Questions_DJJ-17-RFP-1039.pdf

No Section Page # Questions Responses

1 NA NA Whether we need to come over there for meetings

Paragraph C.4.1.4 Performance Evaluation Meetings are held on a quarterly basis. Other adhoc meetings may be scheduled as needed.

2 NA NA

Can you supply a copy of the incumbent's contract and winning bid?

You would need to request this information by way of a FOIA at JMDFOIA@usdoj.gov

3 NA NA How many vendors are currently under contract? Three (3)

Would the government consider doing an 8(a) set aide for this contract. It was already considered

Do you plan to award this contract to a single vendor or multiple vendors? If multiple, how many?

Per Section L.1 of the RFP, the Government contemplates award of as many as four (4) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contracts resulting from this solicitation.

Is it the Government's intent to award this as a single award or multiple award IDIQ? If this is a multiple award IDIQ how will work be allocated

Per Section L.1 of the RFP, the Government contemplates award of as many as four (4) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contracts resulting from this solicitation.

Section H.2.2 outlines the fair consideration and selection criteria.

7 Are there any problem areas with the current process?

Information regarding performance under the current contracts may not be disclosed

Where will the work take place? Contractor facility, customer location or at the interpreter/translator home of record?

The only work that is required to be performed at DOJ locations would be on-site translation or interpretation work.

9 C.4.1.1.1 6 of 82

Can the government provide a list of language testing professional organizations that would be accepted? Our company uses several government approved testing agencies and need to know which ones we can use during the contract.

Here are some organizations: ICLS (International Center for Language Studies)

ICA

LTI (Language Testing International)

ALTA

10 C.4.1.1.1 6 of 82

"Qualifying scores defined as interagency language RoundTable (ILR) scale 2 minimum or equivalent on language/translation test of the FBI, other Government agencies, or qualified professional organizations will be considered in assessing qualifications". Will translators be required to submit scores to DOJ upon award, prior to beginning contract work, or is having these requirements on file with their employing provider sufficient. Vendors can submit scores to DOJ upon award

11 C.4.1.1.1 6 of 82

The level of qualifying scores for translators has been decreased under this RFP from an ILR 3 to an IRL 2. What is the reason for this decrease? It does not appear to be commensurate with the level of work required under the contract, and is in fact less than the requirement for transcribers and other personnel.

This change was an error and the RFP has been corrected. See amended RFP.

12 C.4.1.1.1.b 6 of 82

There is conflicting information in the RFP regarding key personnel.

Section C.4.1.1.1b states the reviewers/editors/certifiers are key personnel; Section H.3. states that key personnel include the Security Officer and the Program Manager; and Section L.3.2.3(1) indicates that offerors should provide resumes for the Program Manager and any other proposed key personnel. Please clarify which personnel the government is designating as key. Please clarify whether the government would like resumes for all reviewers/editors/certifiers if they are confirmed as key personnel.

The reference to reviewer/editors/certifiers as key has been deleted from the RFP. See amended RFP. The only Key Personnel are the Program Manager and the Security Officer

13 C.4.1.1.1 (c ) 7 of 82

Please clarify that Interpreter request must be fulfilled within three hours? Does this mean the contractors can receive a same-day request at 9 am and an interpreter must be onsite by 12 pm

No, this refers to the service level agreement that once a vendor is assigned an interpretation request, they have 3 hours to accept it or not.

14 C.4.1.2 9 of 82 Are clearances required for all linguists and transcribers? Or only for project management performing work under this contract?

All personnel working under this contract require security approval

15 C.4.1.2 9 of 82

Please specify which linguists will require credit checks in advance.

Is this only for linguists for whom a waiver is requested, as implied on page 42, paragraph (i)?

All linguists require processing at the Moderate or High Risk level.

16 C.4.1.2 9 of 82

Please clarify that the vendor must perform the credit check prior to submitting security paperwork, and that the cost of the credit check must be absorbed by the vendor.

Per H.5.1.3(b), the contractor shall submit a credit report for each individual designated at High or Moderate risk level. The cost of the credit check is absorbed by the vendor.

17 C.4.1.2 9 of 82

What criteria are to be used for determining whether the results of the credit check are acceptable?

