J.2 Instructions to Quoters and Basis for Award.pdf

Senate Parks Fountain and Pool Operations and Maintenance

Release Date: July 22, 2024

Section L. Instructions to Quoters

L.1 RFQ GENERAL CONDITIONS

The submission of a quotation to the Government shall constitute the quoter’s acknowledgement, agreement and compliance with the terms and conditions of the RFQ.

The Government will not be obligated to pay any cost incurred by a contractor in the preparation and submission of a quotation. Quoters are cautioned to ensure that their quotation submissions are complete and reflective of the evaluation criteria and requirements described herein. Quoters are encouraged to provide their best terms with their initial quotation submission. Quoters shall not assume that the Government will afford an opportunity to clarify, discuss, or revise a quotation. The Government reserves the right to allow quoters to address weaknesses and revise their quotations if it determines that it is in the best interest of the Government.

Quotations shall be valid for 90 days from the date of quotation submission.

Any exceptions or conditional assumptions taken with respect to the requirements outlined in the RFQ or Performance Work Statement (PWS) shall be fully explained in the quoter’s Introductory Letter. The Government cautions quoters that taking exception to any term or condition may render their quotation non-responsive and the quoter will be ineligible for award, unless the RFQ expressly authorizes such an exception with regards to a specific term or condition.

L.2 QUESTIONS AND QUOTATION SUBMISSIONS

All correspondence in conjunction with this solicitation, including questions and quotation submittals, shall be directed to the Contracting Officer, Tatjana Johnson, via e-mail at tatjana.johnson@aoc.gov. E-mail messages shall not exceed 10 MB. If necessary, quoters shall compress files with a .zip extension.

L.2.1 Questions Due Date

Questions about the technical or contractual details of this procurement must be submitted in writing via e-mail by August 2, 2024 at 11:00 AM ET. When submitting questions, please include the RFQ #, Company Name and the word “Questions” in the subject line of the email. For example, “AOCSSB24Q0058_ ABC Inc. Questions”.

Questions submitted after this cut off will be responded to at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. Quoters shall use Attachment J.3 to submit questions.

Answers to questions will be provided as an amendment to the RFQ.

L.2.2 Quotation Due Date

Quotations must be received no later than August 9, 2024 at 4:00 PM ET. When submitting your final quotation, please include the RFQ #, Company Name and the word “Quotation” in the subject line of the email. For example, “AOCSSB24Q0058_ ABC Inc. Quotation”.

Quotations received after this date and time shall be considered late and shall not be accepted by the Government unless it is determined by the Contracting Officer to be in the best interest of the Government.

L.3 VOLUMES AND ORGANIZATION

Quotations shall be clearly and concisely written, as well as being neat, indexed and logically assembled as described herein. Quoters are advised to supply all information in the sequence and format specified in the table below. The submitted quotation must provide a sufficient basis for a thorough evaluation and contain the information necessary for evaluation. The Government will not assume the quoter possesses any capability, understanding, or commitment not specified in the quotation. The quotation must not merely repeat the solicitation and Performance Work Statement requirements, but rather must provide convincing documentary evidence in support of conclusive statements of how contract requirements will be met.

Quotations shall be prepared in separate volumes: Volume I – Technical and Volume II – Price. The quoter shall provide the requested information within the designated volume evaluation factor. Any requested information placed outside of the designated location shall not be considered or evaluated under that evaluation factor regardless of whether it is located somewhere else in the quotation. As an example, the quoter shall not refer to any Corporate Experience in the Technical Approach factor section of its quotation. If the quoter does so, that content will not be considered by the Government during the evaluation of the quoter’s Technical Approach. In order for the technical quotation to be strictly evaluated on the merit of the material submitted, Volume I and Volume II shall be submitted as separate documents. Pricing is prohibited in, and shall be omitted from, Volume I. Each volume shall be indexed by evaluation factor.

Volumes shall be organized in the following manner:

VOLUME FACTOR TITLE PAGE LIMIT (NOT TO

EXCEED)

N/A Introductory Letter 1 page

I

1 Technical Approach 6 pages 2 Corporate Experience 3 pages maximum per contract profile

II

3 Price N/A

N/A Standard Form 33 N/A

All pages in Volume I, except the introductory letter, shall include page numbering.

Content which is outside the Page Limits in the above chart will not be evaluated by the Government.

L.3.1 Paper Size and Formatting

Written materials shall be submitted on 1 sided single-spaced pages using standard 8 ½” x 11” size paper with a minimum of 1” margins. Font size shall be Times New Roman, Calibri, or similar fonts with a minimum of 12-point size for text and 10-point size for tables and graphics.

L.3.2 Introductory Letter

The following introductory information is required before the first index of Volume I:

• RFQ Number & Title;

• Name and address of quoter;

• UEI Number & cage code;

• NAICS / PSC;

• Name, telephone number, and e-mail address of quoter’s main point-of-contact;

• Date of submission;

• Name, title, and signature of authorized representative; and

• All technical factor assumptions to the RFQ and PWS shall be identified in this section. Pricing assumptions shall be identified in Volume II. Exceptions identified in other areas of the quotation will not be considered.

