Q A_Part_2_Dec_13.docx

INDUSTRY QUESTIONS & ANSWERS AS OF 31 Dec 2013 (Part 2)

CONTINUATION:

78. In regards to question 22, the incumbents are bound by their employment agreements & cannot submit their resumes. How can the offeror show qualifications & education of personnel if we can’t get the resumes?

PWS via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to reflect resumes be submitted after contract award.

79. Under the CAOC-X recent award the government allowed SUB-to-SUB 1099 (TIER 2 Subbing), is that going to be allowed for the AOC NAF/SME contract?

Yes.

80. Does the government want bidders to show salaries, rates, etc…, in the proposal?

No. However, see paragraph 4.3.1.3 of the RFP, page 76.

81. Is the government’s baseline the current incumbents or current market?

No.

82. What is the government using to determine fair market salaries?

The government does not determine fair market salaries. FAR 52.222-46 merely requires that an offeror propose compensation levels sufficient to provide a workforce capable of providing uninterrupted high quality work.

83. Will the government provide compensation levels of current incumbent personnel?

No.

84. Will the government provide time in service of the incumbent personnel?

No. SCA is not applicable.

85. In regards to question #37, since the government require identification of key personnel, please tell us which positions are considered key? Does the answer mean that the government will provide names of those they require the contractor to occupy?

See answer to question #37

86. Evaluation - “Prime, up to 4 references”. What is the minimum acceptable for past performance references?

There is no minimum, offeror can submit 1, 2, 3 or up to 4.

87. Will there be Overtime paid? No.

88. PWS 4.7.1.5.7 Provide 24/7 on call support (non-overtime basis) if required. How will this person be reimbursed for the on call support on their off time?

PWS via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to reflect an NTE CLIN to cover this cost.

89. On page number 75, point C of Aspect II of Subfactor , following is mentioned: "Proposal demonstrates employment of personnel with qualifications/experience/education commensurate with requirements of paragraphs 4.1-4.11 of the PWS." Our question is what do we need to submit under this section. Do we need to provide Letter of Intents? from proposed personnel or anything else is required?

PWS & RFP via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to reflect qualification summaries be submitted with offeror’s proposal and resumes after contract award.

90. There is no reference to resumes.

Questions: (1) Are resumes of key personnel required in Volume II?

(2) If resumes are required, do they count against the page count?

See answer to question # 89 above.

91. Do we need to provide resumes for all the labor categories. If so, are resumes counted against technical page limit?

See answer to question # 89 above.

92. Can the government consider redacted resumes or qualification summaries in lieu of resumes?

See answer to question # 89 above.

93. Would the government consider removing resumes from the page count? There will be a lot of pages taken up by these.

See answer to question # 89 above.

94. On solicitation, page 75, section 4.2.1, Proposal demonstrates employment of personnel with qualifications/experience/education commensurate with requirements of paragraphs 4.1-4.11 of the PWS. Do contingent offer letters demonstrate employment of personnel with qualifications/experience/education commensurate with requirements of paragraphs 4.1-4.11 of the PWS? If not, how are we to demonstrate employment?

Yes and see answer to question # 89 above.

95. In your answer you state that Paragraph 4.12 will be added to the PWS. Will you be publishing an update to the PWS soon so that we may make adjustments to potential new requirements in paragraph 4.12?

See Amendment 0001 issued on 20 Dec 2013.

96. Within the solicitation Document on page 56, section 7.6 the executive summary is limited to 2 pages. Does this count towards the total page count of 50?

No.

97. In the PWS on page 13, section 4.7.2.4, the Government states that industrial technical certification in a field applicable to assignment for the systems/equipment listed in the applicable annexes. Where can we obtain these annexes in order for us to evaluate certifications on specific systems/equipment?

See Amendment 0001. Paragraph was not applicable and was deleted.

98. The next three items all have the same question affiliated with them so they shall be grouped together and then the question will follow:

1. In the PWS, page 15, section 4.9 - Key Personnel. The Contractor shall identify the Program Manager and all key personnel in the technical proposal regardless of the task type.

2. In the solicitation, page 75, section 4.2.1 - Aspect I: Management Approach, paragraph C. Proposal provides explanation of the key personnel positions (i.e., weapons system manager, configuration manager, etc.) and an explanation of how the offeror will meet the task required in paragraphs 4.1-4.11 of the PWS.

3. In the PWS page 25, section 1.1.3 Chart - Will be used as the baseline to develop a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). The QASP will identify the audit methods/procedures the Government will use to evaluate the Contractor's performance. Provide and retain qualified key personnel Performance is acceptable when:

a) Qualified key personnel are on the job at contract start, unless previously negotiated by the CO.

b) Vacancies are filled with qualified key personnel within 30 calendar days of vacancy, unless approved in writing or otherwise directed in advance by the CO

AND

c) There is no mission impact due to position vacancies or unqualified personnel.

All three listings above: How are key personnel defined?

See Amendment 0001

99. Solicitation page 54 – Submission –

The instructions include a note to be added for delivery of the proposal through mail services (Do not open in the mailroom) but don’t appear to have any procedure for in-person delivery.

Is that an option, and if so, what is the procedure?

Yes. RFP via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to add address to Paragraph 3.1

Will the Government consider an all-electronic submission, instead of hard copy submissions?

