Instructions_to_Offerors.docx

52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2015)

ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-1 - INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS:

Delete 52.212-1 (e) FAR 52.203-98 Prohibition on Contracting With Entities that Require a Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements – Representation (FEB 2015) Proposal/Quotation SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Offerors must e-mail their offers directly to the Contract Specialist (See the Proposal/Quotation Checklist). Government will not evaluate any excess information resulting from the offeror’s failure to comply with the submission instructions.

Factor 1 – Past Performance:

Submit a minimum of two (2) or a maximum of six (6) past performance questionnaires, containing relevant past performance information. For a project to be considered, the offeror must have been the prime contractor, the sub-contractor or participated in a joint venture. In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. Projects submitted for evaluation must have been completed within the past five (5) years of the date of issuance of the solicitation.

The Offeror and those entities providing past performance references for the Offeror must complete and e-mail past performance questionnaires directly to the Contract Specialist by the deadline for submission of proposals. The information contained in the Past Performance Questionnaires shall be considered sensitive and shall not be released to offerors. Past Performance Questionnaires that are received after the deadline for submission of proposals may be eliminated for consideration.

Factor 2 - Proof of Current and Active Commercial Pilot Certification:

Offeror must provide proof that the pilots that will be performing the required agricultural flying services mentioned in the solicitation and subsequent contract has a current and active Commercial Pilot Certification. Such proof must include a Commercial Pilot Certification.

Factor 3 - Proof of Current and Active State Pesticide License:

Offeror must provide proof that its business has a current and active State Pesticide License in the State where the services will be performed. Such proof must include a State Pesticide License.

Factor 4 - Proof of Agricultural Aviation Training:

Offeror must provide proof that its pilot or business has specialized training in Agricultural Aviation. Such proof may include but not limited to a training certificate or diploma from an Agricultural Aviation Training school.

Factor 5 – Experience Modification Rate (EMR) Offeror must provide proof of their EMR. Such proof may include but not limited to an EMR Worksheet from an Insurance Company

Factor 6 – Agricultural Aircraft Insurance Offeror must provide proof they have a current and active Agricultural Aircraft Insurance policy. Such proof may include but not limited to an Insurance Certificate from Insurance Company.

Factor 7 - Price Factor These instructions are to assist offerors in submitting cost/price information that is required to evaluate reasonableness and balance of proposed pricing along with the technical understanding of the requirements of the solicitation. The Government reserves the right to request data other than cost or price as may be deemed necessary from any offeror in order to make a best value determination for the Government. Note that unrealistically low or high proposed costs or prices, initially or subsequently submitted, may be grounds for eliminating a proposal/quotation from competition either on the basis that the offeror does not understand the requirements or the solicitation or has made an unrealistic proposal. Offers should be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate their price reasonableness. The burden of proof for credibility of proposed costs/prices rests with the offeror. Prices shall be firm-fixed.

FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference. (Feb 1998) This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov/far http://farsite.hill.af.mil/

52.212-2 EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-2 - EVALUATION – COMMERICAL ITEMS GENERAL

The "best value continuum, tradeoff process" is the method that will be used to evaluate price and other factors specified in the solicitation, with the goal being to select the proposal/quotation that offers the overall best value to the Government. The non-price factors will be point-scored. Cost/Price will be evaluated as described below. Although the non-price factors when combined are significantly more important than price, no specific numerical weight will be assigned to price for evaluation purposes. The Government will assess the evaluated offers to make an integrated assessment for a best value award decision.

The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror’s initial proposal/quotation should contain the offeror’s best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary.

For the sake of efficiency, only the lowest six (6) priced offers may be evaluated. If necessary, the Government reserves the right to evaluate all of the offers to determine fair and reasonable pricing. It is expected that the competitive nature of this acquisition will drive price reasonableness; however, the Government reserves the right, if it deems appropriate, to make this determination by means of one or more price analysis techniques as described in FAR 15.4.

