Attachment 3 - Instructions and Evaluation Criteria.pdf

FA3002-21-R-0010 Attachment 3 – Instructions and Evaluation Criteria

Instructions to Offerors

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. This is an all-electronic solicitation release; no hard copies will be mailed. To assure timely and equitable evaluation of proposals, offerors must follow the instructions contained herein.

Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and technical requirements, in addition to those identified as evaluation factors. Failure to meet a requirement may result in an offer being ineligible for award. The response shall consist of two (2) separate volumes; Volume I – Technical, and Volume II – Contracting. This requirement is set aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) in accordance with (IAW) FAR 19.1405. Proposals received from concerns that are not SDVOSB will not be considered. Quotations or offers shall be evaluated on the basis established in the combined synopsis/solicitation and attachments.

2. IAW FAR Subpart 4.803(a)(10), the Government will retain electronically submitted proposals.

3. Government Point of Contract (POC): Interchanges of information between the Government and Offerors will be controlled by the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO).

Offerors are responsible for ensuring receipt of any communication by the designated officials. Verification of receipt of communications will be done via email.

4. Questions and written requests for clarification shall be done via email only to both POCs.

POCs are:

Mr. Kodi Davis Contracting Officer E-mail: kodi.davis@us.af.mil

Mr. Daniel Bresnahan Contract Officer E-mail: daniel.bresnahan@us.af.mil

5. Potential Errors. If an Offeror believes requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are unsound or ambiguous, the Offeror shall immediately notify the PCO in writing via email with supporting rationale.

6. Non-Government Advisors may be utilized during the evaluation process.

7. Electronic Reference Documents. All referenced documents for this solicitation are available on the beta SAM website at beta.sam.gov. Potential Offerors are encouraged to subscribe for e-mail notifications to be updated when information has been posted to the website for this solicitation.

8. Proposal Submission Instructions. Electronic submission of proposals only. Proposals must be submitted by email to the Government POCs, in the electronic format specified in the Special Instructions section below. Electronic submission shall include a letter, signed at the vice-president or equivalent, authorizing POC(s) to bind your company to the resulting mailto:kodi.davis@us.af.mil mailto:daniel.bresnahan@us.af.mil contract. The letter shall include the name, title and telephone number of the corporate POC(s) possessing authority to contractually negotiate on behalf of and obligate the Offeror.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Proposal Organization. The Offeror shall organize the proposal as set forth in the Proposal

Organization table below. The titles, contents of the volumes, and page limits shall be as follows:

PROPOSAL ORGANIZATION

VOLUME TITLE PAGE LIMIT DUE DATE

I Technical 40 Pages 30 Days after

Solicitation Issue Date II Contracting As Required 30 Days after

Solicitation Issue Date

2. Proposal Format. The following format restrictions shall apply to Offeror’s Initial

Proposals:

a. All volumes shall be developed in Microsoft Word and Excel (version Office 2010 or higher – may be converted to PDF). No other file formats will be considered. Do not use file compression utilities (such as WinZIP, WinRAR, 7-Zip, or others) for submission.

b. Pages shall be 8.5 by 11 inches, not including tables, charts, graphs and figures;

c. Text size shall be no smaller than Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, 12 point, uncompressed font. Text size for any tables, charts, graphs or figures shall be no smaller than 10 point font;

d. Line spacing shall be single spaced, with a minimum of one inch margins on all sides.

Proprietary statements, security markings, and page numbers may fall within the defined margin area;

e. Pages shall be dated and numbered sequentially by volume;

f. A cover sheet should be included in each volume, clearly marked as to volume number, title, solicitation identification, and the Offeror's name and CAGE Code;

g. Electronic copies must be provided via E-mail to the Government POCs identified above. Proposals must be received in the POCs’ inbox NLT the deadline established in the RFP. Any proposals received after the deadline will not be considered. NOTE:

Email is not instantaneous. Allow sufficient time when submitting proposals to pass any potential firewalls. Waiting until deadline increases the risk of late receipt of proposals;

and

h. Elaborate format and color representations are not desirable.

3. Indexing. Each volume shall contain a table of contents to delineate the subparagraphs within that volume.

4. Legible tables, charts, graphs and figures may be used wherever practical. These displays shall be uncomplicated. For tables, charts, graphs and figures, the font shall be no smaller than 10 font size, Times New Roman.

5. Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms. Each volume shall contain a glossary of all abbreviations and acronyms used, and an explanation for each.

VOLUME I – TECHNICAL

1. Proposals shall include necessary information to enable the evaluators to form a definitive conclusion that proposed items (including the brand-name items in the J&A) will satisfy the Government’s requirement when compared to the salient characteristics in the Statement of Need (SON). Do not merely reiterate the objectives or reformulate the requirements specified in the RFP or SON. The contracting office will review any SAM Exclusion Data and review the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (Fapiis.gov).

