Attachment 20b SCMACC QA (16-62).pdf

Attachment 20b

RFP Questions and Answers

Q16. Attachment 13 PPQ has some inconsistencies relative to the latest version of Section M.

PPQ Section 1, B.11 and Section 2, Item 2 both omit Environmental as a Discipline.

Additionally, PPQ Section 1, F. Self-Assessment Relevancy Rating criteria do not match Section

M, Table 3. This could conceivably result in a different Relevancy Rating depending on whether the rating is based upon the PPQ language or the Section M, Table 3 language. We recommend these issues be addressed in order to avoid confusion, particularly as the PPQ Section 2, Item 1 requests the evaluator to comment on Contractor Section 1 material and the evaluator may not expressly realize Environmental is a discipline and will also not have Section M to provide proper context for Relevancy definition.

A16. Attachment 13-subfactors 1 and 2 was revised to mirror Section M for the relevancy rating, as stated within Table 3- Relevancy Matrix. Please refer to Amendment 1 posted on

June 10, 2020.

Q17. Please clarify the response to Q8. The FAR referenced in the response applies to actual/seed projects and TORFPs to bid. Since there is not a seed project included with the overall SCMACC contract, what would the value of a bid bond be based upon, and what would our surety company be bonding since there is no actual seed project? Please advise.

A17. After further review it has been determined that the government will not require a bid bond for the IDIQ; therefore, this this requirement will be removed from the IDIQ solicitation only. The bonding requirement will remain as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-

3, 3.1.6.

Q18. Table 2, for phase one projects, states “At least six of the different unique areas listed below are included in at least four of the citations submitted”. Please confirm if a total of six unique areas are required in total or if six unique areas are required for each of the four citations.

A18. Please refer to Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, Tab C for guidance concerning the evaluation of unique areas.

The scenario below should assist in answering this question.

--Scenario: Offeror submits 6 citations. Citation 1 contains HVAC renovation and controls;

Citation 2 contains directional boring, Citation 3 contains Asbestos and hazardous metal management/abatement, low and medium voltage installation, potable and non-potable water system installation and repair. Citations 4 – 6 also contain one of the unique areas.

This offeror has met the requirement of including at least four unique areas in the combined citations so a rating of “Pass” would be assigned.

Q19. Please confirm that phase one projects can be utilized for phase two of the solicitation.

A19. Please refer to Section L, paragraph 3.3.

Q20. Considering that CPARS are the accepted evaluation for DoD agencies, and that some

Contracting Officers may no longer work for the client agency, will the Government allow us to fill out the contractors portion of the PPQ, and use the information provided by the CPARs?

A20. The Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) is required to be completed and submitted by the customer, as stated within the document. As stated in Section M, the government plans on retrieving CPARS data for all past performance. Therefore, the government will have access to all CPARS data, so the PPQ base upon CPARS would be redundant.

Q21. Per Section L, Section 3.3 Tab C, bidders are required to provide no more than 6 project examples within the past 3 years with proof of 65% documented performance. For small businesses this can be very difficult to provide due to the short time frame permitted to highlight.

We understand per Amendment 01 the requirement is unchanged, however would the

Government consider amending the time frame to include projects within the past 5 years from solicitation issue date?

A21. As stated within Attachment 20- SCMACC QA (Q&A 34), the Government considers a

3-year period to be sufficient to permit citations of work.

Q22. Instructions for Subfactors 1 and 2 indicate that offerors may use a maximum of 1 citation that encompasses work of either Subfactor 1 or Subfactor 2 from a subcontractor. This could be interpreted as permitting 2 total projects from a subcontractor/teaming partner. Are offerors permitted to include 2 projects from a subcontractor or teaming partner?

A22. Please refer to Attachment 5- Section L, 3.3 Tab C: Past Performance Documents, paragraph 1.

