Questions_and_Answers_1_July.pdf

Reference Questions Answers

Addendum to 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items pages 1-3

It is requests that the proposal be emailed as well as delivered hard copy and the table on page 3 “Number &Type of Copies Required”.

Can the Government please confirm that the digital copy requested is the emailed version?

The Government will accept an electronic submission of either a CD or email. Attachment 4 will be amended accordingly.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items page 2

It states that “Type format shall be Microsoft Word Times New Roman Font Size 12 with normal proportional spacing with the exception of charts. Text lines shall be single-spaced. The font style and size for graphics, tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts shall be Arial 10.”

Will the government consider allowing font size to be smaller than 10 for graphics, tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts, so long as they are legible?

No font under size 10 will be accepted.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items page 2

It states that “Type format shall be Microsoft Word Times New Roman Font Size 12 with normal proportional spacing with the exception of charts. Text lines shall be single-spaced. The font style and size for graphics, tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts shall be Arial 10.”

Will the government consider allowing the font style to be Times New Roman for the graphics, tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts?

Arial size 10 font is what will be deemed acceptable for tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts.

Addendum to 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items page 9, Offeror Representations and Certifications

It states: The Offerror shall ensure that FAR 52.212-3 is submitted thoroughly completed with all blocks in each certification / representations and certification completed truthfully and completely.

If representations and certifications are completed and up to date on the System for Award Management (SAM) website, is it acceptable to include a statement affirming this in lieu of completing and submitting representations and certifications as part of Volume IV - General?

No. 52.212-3 must be filled out in its entierty.

RFP Will the Government please provide the Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires? The SCA does not apply for this acquistion. The RFP will be amended accordingly; updated Clause 52.212-5.

PWS Page 18 Section 2.1.5 Family Advocacy Program Assistant (FAPA) – WEST

For pricing purposes, does the Department of Labor Service Contract Act Service Contract Act (SCA) apply to the FAPA Positon? If the answer is yes please provide the SCA Occupational Code for the FAPA position.

Will the government award an equitable adjustment should the Service Contract Act be found to be applicable after award?

An equitable adjustment may be nessecary post award if the SCA is found to be applicable. However, currently the SCA does not apply for this acquistion.

The RFP will be amended accordingly; updated Clause 52.212-5.

FAP West RFP, Section I, Clauses

It is unclear from FAR clause 52.222-53, and supporting FAR sections 22.1006 and 22.1003-4, if the government intends the service contract act to be applicable after award.

Can the government please provide guidance as to whether prices proposed will be binding in the event SCA is applicable after award?

The SCA does not apply for this acquistion. The RFP will be amended accordingly; updated Clause 52.212-5.

Attachment 4, page 9 Instructions for Volume IV, General

In Attachment 4, Offerors are informed that Block 26 (Total Award Amount) of the SF1449 should match the Pricing Model Spreadsheet Summary Tab in Attachment 2. Offerors are also informed this TEP amount will not be the basis of award for the contract ceiling and subsequent task orders, according to Attachment 4. Attachment 4 requires that Offerors complete blocks 23 (unit price) and 24 (amount) of the SF1449. The Pricing Model Spreadsheet creates multiple unit prices.

Should Offerors insert 1 in Block 23?

Blocks 23 & 24 can remain blank. Attachment 4 will be amended accordingly.

Page 36 of Attachment 1, PWS Section 3.1 Quality Control Plan (QCP)/Management Plan (Deliverable 2)

It states that “The contractor shall be responsible for quality control (QC) for all work accomplished during the performance of this contract.” Could the government confirm that contract management staff will have access to case records to conduct quality measures such as the Performance Objective to review at least 10% of FANs’ records? If so, will this access be to electronic case files?

No, only the Government will provide oversight over case files.

FAP West RFP, Section I, Clauses We cannot certify to the FAR 52.222-53 requirements. Can the government please include the applicable wage determinations in accordance with FAR part 22.1003-4.”

