Attachment 3 - Draft PWS.docx

B.2 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

MIDWEST CONSORTIUM (MidCon) - COURT REPORTING AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

1.1 GENERAL

1.1.1 The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supplies, vehicles, certifications, supervision, and all other technologies and technical services to provide Court Reporter services for the VHA MIDCON upon request. The services may be required for, but are not limited to: Administrative Investigations, Disciplinary Appeals Boards, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) hearings or Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) hearings, Office of Resolution Management, or Regional Counsel requirements. It will also be used for any other meetings, events, or previously recorded depositions/testimony that require legal documentation.

1.1.2 DEFINITIONS

· AQL - Acceptable Quality Level. This is the maximum percentage of defects for which, for purposes of sampling, inspections can be considered satisfactory.

· AI - Administrative Investigation. A process of gathering evidence and ascertaining facts about particular matters, conducted primarily to enhance administrative effectiveness and efficiency.

· AIB - Administrative Investigation Board. The standard procedures established under VA Directive 0700 and this Handbook for collecting and analyzing evidence, ascertaining facts, and documenting complete and accurate information regarding matters of interest to VA. “Members” are the person or persons appointed by a Convening Authority to conduct the AIB.

· CO - Contracting Officer. A sole individual appointed with the authority to enter into and administer contracts on behalf of the U.S. Government.

· COR - Contracting Officer’s Representative. An individual designated by the CO to act as his representative to assist in administering a contract. The source and authority for a COR are contained in the written letter of designation from the CO.

· Convening Authority - The authority responsible for convening and supervising administrative investigations under VA Directive 0700. Convening Authorities include the Heads of VA Administrations and Staff Offices, Chief executives of VA facilities, and authorities senior to any of them in the VA organization.

· Defective Service. A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with it in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS).

· FAR - Federal Acquisition Regulations. The laws governing Government contracting procedures.

· Investigative Report (IR). The standard format for conveying the results of an AIB, designed to enhance clarity and to facilitate review and decision-making. The essential components of an investigative report are findings of fact, conclusions, and exhibits.

· PRS - Performance Requirements Summary. Identifies the key service outputs of the contract that will be evaluated by the government to assure contract performance standards are met by the contractor.

· PWS - Performance Work Statement. A statement that outlines the services needed for a Performance Based Service contract.

· Quality Control - Those actions taken by a contractor to control the performance of services so that they meet the requirements of the PWS.

1.2 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE.

The period of performance for Court Reporting services shall be from the effective date of the contract for a one-year base period and four, one-year, option periods. Court reporting requirements shall occur intermittently throughout each fiscal year and estimated totals for the stations across MIDCON are listed in 1.3.3. The VA shall place an order with them through the designated POC/COR at least ten (10) days in advance of the scheduled event. For urgent events that are requested with less than 10 days remaining until an onsite hearing, board, deposition or other begins, Contractor shall make their best effort to facilitate a court reporter for the onsite service.

No work is to be performed without either a purchase order or a contract that has been signed by a Warranted Contracting Officer (CO). It is the vendor’s responsibility to verify that a purchase order or contract has been secured prior to the start of any performance.

The Government does not automatically extend contracts beyond their initial period of performance. Option periods are always subject to the availability of funds, Contractor’s Performance, Continued Need and FAR Clause 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract.

1.3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

1.3.1. It is the intent of this document to establish a non-personal performance-based Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) service contract for the VA MidCon Medical Centers, CBOC’s and other Facilities.

1.3.2. Contractor shall be required to invoice through the VA’S Tungsten Network. Information regarding Tungsten Network will be provided at time of contract award. Payment of invoices shall be made in arrears, upon certification of invoice. Invoices shall be submitted in accordance with the invoice clauses.

1.3.3. This is a BPA for court reporting services and contains estimated quantities based upon recent usage reports. The quantities will increase or decrease as needs change.

It is to be expected that task orders to be placed against any resulting contract are likely to vary, potentially significantly, from the estimated quantities listed. The task orders to be placed against this contract will provide not to exceed amounts against the listed CLINs. Vendor shall invoice upon completing each Task Order. Invoice shall be paid based upon the actual services rendered (i.e. the number of hours worked, and number of pages produced). Invoices shall reference ALL applicable CLIN/SLINs pertaining to place/method of performance, and deliverables in order to be certified in a timely manner. Invoices shall include purchase order number as directed by the VA’s electronic invoicing policy.

