Attachment 3 - Section L.docx

19AQMR23R0005

Attachment 3: Section L – Notice to Offerors

Section L – Instructions, Conditions, & Notices to Offerors

A. Proposal Questions:

1. All proposals shall be submitted electronically via email to the Contracting Officer (CO), (Mary DiAngelo at DiangeloME@state.gov) in the format provided in Attachment 2 and per the guidelines outlined in this document. Offerors shall be responsible for ensuring the proposal is successfully submitted and received by the CO via email by the proposal due date and time. When submitting proposals to the CO via email, the offeror shall request read receipts to ensure the CO receives the offeror’s proposal.

2. An Offeror’s complete proposal and all attachments shall not exceed 40MB in total. If an offeror submits multiple emails containing a proposal, the offeror must clearly identify in the email subject line the following:

· Subject: Vendor Name, Title, Volume number, and Email number (i.e., 1 of 2 or 2 of 2…etc.).

3. Offerors are cautioned against “parroting” of the Technical requirements or the Statement of Work (SOW). “Parroting” is defined as imitating the words of the technical requirements or the SOW without articulating a clear understanding of the requirements or capability to perform. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. Proprietary information shall be clearly marked.

4. The Government will not pay for any proposal costs incurred by the Offeror or any costs attributed to the proposal preparation unless the Offeror wins the award, and such costs are part of an established indirect cost pool and determined allowable by the Offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official.

5. Offerors must complete representations, certification, acknowledgements, and statements. The contractor must have completed available information electronically through the System for Award Management (SAM) website. All remaining Section K requirements must be submitted with the proposal.

6. All proposal questions shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer, (Mary E. DiAngelo, via email at DiAngeloME@state.gov) no later than April 10, 2023. All questions must be submitted using Attachment 6, Q&A. All offerors shall separate technical and price questions and clearly identify each question with a reference to the solicitation.

7. Proposals are due no later than 10 a.m. CDT on April 24, 2023.

B. Proposal Organization.

1. The Offeror’s proposal shall consist of three (3) volumes. The volumes are: Volume I – Technical, Volume II – Price, and Volume III – Past Performance. Files shall not contain classified data/information. The use of hyperlinks in proposals is prohibited.

2. Each electronic file shall be clearly labeled with its title and volume number.

3. The following volumes of material shall be submitted:

Contents shall be compatible to Microsoft Office products in order to be viewed properly.

**The cover letter, title page, table of contents, table of figures, list of tables, glossary of abbreviations & acronyms, manpower charts, small business subcontracting plans (if applicable), resumes, and commitment letters do not count against page count limitations. All pages shall be numbered and single volumes shall not exceed a total of 30 pages. Pages that exceed the required page limitations above will not be evaluated. Pages over the maximum pages allowed shall be marked unacceptable and not be read or evaluated by the Government.

4. Each volume in each set shall be labeled clearly displaying only the following information:

· Company name, Solicitation Number, Volume Number and Title shall be listed on the front of each file, along with Offeror’s Point of Contact information which must include: Name, Individual’s Title, Mailing Address, E-Mail Address and Phone Number.

· Each volume shall have a Table of Contents with page numbers.

· Each page shall be numbered and have a “header” with the Company Name, Solicitation Number, Volume Number and Volume Title. Sample as follows:

Company A

19AQMR23R0005

Volume 1 – Technical

C. Proposal Format.

1. All files, except for the price tables shall be in MS Word or Adobe PDF. Printing should be single spaced. Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one blank line. A standard, 12-point minimum font size applies. Arial or New Times Roman fonts are required. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size no less than 8-point and may be landscape.

2. MS Word (doc) files shall use the following page setup parameters:

3. All price breakdown information to aid in the price evaluation shall be submitted in Microsoft Office Excel Read/Write format and viewable in Microsoft Excel. All calculations and formulas shall be unprotected and accessible in electronic submission documents.

D. Content Requirements.

1. All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The Offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. Each file of the proposal shall consist of a Table of Contents, Summary Section, and the Narrative discussion. The Summary Section shall contain a brief abstract of the file. Proprietary information shall be marked clearly.

2. Offerors shall state, explain, and justify any deviations, exceptions, or conditional assumptions taken regarding any of the instructions or requirements of this solicitation in the appropriate volume of the offer. For example, technical assumptions shall be covered under the "Technical" volume, and price assumptions under "Price" volume.

3. Proposals not received in accordance with these instructions may be considered unacceptable and rejected. The penalty for making false statements is prescribed in 18 USC 1001. Failure to furnish current and complete information may cause a proposal to be rejected.

