Attach 1_Instructions to Offeror and Evaluation Criteria_BMETS_ 8 December 2022.pdf

8 December 2022

W81K00-23-R-0002

52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS - COMMERCIAL SERVICES

ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1

The deadline for questions is on 13 December 2022, 2:00 PM, Central Standard Time. All questions must be submitted in writing to vickie.v.drumming.civ@health.mil and robin.m.castro.civ@health.mil.

Offers received after the deadline will be considered untimely and will not be eligible for award. Offers shall be submitted via e-mail to vickie.v.drumming.civ@health.mil and robin.m.castro.civ@health.mil by the date and time established in block 8 of the SF 1449 (Central Standard Time).

Note: Only electronic (e-mail) proposals will be accepted. Offers submitted by any other method are unacceptable. Each volume shall be submitted as a separate file in .pdf format, with the files names clearly identifying the volume number and contractor’s name. Cost/Pricing shall be submitted on the

Excel spreadsheet attached to the solicitation (Attachment 2), renamed with the same naming convention.

A .pdf of pricing is not required. Pricing information shall only be included in Volume V – Pricing and shall not be included or summarized in any other volume. The proposal shall not contain any extraneous information such as advertisements or marketing information.

Files larger than 20MB may need to be transmitted in separate emails. All emails, regardless of size, need to be received by the Government server, by the stated submission deadline. The Government will not be responsible for any failure of transmission or receipt of the proposal, or any failure of the Offeror to verify receipt of the emailed proposal. All proposals submitted after the deadline will be considered untimely and ineligible for award.

Potential contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be eligible for award. The SAM website is http://www.sam.gov.

The proposal shall be clear, concise and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiation of the validity of stated claims. Responses to this solicitation shall strictly adhere to the requirements set forth in the solicitation. Therefore, each initial proposal should contain the Offeror’s best terms for technical capability, past performance, compensation plan and price. Submissions that do not adhere to format and content requirements will be considered non-complaint. The Government reserves the right to eliminate any such proposals from consideration for award.

The proposal shall be prepared in five (5) separate volumes as follows.

• Volume I – Administrative

• Volume II – Technical Capability (inclusive of subfactors)

• Volume III– Past Performance

• Volume IV – Compensation Plans

• Volume V – Price

VOLUME I – ADMINISTRATIVE

Volume I – Administrative shall include the following:

1. A summary or title page identifying the Offeror, the full address, phone, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and or DUNS number, CAGE code, point(s) of contact (POC(s)) of the Offeror, and the solicitation mailto:vickie.v.drumming.civ@health.mil mailto:robin.m.castro.civ@health.mil mailto:vickie.v.drumming.civ@health.mil mailto:robin.m.castro.civ@health.mil http://www.sam.gov/ number. Offeror shall include a statement that the Offeror agrees to hold the offered prices firm for 180 calendar days after the proposal closing date.

2. For Offerors proposing as an 8(a) Joint Venture (JV), the JV must be separately identified with its own name, UEI and or/DUNS number, and CAGE code in the SAM and designate the entity type as a JV, with individual partners listed as the immediate owners. In addition, Offerors shall include the UEI/DUNS number, and CAGE number for the individual partners that make up the JV.

3. A completed copy of PAGE 1 ONLY of the SF 1449 and any amendments to the solicitation, if any are issued, with the signature of a corporate officer authorized to negotiate for the company. Electronic signature is acceptable. Do not include the entire SF 1449.

4. Representations and Certifications. Offerors shall be registered in the SAM with the appropriate

NAICS Code and shall not have any Active Exclusions listed within SAM. If the Offeror is currently registered in SAM with completed representations and certifications, an affirmation on the title page (or separate page) that these representations and certificates are current, complete, and accurate as of the date proposals are due shall suffice. Otherwise, the Offeror shall complete and include with its proposal one

(1) copy of the following provisions located within the solicitation: FAR Provision 52.212-3, Offeror

Representations and Certifications, Alternate I; FAR Provision 52.209-7, Information Regarding

Responsibility Matters; plus any other provisions herein. A small business joint venture offeror must submit, with its offer, the representation required in paragraph (c) of FAR solicitation provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and paragraph (c) of FAR solicitation provision 52.219-1, Small Business Program Representations, in accordance with 52.204-8(d) and 52.212-3(b) for the following categories: (A) Small business; (B)

Service-disabled veteran-owned small business; (C) Women-owned small business (WOSB) under the

WOSB Program; (D) Economically disadvantaged women-owned small business under the WOSB

Program; or (E) Historically underutilized business zone small business. (Page limit: 1 page if registered in SAM; unlimited pages if including provisions.)

