Attachment 1 - Instructions and Basis of Award.pdf

Request for Quote Solicitation PIID#

FA254323Q0040

1. GENERAL INFORMATION: This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 13.5 and FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

By submission of a quote, the contractor accedes to all RFQ requirements. Contractors shall clearly identify any non-material exceptions to the notice terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale. A quote that takes exception to any of the material terms and conditions will be considered unacceptable and will not be awarded.

Only the solicitation packages of responsive offerors whose proposal contains all parts and requirements shall be evaluated. The resultant single award will be used by 460th Contracting Squadron Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado. This notice is not authorization to begin performance and in no way obligates the Government for any costs incurred by the contractor for this requirement. The Government reserves the right not to award a contract as a result of this notice.

The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-05 effective 22 September 2023, DFARS Change 09/29/2023 effective 29 September 2023 and DAFFARS DAFAC 2023-0707 effective 7 July 2023.

1.1. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS)

CODE: 562111 – Solid Waste Collection with a Small Business Size Standard of $47,000,000.

1.2. EXTENT OF COMPETITION:

☒ Competitive Procedures ☐ Limited Sources

1.3. TYPE OF CONTRACT: Firm Fixed Price

1.4. REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION: As specified within the Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Attachment 2).

1.5. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

BASE YEAR (6 Months): April 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024

OPTION YEAR ONE (1) (12 Months): October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025

OPTION YEAR TWO (2) (12 Months): October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026

OPTION YEAR THREE (3) (12 Months): October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027

OPTION YEAR FOUR (4) (12 Months): October 1, 2027 – September 30, 2028

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OPTION PERIOD FIVE (5) (6 Months): October 1, 2028 – March 31, 2029

OPTION PERIOD SIX (6) (6 Month Contract Extension): April 1, 2029 – September 30, 2029

1.6. ISSUING OFFICE POINTS OF CONTACT:

Contracting Officer: Christa Frost christ.frost@spaceforce.mil Contract Specialist: Matt Kennedy matthew.kennedy.24@spaceforce.mil

1.7. SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE: 100% Total Small Business Set Aside

1.8. DUE DATE: The Contractor shall submit its quote to the issuing office points of contact in paragraph 1.6. via email or DoD SAFE submission NLT 5:00 PM MST 02 January 2024. Late quotes will be processed in accordance with FAR 52.212-1(f) Late Submissions, Modifications, Revisions, and Withdrawals of Offers.

1.9. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: The integrated solid waste management services contract will be performed for 460 CES/CEOES at 385 S. Aspen Drive and Buckley SFB, CO 80011.

1.10. QUESTIONS: All questions regarding this solicitation shall be submitted via email no later than 5:00 pm MST on 15 December 2023 to the POCs at the email addresses provided above. Any questions shall be provided to the points of contact listed in Section 1.6. via email, using the excel template found in Attachment 3 (Questions Template).

2. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS:

A. The quote submitted in response to this RFQ must be in compliance with the terms and conditions of the requirements as stated in the RFQ, attachments, and the PWS.

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 quote, an unfavorable quote evaluation, or being deemed ineligible for award. The Government seeks to award to the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable Offeror. Award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors. The Government intends to make an award without discussions;

however, this does not preclude the Government from holding discussions if it is in the best interest of the Government.

B. The quote shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective

FA254323Q0040

evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. 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.

Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities or experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror's quote.

C. Discrepancies. If an Offeror believes that 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.

D. Quote Preparation and Submission: Offerors shall complete and submit a quote with the following information: Cover Letter, Pricing Sheet Template (Attachment 4), OCI Disclosure and Analysis Form (Attachment 5), required contractor representations found in the cover solicitation document (Solicitation – FA254323Q0040.pdf), and Technical Approach as identified in this RFQ. The details for assembly of the quote are identified below. Contractors shall address all contractor assumptions to the contracting officer through the questions and answers process prior to quote submission and shall take no exceptions. Offerors’ quotes shall be valid for 120 days after quote due date.

Section Evaluation Factor Title/RFQ Reference Page Limit

Volume I 1. Price Price Quote (Attachment 4) 10

Volume II 2. Technical Capability Technical Approach 10

Volume III 3. Past Performance Past Performance 10

Volume IV Not Applicable Administrative Documents N/A

*Page Limits are double sided

Details for assembly of the quote:

1. Quotes shall be electronic in a format readable by Microsoft Office applications 365 or later. Provide the quote on company letterhead.

2. Qualification statements/resumes and/or intent to sign letters, Table of Contents, Glossaries, Tabs, and List of Acronyms do not count against the page limit. None of these items are required, but if they are included, they shall be submitted with Volume III.