No, the Government will not provide Wage Determinations as SCA does not apply for this acquistion. The RFP will be amended accordingly

Attachment 4, page 5, under Specific Content

It states, “For past performance references, an individual task order counts as a contract; multiple task orders under a contract count as separate contracts.”

Does this statement mean that offerors can only submit past performance references for individual task orders under a basic contract? Or can offerors submit a past performance reference for a basic contract as a whole? Does the Government have a preference for either task orders or basic contracts?

If there is a Task Order that does not have a CPAR attached to it then the Government will accept a CPAR from the basic IDIQ;

however, Task Orders will be evaluated as separate submittals and will not be combined.

Attachment 4, Page 11 of 14: Evaluation Factors, Factor 1 Technical Capability “(3) Whether the offeror adequately addresses the issues noted in the items.” Will the Government please clarify to which “items” this evaluation criteria refers? See Attachment 4, FAP West -1 and -2, page 4, Management

Approach, "Staffing Plan...(a), (b), and (c)".

Attachment 4, Page 3 of 14: Instructions for Volume I, Technical Capability, Factor 1 Is it acceptable for Offerors to include resumes for proposed key personnel in an appendix to Volume I Technical? No, resumes are not required and will not be evaluated.

Attachment 4, Page 3 of 14: Number & Type of Copies Required Will the Government please confirm that the electronic/digital submission should consist of one CD containing copies of all required volumes/files?

The Government will accept an electronic submission of either a CD or email attachments. Attachment 4 will be amended accordingly.

Attachment 4, Page 9 of 14 & 10 of 14: INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOLUME III, PRICE/COST, FACTOR 3

Does the Government Request that any Subcontractor Price information be included with the Price Volume?

See Attachment 4, page 9, for Instructions For Volume III, Price/Cost, Factor 3

Attachment 4, Page 2: Proposal Preparation Instructions Is this meant to be Arial size 10 throughout graphics, tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts or no smaller than Arial size 10?

Arial size 10 font is what will be deemed acceptable for tables, organizational charts, drawings, and other inserts.

Page 8 of 14 Instructions for Volume III, Price-Cost, Factor 3. – The Tab 1. Pricing Model Spreadsheet appearance and formats for FAP the West and FAP East are slightly different.

Will the government permit the Offerors to standardized and use the FAP East format if the Offeror is competing on both FAP West and FAP East requirements?

Offerors are required to submit their proposals in accordance with Attachment 4 FAP West -1 and -2

Page 8 of 14 Instructions for Volume III, Price-Cost, Factor 3. – The Tab 1. Pricing Model Spreadsheet

Will the government consider requiring that each Offeror to provide their own cost build up spreadsheet in order to support their Price-Cost proposal for Volume III? By permitting Offerors to submit their cost build the government will have access to all calculations and formulas which will benefit the government’s price evaluations and will ensure Offerors Price-Cost proposal are compared on an “apples-to-apples” basis.

Refer to page 9 of Attachment 4 for Instructions for Volume III, Price/Cost and page 13 for basis for contract award for the pricing factor.

Attachment 1, PWS as identified in Appendix A, PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS AND LOCATIONS. Section 1.2, Page #4

Appendix A does not include PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS. Can the government please provide Appendix A with the Personnel Requirements and Locations? The personnel quantities will be indicated in each Task Order.

RFP, Pg. 1 Can the government confirm if offeror hand-delivers the package that is should be delivered to the 3515 S. General McMullen Ste. 200 San Antonio TX address?

The address is correct. It would be advisable to coordinate a drop time with the listed POCs found in Attachment 4 FAP West -1 and - 2 page 1 under General Instructions

RFP: Instructions for Volume 1, Technical Capability Factor 1, Page 3 The volume shall include a Cross Reference Matrix with the Technical Capability factor listed below.”

Is the Cross Reference Matrix included in the 15 Page count for the Volume I Technical or is it excluded from the page count?

