Questions and Answers.doc

Watercraft Operations and Maintenance

FA4819-09-R-0011

19 June 2009

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

1.) Will there a wage determination for dive pay?

Answer: Yes, the Wage Determination will be added to the RFP via Amendment.

2.) PARA 1.1 Beached Drone. If a beached drone cannot be recovered by Watercraft vessel, is the contractor still responsible for recovery on land? If yes who is responsible for payment of equipment for removal and transportation?

Answer: The Government will be responsible for any additional cost to remove the target back to Tyndall.

3.) PARA 1.4 Crane Inspection. Crane is required to be certified annually by a licensed technician. Will contractor be required to pay for this service?

Answer: The Government will be responsible for inspection payment with Government purchase card.

4.) PARA 1.4 Engine Replacement. Are the expenditures associated with engine replacement (crane rental, spreader bar slings, transportation of engine etc.) the responsibility of the contractor, or is this a reimbursable item?

Answer: The Watercraft contractor is responsible for all expenditures associated with engine replacement, with the exception of parts for the engines.

5.) PARA 1.5 Preliminary Tank Inspections. Are the expenditures associated with preliminary tank inspections (pump out, cleaning, gas free, etc.) the responsibility of the contractor, or is this a reimbursable item?

Answer: The tanks are not intended to be cleaned at the dock. The intent of this para is get an idea of the condition of the tanks before a shipyard requirement is proposed on shipyard haul out line items. According a SWS a located in Panama City Beach tank cleaning service, gas freeing tanks is not required for inspecting the inside of potable sewage, gray and missile wash down tanks. This requirement should only require the tanks to be pumped to lowest level, remove the manhole cover and get a good visual idea as to what the tank might need before a shipyard requirement is written up.

6.) PARA 1.7 Parts Request. In the previous contract parts requests were submitted to the Program Manager. Will this be changed to QAP?

Answer: The PWS Para 1.7 Supply states: Written contractor notification shall be submitted to AF QAP for approval for such items.

7.) PARA 1.7 Supply. Will bar coding equipment be GFE or contractor furnished?

Answer: The equipment will be furnished by the government.

8.) Will 3 missile retrievers ever be tasked for simultaneous underway periods?

Answer: It is very possible, however if there's a third boat tasking, that is an additional tasking and the contractor will be provided additional compensation to perform that tasking which will be negotiated through 325 CONS.

9.) Is there a proposed operational schedule?

Answer: Yes, a monthly and weekly advanced scheduled is provided on the WEG net work.

10.) How often is the contractor required to conduct diving operations?

Answer: Each time a missile retriever supports a subscale target mission, there a potential for dive ops to be conducted. When a target requires waterborne retrieval a swimmer is required to perform hookup duties. Most of the time only a mask, snorkel and fins are required; however there could be a SCUBA requirement on a partially submerged target. Normally if a salvage dive ops is required the contractor is given ample time to prepare for the salvage operation.

11.) How far in advance are missile recovery operations planned/executed?

Answer: There's a weekly scheduled which the watercraft contract gets off the WEG net, however it is subject to change. All water support mission are confirmed at least by close of business the day prior boat support, but there's always a potential for additional targets to be added on.

12.) How often are "no notice" or "short notice (1 work day)" or less missions planned?

Answer: The planning for short notice mission could be as soon as a few hours or as quick as within the hour.

13.) How many divers are required per dive and what is the dive profile?

Answer: These requirements can be found in CFR 1910 under commercial diving (SCUBA).

14.) The exact purpose of the 13' dive boat and do the contractors provide diver gear?

Answer: The dive boats are used to support dive ops and the contractor is responsible for providing all dive gear.

15.) The PWS says that is technically acceptable and past performance is good then the award will be based on price?

Answer: Please refer to Addendum to 52.212-2, paragraphs 4 and 5.

16.) Is the 9700 Area manned every day?

The Contractor shall be prepared to man the 9700 area 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

17.) What is the most labor intensive process the contractor will have to complete?

Answer: Drone Recovery 18.) Are there any minimum manning requirements?

Answer: No, the manning requirements are left to the Contractor. However, manning shall meet all applicable laws, regulations, and instructions.

19.) What is the range of the 120’ Vessels?

Answer: The Technical Order says it is up to 600 Nautical Miles.

20.) Licenses and appropriate tonnage. Are the contractor’s licenses dependant on the tonnage and horsepower of the watercraft? How will the contractor know which licenses they should submit with their proposal? And where does the contractor get this info? Also, there was a comment to us commercial vessel, not passenger vessel. Will the contractor need to know these things?

ANSWER: The characteristics for the missile retrievers and propulsion diesel engines can be found under government furnished equipment. Pg 26 THREE 120'FOOT MISSILE RETRIEVER CHARACTERISTICS. Even though the vessels are government, the usage would be considered commercial and US Coast Guard rules would apply.

21.) Are the halon systems on board the watercraft are maintained by the Government?

ANSWER: The contractor shall be responsible for minor maintenance. Annual weight testing, bottle upkeep, and major system maintenance requirements shall be performed by a licensed contractor and funded by the government.

22.) Does the Government provide special tools for the contractor?

ANSWER: It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to provide special and hand tools to perform maintenance upkeep on GFE equipment identified in the PWS which is identified with an asterisk.

23.) Are there any approved travel costs that go along with this contract? i.e. the haul-out etc.?

Answer: If the contractor has to travel past 250 mi from the Panama City Sea Buoy, Joint Federal Travel Regulations will come into play.

24.) Are the only people receiving overtime SCA employees? And how is it going to be played out, what is the wording Over 40 hours, etc.? I see it is touched on in 4.4. but will it be paid hourly?

Answer: There currently are three wage determinations for watercraft operations. Daily, Hourly, and Scuba Diving. PSW para 4.1 explains daily employees and how long they might be required to perform boat ops. Para 4.1 also goes into how the contractor must schedule his hourly personnel in such a way as to avoid O/T situations APPENDIX 2 Required Documents (Publication)

AFI 24-301 and IC to AF 24-301 were superseded by

AFI 24-301 1 November, 2009 Answer: Correct, however wasn’t it in Nov 2008 the PWS shall require a modification to correct to proper AFI.