FA254323Q0040

3. One page is 8.5 x 11-inches. Foldout pages, no larger than 8.5 x 14 inches (count as one side of a page) may only be used for large tables, charts, graphs, figures, and schematics and not for pages of text.

4. Pages shall be single line spaced; with a minimum 1-inch margin all around.

5. The font shall be no smaller than 10 point and no larger than 12-point for general text, text in tables, charts, graphs, and figures.

6. No condensed fonts allowed; Times New Roman or Arial font only.

7. Pages shall be numbered consecutively within each volume.

8. If page limits are exceeded, the excess pages shall not be read or considered in the evaluation of the quote.

9. Any deviation from the RFQ requirements and format may result in non-consideration of the quote. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that they submit their quote before the submission date and time deadline.

10. Acknowledge any solicitation amendments issued. If the solicitation is amended, the offeror is responsible for acknowledging receipt of the amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the amendment. Failure to acknowledge receipt of the amendment may result in rejection of your offer. Instructions on how to acknowledge receipt of the amendment will be contained in the amendment.

11. Prior to award, the offeror must complete and be active in the System for Award

Management, SAM.gov (https://www.sam.gov).

12. The Price Quote (Volume I):

The Offeror shall submit a reasonable, complete, and balanced price quote.

The pricing information submitted should fully support the PWS requirements for each major functional element specified in the PWS.

Pricing should be included within existing CLINs for any estimated equipment purchases or transition costs.

Information shall be segregated by the performance periods, individual performance locations, and the total price for each CLIN as specified in the solicitation. Information shall also show the consolidated total price for the life of the contract (excluding Option Period 6, see Section 3.0 (D) for additional details). The Offeror shall use the Pricing Sheet Template (Attachment 4) to submit their proposed price.

The Total Evaluated Price (TEP) shall be calculated as the sum of the

Offeror’s proposed prices for the sum of the CLINs including the Base Period, and Option Periods 1 through 5 as well as Option Period 6 which will be calculated by the evaluation team as an extension of pricing from Option Period 5 (see Section 3.0 (D) for additional details). Evaluation of options does not obligate the Government to exercise such options.

All dollar amounts provided shall be rounded to the nearest dollar.

All loaded labor rates shall be rounded to the nearest penny.

13. The Technical Approach (Volume II):

Should be specific and complete in all areas of the requirement. Legibility, clarity, and coherence are very important. Provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology you would use for accomplishing/satisfying the requirements. Address your technical solution for meeting or exceeding the Government’s minimum performance or capability requirements. All of the requirements specified in the solicitation are mandatory. By submitting a quote, the Offeror is representing that their firm will perform all the requirements specified in the solicitation. Do not merely reiterate the objectives or reformulate the requirements specified in the solicitation.

14. Past Performance (Volume III):

The Offeror shall submit a minimum of one and a maximum of three examples of its own experience or experience of any subcontractors or their teaming partners proposed under this effort. Subcontractor experience is limited to a maximum of one submission out of the three allowed. Joint Ventures shall demonstrate the prior experience required in aggregate. The Government is interested in the comprehensiveness and similarity of the experience examples to the PWS requirements rather than the quantity of examples.

o Recency: The examples of prior experience must be for contracts that are ongoing or completed within the past five (5) years from the date of issue for this RFQ.

o Relevancy: The Offeror shall provide prior experience examples that reflect the Offeror’s performance related to the objectives identified in the PWS. The Offeror may provide individual prior experience examples that meet all of the identified tasks or a maximum of three that meet all task areas in aggregate.

15. Contract Administration (Volume IV):

Cover Letter: The Cover Letter shall identify the Total Amount Proposed

(For Base Period and Option Periods 1-5), company’s name and address, CAGE Code, Unique Entity ID (UEI) Number, Point of Contact (POC) to include a telephone number, and email address for any questions regarding your quote. The POC must have authority to negotiate and legally bind your company. The Cover Letter shall be submitted in Volume III. The cover letter should also include the solicitation number (FA254323Q0040), the day/time specified in the solicitation for receipt of offers, and the Offeror’s socio-economic status.

Organizational Conflicts of Interest. If there are any OCIs for the prime and/or any team member/subcontractor in performance of the contract, identify those issues and provide an analysis of the situation and a plan to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate potential conflicts. If, prior to award of this task order, the Offeror enters into any activity that creates an actual or potential conflict of interest, the Offeror shall immediately notify the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) of the conflict. The Offeror shall then submit a plan for mitigation and cease work until specifically notified by the PCO to proceed or recommend to the PCO an alternate approach to avoid the conflict. Please complete the OCI Disclosure & Analysis Form (Attachment 5) and submit with your quote if you believe there will be a potential or actual OCI. If no OCI issues are applicable, please include a statement to that effect in your quote. Attachment 5 shall be submitted in Volume III: Contract Administration.