5. The Continuation of Essential Contractor Services Plan. This plan shall be prepared in accordance with

DFARS 252.237-7024, Notice of Continuation of Essential Contractor Services, contained in this solicitation. There is no page limit for this plan; however, Offerors are encouraged to be as succinct as possible in describing how it will continue to perform the essential contractor services listed in the

Performance Work Statement during periods of crisis. The plan shall identify provisions made for the acquisition of essential personnel and resources, if necessary, for continuity of operations for up to 30 days or until normal operations can be resumed, and shall address, at a minimum, (i) Challenges associated with maintaining essential contractor services during an extended event, such as a pandemic that occurs in repeated waves; (ii) The time lapse associated with the initiation of the acquisition of essential personnel and resources and their actual availability on site; (iii) The components, processes, and requirements for the identification, training, and preparedness of personnel who are capable of relocating to alternate facilities or performing work from home; (iv) Any established alert and notification procedures for mobilizing identified “essential contractor service'' personnel; and (v) The approach for communicating expectations to contractor employees regarding their roles and responsibilities during a crisis. Note: The inclusion of this plan falls under administrative proposal compliance and is not an individually rated factor. By the offeror’s submission, the Continuation of Essential Contractor Services

Plan will be incorporated into the resultant contract award of the successful offeror and will be utilized in the event of a period of crisis.

VOLUME II – FACTOR 1 – TECHNICAL CAPABILITY (INCLUSIVE OF SUBFACTORS)

Technical Capability (inclusive of subfactors) shall include the following:

FACTOR 1. TECHNICAL CAPABILITY: These parts of the technical proposal shall be addressed in sufficient written detail for the Government to determine if the offeror understands this aspect of the

Government’s requirement. Statements that the offeror understands, can or will comply with all specifications, or statements paraphrasing the specifications of parts thereof, or phrases such as “standard procedures will be used” or “well-known techniques will be used” will be considered unacceptable.

Insufficient explanations may result in your offer receiving an UNACCEPTABLE rating. The technical proposal (to include addressing all subfactors) shall not exceed 20 pages.

Subfactor 1A. Performance Work Statement (PWS) Compliance. Explain how your firm intends to satisfy the minimum requirements of the Performance Work Statement. Paragraphs 1.2 (Hours of Performance), 4 (Contractor Furnished Item, Responsibilities and Services), and 5 (Specific Tasks/Qualifications) shall be addressed in detail.

Subfactor 1B. Recruitment. Describe your recruitment and retention plan, the methods you will use to recruit qualified and competent personnel to ensure biomedical technician services commence on the date set forth in the solicitation and throughout the life of the contract. Discuss the San Antonio biomedical technician market to include challenges, trends and strategies necessary to provide the services required.

Describe your processes for initial verification of education and experience requirements. Describe your processes for ensuring annual training requirement for Joint Commission requirements are kept current.

Subfactor 1C. Transition Plan: Explain how your firm intends to perform the transition period. To minimize any decreases in productivity and to prevent possible negative impacts on additional services, to have personnel on board during the 2-week transition period and become familiar with requirements in order to commence full performance of services on the contract start date and throughout the life of the contract. Estimated contract start date is 1 April 2023.

VOLUME III – FACTOR 2 – PAST PERFORMANCE

Past Performance shall include the following:

FACTOR 2. PAST PERFORMANCE: The Offeror shall submit with its proposal evidence of recent (to be recent, the effort must be ongoing or must have been performed within the past three (3) years from the closing date of this solicitation) and relevant past performance under which YOUR company (the Offeror) provided the same or similar services with similar magnitude and scope of the solicited requirement in the public and/or private sector. Performance must have been by the Offeror (not by a subsidiary or sister company) either as the prime contractor or subcontractor.

