Pre-Proposal Conference - Minutes.docx

5-Jan-11

ROBINS AFB SABER SOLICITATION - FA8501-10-R-0016

Pre-proposal Conference Minutes

The Pre-proposal Conference for the above referenced solicitation was held on 4 January at 0900hrs at Robins AFB. Those in attendance included both contractor personnel and government personnel. The sign in sheet from the conference is attached to these minutes.

The meeting was opened with a welcome and then QUESTIONS 1, 2, and 4 below were answered. Question 3 was read, but an answer was not available at the time. QUESTION 3 has since been answered, and is available below.

The floor was then opened for questions. QUESTIONS and ANSWERS 5-34 below are provided for clarification.

After ample opportunity for questions had been provided, and the indication was made that there were no more questions, the meeting was adjourned.

1.

QUESTION: The odd-numbered rows within the electronic FACTS Sheets are concealed/overlapping. May we expand these rows? This would allow us to more easily copy and paste the required information from other spreadsheets.

ANSWER: No. The odd numbered rows are included as spacers and must remain as such. Even numbered rows may be heightened as necessary, however, odd-numbered rows are not allowed to be changed.

2.

QUESTION: We know that the prime contractor is exempt from state sales/use taxes for materials and labor for work it performs directly for the U.S. Government. Are subcontractors (at all tiers) also exempt from such taxes pursuant to work they perform and for which the U.S. Government is the ultimate beneficiary?

ANSWER: You should consult private legal counsel to determine whether a prime contractor or subcontractor would be exempt from payment of state sales/use taxes for materials and/or labor for work performed under a federal contract. The full scope of the tax laws and regulations are not discussed in the FAR or its supplements. However, your private legal counsel may wish to review FAR Part 29 and its applicable DoD and AF supplements in researching this subject. Offerors are also reminded that the SABER solicitation contains FAR 52.229-3, Federal, State, and Local Taxes (APR 2003).

3.

QUESTION: Can a contract be listed on 2 FACTS sheets if the performance period falls under two or more 12 month time periods?? ie. July 2009 – May 2010

ANSWER: See RFP Attachment XVI – Dollars Invoiced Section

Dollars Invoiced: State the total dollars invoiced by the offeror for work performed during the relevant Effort Period. (For example, a delivery/task order that began on 1 Oct 2009 and ended on 1 July 2010 will be listed on the FACTS Sheets for both Effort Periods 1 and 2. On the FACTS Sheets for Effort Period 2, the offeror would state the total dollars invoiced for work performed for that order from 1 Oct 2009 – 20 Dec 2009. On the FACTS Sheets for Effort Period 1, the offeror would state the total dollars invoiced for work performed for that order from 21 Dec 2009 – 1 July 2010.)

4.

QUESTION: Is it possible to have this changed and allow the interested parties to be viewed?

The Robins SABER Solicitation posting on the FBO site does not allow viewing of the interested parties.

ANSWER: No. It is not the Government’s practice to allow parties to view the interested vendors’ list.

5.

QUESTION: Is teaming allowed?

ANSWER: Teaming, for the purposes of this RFP will be considered a Prime Contractor – Sub Contractor relationship. Teaming is allowed, however, offerors should note that only the present/past performance of the actual 8(a) offeror will be evaluated. Offeror’s should also note that SBA Certified 8(a) Joint Ventures (JV) will be allowed to propose and the present/past performance of all parties comprising the JV will be evaluated. However, the present/past performance of all parties comprising the JV shall be combined into one Volume II – Present/Past Performance for proposal purposes.

6.

QUESTION: On page 37 of the RFP, the last sentence of paragraph C is open ended, please clarify.

ANSWER: The last sentence of paragraph C on page 37 of the RFP should read as follows:

Failure to submit Volume II by the earlier requested date will not result in offeror disqualification.

7.

QUESTION: Will the sign in sheet be posted?

ANSWER: Yes

8.

QUESTION: How many awards will be issued?

ANSWER: The government anticipates multiple awards.

9.

QUESTION: Who are the current SABER vendors?

ANSWER: Mapco Inc.

10.

QUESTION: May we obtain a copy of the current SABER contract?

ANSWER: No.

11.

QUESTION: The due date for questions to be submitted for the pre-proposal conference was 30 December 2010. May we have an extension until the 7 January 2011.

ANSWER: No. Ample opportunity to submit questions was given at the Pre-Proposal conference.

12.

QUESTION: Does a project manager always have to be present at every job site?

ANSWER: No. The project manager is required to be available during normal duty hours within one hour to meet with the contract administrator. Please see section 5, paragraph a., sub-paragraph 1) on page 01005-6 of 39 of the SOW.

13.

QUESTION: What are the requirements for manning a job?

ANSWER: Every job requirement will be different. Workload and contract documents for each delivery order will determine manpower requirements. Please see sections 4 and 5 of the SOW.

14.

QUESTION: Are key personnel required to work exclusively on SABER?

ANSWER: No, but they must be available to meet the contract administrator within one hour during normal duty hours. (Please see Ammendment 2 to the solicitation.)

15.

QUESTION: Does SABER include design-build projects?

ANSWER: The minimum design for a SABER project is 35%. Design-Build projects and engineering services are not bought under the SABER program.

16.

QUESTION: Can you tell us a possible award date?

ANSWER: We anticipate on or about 2 May 2011.

17.

QUESTION: What is the yearly contract ceiling?