The Government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals at any time prior to award, to negotiate with any or all offers, to award a contract to other than the lowest price offer or the highest rated offer, and to award a contract to the offeror submitting the proposal/quotation determined to be most advantageous to the Government. No consideration will be given to offers that are not responsible.

The offerors will receive an overall point-score when their non-price factors are totaled

Factor 1 – Past Performance: Past Performance evaluation assesses the degree of confidence the government has in an offeror’s ability to successfully perform the solicitation requirements based on the quality of the offeror’s performance on similar past projects. Each offeror will receive one of the following maximum points for Past Performance.

PAST PERFORMANCE POINTS:

Description

The offeror’s past performance clearly exceeded most contractual requirements or current industry standards to an unusual or exceptional degree. All or a vast majority of sources contacted stated they would unhesitantly do business with the offeror again. No doubt exist based on the offeror’s past performance that it can satisfy the requirements of the contract.

The offeror’s past performance was very good and met majority of the contractual requirements or current industry standards. Majority of the sources contacted stated they would do business with the offeror again. Little doubt exists based on the offeror’s past performance that it could satisfy the requirements of the contract.

The offeror’s past performance was satisfactory but only met the minimum requirements of the contract. The offeror experienced problems with various aspects of performance (i.e. material submittal submissions, completing projects on time and/or problems in submitting required paperwork timely); however, once brought to their attention most if not all of these issues were resolved. Reviews were mixed, but some sources contacted stated they would do business with the offeror again. Some doubt exists based on past performance that the offeror could satisfy the terms and conditions of the contract.

No relevant performance record is available or the offeror’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned.

Based on the offeror’s performance record, substantial doubt exists that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort. Corrective actions taken in performing past contracts were only marginally effective

The offeror’s past performance was unsatisfactory and did not meet most of the contractual or current industry standards. Majority of the sources contacted stated they would not do business with the offeror again. The offeror had significant weaknesses and deficiencies which were never corrected. Significant doubt exist based on the offeror’s past performance that it can satisfy the requirements of the contract.

Evaluation Process – The Past Performance evaluation considers the offeror’s demonstrated record of performance including performance for USFWS in providing products and services that meet users’ needs. In conducting the Past Performance evaluation, the government reserves the right to use data provided by each offeror and data obtained from other sources including, but not limited to: inquiries of owner representative(s) including USFWS, any other known sources not provided by the Offeror, including, without limitation, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (CCASS), Architect/Engineer Contract Administration Support System (ACASS), and Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting Systems (CPARS), and commercial sources as well as interviews with government customers and commercial clients. It may also include interviews with any other sources known to the government.

Factor 2 - Proof of Current and Active Commercial Pilot Certification:

Offerors must have a current and active Commercial Pilot Certification. Each offeror will receive one of the following maximum points.

Factor 3 - Proof of Current and Active State Pesticide License:

Offerors must have a current and active State Pesticide License in the State where the services will be rendered. Each offeror will receive one of the following maximum points.

Factor 4 - Proof of Agricultural Aviation Training:

Offeror must provide proof that its pilot or business has specialized training in Agricultural Aviation. Each offeror will receive one of the following maximum points.

Factor 5 – Experience Modification Rate (EMR) Offeror must provide proof of their EMR. Each offeror will receive one of the following maximum points.

Factor 6 – Agricultural Aircraft Insurance Offeror must have an current and active Agricultural Aircraft Insurance policy. Such proof may include but not limited to an Insurance Certificate. Each offeror will receive one of the following maximum points.

Factor 7 - Cost/Price: The unit prices will be totaled and averaged for each year. The averages of each year will be totaled and averaged. Price analysis will be performed to determine the reasonableness of the offeror’s aggregate yearly average. Cost or price will not be assigned a numerical weight, point score or adjectival rating. The reasonableness evaluation may be based in whole or in part on the proposed price comparison to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE), comparison to other offers or any of the other price analysis techniques in FAR 15.404-1. For a price to be reasonable, it must represent a price that a prudent person would pay in the conduct of competitive business. Normally, price reasonableness is established through adequate price competition, but may also be determined through cost and price analysis techniques.

(b) Not Used

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (End of provision)