VOLUME II – CONTRACTING

1. Price. Offerors shall complete RFP Attachment 2 – Pricing Period Exhibits A-E, by inputting a unit price for each item, and submit with proposal. Formulas have already been input to calculate totals (Pricing Exhibit “X” Total). Shipping costs will be reimbursed as a FFP direct reimbursable under shipping CLINs 0002 and 0003, and will not be factored into the Total Evaluated Price (TEP). Total price for each Exhibit will make up CLIN 0001 price for each respective Pricing Period (Exhibit A = Pricing Period 1 contract price). The sum of Pricing Period Exhibits A-E for the items in the SON, will be used as the TEP, and will be the only price discriminator.

2. Other. For this section, Offerors shall include the name, office phone (and, if applicable, cell phone number), and e-mail address for the proposals point of contact(s) (POC).

3. Clause fill-ins. Offerors must complete all necessary clause fill-ins in RFP Attachment 4 – Clauses and Provisions. Ensure compliance with RFP requirements if using annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management website at http://sam.gov. Ensure the Tax Identification Number (TIN) is loaded in SAM or provided for in the proposal submission. If the PCO is unable to access/retrieve an offeror’s annual representation and certifications, that offeror may, upon request by the PCO, be required to submit a hard copy of their annual representations and certifications.

4. Contact Information and Signatory Authority to Contractually Bind Offeror. Submit a letter, signed at the vice-president level or equivalent or higher, that identifies the individual(s) with the authority to obligate or otherwise bind your company to the resulting contract and, if necessary, future contract modifications.

5. Exceptions to Terms and Conditions. Exceptions taken to terms and conditions of the RFP, to any of its formal attachments, or to other parts of the solicitation shall be identified. Each exception shall be specifically related to each paragraph and/or specific part of the solicitation to which the exception is taken. Provide rationale in support of the exception and fully explain its impact, if any, on the performance, schedule, cost, and specific requirements of the solicitation. This information shall be provided in the http://sam.gov/

Solicitation Exceptions format below. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the solicitation may result in the Offeror being removed from consideration for award.

Solicitation Document

Paragraph/Page Requirements/Portion Rationale e.g. SON Applicable Paragraph Identify the Requirement

Justification

Evaluation Criteria

Basis for contract award. The Government intends to award a single firm-fixed-price contract resulting from this solicitation to an offeror who is deemed responsible IAW FAR 9.1, whose is registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), is not listed on the Excluded Parties List within SAM, whose offeror meets and complies with all the terms and conditions of the RFP, who received a technical PASS rating, and provides the lowest TEP. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers (IAW FAR 12.602(b), and FAR 13.106, these factors are not listed in any particular order of importance):

FACTOR I: Technical

Technical will be evaluated on the capability of the items offered to meet the agency need, on a PASS/FAIL basis. In order for an offeror to meet the Government’s requirement and receive a technical PASS rating, all items must meet the salient characteristics listed in the Statement of Need (including the brand-name items identified in the J&A).

FACTOR II: Price

1. Offerors with a technical PASS rating will be then be evaluated on a Total Evaluated Price

(TEP).

2. Attachment 2 – Exhibits A-E will be used to calculate the offerors TEP for all Pricing Periods of the 5-year Basic Ordering Period (Pricing Period 1 – Pricing Period 5). The TEP will be the sole basis for evaluating price for contract award decision purposes and will be the only price discriminator among offerors.

3. The prices proposed in each offeror’s price proposal will be evaluated to determine if proposed prices are fair, reasonable and balanced in accordance with FAR 12.209 and FAR 13.106-3. A contract will not be awarded to an offeror whose price is not determined fair and reasonable. This is a solicitation for commercial items and the Government anticipates adequate price competition and certified cost or pricing data is not required. Offerors may be required to submit other than certified cost or pricing information (IAW FAR 15.403-3) to the extent necessary for the Contracting Officer to determine the reasonableness and affordability of the price.

4. Options. Option periods will not be included for this acquisition. The contract will include one (1) 5-year Basic Ordering period with five (5) 1-year Pricing Periods. The Government intends to award a single award, Firm-Fixed-Price, Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all pricing periods. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the pricing period prices are significantly unbalanced.

5. Responsibility. Past performance is not an evaluation factor, however the Government will check offerors’ performance records as part of the responsibility determination made IAW

FAR 9.104-1. Information may be obtained from any sources any available to the Government such, but not limited to, the Past Performance Information Retrieval System

(PPIRS).

6. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.