CATS FA8053-11-R-0001 Questions Response Decemeber 2010.pdf

CATS Draft RFP Questions and Answers

29 December 2010

FA8053-11-R-0001 Clinical Advisory Technical Services Draft RFP

1. Attachment L-3: Subcontractor/Teaming Partner Consent Letter for the Release of Past and Present Performance to the Prime Contractor. Is it necessary for a subcontractor to agree to submit this form? Would a proposal be considered unresponsive if a subcontractor preferred to discuss any past performance issues or clarification requests directly with the Government during negotiations at the request of the Prime in lieu of the letter as part of the Past Performance volume? Are these completed forms part of the evaluation criteria?

Government Response. It is necessary for a subcontractor to submit the referenced consent letter. The failure to submit this consent letter will render the proposal non-responsive. The

Government will only send clarification through Prime Contractor and Teaming Partner.

2. Is the Veteran’s Administration (VA) considered part of the DoD for purposes of past performance relevancy?

Government Response. The Department of Veterans Affairs is considered another Federal

Agency and not a part of Department of Defense.

3. How will a minimum number of past performances for the prime be rated compared to more than the minimum number of past performance citations? Will a prime receive a higher grade based on submitting more than the minimum number of past performance citations?

Government Response. Please see Section M paragraph 4.3 to 4.3.3

4. For subcontracting purposes, does a small business need to fall into the $7M size standard?

Government Response. All small businesses must comply with the identified NAICS code size limitations. The applicable NAICS code is 541611. The small business size standard is $7M.

5. With the apparent decentralized ordering now being planned, why does the past performance relevancy still require NCR and San Antonio locations to be considered very relevant or relevant?

Government Response. Air Force Medical Service HQ functions are concentrated in both the

National Capital Region and San Antonio area.

6. What is meant by the word “personnel” (Section H.3 Task Order Procedures 9B) as used in the description for a CATS task order proposal? Are resumes required in the task order proposal?

Government Response. Resumes are not required. The word “personnel” referred to labor category. The word “personnel” has been removed.

7. What is the projected number of task orders planned to be released to be able to determine how challenging bidding all task orders will be? Will these task orders be released simultaneously if these tasks are on another contract vehicle?

Government Response. As the existing contracts expire, Task Orders will be released as required. There is no plan to terminate the existing contracts because this contract is a new contract. The specific number of task order issued annually is unknown therefore the IDIQ contract arrangement is advantages to the government.

8. Will a Sample Order be included in the final RFP with the requirement for offerors to develop a task order-specific technical and price proposal?

Government Response. Two sample task orders will be included in the final RFP. The offerors will be required to submit a cost or price proposal for each. A Firm Fixed Price task order and a

Cost Plus Fixed Fee task order.

9. Tab 4-Purchasing System – What are the requirements for the Purchasing System? There are no instructions as to what the offeror should provide in the proposal.

Government Response. A paragraph has been added to section L describing the instructions/requirement for purchasing system.

10. Tab 5- Professional Compensation Plan – Is the Professional Compensation Plan page limited?

Government Response. No.

11. Tab 5- Professional Compensation Plan – Will the government provide a form or table for this plan or is the offeror to format/develop its own Plan?

Government Response. The offeror will need to develop its own Professional Compensation

Plan. Nor form or table will be provided.

12. Tab 5- Professional Compensation Plan – Will the Government require the prime contractor and all subcontractor’s to provide Professional Compensation Plans?

Government Response. The government will require the Prime contractor and subcontractors to submit a Professional Compensation Plan.

13. Instructions for Volume I: 1.21.1.2.1 states “Complete Section G of the RFP”. Section G appears to be a form that request us to provide information which would enable the offeror to route the offerors receiving reports, invoices. Some of the information that is being requested is specific to the contract. This information would not be available to the offeror until contract award. What exactly is the offeror to fill in for this form?

Government Response. The requirement to fill out section G has been removed from the RFP..

14. RFP Section 2.1.3 Small Business Opportunities. States: “The small business opportunities submission shall be addressed in Volume I, Tab 9.”

