Attachment 5 - FA486124R0001 - QA.pdf

FA486124R0001 BTS Solicitation

Q & A

Question: Is there going to be a pre-proposal site visit allowing offerors to review the site-specific conditions at Nellis and Creech, to see the equipment the contractor is responsible for providing O&M for, and see the DCO / communication rooms?

A: Site visit can be arranged if needed

Question: When are the contractor questions concerning the RFP package required?

A: 19th December 2023

Question: Please confirm when the proposal submission is. Attachment 4 of the RFP documents - Instructions and Evaluation Criteria, states that proposals are due no later than Tuesday, 09 January 2024 at 10:00 am PST. The SF-1449 states in block 8 that the due date is 30 Nov 2023 10:00 am.

A: The updates to both documents reflect the new date of 24 January.

Question: Is the contractor required to utilize SCA or DBA wage determination? If so, please provide the applicable wage determination or identify the wage determination the contractors are required to use for both Nellis and Creech.

A: Both SCA and DBA wages applies depending on work to be performed.

Question: Due to fluctuations in raw materials, will economic price adjustments (EPAs) be allowed if we provide documentation from the manufacturer of significant increases in the cost to produce some products?

A: It’s a firmed price contract however cost escalation can be applied per option year

Question: Do the incumbent personnel have the certifications, training and capabilities required/identified in the PWS?

A: You need to contact current contractor for this information however all personnel must have proper certifications for each key position.

Question: Do the incumbent personnel currently have the required background/clearance required?

A: All personnel must pass background check, and new clearance requirement is for new Creech Site Lead position only.

Question: The Equipment and Installation Performance Specification (EIPS) is references multiple times in the PWS. The EIPS provides detailed descriptions of the material and labor effort (e.g. material, labor, and incidentals for installation, removal, and/or relocation) required for the pricing table and identified by PIDs. Please provide the EIPS so specific site requirements can be priced.

A: EIPS provided to 99 CONS

Question: How would you like your proposal submitted?

A: Via Email to SSgt Jones and Mrs. Tilley per the Sam.gov solicitation

Question: How may a site visit be scheduled if needed?

A: One time should be sufficient for both bases

Question: May I provide my own pricing sheet and break down?

A: No, use provided pricing sheet only

Question: The Attachment 3 – Price List CLINS numbers do not match the Solicitation pages 3 – 7 (schedule) CLINS numbers, nor does it match CLIN numbers referenced in the PWS page 15 ( 1.7.4.

Work Orders Subject to the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) and Service Contract Act (SCA). The COR is authorized to place work orders directly with the Contractor for all CLINs/PIDs. The COR shall identify work orders where the DBA applies on the face of the work order. Work orders using CLINs x005-007)).

A: Disregard “Work orders using CLINs x005-007”

Question: What percentage of Avg CIPS work orders per month is SCA vs DBA, on Nellis and on Creech?

A: About 3 to 5 percent of all CIPS work orders could possibly be considered as DBA work orders

Question: What percentage of Avg Trouble Tickets (TT) per month is SCA vs DBA, on Nellis and on Creech?

A: Most or all TT are resolve with SCA wage rate

Question: What percentage of Avg Monthly Maintenance is SCA vs DBA, on Nellis and on Creech?

A: 100 percent SCA

Question: Please confirm that SCA and/or DBA can only be charged when such work has been specifically assigned via work order or special project?

A: Work orders must be charged as SCA/DBA, special project is negotiated.

Question: Will there be a site visit?

A: Yes, if needed

Question: When are questions due to the Government?

A: 19 December 2023

Question: Who is the incumbent and what is the incumbent prime contract number?

A: Abacus

Question: Are the contractors responsible for dust permits for OSP construction? Such as every 100’ is approx $200 per permit. Will the Gov’t pay for these permits when required?

A: Contractor’s responsibility

Question: Are contractors required to be certified for dust control?

A: Yes

Question: What are the requirements for dust control?

A: This information can be obtain from the county, dust permit and normally requires water for dust control.

