Atch 1 - Instructions to Offerors and Basis of Award.pdf

Attachment 1

Instructions to Offerors/Basis of Award

FA4890-21-Q-3775

1. Proposal Submission.

A. This is a Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) competitive selection conducted in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 15.101-2 procedures.

B. The proposal submitted in response to this Request for Quote (RFQ) must comply with the terms and conditions of the requirements as stated in the RFQ and attachments. All claimed capabilities to meet the requirements shall be realistic and are subject to verification by the Government. Non-conformance with these instructions may result in rejection of the proposal, an unfavorable proposal evaluation, or being deemed ineligible for award.

C. Offerors shall clearly identify any exception to the terms and conditions and shall provide complete supporting rationale. The Government reserves the right to determine any such exceptions are unacceptable. Any exception determined unacceptable by the Government may result in the Offeror’s proposal being determined unacceptable and ineligible for award. This information shall be provided in the format and content of the table below within the Offerors proposal cover letter. If no exceptions are taken, include a statement stating so within the proposal cover letter.

Exceptions

Document

Page/

Paragraph

Requirement/

Portion Rationale

Requirement

Statement, Evaluation Factor, etc.

Applicable

Page and Paragraph

Numbers

Identify the requirement or portion to which exception is taken

Describe why the requirement cannot/will not be met

D. The proposal shall be clear, concise, and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the

Government has no prior knowledge of their experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror's proposal.

E. Discrepancies. If an Offeror believes the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the Offeror shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer

(CO) in writing with supporting rationale as well as the remedies the Offeror is asking the CO to consider as related to the omission or error.

(1) Any objection to disclosure:

(i) Shall be provided in writing to the Contracting Officer within ten (10) days of

FOPR issuance; and

(ii) Shall include a detailed statement of the basis for the objection. The detailed statement shall identify the specific portions of the proposal the Offeror objects to disclosure to non-Government advisors.

(2) I understand technical and price data submitted to the Government in response to this

FOPR may be released to non-Government advisors. I consent to release of any (unless objection is provided in (1) above) proprietary, confidential, or privileged commercial or financial data provided by the firm(s) named below in response to this solicitation, to non-

Government advisors for review and analysis:

Firm:

Name (individual authorized to commit firm):

Title:

Date of Execution:

F. The overall period of performance cited in the contract shall be a one (1) year period, commencing with the award date and running 364 additional days. It will be up to the Government

Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) to determine when the training will occur within that one-year period. Note that the Government TPOC may want to avoid the Thanksgiving and December holidays for sparse staffing and/or attendance considerations and schedule the course for just after the new year.

G. Proposal Submission. Each Offeror shall submit proposals in Adobe pdf format via email by

3:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time), 02 September 2021. No hand-carried proposals will be accepted. Only one (1) proposal shall be submitted, per company, in response to this requirement.

Quotes received after the date/time specified will not be evaluated. Proposals shall be addressed to the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist emailed to the following addresses:

charles.hertenstein.2@us.af.mil charles.f.hertenstein2.civ@mail.mil tanya.l.edwards3@civ@mail.mil tanya.edwards.5@us.af.mil

In accordance with FAR Subpart 4.8, the Government will retain one copy of all unsuccessful proposals. Unless the offeror requests otherwise, the Government will destroy extra copies of such unsuccessful proposals.

H. Offerors submitting a proposal in response to this requirement shall submit a cover letter, an explanation of the intent and ability to fulfill instruction on all the different subject areas cited in the

Government’s Requirement Statement, a statement of the intent and ability to send an instructor with an active Secret clearance to JWAC to conduct the course in person, and a clear statement of the total price, to include any and all other fees and/or cost considerations. Text shall be single-spaced, on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet with a minimum one-inch margin all around. Font shall be no less than

Times New Roman 12 point, printed on one side only (if both sides of a sheet display printed mailto:charles.hertenstein.2@us.af.mil mailto:charles.f.hertenstein2.civ@mail.mil mailto:tanya.l.edwards3@civ@mail.mil mailto:tanya.edwards.5@us.af.mil material, it shall be counted as two [2] pages). Pages shall be numbered consecutively. The page limits prescribed are maximum page limits for each section. Pages submitted in excess of these limits will not be read or considered in the Government’s evaluation of the proposal. All proposal information shall be submitted in either MS Word or PDF format in one combined electronic document. Submit your proposal electronically in accordance with the table below. All submissions shall reference the complete RFQ number in the email subject line.

VOLUME REFERENCE TITLE

MAXIMUM

NUMBER OF

PAGES

I

Cover Letter 1 page limit

Factor 1

Technical – All Subject

Matter in Requirement

Statement Will Be Taught

3 page limit

II Factor 2

An Instructor with an

Active Secret Clearance

Will Be Provided

1 page limit

III Factor 3 Price 1 page limit

(1) Specifics for the Cover Letter: Cover letter shall include offeror’s small business status/categories, CAGE Code, DUNS number, the company primary and alternate points of contact with email/phone numbers plus the name of whomever is authorized to contractually obligate the company, a statement that the company understands the requirements specified and will meet the performance standards and requirements therein, a statement that the company does or does not take exception to any of the requirements of this order.