Later on RFP section 1.21.1.8 Subcontracting Plan – States: “Participation of Small Businesses

(SB)

If the offeror is other than a small business, the offeror shall submit a Small Business

Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 that also identifies and specifies the extent of offeror's commitment to the participation of small businesses (SB), whether as joint venture members, teaming arrangement partners, or subcontractors. If applicable, submit a copy of your approved Master Plan. In the event the offeror has negotiated a comprehensive subcontracting plan pursuant to DFARS 219.702, the offeror must submit the information that identifies and specifies the extent of its commitments as stated in the DFARS reference.”

And then RFP Section 2.1.3.2 States: “For small business, the business plan will describe the processes the offeror will follow to ensure at least 50 % of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the prime contractor (Ref FAR52.219-

14).”

It appears Section 1.21.1.8 states “Small Businesses are exempt from submitting a Small

Business Plan”, but Section 2.1.3.2 has instructions on what the Small Business SB Plan should contain. Are Small Businesses required to submit a plan or not?

Government Response. Proposal Business Plan in 2.1.3.2 is different than the small business subcontracting plan for which small businesses are exempt.

15. RFP Section B, page 5, paragraph “National NTE Rates” states that “A full-time equivalent (FTE) is based on 1880 productive hours per year.” Table B-2, the Sample Order, requires rate quotations for hours in increments of 1920, suggesting that a full time equivalent

(FTE) for purposes of this table and sample order is 1920 annual hours per FTE. Question. We suggest that the FTE hours for the sample order and the National NTE Rates be the same. Is the desired FTE annual hours 1880 hours per FTE or 1920 hours per FTE?

Government Response. Revised to 1920.

16. RFP Section B, pages 6 – 13, paragraph “National NTE Rates” provides 2 separate B-1

Tables for providing rates which appear to be identical. Question. We assume that the first B-1

Table is for NTE rates that will be used to price CLIN 0001 FFP Task Orders and that the second

B-1 Table is for providing CLIN 0002 Fixed Labor Hour / Time and Material labor rates. Is this a correct assumption?

Government Response. No. Table B-1 was accidently inserted twice. The second B-1 table has been removed.

17. Section B, pages 2 – 4. Question. Is the contractor responsible for inserting dollar amounts for the CLINs listed in Section B? If so, can the Government please provide instructions?

Government Response. Offeror is not responsible for filling in the CLIN Net Amounts.

18. Page 3, Item No. 0002. Based on the Quantity and Unit, the intent for this Item seems to be a CLIN for Labor Hour type task orders. However, the type is identified as “FFP” rather than the expected “T&M” or “LH.” Question. Can the Government please change the CLIN 0002 notation from FFP to T & M or LH type Task Orders?

Government Response. CLIN 0002 has been changed to reflect a Cost Plus Fixed Fee arrangement.

19. Section H.1., page 18, addresses issuance of Task Orders under the awarded CATS contracts. Question. How many task orders does the Government estimate will be solicited under CATS contracts monthly? Annually?

Government Response. See question 7.

20. Section H.1., page 18, addresses issuance of Task Orders under the awarded CATS contracts. Question. What is the estimated average FTE level of effort expected under CATS task Orders?

Government Response. This is an ID/IQ requirement with a cap of $985,000,000.

21. Section H.1., page 19, addresses issuance of “unrestricted” and “small business set aside”

Task Orders under the awarded CATS contracts. Question. How many of the issued CATS task orders does the Government estimate will be “unrestricted” and how many will be “small business set aside?”

Government Response. See H.3. Any task orders with an annual estimated value at or below

$500,000 are automatically set-aside for SB concerns and will be competed within the Small

Business Task Order Competition Pool using streamlined or standard competition. Small businesses are permitted to compete for Task Orders in both the unrestricted and small business set aside pools. The Government is unable to estimate how many orders will be “unrestricted” and how many will be “small business set aside.”

22. Section H.5, page 19, Competition Types. The RFP indicates Streamlined is the preferred method of competition unless a performance – price tradeoff is necessary. Question.

How many of the issued CATS task orders does the Government estimate will be “Streamlined

Competition” and how many will be “Standard Competition?”

Government Response. Unknown.

23. Page 27, Section H.14 references SF294/295. It is this contractors understanding that use of these forms has been discontinued and has been replaced by submission of Individual or

Summary Subcontracting Reports (ISR / SSR) in the ESRS system. Question. Can the

Government please clarify?