Question: Is the contractor responsible for any Sales and Use Taxes on materials and/or labor, or will the Govt provide a tax exemption for all Sales and Use Taxes to the contractor?

A: No, exemptions. The contractor will need to provide all costs associated in their proposal.

Question: On November 18, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14055 that requires successor contractors under federal government service contracts to offer employment to certain employees of the predecessor contractor whose employment would otherwise be terminated as a result of the predecessor’s loss of the contract. Executive Order 14055 reinstates provisions of Executive Order 13495. Successor contractors must give predecessor employees a minimum of 10 business days to accept the offer of employment. Given that bidders are not aware of who the potential “displaced employees” (predecessor employees) are and what their “anniversary dates” of continuous employment are, we are unable to calculate the fringe benefit requirements based on their particular longevity on this contract. Would you please provide a list of all incumbent personnel supporting this contract, the labor category position they hold, and what their tenure is (anniversary date of continuous employment)? This information is needed to properly cost and propose incumbent staff to comply with this Executive Order, given this first right of refusal and tenure benefits guaranteed to such personnel.

A: This incumbent proprietary information

Question: Is there an EIPS associated with this RFP? If so, would you please provide this as an attachment?

A: Yes

Question: Are there additional detail/requirements for the Antenna and Tower requirements.

A: No Antenna and Tower requirements

Question: Will onsite Lead, OSP technician, ISP technician VOIP technician be required full time at Creech?

A: Just the site lead

Question: Is there Government Furnished materials maintained onsite for BTS contractors use?

A: Very limited if any.

Question: Are the manholes considered confined spaces and require permits to enter?

A: Confine space however non permit to enter.

Question: Are there known contaminated locations onsite?

A: Not that we are aware of.

Question: Will contaminate materials (soils or liquids) be disposed of onsite?

A: N/A

Question: Is it the government intent for contract FA486124R001 to be covered under SCA wage determination 2015-5593, Revision 23 Dated: 07/31/2023? Attachment 1 incorporates by reference FAR clause: 52222-41 but no SCA Wage determination is attached to the solicitation release as required by this reference.

Attachment 1: Solicitation: SF1449 references FAR Clauses Incorporated by Full Text Page 24 of 41: paragraph (e ) (xiii)

-52.222-41, Service Contract Labor Standards (Aug 2018) (41 U.S.C. chapter 67). This clause states:

(c) Compensation. (1) Each service employee employed in the performance of this contract by the Contractor, or any subcontractor shall be paid not less than the minimum monetary wages and shall be furnished fringe benefits in accordance with the wages and fringe benefits determined by the Secretary of Labor, or authorized representative, as specified in any wage determination attached to this contract.

Attachment 4: Instructions to Offerors: No reference to SCA Wage determination.

A: Please visit SAM.gov for the most up to date version of the Wage Determination.

Question: Contract clause (1.2.10) states: Overtime premiums are not reimbursed by the Government under the terms of the contract as it is included within the prices proposed.

How does the government intend for the contractor to provide a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) cost under CLIN 0010-AA/0010-AB monthly maintenance to support emergency/ priority (Remedy) work order outages requiring restoration of existing subscriber service, which requires the contractors contract assigned technicians to work more than an 8-hour shift and/or holidays & weekends to accomplish the subscriber service restoration. The per-priced purchase and installation CLINS (PID) have some CLIN items that could potentially be used for emergency maintenance restoration, but they do not encompass all tasks required. Further, to price PID CLINS with a blended labor rate (regular hrs./overtime hrs.) would skew the cost for regular special projects and installs. Can surge hours/overtime rates be added to the CLIN listing to be used at the discretion of the Government COTR/SME. This will allow the contractor to provide its best discounted price to the Government for PID CLINS and CLINS 0010-AA/0010-AB.

A: Contractors are compensated Monthly Maintenance to cover PMIs, work orders, and trouble calls regardless if you work after hours or not. Although we don’t anticipate any work to be done after hours except priority/emergency work orders/outages, this cost should be factor in under Monthly Maintenance costs.