Q23. We understand per Amendment 01 that electronic submittals are not permitted; however, in light of recent pandemic events surrounding COVID-19 and in an effort to reduce contact surfaces between individuals, would the Government consider amending the hard copy requirement to an electronic submittal either through secure email or a Government FTP site?

A23. The Government has considered using only electronic copies, but ultimately decided that paper copies provided a better resource; therefore, the requirement will remain as stated in

Attachment 5 SCMACC- Section L.

Q24. We understand the deadline remains unchanged per Amendment 01, however in light of the amount of information required and reliance on external customers to complete past performance reviews, financial reviews, and bonding information, and since many customers and entities are just now starting to resume post-COVID back-to-work functionality, would the client consider extending the deadline two weeks from July 15, 2020 to July 29, 2020?

A24. The proposal submission date will remain July 15, 2020.

Q25. Amendment No. 0001 revised Attachment 13, Past Performance Questionnaire. Our firm has already transmitted the Attachment 13 issued with the RFP to the various users to complete the Past Performance Questionnaires. In some cases, the users have already sent the PPQs to

Contracting. Is this going to be a problem by using the original PPQ?

A25. The revised PPQ will need to be completed and resubmitted to 45 CONS.

Q26. What is the anticipated number of annual task orders to be issued under this contract, and the average task order size?

A26. The government is unsure how many task orders will be issued for contract, nor are we able to provide the average task order size.

Q27. Referencing Attachment 5, SCMACC Section L- 3.e. on page 7 requests that the offeror shall complete the necessary fill-ins and certifications for Section F through I and K. Do all these sections have noted fill-ins? I haven't been able to identify fill-ins in multiple sections. Is it possible to get a copy of these sections, with the requited fill-ins highlighted?

A27. Yes, the sections F through I and K are required to be completed as it pertains to the offeror’s company. All referred sections can be located on the SF1442 on the beta.SAM.gov site.

Q28. Due to COVID-19 can proposals be submitted electronically via DOD Safe?

A28. The government’s requirement will remain as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC

Section L.

Q29. “The Joint Venture Agreement must be received by the SBA prior to the proposal due date to allow for processing and SBA approval before award of any resultant contract. Any corrections and/or changes requested must permit adequate review time by the SBA BOS before the proposal due date. No corrections and/or changes are allowed after submission of proposals.

Furthermore, the SBA must approve all Joint Venture Agreements no later than 60 days after the proposal close date and prior to the award of any resulting contracts. A Joint Venture Agreement or Addendum that has not been approved by the SBA will not be eligible for award.” Due to

COVID-19 SBA legal will not be able to approve a Joint Venture prior to the proposal due date.

Can the government eliminate the requirement for SBA approval prior to the due date of the proposal and revised to SBA approval prior to award.

A29. The requirement will remain as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, paragraph

1.8.

Q30. Due to COVID-19 Financial information may take longer than expected to provide by the financial institutions. Will the government please consider a two week extension to the bid date?

A30. Please refer to A24.

Q31. Can the government please revise the requirement that the citations date to five years instead of three years. 5 years is the typical DOD requirements for proposals. Three years does not provide enough variety in projects for the contractor to choose from as many design build projects last 2-3 years.

A31. Please refer to A21.

Q32. Is there a form that is to be completed for the Citations?

A32. Please refer to the solicitation attachments for the form being requested.

Q33. Due to COVID 19 the majority of our clients are working from home, can the government please provide an extension of a least two weeks in order for us to obtain the PPQ documents?

Our clients will be unable to provide encrypted email and they will need a passcode for DOD safe submissions. How will they obtain this password? Also- Our clients will not be able to mail or federal express from their home. Please consider extending the deadline and revising this requirement.

A33. Please refer to A24 concerning a time extension request. Offerors and their clients/customers are able to submit all documents directly to the contracting officers listed in

Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-2.

Q34. Since we are a newly approved JV entity and do not have past performance but we are approved for the SBA All Small Mentor Protégé Program - what ratio of Protégé versus Mentor projects need to be provided? Can the Mentor provide 6 and the Protégé provide 2? Or do we each need to provide 1 DB and 3 DBBs?

