AG-3C78-S-16-0048_MN_QUESTION_MATRIX_8-29-16.pdf

COMMENTS MATRIX FOR NRCS-NM ISSUANCES: AG-3C78-S-16-0048 MN GENERAL CLERK SUPPORT

(Please read instructions on back before completing form.)

# CLASS

COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/ R/ P

SD FORM 818, JAN 09 PREVIOUS EDITION IS OBSOLETE

SIMILAR SVC

QUESTIONS

8/4/16

Bidder Comment: Is this a new requirement?

Resolution: NO. AG‐6322‐D‐15‐0019 Ultima Inc is the incumbent

SIMILAR SVC

Bidder Comment: are these full time or as needed positions?

Resolution: Hours required are contained within the Statement of Work. Office labeled “Shared” will split the hours required. These offices are within the same geographic area.

Bidder Comment: Would the Government “consider” a NAICS code of 561320 “Temporary Services” for this solicitation?

Resolution: NO. 561320 is limited to 240 days per 5CFR300.5 u

Bidder Comment: Should the bill rate include the fringe benefits?

Resolution: YES. Quoted price should reflect “fully loaded rate”. Consult your local US Department of Labor for further guidance.

Bidder Comment: Will a billable PM be required?

Resolution: This is at the discretion of the contractor but should be included in the hourly “loaded rate” should they be required. The Service Contract and Labor Standards Act wage determination would be applicable.

Bidder Comment: Is there a time period in which vacancies MUST be filled?

Resolution: 75% by 1 Oct 2016 / 100% by 30 November 2016

Bidder Comment: Will the government provide candidate referrals?

Resolution: No. See FAR 22.12 Non‐Displacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts. FAR 22.1202 Policy.

(a) When a service contract succeeds a contract for performance of the same or similar services, as defined at 29 CFR 9.2, at the same location, the successor contractor and its subcontractors are required to offer those service employees that are employed under the predecessor contract, and whose employment will be terminated as a result of the award of the successor contract, a right of first refusal of employment under the contract in positions for which they are qualified. Executive Order 13495 generally prohibits employment openings under the successor contract until such right of first refusal has

# CLASS

COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/ been provided, when consistent with applicable law.

SIMILAR SVC

Bidder Comment: Does my proposal require a Standard Form cover sheet?

Resolution: Offers may be submitted on the SF1449, letterhead stationary. Letterhead is acceptable if accompanied by a completed “Contract Line Item” chart from the solicitation.

9 8/8/2016 email Bidder Comment: Are you going to let self‐certified SDVOSB’s bid Resolution: Per FAR 19.301‐1, the bidder’s representation is accepted unless reason is provided to question that certification.

10 8/8/2016 email Bidder Comment: Would this include the entire State of MN or just a region?

Resolution: The whole state. List of current offices filled and vacant was included in the solicitation package

11 8/8/2016 email l

Bidder Comment: Is the incumbent Ultima Inc is a SDVOSB or not?

Resolution: No. Original solicitation in 2012 was “small business” set aside

Original contract was only small business set aside.

Current Contractor: Small Business Base Contract AG‐6322‐C‐12‐0001 Current Year DO: AG‐6322‐D‐15‐0019

12 8/8/2016 email

Bidder Comment: are offerors required to provide resumes for all 80 positions on the contract (including those held by incumbent staff) or are offerors required to provide resumes only for those contract positions which are currently open?

Resolution: Under FAR 22.1204, a list of incumbent contractor employees will be provided to the successful bidder. While the USDA‐NRCS does not require a one page resume for incumbent employees, it does not prevent the successful bidder from requesting supporting employee qualifications. See 22.1203‐4 – Method of Job Offer.

Resumes/CV should be provided for any open position by the successful bidder.

Amendment to be issued as follows:

SOLICITATION: Contractor shall show intended compliance with FAR 22.12. Statement of intent on “how” positions will be filled is sufficient.

Contract: Contractor shall comply with FAR 22.12 for offers, etc to incumbents. All new potential employees must submit 1 page resumes for review. FAR 22.12 deadlines apply.

# CLASS

COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/

13 8/8/2016 email

Bidder Comment: Can you provide the current value of the contract and payscales?

Resolution: No. Although general information about agency mission needs and future requirements may be disclosed at any time, FAR 3.104‐4(a) specifically states that “no person or other entity may disclose contractor bid or proposal information or source selection information to any person other than a person authorized, in accordance with …law or regulation…to receive such information. Further, 18 U.S.C. § 1905 allows criminal sanctions on government employees for disclosing a contractor’s proprietary information. Therefore, if the unit prices are proprietary the information should not be disclosed to the vendors. Pricing on the current contract includes “loaded” labor rates that may divulge internal company policies/procedures.

Contractor’s pay scales shall be in compliance with the solicitation US Department of Labor Wager Determinations.

