to provide evidence of current registration.

23. Question: Would it be possible to have deadline extended to 3/30/18? Original deadline is quite aggressive.

Response: No.

24. Question: In section 3.4, Materials, it is stated that, “All materials will remain the property of the Government and will be returned to the Primary COR upon request or at the end of the contract period. The Government will provide boxes for shipping documents required to be archived at a government facility.” Will the shipping cost be reimbursable?

Response: Yes, with COR approval in advance.

25. Question: In section 5.2.5 Physical mail it is stated “The Contractor shall securely maintain all received and processed documents on-site at the Contractor facility for a minimum of one year.”

a. Is the contractor required to deliver the documents to the government after the first year?

Response: Documents are only required to be delivered to the government upon request from the Primary COR.

b. Will the shipping cost be reimbursable?

Response: Yes

26. Question: Which HUD systems, other than P260, is the contractor required to use?

Response: The only HUD system the contractor will be required to access is P260.

27. Question: What are HUD’s minimum personal computer system configurations in effect, in performing on this contract?

Response: The referenced language has been deleted from paragraph 4.2 of the PWS

(Section C) and replaced with the following language:

The contractor’s computers must be capable of connecting to the Internet, have either

Internet Explorer 11 or Safari 10, and be capable of opening a wide variety of various current file types, including, but not limited to, Microsoft Word and Excel, PDFs, and various graphic files (JPG, TIF, etc.) that are housed in P260. These file types may change depending upon future system enhancements, software version upgrades, or changes in operating procedures. The contractor shall ensure that its computer systems remain capable of accessing P260 and opening the files housed in P260 at all times.

28. Question: In section 5.2.5, Physical, it is stated that, “Upon written request, the Contractor shall provide to the Primary COR, within two business days, any documents having to do with work being done under this PWS”. Does this apply for only the documents within the one year document retention policy defined under the same section?

Response: No, it applies to any documents that have not been archived at a government facility. The bulleted paragraph containing the referenced language has been re-designated as paragraph 5.2.6 and clarifying language added.

29. Question: In section B.2 Price Schedule “LINE ITEM TABLES” the unit for “Vendor

Transmittal Processing” is “Transmittal” while the unit for the other Items is “Transmittal

Line”. Should the unit for “Vendor Transmittal Processing” be “Transmittal Line” also?

Response: No.

30. Question:

a. Will HUD consider extending the forbearance period to take into account the period for the contractor staff to obtain PIV cards as sometime that will take up to 6 weeks?

Response: No. However, in the event that government delay prevents the contractor from starting performance on the date stated in the contract award, then the effective date of the contract will be adjusted to account for that delay. The forbearance period does not begin until the contract effective date.

b. Question: If not, can the contractor staff process transmittals without an approved PIV card?

Response: No.

31. Question: The contractor under this effort is referred to as Support Services Contractor (SSC) in the Revised Financial Control Manual, is this correct?

Response: Yes.

32. Question: In Section L.8.b of the HOC Financial Support Services Document reads, “The offeror shall submit a technical approach that demonstrates logical and feasible methods for meeting the requirements (including any Section 508 requirements) described in the

Performance Work Statement Tasks One through Four and meeting the performance objectives outlined within the solicitation.” We are only aware of three tasks (Vendor

Transmittal Processing, General HOC Transmittal Processing, and Tax Transmittal

Processing). Is there a fourth task and if so could would the government be willing to clarify where it can be found in the document?

Response: There are only three tasks. The referenced section of the solicitation has been revised to correct this error.

33. Question: Reference is made to Section M 3A (page 95) which states, “The government will evaluate the following regarding the proposed Technical Approach:

Whether the proposal demonstrates logical and feasible methods for meeting the requirements described in the Performance Work Statement Tasks One through Five and meeting the performance objectives outlined within the solicitation.

The tasks included in the PWS are numbered One through Three. Are there more than three

PWS Tasks? If yes, can the Government please provide Tasks Four and Five?

Response: There are only three tasks. The referenced section of the solicitation has been revised to correct this error.

34. Question: In Section L.7.a of the HOC Financial Support Services Document it reads, “The offeror's name and address, the solicitation number and the date and time specified in the solicitation for proposal submission must appear in writing on the outside of the package.”

However in Section L.8.k.6, it reads, “All proposals shall be submitted via email to

HOCFinancialSupportServicesProposals@hud.gov ...“ Would the government be willing to confirm that the proposal can be submitted via email?

Response: ONLY emailed proposals will be accepted. Please disregard the language In

Section L.7.a regarding information that must appear on the outside of the package.

Paragraph 8.k.6 of Section L has been modified to require that the offeror’s name and the words “Proposal in Response to Solicitation Number 86548B18R00001” appear in the subject line of the email containing its proposal.

35. Question: For Part I – Technical Proposal, it is clear that the resumes do not count against the

30 page limit, as explained in Section L.7.a of the HOC Financial Support Services

Document. Would the government be willing to also advise whether or not the table of contents, title page, and/or proposal matrix also count against the page limitations?

Response: Paragraph (c) of AS 2102 (Section L paragraph 9) has been revised to add Title

Page and Table of Contents to the information exempt from the page limitation. All other pages, except for Resumes of Key Personnel (limited to no more than two pages each), count toward the page limitation.

36. Question: Reference is made to item #9 (Page 94), AS 2102-Limitation on Size of Technical

Proposal.

a. Will the Government please clarify if the title page, table of contents, acronym lists, and executive summary pages will be exempt from the page count limitation?