1.3.4. The term “Administrative Investigation” (AI) refers to a systematic process for determining facts and documenting evidence about matters of significant interest to VA. These proceedings must be concluded within 45 days from the date the AI is first convened. AIs are conducted to collect and analyze evidence to determine what happened and why it happened, so that individual and systemic deficiencies can be identified and effectively corrected. These investigations are governed by VA Directive 0700, Administrative Investigations and VA Handbook 0700, Administrative Investigations. These investigations are established by the Medical Center Director as the convening authority. Administrative Investigation Boards are not scheduled in advance; therefore, short notice will be provided for the need of transcription services. Once scheduled, the schedule may change or even be cancelled at any time up until the time scheduled because of unforeseen events that may arise.

1.3.5. EEO Hearings and MSPB and/or arbitration hearings are similar processes and are established by a judge or other government source. EEO Hearings (usually 3-14 days in duration) may be scheduled a few weeks in advance; MSPB hearings (usually 3-5 business days in duration) may be scheduled several weeks to a month or more in advance. These hearings may also have to be rescheduled or cancelled because of unforeseen events.

1.3.6. The duration of each scheduled hearing/event can only be estimated in advance of the start of the process and may change during the investigation or activity, requiring a greater number of hours and/or individual days on which meetings occur.

1.3.7. NCO-10 will either request an on-site or virtual reporter. If virtual, the vendor may need to provide a link to the VA prior to the requirement start time. Methods for virtual shall include Microsoft TEAMS, Zoom for Government, or any other medium approved in advance by the VA.

1.3.8. Cancellation of a Requirement: The Government may postpone or cancel requirements at no additional charge when a minimum of a 24 hour notice is given prior to the beginning of the proceeding specified in the Task Order. If a cancellation or postponement occurs within 24 hours of the requirement, the vendor shall invoice for 4 hours at the rate specified in the delivery order. In the event Contractor has funds expended or committed that are not refundable to them due to the cancellation, these expenses may be reimbursable at the sole discretion of the CO.

1.4. PERSONNEL

1.4.1. The Contractor shall provide only qualified, certified Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) to perform these services. Only one Court Reporter shall be assigned to each administrative process from its beginning to its end. If an unforeseen emergency should occur that would require absence of the assigned Court Reporter, the proposed substitute shall have comparable qualifications to those of the person being replaced. The contractor shall provide notice to VA of substitution who shall possess all the same certification and qualifications required in section 1.4.2 of this contract. Contractor shall provide complete resumes/credentials for the proposed substitutes, and any additional information requested by the Contracting Officer (CO).

1.4.2. The Contractor must provide competent, efficient Court Reporters who are experienced and have the necessary training and education in Court Reporting with adequate and appropriate court reporting equipment, to produce accurate, timely, appropriately bound and indexed transcribed testimony from witnesses and participants in these processes. Court Reporters must have at least one year experience in court reporting and have the necessary training and education required in Court Reporting along with adequate and appropriate court reporting equipment, in order to produce accurate, timely, appropriately bound and indexed transcribed testimony from witnesses in these processes. The Court Reporter must hold the certification as a National Court Reports Association (NCRA) Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), or equivalent (determination of equivalency at the discretion of VAMC). Appropriate credentials must be provided within one (1) week upon request. The Court Reporter shall be punctual arriving 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the investigative hearing/event and shall be present at all proceedings, demonstrate a professional demeanor, and shall accomplish all the deliverables described below. VAMC will provide seating and a work surface for the Court Report to perform their duties. The court reporter shall read portions of transcript in intelligible English during the proceedings at the request of the board or other presiding body and ask speakers to clarify inaudible statements. Proceedings may occur over multiple days, and the services of the Court Reporter may be needed for varying lengths of time each day. Court Reporters who have experience with the Administrative Investigation Board (AIB) process, Equal Opportunity Hearing, Human Resources Management Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) or arbitration hearings are preferred in the performance of this contract.

1.4.3 OATHS AND NOTARY SERVICES - The Reporter shall be competent to administer oaths. Depositions shall be transcribed by a duly authorized notary. Any fee for notary services, administering oaths, or affixing seal shall be included in the relevant CLIN and shall not be a separate charge on this contract.