Provide a list of references with company name, contract number, contract value, period of performance, point of contact, and phone number. Reference list should include a minimum of three references. All references shall be residing in the United States and shall include relevant experience regarding biomedical technician services or similar services with similar magnitude and scope of the solicited requirement in the public and/or private sector.

Provide a copy of the attached Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) (Attachment 3) to a minimum of three references with instructions to return the PPQ to the Medical Readiness Contracting Office-West, ATTN: vickie.v.drumming.civ@health.mil and robin.m.castro.civ@health.mil by the specified due date for receipt of offers. It is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure the reference submits the PPQ directly to mailto:vickie.v.drumming.civ@health.mil mailto:robin.m.castro.civ@health.mil the Contracting Office for consideration. Contractor Performance Assessment Reports (CPARs) will also be accepted in lieu of PPQs. Offerors shall ensure CPARs are finalized and correspond to the list of references provided in this volume.

The Government may also consider any additional information from its own files, databases such as the

Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), or from any other source it deems appropriate.

The Government may survey references to verify the information provided.

VOLUME IV – FACTOR 3 - COMPENSATION PLAN

Compensation Plan shall include the following:

FACTOR 3. COMPENSATION PLAN: Offerors shall submit a complete Total Compensation Plan setting forth salaries and fringe benefits for each specialty identified in this solicitation. Offerors shall breakout the total compensation hourly rates (Base Rate + Fringe = Total Compensation Hourly Rate) for the base period and each option period. Attachment 5 is hereby provided as a sample to assist Offerors in how to breakout the Base Rate + Fringe to equal the Total Compensation Hourly Rate. Offerors are not required to use this sample; however, Offerors are cautioned to ensure that the information presented in

Attachment 5 is included with their compensation plan to show the Total Compensation Hourly Rate

(Base + Fringe). The Compensation Plan shall be submitted in Microsoft Excel format with all formulas intact.

Offerors shall include a narrative (limited to five (5) pages) and supporting information used in establishing the total compensation structure. The compensation levels proposed should reflect a clear understanding of work to be performed and should indicate the capability of the proposed compensation structure to obtain and keep suitably qualified personnel to meet mission objectives.

In the event of hiring independent contractors and or subcontractors, a separate Compensation Plan will

NOT be required. Rather, independent /subcontractor data shall be rolled-up into the prime contractor’s

Compensation Plan. Offerors shall provide an explanation of how the independent contractors and or subcontractors will be compensated, and that the proposal is compliant with subcontracting limitations.

VOLUME V – FACTOR 4 - PRICE

FACTOR 4. PRICE: The Offeror shall submit proposed pricing for all contract line-item numbers identified in the solicitation on the Excel spreadsheet provided as Attachment 2. The Pricing Worksheet shall be submitted in Microsoft Excel format with all formulas intact. Offerors shall ensure the formulas and totals accurately reflect the pricing data proposed. Provide total pricing for the base period and each option period, as well as a grand total of the entire proposal. Cost and Pricing Data is not required under competitive and commercial acquisitions; however, if only one proposal is received -

Other than Certified Cost or Pricing data may be required.

(m) The non-FAR Part 12 discretionary FAR, DFARS, AFARS, and LOCAL provisions included herein are either by reference or in full text. If incorporated by reference, see provision 52.252-1 herein for locations where full text can be found.

(End of Addendum to FAR 52.212-1)

52.212-2 EVALUATION - COMMERCIAL SERVICES

Paragraph (a) is hereby replaced with the following:

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation is the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. Award will be made using the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection process. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

The government will initially list proposals from lowest to highest price. The government will evaluate the Technical Acceptability of the three lowest priced proposals first. If one of those proposals is rated

Technically Acceptable, the government will not evaluate any other proposals. If those proposals are determined technically unacceptable, the government will evaluate the next three lowest priced proposals and continue in that manner until a proposal is rated Technically Acceptable. If a proposal is rated

Technically Unacceptable, the government will not evaluate any other factor. USING THIS

PROCEDURE, THE GOVERNMENT MIGHT NOT EVALUATE ALL PROPOSALS.