Response: See the response to question 35 above.

b. Will the Government allow a smaller font size for tables and graphics used in the

Technical proposal?

Response: Yes, but the font used must be legible without the use of an external magnification device when the document is printed.

37. Question: It is our understanding, from reading the attachments provided, that the current contract is SCA? It this accurate?

Yes, the Service Contract Act is applicable to the current contract.

38. Question: Would the government be willing to release what wage determination is currently being used?

mailto:HOCFinancialSupportServicesProposals@hud.gov

Response: The current wage determinations are irrelevant. Offerors are welcome to pull wage determinations from the following Web site: https://www.wdol.gov/sca.aspx#0. The wage determination applicable to the geographic location of the contractor’s facility will be added to the contract at award.

39. Question: Would the government be willing to release what SCA labor categories are currently being used?

Response: No

Question: Would the government be willing to disclose if the employees are being given paid time-off at the start of the contract, or does the paid time-off accrue over time.

Response: The government is not in possession of this information and thus cannot release it.

40. Question: Past performance must be within last 3 years. Will the Government consider allowing past performance within the last 5 years? (Section L, 8, Past Performance (g) (1))

Response: No

41. Question: The PWS requires the processing of transmittals under Tasks 1, 2, and 3 within three business days of Contractor receipt of the transmittal for processing. Will the

Government consider 5 days to process?

Response: No.

42. Question: The PWS states that “on a monthly basis, the Primary COR will generate a P260 report that will identify transmittals where HUD staff disagreed with the accuracy of the

Contractor’s recommendation for approval or rejection.” Disincentives of 5%-10% will result when HUD staff disagrees with the Contractor’s recommendation for approval or rejection of one or more transmittals. In instances where the Contractor disagrees with

HUD’s conclusion and resulting disincentive, what remedies will be available to the

Contractor to resolve dispute. (Performance Work Statement (PWS), Section 7.2, Incentives and Disincentives, page 27)?

Response: See Section C, paragraph 7.1. If the contractor disagrees with the Contracting

Officer’s decision, it may proceed under the Disputes clause (see FAR 52.212-4(d), which will be incorporated into the contract).

43. Question: Reference is made to PWS Section 6 Deliverables (page 25) which states, “The

Contractor shall complete all work and submit all Deliverables as specified in this PWS.

Unless otherwise specified in this PWS, the Contractor shall deliver all Deliverables in a format agreed upon by the Contractor and the Government. The Government shall review and accept or reject each Deliverable within 10 days of receipt. If the Deliverable is rejected by the Government, the Contractor shall address all Government comments and submit a https://www.wdol.gov/sca.aspx#0 final version of the Deliverable within five business days of receipt of the Government’s comments.”

a. Does this requirement refer to the receipt of tasks as shown in P260 or HUD system?

Response: No. Paragraph 6 of the PWS (Section C) has been revised to clearly identify the deliverables as certain information as specified in paragraph 4.1 of the PWS, the

Quality Control Plan (4.7), Management Work Plan (4.8), Continuity of Operations

Plan (4.9), Weekly Reports (5.2.1), and Monthly Reports (5.2.2).

b. Would that be an electronic date of receipt in P260 or a physical date?

Response: All deliverable are to be submitted via email. “Receipt” as used in paragraph 6 refers to the email receipt date, whether received by the contractor or HUD.

44. Question: Reference is made to PWS Section 7.1 PRS Chart (Page 26) addressing disincentives method of surveillance - this paragraph indicates a P260 report will be generated showing a report of all transmittals the contractor did not recommend or approve for rejections.

a. Would the surveillance be on what was not approved?

Response: The reports referenced in the PRS Chart will identify transmittals that were not recommended for either approval or rejection within the required timeframe and those transmittals where HUD staff disagreed with the contractor’s recommendation for approval or rejection.

b. What was not rejected?

Response: See the response to question 45.a above.

c. Would the contractor need to describe every line or transmittal that was not recommended for rejection (i.e. there were no findings on the SSC end)?

Response: If a contractor recommends rejection of a transmittal, it is required to enter comments supporting its recommendation in P260. The contractor will need to provide comments on those transmittals and transmittal lines where HUD staff disagreed with the contractor’s recommendation as a part of its monthly report.

45. Question: Reference is made to SECTION D - Packaging and Marking (Page 31), paragraph 1. Payment of Postage and Shipping Costs, which states “All postage and shipping costs related to the submission of the information (including reports and forms) required by this contract shall be paid for by the Contractor.”

a. Does this include transmittals that are requested for any audits?

Response: Yes, if approved in advance by the Primary COR.

b. Will audits become electronic or will they be conducted on site at the contractor facility?

Response: We do not know if audits will become electronic in the future. However, we expect that any audits will be conducted at a HUD facility.

46. Question: Can the Government confirm that it will permit Alaska Native Corporations to submit affiliated past performance in fulfillment of the Past Performance requirement? The

Government Accountability Office (GAO) permits Alaska Native Corporations to claim the experience and work history of its affiliated corporations for the purposes of establishing performance capability in the context of a competitive acquisition. Ecompex, Inc., B-

292865.4, B-292865.5, B-292865.6, June 18, 2004. Serco, Inc., B-406683, B-406683.2, Aug.

3, 2012. AMI-ACEPEX, Joint Venture, B-401560, Sept. 30, 2009.

Response: The government can confirm that the solicitation does not prohibit any offeror from submitting past performance or experience information of a parent or affiliate.