DGLandH - Section L - INSTRUCTIONS.pdf

SECTION L

Dirksen Ground Level and Hart

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFEROR

Request for Proposal # AOCSSB26R0009

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC); Acquisition and Material Management Division (AMMD) is issuing Request for Proposal (RFP) # AOCSSB26R0009 for Food and Related Services for the Senate Office Buildings in Washington, DC. It is anticipated that this RFP will result in two awards: (1) Russell Senate Office Buildings (RSOB) and (2) Dirksen Ground Level & Hart (DGL&H). This section L is for the DGL&H. The contract type is a hybrid, Loss Reimbursement (capped at $125,000 annually) plus Commission Above Break Even type contract. An award will be made to the responsible Offeror who is actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and whose offer provides the overall best value to the AOC in accordance with the requirements set forth by this solicitation and the Statement of Work (SOW).

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 7223, Special Food Services Contractors. The Product Service Code is S203, Housekeeping – Food. This RFP is not restricted to the specified NAICS or PSC listed above. The contract period of performance includes a multi-year base period from contract award to December 31, 2031, with the contractor performing mobilization/phase-in efforts until the restaurant operations start date on December 31, 2027. The contract will include two (2) four-year options and the option to extend services for up to six months pursuant to FAR 52.217-8. The contract will include two (2) four-year options and the option to extend services for up to six months pursuant to FAR 52.217-8. The government anticipates an award on or before Thursday, May 6, 2027.

L.1 RFP GENERAL CONDITIONS

Offerors are advised that the AOC is a legislative branch entity and as such is not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). This project will use the negotiated acquisitions process of an RFP established by the AOC’s Contracting Manual, Order 34-1, Section 9.1. A copy of the AOC’s manual is available at https://www.aoc.gov/doing-business-aoc/overview.

The submission of a proposal to the Government will constitute the Offeror’s compliance with the terms and conditions of the RFP. The Government will not be obligated to pay any cost incurred by a contractor in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Offerors are cautioned to ensure that their proposal submissions are complete and reflective of the instructions, evaluation criteria, and requirements described herein. Offerors are encouraged to provide their best terms with their initial proposal submission. The AOC will reserve the right to make an award without discussions or establishing a competitive range.

https://www.aoc.gov/doing-business-aoc/overview

Any exceptions or conditional assumptions taken with respect to the requirements outlined in the RFP or SOW shall be fully explained in the Offeror’s Introductory Letter (Section L.3.1). The Government cautions Offerors that taking exception to any term or condition may render their proposal non-responsive and the Offeror will be ineligible for award, unless the RFP expressly authorizes such an exception with regards to a specific term or condition.

All proposals submitted in response to this solicitation must be valid for 365 days. Offerors that fail to affirmatively hold their proposal open for the required number of days shall be deemed nonresponsive.

L.2 SUBMISSIONS

All correspondence in reference to this solicitation shall be directed to the Contracting Officer (CO), Moyah Wilson, via e-mail at moyah.wilson@aoc.gov, and the Contract Specialist (CS), Andrew Eichhorn, via e-mail at andrew.eichhorn@aoc.gov. General correspondence via email to the CO and CS shall include the RFP Number, the unit, and company name in the subject of the email (example:

AOCSSB26R0009 DGL&H_ABC Inc.). Offerors shall upload proposal documentation to AOC’s secure file transfer protocol site Kiteworks. It is recommended to request access as soon as possible. Failure to request access sufficiently in advance of the due date shall not be grounds for extending the submission deadline. Further instructions for accessing and uploading documents to Kiteworks are in Attachment – DGL&H - J.23 - Kiteworks Instructions.

(a) Offeror shall provide one (1) electronic version of their proposal in Microsoft Word or PDF format, with Excel spreadsheets as appropriate. Written materials shall be submitted on 8 ½” x 11” format using 11 point or larger Times New Roman font. Charts, graphs, diagrams, tables, and drawings shall use 9 point or larger Times New Roman font. The AOC will not evaluate any material that exceeds the given page limits. Regardless of the stated page limits, brevity and conciseness are considered a positive attribute and reflect a professional approach by the Offeror in proposal preparation.

*Cover sheets, Table of Contents, Tab Labels, Dividers, and past performance questionnaires are excluded from the page count. Additional pages over the maximum allowed will be removed or not read and will not be evaluated by the Government.

(b) Questions about the technical or contractual details of this procurement must be submitted via Kiteworks no later than Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 12:00 Noon ET. Questions submitted after this cut-off will not be accepted or responded to by the Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist. Offerors shall use the first two columns of Attachment DGL&H J.16 - Questions Template to submit questions.

(c) Questions and answers will be published in an attachment to the solicitation and posted to SAM.gov. If the answers to questions result in a change to the solicitation, an amendment will be posted to SAM.gov.

