Phase 1 JNWC IV Solicitation QA 20220901.pdf

JOINT NAVIGATION WARFARE CENTER (JNWC) IV

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Phase 1 Questions & Answers

Solicitation # FA2518-22-R-0027 Dated 1 September 2022

CONTRACTING OFFICER NOTE – One/many offeror(s) provided questions referencing documents / attachments from the DRAFT RFP; however, the referenced attachments were not part of Phase I of this RFP and those questions will not be addressed in this Question/Answer.

Upon release of Phase II, the Government will provide additional attachments as discussed in the RFP.

DRAFT RFP documents are subject to change and the DRAFT documents shall not be used as the basis for an offeror’s proposal. It is incumbent upon offerors to propose in accordance with the official Request for Proposal.

1. Attachment 1 – Section L Page 5, para. 4 Text – “Text. All type size, including charts and tables, will not be smaller than Microsoft Word 11-point font, normal proportional spacing. Text may be singled-spaced.”

Offeror Question – Does the above text size restrictions also pertain to graphic text size?

Government Response – No.

2. Attachment 1 – Section L Page 9, Section 4(a) – “The MQR metric will be measured using total Task Order One cost.”

Offeror Question – Recommend the MQR metric be measured using Task Order One labor cost, rather than total Task Order One cost. The objective of Small Business (SB) metrics is to enable SBs to participate in the work effort, which is primarily labor-based. Including ODC CLINS (materials/equipment/travel) in TO-1 total costs to calculate the MQR metric could result in minimizing some SB participation if they, for example, did a majority of purchasing rather than provide staff labor.

Furthermore, many prime Contractors add a G&A, so having SBs doing the purchasing is not cost-effective for the Government. Furthermore, no profit can be applied to these costs, so there is no tangible benefit gained by whoever has the responsibility for making these purchases for the team. Finally, including non-labor costs will likely add ambiguity in the calculation of the MQR metric, making it more complex without providing benefit to the objective of SB participation.

Government Response – The Government appreciates this offeror question pertaining to the Phase II evaluation requirement. This comment will be considered prior to the release of Phase II RFP.

3. Attachment 1 - Section L Page 4, Table 1 Proposal Organization

Offeror Question – Does the (10) page count limit for Factor 4-Small Business Participation Commitment exclude the pages of the Teaming Agreements?

Government Response – Offerors shall account for all information disclosed/included in the solicitation response, which will be counted towards the 10-page count limit. Should an offeror elect to include Teaming Agreements in this response, that information will be included in the page count.

4. Attachment 0 – Request for Proposal Page 3-8, Section B – “CLIN Descriptions, and DFARS 252.216- 7006”

Offeror Question – The referenced DFARS clause is not included in the Solicitation. May we have this incorporated?

Government Response – The referenced DFARS clause has been identified as “reserved” and is not an active clause in accordance with the DFARS change effective date 06/23/2022 on acquisition.gov.

5. Request for Proposal Page 97, Clauses in Full Text “CLAUSE 5352.228-9101 Insurance Certificate Requirement in Spain (USAFE) Oct 2019”

Offeror Question – Is the government willing to remove this Clause and incorporate on a Task Order by Task Order basis as needed instead?

Government Response – No. This is a mandatory clause in the Government contract writing system.

6. Request for Proposal Page 5, Section B - Supplies or Services & Prices or Costs – CLIN 0007/1007 Materials / Equipment Purchases – FFP Not to Exceed A. Fee/profit shall not be allowable on the costs of any materials, equipment purchase, or other direct costs.

Offeror Question – A firm-fixed-price contract provides for a price that is not subject to any adjustment regardless of the Contractor’s actual costs. Due to the inherent high risk of FFP contract types and the Contractor’s responsibility to manage costs within the price ceiling, profit is typically included in FFP.

May the Government consider that fee/profit be allowed on the costs of materials / equipment for this FFP arrangement?

Government Response – Specific requirements for materials/equipment are identified at the specific task order level and will be negotiated as such. All task orders will be negotiated at task order award.

7. Request for Proposal Page 5 & 8, Section B - Supplies or Services & Prices or Costs – CLIN 0007/CLIN 1007 Materials / Equipment Purchases – E. Government populated value for this Line Item is $16,000,000.

Offeror Question – Please confirm that the Government populated value of $16M is at the IDIQ value and not for the priced TO1.

Government Response – This question does NOT pertain to Phase I proposals. Upon the release of Phase II RFP, offerors will receive detailed instructions to proposal calculations for this CLIN.

