aid-asha-15-000001 - amendment 4 - 040715.pdf

Date: April 7, 2015

Subject: Amendment No. 4 to APS‐ASHA‐15‐000001 for Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) Fiscal Year 2015 Program

A. Background and Purpose of this Amendment

The subject Annual Program Statement (APS) was issued on October 27, 2014, and Amendment No. 1 was issued on December 31, 2014. Amendment No. 2 was issued on March 11, 2014 and Amendment No. 3 was issued March 23, 2015. This Amendment No. 4 has the following purposes:

• To revise text in the Full Announcement; and

• To answer questions received by USAID/ASHA regarding this solicitation.

B. Description of Amendment to Full Announcement:

Section D.4, page 6, add the following sentence to paragraph a:

Applications should not include hyperlinks.

Mandatory as Applicable Attachments, page 13 and Annex 2, add the following:

“11. Commodities Information, as referenced above in Section 5.8, if submitted as an attachment. This attachment should be named “AA5 - Description of Commodities’”.

C. Questions and Answers

1. With regards to the SF 424 family, USAID/ASHA collects this form primarily to document basic identifying information about the applicant and project. For the purpose of scoring the application under the evaluation factors, USAID/ASHA generally relies primarily on the narrative and other aspects of the application apart from the SF-424.

2. Q: Is it acceptable to include hyperlinks within the bid documentation?

A: See above.

3. Q: Will USAID fund architectural fees, site inspections, etc., beyond the basic costs of construction?

A: USAID/ASHA will fund architectural fees, engineering fees, and site inspections.

4. Q: For a construction project for a new school or hospital, under 'Monitoring and Evaluation' are we required to monitor and evaluate the construction process (such as timescale, quality of construction etc.) or the purpose/objective of the construction (i.e. number of patients treated in maternal ward or children educated in new classrooms etc.) or both?

A: Both. Grantees will be expected to report quarterly on progress of the construction as well as report annually on progress toward indicators.

5. Q: Does the 20 page limit for attachments include resumes for key personnel such as the Project Manager?

A: The limit for attachments is less than 20 pages, including resumes.

6. Q: What should the “Description of Commodities” attachment specified in Amendment No. 2 be named?

A: See above.

7. Q: When applying for an ASHA grant that includes both durable commodities and construction, is it necessary to complete both the SF 424A for Non-Construction Programs and the SF 424C for Construction Programs?

A: Yes, both forms are required.

8. Q: If an application is for commodities, does the applicant need to show evidence at the solicitation stage that they have received multiple bids, to justify the cost of the equipment requested?

A: No, but cost realism is an evaluation criterion. Also, note that 2 CFR 200.319 requires all procurement transactions to be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition. 2 CFR 200 can be found here: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl

9. Q: Are value added taxes (VAT) allowable?

A: Consistent with the USAID standard grant provision on Reporting Host Government Taxes, “Host government taxes are not allowable where the Agreement Officer provides the necessary means to the recipient to obtain an exemption or refund of such taxes, and the recipient fails to take reasonable steps to obtain such exemption or refund. Otherwise, taxes are allowable in accordance with the Standard Provision, “Allowable Costs,” and must be reported as required.”

10. Q: Regarding SF 424C, BUDGET INFORMATION - Construction Programs, what are 'costs not allowed for participation' referred to in Column b?

A: In addition to reviewing applicable cost principles, please see section 6, page 15, Funding Restrictions, for unallowable costs.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl

11. Q: Some of the forms on www.grants.gov have expired. Should I still use those forms?

A: Yes, despite the reference to an expiration date for these forms on grants.gov, these forms remain valid and should be used.

12. Q: On line 17 of the SF 424C, what percentage should be written in the box where it is written: Enter eligible costs from line 16c Multiply x____%?

A: This can be left blank. Information about cost sharing, if applicable, appears elsewhere in the application.

http://www.grants.gov/