Att6_52.212-1 Adn .pdf

52.212-1 ADDENDUM - INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

COMMERCIAL SERVICES (SEP 2023)

The word "offeror" is synonymously used with the words "quoter" and "Vendor" in this RFQ. However, all submissions in response to this RFQ will be considered quotations in accordance with the definition listed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.004.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Paragraph (b) Submission of Offers. In addition to those requirements as stated in this paragraph, the following are added and shall apply to the submission requirements in response to this solicitation:

General Instructions Offerors shall examine and follow all instructions. Instructions are set forth herein for Offerors to prepare and submit a quote to the Government in response to this solicitation. Offerors are strongly advised to carefully read and fully understand these instructions to ensure submission of a fully compliant and sufficiently prepared quote. Failure to do so will be at the Vendor's own risk. Offerors are cautioned that quotes containing less than the minimum information required by these instructions may be rejected by the Government and eliminated from further consideration for award.

The Quote should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements, but rather shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Including statements such as "will comply," "noted and understood," and "in accordance with best industry practices/standards," etc. without providing supporting narrative are not sufficient.

a. Page Size and Format

Offerors shall ensure that the contents of the files print on standard 8 1/2" by 11" paper. Offerors shall use Times New Roman 12-point font or larger text, Arial 10-point font or larger for the tables and text in headers/footers, and Arial 8-point font or larger for graphics. When both sides of a sheet display printed material, it shall be counted as two (2) pages. The technical and past experience volumes of the quotation are to be submitted as MS Word or PDF document. The price volume shall be submitted as MS Excel.

b. Page Limitations

The maximum page limitation for Volume 2 shall not exceed 20 pages, including any graphics, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, charts, and diagrams. Content in excess of the page count will not be read or considered in the evaluation of the quote. Offerors are cautioned that "parroting" of the PWS with a statement of intent to perform does not reveal the offerors understanding of the requirement or capability to address it.

1. QUOTE CONTENT AND FORMAT INSTRUCTIONS - Offerors shall submit quote packages consisting of the following volumes and include the content identified therein.

Volume 1: Administrative Cover Letter: The signed cover letter shall include the following information:

a. Name of offeror

b. Tax Identification number (TIN).

c. Unique Entity Identifier.

d. Complete Business Mailing Address.

e. Cage Code/NAICS Code.

f. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email Address

g. Date of Quote

h. Quote/Solicitation Number.

i. A statement that certifies the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions. included in the solicitation.

j. A statement of Quote validity of a minimum of 120 days from the date of receipt by the Government.

k. Include signed copies of amendments to this solicitation, if applicable.

l. Assumptions, Conditions or Exceptions

m. Signed copy of Terms of Service Agreement

n. Completed copy of DoDEA Cloud Questionnaire. (This document will be reviewed for compliance and must be acceptable by the government in order to be considered for award).

o. Section 508 Compliance

Section 508 Compliance:

1. Provide an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) for each commercially available Information and Communication Technology (ICT) item offered through this contract. Create the ACR using the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template Version 2.1 or later, located at https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat. Complete each ACR in accordance with the instructions provided in the VPAT template. Each ACR must address the applicable Section 508 requirements referenced in the PWS and attached Accessibility Requirements Statement (ARS). Each ACR shall state exactly how the ICT meets the applicable standards in the remarks/explanation's column, or through additional narrative. All "Not Applicable" (N/A) responses must be explained in the remarks/explanation's column or through additional narrative. Address each standard individually and with specificity and clarify whether conformance is achieved throughout the entire ICT Item (for example - user functionality, administrator functionality, and reporting), or only in limited areas of the ICT Item. Provide a description of the evaluation methods used to support Section 508 conformance claims. The agency reserves the right, prior to making an award decision, to perform testing on some or all of the vendor's proposed ICT items to validate Section 508 conformance claims made in the ACR.

2. Describe your approach to incorporating universal design principles to ensure ICT products or services are designed to support disabled users.

3. Describe plans for features that do not fully conform to the Section 508 Standards.

4. Describe "typical" user scenarios and tasks, including individuals with disabilities, to ensure fair and accurate accessibility testing of the ICT products or services being offered.

5. Section 508 will be reviewed for compliance and must be acceptable by the government in order to be considered for award.

https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat

Volume 2: Factor 1 - Technical Capability

The offeror shall submit a narrative response that demonstrates in a clear and concise manner the offeror's understanding, and technical capability of the specific requirements within the Performance Work Statement (PWS) and the overall scope of work required. The narrative shall present the Offeror's approach to the PWS, including but not limited to the subfactors as noted below.

Subfactor 1: Task 1, Annual Licenses - paragraph 2.1 of the PWS Subfactor 2: Task 2, User Access - paragraph 2.2 of the PWS

a. Offerors shall provide a downloadable link to access the proposed encyclopedia database for evaluation purposes.

Include all necessary usernames, passwords, keys, and any other information required to open and access the database.

b. Offerors shall provide an email address and a phone number for a point of contact, should Technical Evaluators need to contact Offerors concerning operability of the proposed database.

