Attch 1 - Instruction to Offerors Supplemental Final.pdf

Attachment 1 – Instructions to Offerors

General Content Requirements

It is requested that all interested parties submit their proposals via e-mail to Michele Coccovizzo at coccovizzoml@state.gov and Jamie Goewey at Goeweyja@state.gov by 5:00 pm EST, September 8, 2022.

The proposal (Volumes I and II) shall include a signed and dated cover letter. The cover letter shall include the following: The Request For Proposal (RFP)/Solicitation reference number; date the RFP was issued; the DoS issuing office, location, and contact person; the closing date and time of the RFP (for submission of quotes); and the name, address (street, city, state, zip) of the contractor submitting the proposal. However, the cover letter(s) shall contain no pricing or technical information. Any such information provided in the cover letter will not be evaluated.

The cover letter shall also acknowledge amendments, as applicable, to the RFP. Please note: The Department of State Seal is intended for use on official government documents only.

Each page within each volume and section shall be numbered using a consistent numbering scheme. This scheme shall also be used for all supporting documentation, such as charts, figures, diagrams, etc. that are included in each volume. Page numbering schemes that are difficult to track are not acceptable. The page limitations by volume are described below.

A Technical and Cost proposal that does not include a base BPA section, and the 2 additional Call Technical and Price Proposals will be deemed non-responsive and will not be evaluated.

CJEP Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)

Volume I – Technical Proposal

There is a thirty (30) page limit imposed on Volume I. This is not inclusive of tables, Project Management Plan, sample outreach materials and executive summaries/capabilities statements.

Should the Contractor submit more than 30 pages, the CO can deem anything over 30 pages not be considered for evaluation

Volume II – Cost/Price Proposal

There is no page limit on Volume II, Cost/Price.

Exclusions from the Page Limitations

Following are the exclusions from the page limitations:

Cover Letter Table of Contents Resumes mailto:coccovizzoml@state.gov mailto:Goeweyja@state.gov

Factor 4 - Ability to Distill Technical Information into Useful Guidance Key Personnel Information on Past Performance

Contractors shall ensure that the technical Proposal, including the cover letter, does not include any information that should be contained in Volume II, Cost/Price Proposal. Any cost/price information placed in Volume I will not be passed on to the Cost/Price Team and such will not be evaluated at all.

Volume II – Cost/Price Proposal:

There is no page limit on the submission requirements for Volume II. However, contractors shall ensure that the cost/price proposal, including the cover letter, does not include any information that should be contained in Volume I, Technical Proposal. Any technical information placed in Volume II will not be passed on to the Technical Evaluation Team and such technical information will not be evaluated at all.

A Pricing Table in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet has been provided which is to be completed as part of the Cost/Price Proposal. This will contain both the base hourly salary rate and the fixed fully burden hourly rate, as well as indirect rates and profit/fee rates. This pricing will be incorporated into the Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) and be applicable to a ll orders placed against this BPA.

General Format

Following is the specified format for Volume I, Technical Proposal:

12-point size type shall be used. The font shall be Times New Roman with one exception – Arial may be used for tables, figures, and graphics. The font size for tables and figures, and any other type of inserts can be no smaller than 8 point; The font size for any graphics as it appears on the printed page can be no smaller than 8 point; margins shall be one-inch at top/bottom and left/right of the page and pages may not be reduced form. Headers and footers are allowed in the margins and their font size can be no smaller than 10 point.

Following is the specified format for Volume II, Cost/Price Proposal:

12-point size type shall be used. The font shall be Times New Roman. The font size for tables and figures, and any other type of inserts can be no smaller than 8 point; The font size for any graphics as it appears on the printed page can be no smaller than 8 point; and margins shall be one-inch at top/bottom and left/right of the page and pages may not be reduced form. Headers and footers are allowed in the margins and their font size can be no smaller than 10 point.

Formulas shall be included for evaluation purposes.

Caution: Proposals submitted that do not conform as enumerated above may not be evaluated.

Text and graphics with font size smaller than the minimum specified may be excluded from award and found as non-compliant with the RFP instructions. The page limitations apply to the initial offer, revisions and final quote submission (if applicable).

Each volume shall contain the following additional items:

Cover: The cover shall indicate the following:

Title of the Acquisition Proposal Category (Technical, or Cost/Price) Volume Number RFP/Solicitation Number

Name and Address of the Contractor Original or Copy Number

Table of Contents: Each volume shall contain a Table of Contents, which shall provide sufficient detail in order that all the important elements are easily located. The use of tables and dividers is encouraged. No content within these pages will be considered for evaluation.

Contractors shall ensure these document pages are used solely for organization of the Proposal.

Requirements for Style: Each contractor shall submit a proposal that clearly and concisely describes and defines the contractor’s response to the requirements contained in the RFP. Use of general or vague statements such as “standard procedures will be used” or “good engineering practices” will not satisfy this requirement. Simply repeating or paraphrasing the RFP requirements without substantive, meaningful discussion will not be acceptable. Unnecessary elaboration or presentation beyond that which is sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal is not desired and may be construed as an indication of the contractor’s lack of understanding of the requirements or cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork or visual or other presentation aids is neither necessary nor desired. The desire is for clear succinct pictorials, graphs, etc.