3.0 BASIS OF AWARD

A. Award will be made in accordance with the basic contract procedures; these procedures will be specified in the RFQ, to the Offeror whose quote results in the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable offer to the Government. A contract may be awarded to the Offeror who is deemed responsible IAW FAR 9.1, as supplemented, whose quote conforms to the RFQ’s requirements (to include all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and all other information required by the RFQ instructions) and is evaluated to be the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable offer.

B. Methodology: The Government shall conduct the evaluation in a phased approach as follows:

Step 1: First, the Government shall review and evaluate the lowest price quote received (Volume I).

Step 2: The Government will review the lowest priced Offeror’s Technical Approach (Volume II) as technically “Acceptable” or “Unacceptable”. Any Offeror’s Technical Approach rated “Unacceptable”, will render the entire quote ineligible for award. The Government will not evaluate the offer further if the Offeror’s quote is rated as technically “Unacceptable.”

Step 3: The Government will review the lowest priced Offeror’s Past Performance (Volume III) as “Acceptable” or “Unacceptable”. Any Offeror’s Past Performance (Volume III) rated “Unacceptable” shall render the Offeror’s entire quote ineligible for award. The Government will not evaluate the remainder of the Offeror’s quote.

Step 4: If the lowest priced quote is determined to be technically “acceptable” and past performance is “acceptable”, the evaluation process will end, and a resultant award will be issued to that offeror.

Step 5: If the lowest priced quote is determined to be technically “unacceptable” or the past performance is “unacceptable”, the next lowest priced quote will be evaluated. This process will be repeated until the lowest priced quote is determined technically “acceptable” as well as having “acceptable” past performance.

C. The Government intends to make award based on the initial quote submissions without conducting discussions. Therefore, each offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to hold discussions if, during the evaluation, it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Exchanges, consisting of clarifications and/or discussions, are fluid interaction(s) between the Contracting Officer (CO) and the contractors that may address any aspect of the quote and may or may not be documented in real time. Exchanges may be conducted with one, some or all offerors, as the Government is not required to conduct exchanges with any or all contractors responding to this RFQ. Post-selection exchanges, if any, with the quoted best value Offeror shall not constitute a competitive range determination and shall not otherwise entitle other contractors, if any, to an opportunity to revise quotes.

D. Once the Government determines the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable

Offeror, the Government reserves the right to have exchanges with only that Offeror to address any issues, if necessary, and finalize the contract with that Offeror. If the parties cannot successfully resolve outstanding issues, as determined pertinent at the sole discretion of the Government, the Government may hold exchanges with the next lowest priced offeror, based on the original analysis, and address any necessary issues with that Offeror. If the Government begins exchanges with the next lowest priced Offeror, no further exchanges with the previous Offeror will be entertained until after award.

E. Evaluation Factors:

The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

Factor 1: Price

Factor 2: Technical Approach –Technical Capability, Management Approach, Quality Control and Service Interruptions Approach

Factor 3: Past Performance

1. Factor 1 – Price: Adequate price competition is anticipated and exists if two or more responsible Offerors, competing independently, submit priced offers that satisfy the Government’s expressed requirements. Offeror’s Total Evaluated Prices (TEPs) will be evaluated for price reasonableness, completeness, and balance. The Government may compare Offeror TEPs to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE) or may use other price analysis techniques. The Government may request other than certified cost and pricing data prior to award in order to determine price reasonableness in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(a)(2). Failure to provide adequate cost and pricing data upon request of the Government may disqualify a contractor from award. The lowest priced offer received that is deemed responsible will be evaluated first for technical acceptability.

Completeness: The Government will evaluate Offerors’ price quotes for completeness. The Offeror’s proposed price and other information will be evaluated to ensure continuity and traceability of prices to the technical volume, and between the initial quote, and any revisions thereto and to determine the extent to which all the price elements have been addressed.

The review will determine the adequacy of the Offeror’s quote in addressing and fulfilling the RFQ requirements.

Reasonableness: The Government will evaluate Offerors’ price quotes for 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.

Unbalanced pricing: The Government will evaluate Offerors’ price quote for balance. Offerors are cautioned against submitting an offer that contains unbalanced pricing. The Government shall analyze offers to determine whether they are unbalanced with respect to separately priced line items or sub-line items and annual periods of performance. 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.

Evaluation of FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services: The solicitation and subsequent award for this acquisition contains the clause at FAR 52.217- 8, Option to Extend Services. This option to extend the contract term shall be evaluated as part of the initial evaluation, whereby any resultant exercise of this option is within scope of the pending contract. The option provision may be exercised more than once and for any length of time at less than or equal to six months, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed six (6) months.