Volume 3: Factor 2 - Past Performance

(1) The offeror shall submit past performance information on up to three (3) recent and relevant past performance information. To be recent, the effort must be on-going or must have been completed within the last three (3) years by the closing date/time of this solicitation. To be relevant, the Offeror must demonstrate that performance involved similar scope and magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires. The relevancy analysis will focus on if the Offeror has provided services similar in scope, magnitude of effort, and complexity as the tasks called for in the PWS. Past Performance information submitted that is not recent (more than 3 years) and/or not relevant will not be evaluated.

(2) The past performance information shall include but is not limited to; contract/work efforts under which the offeror served as a Prime, a subcontractor, or was part of a teaming arrangement with other contractors on contracts/work efforts in which the offeror gained experience which will significantly influence the performance of this effort. For contracts/work efforts where the offeror did not serve as a Prime, the functions performed as a subcontractor or teaming partner under the contract/work effort submitted for evaluation shall be specified, and relevancy will be determined based on the effort accomplished as a subcontractor/teaming partner.

(3) Offerors must send Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQ), (Attachment 2), to their References and instruct the References to complete the questionnaire. References will not be accepted from any subcontractors partnering with the offeror for this requirement. Offerors shall make their best effort to send out a sufficient number of past performance questionnaires to reasonably expect submission to the contracting officer at least one questionnaire on each cited contract/work effort. The questionnaire recipient should e-mail completed questionnaires directly to Ms.

Tiffany Brown at tiffany.a.brown@dodea.edu, and Ms. Hillary Turnbull at hillary.turnbull@dodea.edu.Past Performance questionnaires must be submitted prior to the closing date/time of the solicitation. The e-mail subject line should reference the past performance questionnaire and the solicitation number. The vendor is responsible for ensuring that all three references are provided with their quote package. LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE

ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

(4) Offerors shall furnish the following information for each reference:

a. Company/division name

b. Description of service and a detailed narrative of relevance to this requirement.

c. Total contract and/or delivery or task order value of the resources or services

d. Current government, commercial, or other points of contact to include name, address, telephone number, and email address for each contract listed.

mailto:tiffany.a.brown@dodea.edu mailto:hillary.turnbull@dodea.edu

e. Date(s) or Period of Performance services were provided.

f. Questionnaire log including the name, address, telephone number, and email address for each point of contact to whom the Past Performance Questionnaire was sent for completion.

*Please note that if a vendor does not have three (3) past performance references to submit in accordance with the above submittal requirement, the vendor shall note this information in its quote.

Volume 4: Factor 3 - Pricing Submission

(1) The offeror shall submit their pricing in an excel spreadsheet. The offeror is to propose unit prices for each item listed on Attachment 3 - Pricing Spreadsheet which shall be evaluated for fairness and reasonableness in accordance with one of the techniques indicated in FAR 15.404-1(b). The Government reserves the right to determine offers with incomplete Attachment 3 pricing to be ineligible for award.

(2) Period of Validity: The offeror shall include a statement agreeing to hold the prices in its offer firm for a period of 120 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of quotes, unless a longer time period is specified in an amendment to the solicitation.

2. QUESTIONS

All questions in regard to this Request for Quote (RFQ) shall be submitted in writing via email to Ms. Tiffany Brown at tiffany.a.brown@dodea.edu and Ms. Hillary Turnbull at hillary.turnbull@dodea.edu, with the subject line, "Questions to Solicitation Number HE125425QE003, (Encyclopedia Database)" no later than 10:00 am EST on 13 November 2024. The Government will not respond to questions received after this date and time.

Offerors shall clearly identify the specific volume and section of the solicitation to which each question relates when submitting questions. Reference should be made to the solicitation section heading, page number of the solicitation, specific location on the page (e.g., third paragraph) to facilitate the Government's response to each question.

Questions shall be submitted in a Microsoft Excel file following the format represented in the table below.

Question # Reference Question Category Question # Solicitation Section or Attachment Section Contractual or Technical Question

If amendments to the solicitation are issued, all Offerors must acknowledge the amendments by signing the accompanying Standard Form (SF30) and returning the signed SF30 for all amendments issued with their quotation submission.

A consolidated list of all questions and answers will be provided via an amendment to the RFQ posted SAM.gov. It is the sole responsibly of the Vendor to monitor the website for Government postings containing information applicable to this RFQ.

3. QUOTE SUBMISSION AND DUE DATE: Proposal, Volumes 1-4 are due no later than the date listed in the solicitation via email to Ms. Tiffany Brown at tiffany.a.brown@dodea.edu, and Ms. Hillary Turnbull at hillary.turnbull@dodea.edu.

Note: DoDEA has a maximum email limit of 10MB. Vendors shall confirm receipt of their electronic quotation submission by return email at the above email address.

mailto:tiffany.a.brown@dodea.edu mailto:hillary.turnbull@dodea.edu

Addendum to 52.212-1 Paragraph (c) Period for acceptance of offers. This paragraph is changed to read as follows: The offeror shall include a statement agreeing to hold the prices in its offer firm for a period of 120 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of quotes, unless a longer time period is specified in an amendment to the solicitation.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Paragraph (e) Multiple offers. This paragraph is changed to read as follows: Multiple offers presenting alternative terms and conditions will NOT be accepted.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Paragraph (g) Contract award. This paragraph is changed to read as follows: This is a procurement conducted under FAR Parts 12 and 13.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Paragraph (l) Debriefing. This paragraph is changed to read as follows: Request for information. Requests for information will be conducted under FAR Parts 12 and 13.

(End of Addendum to FAR 52.212-1)