Attachment 4 Section L - Instructions to Offerors - Rucker Grounds Maint....docx

W9124G-20-R-0003

Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS

Section L – Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders

L1. General: This firm fixed-priced (FFP) contract is set-aside 100% for small business concerns under NAICS Code 561730 with a size standard of $8 million. Only offers from small business concerns will be accepted. Proposals must be complete, self-sufficient, and respond directly to the requirements of the Request for Proposal (RFP). Failure to meet a requirement may result in an offer being ineligible for award. The Government intends to evaluate offers and award this firm fixed-price contract without discussions. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if deemed in its best interest. Therefore, the offeror’s initial proposal should contain the offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint.

Offerors shall submit only one proposal for Grounds Maintenance Services as the Government will review only one proposal per offeror. Proposals must be received no later than 11:00 AM, Central Standard Time (CST), 22 September 2020.

L2. Acceptance Period: The Government requires a minimum acceptance period of 90 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers; however, offerors may specify an acceptance period exceeding the Government’s minimum requirement.

L3. Communications: All discourse concerning this solicitation and its requirements shall be directed to the Fort Rucker Contracting Office. Any remarks, explanations or answers provided by any other Government representative shall not change or qualify any of the terms or conditions of the solicitation. The solicitation shall only be changed by a written amendment issued by the Fort Rucker Contracting Office. Solicitation information and amendments will be posted to the Beta SAM website at https://beta.sam.gov/. It must be emphasized that telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Offerors may email written questions pertaining to this RFP to the addresses below. The Government will answer questions received no later than 8 September 2020 @ 08:00 Central Standard Time (CST), and provide responses by the solicitation closing date. Questions received after this date may not be answered. Please provide your company name, telephone, point of contact, e-mail address, and solicitation number on all questions. The Government will respond to questions via the issuance of an amendment which incorporates the question and the Government’s response. Questions should be sent to the following:

Vanessa Martinez-Harris, Contract Specialist, at Vanessa.martinez-harris.civ@mail.mil cc: Anita McLain, Contracting Officer, at anita.l.mclain.civ@mail.mil.

L4. Site Visit: A two-day site visit will be held Tuesday, September 1, 2020 and Wednesday, September 2, 2020 starting at 09:00 Central Standard Time (CST) at Building 6036 Chapel of the Wings parking Lot. The site visit will be conducted via a planned route with predetermined stops in which each contractor will follow in a separate vehicle. At each stop, a group discussion will be held outside while maintaining social distancing guidelines of six feet apart. Individuals attending the site visit must submit the following information vial email to Vanessa Martinez-Harris, Contract Specialist, at Vanessa.martinez-harris.civ@mail.mil ; cc: Anita McLain, Contracting Officer, at anita.l.mclain.civ@mail.mil no later than (5 days prior to site visit):

· Company name

· Full names of company attendees

· Driver's license number and state for all company attendees

In accordance with FAR 52.237-1 -- Site Visit, Offerors or quoters are urged and expected to inspect the site where services are to be performed and to satisfy themselves regarding all general and local conditions that may affect the cost of contract performance, to the extent that the information is reasonably obtainable. In no event shall failure to inspect the site constitute grounds for a claim after contract award.

L5. Specific Instructions: Proposals shall be submitted to the Government in four (4) separate volumes as set forth below:

(a) Offerors shall submit proposals by the date and time specified in the solicitation to the following address:

MICC – Fort Rucker ATTN: Vanessa Martinez-Harris/Anita McLain W9124G20R0003 453 Novosel St., Bldg 5700, Rm 384 Fort Rucker, AL 36362

Or by email to:

Vanessa Martinez-Harris, Contract Specialist, at Vanessa.martinez-harris.civ@mail.mil cc: Anita McLain, Contracting Officer, at anita.l.mclain.civ@mail.mil.

Submission of proposal packages via facsimile (fax) will not be accepted. Proposal packages shall either be emailed, mailed, or hand-delivered. Offerors are cautioned that Fort Rucker has visitor control procedures requiring individuals not affiliated with the installation to obtain a visitor pass prior to entrance. SOME DELAY SHOULD BE ANTICIPATED WHEN HANDCARRYING PROPOSAL PACKAGES. Offerors should allow for sufficient time to obtain a visitor pass and arrive at the specified office PRIOR to the time specified for receipt of proposals.

(b) For proposals submitted by mail or in person, all volumes shall be submitted in one (1) CD-R or DVD-R (write once/read only) (1 copy) that is “closed” so that no further writes can be made to the media. Other media types are not acceptable. Media must be virus scanned by the offeror prior to submitting to the Government. Proposals submitted by email may be sent as separate attachments in order to meet email size requirements. The proposal shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft Office 2013 which includes software programs such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For those pages of the proposal that cannot be submitted using Microsoft Office, such as the Standard Form 1449, offerors shall include those pages electronically using Adobe Acrobat portable document files (.pdf) format.