Government Response. The language that referred to SF294/295 was corrected to read ESRS

System.

24. Sections H.5 and H.16 appear duplicative. Question. Can the Government please clarify?

Government Response. Duplication will be removed.

25. Section H.11.B, page 26, states “If the Government expends additional effort to orient new personnel and/or performance requirements are delayed or missed, the Government may recoup reasonable consideration.” Question. What specifically does the Government mean by

“recoup reasonable consideration” and what are the types and limits of this “consideration”?

Government Response. See H.3.11.B, subject to negotiation The government may exercise its right to receive something of value for relaxing a term of the contract.

26. Page 26, Section 11, Part B. Question. Can the Government modify this section to state that replacement personnel must meet or exceed the qualification requirements for the labor category (as opposed to the qualifications of the predecessor employee)?

Government Response. RFP clarified to remove reference to individual.

27. Section L. Question. In regards to the Subcontracting Plan, in accordance with FAR part 19, can the Government modify this to state the small business requirements in terms of total subcontracted dollars as opposed to total contract dollars?

Government Response. Language will remain consistent with FAR Part 19.

28. Section H.5, page 28 – 29, discusses entering into an Associated Contractor Agreement with associate contractor, Suntiva. Question. Can the Government please provide a copy of the desired agreement that contractors should complete?

Government Response. The minimum requirements for the ACA are identified in H.5.

29. Page 36, number 2(B). Per the FAR, rate adjustment is allowed on the actual change in costs plus fringe on that amount. Question. Can the Government please clarify the language to make clear that it is acceptable to burden the adjustment with fringe?

Government Response. Language clarified to include increase or decrease in wage and fringe benefit.

30. Section M. The RFP indicates a Best Value evaluation process will be used. Elsewhere in the RFP, Lowest Price Technically Acceptable is discussed. Question. Contractor assumes the proposals for the IDIQ will be evaluated on a Best Value basis, while Task Orders may be evaluated on a LPTA basis if streamlined competition is used. Is this assumption correct?

Government Response. Yes.

31. Section H.13.A, page 40. In regards to Organizational Isolation, Contractor assumes this is required only if a real or perceived OCI exists. Question. Is this a correct assumption?

32. Section H.13.A, page 37 – 39. Question. In regards to Organizational Conflict of

Interest, can the Government please clarify what beyond the OCI certification should be submitted?

Government Response. See paragraph 1.21.1.7

33. Section L.1, Table 1.8, pages 87 – 88 address Volume II proposal page limits, specifically identifying those things that are in or out of the Volume page limit. We assume that the contents of Tabs 4 (Proposal Cross Reference Matrix) and 5 (Glossary of Abbreviations and

Acronyms) are NOT included in the Volume 40 page limit. Question. Is this a correct assumption?

Government Response. Correct.

34. Section L.1, pages 87 – 88 address proposal page limits, providing a list specifically identifying those things that are out of the Volume page limits. The list includes the items

“Proposal Summary (Volumes II – IV)” and “Qualifications Summary” which do not appear by these titles in the Volume I thru Volume IV descriptions that are provided in Sections L.1.21, L.2, L.3, and L.4. It appears that these items may be related to the “Executive Summary” required in Volume I, but it isn’t clear. Question. What are the “Proposal Summary” and

Qualifications Summary” items and in what proposal volume(s) should they be placed? Are they inside or outside of the specified page limits for the volumes where they are to be placed?

Government Response. The requirement to submit these two items has been removed from the solicitation.

35. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 6. Streamlined

Competition. Paragraph A. Does this mean that all contractors will be considered "pre-qualified" until performance indicates otherwise?

Government Response. Please see H.3.6.A

36. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 10. Task Order

Proposal Request, Proposal Submission, and Task Order Award., paragraph B.i. Can the notification of intent to not submit a proposal for a TOPR be made via email?

Government Response. Notification method is not specified. Email is sufficient.

37. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 10. Task Order

Proposal Request, Proposal Submission, and Task Order Award., paragraph B.iii. Does this mean that site visits, during proposal preparation, are considered acceptable, to include marketing and business development visits?

Government Response. The following language to clarify government’s intent is anticipated to be added to H.3.10.B.iii.