The Offeror shall provide a technical proposal that explains how INL’s objectives will be accomplished during the period of performance. There are seven Evaluation Factors under this RFP. (1) Work Plan, (2) Overseas Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Experience, (3) Subject Matter Expertise Services Experience, (4) Experience Designing and Implementing Projects, (5) Price (Volume II - Cost/Price Proposal), (6) Past Performance, and (7) Key

Personnel and Staffing Plan.

The Government contemplates awarding a contract using commercial item procedures under FAR Part 12 and 13.5. The Government will award a contract to the responsible contractor whose offer conforms to the requirements of the solicitation and is evaluated as being the most advantageous to the Government, cost or price and other factors considered.

For this RFP, technical merit is significantly more important than cost or price. Award will not be automatically determined by numerical calculation or formula relationship between cost or price and technical merit. As technical merit of the contractor’s proposal becomes more equal, the evaluated cost or price may become the determining factor. The Contracting Officer shall determine what trade-off between technical merit and cost or price promises the greatest value to the Government, cost or price and other factors considered. Award will be made based upon the best value to the Government.

In addition to the BPA, the vendor shall also provide a technical and cost proposal for two (2) sample

BPA Calls. Included with this solicitation as an attachment is the Statement of Work for the Subject

Matter Expert (SME) Database, and the Statement of Work for a Project Packages sample order. In addition to assisting in the technical evaluation, the call order cost/price proposal will assist in the price evaluation as it exhibits actual application of pricing in accordance with the proposed BPA schedule.

A. Subject Matter Expert (SME) Database BPA Call (Time & Materials)

Vendors’ technical proposal / price proposal shall:

• Be viewable in either: Microsoft Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Adobe Reader XI, or Adobe Acrobat Pro X (as applicable and appropriate).

• Limit the number of pages to no more than fifty (30), 12 Point Font, Times New Roman.

Vendor shall be limited to no more than five (5) separate digital files for a proposal package.

Formatting Requirements:

• Cost Breakdown for all labor and other direct cost. This will include a breakout of the pricing for the base year, and four (4) potential option years

At a Minimum, a Proposal Package must include:

• A fully supported Technical Proposal describing the methods and techniques for the start-up and development of the platform, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and maintaining the Subject Matter Expert Database to meet this requirement in accordance with Section 3.9 of the CJEP BPA Statement of Work and the SOW-RFP CJEP SME Database BPA Call.

• Pricing of efforts that supported and are in line with the methodologies and rationale contained within the technical proposal.

Price: Production hours are to be proposed against labor rates in accordance with the fixed fully-loaded hourly rates as priced under the Criminal Justice Enterprise Program (CJEB) BPA

Solicitation Pricing Tables. Indirect billing rates and any profit/fee shall also be in accordance with said tables. Include any additional ODCs and/or travel costs in accordance with the CJEP

BPA Statement of Work Section 1.7 Travel.

B. Project Packages BPA Call (Firm-Fixed Price)

File Format Requirements

Vendors’ technical proposals / price proposal shall:

• Be viewable in either: Microsoft Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Adobe Reader XI, or Adobe Acrobat Pro X (as applicable and appropriate).

• Limit the number of pages to no more than fifty (30), 12 Point Font, Times New Roman.

Vendor shall be limited to no more than five (5) separate digital files for a proposal package.

Formatting Requirements:

• Cost Breakdown for all labor and other direct cost. Price proposal shall show a breakout of labor hours for each labor category needed to complete the work indicated, and all other direct costs, broken out by project package as listed in Section

2 Scope of Work of the SOW-RFP Project Package BPA Call.

At a MINIMUM, cost/price proposal must include:

• A fully supported Technical Proposal describing the contractors process to fully execute the structural planning, information collection, drafting, and editing of each project package identified in Section 2 Scope of Work in accordance with the Project Package Deliverables as described in Sections 3.1.2 of the SOW-RFP Project

Package BPA Call.

• Pricing of efforts that support and are in line with the processes and rationale contained within the technical proposal.

Price: Production hours are to be proposed against labor rates in accordance with the fixed fully-loaded hourly rates as priced under the Criminal Justice Enterprise Program (CJEB) BPA

Solicitation Pricing Tables. Indirect billing rates and any profit/fee shall also be in accordance with said tables. Include any additional ODCs and/or travel costs in accordance with the CJEP

BPA Statement of Work Section 1.7 Travel.

Point of Contact

Exchanges of source selection information between Government and Offerors will be controlled by the Contracting Officer (CO). Email may be used to communicate with offerors. All emails must include “191NLE22R0004 Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104” in the Subject line. Email: goeweyJA@state.gov .

Non-Government Advisors

Non-Government Advisors will not provide ratings for proposals received in response to the solicitation. Their expertise is required for document preparation, training, advisory, and electronic source selection support. The use of Non-Government Advisors as defined above does not warrant a formal determination by the head of the agency as prescribed in FAR 37.204 (a).

Company names of Non-Government Advisors are:

mailto:goeweyJA@state.gov

TJFACT Universal Strategy Group, Inc.

Pre-Award Survey

The Government may, at the Contracting Officers discretion, conduct pre-award surveys in accordance with FAR 9.106.