QUESTIONS_AND_RESPONSES_TO_SOLICITATION_SET_2.pdf

Solicitation AG‐024B‐S‐15‐0011 U.S. Forest Service Maintenance Services‐ HC‐130H Airtanker National Office

QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES TO SOLICITATION AG-024B-S-15-0011 Set 2

1. QUESTION: Cover Page-Will the USFS consider extending the submission deadline by 14 calendar days to May 5, 2015?

RESPONSE: Due to other solicitations and requirements that currently exist, the Government does not have the option of extending the solicitation until May 5. However, the solicitation has been extended until April 23, 2015 at 1400 MT.

2. QUESTION: Page 2, Item B.1(a)-There is no separate CLIN or discussion of the Contractor supplied tools, test equipment, support equipment and vehicles in the Description of Pricing. Is in the intent of the USFS for bidders to include the pricing for the aforementioned items into the “Unit Price” beginning on Page 3? Will the USFS consider adding a separate CLIN to include pricing for these items

RESPONSE: The pricing for any tooling offered shall be included in the unit rates for personnel. The Government will not add separate pricing CLINs for special tooling as we are not procuring special tooling.

3. QUESTION: Pages 3 & 5-Can the USFS explain/clarify the status of the “Secondary Crew” in Year 2?

It appears the Secondary Crew may become the “Back Shop Crew”, however the staffing quantities are different between the Secondary and Back Shop Crew (specifically, the Year 2 staffing for the Back Shop Crew requires 1 Lead Aircraft Mechanic vs. the 2 specified for the Secondary Crew).

RESPONSE: There will be two aircraft in year one requiring two maintenance crews. One of the aircraft will enter PDM on or near the end of the second crew MAP. In year two the USFS will assume back shop support for the primary aircraft. The Government has determined that two (2) Lead Mechanics will be required for the aircraft to support maintenance on a rotating irregular shift schedule. Only one (1) Lead Mechanic will be required for the back shop support.

4. QUESTION: Page 9, Item B.4-Will the USFS make TO-1C-130A-6 and USFS 113000-301 available for review?

RESPONSE: Yes. The documents are now posted to FBO.

5. QUESTION: Page 11, Item B.9-Will the USFS pay for the “Additional on Demand (AOD)” personnel who meet the appropriate requirements to be available? The 24-hour requirement conflicts with the 48-hour requirement stated in Item C.11—will the USFS clarify? Is there a minimum period for which the USFS will pay for AOD personnel??

RESPONSE: No. However, per the following, once the back shop support is ordered, it will remain on contract for the remainder of the contract.

C.11 (c) Orders for the Guaranteed Items will be issued at the time of award for the initial year and at the renewal of each option year for the option years. Orders will be issued via Task Orders to the contract.

The Government reserves the right to order Additional on Demand (AOD) or back shop support when required by the Government. Once ordered, additional personnel to support the order shall be onsite and ready for work within 48 hours of order. Additional personnel and/or back shop support personnel are subject to the availability requirements identified in IOC Non Fire Season Availability. If ordered by the

Government Back Shop Support will be on for the remainder of the contract period, provided the contract options are renewed by the Government.

6. QUESTION:. Page 13, Item B.14-Is it the intent of the USFS for the contractor to pay the Extended Standby (ESB) rate to its employees for all extended work hours without any markup or fee included?

This may violate a Company’s disclosure statement.

RESPONSE: The intent is for the contractor to offer a rate for extended standby that will cover the companies cost for the additional hours of work over 8 (during IOC Non Fire Season) or 9 (during IOC Fire Season) hours.

7. QUESTION: Page 15, Item B.22(b)(1)-The last sentence states: In the event that special tools and equipment are not available from the government, the contractor shall make them available. Are these the tools and equipment stated on Pages 73 to 77? If so, is the contractor expected to make these available within 24 hours as specified in paragraph (2)? Will the USFS reimburse the contractor for special tools not specifically required on pages 73 to 77?

RESPONSE:. Yes, these are the tools identified in Exhibit 1 on pages 73-75, page 76-77 will specifically be provided by the government. If the tools are offered in the company’s response to the solicitation, then the company would be required to provide the tools within 24 hours from the Government’s request. The Government would reimburse the Contractor for any tools not specifically listed in the exhibit with the exception of the other tools required to be provided by the solicitation, such as the basic aircraft/maintenance tools and those required in exhibit 1.

8. QUESTION: Page 15, Item B.22(d)(1)-Will the USFS specify which tools the maintenance technicians are expected to possess?

RESPONSE:. No. Maintenance Technicians are expected to possess basic hand tools of the trade including basic mechanic, sheet metal and/or electrical tools.

9. QUESTION: Page 15, Item B.22(d)(2)-Will the USFS specify the vehicle requirements to transport QECs and propellers? Will the USFS specify the USCG requirements to transport the SE, engines and propellers ?