1.4.4. The Contractor shall assume full responsibility for the protection of its personnel furnishing services under this contract, in accordance with the personnel policy of the Contractor. To carry out this responsibility, the contractor shall provide the following for FTE personnel:

Worker’s compensation Professional liability insurance NOTE: A copy of liability insurance on an individual must be presented to the CO prior that person being assigned to this facility.

Health examinations Income tax withholding, and Social security payments

1.4.5. The parties agree that such personnel shall not be considered VA employees for any purpose and shall be considered employees of the contractor. Note: To be in compliance with Homeland Security standards, each Court Reporter assigned to work at this Medical Center shall be subject to the same rules and regulations as all contracted employees. Parking is allowed only in those areas not designated for patient use. All traffic laws and parking rules on the grounds are strictly enforced. Failure to follow these laws and regulations may result in a citation being issued that will have to be resolved through the Federal Court system. Prior to reporting to work, the contracted employee will need to contact the designated COR who will take him/her to the on-site PIV Officer. This Officer will issue a temporary ID badge to the contracted employee, who in turn, will properly display the badge while working at the Medical Center. Upon completion of the assignment, the employee will return the badge to the PIV Officer.

1.4.6. The contractor shall ensure that all assigned court reporters perform all work in a professional business-like manner and in accordance with the best standards of the reporting profession and the contractor.

1.4.7. Removing Employees for Misconduct or Security Reasons: The Government, may, at its sole discretion, direct the contractor to remove their employee from the VA Premises or facilities for misconduct or for security reasons. Removal does not relieve the Contractor the responsibility to continue providing the services required under this contract. The CO will provide the contractor with a written explanation to support any request to remove an employee.

1.4.8. Conflict of Interest: The contractor shall not assign any person who is an employee of the United States Government to work under this contract if that employment would appear to cause a conflict of interest.

1.4.8.1. In any instance where the contractor has knowledge that any actual or potential situation may delay or threaten to delay the timely performance of this contract, the contractor shall immediately notify the COR and the CO. This notice shall include all relevant information and corrective actions that are being taken. The Government reserves the right to hold the contractor fully accountable for problems incurred because of such delays, including denial of delivery time extensions, if such notification is not provided.

1.4.8.2. If, after notice of a proposed hearing, the Contractor’s employee does not appear at the time and place specified for the hearing, the contractor shall be responsible for finding another equally qualified individual for the hearing. The Contractor may be responsible for the reimbursement to the VA Medical Center for any expenses over and above that which would have been incurred if the Contractor had performed in accordance with this Performance Work Statement. The Government may deduct such expenses from any other sums due or that may become due the Contractor.

1.4.9. Place of Performance: Services will either be provided at the required VA Medical Center in a conference room setting or performed virtually via TEAMS, WebEx or other VA approved and agreed upon medium. Only on a rare occasion, will it be necessary for an investigation or hearing be held at a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) or another location as determined by the Government. The work to be performed under this contract will be performed within a ten-mile radius of the locations listed in Attachment 2: VA Locations.

The Government reserves the right to add any additional Medical Centers, CBOC’s or other facilities to the contract as they become available. During the life of this contract, there may be a need or an occasion that may arise that will require the services of the Court Reporter to be at another location other than mentioned above. If so, the CO will give explicit instructions as to where and when the needed services will be required.

1.5. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

1.5.1 The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring compliance by its employees with the security regulations of the Veteran’s Administration where work is performed under this Contract. A Business Associate’s Agreement (BAA) will be entered into by both parties. Contracted employees will have to complete VA’s Cyber Security and Privacy Act Training annually and sign the VA’s Rules of Behavior document.

Note: All work associated with this contract shall be performed in the United States of America.

1.5.2. The information obtained in the performance of this contract is considered to be confidential and must not be revealed to anyone who is not authorized to know. Portions of information disclosed during the performance of this contract are protected by the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974; therefore, all personnel assigned to this Contract are required to take proper precautions to protect the information from disclosure.

1.5.3. Commitment to Protect Sensitive Information. The Contractor and its employees shall not release, publish, or disclose sensitive information to unauthorized personnel, and shall protect such information in accordance with provisions of 18 U.S.C. 641 (Criminal Code: Public Money, Property or Records) and any other pertinent laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of sensitive information.

