Question_Answer_Set_One.pdf

Question and Answer Set One

F17PS00726

1. Can the Service provide an estimate of annual need in terms of numbers of samples per contract year?

The sample amount varies annually based on the needs of the Field.

2. Can the BPA Authorized Limit of $5,000,000.00 noted on page 4 of Solicitation No.

F17PS00726 be considered the contract ceiling? If so, is the limit of $5,000,000.00 per contract year, or is $5,000,000.00 the limit of the base year plus 4 option years?

Yes, $5,000,000.00 is the contract ceiling. The $5,000,000.00 is the limit of the base year plus the 4 option years.

3. Does the Service currently have an active version of a contract with this same scope that is held by an incumbent contractor laboratory?

Yes, there are seven incumbents.

4. Are offerors required to provide prices for all analyses listed in the Attachment D Organic

Pricing Spreadsheet by teaming with or procuring subcontract laboratories for any analyses not conducted in-house by the offeror’s lab? Or may offerors choose to not provide a bid on selected analyses listed in Attachment D?

Offerors must provide pricing for all mandatory analyses (highlighted in yellow on Attachment D), as stated on page 28 of the solicitation.

5. Section 3.10 (page 19) of the Performance-Based Work Statement states that offerors must provide the Service with either literature citations describing methods used or electronic copies of procedures that will be published by the Service in the Internet. Will offerors be permitted to provide redacted versions of standard operating procedures to avoid publication or distribution of proprietary information?

The Service is aware that laboratory procedures may contain modifications that are for your analytical facility and your lab does not choose to share. This is understandable but we do ask for a basic methodology that provides the preparation and digestion procedures, instrumental procedures and QC protocols. Since these are standard, the Service has not encountered any problems with SOPs in the past.