(d) Proposals must be received via AOC’s Secure File Transfer Site - Kiteworks as stated in the beginning of this section no later than Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 12:00 Noon ET.

(e) Volumes 1 and 2 of the proposal submission shall be submitted as separate files.

mailto:moyah.wilson@aoc.gov

(f) A Pre-proposal Conference and Walk-through of Senate facilities will be held Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Companies are asked to limit participation to no more than two (2) individuals per vendor. Please provide vendor identifying information for the walk-through via email to the CO and CS. Meeting location and details will be provided upon registration.The AOC may, as its sole discretion, request oral presentations from those Offeror’s who are determined to be in the competitive range for award of this contract(s).

(g) The AOC may, at its sole discretion, enter into discussions with Offerors.

(h) The AOC expects to make an award on or around Thursday, May 6, 2027, and will expect that the Offeror and proposed resources that have been accepted by the Senate will be available to begin the on-boarding process thereafter. Service is to begin Friday, December 31, 2027.

(i) Offeror’s must submit a completed Attachment DGL&H - J.22 - Non-disclosure Agreement for

See Attachment DGL&H - J.23 - Kiteworks Instructions for more details.

L.3 VOLUMES AND ORGANIZATION

(a) Proposals shall be clearly and concisely written, as well as being indexed and logically assembled as described herein. Offerors are advised to supply all information in the sequence and format specified in the table below. The submitted proposal must provide a sufficient basis for a thorough evaluation and contain the information necessary for evaluation.

The Offeror shall provide the requested information within the designated volume, section, and factor.

Any requested information placed outside of the designated location will not be considered or evaluated under that evaluation factor regardless of whether it is located somewhere else in the proposal. Offerors shall submit a proposal for each venue. If an Offeror’s response omits a venue, the entire proposal will be deemed non-responsive.

In order for the proposal to be strictly evaluated on the merit of the material submitted, Volume 1 and Volume 2 shall be submitted in separate documents. All proposed pricing from Section B shall be omitted from Volume 1. Menu Pricing from SOW Section C.5.9 will be evaluated as part of the technical approach and shall be included in Volume 1. Volume 1, shall be indexed by section as stated in L.3.1. Volume 2 shall be indexed by section as stated in L.3.2.

(b) Proposals shall be separated into two (2) volumes and organized in the following manner:

Volume Section Factor Title Page Limit

1 NA

Introductory Letter/Executive Summary/Table of Contents

10 pages

(Parts 1-4 as stated in L.3.1 Section 2)

Operational Plans and Proposed Services 75 pages

Organizational

Capabilities and Personnel Plan

3 3 Past Performance NA

4 4 Oral

Presentations/Site Visits

To Be Determined

1 5 Section B and

Financial Projections

No page limit

2 NA Financial Responsibility 10 pages

NA

Standard Form 33

(Provision Fill- Ins)

NA

NA

All RFP Amendments

(Standard Form

30) –Signed by

Offeror

NA

All pages in Volume 1, except the introductory letter, shall include page numbering. Detailed instructions are described in each section. Section B Pricing for Volume 2 shall be submitted in the provided Section B document of this solicitation.

(c) Proposals which do not address all of the elements and requirements of the solicitation may be disqualified from further consideration.

(d) The specific evaluation criteria are found in Section M. Detailed instructions regarding the information the AOC requires in order to evaluate proposals are included in Section L.

(e) Offeror shall ensure that the Standard Form 33 (SF33) Solicitation, Offer and Award Form (Section A) is completed in its entirety and signed by an authorized party.

An offer signed by an agent shall be accompanied by evidence of his or her authority, unless such evidence has been previously furnished to the Contracting Officer. Offerors are reminded not to use the image of the seal of the Senate or AOC, or any other seal referenced in Section 713 of Title 18, United States Code, on its proposal.

L.3.1 Volume 1 –Technical Proposal

The Offeror shall separate Volume 1 into four (4) sections as outlined below:

1) Section 1: Introductory Section

2) Section 2: Technical Approach

3) Section 3: Past Performance

4) Section 4: Oral Presentations

Section 1: Introductory Section

Section 1: Introductory Section of Volume 1 shall include the following:

1) Introductory Letter

2) Executive Summary

3) Table of Contents

The following introductory information (letter format is acceptable) is required before the first index of Volume 1:

a. RFP Number & Title;

b. Name and address of Offeror;

c. Name, telephone number & e-mail address of main point-of-contact;

d. Date of submission;

e. Name, title and signature of authorized representative;

f. Unique Entity ID & cage code;

g. NAICS Code / Product Service Code

h. Identification of any Sub-Contractors by name & address;

i. All assumptions regarding the RFP and SOW must be identified in this section. Exceptions identified in other areas of the proposal will not be considered.

The Introductory Letter shall be limited to the requested information.

