ATTACH 1 RFP Instruction.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION AND

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

19AQMM26R0034

ATTACHMENT 1

PART I - Addendum to 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (Deviation JAN 2026)

(a) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541330 with size standard $25.5 million. This requirement is unrestricted.

(b) Instructions for preparation and submission of proposals

Proposals must be submitted electronically via email to Maria E. Anguiano at AnguianoM@state.gov and Wanda I. Cruz at CruzWI@state.gov no later than June 8, 2026 at 5:00 pm ET. Each file shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft Office or searchable PDF.

Number of Pages – Page limits are as shown below. If a page count is exceeded, the excess pages shall not be reviewed nor evaluated.

Paper size shall be 8 1/2 by 11-inch white paper with printing on one (1) side only, using 12-point font. No reduction is permitted except for organization charts or other graphic illustrations, or in headers/footers. In those instances where reduction is allowable, Offerors shall ensure that the print is easily readable; no less than 8-point font on graphs and 10-point font on tables. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one (1) inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be evaluated) may be included in the 1" margin space. Pages that exceed the maximum page limitation will not be evaluated.

The Government will determine whether each proposal satisfies all Mandatory Minimum Requirements stated in the RFP. Proposals that fail to meet the mandatory minimum requirements will be eliminated from the competition.

Omission of required information or failure to follow the requested format may result in rejection of the proposal. The Contracting Officer may reject proposals without further consideration if significant revisions would be required to permit evaluation or if the proposal's incompleteness or formatting errors indicate lack of mailto:CruzWI@state.gov diligence or competence. The Government is not liable for any expenses incurred by offerors in developing and submitting proposals.

Volume I: Technical Description Maximum Page Limit is 23 for

Factor 1 - Technical Factor 1: Technical

• Technical Capabilities

• Appropriate Facility

• Testing Experience

Volume II: Past Performance Description Maximum Page Limit is 2

Factor 2: Recent and Relevant Past Performance

Volume III: Pricing Description Maximum Page Limit

Factor 3: Price No page limit Cover Page/ Introduction No page limit Signed SF-1449 No page limit Pricing (excel spreadsheet) No page limit Assumptions, Exception, and Dependencies No page limit Subcontracting Plan (Large Business only) No page limit

NOTES:

(1) DO NOT INCLUDE PRICE INFORMATION IN VOLUME I OR

VOLUME II

(2) DO NOT COMBINE VOLUMES I, II AND III – VOLUMES MUST BE

SEPARATE

Omission of any information from the proposal submission requirements may result in rejection of the offer. Proposals that fail to provide information in the format requested may be found unacceptable and may be rejected without further consideration if the Contracting Officer determines that a significant revision or addendum to the Offeror’s proposal would be required to permit further evaluation, and especially if the incompleteness of the proposal or errant formatting of the proposal appears to be due from a lack of diligence or competence of the Offerors.

The Government reserves the right to reject a proposal that is rated with a low technical confidence, rated with no confidence past performance, or unreasonably high in price. However, in the event that an offer is determined to be not awardable, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions with the offeror if it’s likely that the offeror could improve its offer and increase its confidence rating.

In conducting its evaluation of the offer, the Government reserves the right to utilize all information available at the time of evaluation. The Government may rely on information obtained from other sources available to the Government, to include, but are not limited to: information contained in Government records, commercial sources, and information publicly available.

IDIQ contract(s) will be established with responsible contractor(s) whose proposal(s) conform to the requirements outlined in this RFP for each group of submission and provides the best value to the Government. The Government will obtain best value by considering, in addition to price, the factors listed below. All factors, when combined, are significantly more important than price.

The Government is not liable for any expenses incurred by the Offerors in developing and submitting proposals for this solicitation.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOLUME I – FACTOR 1 - TECHNICAL

• Technical Capabilities

The offeror shall present a detailed plan of action that describes the performance of all required phases of the project. Of particular interest in this plan of action is the offeror’s technical capabilities relating to the tasks or type of tasks on which they are proposing. Provide examples of services your organization has provided that are similar in scope and complexity to this requirement. Describe the nature of the work and how it relates to the tasks proposed.

• Appropriate Facilities The offeror shall provide a description of the facilities and equipment intended to be used for the tasks on which the offeror is proposing. At a minimum, provide information on the condition, age, type and availability of equipment and facilities available, including any equipment or facilities operated by a subcontractor that the offeror intends to utilize.

• Testing Experience

Offeror shall discuss how long they (the organization and specific personnel) have been conducting testing similar to that required in the Statement of Work (Attachment 1) at the cited facility. Offeror shall provide ongoing or completed contracts within the last five (5) years from the date of this RFP and a description(s) of similar testing conducted for the commercial sector and/or Federal Government, such as the United States Department of State or other United States federal agencies (i.e., Department of Defense).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOLUME II

Factor 2: Recent and Relevant Past Performance Offerors shall list up to three (3) recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar services, which may include contracts with Federal, State, and local government entities, private sector clients, and other organizations. For each contract, provide the contract number (if applicable), contracting organization name, contract value, period of performance, a brief description of services provided, and the Offeror's role (prime contractor, subcontractor, or team member).