L.3.3 Standard Form 33

The quoter shall complete Page 1 of the SF33. The entire form shall be returned in PDF format in Volume II. Any SF-30 associated with any amendments to this RFQ shall be signed by the quoter and included in Volume II as well.

L.3.4 Factor 1: Technical Approach – Maximum of 6 pages

A. Methodology. The Quoter shall describe the processes and methods to successfully perform the tasks outlined in the Performance Work Statement.

B. Maintenance and Repair Expertise. The Quoter shall demonstrate an effective and practical process for identifying potential deficiencies and system repair requirements for the phase-in deficiency report. The quoter shall demonstrate knowledge and expertise in both maintaining and diagnosing fountain system requirements.

C. Personnel. The Quoter shall demonstrate the qualifications and experience of assigned personnel performing the inspection, testing, and maintenance of similar fountain and pool systems. Quoter shall include details of the assigned personnel’s ability to perform the range of services included in the solicitation, ability to maintain fountains and pools of similar size, and ability to meet and support increases in resources to adjust to unforeseen events.

L.3.5 Factor 2: Corporate Experience – 3 pages maximum per contract profile, resumes do not have a page limit

The Quoter shall describe at least two (2) recent and relevant service contracts completed within the past four (4) years. Contracts will be considered recent and relevant if they document completed or ongoing work of a similar size, scope, and complexity for a Government or private entity. The Quoter shall provide the following information on each of the contracts identified in this section:

a. Agency/Entity Name;

b. Contract Point of Contact (POC) information (e.g., name, telephone number, and e-mail of either the Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer’s Representative, or Program Manager);

c. Contract Number;

d. Contract Type;

e. Contract Value (in U.S. dollars);

f. Contract place of performance;

g. Contractor’s Role in Contract (Prime or First Tier Subcontractor);

h. Description of the work performed, including scope and responsibilities;

i. Any significant problems or issues that occurred during performance of the contract and how the Contractor resolved those issues; and

j. Highlights of Quoter’s performance that contributed to the success of the contract.

The Quoter shall provide the identified Contract POC with the “Past Performance Questionnaire” for each of the two (2) agencies/entities referenced above. The questionnaires must be emailed by the agency or organization to the attention of the Contracting Officer, Tatjana Johnson, at tatjana.johnson@aoc.gov by the date and time established for receipt of quotations. It is the Quoter’s responsibility to ensure questionnaires are submitted timely. In evaluating this factor, the Government will reserve the right to use additional information obtained from Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) / Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) to evaluate past performance.

Quoters without a record of relevant past performance, or for whom information on past performance is not available, will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably, but will instead receive an overall rating of “Neutral.”

L.3.8 Factor 3: Price

Quoters shall complete Section B of the solicitation (SF-33).

Section M. Evaluation Factors for Award

M.1 QUALIFIED QUOTERS EVALUATIONS

The basis for award is lowest price technically acceptable. The Government will award the Quoter whose quotation represents the best value to the Government. The evaluation criteria are divided into Technical and Price categories. The technical (non-price) factors when combined are equal to price. The non-price factors are all weighted equally. The Government reserves the right to make an award without discussions.

The Government will evaluate the Quoter's technical approach and corporate experience to determine whether it reflects the caliber of professional training and experience and an understanding of the work required by the solicitation.

In order for quotations to be acceptable and eligible for evaluation the quotations must be prepared in accordance with and comply with the instructions found in Section L.

M.2 Factor 1: Technical Approach

A. Whether the Quoter described the processes and methods to successfully perform the tasks described in the PWS.

B. Whether the Quoter demonstrated an effective and practical process handling inspection for required system repairs.

C. Whether the Quoter provided sufficient information demonstrating the qualifications and experience of assigned personnel and their ability to perform a range of services for projects of similar size and scope and support increases in resources to adjust to unexpected events and schedule changes.

M.3 Factor 2: Corporate Experience

The Government will evaluate whether the Quoter submitted two (2) contract profiles and references of similar size, scope, and complexity, that will increase the likelihood of successful contract performance for the AOC.

M.4 Adjectival Ratings for Qualified Quoters Evaluation

The technical (non-price) factors will be evaluated using the following ratings:

Acceptable The quotation meets the Government’s requirement.

Unacceptable The quotation does not meet the Government’s requirement.

An Quoter’s technical quotation must receive an “Acceptable” rating for Technical Approach and Corporate Experience in order for the Quoter’s price quotation to be evaluated for award.

M.5 Factor 3: Price

The Government will evaluate the price quotations of all Quoters having received “Acceptable” ratings for all technical factors. The Government will evaluate the grand total price. The grand total price includes the base year and four (4) option years. Price criterion measures not only actual dollars but also analyzes the realism and reasonableness of the Quoter’s proposed price. Realism is evaluated by assessing the compatibility of proposed costs with quotation scope and effort. Reasonableness of an Quoter’s quotation is evaluated through cost or price analysis techniques. The Government may utilize one or more of the following techniques to evaluate price:

• Comparison to other quotations received;

• Review of the proposed level-of-effort and associated pricing;

• Comparison and/or analysis to the Independent Government Estimate; or

• Comparison/analysis to historical prices.