14 8/16/2016 email

Bidder Comment: Can the government clarify the pricing for submission. Do offeror’s complete and submit only the table on Page 2 Section 5 (CLINs) or do we also submit rates on the table on Section 7.4 Page 7 as well?

Resolution: The purchase request is funded per Page 2, Section 5 as lump sum dollars.

This allows for variation between employee pay AS LONG AS PAY IS COMPLIANT WITH SERVICE CONTRACT LABOR STANDARDS ACT! The chart at 7.4 has been used in the past as part of the invoice process and was modified to reflect the employee name and rate of pay. This cannot be released due to PII.

FOR BID PURPOSES: IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE RATES QUOTED ON PAGE 2, SECTION 5

IS AN AVERAGE FOR (1) CLERK II AND (2) CLERK III UNDER THE CONTRACT.

ACTUAL SCA COMPLIANT PAYRATES WILL BE REFLECTED ON FINAL CONTRACT AWARD

SUBJECT TO VARIATION DUE TO PAY RAISES, ETC.

15 8/16/2016 email

Bidder Comment: we do have to submit rates by county on table 7.4, where do the rates go on the table?

Resolution: SEE QUESTION 14. PAGE 2, SECTION 5 REFLECTS AN AVERAGE FOR THAT SERVICE GRADE. PAY PER SCA WILL BE VERIFIED MONTHLY AGAINST THE WDOLs FOR

THAT OFFICE.

# CLASS

COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/

16 8/16/2016 email

Bidder Comment: Does the government just want Past Performance form the offeror or can it be from a Subcontractor as well?

Resolution: Since this is a SDVOB under the Small Business Program, a subcontractor reference/subcontract plan is not required. However, if the contractor determines that the inclusion of the data enhances their capabilities and total proposal, they may submit subcontractor data.

17 8/25/2016 email

Bidder Comment: The SOW states the contractor is to provide candidates to fill 80 general clerk II and III support positions. Our count from the regional manning charts appears to list only 71 positions. This included the two positions added by Amendment 2, however, amendment 2 did not increase the CLIN hourly original numbers (109,824 Gen Clk. II) and (12,480 Hrs Gen Clk. III), due to the increase in positions.

Resolution: Table 7.4 Updated. Total 70 positions.

18 8/25/2016 email Bidder Comment: What is the historical turnover rate experienced by contact over the past 3 years.

Resolution: See “Seniority” Column of Update 8‐29‐2016

19 8/25/2016 email

Bidder Comment: Section 3. Security Requirements, in the SOW states “The costs relative to completing the SF85 and any required fingerprinting shall be borne by the Contractor”. What is the cost of completing the SF85? Fingerprints? Will the government do the fingerprints and bill the contractor?

Resolution: The government will process the SF‐85 and fingerprint cards once completed by the contractor at their cost. This is not required for incumbent employees.

The contractor is responsible for obtaining the SF‐87 and the payment to the fingerprinting agency. The Government will not reimburse the contractor for the cost.

20 8/26/2016 email

Bidder Comment: You have identified FAR 19.301-1 regarding representation, in support of the FAR mentioned we request that supporting documentation from the SDVOSB entity (VA - VetBiz) be provided to demonstrate beyond self-certification that the entity is truly identified as SDVOSB. This action can easily be accomplished by requesting the most current VA Certification document as evidence that they are truly a SDVOSB entity (as identified by the Verification Authority) and will save time and money - as when the award is made, more than likely a determination request may be made by the other offerors.

Resolution: See answer #9.

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COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/

21 8/26/2016 email

Bidder Comment: Within the regions identified – for example region 2 is supported by multiple wage determination pay scales for Clerk II (e.g. Region 2 is made up counties within all four wage determinations provided). Was this your intent/desire to have the regions cross multiple wage determination boundaries?

Resolution: No. The regional boundaries are for USDA‐NRCS management purposes and DO NOT directly correlate to a specific wage determination. See the specific COUNTY at table 7.4 to determine the appropriate WDOL.

22 8/26/2016 email

Bidder Comment: Page 7, Section 7.4, Locations, provides 2080 per year for each of the locations with (presumably) one fulltime equivalent assigned to provide administrative support. The other locations are assigned hours based on a less than fulltime basis. The hours assigned on the Bid/CLIN Schedule at Page 2 match Section 7.4.

a. Question: The Service Contract Act/WD’s require us to provide 10 paid holidays and, as a minimum, 10 days per year of paid‐time‐off. This would equate to 1920 billable/productive hours per year. Have the hours been overestimated on the Bid Schedule and Section 7.4?

Resolution: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/web/SCA_FAQ.htm

What does the health and welfare rate apply to, all hours worked or vacation and sick leave also?

Unless otherwise specified on the applicable wage determination, health and welfare payments are due for all hours, including paid vacation, sick leave, and holiday hours, up to a maximum of 40 hours per week and 2, 080 hours per year on each contract.

Do employees receive fringe benefits when they are working under a wage determination?

