HUD Letter to Prospective Offerors 8-28-2012.pdf

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER

Chicago Contracting Operations Branch

77 West Jackson Boulevard, Room 2517

Chicago, IL 60604-3507

(312) 913-8506

Date: August 28, 2012

To: Prospective Offeror

From: Gene Hamilton Jackson, Contracting Officer, Chicago Contracting Operations Branch, NFNC

Subject: Answers to Questions Relating to Request for Proposal Number DU205NC-12-R-0007 Formerly known as DU205NC-12-R-0006, Insurance Endorsement Processing Services (IES)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), Chicago Contracting Operations Branch is responding to the following questions received relating to the subject RFP, in support of the Philadelphia Homeownership Center (PHOC), Processing and Underwriting Division. Please be advised the RFP due date for receipt of proposals is changed from Monday, August 27, 2012, 4:00 p.m., Central Time to Thursday, September 6, 2012 4:00 p.m., Central Time.

Identified below are the Government’s answers to questions received:

QUESTION 1: What is the total headcount currently decked against this process?

ANSWER: According to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) the requested information is considered proprietary to the current contractor and therefore is not releasable. Offerors are to use their business acumen to determine the number of employees to perform the IES procurement.

QUESTION 2: What is the current headcount in each of the following roles: data entry, endorsements, and post-endorsement technical reviews?

ANSWER: According to FOIA, the requested information is considered proprietary to the current contractor and therefore is not releasable. Offerors are to use their business acumen to determine the number of employees to perform the IES procurement.

QUESTION 3: What is the total headcount currently utilizing access to CHUMS/FHAC at the same time?

ANSWER: CHUMS/FHAC does not restrict the number of individuals who request access.

QUESTION 4: Is space provided at the Philadelphia HOC for every contract employee?

ANSWER: HUD has space for 20 contractor staff.

QUESTION 5: Are computers, telephones, etc. provided at the Philadelphia HOC for every contract employee?

ANSWER: See Section C.3. Government Furnished Items, Paragraph A of the Performance Work Statement.

QUESTION 6: Has it been necessary for the current contractor to provide additional computers, printers, or telephones?

ANSWER: No. The government is providing the contractor with computers, printers, and telephones as government furnished equipment.

QUESTION 7: Is it a requirement that all key personnel be permanently on-site at the Philadelphia

HOC?

ANSWER: The Contract manager(s) should be on-site.

QUESTION 8: Provide the name of the current contractor charged with providing mortgage endorsement processing for HUD.

ANSWER: Horizon Consulting, Inc.44135 Woodridge Parkway, Suite 100, Leesburg, VA 20176.

QUESTION 9: Advise of the length of time the current contractor has performed the services as listed in the solicitation.

ANSWER: A total of Eight (8) Years.

QUESTION 10: Provide the number of employees employed by the contractor.

ANSWER: The number of employees employed by the contractor is proprietary, subject to FOIA

Exemption 4. Contractors are to use their business acumen to determine the number of employees to perform the IES procurement.

QUESTION 11: Advise whether the contractor is permitted to use additional computer & photo copy equipment at contractor’s expense

ANSWER: No. The government is providing computers, printers and telephones as government furnished equipment.

QUESTION 12: Is there any charge to the contractor for office space? If so how much annually?

ANSWER: There is no charge for the space that the contractor will use while performing the requirements

QUESTION 13: Section L.4 (c) Proposal Content states that "The offeror must submit proposals in electronic format, using CD ROM. If files are compressed, you must include the necessary decompression program. The offeror must submit the electronic copy of the proposal in a format, readable by Microsoft (MS) Word 2007, MS Excel 2007, MS-Project 2007, and MS Power Point 2007, as applicable."

Is PDF format also acceptable?

ANSWER: Yes, PDF is fine

QUESTION 14: The RFP on page 2, Continuation sheet for the SF-33 states the following quantities:

CLIN 0001 - 150,000 ea.

CLIN 1001 - 165,000 ea, CLIN 2001 - 172,000 ea.

CLIN 3001 - 180,000 ea.

However, Section B Page 3 states the following quantities:

CLIN 0001 - 100,000 ea, CLIN 1001 - 110,000 ea.

CLIN 2001 - 115,000 ea.

CLIN 3001 - 120,000 ea.