Question: CLIN 0010-AC Hospital Switch Nellis (PWS 5.2.3.1.5.A). The PWS Reference reflects the following cabinet description: 1 each, G450 Media Gate, 2 each, MM710 DS1, 2 each MM716 Analog Line Media Module (24-Port).

The Government has provided no subscriber count or work order historical data for this CLIN item to allow the offeror to evaluate a separate stand-alone monthly maintenance CLIN cost for this item. Does the Government anticipate a substantial operational maintenance level-of-effort for this cabinet configuration of equipment? Could CLIN 0010-AC monthly maintenance cost not be supported under

CLIN 0010-AA

A: No substantial maintenance effort required, this G450 is in the command post with DSI to the Siemon system and a handful of analog lines. This will fall under CLIN 0010-AA

Question: SF 1449, Block 8: Reflects an offeror due date of 30 November 2023.

Attachment 4: Instruction to Offerors reflects offeror due date as 09 January 2024.

A: Updates to both documents have been made.

Question: Attachment 3 – Pricing Spread Sheet – Summary Tab list the Base Contract Period as 1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024

A: Updated Pricing Sheet will be provided.

Question: 22. Will the Govt please specify which PIDs should be priced DBA and which should be priced SCA? Given the unknowns concerning which future projects could be DBA vs SCA, it is impossible for contractors to guess as to which PIDs apply to which wage determination.

A: SCA will utilize PIDs for both materials and labor, and DBA utilize PIDs materials only and DBA wages for labor portion of the work order.

Question: Would the Govt consider allowing all PIDs to be priced according to the SCA Wage Determination and then allowing contractors to add/propose a FACTOR (ex 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, etc.)

to the SCA priced PIDs to accommodate those work orders or projects that are later determined to be DBA determined projects?

A: No DBA determination must be made upfront.

Question: Will the government please confirm that there are no page limits for the Technical volume?

A: There is no page limit for the Technical volume.

Questions: Will the government please confirm that there are no page limits for Past Performance?

A: There is no page limit for the Past Performance

Requirement: 1.2.5. Personnel. The Contractor shall provide a team dedicated to Nellis AFB and a team dedicated to Creech AFB with one (1) full-time site lead at each location. The Contractor is solely responsible for ensuring sufficient personnel are assigned to this contract and all personnel are qualified and certified to perform the requirements listed herein, including those qualifications and certifications required by the OEM requirements to maintain, install, or operate the equipment covered by this contract.

Question: Can the government please confirm if contractors need to submit Key Personnel Resumes for one site lead for Nellis AFB and one site lead for Creech AFB?

A: Yes, all information provided will be considered with your proposal.

Requirement: The Offeror shall describe, in detail, the approach to perform Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the equipment which includes all items as specified in PWS paragraphs 4.1.1 and 4.2.1 (inclusive) and Appendices 5.2 and 5.4 Contractor Maintained Items.

Question: Can the government please confirm if they only want responses to 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 Operate And Maintain (O&M) Requirements, or should offerors also respond to the other subsections under 4.1 Nellis AFB (4.1.2 Telephone Switch System O&M – 4.1.8 Government Furnished Property/Support) and 4.2 Creech AFB (4.2.2 - 4.2.8)?

A: Respond as required

Question: Can the government please confirm that there are no specific requirements or templates for contractors to provide past performance information?

Requirement: Normal make-up of the types of bodies hired by previous BTS’s on a daily basis for Nellis and Creech: 1 Site Lead, 2 Switch Tech, 2 OSP Tech, and 4 ISP Tech.

Question: Can the government please confirm if there are 9 personnel required for Nellis AFB and 9 personnel required for Creech AFB, requiring a total of 18 personnel?

A: Offeror must propose the total amount of personnel required to support both bases.

Requirement: Normal make-up of the types of bodies hired by previous BTS’s on a daily basis for Nellis and Creech: 1 Site Lead, 2 Switch Tech, 2 OSP Tech, and 4 ISP Tech.

Question: Can the government please confirm the expected FTE to support this effort across both Nellis AFB and Creech AFB locations?

A: Offeror must propose the total amount of personnel required to support both bases.

Question: There are multiple items on the pricing sheet which are either manufacturer discontinued (MD’d) or no longer orderable. May we identify those MD’d items as part of our submission, or does the Government require us to propose remanufactured items if available? Please note that some remanufactured items may have been of other than TAA compliant origin. Does the Government require TAA compliant items in general if available?

A: Please identify.

Question: There are items on the pricing sheet which have been superseded by replacement items.

Similar to our question related to MD’d items, may we identify those and provide the new item pricing?

A: Please identify

Question: Does the Government require new equipment for all items on the pricing sheet, or may we propose remanufactured items in general if available?

A: Remanufactured items can be used, however must present as like new item (dirt and scratch free).

Question: We assume the Government is using the Remedy trouble ticketing system and the contractor is to continue using that as our primary ticketing/tracking system for services and activities/repairs, is this the case?

A: Yes, the primary ticketing/tracking system is Remedy.

Question: Would the Government consider remote support for ticketing escalations requiring a higher tier support?

A: Yes, remote support may be utilized however all key personnel mut be onsite.

Question: We did not see security clearance requirements in the PWS. Section 1.2.9.4 says site specific security requirements will apply to all personnel. Is there a security clearance requirement for this contract? If so, what is the security clearance level?

A: I believe it’s secret but need to verify with Creech

Question: In the Pricing Table under the ‘Summary Tab’, there are references to PWS 1.3.14 which does not exist in the PWS. Would the government please clarify?

A: This should read as “PWS 1.7.1.1”

Question: In the Pricing Table, there is a reference to PWS 1.3.3.5 which does not exist in the PWS. Would the government please clarify?

A: This should read as “PWS 1.4.3”

Question: Is the government open to ‘not’ pricing CLIN AC as a separate line for an unmanned position supporting a remote node of the switch?

A: No

Question: Para 5.2.3.1 Switching System. Page 33 - “The Avaya Aura Communications Manager is located in the DCO, Nellis AFB – The switch is configured with the following: Software Version CM

7.1.3 wired 16,178 and 13,643 in use

*** Contract has been awarded to upgrade the current Avaya CM7.1 LSC to Avaya10.1 software release”

a) Was the upgrade listed in paragraph 5.2.3.1 completed?

b) Was EPN 11 and 13 decommissioned?

c) Is there a breakout of the numbers and types (make and model) of phones currently in use at

Nellis AFB and Creech AFB?

A: a) no, upgrade in progress, b) both decommissioned as part of the upgrade c) current phones in use are on PID listing

Question: Attachment 4, titled ‘Instructions and Evaluation Criteria,’ lists historical data including ‘normal makeup of bodies hired by previous BTS. Would you please confirm the following;

a) Do the Switch Tech’s need to be certified in equipment listed in Appendix 5.2 or Appendix 5.4?

b) Have staffing levels increased or decreased over the life of the current contract?

c) Have any of Techs’ been required to obtain and maintain industry certifications?

A: a) yes b) no c) no, however Techs must proficient to accomplish all assigned tasks.

Question: Does the government plan to have a site-visit to review walk either of the sites?

A: Yes, if needed

Question: In Attachment 3, Price List, on the Purchas+ 69… & Installation tab, quantities are listed and purchase and install prices are required. Is the purchase price and installation price a per item a unit price for each item for columns A&B for each period OR the total price for the total quantity provided in the EST PURCHASE QYT AND EST INSTALL QTY Columns?

A: Rough estimate/place holder per period.

Question: In Attachment 3, Price List, on the Removal and Relocate tab, we have a similar question. We assume those quantities are quantities per JOB to be priced as total quantities, is that correct?

A: Rough estimate/place holder per period.

Question: Does the Government have any GFE tools that will be included for use on this effort?

A: No