Applicant must provide documentary proof validating any delinquent account(s) have been satisfied or are in the process of being satisfied.

Proof should be in the form of official correspondence from noted creditors, copies of canceled checks, bank statements, money orders or payment receipts. If the applicant has entered into a repayment agreement with any of the notated creditors, the applicant must provide a copy of each agreement along with proof of payments made for the past two consecutive months. If the accounts are being disputed with the credit bureaus, the applicant will need to provide a copy of the dispute letter to the identified credit bureau(s) as well as the receipt that the dispute request was received.

The credit bureau(s) are required by law to respond that they have received your correspondence within (5) five business days.

18 C.4.1.1.1, H.3, and L.3.2.3 7 of 82, 37 of 82 and 74 of 82

The government states that Reviewers/Editors/Certifiers are considered key personnel, however that is not mentioned in Section H, nor do we see resume requirements in Section L. If resumes are required, can the government specify how many and for what language pairs?

The reference to reviewer/editors/certifiers as key has been deleted from the RFP. See amended RFP.

19 C.4.1.1.1, H.3, and L.3.2.3 7 of 82, 37 of 82 and 74 of 82

Under Section C.4.1.1(b) Editors are mentioned to be Key Personnel, however they are not listed as such under H.3. This determination will decide whether editor resumes are required to be inserted in the proposal (Section L.3.2.3(1)) Are editors

The reference to reviewer/editors/certifiers as key has been deleted from the RFP. See amended RFP.

20 C.4.4 ( c) 13 of 82

"word counts shall be predicated on the source word count using software technology? By C.4.10 (page 18) Deliverable/Delivery Schedule (2) Translation states "Translation rates are predicated upon three criteria: number of words of source or target document..." Please clarify how word counts will be determined?

Will it be based off source file or deliverables? It is based on the source material.

21 C.4.5 13 of 82 Are supplied interpreters expected to be able to perform sight translation as well as simultaneous and consecutive interpretation? No

22 C.4.5(d) 14 of 82

"in some instances, the Government may require short, consecutive interpretation over the phone." How much advanced notice is typically provided between the request for over-the-phone interpretation, and the actual event? 48 hours

23 C.4.8.3 16 of 82 All translation work has to be conducted at the contractor site?

Please clarify this as some linguists do telework

This section refers to only on-site work at a Government location that is billed at an hourly rate. If this type of request is ordered the expectation is that the linguist will be working at a Government site. This does not refer to all translation work.

24 C.4.8.3 16 of 82

This paragraph states "shall provide an on-site work certification form for all work that is performed on-site and is billed at the hourly rate and.. shall complete this certification once the project has been completed….the signed certification, along with the work order for the assignment, shall be attached to the invoice submission in order to receive payment." In the case of on-site work lasting longer than one month, may a contractor submit the work certification and invoice on a monthly basis? Yes

25 C.4.9 a.2 17 of 82

The SOW indicates that written approval is required for a linguist to mark a portion of an audio file as "unintelligible." Since it is extremely rare for an audio file to be free of unintelligible segments, this requirement could prove to be onerous for both the contractor and the government, particularly if a contractor is expected to request approval for each portion that is unintelligible.

We request that this requirement be removed or changed so that the contractor only needs to request approval for a specific project (group of files) or single audio file, and not for each unintelligible

The request is granted for a specific project (group of files) or single audio file, and not for each unintelligible portion within the file.

26 C.4.9(f) 17 of 82 Does the government require source and translated materials to be archived? No

27 C.4.9(f) 17 of 82

"Archival storage of classified documents shall be in a GSA approved container" Will a DD 254 be provided? What Classification level will be required?

It is not anticipated that Classified Work will be performed under this contract. This language has been removed from the RFP. See the amended RFP.

28 C.4.9(f) 17 of 82

The government states that a GSA approved container is required.

Will classified information be delivered to the contractor? If so to what level? Will classified translations be required to be performed at contractor facility? If so will SCIF space be required?

It is not anticipated that Classified Work will be performed under this contract. This language has been removed from the RFP. See the amended RFP.

29 C.4.10 18 of 82

We request the project size for a lengthy Premium project as stated in Table 2 Translation Delivery Schedules be changed from "25,500 words to "12,000 words"

The Government is adjusting this word count down to 18,750 See amended RFP.