L6. FORMAT AND SPECIFIC CONTENT:

L6-1. VOLUME I – SUMMARY AND MISCELLANEOUS DATA.

Volume I shall be organized according to the following general outline:

1. Table of Contents

2. SF 1449 Solicitation. SF 1449 shall be submitted fully completed. Ensure the following are completed:

(a) Block 17a – Name and Address of Offeror (include DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax-ID number, and

(b) Address); Telephone No. (Include area code).

(c) Block 30a – Signature of Offeror/Contractor (must contain an original signature)

(d) Block 30b – Printed name and title of signer

(e) Block 30c – Offer Date

(f) Clause fill-ins in Sections I through K

3. Standard Form 30 (SF 30). The contractor shall acknowledge any amendments to the RFP. Ensure Blocks 15a-15c are completed for any/all amendments.

4. Authorization Letter. The Offeror shall provide a letter signed by an officer of the company, on company

(g) Letterhead, which identifies the name, title and telephone number of the company/division point of contact regarding decisions made with respect to your proposal and who can obligate your company contractually. Also, identify those individuals authorized to negotiate with the Government.

5. Representation, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offerors. The Offeror shall ensure that Reps and

(h) Certs is submitted thoroughly completed with all blocks in each certification/representation completed truthfully and completely.

6. Joint Venture Agreement, if applicable. When proposing as a joint venture, all members of the joint venture shall sign the SF 1449 and Corporate Certificate unless a written agreement by the joint venture is furnished with the proposal designating one firm with the authority to bind the other member(s) of the joint venture. In addition, the Offeror shall submit a copy of the joint venture agreement with the proposal. Failure to comply with the foregoing requirements may eliminate the proposal from further consideration. Note: JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENTS - Joint Ventures are allowable, however, the SBA must receive the joint venture agreement prior to proposal due date and approved before award of any resulting contract.

L6.2. VOLUME II – FACTOR 1 - TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.

(a) General. The written Technical Volume shall be clear, concise, and include all the information required by this provision in sufficient detail for effective evaluation. The proposal 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 the Government has no prior knowledge of their capabilities, work processes, facilities, and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the offeror’s technical proposal.

(b) The technical volume shall not exceed 40 pages (All documents). A page is defined as one face of a sheet of paper containing information. Pages shall be numbered consecutively. Offerors are cautioned that any pages that exceed the page limitations shall not be read but shall be removed and either retained in the contract file without being considered in the evaluation, or, sent back to the offeror. Font shall not be less than 12 pitch, with the exception for charts, tables, and diagrams, which shall be no smaller than 10 pitch.

(c) Volume Organization.

1. Table of Contents

2. Glossary

3. Summary Page(s). To aid the Government’s understanding, provide a summary of the offeror’s proposed technical approach and how the approach will efficiently and effectively meet the requirement. The summary page(s) shall not exceed two (2) pages.

4. Subfactor 1 – Equipment Plan

5. Subfactor 2 – Management Plan

6. Subfactor 3 – Quality Control Plan

(d) Subfactor 1: Equipment Plan: This subfactor evaluates the offeror’s specific resources that will be used to satisfy the PWS requirements. The following must be included in the Equipment Plan:

· Listing of ALL grounds maintenance equipment to be used on the installation for the Contract, regardless of how small or insignificant with the following information for each item:

· Model

· Age

· Condition of each piece of equipment

· Listing of vehicles, including their age and condition

· Certification that each piece of equipment meets or exceeds the specifications as outlined in PWS Section 2.3 and 2.8.

· Description of manufacturer support such as warranties, maintenance programs, or technical representative assistance.

· Methodology for acquiring and maintaining/repairing equipment and repair parts, the controls exercised to assure quality and timeliness. For example, identify if equipment will be leased or purchased, and if repairs will be performed in house or subcontracted out.

· Explanation of how the requirements of the Contract will be met with minimal disruption in services.

· Description of contingency procedures for emergency replacement or repair of equipment in the event of catastrophic equipment failure (multiple pieces down).

(e) Subfactor 2: Management Plan. This subfactor evaluates the offeror’s proposed staffing approach to ensure adequacy and sufficiency of the labor hours and skill mix for performing PWS requirements. The offeror shall provide a Management Plan that describes its approach/process to ensure the employment of qualified personnel as necessary for functional continuity. At a minimum, the Management Plan shall include the following:

LABOR

· Man-hour matrix following the format provided in RFP Attachment 6, which shows the total number of direct labor hours by category of employee, including indirect and direct labor, per month and for a 12-month period.