Every covered contract in excess of $2,500 contains a provision specifying the fringe benefits to be furnished to service employees and must be paid in addition to the minimum wage. The fringe benefit amount is listed in the wage determination. SCA makes no distinction, with respect to its compensation provisions, between temporary, part‐time, and full‐time employees. However, temporary and part‐time employees are only entitled to an amount of the fringe benefits specified in an applicable determination which is proportionate to the amount of time spent in covered work.

# CLASS

COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/

23 8/26/2016 email

Bidder Comment: The Service Contract Act/WD’s require us to provide different amounts of annual PTO, based on tenure of a given employee?

a. Question: Given that there is an incumbent contract and that most of the locations are filled, will the government provide a listing by location of the employee tenure in order to properly price the PTO that is required.

b. Question: If we do get this list and are able to establish PTO allowances by employee, given that PTO costs will vary, how should we establish our one standard rate for a given

CLIN?

Resolution: See Questions 14, 18, and 22.

The WDOL is the required minimum that the government must enforce The Schedule B‐Reflects an average for the paygrade o Final SCA compliance for individual positions will be accomplished at first payroll.

# CLASS

COMPONENT AND

POC NAME, PHONE,

AND E-MAIL

PAGE PARA COMMENT

TYPE (C/S) COMMENTS, JUSTIFICATION, AND ORIGINATOR JUSTIFICATION FOR RESOLUTION

A/

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING SD FORM 818

COORDINATING OSD COMPONENT: Use this form to provide consolidated critical and substantive comments to the OSD Component that originated the issuance. Complete the classification header and footer, columns 1 through 5, and the first two entries in column 6. REVIEW THE COMMENTS, RESOLVE ANY CONFLICTING VIEWS, AND CONFIRM THAT THE COMPLETED MATRIX ACCURATELY REPRESENTS YOUR COMPONENT’S POSITION. Upload the form to the DoD Directives Program Portal IN MICROSOFT WORD FORMAT, with a scanned copy of the sign SD Form 106, “DoD Directives Program Coordination Record,” or coordination memorandum.

ORIGINATING OSD COMPONENT: Use this form to consolidate comments from all coordinators and to record adjudication of the comments. (To add comments from an SD 818 submitted by a coordinator, use the “Copy” and “Paste” tools on the Microsoft Word Standard Toolbar.) When consolidating comments, place them in the order of the pages/paragraphs they apply to (e.g., all comments from all coordinators that apply to page 1, paragraph 1.a., should be grouped together as the initial entries; all comments that apply to page 1, paragraph 1.b., should be grouped together next, and so on). Complete column 7 and the third entry in column 6. Adjust the classification header and footer and columns 1 and 2 as appropriate.

CLASSIFICATION – Enter the highest classification of the comments. If all are unclassified, mark the header and footer accordingly and ignore the column.

COLUMN 1 – Enter the number of the comment. Enter comments in the order of the pages/paragraphs they apply to.

COLUMN 2 – Enter the classification of the comment. If all comments are unclassified, mark the header and footer accordingly and ignore the column.

COLUMN 3 – Enter the appropriate information.

COLUMN 4 – Enter the appropriate information.

COLUMN 5 – Enter the appropriate information.

COLUMN 6 – Enter the comment type. Place only one comment per row. Do NOT include administrative comments concerning non-substantive aspects of an issuance, such as dates of references, organizational symbols, and/or grammatical errors.

(C) CRITICAL: When a Component has one or more critical comments, that Component’s coordination shall reflect a nonconcur. THE JUSTIFICATION FOR CRITICAL COMMENTS

MUST IDENTIFY:

– Violations of the law or contradictions of Executive Branch policy or of policy established in DoD issuances. The GC, DoD, or his or her representative shall identify legal objections as critical comments.

– Unnecessary risks to safety, life, limb, or DoD materiel; waste or abuse of DoD appropriations; or imposition of an unreasonable burden on a Component’s resources.

(S) SUBSTANTIVE: Substantive comments are made when a section in the issuance appears to be or is potentially unnecessary, incorrect, misleading, confusing, or inconsistent with other sections, or when a Component disagrees with the proposed responsibilities, requirements, and/or procedures. A substantive comment is usually not sufficient justification for a Component to nonconcur on an issuance. Several substantive comments when taken together may be grounds for a nonconcurrence.

COLUMN 7 – COORDINATING COMPONENT: Enter the comment in the area provided. Enter your justification for the comment and your requested or recommended changes in the area provided.

YOU MUST PROVIDE CONVINCING SUPPORT FOR CRITICAL COMMENTS IN THE JUSTIFICATION.

– ORIGINATING COMPONENT: Enter your justification for disposition of the comment in the area provided. Include any related communications with the coordinating Component. You must provide convincing support for rejecting critical comments.

COLUMN 8 – Enter whether you accepted (A), rejected (R), or partially accepted (P) the comment. Your justification for disposition of the comment in column 6 must be consistent with this entry.