30 C.4.10(2) 18 of 82

Table 2 of the Translation Delivery Schedule shows Routine and Premium schedules to require an estimated 6,000 translated words per day, while Priority and Urgent schedules require an estimated 2,000 translated words per day. Can the government provide justification as to why routine and premium translations require a significantly greater amount of words to be translated per day?

Since all translations are to be reviewed by a separate linguist, the industry standard per day is about 2,000-2,500.

Section C.4.10, item 2 states: "The Contractor shall perform source material review & summarization of materials at a rate of not fewer than 2,000 words per business day." This is consistent with their industry standard rate.

31 C.4.10(2) 18 of 82

Table 2 - Translation Delivery Schedules lists "Routine" as 8-10 business days for any project under 50,000 words. Is that timeline with the understanding that quality steps may need to be abbreviated in order to hit that timeline?

Full quality assurance is expected to be performed within this timeframe.

32 C.4.10 Table 2 18 of 82

The Translation Delivery Schedule (Table 2) on page 18 contains four delivery types (Routine, Premium, Priority, Urgent) whereas the Pricing Table contains five delivery types (includes Rush).

Please clarify which is correct.

The Pricing Table has been corrected to include only the four (4) delivery types as stated in paragraph C.4.10 Table 2.

33 F.8.1 18 of 82

Are there any circumstances outside of the contractor's control (extreme weather event, infrastructure or public transportation failure) that would result in payment deductions not being

Those events would be reviewed on a case by case basis.

34 F.8.2 28 of 82

Please confirm that liquidated damages are only for confirmed assignments and provide if the government provides any exceptions to this rule. In some instances, you can have a linguist getting into a car accident driving into an assignment for example.

The government will evaluate extenuating circumstances on a case by case basis for examples such as car accidents.

35 F.9 31 of 82

With regard to the Payment for Interpreter Cancellations, paragraph F.9 indicates that payment will be made if an assignment is cancelled less than one business day before the assignment begins, but the table indicates that payment would only be made for assignments that are in progress. This is a change from the current contract. We request that the 50% of total work order payment for Multi-day assignments that have not yet started be reinstated. Contractors may find it very challenging to staff multi-day assignments if interpreters cannot be assured they will receive a cancellation fee if a multi-day assignment is cancelled

Paragraph F.9 has been revised to reflect compensation for cancellations of multi-day assignment that have not yet started. See the amended RFP

36 F.9 31 of 82

Industry standard for cancellations of interpreter requests is 48 hours. The government states a full payment for cancellations of one day or less. Would the government consider changing this policy to 48 hours or less? Last minute cancellations place tremendous burdens on contractors as their interpreters require full payments if not cancelled within 48 hours. Additionally many interpreters will not accept assignments that have 24 hour

Paragraph F.9 has been revised to reflect a change in cancellation notification to 48 hours or less. See the amended RFP.

37 H.5.3.(f) 46 of 82

H.5.3 (f) states "Critical NSI or classified information must be backed up on storage media that are stored in a security container, preferably apart from the immediate work area." Please clarify how frequently the Government anticipates issuing work orders for which H.5.3.(f) would be applicable (i.e. work requirements which have a designation other than "unclassified" Are these requirements expected to be processed at the contractor's facilities, on-site at DOJ locations or both?

At this time it is not anticipated that any classified work will be performed.

38 H.5.1 39 of 82

Can the government please provide an estimated length of time to receive DOJ Public Trust Clearance? Will the government accept reciprocity for other non DOJ agencies such as DoD and DHS? If so, how long will that process take and what is required from the contractor?

Currently, the estimated turn around time for Public Trust approval is 5-7 weeks from the time a complete security package is received, assuming there are no derogatory issues. The government does apply reciprocity whenever possible and the current estimated turn around time is approximately 3 weeks from the time a complete reciprocity package is received, assuming there are no new derogatory issues.

For a reciprocity package, the contractor is required to submit a confidentiality agreement, OF-306 and citizenship verification document.

39 H.5.1.3(b) 39 of 82

When will the contractor be notified of an individual's designated Risk Level? Once we are notified of High or Moderate Risk we are required to submit a credit check. Is that cost reimbursable?

