Combined Synopsis Solicitaton - 36C78625Q50211 - NCA CSS Services.pdf

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Document Type: Combined Synopsis Solicitation

Title: NCA Customer Satisfaction Survey Services

Solicitation Number: 36C78625Q50211

Post Date: 04/17/2025

Original Response Date: 05/19/2025 at 10:00 a.m. CST

Applicable NAICS: 541910

Classification Code: R422

Set Aside Type: SDVOSB

Period of Performance: One base year and 4 – one-year options, if exercised by the Government

Issuing Contracting Office: Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration (NCA), Contract Services 18434 Joplin Road Triangle, VA 22172

Place of Performance: Virtual. Winning vendor will work with the National Cemetery

Administration but is not required to be locally established. Wage rates for Washington D.C. are attached. However, the wage rates for the area in which the work is ultimately performed will prevail.

Attachments:

A. Price/Cost Schedule B. Statement of Work

C. Schedule of Deliverables D. Sample NCA2025 MPS English Survey E. Sample NCA2025 FD English Survey F. Sample NCA2025 State and Tribal English Survey G. Sample NCA2025 NOK English Survey H. Service Contract Act Wage Determination No. 2015-4281 Rev 32 dated 23 December 2024 –

Note: The wage determination provided is for the Washington D.C. area, but it will be amended to the local area of the winning bidder upon issuance of the award.

I. Past Performance Questionnaire J. FAR 52.204-20, Predecessor of Offeror K. VAAR 852.219-75, VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting – Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction

1. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, Streamlined solicitation for commercial products or commercial services, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

2. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ), solicitation number 36C78625Q50211.

3. This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2025-03 (Effective 01/17/2025).

4. This a competitive, open market solicitation that is 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran

Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).

5. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE: The (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541910. The business size standard is $22.5M.

6. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. This is an all-or-none requirement, and partial quotes will be deemed unresponsive and will not be evaluated.

7. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, National Cemetery Administration (NCA), anticipates the award of a firm-fixed price, single award contract for one base year and 4 - one-year options, at the Governments discretion to exercise.

8. This contract is for Customer Satisfaction Survey Services.

9. Anticipated Period of Performance:

Base Year: July 18, 2025 – July 17, 2026 Option Year 1: July 18, 2026 – July 17, 2027 Option Year 2: July 18, 2027 – July 17, 2028 Option Year 3: July 18, 2028 – July 17, 2029 Option Year 4: July 18, 2029 – July 17, 2030

PAST PERFORMANCE: The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source and may contact references other than those identified by the Quoter when determining responsibility.

RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ): Quotes are due to the Contracting Officer no later than 10:00 a.m. CST on 05/19/2025. The Government intends to make award without discussions. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary, and the Government will not pay for information provided nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided for the Government. Quoters are responsible for obtaining any and all amendments or additional information concerning this announcement at the System for Award Management (SAM) website, www.SAM.gov. Submission shall be in accordance with the Instructions to Offerors and emailed to Weston.Worsham@va.gov by the date and time listed.

SOLICITATION QUESTIONS:

All questions regarding this solicitation are to be submitted to the Contracting Officer, via email, no later than close of business on 04/28/2025. Questions pertaining to this announcement shall be sent by email to: Weston.Worsham@va.gov. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Associated answers to questions submitted will be provided via a solicitation amendment. Should an amendment not be endorsed by the interested Quoter, the quote will be considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

mailto:Weston.Worsham@va.gov mailto:Weston.Worsham@va.gov

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS:

Quoters MUST be registered in System of Award Management (SAM) at http://www.sam.gov and must complete the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at http://www.sam.gov at the time of submission. Failure to comply will result in the Quoter being considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) socio-economic category concerns MUST have an active/current registration with the Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert), https://veterans.certify.sba.gov at the time of submission. Failure to comply will result in the Quoter being considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

Quoters who do not have a current/active SAM account registration and who are not certified in VetCert at the time of submission shall be considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

Quoters shall submit quotes in three (3) separate Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) documents identifying each .pdf as Volumes A through C. Volume D shall be submitted using the Excel spreadsheet for Price/Cost Schedule (Attachment A). Interested Quoters who fail to submit the four (4) separate documents (3 pdf and 1 Excel) will be considered non-responsive and ineligible for award. In the event an Interested Quoter has issues with quote submittal prior to the closing deadline, the Quoter must notify the Contracting Officer of the impending issue via electronic correspondence. The subject header shall be titled “Submittal Issues” and shall include the RFQ number. Interested Quoters must ensure that they have a read and delivery receipt on their email to provide proof, if necessary.