8. Request for Proposal Page 24, Section H – “Failure to perform in accordance with the approved staffing plan for each negotiated task order will result in the Government removing 2% from the total invoiceable amount of the Labor Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) (X001, X002 and X003 as applicable to the nonconforming task order),…”

Offeror Question – The invoice adjustment detailed in Section H appears to relate more to a Level of Effort contract type, which is consistent with CLIN X002 (FFP-LOE). Please confirm that Section H only applies to CLIN X002 and not to CLIN X001 (FFP) and CLIN X003 (FPIF). Per FAR 16.202, an FFP contract provides for a price that is not subject to any adjustment on the basis of the Contractor’s cost experience in performing the contract, which is related to the execution of the staffing plan.

Government Response – The Government intends to apply the Section H decrement of 2% to ALL applicable CLINs, not to exclude FFP and FPIF CLINs, as detailed in the RFP.

9. Request for Proposal Page 44 Section I – Contract Clauses – 52.222-41 Service Contract Labor Standards

Offeror Question – The Service Contract Act is referenced, is the Government going to provide wage determinations?

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT apply to Phase I. Upon release of Phase II RFP, the Government will provide wage determinations as applicable.

10. Request for Proposal Section B - Supplies or Services & Prices or Costs & Section I – Contract Clauses

Offeror Question – Since sales generating from this contract is in the State of New Mexico, per FAR 52.229-10, a Contractor is responsible for paying New Mexico gross receipts taxes (NMGRT). Will the Government consider adding a separate CLIN to section B, possibly CLIN X0008, to cover NMGRT costs applied on total revenue? Also, since NMGRT varies throughout the state, will the Government consider providing the NMGRT % to utilize for the separate CLIN?

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT apply to Phase I. Upon release of Phase II RFP, it is incumbent upon offerors to propose for all costs.

11. Attachment 1 – Section L Page 10, Factor 5, Subfactor 2 Professional Employee Compensation Eval

Offeror Question - What entities does the Govt desire Professional Compensation plans from, Prime only, Prime + major subs, Prime + all subs?

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT apply to Phase I. However, for potential Phase II proposal preparation, the Government intends to review Professional Compensation Plans from the Prime Contractor plus major subcontractors.

12. Attachment 2 – Section M; Paragraph M-3.C.2. In the evaluation factor description it states that "Factor 1 consists of three subfactors; subfactor 1 and 2 are tradeable while subfactor 3 is “acceptable/unacceptable.” Factor 2 consists of two subfactors, both of which are tradeable."

Offeror Question – Can the government please explain what is meant by "tradeable" in this context?

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT apply to Phase I. Tradeable dictates a Factor’s importance as compares against another Factor when utilizing a Best Value tradeoff.

13. Section H, Special Contract Requirements. In the Staffing Requirements description it states that "The Government considers failure to maintain staffing at the proposed and incorporated staffing level an event of default and reserves all rights and remedies of default."

Offeror Question – Will the Government please confirm below what staffing level or staffing percentage it considers an "event of default”?

Government Response – This question does NOT pertain to Phase I proposals. Upon the release of Phase II RFP, offerors will receive detailed instructions/attachments with this information.

14. Request for Proposal Section Section H, Special Contract Requirements, Staffing Requirements Clause. The clause indicates to "failure to perform in accordance with the approved staffing plan will result in a reduction of 2% from the total invoiceable amount of the Labor Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs)" paragraph one. In Paragraphs 2 and 3 the "2% reduction of the CLIN value divided by the number of days in the corresponding month and then multiplied by the number of days vacant in that month."

Offeror Question – Will the Government please clarify this discrepancy?

Government Response – This question does NOT pertain to Phase I proposals. The solicitation provides an example of this application. No discrepancy exists.

15. Request for Proposal Section G, Contract Administration Data, 2. Submission Of Invoices, c. Fixed Price Incentive Firm (FPIF) CLINs. Once the monthly final actual audited allowable cost are approved by the CO, the Contractor may submit their invoice in WAWF.

Offeror Question – Offerors have no mechanism for auditing costs on a monthly basis. Will the Government please clarify how the actual cost will be audited prior to approval for invoice submission.

Government Response – This question does NOT pertain to Phase I proposals. If applicable for Phase II RFP responses, additional information will be included with the Phase II RFP and corresponding attachments. Additionally, Contractors are responsible for tracking their actual monthly labor hours on FPIF CLINs—additional specific application for the tracking of actual monthly labor hours will be discussed during the post-award contract kickoff meeting.

16. Request for Proposal Section G, Contract Administration Data, 2. Submission Of Invoices, c. Fixed Price Incentive Firm (FPIF) CLINs. ii. Prior to submitting the invoice in WAWF the Contractor shall submit Attachment 9 - Monthly FPIF Invoicing Worksheet, to the Contracting Officer (CO) for approval.

At the request of the CO the Contractor is also required to submit data to validate the Contractor's actual monthly cost. This data may include but is not limited to, certified cost and pricing data or other than certified cost and pricing data.

Offeror Question - For offerors with approved accounting, timekeeping, and billing systems, the actual costs contained within the invoice are certified upon submission to the Government. Are the approved systems adequate to meeting this requirement?

