RFI Questions with Answers to post 8 28.docx

1. Historical Staffing Baseline Does the Historical CME staffing of 13 FTE / 24,960 annual hours represent the Government’s expected baseline staffing for this contract, or is it provided only as historical information?

Reason for Clarification: Determines whether contractor should price around the historical staffing model or develop its own staffing approach based on the PWS and actual workload. Determine the staffing you will need based on PWS and positions listed. We are projecting it will be more than the historical baseline due to our break in service and a reorganization that happened here which added a few buildings to our list.

2. Staffing Flexibility by Year Is the Contractor expected to maintain the same staffing level and labor mix throughout the base and all option years, or may staffing levels and personnel mix be adjusted from year to year based on actual workload and available qualified resources, provided all PWS requirements are met?

Reason for Clarification: Affects option-year pricing, workforce planning, and contractor ability to optimize staffing as workload changes. Staffing needs to consist of full-time positions, as the workload consistently has exceeded availability. We are currently experiencing a higher volume of work than any other point in our history, and there has never been a lack of work to support full-time staffing. Maintaining full-time positions is necessary to meet ongoing workload demands, maintain continuity, and ensure the required work is completed in a timely manner.

3. Emergency Response Time Please confirm the required emergency response time. The PWS requires Local Oversight to be on-site within one hour, while Section M references an on-site response within two hours. Which requirement governs? 1-hour is the requirement (discrepancies will be adjusted).

Reason for Clarification: Directly affects local staffing, on-call coverage, and whether additional personnel must be positioned near WPAFB.

4. Historical Emergency Callouts How many unscheduled/emergency callouts have occurred annually in recent years, particularly after hours and on weekends, and what were the typical crew size and duration?

Reason for Clarification: Provides a realistic basis for estimating unscheduled/overtime labor and determining the necessary on-call staffing level. We have not documented this in the past and it’s unscheduled so it’s hard to determine. In the past scheduled weekend outages was not on its own CLIN so the amount paid out for just unscheduled “Overtime” was not historically tracked.

5. Government-Furnished vs. Contractor-Furnished Equipment What Government-furnished test equipment, tools, lifts, vehicles, and other equipment will be available to the Contractor, and what equipment is expected to be Contractor-provided?

Reason for Clarification: Prevents duplication of equipment costs and helps determine the Contractor’s required capital, rental, calibration, and mobilization expenses. We will provide a list of equipment in the solicitation on Sam.gov.

6. Doble Equipment Lease Regarding the required Doble equipment, is the Contractor expected to establish a new annual Doble lease for the base and each option period, or is there an existing lease/equipment arrangement that can transfer to the successor Contractor?

Reason for Clarification: The PWS specifically requires this equipment, so the answer could materially affect recurring annual equipment cost. There is a separate CLIN just for this arrangement. It will be new and between the contractor and Doble, and renewed annually.

7. CLIN Cost Allocation Please clarify the intended cost allocation among CLIN 0003 – Other Direct Cost, CLIN 0004 – reimbursable materials/subcontracted services, and CLIN 0005 – Planned Outages, including where any material-handling or applicable indirect rate should be applied.

Reason for Clarification: Ensures costs are placed in the correct CLINs and avoids either double-counting costs or excluding allowable indirect/material-handling expenses. CLIN 3 is only for the annual Doble rental, CLIN 4 is for all purchases of materials needed each year, CLIN 5 Is only for the labor during Planned Weekend Outages section 2.7.7.

8. Number of Awards Does the Government intend to make a single award or multiple awards under this solicitation? If multiple awards are contemplated, how will the scope and workload be allocated among the awarded contractors?

Reason for Clarification: Determines whether the historical workload and staffing should be assumed entirely for one contractor or potentially divided among multiple awardees. Single Award.

9. Small Business Eligibility Following Acquisition If a company that otherwise qualifies as a small business is acquired by or sold to another company, and the combined annual receipts of the affiliated entities exceed the applicable $47 million size standard under NAICS 561210, would the company still be eligible to participate in this 100% Small Business Set-Aside procurement? We will work with our Small Business Specialist to help us make that determination during the review process.

Reason for Clarification: This clarification will help confirm the applicable small business eligibility requirements in the event of a change in company ownership or affiliation.

1. Confirm whether the contractual requirement is one hour or two hours for emergency response. Also, does a phone call justify initial contact and fulfill the 1-2 hour response time? If we need a crew to come back to site to troubleshoot the expected time frame after being made aware of the request via contact, for example a phone call from COR to PM, a crew is expected on site within 1 hour. This question was also answered above.

1. The Services Summary states that replacement vacancies should not exceed 14 business days, but the PWS 4.11.1 states a position shall not remain vacant for more than 30 business days The PWS from the draft has been updated on this posting please review the PWS posted with the solicitation. To confirm, it is 30 days.

1. The PWS specifies four outage weekends, but we need clarification on if pricing should reflect one of the following: Reflect A.

2. Four per contract year, it is Per contract year this will be on its own CLIN.

2. Four during the base period only

2. Four over the entire contract lifecycle

1. Regarding emergency callouts, please identify the following

3. Quantity of historical emergency calls/year No historical data. Also, due to the nature of these events there is never a steadfast number.

3. Average labor hours/call Usually to troubleshoot why a piece of equipment failed to start. A couple hours maybe is the average.

3. Typical crew size 2 man crew

3. Percentage of call-outs occurring nights/weekends/holidays. Mostly in the afternoons but occasionally on the weekend.

1. Will you please provide current incumbent staffing levels per the current contract? Historical CME document was part of the package. We are in a 2-year break in service currently so there is no existing contract.