A34. The Government is working with the 45 SW/SA representative to provide an answer to this question. An amendment will be posted as soon as possible to address.

Q35. Will the government consider removing the requirement that handwritten PPQs will not be evaluated? Many of the clients for the selected projects are not as computer savvy as most -therefore, it would be easier to print the PPQ out, write info in and mail versus try to upload through the government SAFE System.

A35. The handwritten requirement will remain as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-3, 3.3.3.1 and documents can be submitted directly to the contracting officers listed in

Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-2.

Q36. Is Section 1 of the PPQ Form Attachment13 still required to be completed if a CPARS is available in the CPARS system? Are clients still required to complete the 17 page (Sections 2-4) if a CPAR is available? Can we include the CPARS report in the proposal?

A36. Please refer to A20.

Q37. How many days in advance does the government require for SAFE access links to be requested for other governmental agencies or commercial clients for PPQ document submission?

What alternative other than USPS, FEDEX or UPS is available if issues are encountered and clients cannot submit through SAFE and USPS, FEDEX or UPS will not get PPQ completed form delivered in time to Government POC?

A37. The government is unable to provide information concerning the time required for

SAFE access, this would be the Offerors responsibility to contact the DoD SAFE for this information. Please refer to Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-2, 2.13 for an alternative to using USPS, FEDEX or UPS.

Q38. SBA does not approve SBA Mentor Protégé Non 8a Joint Ventures. We do have a letter from SBA approving the MPA under the All Small Mentor Protégé Program. Does the government need that letter from SBA submitted IAW Item 1.11?

A38. Yes, as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-1, 1.11, a SBA Mentor-Protégé

Agreement is required prior to award of a contract.

Q39. Will the government considered extending this proposal until 30 July? This request is being made since we have to use the Air Force PPQ form and all projects that we selected have had with recent PPQs completed for other proposals now require us to go back to clients for completion of 17 pages.

A39. Please refer to A24.

Q40. Will the government consider accepting delivery of hard copy proposals off site from

Patrick AFB FL?

A40. There are no other delivery sites for receiving hard copy proposals.

Q41. Will the government consider accepting these forms via regular email versus SAFE?

A41. The use of the DoD SAFE website is optional. Due to the size of the proposal package multiple emails may need to be sent; therefore, it is the Offerors responsibility to ensure that the contracting office has received a complete proposal package prior to the due date/time.

Q42. Do we need to provide for each JV partner firm?

A42. Please refer to Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L, L-3, 3.1.8.

Q43. If the proposed offeror is a JV - do we need to include information for each JV partner firm related to structure/change history?

A43. Yes, if the offeror is proposing as a joint venture then the structure/change history of each of the joint venture(s) are required, along with all other joint venture information as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC Section L.

Q44. Per Amendment 1, a bid bond is required IAW FAR 52.228-1; however, there are no pricing schedules required in this solicitation to base the bid bond amount off of. Please provide a bid bond amount.

A44. Please refer to A17.

Q45. IAW with the instructions in Amendment 1, a bid bond is required as part of our proposal submittal; however, it is not listed as part of the proposal contents in Table 1 under Section L, L-

2, paragraph 2.11. Please indicate where in the proposal the Government would prefer a bid bond.

A45. Please refer to A17.

Q46. Table 2, for phase one projects, states “At least six of the different unique areas listed below are included in at least four of the citations submitted”. Please confirm if a total of six unique areas are required in total or if six unique areas are required for each of the four citations.

A46. Please refer to A18.

Q47. Please confirm that phase one projects can be utilized for phase two of the solicitation.

A47. Please refer to A18.

Q48. Considering that CPARS are the accepted evaluation for DoD agencies, and that some

Contracting Officers may no longer work for the client agency, will the Government allow us to fill out the contractors portion of the PPQ, and use the information provided by the CPARs?

