QRs-Amendment2.pdf

Questions + Responses DJA-17-AHDQ-R-0035, Administrative Technical Support Services

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

1 2(a) of L1 (pg. 44) Regarding the proposal guidelines, it says not to include the logo in the header or footer. Are we allowed to add the logo to the master page?

This Section has been revised as follows: ‘The prospective contractor's name, the date, RFP number, volume number and section shall be included on each page of the proposal (may be included in a header/footer) . The Company’s logo is allowed on the cover sheet/master page.’

2 3 of L1 (pgs. 44-48)

Also, regarding the Volume 1, since it has 4 sections, instead of 4 separate files, would it be acceptable to include all 4 sections in one document? The reason for this is if all for sections are included in one document, it will be easier to reference and click-on in the table of contents for each section within the document.

As long as the Volumes, Sections & Tabs are titled as per this Section, that should be acceptable.

3 (General) Is there an incumbent on the contract, and if so who?

Yes, NLT Management Services LLC

4 (General) Can the incumbent bid on the contract? Yes

5 (General)

If the incumbent can bid on the contract, can the Contracting Office please remove the requirement for letters of commitment for contractor staff members that are covered under the Service Contract Act (SCA)? This will eliminate the unfair advantage that the incumbent may obtain by bidding all current staff members, and SCA staff members are required to be offered the right of first refusal anyway.

This Section has been revised to read "Prospective contractors must also submit, together with their proposal, resume(s) and letter(s) of commitment/letters of intent for the [new] personnel selected to work on this contract [unfilled positions]".

6 (General) How many employees are currently on the contract and can they be hired?

Which positions are covered under the SCA?

Currently there are 16.5 positions (15 FTEs, 1 PT and 1 Open in Background) . All should be able to be hired and covered under the SCA.

3.1.6.1 (pg. 45 of 62)

Past Performance Questionnaire

The RFP states “Prospective contractors shall instruct their selected references to complete the “Past and Present Performance Questionnaire” (Attachment 1) and include in Section 3 of Volume I”. Attachment 1 instructs the reference to “Please complete the following questionnaire and return directly to the ATF Contract Specialist, Sheray Milhouse, via email…”. The two instructions are conflicting. Is the contractor to provide the questionnaire in their proposal in Section 3 or should the reference send directly to the ATF Contract Specialist or both? Please clarify.

The Offeror shall list its references in Section 3 of Volume I, and those references should submit the Questionnaire directly to the ATF Contract Specialist.

SOW, Section 3.1 Pricing Template

SOW section 3.1 states there is 1 part time General Maintenance Worker in Beltsville, MD, while the Pricing Template lists 1.5 General Maintenance Workers in MD. Please clarify the number of General Maintenance Worker FTEs in MD.

The Pricing Template has been corrected to reflect 1 Part-Time General Maintenance Worker In MD.

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

SOW, Section 3.1 Pricing Template

This Section states that there are 2 General Clerks II in Beltsville, MD, while the Pricing Template lists 3 General Clerks II—2 in MD and 1 in GA. Please clarify the number of General Clerk II FTEs and their locations.

The SOW and Pricing Template have been updated to reflec 4 Admin Assistants and no General Clerk II in MD.

SOW, Section 3.1 Pricing Template

This Section states there are 2 Engineering Technician I positions in MD, while the Pricing Template provides only enough hours for 1 Engineering Technician I. Please clarify the number of Engineering Technician FTEs.

(Rephrased: There is only one Engineering Technician I among the "non-optional" CLINs of the pricing template. Should there be two?)

The Pricing Template has been corrected to reflect only the 2 Engineer Techs I in MD.

SOW, Section 3.1 Pricing Template

This Section indicates there are 17 FTEs, while the Pricing Template provides

17.5 FTEs to price (excluding optional positions) . Please clarify the total number of FTEs.

The SOW and Pricing Template have been updated to reflect

16.5 (16 Non-Optional FTEs and 1 Part-Time equivalent) .

12 RFP 2.1

Price/Cost Info for Contractor states that Wage Determinations apply—please provide the SCA Wage Determinations for each location.

Previously referenced in the RFP; now attached (via Amendment 0001)

Attachment A – Labor Category Descriptions

The asterisk used throughout this section represents “…positions and/or duties not mentioned in the SCA Directory of Occupations.” However, for the Administrative Assistant, there is an asterisk after the word “technical.”

Is that supposed to indicate that this position is not impacted by SCA regulations? This position is on the SCA Directory of Occupations. Also, Engineering Technician Levels I – VI are on the SCA list of occupations but there is an asterisk on Attachment A for Engineering Technician IV.

The * after 'technical' means that that particular word wasn't included in the SCA description. The description for the Eng.

Tech IV is different from SCA.

3.1.5 (pg. 45 of 62)

Personnel Qualifications

The requirement to provide resumes and letters of commitment for "ALL personnel (non-optional and optional)" appears to give an unfair advantage to the incumbent contractor. Accordingly, will the government consider removing this requirement or allowing offerors to staff per the dislocation of qualified workers and thereby only provide resumes and letters of commitment for "open" positions on the contract?