Government Response – This question does NOT pertain to Phase I proposals. The specific section being referenced in the above question pertains to FPIF monthly invoicing and does not pertain to Contractor proposals to task/delivery orders. By making this statement, the Government is asserting that the CO may request any/all information to validate monthly FPIF invoices when this CLIN is used in a task/delivery order – to include certified cost and pricing data or other than certified cost and pricing data.

17. Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5, D.2.e.2; page 10 Factor 5 Professional Compensation Plan

Offeror Question – Will the Government consider relocation costs for qualified candidates as a part of the Professional Employee Compensation Evaluation?

Government Response – This question does NOT pertain to Phase I proposals. This is a business decision made by all contractors considering this RFP after evaluating the Government’s priorities as established in Sections L and M.

18. Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5, D.2 Phase II, Technical and Price Evaluation

Offeror Question - Will the Government please provide the timeline/date for when bidders will be notified that they are "determined acceptable" for Phase 1 response and permitted to submit a response for Phase 2?

Government Response – No specific date for notification has been established at this time. IAW Attachment 1 – Section L-5, C.1.1. Phase I proposals are Due Monday, 1 September 2022. The Government intends to conduct Technical Evaluations of all Phase I proposal submissions. All offers will receive notification (either acceptable or unacceptable) upon completion of Technical Evaluations.

Offeror Question – Will there be another ability to ask additional questions after pass of Phase 1?

Government Response – Yes.

19. Request for Proposal Section I, 52.222-41 Service Contract Labor Standards. Aug 2018, page 44 &

Offeror Question – Since the Service Contract Act is applicable to the proposal and subsequent Contract, can the government provide the Offeror’s with the Wage Determination(s) or Wage Determination numbers for Phase II of the proposal?

Government Response – Please refer to above Question 9 for a similar question/response.

20. Request for Proposal Section B CLINS X004/X005, Page 4.

Offeror Question – There are 2 travel CLINs listed in Section B, CLIN X004 is listed as “Cost” type, CLIN X005 is listed as “FFP” type. The descriptions are exactly the same including that no profit is allowed on the FFP travel. Typically, a FFP contract type by definition allows for profit. What is the purpose of the two travel CLINS and will contractors be allowed profit on CLIN X005?

Government Response – Please refer to above Question 6 for a similar question/response.

21. Request for Proposal Section B CLINS X006/X007, Page 4.

Offeror Question – There are 2 material CLINs listed in Section B, CLIN X006 is listed as “Cost” type, CLIN X007 is listed as “FFP” type. The descriptions are exactly the same including that no profit is allowed on the FFP materials. Typically, a FFP contract type by definition allows for profit, what is the purpose of the two CLINS and will contractors be allowed profit on CLIN X007?

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT pertain to Phase I. Please refer to above Question 6 for a similar question/response.

22. Request for Proposal, Section H, Page 24.

Offeror Question – The Government states that the clause for 2% invoice removal will be applicable to CLINs X001, X002, and X003 indicating that FFP, FFP-LOE, and FPIF contract types would be impacted. While the 2% decrement methodology described is reasonable for a FFP-LOE contract type, we do not believe that it is appropriate for FFP or FPIF contract types and recommend that CLINs X001 and X003 are removed from the Section H clause based on the following.

For FFP (CLIN series X001), payment is based on the contractor completing the scope of work to a satisfactory degree with cost overrun resulting in potential financial loss for the contractor. Alternatively, cost underrun should allow for potential financial gain for the contractor if the work is completed. We believe a 2% decrement clause and the associated tracking for it, would add undue administrative burden for both the Government and contractors. This goes against the purpose of a FFP completion contract type which is in place to accomplish a specific task, not provide a certain number of labor hours or staff each month which would be a FFP LOE contract type.

For FPIF (CLIN series X003), the purpose of the contract type is for the Government and contractor to share in the cost overrun or underrun with the goal being to incentivize the contractor to manage cost efficiently so that the Government and contractor can share in those savings. The Government pays less, and the contractor has its profit increased when cost underrun occurs. Including a potential 2% decrement in payment could reduce the motivation a contractor has to be efficient and innovative in how it manages its cost. We believe that a reasonable alternative to this 2% reduction clause for FPIF, would be to increase the Government share ratio in the case of underrun to 60/40 or 70/30. This would keep the incentive for the contractor and allow for it to be consistently applied without any discretion of the Contracting Officer needed. The overrun share ratio at 50/50 can remain the same to keep the overrun risk to the Government constant.

Government Response – This is a Government determination and the Contracting Officer does not intend to adjust the CLIN type, Section H decrement decision, and/or share ratio.

23. Request for Proposal Section I, pages 44-48.

Offeror Question – FAR 52.222-41 Service Contract Labor Standards is being included in full text.