· Details of the numbers and types of personnel to be employed on a permanent basis and available during peak load periods on a temporary basis.

· Details of the mechanisms that will be employed to recruit, retain, and replenish (when necessary) sufficient number of qualified personnel to ensure successful accomplishment of contract performance.

· Rationale used to estimate all labor such as engineering time standards; Industry estimating standards; equipment production rates and any other standards used to calculate labor requirements.

OPERATIONAL PLAN

· Details of specific procedures for performing the work to assure a complete understanding of the work required.

· Details of how the personnel, equipment, and supplies proposed will be used to perform work on all OVERLAPPING SCHEDULED WORK REQUIREMENTS DURING PEAK MOWING SEASON SIMULTANEOUSLY, in accordance with the Contract.

WORK SCHEDULING

· Details of procedures for scheduling work to assure logical and expeditious performance, include numbers and types of crews, their mowing or work route, acres to be mowed per day.

· Description of the Offeror’s flexibility in changing their mowing schedule and recovery from rain days while still meeting timeliness requirements.

· Description of how the Offeror will integrate emergency requirements, where response time is short, such as VIP visits and ceremonies, and other schedule disruptions, into the schedule.

HERBICIDE APPLICATION TO RAIL ROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY

· Details of how this PWS requirement will be met.

· Listing of all equipment to be used to apply herbicides, regardless of how small or insignificant that includes:

· Model

· Age

· Condition of each piece of equipment

· List of vehicles, including their age and condition

· Certification that each piece of equipment meets or exceeds the contract specifications as listed in PWS SECTION and sub sections.

· Herbicide Applicators (Rail Road Rights-of-Way).

· Description of the technical experience of the herbicide applicator(s) in performing this type of work.

· Copy of the herbicide applicators resume containing his/her name, educational background, employment history, periods of employment, title, experience history (where, when, duties, level of responsibility, title), and employment status with this company.

ORGANIZATION

· Description of the management personnel to be employed and their authority, both off-site and on-site, including their level of authority.

· Organizational hierarchy chart to illustrate the management structure.

PROGRAM MANAGER EXPERIENCE.

· Description detailing the technical experience of the project manager in performing this type of work, managing a workforce of this size, and working with automation equipment (especially that required by the Contract).

· Project manager's resume containing his/her name, educational background, employment history, periods of employment, title, experience history (where, when, duties, level of responsibility, title), and employment status with this company.

QUALITY CONTROL CHIEF EXPERIENCE.

· Description detailing the technical experience of the Quality Control Chief in performing this type of work, managing a quality control staff, inspecting a workforce of this size, and working with automation equipment.

· Quality Control Chief's resume containing his/her name, educational background, employment history, periods of employment, title, experience history (where, when, duties, level of responsibility, title), and employment status with this company.

COMPANY

· Description detailing the technical experience of the company in performing services similar in type and complexity to those required by the Contract, within the last five years.

· Description of all previous contracts for these services, including the contract numbers, procuring agencies contracted with, scope, term, and number of employees for each.

· Description of the company's background, to include the overall number of years in business.

· Company's State of Alabama Structural Pest Control Board’s pest control business license. Provide a copy of each proposed applicator’s State of Alabama Applicator Certification in the “Right of Way” category.

STAFFING APPROACH

· Description detailing the exact relationship between the Program Manager, Quality Control Chief, and top management.

· Description of procedures for the Quality Control Chief’s and Program Manager's communication with top management, to include how they will be kept totally independent of each other.

· Description of the authority of the Program Manager to act on behalf of the company.

· Specifically address the Quality Control Chief’s authority to effect changes in procedures to assure quality and future Contract compliance, to include stopping work, if deemed necessary.

PHASE-IN PLAN.

· Details of the phase-in process, with specific procedures and dates of actions to ensure compliance with the Contract on the Contract start date. Address coordination that must be made, and procedures for acquiring and storing resources.

(f) Subfactor 3: Quality Control Plan (QCP). This subfactor evaluates the Offeror’s QCP. The QCP shall provide the following:

· Description detailing the specific surveillance techniques to be employed for all Contract services, ensuring that all tasks listed in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) will be inspected.

· Explanation of how the inspection system will specify areas to be inspected on either a scheduled or non-scheduled basis, how often inspections will be accomplished, and the name of the individual designated as Quality Control Chief.

· Methodology of identifying deficiencies in the quality of services performed before the level of performance becomes unacceptable.

· Methodology of maintaining records of all quality control inspections and the corrective actions taken.

· Procedures for maintaining these records in the event of automation system failure.

· Sample inspection form(s) to be used by Quality Control personnel.