1.5.4. In the performance of official duties, the Contractor's employees shall have access to information containing sensitive data, which must be protected under the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a); the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA); 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164, Subparts A and E, the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”); and 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164, Subparts A and C, the Security Standard (“Security Rule”); Federal Regulations and statutes; and VAMC policies and standard operating procedures. The Contractor and Contractor's employees are responsible for:

· Protecting that data from unauthorized release or from loss, alteration, or unauthorized deletion.

· Completing annual privacy training that conforms to the requirements of VHA Privacy Training.

· Completing annual security awareness training that conforms to the requirement of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Cyber and Information Security Training.

· Within 24 hours of first becoming aware of a HIPAA Electronic Transaction and Code Set, Privacy, Security or Standard Identifier Incident, or use or Disclosure of PHI not provided for by this contract, notify the COR and CO, and promptly provide a report to the COR and CO.

· An incident will be considered any attempted or successful unauthorized access to, use, disclosure, modification, or destruction of, or interference with PHI, or an event that causes the VAMC to be considered non-compliance with the Administrative Simplification provisions of HIPAA as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services.

· Use only contractors, subcontractors, or agents who are physically located within a jurisdiction subject to the laws of the United States. Ensure there is no use or disclosure of PHI received from the VAMC in any way that will remove the PHI from such jurisdiction.

· Upon completion of the applicable contract(s), return all PHI gathered, created, received or processed during the performance of the contract(s), and no data will be retained by the Contractor, or any agents or subcontractors, unless retention is required by law or regulation or expressly permitted herein.

· Assure that all PHI has been returned to the COR.

· If immediate return of all data is not possible, assure that all PHI retained will be safeguarded to prevent unauthorized uses or disclosures. Until assurance is provided, the Department of Veterans Affairs may withhold 15% of the final payment of the contract(s).

1.5.5. Computer Security is a vital part of patient rights and privacy. All computer information from VAMC is considered sensitive and shall not be disclosed to anyone by the Contractor, or its employees. The Contractor and its employees shall follow all VAMC computer security guidelines. Violation of this Policy could result in the Federal prosecution of the individual(s) involved.

1.5.6. Confidentiality. All Contractor personnel performing services under this contract must complete a confidentiality certification.

1.6. QUALITY CONTROL.

1.6.1. The contractor shall provide the reviews and quality checks necessary to ensure that the reporting, recording, transcripts and photocopying conform to acceptable government standards. No transcripts shall be forwarded to the government until the quality checks reveal full format conformance and freedom from error.

1.6.2. The Contractor shall closely monitor its performance in meeting the requirements for timely delivery of hearing transcripts. The Contractor shall advise the CO in advance, by specific case number only (no names, SSNs or any other personal identification data) when timely delivery cannot be made, and estimated time when correction of delivery will be made.

1.7. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT (QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN)

1.7.1 The Government will evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract using the method of surveillance specified below. All surveillance observations will be recorded by the government. When an observation indicates defective performance, the COR will provide the Contractor with a copy of the record of the observation.

***Report of Non-Compliance shall be directed to SBA for remediation by the CO.***

1.7.2. The AIB team leader, team, or other designated VA staff member will evaluate the quality and timeliness of the product and services and notify the COR and the Chief, Quality & Performance Improvement or other convening authority – i.e., EEO Manager, Human Resources Specialist, or other so designated official of the acceptability of the product and services. However, only an appointed Contracting Officer Representative (COR) is authorized to monitor contract performance and only a Warranted CO is authorized to make changes to the contract by way of written contract modifications.

1.8. HOURS OF OPERATION.

1.8.1. Normal Business Hours. The VA Medical Center’s normal business hours are 8:00AM to 5:00PM, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays. Services required by this contract will only be required during normal business hours. Court reporters shall stay until the conclusion of the requirement if the event extends beyond 5:00 PM.

If the period of performance exceeds normal business hours, the CO shall be notified by the close of the next business day with supporting documentation including total hours used, amount of after business hours used, and who authorized the additional time. This is not a common occurrence.

1.8.2. Federal Holidays. The 11 holidays observed by the Federal Government are:

New Year’s Day Martin Luther King’s Birthday President’s Day June Nineteenth Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans’ Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day Any additional days specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday.