ANSWER: The contract maximum is $50 million. There is no yearly maximum.

18.

QUESTION: Can you provide some historical data as to the amount awarded under the current SABER contract?

ANSWER: Basic year = Approximately $9,239,000.00 Option II = Approximately $8,005,000.00 Option III = Approximately $8,794,000.00 Option IV = Approximately $7,761,000.00 Option V, to date = Approximately $7,542,000.00

19.

QUESTION: Will awardees be provided with on base office space?

ANSWER: No.

20.

QUESTION: Will awardees be provided with a staging area?

ANSWER: Staging areas will be provided as necessary, as determined by the Contracting Officer or their technical representative, on a per order basis. A government provided staging area for the duration of the contract/order will not be provided.

21.

QUESTION: How soon after award will work begin?

ANSWER: Awardees will quote on initial, non-competetive orders, to receive the IDIQ guaranteed minimum. Work will begin on these projects within 10 days of receiving the Notice to Proceed (NTP).

22.

QUESTION: Please clarify performance bond requirements.

ANSWER: Performance bonds in the amount of at least $25,000.00 will be required within 10 days of contract award. As the amount of contract award increases, so will the required perfromance bond amount. See number 4 on page 17 of the RFP.

With regard to each contract awarded as a result of this procurement, a performance and payment bond, equal to 100% of the original contract price, or $25,000, will be required before work may begin on the first delivery/task order. If the contract price increases, the contractor shall increase the penal amounts of the existing performance and payment bonds or obtain additional performance and payment bonds so that the total performance and payment bond protection shall always equal 100% of the aggregate dollars awarded to the contractor.

23.

QUESTION: Is there a minimum bonding capacity requirement in order to propose on this effort?

ANSWER: Please see clause H-905 on pages 16-17 of RFP.

24.

QUESTION: Why is a $2 million bid bond required if the maximum project value is $750,000.00?

ANSWER: Please see FAR 28.101-2 (b).

25.

QUESTION: Will there be competition among awardees for individual orders?

ANSWER: Yes. Please see section C-900 on page 11 of the RFP.

26.

QUESTION: Is price or performance more important?

ANSWER: This is a price-perfomance trade-off (PPT) acquisition strategy. Present/past performance is being considered more important than price.

27.

QUESTION: How does the task order competition process work?

ANSWER: Please see section C-900 of the RFP on page 11.

28.

QUESTION: How is the guaranteed minimum awarded?

ANSWER: The guaranteed minimum is issued as an order at time of contract award. Awardees will be required to submit proposals for a non-competetive order, utlizing the standard proposal procedures.

29.

QUESTION: What is PPIRS?

ANSWER: PPIRS is a government database of past performance records. The Government may use this system in its Past Performance Evaluation.

30.

QUESTION: Are companies in a Mentor-Protégé Agreement through the SBA elligible for award?

ANSWER: Companies in a Mentor-Protégé Agreement are eligible for award. However, only the past performance of the offeror itself will be evaluated. Mentor past performance will not be evaluated, unless the offeror is a Joint Venture formed under the Metor-Protégé aggreement, in which case refer to question 32.

31.

QUESTION: Typically in a Joint Venture approval the SBA will allow only 3 JV’s with companies. When submitting to the SBA for JV approval the SBA will grant a verbal approval. The SBA will submit to the Contracting agency a letter of intent, stating upon contract award the official Joint Venture approval letter for the contract will be issued. The reason for this is if you established a Joint Venture for the solicitation prior to award, and you were not successful the SBA would not dissolve the JV. Is the letter of intent acceptable to the Government?

ANSWER: Yes; Joint Ventures (JV) are evaluated for the purpose of performing a specific 8(a) contract; therefore, the firm should submit its JV Application to include the bid proposal and a copy of the solicitation to SBA for evaluation, preferably 20 working days prior to award of the contract . If the JV is formed under SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program; then the MPA must be approved by SBA prior to the JV submitting a proposal to the procuring activity; however, the JV will still need to be approved by SBA for each 8(a) project submitted under the MPA. If the JV makes the short list of bidders, then the procuring agency should notify SBA so that the JV evaluation may be completed/approved.

32.

QUESTION: It was mentioned that section 7 is not applicable, currently we cannot identify where this section is? Can you assist us with this detail?

ANSWER: Section 7 of the Statement of Work is still applicable. The reference was to the first paragraph of this section being removed. Section 7 is located on page 01005-8 of 39 of the Statement of Work.

33.

QUESTION: Within the Solicitation, Offer, and Award document, page 40 of 44, paragraph M- 900, states: “...during the Effort Period included at least thirty-five (35) separate contracts…” Is Effort Period defined as 2007 through 2010 or a single year period?

ANSWER: Please reference Section L-900 paragraph D. on page 37 of 44 of the RFP. Effort Periods are specific 12 month time periods.

34.

QUESTION: The RFP is asking for all past performance for the previous three (3) years. Is this request exhaustive, or may we limit our past performance projects to the most relevant, or a set number (say..25 or 50)

ANSWER: ALL relevant work is to be submitted. Please reference the first sentence of clause L- 900, paragraph D., subparagraph (1) listed below.

(1) An offeror shall provide the present/past performance information requested in the attached FACTS Sheets (See RFP Attachments VII, VIII, and IX) for ALL relevant work for which (a) the offeror was responsible as the prime contractor and (b) the offeror was responsible as a subcontractor.