No.

100. Pricing Volume - is the attached excel spread sheet posted on FEDBIZ OPS to be inserted into the pricing volume?

Yes.

101. Q&A questions #38 and #47 regarding resumes. Originally we were putting together KSA tables to address PWS requirements of qualified personnel (without names). So now you're saying you want actual resumes and they go against the page count? Do we redact information like name, address email, etc.? If we use KSA tables and resumes this will take up a lot of the page count and seems redundant. Request we provide only KSA tables for qualified personnel.

PWS & RFP via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to reflect qualification summaries be submitted with offeror’s proposal and resumes after contract award.

102. Compensation Plan- if you have sub contractors on your team do we separate and list compensation plans by company or is the plan just for the Prime contractor?

Yes. The Compensation Plan should cover all professional employees you propose to work on the contract.

103. Question, #22, Can Offerors contact incumbent personnel for resumes? You replied that the government has no issue with that. Can you please further stipulate that any contact must be done outside duty hours and not using government email systems or duty phones? The incumbent still has their duties to perform and shouldn’t be hindered with offerors interfering with those duties.

Also, you stipulate in #47 that resumes are now required for all positions. Did you mean that a sample resume is required for each positions, OR that resumes are required for each candidate that is proposed in all positions and locations, since there are multiple candidates for some of the positions due to multiple locations?

PWS & RFP via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to reflect qualification summaries be submitted with offeror’s proposal and resumes after contract award.

104. Reference Q&A #40 which asked if the travel CLIN was $10,000 or $40,000 annually. The answer was $40,000/yr. This does not agree with Schedule of Supplies/Services CLIN NTE amounts or the values entered in Attachment 3 pricing schedule. Will the Government be re-issuing Section B and Attachment 3 or should we make the changes when we submit?

RFP via Amendment 0003 (forthcoming) will be revised to correct Section B and Attachment 3.

105. Reference Q&A #42 which asked if it was the Government’s intent that FFP represents prices without the requirement for cost build-up. The Government’s answer was “yes” as long as they could determine fair and reasonable.

To clarify, answer to Question # 42 posted on 20 Dec 2013 should be NO. FFP prices are fully burdened.

Questions: Since the Government invokes FAR 52.222-46 which states “offerors will submit a total compensation plan setting forth salaries and fringe benefits proposed for the professional employees who will work under the contract” is it the Government’s intention that all salaries and fringe benefits are disclosed?

No.

106. Reference FAR 52.22-46 which states, in part: “proposals envisioning compensation levels lower than those of predecessor contractors for the same work will be evaluated on the basis of maintaining program continuity, uninterrupted high-quality work, and availability of required competent professional service employees. Offerors are cautioned that lowered compensation for essentially the same professional work may indicate lack of sound management judgment and lack of understanding of the requirement.”

Question: Since the Government is evaluating the compensation levels based on predecessor contractors, will the Government provide the salary benchmarks?

No.

107. Reference RFP page 58, paragraph 9.5 E. 1. which states “Submit one (1) sheet for each contract reference to include an overview of the work performed, what capacity they served under the reference (i.e. prime contractor, subcontractor, partner, etc.), offeror’s assessment of how the contract reference is relevant to the Relevancy Criteria, and any additional significant details. Also, reference Q&A #31, which clarified that the “one (1) sheet” should not exceed 1 page.”

Question: Since the 1 page limitation severely restricts the offerer’s ability to address what is requested and required especially in regards to “offeror’s assessment of how the contract reference is relevant to the Relevancy Criteria,” and since Volume I Past Performance is not page limited, will the Government consider removing the 1 page restriction for the aforementioned “one (1) sheet”?

No. The reference sheet is for overview only.

108. Reference RFP page 72, Section 1.0 Basis of Award, which states in part: “The LPTA source selection process does not permit tradeoffs between price and non-price factors.”

Question: How will the Government evaluate salary and compensation plans without tradeoffs? i.e., a more generous salary and compensation plan negates the LPTA evaluation. Please clarify.

FAR 52.222-46 merely requires offerors establish reasonable compensation levels sufficient to attract and retain a qualified workforce; it is a pass/fail type of requirement that does not require, in and of itself, any kind of adjectival or qualitative assessment beyond "can an offeror keep a workforce with this kind of compensation plan."

109. Reference RFP page 76 which states in part “Proposal provides a compensation plan in compliance with the requirements set forth in FAR 52.222-46, Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees” Question: Is it the Government’s intention that pricing data (i.e. salaries and benefits) be included in the technical volume, or should the technical volume discussion of Compensation Plan detail benefits and refer the pricing elements to the Price Proposal, Volume III?

Yes, the technical volume discussion of Compensation Plan detail benefits and refer the pricing elements to the Price Proposal, Volume III.

110. Reference Industry Questions & Answers as of 20 Dec 2013. The following Q&As that were previously asked and answered are now listed as “RESERVED”: #21 and #23, which had to do with overtime pay; #38 and #47, which had to do with resumes; and #49 which had to do with Letters of Intent. Further, the following new Q&As show “RESERVED”: 56, 75.

Question: (1) What is meant by the term “RESERVED”? (2) When does the Government intend to provide these Q&As?

Numbers (Questions) with “Reserved” required further clarifications and answered in this posting, Q&A Part 2.