1) Executive Summary

Provide a comprehensive summary of Volume 1 in a bullet-point format. The Executive Summary should provide condensed highlights of your proposal in sufficient detail for the reader to fully understand the scope and intent of your proposal and shall not exceed 10 pages.

Clearly identify the outlets for which you are proposing and identify the major differences between what you are proposing and the current food service operation as it exists today. This document should be suitable for review by the senior management, Senators and their staff and should provide the reader with an overview of the proposed services. This document should not include or reference any aspect of the Offeror’s Volume 2 proposal.

2) Table of Contents

Offeror shall provide an index that clearly crosswalks all sections of its proposal and the solicitation, attachments, and references.

Section 2: Technical Approach

Section 2: Technical Approach of Volume 1 shall be organized by venue (listed below). Include any material (i.e. training manuals, checklists, etc.) that directly relates to your proposal for each venue and required Section J attachments in each venue’s folder as appropriate. This section shall not exceed 75 pages total.

Senate Food and Related Services Venues:

• Dirksen Senate Office Building Room SDG20 and SDG20A

• Dirksen Senate Office Building Room SDG-21

• Senate Hart Coffee Cart

Note: A listing of the venues’ current names is provided in Attachment DGL&H - J.3 - Venues.

The proposed Technical Approach for each of the above venues shall be organized into four (4) parts as follows:

1) Part 1: Introduction/Executive Summary

a) Follow instructions in L.3.1 Section 1.2 – Executive Summary (sans page limit) specific to each venue.

2) Part 2: Table of Contents (does not count towards page limits)

3) Part 3: Factors 1 and 2

a) Separate each factor

4) Part 4: Attachments (if any)

Factor 1: Operational Plans and Proposed Services:

The Offeror shall describe how they intend to implement their operational plans and proposed services for SOW sections C.3 – Operating Hours, C.4 – Food Services and Units, and C.5 – Guidelines.

1) Menus, products, portions, merchandise and services to be offered.

a) Include price schedules, pricing policies, and descriptions.

b) Complete Attachment DGL&H - J.14 - Market Basket and Price & Portion Guide. Further instructions are included in the attachment.

Offerors shall include the Market Basket items in attachment DGL&H - J.14 - Market Basket and Price & Portion Guide from the “SDR - Basket” sheet.

2) Quality assurance plan and procedures

a) Provide a Quality Assurance Plan as outlined in Section C.5.12.1 – Quality Assurance Plan:

Contractor Provided in the SOW.

3) Ability to adapt to an ever-changing environment in staffing, Senate schedules, and food production

a) Shutdowns, emergency preparedness, special visitors and special events, how will you plan to work with AOC for extraordinary events.

Factor 2 – Organizational Capabilities and Personnel Plan

The Offeror shall describe how they intend to implement their organizational capabilities and personnel plan for SOW sections C.3 – Operating Hours, C.4 – Food Services and Units, and C.5 – Guidelines.

1) Provide a Personnel Plan (Key Personnel, Management and Line Staff) applicable to your proposal for each venue.

a) Employee staffing, continuity and training plans

b) Management structure, supervisory techniques, and experience of proposed onsite management.

c) Offerors shall identify and submit resumes for key personnel positions in Attachment DGL&H - J.7 - Key Personnel Qualifications. Key personnel are those persons who are most critical to the effort and whose removal or absence from the project would most adversely impact quality, schedule, or cost (Ex.

Program Manager, Executive Chef).

2) Substance abuse policy and/or drug free workplace policy and procedures, if applicable.

3) Equal opportunity policy and compliance with AOC and Senate standards.

4) Mission statement to include the scope of quality service, customer care and philosophy in dealing with the Senate as a potential client.

Section 3: Past Performance

Factor 3 - Past Performance

The Offeror shall describe at least three (3) recent and relevant contracts completed within the past five

(5) years for Food and Related Services. Contracts will be considered recent and relevant if the completed work is of a similar size, scope, magnitude, and complexity of this project for a government or private entity. Included details for each reference must include:

(a) The organization’s name and address

(b) Details for a point of contact (including telephone number, title and e-mail address)

(c) Contract Total Dollar value

(d) Contract Type (i.e. Firm-Fixed Price, Time & Materials, Concessions, or Cost Reimbursement)

(e) Contract Period of Performance

(f) A brief description of the work, including – at minimum:

(1) How the work was similar to and/or different from this requirement, including scale and complexity.

(2) Whether the work was performed for a government or private entity.

(3) Any significant problems or issues that occurred during performance of the contract and how the Offeror resolved those issues.

Offerors shall provide the point of contacts for the three (3) contracts specified above with the solicitations Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ), Attachment DGL&H - J.15, via e-mail. All complete questionnaire forms must be emailed directly to the Contracting Officer by the due date of proposals as outlined in the solicitation. The complete questionnaire will be used to collect and validate past performance information described by the contractor above.