In the event a holiday falls on a weekend day (Saturday or Sunday), the normal observance is the connecting weekday.

SECTION 2 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY AND SERVICES.

The government will provide to the contractor for contract performance at no cost a shared meeting location, utilities, and the use of a telephone (local calls only). Normally, the usage of cell phones within the Medical Center are permitted. However, there are some areas of the hospital where the usage of such devices is restricted because of their possible interference with operating medical equipment. Strict adherence to the rules concerning the usage of these devices must be observed throughout the Medical Center.

SECTION 3 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES.

3. GENERAL. Except for those items or services specifically stated to be government furnished in Section 3, the contractor shall furnish everything required to perform this contract.

SECTION 4 SPECIFIC TASKS

4.1. The contractor agrees that, at a minimum, all assigned court reporters shall:

· Prior to the scheduled meeting time:

· Present himself/herself to the presiding COR and be escorted to the location of the on-site meeting. A VA employee must escort the Contractor to and from the event site, and at all times inside the VA facility, and shall cease escorting the Contractor upon Contractor’s return to the public parking lot.

· Adhere strictly to the instructions of the presiding official in matters affecting the composition of the record, adjourning to other times or places, the hours of hearing, and associated matters.

· Report everything spoken while a hearing is in session unless the presiding official directs an off-the-record proceeding. Contractor may be asked to take notes during the off-the-record event at the discretion and direction of the Presiding Official.

4.2. Hearings shall be properly recorded by Court Reporters using electronic devices, in addition to their physical presence at the hearing when providing in-person recording. The Contractor shall provide a back-up system to whichever primary recording method is used. When proceedings are recorded by an electronic recording device, it shall at a minimum:

· have two (2) channels.

· be continuously monitored by an operator.

· have simultaneous playback, listening pre-amplification and speaker identification capabilities.

· have an equipment malfunction indicator.

The Court Reporter must maintain an audio recording of the testimony, available to the VA Staff Presiding Official for the process as needed to clarify issues associated with testimony content.

4.3. An experienced, competent Court Reporter shall be monitoring and recording the event and shall be present in the room if service is in person, when witnesses are interviewed, testimony is given and/or when witnesses are called back for additional testimony. The team leader or other designated VA staff member will inform the Court Reporter of the anticipated duration of the process, and when the process has been completed.

4.4. The Contractor shall provide the reviews and quality checks necessary to ensure that the reporting, recording, transcripts and photocopying conform to standards as described in section 4.8 of this Contract. No transcripts shall be forwarded to the Government until the quality checks reveal full form at conformance and freedom from error.

4.5. When actual discrepancies in the transcribed testimony and the audio recording are identified and verified by the team leader or other designated point of contact, the Court Reporter shall produce a corrected version at no additional cost to the Government.

4.6. The contractor shall be fully responsible for all loss or damage to materials associated with any event being recorded while in the contractor’s care and custody. The contractor shall keep accurate records of the materials picked up from the government. The listing shall include a list of materials, the status of the assignment and the case number assigned by the Government.

4.7. HEARING AND DELIVERABLES TIMELINES:

4.7.1. Transcripts, if required are generally requested within (3) weeks [or (15) fifteen business days] turnaround or less (1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 business days), from the date of the last sworn testimony taken in a proceeding. The number of pages contained in each transcript will be determined by the length of the proceedings. Transcripts may be requested in paper form, virtual, or both. Paper copies must be received by the POC by the agreed upon time in the task order to be considered on-time. Any late transcripts shall be billed at the next turnaround tier (i.e., 3 business day turnaround was requested but POC received in 7 business days), vendor shall invoice for 7 business days as opposed to 3 business days.

There may be some requirements where transcripts are not needed, but they may be needed at an undetermined future date. If transcripts from a previous requirement where they were not ordered are later needed by the VA, the Contractor shall provide copies of these transcripts made from recordings retained IAW section 4.9 by the requested deadline as defined in the purchase order and at the price indicated in Attachment 1: Schedule of Items .