Requests for site visits during proposal preparation must be submitted to the Task Order

Contracting Officer in writing within four (4) calendar days of Task Order Proposal Request issuance. If the Task Order Contracting Officer receives requests and deems that a site visit is necessary, an open announcement for the site visit will be made to all eligible contractors.

Site visits will be at the contractor’s expense for the purpose of clarifying the requirement, not marketing or business development.

38. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 10. Task Order

Proposal Request, Proposal Submission, and Task Order Award., paragraph B.iv. Will the

Government consider 15 days to submit the TOPR Response?

Government Response. Based on the language in this section, the Task Order Contract Officer has the ability to extend proposal submission period.

39. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 10. Task Order

Proposal Request, Proposal Submission, and Task Order Award., paragraph B.v. Is cross teaming permissible after contract award?

Government Response. Yes, it is not prohibited, however, section H.13 may apply.

40. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 11.

Performance., Paragraph A.i Would the Government consider changing the 30 calendar day performance requirement to 45 days?

Government Response. The government cannot consider this request without rationale for the increase. Based on historical data for the medical A&AS work 30 days is appropriate.

41. H.3. TASK ORDER PROCEDURES (SUBSEQUENT TASK ORDERS), 11.

Performance., Paragraph A.ii Would the Government consider changing the 10 day requirement for resume submission to 15 days? Can the Government interview process also include face to face meetings with the candidate?

Government Response. The government cannot consider this request without rationale for the increase in time. The government does not require face to face interviews with candidates.

However, if face to face interview are proposed by the contractor, the contracting officer may consider it. All costs associated with interviews are at the contractor expense.

42. H.5. ASSOCIATED CONTRACTOR AGREMENTS (ACA), paragraph (a) Will the

Government identify those Task Orders which require Associate Contractor Agreements in the

Task Order Proposal Request?

Government Response. Yes, however, should the contractor discover another contractor that it is required to work with in the course of business, an ACA would still be required.

43. H.8. LIABILITY INSURANCE, 2. Automobile liability. Is the automobile liability be used to cover employees driving Government vehicles?

44. H.11. WAGE DETERMINATIONS AND ADJUSTMENTS, 1. Service Contract Act

(SCA of 1965), paragraph B. Will the Government specify specific Wage Determination labor categories for each task order?

Government Response. No, the contractor is responsible for determining specific wage determination labor categories from the government’s requirement.

45. Section M, Para 4.2.2.6 states that Relevancy Table 1 applies to each past performance reference of the fair opportunity competition for both small and large business primes. Past performance references for small businesses competing in the small business set aside or as partners/subcontractors in the fair opportunity competition shall meet the relevancy requirements specified in Relevancy Table 2. Which Relevancy Table should be used for large businesses that are subcontractors on a small business competing team?

Government Response. Relevancy Table 1.

46. Can the government be more specific as to the areas and/or levels of expertise required for the following labor categories: Project Manager, SME, and Consultant?

Government Response. The expertise required will be specified in the Task Order Proposal

Request.

47. Reference Section L, paragraph 2.2.3.2 – “The Human Resources Management Plan describes a process to obtain third party survey data of 75% of current personnel that assesses at a minimum the quality of the work place the employer, and the job.” Question – How often are personnel surveys to occur? What are the survey result reporting requirements?

Government Response. Reporting requirements are explained in Section C 2.3.3.7 and Section

C 3.1.3. The government does not specify how often survey must be conducted.

48. Reference H.3. (6) Streamlined Competition – A. Pre-Qualified – Based on the requirements of pre-qualification provided in Section C, paragraph 3.1.2 for task orders, can the government clarify that pre-qualification will not be available until the second year of performance based on contractors performance in the base period?

Government Response. Please see the note attached to Section C, 3.1.2 and 3.1.3.

49. Reference H.3. (9) TOPR Pricing – Will the contractors be limited to their rate of escalation on their schedule rates when bidding individual task orders? i.e. – If a contractor escalates 4% per year on their schedule rates and are bidding on an individual task order, are they limited to a 4% escalation on the TOPR option years even if a 5% escalation on the TOPR would be below their ceiling schedule rate?

50. Reference H.3. (9) C. Incidental Material Reimbursement – Can the government provide the micro purchase threshold?

Government Response. Currently $2,500.