The Government will also use information obtained from other sources to evaluate past performance.

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) and similar databases. The Government reserves the right to use the additional information received, known by evaluator’s prior experience(s), or retrieved in its evaluation of the Offeror’s Past Performance.

Offerors without a record of relevant past performance, or for whom information on past performance is not available, will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably, but will instead receive an overall rating of “neutral.”

Section 4: Oral Presentations

Offerors invited by the AOC to give oral presentations will be given talking points at the time of the invitation.

Factor 4: Oral Presentations and Site Visits (for competitive range or acceptable proposals)

TO BE DETERMINED AFTER COMPETITIVE RANGE IS SET.

**End of Volume 1**

L.3.2 Volume 2 - Administrative and Financial

The Offeror shall separate Volume 2 into three (3) sections as outlined below:

(1) Section 1: Section B and Financial Projections

(2) Section 2: Financial Responsibility

(3) Section 3: Signed and completed Solicitation, Offer and Award Form

Section 1: Section B and Financial Projections

Factor 5: Completed Section B Pricing Schedules and Financial Projections

(1) The Offeror shall complete Schedule B.5.1a from the Section B document of this RFP.

(a) Provide the proposed commission percentage for the base period and all option periods. Provide any narratives associated with the proposed pricing as an attachment. The goal for the AOC is to receive the best possible service/value for the Senate.

(2) The Offeror shall complete Schedule B.6.1 from Section B of this RFP.

(a) Provide the proposed capital inputs for the base period and all option periods. Provide any narratives associated with the financial investments as an attachment. The goal for the AOC is to receive the best possible service/value for the Senate.

(3) The Offeror shall provide pro forma income statements on financial projections for each operating venue from the proposed pricing/services for the base period and options. Include supporting documentation. These pro-form income statements will be the basis for negotiating allowable and allocable costs for the annual loss reimbursement NTE $125,000.

Section 2: Financial Responsibility

(a) Provide verification of its ability and commitment to provide adequate funding. A prospective Offeror shall be required to demonstrate its financial capacity to fund its proposed capital investment plus all transition and pre and post opening costs including proposed remodeling/renovation and/or capital investment required for any of the facilities if part of the Offeror’s proposal. The funding must be in the form of either documentation verifying the Offeror’s private capital or an unconditional, formal and binding letter of commitment from a commercial lender or third party. Funds not currently on hand, but which are confirmed in writing with Offeror’s proposal to be available at commencement of contract term, may be acceptable. The Offeror must provide documentation that the necessary funding will be available.

In the case of a public corporation, an original, notarized letter signed by an officer of the company that represents that company’s finance committee or whatever entity (executive committee, board of directors, etc.) that has the authority to authorize this expenditure will satisfy this requirement.

(b) Disclose any lawsuits in which the Company is a named defendant within the last five (5) years and status of each such case.

Section 3: Signed SF30(s) and Fully Executed SF33 - Solicitation, Offer and Award Form

(a) Signed Amendments (SF-30s)

(b) The Offeror shall acknowledge receipt of any amendments to this solicitation requiring the Offeror’s signature by signing and returning the amendment as part of its proposal and date in the space provided for this purpose on the form for submitting an offer.

(c) Signed and completed Reps and Certs (Section K)

(d) All Offerors will be required to submit proposals to include the following information concerning the company background:

(1) Legal name of the company.

(2) Organizational diagram and biographies for officers.

(3) Detailed business history.

(4) Authorized Representatives and contact information.

**End of Volume 2**

L.4 RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE AND USE OF DATA

(a) Offeror’s that include in their proposals data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the AOC except for evaluation purposes, shall do the following:

(1) Mark the title page with the following:

“This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the AOC and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed--in whole or in part--for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, an award is made to this Offeror as a result of--or in connection with--the submission of this data, the Senate shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data, including cost and pricing data, to the extent provided in the resulting order. This restriction does not limit the Senate’s right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets numbered [insert number(s)],” and

2) Mark each sheet of data to be restricted with the following:

“Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.”

L.5 LATE SUBMISSIONS AND REVISIONS OF PROPOSALS

Proposals must be received by the Contracting Officer & Contract Specialist by the exact time and date specified in L.2 Submissions. The official time of receipt is the timestamp recorded by Kiteworks. Any document uploaded or modified after the deadline will be deemed late and will not be considered. Offerors are cautioned to submit their entire proposal in sufficient time and exit Kiteworks prior to the cut-off time to avoid modifying any folders or documents after the cut-off time.

Any proposal or revision to a proposal received by the CO after the time specified for receipt will not be considered. Proposals may be withdrawn by e-mail or other written notice received at any time before award.

(End of Section L)

L.5 LATE SUBMISSIONS AND REVISIONS OF PROPOSALS