Draft-Instructions to Offerors.docx

A. QUOTE SUBMISSION (52.212-1 Addendum)

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS:

1.0 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1.1 This is a procurement using FAR 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures and FAR 12, Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services. It has been set aside for 8(a) companies and will be awarded on a competitive basis. This is not a source selection and is not subject to FAR 15.3 procedures.

1.2 Only one (1) quote shall be submitted, per company, in response to this requirement. Quotes received after the date/time specified will not be evaluated. By submission of the quote, the offeror agrees to hold the prices for 120 calendar days from the Request For Quote (RFQ) closure date and time.

1.3 The offers must be responsive to all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certification, and technical requirements and must be submitted in accordance with these instructions. Failure to meet a requirement will result in an offer being ineligible for award. The offer shall be compliant with the requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), Solicitation, and any amendments.

1.4 All quotes shall be submitted in United States Dollar (USD). Failure to submit quotes in USD shall render the offeror’s quote as non-responsive. This contract shall be awarded, invoiced, and paid in USD. The face amount listed in USD on the contract is the basis for all payments.

1.5 The offeror's quote shall be clear, concise, and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The offeror’s quote should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but rather shall provide convincing rationale to address how the offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities and experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the offeror's quote. Quotes will be evaluated utilizing three factors: Factor 1-Price, Factor 2-Technical, and Factor 3-Past Performance. The quote shall consist of two (2) volumes: Volume I-Price and Volume II-Technical.

2.0 GENERAL INFORMATION

2.1 Discrepancies: If an offeror believes that the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the offeror shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer electronically (email format) with supporting rationale as well as the remedies the offeror is asking the Contracting Officer to consider as related to the omission or error. The offeror is reminded that the Government reserves the right to award this effort based on the initial quote, as received, without interchanges. This reservation includes matters of additional or substitute pages of the initial quote.

2.2 Interchanges with Offerors: Exchanges of information between the Government and offerors will be controlled by the Contracting Officer. The Government intends to make award based on the initial quote submissions without conducting interchanges. Therefore, each offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms; however, the Government reserves the right to hold interchanges if during the evaluation, it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Interchanges may be conducted with one, some, or all Offerors as the Government is not required to conduct interchanges with any or all Offerors responding.

2.3 Page Limits. The offeror shall prepare the electronic quote set forth in the Quote Organization Table below. The titles and contents of the volumes shall be as defined in this table, all of which shall be within the required page limits:

Quote Organization

3.0 VOLUME I-COVER LETTER

3.1 Cover Letter

3.1.1 Cover Letter shall include Offerors’ contract number, small business status/categories, company primary and alternate points of contact with email/phone and who is authorized to contractually obligate the company, CAGE Code, UEI, a statement that the company understands the requirements specified and will meet the performance standards and requirements therein, and a statement that the company does or does not take exception to any of the requirements of this order.

3.1.2 Offerors are required to acknowledge the solicitation by completing blocks 30a and 30c and signing block 30b of the SF1449. Offerors agree to hold prices firm for 120 calendar days from the closure date of the request for quote. Signature by the offeror on the quote constitutes an offer, which the Government may accept.

4.0 VOLUME II-PRICE (FACTOR 1)

4.1 Price

4.1.1 Offerors must utilize the attached spreadsheet, Attachment 2 - Pricing Worksheet, to submit pricing information. The Offeror should only fill in the unit prices for each year; these cells are highlighted blue. The workbook will automatically calculate the total for each CLIN, FAR 52.217-8 amount, and the overall dollar amount. In addition to this spreadsheet, Offerors can submit up to 3 additional pages as a Price Narrative.

4.1.2 Pricing information should only be submitted in these documents with unit prices rounded to the nearest whole number.

4.1.3 Travel should not be proposed. This will be a Not to Exceed (NTE) FFP CLIN that will be established by the Government in support of required travel. Travel will occur in accordance with PWS Section 6 and the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR).

5.0 VOLUME II-TECHNICAL (FACTOR 2)

5.1 General: Technical quotes should not just restate the PWS. This factor will evaluate the Offeror’s understanding of the process required to successfully staff employees. The Offeror shall provide, at minimum, the following information within the submitted Staffing Plan:

5.1.1 How the employees will be placed to perform PWS functions

5.1.2 How the Offeror will vet and train proposed employees (including timeline)

5.1.3 How the Offeror will recruit and retain employees with the necessary experience, qualifications, and clearance

5.1.4 How the Offeror will phase into the office and current requirements

5.2 The Contractor shall include a Quality Control Plan (QCP) that (a) explains how the offeror will monitor all services task outlined in Part 5 of Attachment 1- Performance Work Statement; (b) includes a chart showing the organizational structure and lines of authority, qualifications, duties, responsibilities, and classification of each member of the offeror’s Quality Control Team; and (c) explains on how the offeror will identify, investigate, and correct any non-conforming performance and prevent similar deficiencies in the future.

5.3 As part of the submittal, the Offeror must also include a signed reasonable assurance memorandum at a minimum stating, “we (Offeror) shall provide initial and replacement employees with all required positional minimum standards IAW PWS position criteria, including experience, qualifications, and clearance” or equivalent statement.

6.0 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

6.1 All questions shall be emailed to Jessica Kinser at jessica.kinser@us.af.mil and Amanda Kimbel at amanda.kimbel@us.af.mil no later than 1400 local (HST) time on 15 July 2025. Late questions may not be accepted or considered. All questions and answers will be combined on a single document which will be made available to all qualified offerors, on a non-attribution basis. Verbal questions will not be answered. An amendment to the solicitation will be issued answering all questions submitted by 1400 local (HST) time 16 July 2025. If the number of questions require the solicitation to be extended, the Contracting Officer will make the determination at the time the Questions and Answers amendment is made.