Except for communications conducted for the purpose of minor clarification, the Government intends to evaluate the proposal and award a contract without discussions. Therefore, the proposal should contain the offeror’s best terms from a technical capability, past performance, compensation plan and price standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if it is later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary.

Note: A rating of Acceptable must be received on all technical subfactors, and on the overall factor, in order to be considered for award. A rating of Acceptable must be received on Past Performance in order to be considered for award. A rating of Acceptable must be received on all Compensation Plans in order to be considered for award. Award will be on an all or none basis.

FACTOR 1. TECHNICAL CAPABILITY:

Subfactor 1A. Performance Work Statement (PWS) Compliance.

Subfactor 1B. Recruitment.

Subfactor 1C. Transition Plan.

FACTOR 2. PAST PERFORMANCE

FACTOR 3. COMPENSATION PLAN

FACTOR 4. PRICE

FACTOR 1. TECHNICAL CAPABILITY (inclusive of subfactors): Technical capability ratings reflect the Government’s confidence in the offeror’s ability, as demonstrated in its written technical proposal, to perform the requirements stated in the solicitation. The Government will make an independent judgment of the probability of success. The following ratings will be used in evaluating each offeror’s written technical proposal:

Acceptable – Proposal clearly meets the minimum requirements of the solicitation.

Unacceptable – Proposal does not clearly meet the minimum requirements of the solicitation.

FACTOR 2. PAST PERFORMANCE: The following ratings will be used to determine degree of performance risk associated with the proposal. In the case of offerors for which there is no information on past contract performance or where past contract performance information is not available, the offeror will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on the factor of past performance. In this case, the offeror’s past performance is unknown and assigned a rating of “neutral” which results in an Acceptable rating for this factor.

Acceptable – Based on the offeror’s past performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort, or the offeror’s performance record is unknown.

Unacceptable – Based on the offeror’s past performance record, the Government has no reasonable expectation that the offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort.

FACTOR 3. COMPENSATION PLAN: The total employee compensation (direct and total fringe) will be evaluated to ensure that the proposed compensation is sufficient to attract and retain Contract

Personnel (CPs) identified in this solicitation. A Compensation Plan for each of the specialties will be required and will be rated individually as either “acceptable” or “unacceptable” and then an overall rating will be assigned for this factor. Any offer that receives a rating of less than “acceptable” on any of the specialties compensation plan will be ineligible for award and will be rated “unacceptable” for the overall rating for this factor. Any compensation plan that is incomplete, does not show the breakdown of fringe benefits, explanation if hiring independent contractors/subcontractors, or are not submitted with amounts as hourly (not annual) rates will be rated “unacceptable”.

Acceptable Rating - Based on Medical Readiness Contracting Office- West’s market research the proposed compensation plans are sufficient to attract and retain quality CP.

Unacceptable Rating – Based on Medical Readiness Contracting Office- West’s market research the proposed compensation plans are not sufficient to attract and retain quality CP and or were not submitted in the correct format.

FACTOR 4. PRICING: The Government will evaluate for price reasonableness. The proposed price will be evaluated on the bottom-line price for the entire effort, inclusive of all options. A price is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person in the conduct of competitive business. The Government may use various price analysis and procedures to ensure a fair and reasonable price. Some of those techniques are, but not limited to, comparison of proposed prices received in response to the solicitation and/or comparison of proposed prices with the

Independent Government Estimate. Price must also be determined to be fair and reasonable.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the

Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the

Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(d) Given that FAR 52.217-8 provides that the Government may exercise the Option to Extend Services at the rates specified in the contract (i.e., the rates in effect when the Extension of Services option is exercised), for purposes of evaluating the Option to Extend Services, the Contracting Officer will consider the prices submitted for the base and each option year, since those are the binding prices should the Option to Extend be exercised.

(End of provision)