Attachment 6- Instructions to Offerors .pdf

Addendum To Far 52.212-1 – Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021)

52.212-1(c), Period for Acceptance of Offers, is tailored as follows: “The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers. Offerors may specify a longer acceptance period than the Government’s minimum requirement.”

The following is inserted as new paragraph (m) of the provision: (m) Proposal Preparation Instructions

A. This firm-fixed-price (FFP), Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract is being issued on a 100% Small Business Set-aside competitive basis. The contracting officer has determined there is a high probability of adequate price competition in this acquisition. Upon examination of the initial offers, the contracting officer will review this determination and if, in the contracting officer's opinion, adequate price competition exists, no additional cost information will be requested and certification under FAR 15.406-2 will not be required. However, if at any time during this competition the contracting officer determines that adequate price competition no longer exists; offerors may be required to submit information to the extent necessary for the contracting officer to determine the reasonableness of the price.

B. 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. Offerors must clearly identify any exception to the solicitation terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale.

C. The Government intends to evaluate offers and award this firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract without discussions. Therefore, the offeror’s initial proposal should contain the offeror’s best terms from a price standpoint.

D. Communications: Exchange of source selection information after submission of the initial proposal packages between the Government and offerors will be controlled by the Contracting Officer. E-mail may be used to transmit such information only if the e-mail can be sent encrypted, and must include “Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the subject line of the e-mail. Otherwise, source selection information will be transmitted via direct mailing or DROP SAFE at https://safe.apps.mil/about.php. In order to facilitate the sending and receiving of encrypted e-mails, offerors must use MS Outlook e-mail configured to support encryption or a different e-mail product that is S/MIME compatible and configured to support encryption. If you intend to submit your source selection information via encrypted e-mail, you will need to contact the following Buyer and Contracting Officer: william.griffiths.5@us.af.mil, william.stallings.1@us.af.mil, and sandra.turner.1@us.af.mil prior to that first submittal in order to exchange certificates used for encryption. To ensure the process is working correctly, send a test encrypted message first (without including any source selection information). When submitting source selection information via e-mail, file suppression utilities, to include but not limited to zip files, will not be accepted.

E. Points of Contact: The Contracting Office Points of Contact (POC) are the sole POCs for this acquisition. Solicitation information and amendments will be posted to the SAM website at https://www.sam.gov/. Offerors may e-mail written questions pertaining to this RFP, or any of its attachments, to the email addresses below. The Government will answer questions received up until 12:00 PM C.D.T, Montgomery, AL on 25 Aug 2022 and provide responses to interested parties via SAM. Questions received after mailto:william.griffiths.5@us.af.mil mailto:william.stallings.1@us.af.mil mailto:sandra.turner.1@us.af.mil this date may not be answered.

Sandra K. Turner, Contracting Officer E-mail:

sandra.turner.1@us.af.mil

William Stallings, Team Lead E-mail: william.stallings.1@us.af.mil

William M. Griffiths, Contract Specialist E-mail:

william.griffiths.5@us.af.mil

F. Electronic Reference Documents: All referenced documents for this solicitation are available on the SAM website. Potential offerors are encouraged to subscribe for e-mail notifications to be updated when information has been posted to the website for this solicitation.

G. Multiple offers. Multiple offers will not be accepted under this Request for Proposal nor will multiple awards be considered. The Government intends to award a single firm fixed price contract.

Late Proposals: Late proposals will be processed in accordance with FAR 52.212-1(f) Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offers.

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

Volume Page Limit # of Copies Description

I N/A 1 Electronic Copy Summary and Misc. Data

II 30 1 Electronic Copy Written Technical Proposal

III N/A 1 Electronic Copy Past Performance Proposal

IV N/A 1 Electronic Copy Price Proposal

(1) VOLUME I – SUMMARY AND MISCELLANEOUS DATA.

(a) The offeror shall provide a concise summary and master table of contents of the entire proposal.