(2) The Technical proposal should be specific and complete. Legibility, clarity, and coherence are very important. Your responses will be evaluated against the Technical factors defined in the Government’s Requirement Statement. Provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology you would use for accomplishing / satisfying the factors. Address your technical solution for meeting or exceeding the Government’s minimum performance or capability requirements of each evaluation factor. All the requirements specified in the solicitation are mandatory. By your proposal submission, you are representing that your firm will perform all the requirements specified in the solicitation. It is not necessary or desirable for you to tell us so in your proposal. Do not merely reiterate the objectives or reformulate the requirements specified in the solicitation.

(3) The offeror shall submit pricing information to support the completeness and reasonableness of their proposed prices for all CLINs. The pricing information submitted should fully support the requirement for each major functional element specified in the Government’s Requirement Statement. Information shall show the consolidated total price for performance.

2. Basis of Award:

A. This is a competitive RFQ conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Part 12. A purchase order may be awarded to the contractor who is deemed responsible IAW FAR

9.1, as supplemented, whose proposal conforms to the FOPR’s requirements (to include all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and all other information required by the RFQ instructions) and is judged, based on the evaluation factors, to represent the technically acceptable proposal with the lowest complete and reasonable price.

B. Specific procedures the Government will use in conducting the evaluation:

- The Government will organize the proposals based on the lowest price and will evaluate the technical approach of the lowest priced offeror first. If the lowest priced offeror is technically acceptable by indicating ability and willingness to have their Secret cleared employee instruct on each separate item listed in the Government’s Requirement Statement, that offer represents the best value for the Government and the evaluation process ceases at this point. Award shall be made to that offeror without further consideration to any other offers.

C. The Government intends to make award based on the initial proposal submissions without conducting interchanges. Therefore, each offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to hold interchanges if, during the evaluation, it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Interchanges are fluid interaction(s) between the Contracting Officer (CO) and the contractors that may address any aspect of the proposal and may or may not be documented in real time. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct interchanges using Interchange Notices (IN). Offeror responses to INs will be considered in making the order selection decision. Interchanges may be conducted with one, some or all offerors as the Government is not required to conduct interchanges with any or all contractors responding to this RFQ.

3. Evaluation Factors

A. Responses to this RFQ will be evaluated against the following factors:

Factor 1: Ability and willingness to instruct on each separate item/subject matter listed in the Government’s Requirement Statement.

Factor 2: Ability and willingness to provide an instructor with an active Secret-level clearance to come to the JWAC facility and teach the course in person.

FACTOR 1: Technical.

The offeror’s proposal shall, at a minimum, address Factor 1, as it applies to the Government’s

Requirement Statement for this action. The technical proposal should demonstrate the contractor’s ability to perform the technical requirements.

Factor 1 and 2 will be rated overall as acceptable/unacceptable.

(Sample Definitions)

The following ratings will be utilized:

FACTOR 2: Instructor Holding Active Secret-Clearance

FACTOR 3: Price

A. Price proposals should support the proposed technical approach and will be evaluated thereof. Offerors whose price is determined to be incomplete or unreasonable will not be considered for award.

B. Evaluation of options or optional CLINs shall not obligate the Government to exercise such options or optional CLINs.

TABLE A – Technical Ratings - Factor 1

Rating Description

Acceptable Proposal clearly meets the requirements of the solicitation.

Unacceptable Proposal does not meet the requirements of the solicitation.

TABLE A – Technical Ratings – Factor 2

Rating Description

Acceptable Proposal clearly meets the requirements of the solicitation.

Unacceptable Proposal does not meet the requirements of the solicitation.

C. Completeness. The proposal will be reviewed to determine the extent to which all the price elements have been addressed. The contractor’s proposed price and other information will be evaluated to ensure continuity and traceability of prices to the technical volume and between the initial proposal and any revisions thereto. The review will determine the adequacy of the contractor’s proposal in addressing and fulfilling the FOPR requirements.

E. Reasonableness. For a price to be reasonable, it must represent a price to the

Government that a prudent person would pay in the conduct of competitive business. The

Government will determine prices fair and reasonable through the use of one or more of the price analysis techniques at FAR 15.404-1(b)(2).

F. Unbalanced pricing. Offerors are cautioned against submitting an offer that contains unbalanced pricing. Unbalanced pricing may increase performance risk and could result in payment of unreasonably high prices. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one (1) or more contract line items is significantly over or understated. The Government shall analyze offers to determine whether they are unbalanced with respect to separately priced line items or sub-line items.

An offer that is determined to be unbalanced may be rejected if the Contracting Officer determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk to the Government.

4. Although past performance may not be used as an evaluation factor, the projects submitted by the contractor to meet Factor 1 and information obtained from other sources available to the

Government such as the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) will be used as part of the responsibility determination made IAW FAR 9.104-1. The Government reserves the right to obtain information relative to present and past performance on its own.