The Government shall evaluate the possible prices for FAR 52.217-8 through its evaluation of the base and option year 1-5 prices. If conditions warrant the exercise of this FAR 52.217-8, the price(s) for continued performance under this clause shall be at the same price(s) as awarded for the base period or the option period (whichever is being extended). Therefore, DO NOT SUBMIT PRICING FOR CLINs 6001 – 6901 as these CLINs are provided to cover the extension of services option period. The Government has included in the contract the above clause to extend services at the same price as the last performance period plus any applicable wage determination increase. The Government will evaluate price reasonableness on these Option Period 6 CLINs by applying the same amount to these CLINs as is provided in the Option Period 5 CLINs to formulate the TEP and use it for evaluation purposes. In accordance with FAR 52.217-8, if utilized, these CLINs will be exercised under the same terms and conditions that the contract is in at the time of exercise. As such, if the base and option prices are considered fair and reasonable then the cost of the possible extension of services under FAR 52.217-8 shall be considered fair and reasonable and in the best interest of the Government. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

2. Factor 2 – Technical Approach: The following technical ratings shall be used in the evaluation of Factor 2: Technical Approach. The Government will evaluate each focus area to provide one combined rating for Factor 2. If any focus areas are found to be unacceptable, the entire Technical Approach will be evaluated as unacceptable. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s written technical quote to the PWS tasks and focus areas. Offeror’s quote shall demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the nature and scope of the work required.

Offeror’s written technical approach is identified in the below areas.

Technical Ratings

Description

Acceptable

Quote meets the requirements as set forth in the PWS tasks and focus areas. Offeror’s quote shall demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the nature and scope of the work required.

Unacceptable Quote does not meet requirements of the RFQ and contains one or more deficiencies. Quote is un-awardable.

Technical Capability: The offeror shall submit integrated solid waste management and recycling capability to include the collection and disposal of integrated solid waste and recycling waste. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s understanding of the technical approach to accomplish the requirements of the PWS as identified. Provide as specifically as possible the actual methodology you would use for accomplishing/satisfying the technical focus area. Address your technical solution for meeting or exceeding the Government’s minimum performance or capability requirements as specified in the attached PWS (Attachment 2). Include in the technical capability a plan for meeting the 01 April 2024 start date involving any lead times for ordering equipment as well as equipment placement or refresh.

Management Approach: The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s understanding of the management approach to accomplish the requirements of the PWS. The Offeror shall include quality assurance planning, sufficient manpower planning, route parameters establishment and adjustments, training and equipment maintenance plans as specified in the PWS (Attachment 2). The Offeror shall provide a management plan proposing a staffing approach that adequately provides personnel to have the qualifications in accordance with the PWS to include labor classifications/skills as well as retention and replacement of personnel. If any of the effort during the life of the contract is to be subcontracted, the offeror must clearly identify how subcontractor labor will be utilized and to what extent subcontractor effort is required and or relied upon in accomplishing all the requirements of the PWS.

Quality Control and Service Interruptions Approach: Demonstrate preliminary quality control approach to ensure all services listed on the

Service Summary (SS) (Attachment 2, PWS Section 2.) are performed and inspected in accordance with the standards of the PWS. The final quality control plan will be submitted within (10) days of award of the contract.

3. Factor 3 – Past Performance: The Government will evaluate Factor 3 for the Offeror’s prior experience in relation to recency and relevancy as detailed below. The Government will use information submitted by the Offeror and other sources such as other Federal Government offices and commercial sources and may contact all sources by any means (phone, email, etc.) to assess experience.

Recency: The Government will evaluate prior experience examples submitted that reflect performance, ongoing or completed, within the past five (5) years from the date of issue for this RFQ. Prior experience examples reflecting no performance during the established recency period will not be considered.

Relevancy: The Government will conduct an evaluation of all recent experience information submitted to determine how closely the provided services were performed under those contracts related to the objectives of this effort in accordance with this RFQ. In determining relevancy for individual contract examples, consideration will be given to the effort, or portion of the effort, being proposed by the Offeror, teaming partner, or subcontractor whose contract is being reviewed and evaluated. The relevance of the work performed will generally be assessed for the objectives of this contract as follows, the Offeror must provide relevant examples in all areas below:

o Collection of solid waste and recyclables within a Government facility or

Government base as well as the maintenance and placement of collection equipment as well as establishment of collection routes o Management approach towards maintaining appropriate levels of manpower for route requirements and equipment maintenance as well as adjustment for unscheduled pickups and emergency situations

Furnish the following information for each contract referenced:

(i) Company/Division name

(ii) Contracting Agency/Customer

(iii) Contract Number

(iv) Contract Dollar Value

(v) Period of Performance

(vi) Verified, up-to-date name, email, and telephone number of the contracting officer or point of contact

(vii) Comments regarding compliance with contract terms and conditions