Failure to notify the Contracting Officer of such issues may constitute the submittal as Non-Responsive and ineligible for award. Note: The Contracting Officer may or may not respond to your submittal therefore it is crucial that a copy of the email correspondence be provided. Additionally, failure to provide all Volumes within the Solicitation’s response time may also constitute an Interested Quoter as Non-Responsive and ineligible for award.

All quotes are to be submitted to the Contracting Officer, via email at Weston.Worsham@va.gov by no later than 10:00am CST on May 19, 2025. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE

QUOTER TO SUBMIT THEIR BEST OFFER AT THE TIME QUOTES ARE DUE. LATE

QUOTES WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Company Information (Volume A)

The following information shall be included in Volume A:

• Legal Business/Company Name (as listed in www.sam.gov). Should Legal Business/Company Name not coincide with what is listed in the Government’s website www.sam.gov, the Interested Quoter will be considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

• Complete Company Address (No P.O. Boxes). Should an Interested Offeror submit the Company’s address as a P.O. Box, the Interested Quoter will be considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

• Company Point of Contract Name and Title

• Telephone Number http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/ https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/

• Email Address

• Statement of acknowledgement receipt of amendment(s) (if any). Failure to acknowledge all subsequent Amendments will result in the Interested Offeror being considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

• Company’s Targeted Capabilities Statement

• One (1) copy of Completed FAR Provision 52.204-20 Predecessor of Offeror (AUG 2020).

Section(s) are contained in this document below. The Government will not consider quotes for award from quoters that do not provide the certification, and all such responses will be deemed ineligible for evaluation and award.

• One (1) copy of Completed FAR Provisions 52.212-3 “Certifications and Representations” or indicate whether contractor has completed the annual representation and certifications electronically at www.sam.gov (copy of current SAM status). Failure to provide a copy of the company’s annual Certifications and Representations or failure to indicate that a completed annual Certifications and Representations has been updated in www.sam.gov will result in the Interested Offeror being considered non-responsive and ineligible for award.

• One (1) copy of Completed VAAR Clause 852.219-75 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting – Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction (JAN 2023). Quoters must complete, sign and return the formal certification with the Quoter’s quote (see Attachment F). The Government will not consider quotes for award from quoters that do not provide the certification, and all such responses will be deemed ineligible for evaluation and award.

Factor 1: Technical (Volume B)

Volume B shall be no more than twenty-five (25) pages with at least one-inch (1”) margins and at least twelve (12)-point font. Should an Interested Quoter submit more than twenty-five (25) pages, only the first 25 pages will be considered. The following shall be included as part of the Quoter’s technical submission:

1. Provide a narrative demonstrating your experience providing services as describe in the statement of work, to include:

• Experience fielding large surveys (population <= 50,000) with option for mail-in (paper) and online (web). National survey experience with survey fielding, data collection, automated scanning, consolidation of web/paper survey data, multiple follow up mailings/notices, response rate maximization, mail list filtering using inputs from survey fielding, telephone/email help desk survey support, any necessary training of personnel to perform these functions.

• Experience analyzing and improving surveys:

o Assess the validity of current questions o Construct/revise existing surveys to allow trend analysis between past survey data and data collected in this process o Trend analysis crossing multi-year mutating datasets o Expertise in survey improvement to minimize burden/maximize data collection, question/answer set optimization.

o Ability to make recommendations for enhancements or updates of the current survey instruments to enhance the quality of data collected, and the value of information made available to NCA http://www.sam.gov/ o English to idiomatic Puerto Rican Spanish translation, Must identify and provide professional certifications of the person(s) who will accomplish the translation and document their capabilities.

