ED-SAT - Attch C - Instructions to Offerors.doc

ATTACHMENT C

U.S. Department of Education Streamlined Acquisition Tool (ED-SAT) Instructions to Offerors

As indicated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), the ED-SAT will consist of a number of different pools of blanket purchase agreements (BPAs), to satisfy requirements via fixed-price purchase orders. Proposals for each pool will be evaluated independently of those in the other pools; therefore offerors must submit a complete proposal for each pool in which they would like to compete.

A complete proposal consists of four distinct parts: 1) Past Performance Report, 2) Technical Proposal, 3) Price Proposal, 4) Completed Section K certifications (found in the solicitation document).

PAST PERFORMANCE REPORT

The Past Performance Report should give a complete picture of the offeror’s experience with work in the relevant pool over the previous 3 years. This should include the amount of work (number of projects), the type of work, and any past performance reports provided by the agencies for which the offeror performed work. In addition, the Past Performance Report should describe which educational areas the offeror’s work has included. Potential areas of experience include: preprimary education, family literacy, elementary and secondary education, vocational education, postsecondary education, adult education, international education, education for individuals with learning disabilities, education for English language learners, correctional education, and vocational rehabilitation. This list is not exhaustive. If offerors have experience in an educational area not listed, they should identify that as well.

Abstracts of each project should be included (no more than one page each). These should provide a brief description of the work performed, a description of how the work performed relates to the relevant ED-SAT pool, and contact information for the COR, Project Manager, or other appropriate point of contact.

The Past Performance Report shall use a font no smaller than 12 point, and shall be no more than 20 single-spaced pages.

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

The Technical Proposal should include a complete description of the offeror’s technical capability. Specifically, this should include a narrative detailing the offeror’s understanding of the issues, approaches and challenges involved with projects of the sort contemplated by the PWS for the relevant pool; a discussion of the offeror’s staff qualifications (including both specific CVs for potential project directors and a more general description of the capabilities of the staff as a whole); and a discussion of management issues, corporate commitment, and approaches to successful problem solving and communication.

The Technical Proposal shall use a font no smaller than 12 point, and shall be no more than 15 single-spaced pages.

PRICE PROPOSAL

Purchase orders awarded under ED-SAT agreements will all be fixed price contracts. Each BPA issued as part of ED-SAT will contain detailed fixed pricing information, which will then be used when awarding purchase orders under that BPA. Offerors should therefore construct the Cost Proposal as a “catalog,” including a line item for each potential category of supply or service necessary in the completion of work in accordance with the PWS. For example, if the offeror anticipated the need to employ Engineers of levels I, II, and III in the course of performing a project under the PWS, the Cost Proposal should include a line for “Engineer I,” “Engineer II,” and “Engineer III;” and each line should provide an hourly rate in fixed price terms. Since purchase orders up to 60 months in length can be awarded under these BPAs, pricing information for five years should be provided.

While the final negotiated rates will be fixed-price rates, an understanding of how the rates were calculated is necessary to inform negotiation. For this reason, please provide cost breakdowns for labor rates, indicating overhead, indirect costs, G&A, etc.

Given the anticipated level of interest in this unique vehicle, ED strongly encourages offerors to provide their most competitive rates. Where appropriate, the most competitive price proposals will demonstrate a commitment to ED through the use of discounted rates.

Offerors should not assume that a percentage-based fixed fee will apply, or that any award fee will apply. While these incentive methods remain available, the decision of whether or not to employ them will be made on a per-requirement basis, consistent with the objectives of each individual order.