Which quantity is correct and on which of these two different pages should my Client list his unit price?

ANSWER: The government is amending the solicitation, and deleting Section B clause, B.3, Price

Schedule.

QUESTION 15: Do you have historical data on the current volume?

ANSWER: Yes. The current volume of IES cases to date is 48,131.

QUESTION 16: It is possible that a one week extension will be granted.

ANSWER: See amendment to the solicitation for the new date for receipt of Offerors.

QUESTION 17: Is the place of performance at the contractors location or at the Philadelphia HOC?

ANSWER: See Section C.5.A. General Tasks, Paragraph 2 of the Performance Work Statement.

QUESTION 18: I would like to schedule a site visit to the Philadelphia office for the ‘L-14, FAR 52.237-1

Site Visit (APR 1984)’. We would like to inspect the site where the services are being performed. Please let me know a convenient date and time.

ANSWER: Prospective Offerors who wish to view the site where the services will be performed must contact Andrew Cianci, Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Philadelphia Homeownership Center, Processing and Underwriting Division, @ (215) 861- 7687.

QUESTION 19: Can you provide the current incumbent information, i.e., name, award amount, etc?

ANSWER: The name of the incumbent contractor is Horizon Consulting, Inc. The award amount is $1,052,880.00.

QUESTION 20: What is the average estimate of time to perform a review? How many endorsements can be processed on average in a day by a single reviewer?

ANSWER: The average estimate of time to perform a review is between 15 minutes to a half hour. The average number per day is 7 to 10.

QUESTION 21: How many people are currently employed to perform the work?

ANSWER: According to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) the requested information is considered proprietary to the current contractor and therefore is not releasable. Offerors are to use their business acumen to determine the number of employees to perform the IES procurement.

QUESTION 22: What is the ship to address for completed endorsements? What is the size of the boxes to be shipped?

ANSWER: The ship to address for complete endorsement is The Philadelphia Homeownership Center, 100 Penn Square East, The Wanamaker Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

The boxes are standard size, and they hold up to 45 LBS or 3.1 cu inches. On an average the boxes hold 12 files.

QUESTION 23: Can you provide an estimate of shipping costs for one year? Same for copying?

ANSWER: The contractor will not incur any costs associated with shipping and copying in the performance of the duties outlined in Performance Work Statement.

QUESTION 24: I would like to respectfully request a due date extension and additional opportunity to ask questions to the contracting office as the first document was not legible and the respondents did not receive a legible document until August 6th at which time the period for questions had closed. Also, if a second opportunity for questions is not granted, I would like to ask if the due date for the Past Performance Surveys to be completed by clients is the same as the proposal due date, or if the offeror simply needs to present the Past performance survey to their client before the proposal due date, as long as the client completes the survey within 4 days.

ANSWER 24: The government will issue an amendment to the solicitation, which will extend the due date for proposals.

Section provision L.12, Past Performance, paragraph (a) reads “Offerors shall submit the information requested below as part of their proposal (emphasis added) for both the Offerors and any proposed subcontractors….” Regarding past performance surveys, Offerors need to present the survey to their clients before he due date for proposals, and the client has four (4) days to complete the survey.

QUESTION 25: Will there be an Amendment released for Questions & Answers to this solicitation? No.

Amendment If so, will deadline be extended? Please advise.

ANSWER: The government will not be releasing an amendment for Questions and Answers. The government will be issuing an amendment which will extend the due date of the proposals.

QUESTION 26: How many inspections were required in the last twelve months for the current contract?

ANSWER: The current IES contract does not require any type of inspections.

QUESTION 27: What is the government’s estimate of the number of inspections required in the next twelve months?

Answer: The solicitation is for Insurance Endorsement Services. There isn’t a requirement in the solicitation for inspections.

QUESTION 28: What is the incumbent contract number?

ANSWER: The incumbent Contract Number is C-CHI-00949.

QUESTION 29: What is the dollar value of the current contract?

ANSWER: The total estimated value of the contract is $1,052,880.00.

QUESTION 30: How many inspections was the current contract price based on?

ANSWER: The current contract does not require inspections.

If you have any questions, please contact Mona Collins, Contract Specialist at (312) 913-8506.

Thank you for your interest in government contracting.

Sincerely, Gene Hamilton Jackson Contracting Officer