All exclusions are listed under Proposal Preparation Instructions in Attachment 4 FAP West -1 and -2 page 2. If not listed consider documents part of the page count

PWS

FATM 2.1.1.2 "maintain a U.S. state license", then section 2.2.1 "As applicable, all CP are required to complete all necessary requirements to maintain current licensure in the state in which the individual’s license is issued.", then in Section 2.3.2 Services Summary for FATM it states "Maintain current U.S.

license in jurisdiction assigned."

So, does the requirement to " maintain license in jurisdiction assigned" conflict with "maintain a US state license"? Will this hamper recruiting and staffing if someone is licensed in ID but we recruit them for TX?

No, license in any State/Jurisdiction is acceptable. Maintain valid licensure from State/Jurisdiction that issued the license.

PWS With questions not due until June 27th and Monday, July 4th being a federal holiday, will the government extend the due date?

The proposal due date has been extended by 1 day, from 7 July to 8 July.

Reference Attachment 4 - Instructions to Offerors, pages 2 and 9.

The Government instructions on page 2 and 9 contradict each other.

Pages 2 and 9 indicate that there should be at least two different file types (PDF and Excel files) that cannot be combined into a single file and still meet the requirement to provide the pricing Model Spreadsheet as an excel file. Recommend that the requirement for "each volume shall be in a single searchable file" be deleted.

Volume 3 can be submitted in PDF and Excel. However, Volumes 1, 2, and 4 MUST BE SUBMITTED IAW ATTACHMENT 4, FAP WEST -1 &-2. Attachment 4 will be amended accordingly.

Reference Attachment 4 - Instructions to Offerors, page 2.

Pages 2 indicates that “Each file may be a zip file, but use of a zip file is not mandatory.” It is our understanding that the government does not allow .zip files as they could pose a risk. Recommend that this requirement for a .zip file be deleted.

Submitting a .zip file is not mandatory. Note; the Government's email firewall may delete .zip attachments.

Under the proposal instructions for “Factor 1: Management Approach” on page 4 of Attachment 4 to the RFP (the FAR 52.212-1 and FAR 52.212-2 Addendum)

It states that offeror’s must do the following: “demonstrate at least three years of experience in applying its management approach to support the sourcing, hiring, managing, placing, and training of a commercial workforce across CONUS. Subcontractor’s management approach will not be evaluated for this requirement."

What does the phrase “commercial workforce” mean? In other words, does this mean on other U.S.

Government contracts awarded pursuant to a FAR Part 12 procurement? Does this phrase have the same meaning where used elsewhere in Attachment 4 of the RFP? Does the second sentence quoted above regarding subcontractor’s management approach indicate that the three years’ experience must be the experience of either the prime contractor, teaming partner or joint venture partner (as these terms are defined on page 4 of Attachment 4)? Or does it just mean prime contractor?

No, it does not limit submittals of only U.S. Government contracts awarded pursuant to a FAR Part 12 procurement.

Yes, this phrase has the same meaning elsewhere in Attachment 4 of the RFP.

Yes, the three years’ experience must be the experience of either the prime contractor, teaming partner or joint venture partner (as these terms are defined on page 4 of Attachment 4).

No, does not just mean prime contractor

Under the Past Performance evaluation criteria, on page 12 of Attachment 4 to the RFP (the FAR 52.212-1 and FAR 52.212-2 Addendum)

It reads: “This assessment represents an evaluation of an Offeror and its proposed subcontractor(s)’ present and past work record so that the Government can make a determination about its confidence in the Offeror's probability of successfully performing as proposed.”

Please confirm that where the statement says “Offeror and its proposed subcontractor(s)’” that it means the “Prime Contractor and all subcontractors, teaming partners, and joint venture partners who will perform 30 percent, or more of the proposed effort based upon total proposed price or perform aspects of the effort that the Offeror considers critical to successful performance.”

The Government confirms this statement.

On page 13 of Attachment 4 to the RFP (the FAR 52.212-1 and FAR 52.212-2 Addendum)

It states: “The Government may consider the Offeror’s past performance in aggregate rather than on an individual contract basis.”

What does this statement mean? Does it mean that the Government may choose not to give relevancy ratings to individual contracts and weight them accordingly?

This statement does not speak to relevancy. IAW with the RFP, a relevancy rating will be given to any reference found to be recent.