4.7.2. The Administrative Investigation Boards have an established timeframe for completion of 45 calendar days of the date the AIB is convened; whereby sworn or affirmed testimony is obtained by a team charged with investigating a particular issue or event. Transcribed testimony must be returned to the Team Leader (within requested timeframe per the purchase order) business days of each testimony in order for the deadline to be met. In the event that an extension of time should become necessary for completion beyond the initial 45-day period, the presiding official/Team Leader will notify the Court Reporter of this change.

4.7.3. EEO Hearings may have a short turnaround time for completion of 3 Days to 14 Days as established by a judge. Transcribed testimony must be returned to the Team Leader (within requested timeframe per the purchase order) business days of each testimony in order for the deadline to be met.

4.7.4. MSPB processes rarely exceed 3-5 days. Transcribed testimony must be returned to the Team Leader within (within requested timeframe per the purchase order) business days of each testimony in order for the deadline to be met.

4.7.5. Other requirements including Pre-Recorded testimony, Quality Department Audits and other events will be returned within the requested timeframe per the purchase order in order for any deadlines to be met.

4.7.6 Pre-Recorded Testimony will be sent to the vendor via tracked common carrier in form of CD or DVD. Vendor to provide transcripts within (within requested timeframe per the purchase order) business days after receipt of transcripts (verified with tracking numbers) in order for any deadlines to be met. Vendor to destroy disk or VA supplied medium immediately following verified receipt of error-free transcripts from station POC.

4.8. TRANSCRIPTION FORMAT:

4.8.1. The Court Reporter shall index each individual transcript and include behind each bound testimony a tabbed index stating, “WORD INDEX.” The evidence and information gathered during the investigation shall be organized in an appropriately indexed investigative file that includes a numerical or alphabetical list of each time a symbol, number or word was used and the page number and line number.

4.8.2. The transcribed testimony product must be accurate, double-spaced, printed, and bound in a satisfactory manner, according to accepted standards for court reporting, which at a minimum includes one original and one copy of each witnesses’ testimony. All are to be securely fastened with metal prongs (not plastic binding). Line numbers must be listed in the left margin and the page number in the bottom right corner of each page. The court reporter shall include their signed, dated, and officially sealed certificate as the last page of the testimony.

4.8.3. An “ACKNOWLEDGEMENT” sheet shall be included as the last page of each testimony to include a certification statement at the top that the testimony is accurate to include blanks for a date to be filled in and a signature block for each. The second half of this acknowledgement sheet shall include a place for corrections, i.e., Page No. ____, Line No. ____, and a blank to write in the corrections.

4.8.4. Visible Black Character.

4.8.4.1. A Visible Black Character is defined strike-able and visible characters and includes any printed letter, number, symbol, and/or punctuation mark excluding any or all formatting (e.g., bold, underline, italics, table structure, formatting codes). All visible black characters can be seen with the naked eye as a mark, regardless of whether viewed electronically or on a printed page.

4.8.4.2. Visual Black Character (VBC) Line or ASCII no Spaces Line. A VBC Line is defined as the total number of characters you can see with the naked eye in one line, divided by 65. It includes any character contained within a header or footer. Spaces, carriage returns, and hidden format instructions, such as bold, underline, text boxes, printer configurations, spell check, etc., which are not counted in the total character count. A VBC Line is calculated by counting all visual characters and simply dividing the total number of characters by 65 to arrive at the number of defined lines.

4.8.5. When documents are requested on paper, they shall by typed using black ink on white good quality paper. Paper shall be 8 ½ by 11 inches with ruled margin of 1.5” at the left side and ruled margin of 0.5” at the right side, and a ruled margin of 1” at the top and bottom. A number indicating each line of the document upon each page, i.e., 1 to 25 inclusive, shall be printed at the left side of the left marginal line of the original and copies of the transcript.

4.8.6. Typing shall be 10 letters to the inch, 25 lines to the page, exclusive of pager number, with 2 single spaces between lines. Whenever testimony is continuous, requiring more than 1 line, the typing shall begin as close as possible to the left ruled marginal line. Words shall be properly hyphenated when necessary.

4.8.7. In the original and each copy of the transcript, outside the ruled margin, the cover page, and each subsequent page of the transcript (including the Certificate and Acknowledgement) shall show the name, address, and phone number of court reporting service centered at the bottom and the page number of the transcript in the bottom right corner.