51. Reference H.3. (10) Task Order Proposal Request, Proposal Submission, and Task

Order Award B. iv. - …..task order pricing shall be based on the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) prices in effect on the date the Task Order proposal is due. Can the government consider revising this statement to reflect that a TOPR may begin performance in the next year of the main contract and therefore TO’s should be priced according to the performance period? i.e. – The main contract period is 1 Oct - 30 Sep for the base period. A TOPR is due on 1 Sep at the end of the base period. The performance period will contain 11 months in FY 1 however based on the above the base year NTE rates must be used.

Government Response. The contractor is welcome to propose bid rates commensurate with

NTE increase as part of the TOPR response (i.e. hours and price from 1 Sept thru 30 Sept can be bid at one rate and remainder bid at higher rate).

52. Section C. Clause H.3 -Task Order Procedures (Subsequent Task Orders) sub paragraph

3. – Small Business Set-aside, states that “any order with an annual estimated value at or below

$500,000 are automatically set-aside for SB concerns and will be competed within the Small

Business Task Order Competition pool using streamlined or standard competition.”

Question: As the dollar amount set aside for small business is a critical factor in determining whether to compete for one of the full and open contract awards, does the Government have an estimate of the total dollar amount or percentage of the total $985M ceiling that may result in small business set-asides?

Government Response. No..

53. Section C. Clause H.3 -Task Order Procedures (Subsequent Task Orders) sub paragraph

3. – TOPR competition type, states that “Streamlined competition is the preferred method unless a performance price tradeoff is necessary based on the requirements.”

Question: Can the Government provide an example or clarification as to what type of requirements would result in a performance price tradeoff evaluation?

Government Response. Where a detailed technical proposal is required to be evaluated on a pass/fail basis.

54. Section F - Delivery Information provides Period of Performance (PoP) detail for each

CLIN 0001 – 0005. Please note that CLIN 0005, Contract Data Requirements List lists a potential end date of 15 July 2015, which is inconsistent with CLINS 0001-0004.

Question: Upon final RFP release, will that date be updated to 15 July 2016?

55. Section H. Section H.3.7.C states: “Each TOPR will identify if an approach section is required to be submitted with proposals and, as identified in paragraph g (emphasis added) below, what is to be included in the proposal to satisfy the approach section.”

Question: It isn’t clear which paragraph g is being referenced; please clarify.

Government Response. Referenced updated to H.3.10.

56. Section L.1 Information to Offerors and Instruction for Proposal Preparation, sub paragraph 1.0 Program Structure, Objectives, and Summary, states “Contractors need to identify if they will be competing in the unrestricted or small business set aside pool by submission of the

Intent to Bid Form. Contractors may only bid in one of the two pools for initial contract award.”

Question: Would the prime contractor, either in the small business set aside or full and open category, be allowed to bring on subcontractors after contract award?

57. Section L.1 Information to Offerors and Instruction for Proposal Preparation, Table 1.8

Proposal Organization, for Volume III, Page Limit, states “Use table and forms provided only.”

Question: Please provide additional clarification and guidance concerning format and data content to be provided in Volume 3.0. Will there be a table or form provided for response to

Tabs 4 – 6 as stated? Will Offerors be provided with an opportunity to include a cost narrative to document assumptions and provide pricing justification consistent with requirements set forth in

Section 3.1?

Government Response. There will not be a table or form for Tabs 4-6. This is Firm Fixed Price contract so justification and narratives are not required.

58. Section L, Table 1.8, Proposal Organization, Volume 2, Technical Proposal, Tab 4, identifies a Proposal Cross Reference.

Question: Please provide confirmation that this Tab is not part of the overall 40 page count maximum.

Government Response. Technical Proposal Cross Reference is not part of the 40 page count.

59. Section L.1, Information to Offerors and Instruction for Proposal Preparation, Para

3.1.3.1 states that “Section B, Table B-1, will form the offeror’s NOT TO EXCEED (NTE) fully burdened labor rates for each listed labor category. If awarded a contract, these proposed NTE rates will apply to all locations in the United States and its territories that may be required under this contract.”