Include a point of contact with their name, title, telephone number, email address, and relationship to the contract.

Recent is defined as contracts performed within the last five (5) years from the date of this RFP. Relevant is defined as work similar in scope, complexity, and magnitude to the requirements identified in the Statement of Work (Attachment 1).

If the Offeror has no prime contractor past performance, Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) evaluations or other past performance documentation from work performed as a subcontractor may be submitted.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOLUME III – PRICING

(a) Cover Letter - The Offeror shall provide a Cover Letter with pertinent proposal information. This information should include, at a minimum, the company name, UEI number, address, authorized corporate representative and their title, email and phone number.

(b) SF1449 - Offeror is to submit a signed SF1449 (include overall price on Contract Line-Item Numbers (CLINs) 001 through 003.

(c) Pricing – The offeror must submit Attachment B – “Pricing Worksheet” and provide a firm-fixed-price (FFP) unit price for each labor category, including any applicable price escalation or inflation factors. For pricing purposes, the Materials CLINs Travel CLINs have been pre-populated in Attachment B – “Pricing Worksheet”.

(d) Assumptions, Exceptions, and Dependencies - The Government does not encourage Offerors to make assumptions or take exceptions from the requirements of the RFP. Offerors are encouraged to submit questions, in accordance with the Request for Proposal instructions, in order to obtain any necessary clarifications regarding the Request for Proposal prior to proposal submission.

(e) In the event that an Offeror does make assumptions or take exception to any RFP requirement, the Offeror’s Volume III – “Pricing” submission must clearly and unambiguously identify all such assumptions, exceptions, or dependencies on which the Offeror’s proposal is based. Each assumption, exception, or dependency shall be specifically related to a paragraph and/or specific section of the RFP. The Offeror shall provide a rationale in support of any noted assumption, exception, or dependency, explaining its effect in comparison to the RFP. This information shall be provided in the format with content as outlined in the table below.

RFP

DOCUMENT

PARAGRAPH/

PAGE

REQUIREMENT/

PORTION

RATIONALE

RFP,

attachment (SOW, etc.)

Applicable paragraph and page number(s)

Identify the requirement or portion to which an assumption, exception, or dependency is being taken.

Justify why the requirement will not be met or discuss reasons why not meeting the Government’s terms and conditions might be advantageous to the Government.

Any assumption, exception, or dependency taken, for all Volumes shall be contained in Volume III “Pricing” and shall address the pertinent information for each Volume of the proposal.

Assumptions, exceptions, or dependencies do not make a proposal automatically unacceptable. However, a large number of assumptions, exceptions, or dependencies, or a significant assumption, exception, or dependency, which provide(s) little or no benefit to the Government or which does not support the Government’s requirement as documented in the RFP may receive unfavorable evaluation in accordance with the RFP Evaluation factors for award.

(f) Subcontracting Plan – Large businesses are to submit a subcontracting plan in compliance with DOSAR Clause 652.219-70 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE

SUBCONTRACTING GOALS (APR 2004).

(g) Questions - Offerors must submit any questions regarding this solicitation via email to Contracting Officer Maria E. Anguiano at AnguianoM@state.gov and Contract Specialist Wanda I. Cruz at CruzWI@state.gov no later than 5:00 PM EST on May 22, 2026. The email subject line must include the solicitation number.

Questions should be submitted in Microsoft Excel using the following format:

Question

Technical or Price

Solicitation Section #, Title &

Page #

Question or Recommendation

NOTE: Questions email must contain “RFP 19AQMM26R0034 Questions” in the Title in order to be considered. The Offeror is responsible for verifying the Government’s receipt of said questions.

(h) Multiple Proposals.

The Government will not accept multiple proposals per group. If an Offeror submits more than one proposal per group, only the first proposal received will be evaluated.

(i) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors.

Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary.

The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest;

mailto:AnguianoM@state.gov mailto:CruzWI@state.gov accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.

(j) Multiple awards. The Government anticipates awarding multiple indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts under this combined synopsis/solicitation. Awards will be made to the responsible Offeror(s) whose proposal(s), meeting the requirements of the synopsis/solicitation, are determined to be most advantageous to the Government based on the solicitation’s evaluation factors.

PART II - Addendum to 52.212-2 Evaluation—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. (DEVIATION AUGUST 14, 2025)

(a) The Government anticipates the award of multiple IDIQs resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror(s) whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered.

(b) The table below presents the five groups available for offerors to submit proposals. Each group will be evaluated separately, with the potential for one or more IDIQ contracts to be awarded. The Government retains the discretion to award either a single IDIQ or multiple IDIQs within each group, based on the volume of proposals received.

Group 1 includes Tasks 1, 3, and 5.

Group 2 includes Task 2.

Group 3 includes Tasks 4, 10, and 12.

Group 4 includes Tasks 6 and 7.

Group 5 includes Tasks 8, 9, and 11.