4.8.8. The paging of the transcript shall be in a single series by consecutive numbers regardless of the number of days consumed in the investigation, hearing, etc.

4.8.9. The original transcript and (1) copy shall be authenticated by the Court Reporter by a certificate page in the following form, which shall be included before the Acknowledgement:

CERTIFICATE

Certificate of Reporter:

Name of Hearing/Type of Proceeding:

Docket/Case Number:

Place of Hearing:

Date of Hearing:

I, (name of transcriber), do hereby certify that said witness (name of witness), whose testimony appears herein, was duly sworn, that said transcript is a true record of the testimony given by said witness. I further certify that I am neither attorney, nor counsel for, nor related to or employed by, any of the parties in which this action is taken and further that I am not a relative or employee of any attorney or counsel employed by the parties hereto or financially interested in the action.

Name and Signature of Court Reporter Date

Name of Company

4.8.10. Transcripts and exhibits shall be combined into the official final version of the transcript.

4.9. Retention of Notes and Transcripts: The Contractor agrees that all recordings, stenographic notes, or their equivalent, taken in connection with the services rendered under this contract, and typed plate made therefrom, shall be filed, and held by the contractor, subject to authority and control of the Department of Veterans Affairs for a period of one year.

4.10. Should the Contractor cause the Government to re-hear any case or hearing or other proceeding, the Contractor shall provide the reporting services at that re-hearing at no cost to the Government. In addition, the Contractor shall be liable for all Government expenses, claimant expenses and attorney’s fees incidental to the re-hearing. Although not a comprehensive list of examples, causes for re-hearings may include:

· Loss of original recordings, transcripts or photocopies.

· Failure of the contractor’s court reporter/stenographer to appear, and a substitute cannot be obtained in sufficient time.

· Receipt of products by the Government in such poor condition as to be unusable.

· Attempted use of electronic recording equipment which does not conform to the requirements noted herein.

· Failure of the Contractor to deliver transcripts (original and 1 copy) within requested timeframe that is indicated on purchase order.

4.11. Transcript pricing is per page of official transcripts. Extraneous pages including the following shall not be considered applicable to transcript pricing.

a. Errata sheets

b. Certification Sheets

c. Signature Sheets

d. Acknowledgement of Testimony

e. Index Sheets

f. Exhibit Pages (priced separately from transcript pricing)

Section 5 - VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE

1. General:

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

2. Access to VA Information and VA Information Systems:

a. A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order.

b. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures.

c. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness.

d. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S. to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor.

e. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor’s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination.

3. VA Information Custodial Language:

a. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor’s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA’s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA’s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on-site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures follow VA directive requirements.

c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor while performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.

d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations, and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations, and policies in this contract.

e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

g. If VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship.

h. The contractor/subcontractor contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated, and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship.

i. The contractor/subcontractor’s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA’s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request.

j. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA’s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response.

k. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/ subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above-mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response.

l. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COTR.

4. Information System Design and Development

a. Information systems that are designed or developed for or on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities shall comply with all VA directives developed in accordance with FISMA, HIPAA, NIST, and related VA security and privacy control requirements for Federal information systems. This includes standards for the protection of electronic PHI, outlined in 45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subpart C, information, and system security categorization level designations in accordance with FIPS 199 and FIPS 200 with implementation of all baseline security controls commensurate with the FIPS 199 system security categorization (reference Appendix D of VA Handbook 6500, VA Information Security Program). During the development cycle a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must be completed, provided to the COTR, and approved by the VA Privacy Service in accordance with Directive 6507, VA Privacy Impact Assessment.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall certify to the COTR that applications are fully functional and operate correctly as intended on systems using the VA Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), and the common security configuration guidelines provided by NIST or the VA. This includes Internet Explorer 7 configured to operate on Windows XP and Vista (in Protected Mode on Vista) and future versions, as required.

c. The standard installation, operation, maintenance, updating, and patching of software shall not alter the configuration settings from the VA approved and FDCC configuration. Information technology staff must also use the Windows Installer Service for installation to the default “program files” directory and silently install and uninstall.

d. Applications for normal end users shall run in the standard user context without elevated system administration privileges.

e. The security controls must be designed, developed, approved by VA, and implemented in accordance with the provisions of VA security system development life cycle as outlined in NIST Special Publication 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management…