(Section L, para 3.3.3.1 PPQ Section 1)

A48. Please refer to A20.

Q49. Will the prime contractor be able to augment their professional services team after award at the Task Order level?

A49. The government has no issue with contractors augment their professional services team after award at the task order level if those services are required for that particular project.

The government will require the fully-burdened hourly rates for those labor categories with the submission of the task order proposal(s).

Q50. Will credit and/or relevancy be given to contract holders for selecting additional team members/subcontractors that are local or within close proximity to the project locations?

A50. The government does not intent on providing a credit and/or relevancy to contract holders for selecting additional team members/subcontractors that are local or within close proximity to the project locations.

Q51. In lieu of a registered Interior Designer, CIDA and/or NCIDQ, please confirm the design and review by an Architect with significant interior design experience is acceptable.

A51. Yes, the government finds that acceptable as long as the individual(s) is a registered architect.

Q52. Per the Section L requirements regarding Consent Letters and Client Authorization forms, bidders are instructed to submit completed letters and authorization for past performance by any subcontractor or teaming partner. If a bidder is submitting a project from an affiliate company and that project includes work performed with another teaming partner for this procurement, do the two affiliates included on the project need to complete and submit copies of consent letters and client authorization?

A52. Yes, the two affiliates included on the project need to complete and submit copies of consent letters and client authorization.

Q53. We understand it is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure their reference sources receive the questionnaires on time. While we understand this, it is still somewhat out of our control as to whether our customer responds on time. If a response is not received, but we provide proof (ie.

an email request to our client) showing that we requested the client complete a PPQ and provided submission directions per the RFP, will the project still be considered?

A53. Sections 2 thru 4 of the PPQ must be completed and submitted to the contracting officers listed in Attachment 5 SCMACC- Section L by the project’s customer/contracting office (evaluators).

Q54. Can the Government consider allowing electronic submission of the proposal, instead of hard copy submissions on a CD ROM?

A54. The requirement remains as stated in Attachment 5 SCMACC- Section L.

Q55. Can the Government please confirm that the proposal format is one volume (one document) separated by tabs and not 3 separate documents?

A55. Please refer to Attachment 5- SCMACC Section L, L-2, Table 1-Proposal Volume and

L-3 Proposal Volume.

Q56. Will the Government accept previously completed PPQs to be submitted for project references? This request is to limit the burden on Government personnel in completing several

PPQs.

A56. Attachment 13-Past Performance Questionnaire must be used for this solicitation.

Q57. Is a CPARS required, in addition to PPQs, for each project reference? And, if so, what will be acceptable if a completed CPARS is not available from the Government?

A57. Please refer to A21.

Q58. Can the Government clarify if the Financial Information Request form is to submitted separately and not included as a complete form in the proposal submission?

A58. Please refer to Attachment 5- SCMACC Section L, L-3, 3.15, Paragraph 1, Sentence 8.

Q59. Can the Government clarify if the Bonding Information Request form is to submitted separately and not included as a complete form in the proposal submission?

A59. Please refer to Attachment 5- SCMACC Section L, L-3, 3.16, Paragraph 2, Sentence 5.

Q60. Attachment 11 calls for a Quality Control Inspector. All of the other labor categories are at the manager or superintendent level. Question: Does the Government require Quality Control

Inspector or a Quality Control Manager? The Quality Control Inspector is a much lower labor rate than a Quality Control Manager.

A60. Quality Control Inspector(s) are required; therefore, the fully-burdened hourly labor rate for this labor category is required.

Q61. Are you requiring the offeror's to include one electronic copy to include Tab A through C or are we to include three (3) separate CD's that include Tab A, Tab B and Tab C separately?

A61. One (1) CD is required to include Tab A-C.

Q62. In amendment 001, the Bid Guarantee FAR clause was added. Please clarify whether a bid bond is required with our submission with the addition of the Bid Guarantee FAR clause.

A62. Please refer to A17.