Under this contract, contractors will need to clear hundreds if not thousands of personnel to ensure coverage in all languages and service types. To administer credit checks for all these individuals will be extremely expensive.

Language services contractors are processed at a minimum of the moderate risk level unless otherwise requested. There is no reimbursement for these costs.

40 H.5.1.3( c ) 41 of 82

If our e-QIP initiator possess DoD Top Secret clearance, will he/she be able to be immediately designated as the Initiator on this contract or will reciprocation clearance be required?

Any e-QIP initiator to be added to a child agency in e-QIP for CRM will need to be processed for a Public Trust approval.

41 H.5.1.4 41 of 82 Paragraph (b) Please confirm that non-US Citizens who meet the security and residency requirements may be used on this contract.

As stated in the RFP, the DOJ gives strong priority to U.S. citizens. However, non-U.S.

citizens who meet the security and residency requirements could be submitted for processing.

Please note, any non-U.S. citizens that do not meet the residency requirement, are not from an allied nation, or require IT access, will require approval from the Department Security Officer.

For IT access, additional approval is required from the Chief Information Officer.

42 L.3.(b) 68 of 82 Can we submit the proposals via email

No Section L.5 of the RFP indicates that the Offeror shall provide one (1) electronic copy of the Business proposal and three (3) electronic copies of the Technical proposal on CD-ROM.

Separate CD-ROMs should be provided for the Business and Technical proposals

43 L.3.(d) 68 of 82 What font and line spacing would the Government like for the writing in the proposal?

Section L.3(d) indicates that the (font) size must be no less than 10 point except for labels and headings (used with graphics, tables and figures) which may be smaller.

44 L.3( e ) 69 of 82 Can proposal responses be double sided? Yes. One doubled sided page equals two pages

45 L.3.(e) 69 of 82 Are title pages and table of contents and acronym lists counted in page limitations?

Everything is included in the pages limitation with the exceptions of resumes as indicated in this paragraph

46 L.3.(e) 69 of 82

May Resumes, which are not included in page limitations, be placed in an Appendix to Volume II in order to be outside of the page counted portion of the volume? Yes

47 L.3.1 (1) 69 of 82 Can the government include Form 33? Added to FedBizOpps on 6/19/17

48 L.3.1.2 (a) 70 of 82 Are Small Business Primes exempt from providing a Small Business Subcontracting Plan Yes, this is only for Large Business concerns

49 L.3.1.4 71 0f 82

For translation pricing, should bidders enter per word rates with the understanding that there is a 1,000 word minimum, or should we adjust our per word rates to accommodate 1,000 words?

Example: Albanian/x-1201 shows Quantity of 100, with 1,000 words for each. If our rate is .10 per word, should we price it as .10 per word or $100 per word? Or can the government readjust the per word pricing to: 1,000 words x number of projects x rate=total

Yes, the unit of measure is "Per 1,000 words and your pricing needs to be represented that way.

50 L.3.1.4 71 of 82

Is the completed Attachment 1 to be provided as a separate excel file or pasted into the narrative file of Volume 1 or included in both formats (MS Word and Excel)? As an excel spread sheet

51 L.3.1.5 72 of 82 Will the Government accept a GSA Schedule pricelist in lieu of supporting data for each unit price? No. You need to provide the breakout.

52 L.3.2.2 (6) 73 of 82

When the government states 'The plan must describe the number of cleared employees already on board' does the government mean DOJ Public Trust clearances or other government agency clearances as well? If its strictly DOJ, then only those that hold prime contracts can verify these clearances? This presents a significant advantage to incumbent contractors as other bidders have no way of verifying DOJ Public Trust clearances.

See the answer to question 38. DOJ does apply reciprocity whenever possible.

53 L.3.2.2 73 of 82

The government states that the Offeror shall describe how it will perform the work and services required under Section C.3. Does the government mean C.4?

The reference has been changed to C.4. See the amend RFP.

54 L.3.2.3 (1) 74 of 82

Please confirm that only 2 resumes are required to accompany the Tech Volume: 1 for the Program Manager and 1 for the Security Officer Yes

55 L.3.2.4 74 of 82

"At a minimum this section shall describe the offerors recent experience under other contracts with the Federal government for similar support services" What time frame is "considered "recent" for purposes of Corporate Experience?