Please provide the appropriate wage determination(s).

Government Response – Please refer to above Question 9 for a similar question/response.

24. Request for Proposal Section L, Clause 52.216-30 Time and Materials/Labor Hour Proposal Requirements.

Offeror Question – What is the purpose of this clause in Section L given that the task orders will be FFP, FFP/LOE, or FPIF?

Government Response – The Government will not justify/rationalize the inclusion of applicable/mandatory clauses.

25. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 Section L, Proposal Labeling, page 6.

Offeror Question – To ensure we understand the Government’s instructions and are correctly following the desired naming convention, please confirm that Phase I submissions should consist of two electronic files and be named “Company Name_Vol I_Technical Qualification Gate” (in both Word and PDF format) and that Phase II submissions should consist of five electronic files (in both Word and PDF format) named:

“Company Name_Volume II_Factor 1 – Scenarios” “Company Name_Volume II_Factor 2 – Staffing” “Company Name_Volume II_Factor 3 – Phase-in Plan” “Company Name_Volume II_Factor 4 – Small Business” “Company Name_Volume II_Factor 5 – Price”

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT pertain to Phase I. Upon release of Phase II RFP, the Government will provide follow up questions and answers as applicable.

26. Request for Proposal Attachment 1: Section L – Factor 4 Small Business.

Offeror Question – Factor 4 paragraph 1 states “Offerors are advised that the Small Business Commitment Document is not the same as the Small Business Subcontracting Plan required by FAR 52.219-9” and that “Large business Offerors shall not utilize the Small Business Subcontracting Plan in the place of the Small Business Commitment Document”. Table 1 Proposal Organization on page 4 does not request a Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

Please confirm that the Government is requiring both a Small Business Commitment Document and a Small Business Subcontracting Plan from large businesses. If this is correct, please provide direction as to where this should go along with the page limit, if any.

Government Response – This is a Phase II question and does NOT pertain to Phase I. Yes, the Government is requiring both documents for Phase II.

27. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5.B.2a.3)

Offeror Question – Section L Format Instructions under 3) Pages, indicates All information except for document numbers, page number, etc. shall be provide in an image area of 7x9 inches. Were these instructions meant to be 1-inch margins or instead are documents to 1-inch top and bottom margins and .75" right and left margins based on the dimensions provided?

Government Response – Offerors are to propose in accordance with the RFP.

28. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5.D.2.d.

Offeror Question – Section 1 indicates that The Small Business Commitment Document is required from all Offerors, including small businesses and companies …" and Section 2 indicates that signed teaming agreements shall be provided as evidence. Section 4 indicates that if your company is a registered small business under NAICS 54175* (*interpreted to be 541715) in SAM that the Small Business Commitment Document is not required and your company will be given a rating of "Acceptable." Can the Government confirm that small businesses under NAICS 541715 do not have to submit SB Commitment Document?

Can the Government please clarify whether small businesses under NAICS 541715 have to submit signed teaming agreements with their Phase II proposal submittal?

Government Response – Yes, in accordance with Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5, D.4., Small businesses registered in www.Sam.gov under NAICS 541715 are NOT required to submit a Small Business Participation Document.

29. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 – L; L-5.B.2.a.1); L-5.C.1. 1) & 2)

Offeror Question – The RFP indicates that submission will be through DoD SAFE. However, per the DoD SAFE website states "DoD SAFE is NOT to be used for contract solicitation or proposal submission. Use the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) for time-sensitive submissions." Please confirm that proposal submission is expected and available through DoD SAFE or will there be another option for proposal submission?

Government Response – Unless otherwise directed, offerors are to submit in accordance with the RFP.

30. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5.B.2a.4)

Offeror Question – The RFP indicates that "All type size, including charts and tables, will not be smaller than Microsoft Word 11-point font, normal proportional spacing. Text may be single-spaced." Can the Government please clarify that the font type is the offerors discretion as long as it is not less than an 11-point font?

Government Response – Yes, font type is the offerors discretion as long as it is not less than an 11-point font.

31. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 – Section L; L-5.B.2.a.1); L-5.C.1

Offeror Question – How much time will offerors be allowed to prepare Phase II submissions since the solicitation controlled information is not being release for Phase I?

Government Response – The Government anticipates upon release of Phase II of the RFP, offerors will 30-days before receipt of proposals are due.

32. Request for Proposal Attachment 1 – Section L; L-1, B.2.a.5 (Phase I and Phase II)

Offeror Question – Does a title/cover page for each volume go against page count?

Government Response – No

33. Request for Proposal Section J, Attachment 1, page 5

Offeror Question – Please provide clear submission information with regard to the https://safe.apps.mil/ upload. Does the person submitting on behalf on their company have to pre-register prior to submission?

Government Response – Pre-registration is not required. However, as systems are regularly updated, offerors are advised to follow website directions when uploading.