4. Assumptions:

(a) Offerors shall state, explain, and justify any deviations, exceptions, or conditional assumptions taken regarding any of the instructions or requirements of this call in the appropriate volume of the offer.

(b) Failure to explicitly state price assumptions may result in removal from the competition.

5. The following shall be included in the Narrative discussion for each respective volume:

a) Volume I: Factor 1 – Technical Proposal. This volume shall be organized into the following sections and address the submission requirements within each of the three technical subfactors:

1) Section 1 - Sub-Factor 1, Transportation/Export Plan:

The offeror shall state the steps it will take to accomplish the transportation of canines to Government of Mexico recipients. This plan must include the safety measures the offeror will take to ensure the health and well being of the canines in transit, both when accompanied by handlers and transported as cargo. In this plan, the offeror must demonstrate its understanding of the exportation process to Mexico as well as the points at which it must coordinate with INL Mexico as specified in the Statement of Work.

2) Section 2 – Subfactor 2, Course Syllabus

Offerors shall include a short syllabus of each course covered in the Statement of Work, including the content covered, methods of instruction, list of equipment to be used to training and handle the canines during the courses, and duration in hours of classroom and practical exercise time.

3) Section 3 – Licenses and Permits

Offerors shall provide proof that the canine school where the courses will be delivered has permits from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to obtain and use the required training drugs and explosives.

4) Section 4 – Certification plan

Offerors shall state which nationally recognized U.S. detection canine association they plan to work with and confirm the association agrees with the re-certification events in Mexico and detail if there are any restrictions/concerns.

5) Section 5 – Warranty terms and conditions

Offerors shall detail the terms, coverage, and length of the offered warranty.

b) Volume II: Factor 2– Price Proposal. This volume shall consist of all information, required to support prices. All prices shall be in United States currency. There are no page limitations to this volume. Certified cost and pricing data is not currently required; however, the Government reserves the right to request such data prior to award.

The information submitted in this volume shall comply with FAR 15.4 and utilize Attachment 2, Pricing Spreadsheet. Contractors shall propose their prices by completing all tabs of this template. The offeror shall submit a detailed price narrative supporting each price/cost proposed in the entire pricing spreadsheet (Attachment 2). The price proposal narrative must provide a thorough explanation and rationale for all proposed prices and support (match) the pricing table. It should also include a breakout of direct costs, indirect costs, as indicated on the IDIQ Prices Tab. Prices at the CLIN level of the Pricing Spreadsheet Tab should be fully burdened.

Failure to explicitly state cost/price assumptions in Volume II, Cost/Price proposal may result in removal from the competition.

The Government provided formulas calculate automatically the Subtotal and Total prices. However, contractors shall verify the arithmetic accuracy and make any necessary corrections. Note: Subtotal and Total prices shall be in whole numbers and shall not contain decimals.

The Government intends to evaluate the solicitation-specified cost reimbursable other direct costs. However, the Government does not commit to order or payment of these quantities and dollar amounts, respectively. Only costs that are considered allowable and allocable to the contract will be included under the awarded CLINs at the task order level.

The Six-Month Option to Extend reflects any Government extension of the contract, pursuant to FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services).

The Contracting Officer will fill in the tables and other blank spaces in Sections B.3, B.4, and B.5 prior to contract award. Because Section B remains in the contract and because the proposed information may not match the awarded information, the corresponding tables of the Attachment 2 Price Volume are the appropriate places for offerors to submit their proposed information.

Certified cost or pricing data, as described in FAR subpart 15.4, are not required and relied upon for award of the contract because the Government anticipates adequate price competition. Instead, where applicable, the Government will require and rely upon data other than certified cost or pricing data.

Offerors are not required to submit information that is not solicited under RFP Section L (Volume II Cost/Price) If offerors submit such information, the Government is not required to review it. However, if the Government reviews it and finds any of it objectionable, offerors run the risk of their proposals being rated unfavorably.

Price Proposal Instructions

The price proposal shall consist of the following, which are described further in this subsection:

a. Narrative (in Word or PDF)

b. Pricing Tables 1-4 (Attachment 2 - in the same Excel workbook provided by the Government)

c. Supporting Information (in Word or PDF)

Offerors shall prepare one file for each of the above section formats. Therefore, offerors shall prepare at least two files (Word and Excel) for the above subsections.

In Pricing Tables 1, 2, and 4 offerors shall complete the orange-highlighted areas only.

Offerors shall not hide or lock any rows, columns, or cells that contain proposed data.