See Response to Question #5

3.1.5 (pg. 45 of 62)

Personnel Qualifications

Which positions on the contract are currently open?

Currently the Metrology Technician is open w/current offer pending in background.

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

16 (General) We request that the closing date for responding be extended and a vendor day be held at the ATF National Laboratory Center. Such an event would allow vendors to adequately understand the requirements.

Via Amendment 0001:

The Due Date for Questions has been extended to 7/5.

The Due Date for Proposal Submissions & Past Performance Questionnaires has been extended to 7/21.

Information re a 'Vendor Day' is forthcoming.

Via Amendment 0002:

The Due Date for Proposal Submissions & PPQs has been extended to Tues., 8/8, to allow for a Lab Visit (6000 Ammendale Road in Ammendale, MD 20705 - may come up as Beltsville, MD) either Thurs., 7/20, or Tues., 7/25, from 1- 4pm both days.

All who visit the Lab must 1) be a U.S. citizen; 2) have current Government-issued identification on their person for admittance; and 3) arrive between 1 and 1:30pm. The Names of all who plan to attend must be sent to Sheray.Millhouse@ATF.gov prior to the date. There will be NO admittance after 1:30pm.

17 (General)

Additionally, for purposes of assuring personnel retention, can the Government provide a list by position (not name) indicating the overall time the individual has worked at the ATF facility and how long they have been in their current position? This will allow all bidders to assess the requirements for benefits and wages, and structure their proposals to achieve retention, based upon a greater understanding of potential requirements.

Hopefully this Table of SALARY ranges of the essential personnel will help:

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

RFP Instructions w/in Section 3.1.7 Section 4

– Technical/ Managerial Approach

(page 36 of 62)

This Section asks offerors to identify a list of costs associated with each major milestone of the Transition-in Plan (TIP). However, neither the CLIN structure in Section 2 – Commodity or Services Schedule on page 4 of 62 of the solicitation nor the Pricing Template provided in Excel format allows for any pricing of the 15-day Transition-In period. Can the Government please modify the Commodity or Services Schedule and the Pricing Spreadsheet to allow for pricing of the Transition-In Period?

CLIN 0007 has been added for the Transition cost; also a Row has been added to the Pricing Template for such.

19 RFP

It provides the applicable Wage Determinations for contract labor categories ,and the Pricing Spreadsheet appears to contain labor hour estimates for full-time equivalent (FTE) contractor employees that are covered under the Service Contract Act. The labor hour estimates provided in the pricing spreadsheet do not appear to account for the first note within each applicable Wage Determination that cites Executive Order (EO) 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors, which applies to this contract and provides up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per FTE per year. In light of this new requirement, can the Government please amend the pricing spreadsheet so that offerors price 1864 hours per year for each FTE covered under the Service Contract Act? 1864 productive hours per year would account for 10 holidays (80 hours), 10 days of paid time off (80 hours), and 56 hours of sick leave.

We accounted for this; however, we've lowered the hours on the Pricing Template by an add'l 32 hours (1864 vs 1896 for full time) and 16 hours (932 vs 948 for part time) since there's an allowance for overtime at the same rate.

SOW (pg. 8 of 62) &

Pricing Template

There appears to be a conflict between the required labor for the General Maintenance Worker listed in the Statement of Work and the Pricing Spreadsheet. The Statement of Work on page 8 of 62 lists one part-time General Maintenance Worker in Maryland, however, the Pricing Spreadsheet lists one full-time and one part-time General Maintenance Worker contractor employees in Maryland. Which is correct?

See Response to Question #8

RFP Instructions w/in Section 3.1.7 Section 4

– Technical/ Managerial Approach

(page 46 of 62)

This Section asks offerors to identify a detailed work breakdown structure with intermediate and major milestones for the Transition-In Plan (TIP).

Since a detailed work breakdown structure will include a detailed description of intermediate and milestones, will the Government allow for this requirement to be excluded from page count limits? If not, can the Government please increase the page count limit by 5 pages to allow offerors to provide appropriate details?

This Section has been revised to only request a Transition-In Plan (excluding intermediate and major milestones) .

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

RFP Instructions w/in Section 3.1.7 Section 4

– Technical/ Managerial Approach

(pgs. 46-47 of 62)

This Section asks offerors to include a Transition Quality Plan (TQP). Will the Government allow the TQP to be excluded from page count limits? If not, can the Government please increase the page count limit by 5 pages to allow offerors to provide appropriate details?

This Section has been revised to remove the Transition Quality Plan.

pg. 5 of the RFP

Wage Determination

The applicable Wage Determination for staff that will be assigned to ATF FSL- A, 2600 Century Boulevard, NE, Atlanta, GA 30345 appears to be missing.

Can the Government please confirm the correct Wage Determinations that are applicable to each location of support under this contract?

See Response to Question #12

RFP Instructions w/in

Section 3.1.6 Section 3

– Past Performance

Will the Government consider task orders, under the same contract numbers, as separate past performance references?

No...unless different functions are being performed for a different customer/client per Section 3.1.6 (pg. 45 of 62) .