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

1. Table of Contents

2. Clause fill-ins in Sections I through K

3. Authorization Letter

4. Joint Venture Agreement, if applicable mailto:sandra.turner.1@us.af.mil mailto:william.stallings.1@us.af.mil mailto:william.griffiths.5@us.af.mil

5. Responsibility Determination Supporting Information

(b) Standard Form 1449 (SF 1449), Blocks 30a-30c of the RFP. In completing these blocks, the offeror accedes to the contract terms and conditions as written in the RFP. A scanned copy of the originally signed (“wet” signature) page or electronically signed signature page should be included in the proposal package.

(c) Standard Form 30 (SF 30), Blocks 15a-15c, for any/all amendments. A scanned copy of the originally signed (“wet” signature) page or electronically signed signature page should be included in the proposal package for any/all amendments.

(d) Complete all necessary fill-ins and certifications in Sections I through K. Ensure compliance with RFP requirements if using the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) website at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. Ensure the Tax Identification Number (TIN) is loaded in SAM or provided for in the proposal submission. If the CO is unable to access/retrieve an offeror’s annual representations and certifications, that offeror may, upon request by the CO, be required to submit a hard copy of their annual representations and certifications. This request will not be construed as communications or discussions with an offeror as defined by FAR 15.306.

(e) Authorization Letter. 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.

(f) Joint Venture Agreement. If a joint venture arrangement exists for this acquisition, the offeror shall provide a copy of the joint venture agreement that is signed and dated by all joint venture members as part of the proposal submission.

(g) Responsibility Determination and Supporting Documentation. To assist in determining contractor responsibility in accordance with FAR 9.104-3(a), the offeror shall explain how they plan to maintain adequate financial resources for a contract of this magnitude and length.

IAW FAR 9.104-5, the offeror is required to comply with the submission regarding FAR 52.209-5, Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters. Since it is the Government’s intent to make Award without Discussions IAW FAR 52.215-1, the Government may request that an offeror submit additional information so a responsibility determination can be made. This request for additional information will not be construed as communications or discussions with an offeror as defined by FAR 15.306. An incomplete proposal may be considered to indicate lack of understanding of the requirement and may result in the entire proposal being determined “unacceptable” and eliminated from further consideration.

(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, http://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ facilities, and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the offeror’s technical proposal.

(b) Volume Organization.

1. Table of Contents

2. Glossary

3. Summary Page

4. Subfactors

(c) 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.

(d) The technical volume shall not exceed 30 pages. The page limit does not include the title page, table of contents, any list of acronyms or definitions. 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.

(e) Page size will be 8 1/2” x 11” except for fold-outs used for charts, tables, or diagrams, which may not exceed 11” x 17.”

(f) Typing shall be double spaced, in Times New Roman font, and not be less than 12 pitch.

Offeror’s are allowed to use a smaller text font for charts, tables and diagrams, no smaller than 10 pt. Additionally, offeror’s can single space within tables.

(g) Elaborate formats or color presentations are not desired or required.

(h) Each page containing proprietary information should be so marked.

(i) Each page should contain the following legend at the bottom of each sheet:

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION – SEE FAR 2.101 and 3.104 FOR OFFICIAL USE

ONLY

(j) Technical Subfactors are listed below:

Subfactor 1: Classroom Drone Package- The contractor shall provide specifications and capabilities for a classroom drone package that meets the requirements of paragraph 2.1.1,

2.1.3 - 2.1.3.2, and 2.1.4 - 2.1.9 of the Statement of Objective.

Subfactor 2: Student Classroom Drone Curriculum- The contractor shall provide student classroom drone curriculum that meets the requirements of paragraphs 2.2.1 - 2.2.1.5 of the Statement of Objective.

Subfactor 3: Instructor Classroom Drone Curriculum- The contractor shall provide instructor classroom drone curriculum that meets the requirements of paragraph 2.3.1 of the Statement of Objective.

(3) VOLUME III – FACTOR 2 - PAST PERFORMANCE PROPOSAL. Each offeror shall submit a Past Performance Volume with its proposal. The Past Performance volume shall be prepared in accordance with all instructions contained within this section. Only references for past efforts/contracts of relevance are desired.