L6.3. VOLUME II – FACTOR 2 – PAST PERFORMANCE PROPOSAL.

(a) Volume Organization. The Past Performance Volume shall be organized according to the following general outline:

1. Table of Contents

2. Summary Page

3. Past Performance Information (PPI)

4. Teaming Agreement, if applicable

5. Subcontractor Letters of Consent

(b) Summary Page. Past Performance information described herein is required on the Offeror and all subcontractors, teaming partners, and/or joint venture partners proposed to perform 25% of the proposed effort based on the total proposed price. If applicable, describe the role of the Offeror and each subcontractor, teaming partner, and/or joint venture partner for whom the Offeror is required to provide Past Performance Information Sheets.

(c) Quality and Satisfaction Rating of Contracts completed in the Past Three (3) Years: Offeror may provide any information currently available (letters, metrics, customer surveys, independent surveys, etc.) that demonstrates customer satisfaction with overall job performance and/or quality of completed and/or ongoing contracts. In addition, explain corrective actions taken in the past, if any, for substandard performance and any current performance problems, such as cost overruns, extended performance periods, numerous warranty calls, etc.

(d) Past Performance Questionnaire: Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) shall be used by the offeror in obtaining and providing past performance information, see RFP Attachment 8, Past Performance Questionnaire. For the contracts identified on each Specific Relevant Contract Reference, the Offeror shall forward a copy of the Past Performance Questionnaire to the points of contact responsible for monitoring performance under such contracts. The points of contact shall return the questionnaires directly to Vanessa Martinez-Harris, Contract Specialist, via email at Vanessa.martinez-harris.civ@mail.m no later than the solicitation closing date/time. Any questionnaires not returned directly to the Contract Specialist will not be reviewed and evaluated. The information contained in the questionnaires will be used to evaluate the Offeror’s past performance. New entities that have no past customers shall annotate on the Summary Page that they have had no previous clients and that the minimum number of questionnaires cannot be provided.

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SEND OUT THE PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE RESTS SOLELY WITH THE OFFEROR.

(e) Past Performance Information (PPI): Utilizing the PPI Sheet, see RFP Attachment 7, submit information of no more than three (3) recent contracts the offeror considers most relevant in demonstrating the ability to perform the proposed effort. One (1) of the past performance references may be for a subcontractor, teaming partner, and/or joint venture partner that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement (i.e., 25% or more of the work). Recent past performance information includes contracts performed and/or being performed for any customer within the last three (3) years from the issuance date of the solicitation, to include at least twelve (12) months of documented performance during the three (3) year period. Include rationale supporting your assertion of relevance and identify aspects of the contracts deemed relevant and how they relate to the proposed effort.

(f) If an offeror has no past performance history of relevance, the offeror must affirmatively state it possesses no past performance history of relevance. Offerors with no past performance history will receive a neutral confidence rating. The offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on the factor of past performance.

(g) Teaming Arrangement. If a teaming arrangement is contemplated, provide complete information as to the arrangement, including any relevant and recent past performance information on previous teaming arrangements with same partner. If this is a first time joint effort, each party to the arrangement must provide a list of past contracts of relevance.

(a) Consent Letters. Offeror shall provide a consent letter executed by each subcontractor, teaming partner, and/or joint venture partner, authorizing the release of past performance information so the Offeror can respond to such information.

L6.4. VOLUME IV – FACTOR 3 - PRICE PROPOSAL.

1. The Price Volume shall include proposed unit and extended prices for each Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) and SUBCLIN in the SF 1449 Continuation Sheet. A breakout of all labor (direct and indirect), material, automated systems, and vehicle costs to include profit shall be provided in an excel format. The Offeror’s proposal shall include all cost inputs including direct labor cost (number and classification of positions assumed), operating costs, field overhead, equipment, corporate overhead, profit; making it clear that cost inputs explain their respective impact on the proposed costs.

1. Price Reasonableness. The source selection will be conducted with the expectation of adequate price competition for this acquisition per FAR 15.403-1(c)(1); therefore, certified cost or pricing data are not required per FAR 15.403-1(b)(1). If at any time during this competition the Contracting Officer determines that adequate price competition no longer exists or that price reasonableness cannot be determined, offerors may be required to submit additional data other than certified cost or pricing data for the Contracting Officer to determine price reasonableness. A contract will not be awarded to a contractor whose price is not determined to be fair and reasonable.

L.7. Contract Award: The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror’s initial offer should contain the offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary.

L.8. Discrepancies: If an offeror believes these instructions contain errors, omissions or are unsound, the offeror shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer in writing with supporting rationale as well as remedies the offeror is asking the Contracting Officer to consider as related to the omission or error.

(End of Section)