Question: Are the labor rates, G&A and Material Handling Rates to be provided in Table B-1

Not-To-Exceed (NTE) Rates applicable to only the prime contractor or are they to represent NTE rates for the prime offeror’s entire team (inclusive of subcontractors)? If they are applicable to only the prime contractor, are we to provide separate B-1 tables for the prime and each subcontractor teammate? If separate B-1 NTE tables are allowed for the prime and each applicable teammate, we would assume that sealed packages containing subcontractor B-1 tables would be allowed to be submitted given that G&A and Material Handling rates are considered proprietary data and would not be disclosed by most subcontractors to their prime. If separate B-

1 NTE tables are allowed, is this assumption correct?

Government Response. NTE rates are applicable to the entire team.

60. Section L.1, Information to Offerors and Instruction for Proposal Preparation, Para

3.1.3.4 states that “To complete Table B-2, offerors are to look at each labor category, level, hours required and location. After determining a fully burdened rate for each specific requirement, multiply the fully burdened rate by the number of hours identified. That total will be input into Table B-2 and submitted with the proposal.”

Question: Please confirm that resumes do not need to be provided as part of the Table B-2 submission.

Government Response. Resumes do not need to be provided with Table B-2.

61. Section L.2 Volume II – Technical Proposal Volume, sub paragraph 2.2.3.2 states, “The

Human Resources Management Plan shall describe a process to obtain third party survey data of

75% of current personnel that assesses at a minimum the quality of the workplace, the employer, and the job.

Question: Does the annual assessment of the 75% of current personnel mean the personnel working on the CATs contract or total employees within the company? Are subcontractors to be included in the third party assessment?

Government Response. All A&AS Personnel working on CATS as part of a team are included in this requirement.

62. Section B, Supplies or Service and Prices, National NTE Rates, states, “A full-time equivalent (FTE) is based on 1880 productive hours per year.” However, Table B-2 Sample

Order, appears to use 1920 productive hours per year for a FTE in the Hours column of this document.

Question: Please clarify the basis for hours.

Government Response. Productive hours per year expectation is 1920. References to 1880 will be removed.

63. Section B, Supplies or Service and Prices, Item No. 0001 and 002 states, “This ID/IQ type contract has a five year ordering period.” However, in Table B-1, there appears to be duplicate tables of the table on pages 5-7.

Question: Can the Government confirm table B-1 is printed twice?

Government Response. Table B-1 was entered twice and the duplication will be removed.

64. Section B, Supplies or Services and Prices, 10:B:iv:3, “Proposals will be assumed by the

Government to meet minimum requirements specified in the TOPR……may be incorporated into the resulting TO minimum requirements.”

Question: Please clarify.

Government Response. If contractor proposes to exceed minimum requirements, the additional level of service can be incorporated into the Task Order Requirements when issued.

65. Section B, Supplies or Services and Prices, Item (CLIN) 0002 states that the Unit is

Labor Hours. The last sentence of the description states, “On or off site FFP task orders will be issued against this CLIN.” Section H, Para 9, TOPR Pricing, states that “Task Orders may include Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Firm Fixed Price Level-of-Effort (FFP-LOE), [or] Labor Hour

(LH)…CLINS.”

Question: Please clarify the CLIN structure. The description for CLIN 0002 seems to indicate that the intent is for this to be an FFP-LOE CLIN, Section H, Paragraph 9 identifies that it intends to issue the other TOPRs identified above (Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Firm Fixed Price

Level-of-Effort (FFP-LOE), [or] Labor Hour (LH)).

Government Response. CLIN has been changed and is now a Cost Plus Fixed Fee CLIN.

66. Attachment 3, Labor Categories and Descriptions, lists the labor category requirements for a Level V to be a Doctorate or MD Degree + 5 yrs experience whereas the requirement for a

Level IV to be a Masters Degree + 10 yrs experience: or Bachelors Degree + 20 yrs exp.

Question: Will the Government consider reviewing these requirements? It seems counter intuitive that a Level V would have less years of experience with a Masters degree than a Level

IV.

Government Response. MD Degree stands for Medical Doctor not Master’s Degree for Level 5.

67. Attachment 3, Labor Categories and Descriptions, lists the labor category requirements for a Level IV to be a “Masters Degree + 10 yrs experience: or Bachelors Degree + 20 yrs experience.”