As we understand certain positions require a hazardous duty pay premium to staff members to perform work. Will the Government perform an Independent Government Cost Estimate to determine price realism of unrealistically-low labor rates?

Yes, a note about price realism has been added to Factor 4 of the Evaluation Factors section.

There appears to be a discrepancy between the excel pricing worksheet and the SOW. The pricing template includes a General Clerk II position in Georgia; however, no such position is listed in the SOW. Can the Government please correct the discrepancy?

See Response to Question #9.

27 Would the Government consider extending the proposal due date? See Response to Question #16.

How can the offeror get a letter of commitment from an individual who has not been extended a job offer?

See Response to Question #5.

29 Schedule B It lists a “ZB” in the unit price – we assume this means “total cost” for the “job”/Item number. Please advise.

It actually reads 'JB' for 'Job' - Yes, total cost.

Instructions to

Offerors

Your instructions states that candidate resumes should indicate the proposed job category as well a listing A-F of specific information to be contained within – We assume you are looking for a standardized resume for all the selected candidates to be submitted with the proposal.

Standardized would be nice but not required as long as it addresses what's requested in the RFP.

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

Instructions to

Offerors

Your instructions state that the LOI must include the % of time the candidate can dedicate to the Contract – Does stating that they will work Full-time satisfy this requirement?

Yes, excpet for the Part-Time position(s)

SOW (Section 3, page

8) & Instructions to

Offerors (pg. 47)

A Program Management Plan [PMP] is identified as Deliverable #2 and due 30 days after contract award in the SOW, and a Management Plan is identified in Section L. The descriptions are very similar. Does the government consider these to be the same document; and if so, is it expected that the Program Management Plan/Management Plan be provided as Deliverable #2 30 days after contract award, or is expected that a separate Management Plan be included as part of a proposal? Given the extent of information required, it will be difficult to include within the page count limit for Section 4. Therefore can the Management Plan be included as a separate Appendix without page limitations?

These are 2 separate plans. Section 3.2.2 states that 'the PMP aguments the approaches of the proposal'. Therefore, the Management Plan mentioned in the Instructions is an overview, not a detailed plan.

33 Sections 3.1.5 & 5.2.1 Can you provide the contact information for the incumbent's contractors so that we can contact them, negotiate salary, obtain letters of commitment from them so that we can provide you with those letters of commitment?

See Responses to Question #s 5 & 17.

34 General Was a bridge contract put in place to extend the Period of Performance for NLT Management if so can you provide the contract number and justification?

No, the current contract will be extended up to 6 mos (FAR Clause #52.217-8) during the re-compete process.

35 General

Was the original contract to NLT Management Services contract number

DJA12ICO0014?

If so, was the contract for the same number of roles and role types?

Yes

The current contract has more positions; however, those not listed will be re-competed under a different contract. Refer to the Revised Pricing Template via Amendment 2.

Amendment 0002

No. RFP Section QUESTION RESPONSE

Section 3.3 FRL

Operational Support (Deliverable #3)

Is there a requirement to have a Welder for this effort?

Basic welding is a current skill set of incumbents. Extensive welding to the level of an FTE is not a requirement. If extensive welding is required for a project, it is anticiapted to be a sub-contracted, temporary function.

37 Labor Categories

Will the Government please clarify why there is no “*” after Administrative Assistant if it is a non-conforming SCA labor category description (1.0 Administrative Assistant) like they did for the Engineering Tech IV category (4.4 Engineering Technician IV*)?

Said category is #01020 in the SCA Directory of Occupations.

38 Volume II - Pricing Is there an additional document needed for explanations of the pricing and yearly increases, or do I just need to just fill out the excel spreadsheet and submit it as Volume II?

Per Section 3.2.1 of the Instructions to Offerors , documentation should be provided for the Base Year - Additional documentation is required for Option Year(s) if the pricing is significantly different.

39 General With the extension to the 21st nothing was said about the time….. Original time was 1000a on 5-Jul. since extension, does the time remain 1000a?

Yes, just the date changed…W/the 2nd extension mentioned for Question #16, only the date has changed as well, & the time remains the same.

***LATE***

General What is the anticipated value for the contract?

Please use the information provided w/in the Pricing Template, this document, and the SOW to come up with your best pricing.

***LATE***

Security Are you requiring a security clearance? If so, which one at the time of proposal submission? Would you accept a JV?

Yes, Modified-Top-Secret clearance is required & to be performed by ATF Security…In some cases ATF does reciprocity.

***LATE***

Security

Based on your answer to question 13 of the amendment: Are both the Administrative Assistant and the Engineering Technical IV positions not subject to SCA?

Please re-read the Response to Question #13.

***LATE***

Pricing Template &

SOW

The pricing template provided is inconsistent with the location requirements for the General Clerk II, the Metrology Tech, the Engineering Tech and the General Maintenance tech in the SOW. Q: Is the Government reconciling those issues now and will there be an update to the pricing and/or SOW sections?

The Pricing Template has been corrected to reflect the SOW - See Responses to Question #s 8-10.

Amendment 0002

A33Cell:

ATF:Comment:

Question 31 was initially noted incorrectly as Question32 via Amendment 0001

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