Offerors shall use for pricing purposes the following period of performance:

Contract Year 1: June 1, 2023 through May 31, 2024 Contract Year 2: June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2025 Contract Year 3: June 1, 2025 through May 31, 2026 Contract Year 4: June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027 Contract Year 5: June 1, 2027 through May 31, 2028 Six-Month Option to Extend: June 1, 2028 through December 31, 2028

In Pricing Table 1, offerors shall identify their most current indirect cost rates that would be used as the proposed provisional billing rates. Such rates shall match the rates identified in the Supporting Information. See Instruction Supporting Information Indirect Costs below. In Pricing Table 1, the proposed provisional billing indirect cost rates shall not exceed the ceiling indirect cost rates proposed in Pricing Table 2.

In Pricing Tables 1 and 2, offerors shall propose only their own indirect cost rates. Indirect cost rates for subcontractors and/or other entities not proposed as the offeror shall not be included in part or in whole.

In Pricing Tables 1 and 2, the proposed indirect cost rates shall reflect the impact of this potential contract. Therefore, such rates shall reflect the dollar amount the offeror anticipates to receive through the duration of this potential contract (cumulative of all task orders). See FAR 31.203(c) (Indirect Costs) and FAR 42.704(b) (Billing Rates).

In Pricing Tables 1 and 2, offerors shall include all indirect cost rate descriptions that are anticipated to apply under this contract. In Pricing Tables 1 and 2, the proposed indirect cost rate descriptions and allocation bases shall match the respective indirect cost rate descriptions and allocation bases identified in the Supporting Information. See Instruction Supporting Information Indirect Costs below. Each proposed allocation base shall include the unit of measurement (e.g., dollars) after each cost element identified in the allocation base.

In Pricing Tables 1 and 2, offerors shall follow the model provided under “The Following Is For Illustration Purposes” section, including:

a. Add or delete rows as necessary. The number (e.g., “1)”) in the Indirect Cost Rate Description” column signifies a specific indirect cost rate description. For example, an offeror may elect to propose “Fringe Benefits” next to “1)”, “Overhead” next to “2)”, and “G&A” next to “3).”

b. Each row will apply to a different Offeror Fiscal Year Period, which offerors shall identify with month, day, and year in the right-most column.

c. Propose an Offeror Fiscal Year Period for each of the offeror’s fiscal years through the life of the contract. Offerors shall assume that the life of the contract, including any extension, is June 1, 2023 through December 31, 2028. For example, for each proposed indirect cost rate description, if an offeror’s fiscal year is a calendar year, the offeror’s first listed fiscal year shall be January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023, and the offeror’s seventh and final listed fiscal year shall be January 1, 2029 – December 31, 2029.

d. Do not list a contract year period in the “Offeror Fiscal Year Period” column unless the offeror fiscal year period matches the contract year period.

In Pricing Table 2, the proposed ceiling indirect cost rates shall match or otherwise not exceed 10% of the respective provisional billing indirect cost rates proposed in Pricing Table 1. For example, if a provisional billing indirect cost rate proposed in Pricing Table 1 is 5.00%, the respective ceiling indirect cost rate proposed in Pricing Table 2 shall be 5.00% or otherwise not exceed 5.50%.

In Pricing Table 3, offerors shall review all of the content, which is presented for illustration purposes as guidance, and replace the content in the table (rows 4 through 9) with the offeror’s fiscal year period and the ceiling indirect cost rates (proposed in Pricing Table 2) that contain transportation expenses, maintenance support costs, etc in the allocation base. Offerors may add rows, if necessary. See Instruction Pricing Table 4 Buildup below.

In Pricing Table 4, under “Unit Price,” offerors shall propose one not-to-exceed (NTE) fully-loaded unit price per CLIN per period, regardless of which entity (offeror, subcontractor offeror, and/or other) is anticipated to perform the CLIN.

Note: If an offeror normally allocates indirectly the costs associated with a category identified in Pricing Table 4, we remind such offeror that such allocation does not relieve the offeror from complying with each solicitation term, including this instruction.

In Pricing Table 4, each proposed NTE fully-loaded unit price shall consist of a proposed unloaded direct cost for canines, applicable indirect costs, and profit amount. It shall not include any other costs, including ODCs.

It shall also not be $0.00 or other nominal amount. It shall be an amount commensurate with the corresponding canine or training type identified in the CLIN description.