6.2 Quotes shall be submitted to Jessica Kinser at jessica.kinser@us.af.mil and Amanda Kimbel at amanda.kimbel@us.af.mil no later than the date and time specified in block 8 on the SF1449. Late quotes will not be considered for evaluation or award.

7.0 ELIGIBILITY: To be determined responsible, a prospective contractor must-

(a) Have adequate financial resources to perform the contract, or the ability to obtain them (see 9.104-3(a));

(b) Be able to comply with the required or proposed delivery or performance schedule, taking into consideration all existing commercial and governmental business commitments;

(c) Have a satisfactory performance record (see 9.104-3 (b) and subpart 42.15). A prospective contractor shall not be determined responsible or nonresponsible solely on the basis of a lack of relevant performance history, except as provided in 9.104-2;

(d) Have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics (for example, see subpart 42.15);

(e) Have the necessary organization, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them (including, as appropriate, such elements as production control procedures, property control systems, quality assurance measures, and safety programs applicable to materials to be produced or services to be performed by the prospective contractor and subcontractors). (See 9.104-3(a).)

(f) Have the necessary production, construction, and technical equipment and facilities, or the ability to obtain them (see 9.104-3(a)); and

(g) Be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations (see also inverted domestic corporation prohibition at 9.108).:

· A valid and current SAM Unique Entity Identification (UEI) or valid and current CAGE or NATO Cage Code.

· A current and valid Articles of Association, and/or current Letter of Incorporation. This information is not required if it is a sole proprietor company.

· A business license.

For US contractors who are registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), registration is completed by providing the DUNS Number and CAGE Code.

B. BASIS FOR AWARD (52.212-2 Addendum )

EVALUATION CRITERIA

1.0 BASIS FOR CONTRACT AWARD: The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract in accordance with procedures in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12-Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services and FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures, as supplemented by the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and the Department of the Air Force Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DAFFARS). Regulations are available electronically at http://acquisition.gov. Award will be made on the basis of best value via a competitive Subjective Trade-Off evaluation in accordance with the procedures at FAR 13.5 and FAR 12.203. The Subjective Trade-Off will consider price, technical response, and past performance. Award will be made without holding interchanges; however, the Government reserves the right to hold interchanges if required.

1.1 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The period of performance for the acquisition is for a five (5) year service contract composed of a Base Year and Four (4) option periods. Clause FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, is also included in this contract.

2.0 EVALUATION FACTORS

2.1 Evaluation and Factors: Evaluation factors represent specific characteristics that are tied to this requirement. The below evaluation factors shall be the primary determinant of the detailed information requested. The following evaluation factors and subfactors will be used to evaluate each quote. Award will be made on the basis of best value via a competitive Subjective Trade-Off evaluation in accordance with FAR 13.5 and FAR 12.203. Factors under consideration include the following:

2.1.1 Factor 1: Price

2.1.2 Factor 2: Technical

2.1.3 Factor 3: Past Performance

2.2 Factor 1-Price: The criterion evaluates the overall price to the Government and determines if the proposed price is realistic, fair, reasonable, and complete. Any inconsistencies between proposed approach and price must clearly be justified. The quote will be reviewed to determine if the proposed price is fair and reasonable. A price is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person in the conduct of competitive business. Generally, prices offered in anticipation of price competition are reasonable. The cost of DBA Insurance will be included in the proposed contract amount and is required in order to perform on this prospective contract. This will not be a separately priced CLIN but is an allowable cost. Therefore, quotes should include DBA insurance within their total price, but NOT as a separately priced line item.

2.2.1 The Government will evaluate the proposed price.

2.2.2 The Total Evaluated Price (TEP) will be calculated as follows: TEP= Base Year + Option Year 1 + Option Year 2 + Option Year 3 + Option Year 4 + Option to Extend Services IAW FAR 52.217-8. Offerors shall not submit separate pricing or CLINS for Option to Extend Services IAW FAR 52.217-8. The Government will utilize one-half of the total price for Option Year 4 to account for FAR Clause 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services). This will be added to the offeror’s prices of the base and all options years to become the overall price. Attachment 2 will automatically calculate the TEP according to this solicitation.

2.3 Factor 2- Technical: The Government’s technical evaluation team shall evaluate the technical quotes based on their content. If a quote is deemed to have an “Unacceptable” technical ranking, where the quote does not meet the requirements of the solicitation, it will render the entire quote unacceptable and, therefore, unawardable. Only those quotes determined to be technically acceptable, either initially or because of interchanges, will be considered for award. However, the offeror is reminded that the Government reserves the right to award this effort based on the initial quote, as received, without interchanges.

2.4 Factor 3- Past Performance: Past performance will be evaluated based on performance confidence assessment using all CPARS ratings under NAICS code, 541519, Other Computer Related Services within the last five (5) years. Evaluation will be established based off the CPARS ratings. If no recent/relevant performance record is available or the Offeror’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned, then a neutral confidence will be assigned and it will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on the Offeror for the factor of past performance.

3.0 QUOTE EVALUATION APPROACH: The process for evaluating quotes is outlined as follows:

3.1 The quotes will be evaluated for responsiveness; any quotes submitted that do not align with the requirements set forth in this solicitation will be deemed unresponsive and not evaluated any further. This is a subjective tradeoff that will consider price, technical response, and past performance. The quote that is comparatively deemed to be the best value to the Government will be awarded the contract. In order to be eligible for award, the offeror must also be determined responsible according to the standards in FAR Subpart 9.1.