1. Please identify the potential engineering workload YOY See 2.2.4-2.2.6

5. Short-circuit studies

5. Coordination studies

5. Arc-flash studies

5. Load-flow studies

5. Motor-starting studies

5. Engineering modification packages

5. Abnormal NETA test-result reviews All of these we will need, we are roughly expecting 2-4 buildings will have a complete power system study done each year to create a baseline. We currently only have 2 buildings out of 50 done. We do not expect we will have all of them done by the end of this contract.

1. How much flexibility Is there surrounding NETA III/IV technician numbers in association with this contract? What is the grace period for fulfilling these requirements post-award? Neta III/IV you will need to staff to complete the work needed on the PWS within 30 days. Any more level III’s or IV’s than required for the work requested is welcomed but we expect the contractor to have their own staffing plan to fulfill the services needed.

1. Will AFRL provide electricians to assist with breaker maneuvering, onsite escorting, site/ building/ room access? If so, how many will be available at any given time? No this contract will need to be an independent group capable of learning the buildings and fulfilling their duties with minimal escorting. There will be building access and keys available to the contractor.

1. Is there flexibility in this bid event for an extension through next week? Yes we are considering an extension.

1. How many positions is the Government expecting to carry a Secret security clearance? There is language for all positions. We expect the PM, 1 Engineer, and 2 technicians to have Secret Clearance in case we need to go into a lab. Everyone else should have the ability to get a Secret clearance if needed.

2. I read 4 level 3’s and 5 level 2’s. Is that correct? I am not familiar with those numbers. If you are looking for some numbers, the only baseline that I am aware of in the PWS is section 2.7.7 discussing what our staffing for a Planned Outage would need to be and the historical CME. We expect the contractor to come up with their staffing plan. The number of Foreman is correlated to the number of people working.

3. How many buildings is the government anticipating? The general answer is the same as section 1.2 roughly 50 buildings.

4. Avenue to pay for emergency outage/switching support/troubleshooting? Clin 2? Yes CLIN 2 is for anything outside of normal hours “OT” not part of a scheduled outage which is CLIN 5. Materials will always be CLIN 4.

5. Avenue to fulfill (2.2.9 Cleanup Workspace)? Up to contractor to determine how they will manage keeping areas clean.

Quote format and submission

· Section L 1.2 directs quoters to submit in three separate volumes and identifies Volume I, Volume II, and Volume III. Section L 5.0 then describes a Volume IV, Past Performance. Please confirm the required number of volumes and whether the Past Performance volume is to be submitted as a separate file. 4 volumes, Past Performance would be its own volume and it would be a separate file.

· Please confirm the required submission method and destination, along with any file naming convention, acceptable file formats, and total file size limitations. (Section L will M will be updated to reflect this information) Text shall be double-spaced, on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet with a minimum one-inch margin all around. Font shall be Times New Roman 10 point. Pages shall be numbered consecutively within each Section. The page limits prescribed are maximum page limits for each Section. Pages submitted in excess of these limits will not be read or considered in the Government’s evaluation of the proposal. All proposal information shall be submitted in either Microsoft Word or PDF format except for Attachments #4 and #5. These shall be submitted in Microsoft Excel format. Each volume shall be submitted as a separately-labeled electronic file.

Submit your proposal electronically in accordance with the table below. All electronic submissions shall reference the complete RFQ number in the subject line.

Table 1 – Proposal Organization

Page limitations shall be treated as maximum. If exceeded, your proposal may be deemed non-compliant and eliminated from the competition. Page limitations may be placed on responses to Interchanges Notices (INs). The specified page limits for IN responses will be identified in the letters forwarding the INs to the Offerors. Proposals should be all-inclusive and not refer or require the government to external communication mediums to supplement the proposal.

Evaluation

· Section M addresses Factor 1, Factor 2, and Factor 3. It does not establish an evaluation standard or a relative weight for Factor 4, Past Performance. Please confirm how Factor 4 will be evaluated and its position within the tradeoff analysis. It is the last factor that will be evaluated and weighed the least.

· Section M 2.2, item 3 reads "Within Factor 2 (Technical Capability), is significantly more important to price," followed by Subfactor 1, Subfactor 2, and Subfactor 3 with the word "combined." Please confirm the intended relative order and importance of the three subfactors within Factor 2. No order of importance.

Attachments

· Section L references Attachment #3 (FTEs), Attachment #4 (Professional Employees), and Attachment #5 (Total Evaluated Price Spreadsheet). Section J lists four attachments, with Attachment 3 identified as Historical CME and Attachment 4 identified as the DD 254. Please identify the correct attachment numbers, and confirm which posted file the Government intends quoters to use for the compensation plan and which for the Total Evaluated Price spreadsheet. FTE document is the historical CME. Attachment 4 (Professional Employees) is not provided. Section L will be updated. Attachment #5 Total Evaluated Price Spreadsheet is Pricing Template EMC. We only expect a Total Evaluated Price Spreadsheet aka Pricing Template EMC. The professional Employee compensation tool is not required or provided.

Contract type and pricing

· FAR 52.216-1 states that the Government contemplates award of a "FFP and Cost" contract, with the Contracting Officer insert left blank. Section B contains firm fixed price line items and a time-and-materials line item, and no cost-reimbursement line item. Please confirm the intended contract type.

· The overall contract type is FFP, there will be a T&M CLIN. There will be NO cost clins

· Please confirm the applicable Service Contract Labor Standards wage determination for this requirement.

· Determinations can be found on sam.gov