Any other costs that are part of the Contractor’s established operation costs and are consistent with FAR part 31 shall be allocated separately as an ODC (other direct cost) (under fixed-price and cost-reimbursement arrangements) or as a direct material (under time and- materials arrangements) at the delivery order level. Examples of such costs, if applicable, that shall be allocated separately as an ODC or direct material at the delivery order level, transportation costs, travel, and veterinary or support costs.

In Pricing Table 4, the proposed NTE unit prices shall not exceed two decimal places.

Instruction Pricing Table 4 Buildup: In Pricing Table 4, offerors shall enter, in whole numbers (i.e., no decimals), their estimated indirect costs in the “Ind $” columns. Such costs shall reflect the applicable ceiling indirect cost rate(s) proposed in Pricing Table 2 (as blended in columns C through H in Pricing Table 3) multiplied by the RFP-specified estimated direct costs. To determine the applicable proposed ceiling indirect cost rates, offerors shall do all of the following:

a. Ensure the RFP-specified estimated direct costs (i.e., veterinary costs) are in the allocation base of the selected indirect cost rate description(s);

b. Ensure that the proposed applicable ceiling indirect cost rate(s) are for the offeror fiscal year(s) that coincides with the contract period. When a given contract period traverses two offeror fiscal years, the offeror shall show and compute accordingly for the given contract period the proposed applicable ceiling indirect cost rate(s) for each of the two offeror fiscal years.

c. Follow the guidance in and complete Pricing Table 3 accordingly, including reviewing the formulas in columns C through H.

In Pricing Table 4, the Government provided formulas to calculate automatically each proposed Subtotal, CLIN Total, and Total Contract Price. Offerors shall verify all formulas and otherwise the arithmetic accuracy of all proposed information.

In the Narrative, offerors shall identify, based on their Overall Proposed Price in Pricing Table 4, the:

a. Name of each proposed subcontractor;

b. Total dollars estimated to be subcontracted to each proposed subcontractor;

c. Total dollars estimated to be performed by the offeror; and

d. Percentage of work (based on estimated total dollars) to be performed by the offeror and each proposed subcontractor. “Subcontractor,” in this context, is defined, pursuant to FAR 44.101 (Definitions), as “any supplier, distributor, vendor, or firm that furnishes supplies or services to or for a prime contractor or another subcontractor.”

In the Narrative, offerors shall identify the name and full contact information, including e-mail address, of their cognizant Federal auditor (e.g., local Defense Contract Audit Agency branch). Offerors shall also specify whether or not they currently have a DCAA approved accounting system.

In the Narrative, offerors shall identify the name and full contact information, including e-mail address, of their cognizant Federal agency official (CFAO). The CFAO works in the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency, which is normally the agency with which the offeror has the largest dollars in negotiated contracts, including option periods. See FAR 42.003. If the Government has not appointed a CFAO, the offeror shall identify the name and full contact information, including e-mail address, of the contracting officer cognizant of the largest dollars in negotiated contracts, including option periods. Offerors must have an approved accounting system in order to receive cost type contracts.

In the Narrative, offerors shall identify each business unit/reporting unit proposed to perform work under this contract and is part of the offeror. A business unit, among other things, has its own indirect cost rate structure. For large business offerors, a reporting unit has its own Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) Disclosure Statement. “Offeror” is identified in block 15A on Standard Form (SF) 33.

Instruction Supporting Information Indirect Costs - offerors shall submit evidence to support the provisional billing indirect cost rates proposed in Pricing Table 1. Offerors shall submit at least one of the following pieces of evidence, pursuant to the following descending order of precedence:

a. Current forward pricing rate agreement with the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official

b. Current other negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (that contains forward pricing indirect cost rates) with the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official

c. Current forward pricing rate recommendation letter issued by the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official

d. Current provisional billing indirect cost rate agreement with the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official

e. Current provisional billing indirect cost rate recommendation letter issued by the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official

f. Most recent (within the last year) audit report (containing indirect cost rates) from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) or other qualified external auditor

g. Most recent (within the last year) audit report (containing indirect cost rates) from a qualified internal auditor

h. Current indirect cost rate proposal submitted to the offeror’s cognizant Federal agency official and cognizant auditor

i. Identification of the indirect cost pools and respective allocation bases, and breakdown of the cost elements and costs comprising such pools and bases. The Government prefers that the offeror submit such evidence in a format similar to the applicable schedules in Incurred Cost Proposals of DCAA’s Information for Offerors, which may be found on DCAA’s Web site (https://www.dcaa.mil/Guidance/Audit-Process-Overview/) under the “Audit Process Overview – Information for Contractors” link under the Guidance tab at the top of the homepage.