Question: Will the Government consider changing the Bachelors years of experience to be 12 years so as to read “Masters Degree + 10 yrs experience: or Bachelors Degree + 12 yrs experience”? It is industry practice that a conversion of degree versus years of experience is equivalent to 2 years (e.g. BA = 4 years, MA = 6 years and PhD = 8 years, etc.) and vice versa.

Government Response. Section updated to provide clarification. Requirements are stated to include both degree and years of experience required to meet specific labor categories level.

68. Attachment 3, Labor Categories and Descriptions, lists the labor category requirements for a Level V to be a Doctorate or MD Degree + 5 yrs experience.

Question: Will the government consider reviewing these requirements? The educational requirements listed do not seem universally appropriate for all listed Labor Categories. In some cases it seems that the Labor Category description could be accomplished by someone with lesser educational degrees. For example, Technical Writer V, Data Analyst V, Instructor V.

Government Response. Levels I- V have been developed and critically reviewed to ensure government expectations are aligned with goals and costs of program.

69. Section H, paragraph H.3 states that “All Air Force, Army and Navy contracting offices that support Air Force MTFs are authorized to place Task Orders against this contract and are authorized to administer the Task Orders following award. The other contracting offices that support Air Force MTFs under Joint-Basing arrangements shall follow the terms and conditions of this Contract.”Question: Even though the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) is not an MTF, will METC, located at Joint Base San Antonio, be allowed to use CATS?

Similarly, will other organizations, like the 711

Human Performance Wing, and Medical

Reserve/Guard units be permitted to use CATS?

Government Response. The language in the solicitation is updated. This contract will support

Air Force Air Staff, Air Force Major Command or Air Force Military Treatment facilities medical Advisory and Assistance services.

70. CONCERN: Section C. 2.3.2.1.1 Qualifications of key management personnel shall demonstrate a minimum of three years experience as a prime contract manager of large scale

Federal contracts. For contractors in the “unrestricted” competition pool, large scale contracts exceed $2.5M annually and involve two geographic areas (states).

The business plan describes the key management personnel who will be responsible for performance of overall contract operations. Key management personnel include the program manager(s) and any other management personnel who will be involved in day-to-day contract operations

As written, this could eliminate the potential pool of current and future Program Managers, unless active duty time can be considered for experience and responsibility of contracts. Those individuals might best qualified to contribute to this contract, who have had a military career in the AFMS, yet would not be qualified to be Program Manager (s)/key personnel. Was the

Government’s intent of 2.3.2.1.1 to only use those with civilian experience as prime contract managers?

Government Response. The government sees value in program managers with experience managing large scale federal contracts. The current potential pool not withstanding, there is a dearth of qualified program managers in industry.

71. QUESTION: Section 824, Public Law 101-189 established the DoD Comprehensive

Subcontracting Plan program to reduce administrative burdens across DoD. Will the

Government incorporate DFARS 252.219-7004 to allow those participating contractors in this program to submit the comprehensive plan for this proposal with contract specific utilization goals?

Government Response. The demonstration program that allowed the use of DFARS 252.219-

7004 expired on 30 Sep 2010. The correct clause has been inserted into the RFP DFARS

252.219-7003.

72. CONCERN: “Contractors shall report Consultants, Advisory and Technical Services

(CATS) dollars subcontracted to the Small Business Concerns of businesses on an annual basis through the submission of SF294/295, Subcontracting Report.”

Participants in the DoD Comprehenvise Subcontracting Plan Program are not required to provide Subcontract Reports at the contract level. Recommend the Government add DFAR clause 252.219-7004.

73. QUESTION: Under para 1.1, Description of Services, Background, it mentions that

AFMS uses 4 contracting locations. Could the Government provide addresses for those contracting locations?

Government Response. This section has been deleted.

74. QUESTION: Under Summary of Services para 2.3.5, it states Contractors shall not represent themselves as endorsed by the government in any manner, including in marketing or promotional materials. Does that preclude the use of quotes by government personnel in proposal citing value of past services or excellence of personnel?

Government Response. Section C 2.3.5 will only apply after award of contract(s).

75. QUESTION: Under General Requirement, para 2.4.1.1, it states travel costs will be reimbursed on cost reimbursable basis and no profit or fee will be paid. Will the Government reimburse allowable G&A on travel costs representing corporate costs to provide and administer travel?