RESPONSE:. The Government will not specify vehicle type requirement specifications are outlined in Technical Order TO 2J01018 Preparations for Shipment and Storage of Gas Turbine Engines and TO 00- 85-20 (current) Engine Shipping Instructions. See Excerpt from TO 1C-130A-9 for specifics on propeller transportation. The Propeller with stand is approximately 1800 lbs. and measures L103”xW117”xH103” The Engine with stand weighs approximately 4400lbs and measures L154”xW62”xH84”.

10. QUESTION: Page 17, Item B.28(a)- The Contractor shall appoint one Lead Mechanic as primary point of contact for the Government. That individual shall have the ability to represent the Contractor in all matters except those that affect time or price. Is it the intent of the USFS for the Contractor to not have an onsite manager? Will the USFS allow the aforementioned Lead Mechanic to handle personnel, HR, Payroll, time off and other administrative duties as required? Who will represent the Contractor in time or price matters?

RESPONSE: .It is the intent of the Forest Service to have an onsite manager in the role of the Lead Mechanic. The Lead Mechanic may serve dual purposes and the Contractor may authorize the Lead Mechanic as much Contractor authority as they wish provided it does not interfere with the work and the authority is clearly delegated to the Contracting Officer.

11. QUESTION: Page 19, Item B.32-The technicians are expected to possess Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) Certificates, yet also have 10 years of experience maintaining USCG C-130H aircraft. Often, aircraft mechanics who work for the USCG are not required to possess an A&P Certificate. Will the USFS consider for a technician to possess an A&P certificate or 10 years of experience maintaining C-130H aircraft for the USCG?

RESPONSE: No. The Lead Mechanic position is required to hold an A&P Certificate and possess 10 years of USCG HC-130H experience.

12. QUESTION: Page 25, Item B.33(b)-The first sentence states: The contractor shall have the ability to complete all required Non-Destructive Inspections (NDIs). Is it the intent of the USFS for the contractor to provide the NDI equipment to complete Magnetic Particle, Fluorescent Penetrant or other non-destructive inspections?

RESPONSE: No. As stated in Exhibit 1 Contractor Required and Desired Special Tools, the contractor shall provide Eddy-Current Flaw Detector. Magnetic Particle, and Fluorescent Penetrant materials and equipment will be provided by the Government. NDI techniques such as Radiography, Ultrasonic, are outside the scope of this contract and will be the responsibility of the Government.

13. QUESTION: Page 58, Item C.36(a)-Will the USFS consider a “firewall” approach or procedure to allow contractors to separate work on this solicitation/contract and potential future bidding? This item appears to create a “one and done” type of contract for the successful bidder.

RESPONSE: No. Paragraph C.36(a) was removed via Amendment 0001.

14. QUESTION: Page 71, Item C.45-Is it the intent of the USFS for the contractor to hold liability insurance or hull insurance? Insurance for Government-owned aircraft will be exceptionally difficult (if not impossible to obtain). Will the USFS consider the inclusion of the standard Ground Flight Risk Clause (48 CFR 252.228-7001)? How will the USFS determine liability between maintenance contractor and flight operations/aircrew contractor?

RESPONSE: See Amendment 0002.

15. QUESTION: Page 86, Item E.2-Do the Size Standard ($32.5M in annual receipts) and NAICS Code (488190) apply to this solicitation since it is an “UNRESTRICTED” acquisition as specified on Standard Form 1449?

RESPONSE: They are applicable to the solicitation however, obviously do not effect set aside size standards.

16. QUESTION: Page 87, Item Section E (2) (iii)-The second sentence states: This list should identify all equipment in Exhibit 1 that the Contractor owns in an auditable list. If a contractor does not own all specified equipment and cannot obtain prior to submission of proposal, will the USFS consider a conditional allowance that the Contractor will obtain required equipment upon award of contract?

RESPONSE: See Amendment 0001 to the solicitation.

17. QUESTION: General-How will the USFS determine unavailability time if the maintenance contractor determines the aircraft is “in service”, but the aircrew contractor deems the aircraft “out of service?”

RESPONSE: Unavailability will not be based on the aircraft being available. Unavailability will be determined on Paragraph’s C.15-C.17.

18. QUESTION: General-If the aircraft is deployed away from the McClellan base overnight, how many personnel will be required to travel to deployment site?

RESPONSE: It would depend on the situation and the need. The Government does pay for transportation costs per the FTR for all personnel ordered to travel away from the designated base. The Contractor shall ensure that all personnel identified by the solicitation are able to travel if required by the Government.

The Government was requested to provide additional clarification to a couple of responses posted to FBO. That clarification is as follows:

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 1:

USG Response to Question 2: “it is essential that this individual have a full working knowledge of and experience in the USCG Engineering and Maintenance system.”