• Experience collaborating with a third party for printing.

• Experience automating report production & condensing content by optimizing data visualization o Using final dataset and available software/artificial intelligence or other reporting tools to rapidly produce electronic reports via maximum automated means minimizing need for human intervention for all metric data tables and visualizations o Proven ability to condense length of reports o Ability to utilize approved narratives for all sections of the varied report types to automatically produce final reports containing narrative and visual content o Ability to rapidly print and deliver final reports tracking final delivery when mailed o Identify any proposed subcontractor or joint ventures and what role will they be providing in the contract.

2. Managerial & Technical Qualifications of Key Personal to include Resumes: Contractor shall demonstrate a Management Team who has the required experience in providing customer satisfaction survey services as defined in the Statement of Work. Key personnel shall include individuals with the associated roles as follows: Project Director/Program Manager, Survey Task Leader, Analysis Task Leader, Senior Analyst/ Statistician, and Programmer. At a minimum, the key personnel positions of Project Director/Program Manager, Survey Task Leader, and Analysis Task Leader must be current employees (not sub-contractors or independent contractors) of the Prime Contractor.

3. Sample Work Plan: Contractor shall provide a sample work plan of Task 9, Survey Administration and Fielding, as defined in the Statement of Work.

Factor 2: Past Performance (Volume C)

The following shall be included as part of the Quoter’s Past Performance submission, Volume C.

This factor shall be used to assess an Quoter’s history of performance on prior contracts for similar and relevant services as required in this solicitation. List National Cemetery Administration (NCA) contracts first followed by non-NCA contracts. For this factor:

• Quoters shall provide at least three (3) and no more than five (5) references for performance on prior contracts for customer satisfaction survey services in the past five (5) years. Contracts listed may include those entered with the federal government, state or local agencies, or commercial customers. Should an Interested Quoter submit more than five (5) references, only the most current five PPQs will be considered.

• Quoters shall provide a description of any material legal proceedings against the Contractor by a

Federal or state regulatory agency that might impact a contract for these services.

• The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source and may contact customers other than those identified by the Quoter when evaluating past performance.

Factor 3: Pricing (Volume D)

This factor shall be used to assess the reasonableness of the Quoter’s proposed price. For this factor, Quoters shall submit their price quote using Attachment A- Price/Cost Schedule.

Options: The Government will evaluate quotes for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation – Commercial Items (Nov 2021)

EVALUATION PROCESS: The Government intends to award a firm-fixed price (FFP) contract resulting from this Solicitation to the responsible Quoter whose quote provides the best benefit to the Government, price and other factors considered. Quotes will be evaluated by performing a comparative evaluation in accordance with FAR 13.106-2(b)(3) to determine which response represents the “best” as a whole. Award will be based upon a comparative evaluation of quotes in accordance with the Simplified Acquisition Procedures of FAR 13. Comparative evaluation is the side by side pairwise comparison of quotes based on factors resulting in a Contracting Officer decision for the quote most favorable to the Government. Options will be evaluated at time of award.

Quotes will be evaluated by performing a direct comparison of one quote with another in a uniform manner to determine which Offeror provides the best overall quote as identified in the RFQ. The Government reserves the right to consider a response that offers more than the minimum and select that response if it provides a benefit to the Government. The Government has the discretion to accept other than the lowest priced offer that provides additional benefits. The Government also has the discretion to make an award based on whether the lowest priced quote having the highest past performance rating possible represents the best benefit to the Government. Quo

Factor 1: Technical Approach and Understanding of the Work:

This factor will be used to assess the Quoter’s approach in executing the requirement and understanding of the services required in the solicitation.

Factor 2: Past Performance:

This factor shall be used to assess the Quoter’s history of performance in providing services that are similar to size and complexity as the solicitation.

Factor 3: Price: This factor shall be used to assess the price reasonableness of the Quoter’s proposed price.

SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES:

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions- Commercial Items (NOV 2023)

Addendum to FAR 52.212-4

52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998) http://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html (FAR) and https://www.va.gov/oal/library/vaar/index.asp (VAAR)

FAR Clauses

52.203-16 Preventing Personal Conflicts of Interest (JUN 2020) 52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement to Inform Employees of

Whistleblower Rights (NOV 2023) 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (OCT 2018) 52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (AUG 2020) 52.204-19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications (Dec 2014) 52.204-21 Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems (Nov 2021) 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999)

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contact (MAR 2000)

(a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within 15 days provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 30 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension.

(b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause.

(c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed five (5) years.

52.219-27 Notice of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside (Oct 2022) 52.232-18 Availability of Funds (APR 1984) 52.232-19 Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year (APR 1984) 52.237-3 Continuity of Services (JAN 1991)

VAAR Clauses http://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html https://www.va.gov/oal/library/vaar/index.asp

852.201-70 Contracting Officer’s Representative (DEC 2022) 852.203-70 Commercial Advertising (MAY 2018) 852.204-70 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel (MAY 2020) 852.211-76 Liquidated Damages—Reimbursement for Data Breach Costs

(c) Liquidated damages. If the Contractor or any of its agents fails to protect VA sensitive personal information or otherwise engages in conduct which results in a data breach, the Contractor shall, in place of actual damages, pay to the Government liquidated damages of $205.00 per affected individual in order to cover costs related to the notification, data breach analysis and credit monitoring. In the event the Contractor provides payment of actual damages in an amount determined to be adequate by the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer may forgo collection of liquidated damages.

(d) Purpose of liquidated damages. Based on the results from VA’s determination that there was a data breach caused by Contractor’s or any of its agents’ failure to protect or otherwise engaging in conduct to cause a data breach of VA sensitive personal information, and as directed by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $205.00 per affected individual to cover the cost of the following:

(1) Notification related costs.

(2) Credit monitoring reports.

(3) Data breach analysis and impact.

(4) Fraud alerts.

(5) Identity theft insurance 852.219-73 VA Notice to Total Set-Aside for Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (JAN 2023) (DEVIATION) 852.219-75 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting – Certificate of Compliance for Services and

Construction (JAN 2023) - Attached 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests (NOV 2018) 852.237-75 Key Personnel (OCT 2019) 852.242-71 Administrative Contracting Officer (OCT 2020)

(End of Addendum to 52.212-4)

52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-

Commercial Items (SEP 2021)

FAR Provisions 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (SEP 2023)

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998) http://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html (FAR) and http://www.va.gov/oal/library/vaar/index.asp (VAAR) 52.204-7 System for Award Management (OCT 2018) 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (AUG 2020) 52.204-20 Predecessor of Offeror (AUG 2020) - Attached 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or

Equipment (NOV 2021) 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (OCT 2020) 52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (OCT 2018) http://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html http://www.va.gov/oal/library/vaar/index.asp

52.209-10 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations 52.233-2 Service of Protest (SEPT 2006)

VAAR Provisions 852.233-70 Protest Content/Alternative Dispute Resolution 852.233-71 Alternate Protest Procedure 852.252-70 Solicitation Provisions or Clauses Incorporated by Reference (JAN 2008)

(End of Addendum to 52.212-1)

52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items (OCT 2014) 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (FEB 2021)

Enclosures:

Attachment A - Price/Cost Schedule Attachment B - Statement of Work Attachment C - Schedule of Deliverables Attachment D - Sample NCA2025 MPS English Survey Attachment E - Sample NCA2025 FD English Survey Attachment F - Sample NCA2025 State and Tribal English Survey Attachment G - Sample NCA2025 NOK English Survey Attachment H - Service Contract Act Wage Determination No. 2015-4281 Rev 32 dated 23 December Attachment I - Past Performance Questionnaire Attachment J - FAR 52.204-20, Predecessor of Offeror Attachment K - VAAR 852.219-75, VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting – Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction

End of Document