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

Each of the evaluation factors will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria established below

Factor 1: Technical

The Government will assess its level of confidence that the offeror will successfully perform the requirements based on their technical capabilities, appropriate facilities, equipment, and testing experience. The confidence assessment will consider the offeror's performance or capability risk (the risk that the offeror will not successfully perform the required effort) in accordance with FAR 15.202(b)(2)(ii). The confidence levels below will be used to evaluate the offeror's overall technical proposal and ability to perform the required work in accordance with the statement of work. The Government will establish a

Task Description Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

Conduct Automotive Performance Testing on Armored Vehicles to evaluate performance and reliability.

X

Conduct Research and Testing on Automotive Electronics to identify cybersecurity risks and mitigation strategies.

X

Conduct Research, Testing and Characterization of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to evaluate performance on armored vehicles.

X

Conduct Research and Development on armor materials and armored vehicles to evaluate protection capability against designated ballistic and blast threats.

X

5 Perform Runflat Testing for Armored Vehicles to evaluate runflat performance of selected systems.

X

6 Conduct Anti-Ram Engineering and Design to improve current or develop new barrier systems.

X

7 Conduct Anti-Ram Testing Services to evaluate anti-ram perimeter barrier systems.

X

8 Perform Blast Mitigation Design to improve current or develop new blast mitigation systems.

X

9 Perform Blast Testing Services to ensure designs meet designated specifications.

X

Conduct Forced Entry and Ballistic Resistance Testing on components, systems, and construction commodities to evaluate protection levels.

X

Provide General Physical Security Consulting services in the form of Subject Matter Expertise and other support services as needed.

X

Perform Material Characterization and Evaluation services on building materials in the form of mechanical, impact, and accelerated life testing.

X technical/risk adjectival rating by assessing the degree of performance or capability risk, which includes consideration of the identified strengths, weaknesses, significant weaknesses, and deficiencies of the offeror's proposal, to determine the overall technical/risk rating for the technical factor(s).

• Technical Capabilities

1. The comprehensiveness and realism of your plan of action for performing all required project phases

2. How well your technical capabilities and expertise align with the specific tasks you propose to perform

3. The relevance of your organization's experience based on the examples you provide of similar services, including how closely the nature of that work relates to the proposed tasks

• Appropriate Facilities

1. The suitability of your facilities and equipment for the proposed tasks

2. The condition, age, type, and availability of the equipment and facilities you will use

3. The adequacy of any subcontractor facilities and equipment you intend to utilize

• Testing Experience

1. The duration of your organization's and specific personnel's experience conducting testing similar to the Statement of Work requirements at the cited facility

2. The similarity and recency of your contracts from the last five years, including testing performed for commercial or Federal Government clients (such as the Department of State or Department of Defense)

3. How closely your past testing work aligns with the requirements of this solicitation

Confidence Rating Table

Rating Definition

Rating Definition

High Confidence The Government has high confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful performing the full range of potential orders with little or no Government intervention.

Some Confidence The Government is confident that the Offeror understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful performing the full range of potential orders with some Government intervention.

Low Confidence The Government has low confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, or will be successful performing the full range of potential orders even with Government intervention.

Technical Factor 2: Recent and Relevant Past Performance

The Government will evaluate the quality of the offeror's past performance deemed relevant to the requirements in the SOW as it applies to the performance confidence assessment. In conducting a performance confidence assessment, each offeror shall be assigned one of the ratings listed below.

In conducting the Past Performance evaluation, the Government reserves the right to use information provided in the Offeror’s Past Performance submission and information obtained from other sources available to the Government, to include, but not limited to, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), Electronic Subcontract Reporting System (eSRS), or other databases;

interviews with Program Managers, Contracting Officers and other Government representatives involved in a procurement as necessary.

The confidence levels below will be used to evaluate the offeror’s past performance.

Rating Description Substantial Confidence

Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a high expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort. It is unlikely that Government intervention will be needed in order to obtain the required product/service.

Satisfactory Confidence

Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort. Little Government intervention is expected to be needed in order to obtain the required product/service.

Unknown Confidence (Neutral)

No recent/relevant performance record is available, or the offeror’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned.

Limited Confidence Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a low expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

Some Government intervention is expected to be needed in order to obtain the required product/service.

No confidence

Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record doubt exists that the offeror will be able to perform the required effort.

Price:

(a) The Government expects to receive price competition through multiple offers.

The total evaluated price will be evaluated for price reasonableness through comparison with other proposed prices and may include other price analysis techniques. Price that does not align to the Offeror’s proposed technical approach and any increased risk due to price assumptions, conditions, or exceptions may indicate an inability to understand the requirements and therefore may be considered a high-risk approach to contract performance. Proposals with pricing errors or omissions or deemed high risk may be deemed ineligible for award.

(b) Notice of award. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer 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.

Responsibility Determination

(a) Prior to award, the Contracting Officer will review information from sources such as but not limited to: System for Award Management (SAM), Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) or any other resource available to help determine the vendor’s responsibility per FAR 9.104-1.

(b) To be considered for award, the Offeror must hold an active Secret Facility Clearance Level. A DD Form 254, Department of Defense Contract Security Classification Specification, will be included in the resultant contract award.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS ADDENDUM

Commercial Provisions (P) and Clauses (C) Included By Reference in the SF1449. Full text of a solicitation provision/clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide