CSS 1333ND21QNB670079.pdf

CLASSIFICATION CODE: B - Special Studies/Analysis, Not Research and Development

TITLE: Procurement of Support Services for Tools and Models to Evaluate Device to Device Wireless Project

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 1333ND21QNB670079

RESPONSE DATE: 02/23/2021

CONTACT POINTS: Robert Cowins, Contract Specialist, (301) 975-8335

Keith Bubar, Contracting Officer, (301) 975-3725

DESCRIPTION:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for support services to be utilized by the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD campus.

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL

ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-

STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION

FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY

SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A SEPARATE WRITTEN

SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED

USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF FAR PART 13.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotations (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2021-04 dated 01/19/2021.

1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010)

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to robert.cowins@nist.gov.

Questions should be received no later than three calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

(End of Provision)

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541519 – Other Computer Related Services, with a small business size standard of 30 million in annual revenue.

This acquisition is a 100% small business set-aside.

All offerors shall provide a quotation for the following line items:

CLIN 0001:

Description: The contractor shall provide support services to assist in the development activities of NR D2D model being developed by CTL for the ns-3 simulation platform and related research as detailed in the incorporated Statement of Work.

mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov

QTY: 1

Unit of Issue: LO Period of Performance: 05/01/2021 - 04/30/2022

Statement of Work

TITLE: Tools and Models to Evaluate Device to Device Wireless Communication Systems

General Statement of Need

The Wireless Networks Division (WND) in the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requires a Contractor to support WND’s activities in order to support the development of NR D2D model being developed by WND for the ns-3 simulation platform and related research to continue conducting research and development in networking measurement and modeling technologies, and standards development for wireless systems.

Background

The WND conducts research and development in networking measurement and modeling technologies, and standards development for wireless systems.

WND is developing performance analysis and modeling tools to evaluate the performance of next generation Public Safety communication networks and to model the impact of Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, a critical feature to support direct mode operation and maintain reliable connectivity.

WND is using this knowledge to develop requirements and guidelines on using D2D to provide continuous and reliable communication for First Responders regardless of the network’s availability. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has already started defining the specifications for Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X) in New Radio (NR), the Fifth Generation (5G) of cellular technology, which would enable D2D communication for vehicular communication. The V2X architecture relies on NR sidelink which will also be able to support public safety communication, including UE-to-Network relays and possibly UE-to-UE relays.

Objective(s)

WND uses several different modeling tools to evaluate the performance of wireless networks, including ns-3, an open-source network simulator capable of simulating LTE and NR networks. Over the past 7 years, WND has extended the capabilities of ns-3 to include LTE Proximity Services (ProSe), the 3GPP version on D2D, Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (PTT), and other public safety related modules. NR Sidelink (SL) defined in 3GPP release 16 provides communication, and NR ProSe is being specified for release 17 to include services such as direct discovery, which enables devices to detect each other’s presence, and UE relays to extend coverage. WND maintains a public repository on Github (https://github.com/usnistgov/psc-ns3) containing the published ns- 3 models. WND has already started work on NR D2D by looking at NR V2X Discovery procedure, and UE-to-Network Relay communication.

https://github.com/usnistgov/psc-ns3

To continue this work, NIST requires a Contractor to support WND’s activities in order to support the development of NR D2D model being developed by WND for the ns-3 simulation platform and related research.

Scope/General Requirements

The contractor shall provide scientific and technical services that consist of the following:

1. Study the 3GPP specifications related to NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery

2. Develop ns-3 NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery model

3. Evaluate the performance of NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery

Deliverables shall be in the form of running code for the simulation models developed, documentation for models, and tools developed, contents for publication and public dissemination, articles and papers contributed to ns-3 community.

Tasks/Specific Requirements

Task 1 – Study the 3GPP specifications related to NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery.

The contractor shall conduct a study of contributions made to 3GPP regarding NR SL UE-to- Network relay discovery mechanisms that are expected to be standardized in release 17. The contractor shall use the specifications defined in Release 16 as baseline for NR SL architecture. The contractor shall also leverage work previously done by WND on NR V2X discovery and identify modifications to the protocol stack and messages to support NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery. The contractor shall continue to follow standardization work in 3GPP while working on Tasks 2 and 3. The contractor shall produce a document detailing the findings and provide it to NIST Technical Point of Contact (TPOC).

Task 2 – Develop ns-3 NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery model.

The contractor shall develop a model of NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery by extending the existing ns-3 NR model developed by the Centre Technologic Telecommunications Catalunya

(CTTC) (https://5g-lena.cttc.es/) and WND V2X discovery model. In case 3GPP is still considering multiple architectures, the contractor shall, in coordination with WND staff, identify the discovery architecture most likely to be used in public safety scenarios. The model shall meet ns-3 guidelines defined in https://www.nsnam.org/developers/contributing-code/, including documentation, tests, and example scripts. The code shall also meet NIST software guidelines, including the use of NIST disclaimer. The contractor shall work with WND staff to develop test scenarios and, when possible, compare the results against 3GPP results. The contractor shall document all results in reports and provide to NIST TPOC and shall also provide all software developed to support completion of the task to the

NIST TPOC.

Task 3 – Evaluate the performance of NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery.

The contractor shall conduct a performance evaluation of the NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery model developed in Task 2. The contractor shall develop relevant performance metrics to measure the performance of the discovery model. The contractor shall include simple scenarios from which the results can be compared with mathematical and/or analytical models developed by WND staff as well as more realistic scenarios that public safety community can relate to. The contractor shall document all results in reports and provide to NIST TPOC and shall also provide all software developed to support completion of the task to the NIST TPOC.

Performance Requirement Summary

Desired Output Required Service Performance Standard

Monitoring Method

Document detailing the specification of NR SL UE- to-Network relay discovery

Identify 3GPP technical documents related to NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery and provide detailed description of the specifications.

Description of UE-to- Network Relay discovery, including functional description and messages. Shall be clearly documented in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and Microsoft word documents.

Quality of the reports developed will be reviewed by NIST

TPOC.

Ns-3 implementation of an NR SL UE-to- Network relay discovery model.

Design and implement NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery model in ns-3 extending existing NR model.

Design, code, and tests developed in programming language and platform chosen such as ns- 3/C/C++/Doxygen meet ns-3 and NIST software guidelines.

Models, algorithms, recommendations, and documentation developed will be reviewed by NIST TPOC. Periodic code review will be conducted by NIST

TPOC.

Performance analysis of NR SL UE-to- Network relay discovery mode.

Evaluate NR SL UE-to- Network relay discovery using ns-3 simulation platform

Evaluation methodology and results are clearly documented in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and Microsoft word documents, or Latex document.

Code developed in programming language and platform chosen such as ns-3/C/C++/Doxygen is fully documented and meet ns-3 and NIST software guidelines.

Selected scenarios, performance metrics, recommendations, and documentation developed will be reviewed by NIST

TPOC.

Note: NIST shall retain unlimited rights as specified in the FAR 52.227-17 Rights in Data-Special Works to all artifacts that are produced as a result of this effort.

Deliverable Schedule

Deliverable Description Media Quantity Date Required Task 1 Study the 3GPP specifications related to NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery.

Report and presentation that document the NR SL UE-to-Network Relay discovery specifications, including supported modes of discovery, their functional descriptions, and messages.

Documentation in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and Microsoft word documents.

1 Monthly updates due at the end of each month.

Final report due twelve months from the date of the award.

Task 2 Develop ns-3 NR SL UE-to- Network relay discovery model.

Report and presentation that document design, implementation details, and user’s guide.

Software code on NIST Gitlab, including validation tests.

Software code meeting NS- 3 and NIST guidelines.

Reports and presentations that document design, implementation details, and user’s guide.

1 Monthly updates due at the end of each month.

Final software code for the selected discovery model due ten months from the date of the award.

Task 3 Evaluate the performance of NR SL UE-to-Network relay discovery.

Report and presentation that document design, implementation details, and user’s guide.

Software code, including scenarios and associated scripts on NIST Gitlab.

Reports on the performance of NR SL UE- to-Network Relay discovery for select deployment scenarios Software code for the scenarios.

Reports and presentations that document design, implementation details, and user’s guide.

1 Monthly updates due at the end of each month.

Final report and software code for the evaluation scenarios due twelve months from the date of the award.

All deliverables shall be submitted in the format(s) described above by the due dates listed above.

The NIST TPOC will review and provide approval or comments for revision of deliverables within 10 calendar days of receipt. The contractor shall then provide revised deliverables within 20 calendar days of receipt of NIST’s review.

Contractor Key Personnel Minimum Qualifications

It is expected that this work will require the contractor to assign a minimum of one key personnel to the task order. The tasks and deliverables in this SOW require the contractor to have expertise in wireless technologies such as 3GPP technologies (e.g. LTE, NR) and D2D communication in particular, as well as a full understanding of public safety communications’ needs.

The Contractor shall have at least 2 years of experience in developing network models and simulation tools related to public safety communications using ns-3.

The Contractor shall possess at least 2 years of experience in the domain of wireless communication and work experience in computer networks including evaluating their performance as described in the background section.

Government-Furnished Property, Material, Equipment, or Information (GFP, GFM, GFE, or

GFI)

NIST CTL will provide on-site office space (including phone, email, and network access), and all necessary computing resources. The contractor shall only access low risk general-purpose ADP equipment and common network services available to NIST associates. The intellectual properties generated during the task order period shall belong to NIST.

Security The work under this task order is designated as HSPD-12 IT-Low risk level work.

Travel There is no travel anticipated for this effort.

Place of Performance

The place of performance of this contract will be the NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus. However, given the current campus access restrictions, until further notice from the NIST TPOC, all work shall be accomplished at contractor’s telework location. Remote work has been deemed appropriate and approved for this contract. Normal duty hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except for Federal holidays.

NIST VISITOR AND CONTRACTOR PROTOCOLS FOR MITIGATING COVID-19

EXPOSURE

The Contractor shall review and adhere to the requirements of Attachment I titled NIST Visitor and Contractor Protocols for Mitigating COVID-19 Exposure on NIST Campuses.

Contractor personnel performing work in NIST workspaces, must provide all information required by Attachment I, in advance of and throughout the period of performance of the task order.

While working on the NIST campus, the Contracting Officer's Representative and/or TPOC will ensure that Contractor personnel comply with the requirements in place to mitigate COVID-19 exposure.

The Government reserves the right to require that Contractor personnel attend a 1-2 hour training session dedicated to COVID-19 protocols.

Attachment I titled NIST Visitor and Contractor Protocols for Mitigating COVID-19 Exposure on NIST Campuses, is hereby incorporated and made a part of the contract. This document is subject to change and must be monitored by the Contractor via the following NIST websites:

https://www.nist.gov and/or https://www.nist.gov/about-nist/visit/nist-visitor-and-contractor-protocols-mitigating-covid-19-exposure-nist-campuses

Period of Performance

May 1, 2021 through April 30, 2022

Section 508 Accessibility

All Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) as defined at FAR 2.101, supplied under this order must conform to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (36 CFR Part 1194). The applicable standards are available at http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm.

The following standards have been determined to be applicable to this order: 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications

Provisions and Clauses:

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference.

All FAR clauses may be viewed at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/.

FAR Provisions

52.204-7, System for Award Management 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting 52.204-17, Ownership or Control of Offeror

52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations – Representation

52.225-25, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Sanctioned Activities Relating to Iran

52.203-18 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements-Representation

52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items

52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm

52.204-20 Predecessor of Offeror

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision– “Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code” means–

(1) An identifier assigned to entities located in the United States and its outlying areas by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Contractor and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch to identify a commercial or government entity, or

(2) An identifier assigned by a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or by NATO’s Support Agency (NSPA) to entities located outside the United States and its outlying areas that DLA Contractor and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch records and maintains in the CAGE master file.

This type of code is known as an NCAGE code.

“Predecessor” means an entity that is replaced by a successor and includes any predecessors of the predecessor.

“Successor” means an entity that has replaced a predecessor by acquiring the assets and carrying out the affairs of the predecessor under a new name (often through acquisition or merger). The term “successor” does not include new offices/divisions of the same company or a company that only changes its name. The extent of the responsibility of the successor for the liabilities of the predecessor may vary, depending on State law and specific circumstances.

(b) The Offeror represents that it □ is or □ is not a successor to a predecessor that held a Federal contract or grant within the last three years.

(c) If the Offeror has indicated “is” in paragraph (b) of this provision, enter the following information for all predecessors that held a Federal contract or grant within the last three years (if more than one predecessor, list in reverse chronological order):

Predecessor CAGE code: ________ (or mark “Unknown”) Predecessor legal name: _________________________ (Do not use a “doing business as” name)

(End of provision)

52.209-11 Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law.

(a) As required by sections 744 and 745 of Division E of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), and similar provisions, if contained in subsequent appropriations acts, the Government will not enter into a contract with any corporation that—

(1) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that suspension or debarment is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government; or

(2) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, where the awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

(b) The Offeror represents that—

(1) It is □ is not □ a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability; and

(2) It is □ is not □ a corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

Award shall be made to the offeror whose quotation offers the best value to the Government price and other factors considered. The Government will evaluate quotations based on the following evaluation criteria listed in descending order of importance: 1) Technical Capability 2) Technical Key Personnel, 3) Past Performance, and 4) Price. All non-price factors, individually and when combined, are more important than price.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer`s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference.

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): www.acquisition.gov/far/ Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR): http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl

(End of provision)

FAR Clauses

FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference.

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): www.acquisition.gov/far/ Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR): http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl

52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl

52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance 52.204-19, Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items 52.227-17 Rights in Data-Special Works 52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations 52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (Deviation Apr 2020) 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders— Commercial Items (JUL 2020)-- including subparagraphs:

52.204-10 - Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards 52.209-6 - Protecting the Government's Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment 52.219-6 - Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside 52.219-28 - Post Award Small Business Program Representation 52.222-3 - Convict Labor 52.222-19 - Child Labor - Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies;

52.222-21 - Prohibition of Segregated Facilities 52-222-26 - Equal Opportunity 52.222-35 – Equal Opportunity for Veterans 52.222-36 - Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities 52.222-37 - Employment Reports on Veterans 52.222-50 - Combating Trafficking in Persons 52.223-18 - Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving 52.225-13 - Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases;

52.232-33 - Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer- System for Award Management

(End of clause)

Department of Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR) clauses. Please view the full text of these clauses at http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl.

Commerce Acquisition Regulations (CAR) Provisions and Clauses:

CAR Provisions CAR 1352.233-70 Agency Protests

(a) An agency protest may be filed with either: (1) the contracting officer, or (2) at a level above the contracting officer, with the appropriate agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 Fed. Reg. 16,651 (April 6, 1999)

(b) Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following address:

NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: KEITH BUBAR, CONTRACTING OFFICER

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl

(c) Agency protests filed with the agency Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address:

NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO)

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(d) A complete copy of all agency protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority.

(e) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893, Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

CAR 1352.233-71 GAO and Court of Federal Claims Protests

(a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed.

(b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims.

(c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

CAR Clauses

1352.201-70 Contracting Officer’s Authority 1352.209-73 Compliance with The Laws 1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest 1352.237-71 Security processing requirements—low risk contracts 1352.237-75 Key personnel

NIST Local Clauses

NIST LOCAL-53 Contract Performance During Changes in NIST Operating Status

Unless otherwise stated in the contract terms and conditions, normal days of business operation are Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays. However, throughout the contract period of performance, there may be circumstances beyond the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that will impact normal days of business operation, such as inclement weather, power outages, etc. In circumstances such as these, the Contractor must call the appropriate NIST campus status line to verify the operating status:

Gaithersburg Campus Operating Status Line:

(301) 975-8000

(800) 437-4385 x8000 (toll free)

Boulder Campus Operating Status Line:

(303) 497-4000

During a lapse in appropriation, access to Government facilities and resources, including equipment and systems, will be limited to excepted personnel for both Federal employees and Contractor personnel. If performance of the contract is onsite and/or requires Government interaction, unless you have been, or are notified that you are to work under an excepted status, you will automatically enter a temporary work stoppage. The work stoppage shall remain in effect until the lapse is resolved and notification is provided via the NIST website at https://www.nist.gov/ and/or the NIST operating status lines. Additionally, Contractors are encouraged to monitor public broadcasts or the Office of Personnel Management’s website at www.opm.gov for the Federal Government operating status.

NIST will provide notification to all contractors that are determined to have excepted status. All excepted contractors are required to continue performance and communicate with the appointed Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for further guidance, or NIST Contracting Officer if a COR is not appointed.

Contractors with supply or service contracts that are fully funded at the time of contract award and do not require access to Government facilities, resources, or active administration by Government personnel in a manner that would cause the government to incur additional obligations during the lapse in appropriation may continue performance.

(End of clause)

NIST LOCAL-54 Electronic Billing Instructions

NIST requires that Invoice/Voucher submissions are sent electronically via email to

INVOICE@NIST.GOV.

Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following:

(1) Contract number;

(2) Contractor name and address;

(3) Unique entity identifier (see www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers);

(4) Date of invoice;

(5) Invoice number;

(6) Amount of invoice and cumulative amount invoiced to-date;

(7) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN);

(8) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price, and extended price of supplies/services delivered;

(9) Prompt payment discount terms, if offered; and

(10) Any other information or documentation required by the contract.

(End of clause)

INSTRUCTIONS:

System for Award Management (SAM)

In accordance with FAR 52.204-7, offerors are required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. Offerors without active SAM registration will not be considered.

Required Information

The government will not consider any quotation without the information required by this solicitation.

Due Date for Quotations

Offerors shall submit their quotations so that NIST receives them not later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 02/23/2021. FAX and hard-copy quotations shall not be accepted. E-mail quotations shall be accepted at robert.cowins@nist.gov. Offerors’ quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered the e-mail address inbox set forth above. Late quotes will not be accepted.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Quotation Preparation Instructions

1) Price Quotation: The pricing quotation shall be separate from any other portion of the quotation. The offeror shall propose a firm-fixed-price for each CLIN. Additionally, the offeror shall provide a breakdown of the proposed firm-fixed-price per CLIN, demonstrating how the proposed price was calculated, to at minimum include anticipated labor categories, fully burdened hourly labor rates, and anticipated hours.

Price quotations shall remain valid for a period of 90 days from the date quotations are due. Price quotations shall include a proposed milestone payment schedule.

2) Technical Quotation: The technical quotation shall address the following:

Technical Capability: The technical quotation shall address the offeror’s detailed technical approach for satisfying the Statement of Work (SOW) requirements and demonstrate the offeror’s technical capabilities with regards to the SOW requirements. The quotation shall address how the offeror will (a) perform and manage individual tasks required by the SOW; and (b) ensure that Contractor services and deliverables comply with the requirements of the SOW.

Key Personnel: Resumes for each person proposed as key personnel, to include name, education, experience, and country of citizenship are required. The offeror shall demonstrate that the proposed key personnel candidates meet the minimum qualifications detailed in the SOW. If a candidate is not a US citizen, then the proper documentation, as required by CAR clause 1352.237-73, must be provided with the Quotation. In addition, the quotation shall indicate the labor categories for each candidate proposed.

mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov

Past Performance: The offeror shall provide past performance information regarding relevant contracts over the past three (3) years with Federal, state, or local governments, or commercial customers. If the offeror intends to subcontract with another firm(s) for part of this requirement, that firm’s past performance information shall also be provided. If the offeror has no relevant past performance, it may include a statement to that effect in its quotation. The government reserves the right to consider data obtained from sources other than those described by the offeror in its quotation. It is recommended that approximately 3-5 contracts be referenced.

The description of each contract/order described in this section shall not exceed one half page in length.

For each contract/order, the offeror shall provide the following information:

1. Contract number;

2. Description and relevance to solicitation requirements including dollar value;

3. Period of Performance – indicate by month and year the state and completion (or “ongoing”) dates for the contract;

4. Reference Contact – If a non-Government contract, identify the name and address of the client with current telephone number and email address of a point of contact of the client responsible for the contract;

5. Contracting Office – If a Government contract (Federal or state), identify the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO), Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO), and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and their names, current telephone numbers and email addresses.

6. Problems Encountered – include information regarding information regarding any problems encountered on the contracts described above and corrective actions taken to resolve those problems.

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions: This is an open-market solicitation for equipment as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this solicitation that will include the clauses set forth herein. The quotation should include one of the following statements:

“The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition.”

OR

“The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:

Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)

Note: This procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the offeror’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

QUOTATION EVALUATION:

Addendum to FAR 52.212-2- Evaluation- Commercial Items:

The Government reserves the right to make an award without discussions based solely upon initial quotations. Therefore, offerors should ensure that their initial quotation constitutes their best offer in terms of both price and the technical solution being proposed.

Basis of Award

Evaluation Factors

Award shall be made to the offeror whose quotation offers the best value to the Government price and other factors considered. The Government will evaluate quotations using the tradeoff method based on the following evaluation criteria listed in descending order of importance: 1) Technical Capability 2) Technical Key Personnel, 3) Past Performance, and 4) Price. All non-price factors, individually and when combined, are more important than price.

Technical Capability: The government will evaluate the extent to which the offeror has demonstrated the technical capability to successfully perform these services, and demonstrated a feasible technical approach to successfully perform and manage the required tasks while ensuring that all deliverable schedule requirements are met.

Technical Key Personnel:

The Government will evaluate the key personnel proposed by the offeror on the extent to which they are qualified to efficiently and effectively address the requirements in the Statement of Work. The Government will consider the extent to which the proposed key personnel meets or exceeds the minimum qualifications identified in the Statement of Work. Greater consideration will be given to key personnel that exceed the specific minimum qualification requirements identified in the Statement of Work.

Past Performance: The Government will evaluate the Offeror's past performance information and, if appropriate, its proposed subcontractors' past performance to determine its relevance to the current requirement and the extent to which it demonstrates that the offeror has successfully completed relevant contracts in the past three years. In assessing the offeror's past performance information, NIST will evaluate, as appropriate, successful performance of contract requirements, quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, cost management, communications between contracting parties, proactive management and customer satisfaction. The Government will consider the information provided in the quotation and may also consider other sources of information in evaluating the Offeror’s past performance. The Government will assign a neutral rating if the offeror has no relevant past performance information.

Price: The Government will evaluate price for fairness and reasonableness.