In the Sample of the “Past and Present Performance Information Sheet” included in Attachment 4 to the RFP (the FAR 52.212-1 and FAR 52.212-2 Addendum), section J.

It states that “In accordance with FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iii), relevant experience from key personnel may be evaluated. If you wish to have the performance of individual key personnel considered, include names of key personnel who participated in this project and are proposed to work on the contract for subject requirement. Also, indicate their contractual roles for both projects.” This would suggest that the RFP limits offerors to providing key personnel information (and relying on their experience) to those references that either a prime contractor or subcontractor, teaming partner, or joint venture partner performed.

Please confirm whether that is the case – or whether offerors are allowed to submit references solely based on the fact that their key personnel performed the reference.

Confirmed, the RFP limits offerors to providing key personnel information (and relying on their experience) to those references that either a prime contractor or subcontractor, teaming partner, or joint venture partner performed.

On page 5 of Attachment 4 to the RFP (the FAR 52.212-1 and FAR 52.212-2 Addendum)

It states: “For past performance references, an individual task order counts as a contract; multiple task orders under a contract count as separate contracts.”

As large nationwide IDIQs and MATOs represent a significant way for 8(a) concerns to demonstrate CONUS-wide experience, would the Government reconsider allowing multiple task orders under a single contract to count as a single past performance reference?

No, for past performance references, an individual task order counts as a contract; multiple task orders under a contract count as separate contracts.

RFP Does the projected workload described in the Solicitation actually reflect the historical workload? If not, what is different?

Yes however, the pricing model worksheet does not accurately reflect the historical workload.

Attachment 1, PWS What labor categories does the Government expect to perform which particular tasks? See attachment 1 - PWS

Attachment 1, PWS How many supervisory employees are located at each location? One Family Advocacy Officer (FAO), a Government employee, is located at each location for supervisory purposes.

Reference Attachment 4 - Instructions to Offerors, page 12. Can the government please clarify whether Management Approach is Subfactor 1 under Factor 1 Technical Capability?

"Management Approach" is within Factor 1 Technical Capability.

There are no subfactors. Attachment 4 will be amended accordingly.

FAP West RFP, Section I, Clauses Can the government please provide all wage determinations that may be applicable after award (i.e., in accordance with FAR 22.1006 and FAR 22.1003-4)?

The SCA does not apply for this acquistion. The RFP will be amended accordingly.

Instructions for Volume II, Past Performance, Factor 2 (page 4)

States, "The Offerors shall submit a Past Performanace Volume containing the following ... CPARs or equivalent performance documents, if applicable." Also in the Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR) paragraph (page 5) it states, "If the Offeror is obtaining information for a contract with a non-governmental organization, the information provided should be the same or similar as that required on the CPAR form."

If a past performance was as a subcontractor on a government contract that has been completed and we did not receive a performance evaluation by the prime contractor, do we have to obtain a performance evaluation from the prime contractor in order to use the past performance?

IAW DoD Source Selection Procedures, para 3.1.3.2, the Government will review past pefromance information and determine the quality and usefulness as it applies to performance confidence assessment.

As long as the past performance information is in accordance with Attachment 4, from whom offerors obtain that information is beyond this solicitation.

Do Offerors need to provide pricing for this location (Tinker AFB)? Yes, the correct number of locations is 31. The Pricing Model Worksheet will be amended accordingly.

Who is the incumbent contractor for this requirement? Choctaw Staffing Solutions What is the contract number? FA8052-16-C-0012 What is the incumbent contract value? $ 2,416,386.80 How many full-time equivalents are on the current contract? That information will not be provided.

The Pricing Model accounts for only 30 locations, but Appendix A (pg. 39) accounts for 31. The Tinker AFB location is missing from Appendix A. Since the instructions asks for 155 FTE's can we add that location to our numbers or was the 30 locations correct for planning purposes?

Yes, the correct number of locations is 31. The Pricing Model Worksheet will be amended accordingly.

When does the contract expire? 15-Sep-16

FAP WEST