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

(1) Table of Contents

(2) Glossary

(3) Summary Page

(4) Past Performance Information (PPI)

(5) Subcontractor Letters of Consent

(b) Summary Page. Many companies have acquired, been acquired by, otherwise merged with other companies, and/or reorganized their divisions, business groups, subsidiary companies, etc.

In many cases, these changes have taken place during the time of performance of relevant present or past contracts. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to determine what past performance is relevant to this acquisition. To facilitate this relevancy determination, include in this proposal volume a “roadmap” describing all such changes in the organization of the offering company. As part of this explanation, show how these changes impact the relevance of any efforts identified for the past performance evaluation. Since the Government intends to consider past and present performance information provided by other sources as well, the “roadmap” should be applicable to contracts the Government receives information on from other sources.

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 in accordance with paragraph e below.

(c) Quality and Satisfaction Rating of Contracts completed in the Past Five (5) Years:

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. There is no required format for submission of this information.

(d) Performance Surveys/Questionnaires: Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) shall be used by the offeror in obtaining and providing past performance information. The government requires the offeror to send out a PPQ to each of the Points-of-Contact (POCs) identified in the Past Performance Information (paragraph (e) below).

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SEND OUT THE PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE

RESTS SOLELY WITH THE OFFEROR.

Past Performance Questionnaire: The offeror shall send out the PPQ (Attachment #4), using the Past Performance Evaluation Cover Letter (Attachment #3), to each of their references.

Completed questionnaires shall be sent directly to the government by the references completing the questionnaire. References should email the completed Past Performance Questionnaire directly to the Contracting Office Points of Contact (POC) listed in paragraph F above. These questionnaires are due no later than the offer due date/time in block 8 of the Standard Form 1449. Once filled out, these questionnaires are deemed acquisition sensitive and must be safeguarded accordingly.

(e) Past Performance Information (PPI): Utilizing the PPI Sheet (Attachment #2), submit information on 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 five (5) years from the issuance date of the solicitation.

Relevant is defined as contract efforts for classroom drones with classroom curriculum similar or greater in scope, magnitude and complexity, than the effort described in the solicitation’s Statement of Objective. 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.

(g) The evaluation of past performance information will take into account past performance regarding (i) predecessor companies, (ii) will take into account past performance of key personnel who have relevant experience, and/or (iii) will take into account past performance regarding subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to this acquisition. There is no required format for submission of this information.

(h) Teaming Agreement: 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.

(i) Subcontractor Consent: Past performance information pertaining to a subcontractor cannot be disclosed to the prime offeror without the subcontractor’s consent. Provide with the proposal a letter from each subcontractor that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement, consenting to the release of its past performance information to the prime contractor (Attachment #5). If the subcontractor does not consent, include a statement to that effect.

(4) VOLUME IV – FACTOR 3 - PRICE PROPOSAL:

(a) Insert proposed unit and extended prices in the Schedule of Supplies/Services for each Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN) 0001 - 4001. The extended amount must equal the unit price multiplied by the number of units. It is imperative that mathematical calculations are correct; particular care should be taken to ensure the amounts match when using the EXCEL program and the rounding of figures, limited to two decimal places.

(b) Extreme care should be exercised to ensure that no price data of any kind are included in any other Part of the proposal.

(c) 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 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.

(d) Point of Contact. The Contracting Officer (CO), Team Lead, and the Contract Specialist are the sole points of contact for this acquisition. Address any questions or concerns IN WRITING to the individuals listed below. The deadline for all questions, concerns and/or requests for clarification is 12:00 PM C.D.T. Montgomery, AL, on 01 Sept 2022. The Government may not respond to submissions past the deadline. Contact information is as follows:

Contracting Officer Team Lead Contract Specialist Sandra K. Turner William Stallings William M. Griffiths sandra.turner.1@us.af.mil william.stallings.1@us.af.mil william.griffiths.5@us.af.

mil

(e) 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.

(f) 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) mailto:sandra.turner.1@us.af.mil mailto:william.stallings.1@us.af.mil mailto:william.griffiths.5@us.af.mil mailto:william.griffiths.5@us.af.mil