Clarification/Question/Comment: Please clarify, does the government mean one Lead Mechanic, as in overall Site Lead, meet the requirement? Or all five required Lead Mechanics?

RESPONSE: All persons offered for the Lead Mechanic position must meet the Lead Mechanic requirements stated in the solicitation. In year 1 there are four (4) lead mechanics required through December 2015. In the following option years only three (3) will be required, two (2) for the Primary Crew, and one (1) for the Back Shop Crew starting in July 2016.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 2:

USG Response to question 6: “In lieu of the government requiring USCG experience for all positions the USFS will require the positions to be 14 CFR 65 Certified Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic.”

Clarification/Question/Comment:

We interpret this as an A&P licensed mechanic will be accepted for all positions and is in contrast to the Government response to question 2. Could the Government please clarify?

RESPONSE: The USCG experience requirement stated in B.32 (a) (1) (i) for the Lead Mechanic position is required. The 14 CFR 65 A&P is required as identified in the solicitation for the Lead Mechanic, Aircraft Mechanic and Assistant Aircraft Mechanic. The Lead Mechanic must possess both the USCG experience requirement and the A&P requirement.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 3:

Reference: Response to Questions 1, 2, and 6 Background: Most military personnel who work on a military production aircraft such as the C-130 variants for the DoD are not required to possess an A&P license to work on these aircraft. This also applies to USCG personnel. Further, when the personnel migrate from the military, and obtained an A&P license, it is to work on commercial aircraft, not HC-130H Aircraft. Based on this, any person who has an A&P license, is not likely to have worked on a HC-130H Aircraft in the past five year, and therefore, no longer have the recent experienced dictated in Section B.32 for the Lead Aircraft Mechanic, Aircraft Mechanic or Assistant Aircraft Mechanic. Based on this we feel the combination of both language is overly restrictive Question: Based on this, would the Government consider removing the 14 CFR 65 Certificated Airframe and Power plant (A&P) Mechanic requirement, or the requirement to have HC-130H or C-130/L-382 personnel.

RESPONSE: No.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 4:

Reference: Response to Question 2, and 6 Background: The proposal requirements for key personnel are specified in specified in E-4, references key personnel requirement of C-36, that tie to the Position Requirements of B-32.

Questions: Are the requirements of B-32 the minimum position requirements for the Key Personnel? If so, would a candidate that does not meet these minimum requirements, still be considered viable by the Government as a “Key Personnel”? If an offer proposes candidate that do not meet the minimum requirement of B-26, would they still be considered complaint, and therefore would they not considered as having deficiency in meeting the Section E-4 Requirements.?

RESPONSE: Offerors that fail to provide Key Personnel that fail to meet the requirements of the solicitation will be considered unacceptable. However, should a competitive range be established it is possible that an offeror could make its proposal acceptable through discussions should the offeror be included in the competitive range.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 5:

Reference: Response to Question 13 Background: In response to question 13, the Government stated “We are evaluating all personnel under the solicitation. Due to training, background investigations, CAC card issuance, consistence in maintenance, etc. we do not want these individuals being swapped out.” In reference to the 90 mandate to keep employees in place.

Question: Would the Government consider allowing the employee to substitute personnel with equal a great qualifications during the evaluation phase (the time between the proposal submission and the award date) in the event more qualified personnel are found, as long as the substituted personnel would then adhere to the 90 day mandate?

RESPONSE: This option is acceptable provided it is understood that the personnel submitted with the initial offer will be key personnel evaluated. If the Contractor is successful in contract award and is able to provide more qualified personnel prior to the start of the contract’s period of performance, the Government would reserve the right to accept the new personnel provided they are more qualified and offered at the same rates.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 6:

Reference: Response to Question 13 and 17 Background: Question 13 response states that Wage Determination 2005-2056 (REV 18) dated 12/24/2014 will be incorporated into the solicitation via amendment; however, in the response to question 17, the Government stated that WD 2005-2055 (REV 17) dated 12/24/2014 will be incorporated into the solicitation.

Question: Although the Government incorporated wage determination WD 2005-2055 (REV 17), would the government validate this is the correct wage determination?

RESPONSE: Correction to the response. Wage Determination WD 2005-2055 (REV 17) Dated 12/22/2014 is the correct wage determination.

CLARIFICATION QUESTION 7:

Reference: Amendment 0001 Background: Due to the changes introduced by Amendment 0001, along with the much needed clarification of the Governments responses to industry questions, the government is restricting industry’s ability to submit a compliant proposals in the limited time remaining until the current proposal due date.

Question: Would the government consider a 2 week extension to the Proposal due date to allow recruiting based on the results of Amendment 0001 and the responses of the supplemental questions?

RESPONSE: No. The Government has extended the date set forth for receipt of proposals until Thursday April 23, 2015 and that is greatest extension we are able to provide.