Note 1: If the offeror has one or more of the items under “a” through “h” above but the item(s) does not account for the impact of this potential contract, the offeror shall submit the item(s) along with the information requested under “i” above, which then must account for the impact of this potential contract.

Note 2: The provisional billing indirect cost rates proposed in Pricing Table 1 shall match the respective rates submitted in the above support.

There are two categories of CLINs: Firm Fixed Price and Cost Reimbursable. Material deliverables and associated training costs will be billed on a firm fixed price basis at the delivery order level. Other direct costs, such as transportation and veterinary expenses will be billed as cost reimbursable at the delivery order level.

1) Canines and Courses:

The offeror will propose fully burdened, firm fixed price CLIN prices for all requested deliverables. Offerors should include a breakdown of these unit costs as specified at the subCLIN level in Attachment 2.

2) Other Direct Costs (ODCs)

(a) These are cost reimbursement CLINs including, but not limited to required travel and canine care and maintenance costs.

(b) The contractor shall bill for these expenses as they are incurred.

C) Volume III: Factor 3 – Past Performance

The Offerors shall identify the following information based on programs similar in scope and complexity for the past five (5) years, for which the offeror served as the prime contractor. The offeror is required to submit the following information for up to three contract efforts of similar size and scope:

· Customer's name, email address(s) and telephone numbers of customer's Contracting officer and technical personnel or Contracting Officer Representative (COR);

· Contract number and type (if applicable);

· Date of the contract, place(s) of performance, and delivery dates or period of performance;

· Contract size (number of personnel employed by contract year per labor category) and dollar value;

· Brief description of the work, including responsibilities;

· A comparison to the work required under this solicitation;

· Brief discussion of any technical problems and their resolutions;

· Brief discussion of all terminations (partial or complete) and the type (convenience or default) as well as any deficiency notices, show cause notices or cure notices (provide explanatory details); Offeror is required to identify if this information is applicable or not. If so, details shall be provided.

· Identify and provide specific information if an offeror has received any Letters of Concern and/or Deficiency notices.

In order to qualify as relevant experience, Project must be either ongoing or had been open and active within 5 years from the date proposals are due. Each contract must have at least one year of performance unless one of the following situations exist:

a. The project has an Interim or a Final CPARS.

b. The project has a completed Award Fee Determination.

c. The project had a basic period of performance less than one year and that period of performance is complete.

Only in the event CPARS information is not available will an Offeror be allowed to substitute a Past Performance Survey Attachment 5, similar to the CPARS format. If CPARS information is available for any given relevant project, it must be used for the Past Performance evaluation.

If the Government has interim or final ratings in CPARS, the Offeror shall provide a copy of this rating with their proposal. The Government will retrieve past performance information from the CPARS database in order to validate the Offeror’s submission.

For the purposes of this solicitation, the final past performance information will be used on a relevant experience project. If a final rating is not available, the most current past performance information will be used. Offerors are responsible for verifying whether past performance ratings exist in the CPARs database prior to using Past Performance Surveys.

If the Government has not finalized past performance ratings in the CPARS database; or, if the project(s) are considered Non-U.S. Federal projects; the Offeror shall submit a certified Past Performance Survey using the template in Attachment 5, “Past Performance Rating Form”. No other format or additional proposal documentation will be considered.

Using the Past Performance Rating Form Attachment, the Offeror shall provide the survey directly to each of the references. The Past Performance Rating Form must be completed and signed by a Warranted Contracting Officer with cognizance over the submitted project. For a commercial project, the Past Performance Rating Form must be completed and signed by a Corporate Officer/ of the customer with cognizance over the submitted project.

The Offeror shall instruct each rater to send a completed form directly to the Contracting Officer. The Offeror must follow up with each rater and the CO to ensure the Past Performance Rating Forms were received and completed prior to the proposal closing date. The Offeror must reference all rating forms that have been confirmed submitted to the CO, as applicable, with their proposal submission. In the event the evaluation team discovers misleading, falsified, and/or fraudulent past performance ratings, the Offeror shall be eliminated from further consideration for award. Falsification of any proposal submission, documents, or statements may subject the Offeror to civil or criminal prosecution under Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code.

For the relevant past performance references, Offerors are strongly cautioned that inability of the Government to contact past performance references directly associated to any survey; or, in the case past performance information is not entered into the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) database; or, in the case of project(s) without a record of past performance, the Offeror will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance, which is otherwise known as a neutral rating.

Offerors with no past performance shall type “NO PAST PEFORMANCE” in Bold Letters for Subfactor 3, Past Performance on a blank page in this volume.