NIH_Children's_School_-_Instructions_to_Offerors_2012_12_17.doc

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

The Government intends to award a contract using an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracting vehicle.

The offeror is expected to show a thorough understanding of the proposed tasks as specified in the Statement of Work (SOW). The proposal should address the specifications in the SOW, not simply repeat the language. All questions and proposals must be submitted by the deadline date and time.

In preparing their project and business proposal offerors are requested to follow the proposal format detailed below:

1.

Organization of Proposal

Each offer shall consist of two separately packaged proposals:

a) An educational proposal and a business proposal. All information necessary to judge the educational soundness and management capabilities of the offeror will be contained in the educational proposal. The business proposal will contain all information related to the determination of the costs associated with each of the project tasks. The educational proposal shall not contain any reference to specific costs, but resource information (i.e., staff hours) may be included so that the offeror’s understanding of the scope of the work may be evaluated. The educational proposal shall also demonstrate when and how the offeror met the mandatory criteria.

b) Before providing further instructions, special note is in order to clarify what is expected in the offeror’s educational proposal.

2.

Organization of the Educational Proposal: The project proposal shall contain:

(a) Cover page – Including the name of the proposing organization, author(s) of the project proposal, the Solicitation number, and the title of the Solicitation should appear on the cover.

(b) The contractor’s Educational Proposal shall be divided into the following three sections:

· Section 1 – Past Performance (10 page limit; no more than 4 project citations)

· Section 2 – Project Management Approach (20 page limit)

· Section 3 – Corporate Capabilities, Domain Knowledge and Experience (10 page limit, excluding resumes)

Subcontractor experience is permissible for use by the contractor in regards to past performance.

The government may require the contractor(s) to present a briefing of its proposal, not to exceed ninety (90) minutes in length. If necessary, briefings will be scheduled by the government after the written proposal deadline. The proposed project manager shall present the briefing. The contractor will bear all costs associated with this presentation.

3.

Organization of the Business Proposal:

The Offeror shall prepare a business proposal that contains all information necessary to allow for a comprehensive evaluation of the costs proposed. The business proposal shall consist of pricing discounts with the proposed labor categories and hours and an accompanying narrative that fully describes all assumptions made by the Offeror.

The pricing shall identify each category of labor proposed for performance mapped to the applicable contract labor category, provide the price, show the proposed discounts for the rate, and the rate proposed for the particular labor category inclusive of the discount.

The pricing information shall include a completed Pricing Table with a breakdown of estimated costs for accomplishing each task/objective in the SOW.

Include all other direct costs associated with the performance of the required services (e.g., consultants, transportation/ travel, supplies and equipment, communications, etc.). A complete explanation for each item of other direct cost detailing the rationale used in developing the cost. In addition, the Offeror shall submit supporting documentation that will facilitate the determination of whether the amounts proposed are fair and reasonable, e.g., vendor quotes for commercial-off-the-shelf products or services.

These items are critical, as the Government will evaluate the Offeror’s proposal for reasonableness and completeness/ accuracy. An analysis will be done on a “total price” basis.

It is anticipated that this contract shall be awarded as an IDIQ type contract. The staff loading chart included in the educational proposal should be consistent with the information provided in the business proposal.

Offerors, at a minimum, shall submit business proposals in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that the estimated cost is realistic and consistent with the proposed educational approach.

Cost proposals will be evaluated and compared to overall technical scores subsequent to the technical evaluation according to best-value principles.

Standard Form 1449 shall be signed by an official authorized to bind your organization.

4. Cost/Price

Costs will be evaluated on the basis of cost realism, which is defined as the contractor’s ability to project costs which are reasonable and indicate that the contractor understands the nature and extent of the work to be performed. Additionally, the contractor’s approach to managing risk and partnership with the government shall be considered.

Costs presented in the contractor’s proposal must be guaranteed for 120 days.

5.

Award Basis

The technical evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the evaluation criteria above. The Government may award a contract on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions or briefings. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a cost and educational standpoint.

Award will be made to that responsible Offeror whose proposal contains the combination of evaluated factors offering the best overall value to the Government. This will be determined by comparing differences in educational merit and past performance with differences in price to the Government.