Recent experience is anything within the past five (5) years.

56 L.3; L.3.2.3 69, 74 of 82 Resumes are specifically not included within the page limitations.

Are Letters of Commitments also excluded? Yes

57 L.3.2.5 75 of 82 Does each reference have to cover ALL the service types?

No, but you should get references for each type of service

58 L.3.2.5 75 of 82

"Provide five (5) reference for commensurate projects that are in progress or were completed within the past three year" Is there a minimum number of past performance that must come from the Prime Contractor?

All references should be from the prime contractor?

59 L.5 75 of 82 Are contractors allowed to hand carry proposals for delivery? If so, would they deliver to the same address as listed in section L.5. Yes

60 M.3 (c ) 81 of 82 What weight will meeting subcontracting goals be given in the price evaluation

The Government's evaluation of subcontracting plans will be included with its evaluation of offerors' business proposals.

61 M.3 (d ) 81 of 82

Please confirm that the adjustment discussed in this section will be applied only if actual employees (not independent contractors) are calculated in the 50% cost requirement Yes

62 Attachment 1 NA We do not see a CLIN for Reviewers/Certifiers. Is the assumption that each translation and transcription price includes a 2nd

The reviewers/certifiers are to be built into the pricing

63 Attachment 1 NA

Are the languages listed in the Pricing Table source or target languages? For instance the cost for translating Chinese into English are more expensive than translating English into Chinese. The work under this contract can be either way.

64 Attachment 1 Pricing Table B-1 Translation

The pricing table line 115 has a section titled "Translation/Rush Rates - 1300 Series". On page 18 of the RFP under Table 2 Translation delivery Schedules, there is no definition of "rush

There are no "Rush Rates" under this RFP. The Pricing Table has be updated to remove all references to "Rush Delivery". See amended

65 Attachment 1 Pricing Table B-1 Translation

The pricing table (CLINx x-1704 thru 1706) requires classified services and the Security Officer is a designated Key Personnel (H.3) role, but H.5 states that the contract will be unclassified. Please change the RFP to reflect that this is a classified contract at the appropriate level (Secret or TS).

This is an unclassified contract. The pricing table has been amended accordingly.

The pricing table contains the 3300 series of CLINS for Escort interpretation, however, escort interpretation is not mentioned in Section C.4.5. Please clarify whether escort interpretation should be priced?

This has been deleted. There is no requirement for Escort Interpretation. See amended RFP.

67 Attachment 1 Pricing Table B-1 Transcription Is transcription services to be billed at per audio hour rate or per man hour rates? Per man hour rate.

68 Attachment 1 Pricing Table Does the government have estimated annual usage per service type? What are the most common languages used?

This information is provided in Attachment 1, Pricing Tables.

69 Attachment 1 Pricing Table

Should CLIN x-1703 be written as a negative number? Is this referring to having only one translator work on a particular document instead of two (translator& editor)?

No, the percentage is correct. And, yes, it does represent that there is no editor.

70 Attachment 1 Pricing Table

Instructions for CLINS x-1703 through x-1710 appear to ask Contractors to provide a percentage (5) in the "Unit price" column, and not the actual per-unit rate Please confirm

Attachment 1 has been amended. See the amended Pricing Table. The CLIN have been renumbered to 1600 Series. There are only 1603

- 1606 after the amendment. It is expected that the actual rate-unit in percentage is proposed.

It's industry practice to transcribe a foreign language into the foreign language and then translate the foreign language transcript into English. For instance, a Spanish audio file would be transcribed into Spanish. The Spanish transcript would then be translated into English. In this situation there are charges for the foreign language transcription services and the document translation services. Is this the process the DOJ anticipates contractors using? if not, what process is the DOJ expecting? Yes, this is the process DOJ expects

Is the contractor required to perform the work in a cleared facility?

To what extent?

Classified Work will not be performed under this contract.

Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) Outside USA? (like from India or Canada

Offshore work is not allowed and linguists are required to be US Citizens or meet residency requirements

74 Can we submit bids/prices for the written translation only? No. The proposals must be for all parts of the

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