Government Response. No

76. Currently the RFP states positions will be filled within 30 days. Request the timeline be changed to reflect 45 days for “hard to fill” positions. For example, a PhD physicist in a certain field of engineering may be considered rare and hard to fill; therefore, will flexibility be built into the staffing model for hard-to-fill positions? We certainly understand 30 days is sufficient for some or most; however, the market indicates the more technical a position is and higher the educational requirements the fill rate will be closer to 60 days. The length of the task will have an impact as well; i.e., less than 1 year vs. base year plus four option periods.

Government Response. This can be addressed at the Task Order level dependent on the requirement.

77. Since the award date is tentatively scheduled for mid Jul 2011, can the response date for the RFP be pushed back to 1 Feb 2011?

Government Response. The government will consider your request.

78. We don’t believe the AF ever answered the question about the criteria applied to a small business team member for the full and open competition regarding “highly relevant” past performance. The full and open criteria for highly relevant was $5M annually, 2 categories of

A&AS service and some #states or NCR or SAT for the location of the work. The SB criteria was $250K annually 2 categories of A&AS Service and performance in NCA or SA area. The

Question: Will the criteria for highly relevant past performance for a small business team member of a full and open team be the SAME at that required for the small business competition?

Government Response. This has been clarified in the relevancy table of Section M.

79. Will the government consider revising the NAICS code to:

561320 – Temporary Help Services

621999 – All other Miscellaneous Ambulatory Health Care Services

80. H.3. (2) Task Order Competition Pools. Since this is a five year ordering period, small businesses ordinarily will NOT be required to recertify their size eligibility when proposing on individual orders. However, the Government reserves the right to require recertification on individual task orders. If a small business re-certifies under an individual task order and is found to be over the size standard, are they then prohibited from the small business pool on all future individual task orders whether they are asked to re-certify or not?

Government Response. A small business will only be prohibited from the small business pool if required to recertify and they recertify as an unrestricted pool contractor.

81. Reference: Section B - Supplies or Services and Prices, National NTE Rates states “A full-time equivalent (FTE) is based on 1,880 productive hours per year.” Reference: Table B-2

Sample Order Question: The Sample Order in Table B-2 identifies 1,920 hours and multiples of

1,920 hours against the various labor categories to be priced under the sample task. Please provide clarification on why the provided hours differ from the FTE definition of 1,880 hours as provided in the Section B – National NTE Rates reference.

Government Response. Productive hours per year has been updated to 1920 throughout the

RFP.

82. Reference: TABLE B-1 Company XXX Not To Exceed Rates (Prime Contractor). The referenced section appears twice in this section. Is this provided twice in this area intentionally?

If yes, what is the difference in the content to be provided?

Government Response. Table B-1 was unintentionally entered twice. The duplicative table will be removed.

83. Reference: L 3.0 Volume III Price, 3.1.6 Financial Responsibility.

Reference: Table 1.8 - Proposal Organization.

Question: There is no Tab designated on Table 1.8 to provide this content.

a. Is content expected to be provided to meet this requirement? If yes, what content is the government requesting?

b. If no content is required for this requirement, how will Financial Responsibility be determined?

Government Response. This paragraph is section L has been deleted.. However financial responsibility will be part of the overall responsibility determination made by the contracting officer in accordance with FAR 9.1.

84. Reference: H.13. Organizational Conflict Of Interest For Task Order Solicitations.

Reference: L.1- Information to Offerors and Instructions for Proposal Preparation, Table 1.8 -

Proposal Organization Tab 8 – Organizational Conflict of Interest.

Reference: L.1.21.1.7 Organization Conflict of Interest (OCI). Comparative Analysis

Comment: It has been our experience that real or perceived OCIs are at the Task Order basis.

Recommend revising H.13 and all associated sections be modified to read “at Task Order

Solicitation.”

Recommend that Offerors be required to certify that submission of a proposal under this present opportunity there is no perceived or real OCI. As part of each Task Order Proposal submission, each offeror should submit this same type of certification.

Government Response. Section H applies only to Task Orders issued after contract award.

85. Reference: Section J, ATTACHMENT 3, Labor Categories, “Level V – Required

Doctorate or MD Degree + 5 yrs experience.”

Question: Does MD refer to medical doctorate or Masters Degree?

Government Response. MD refers to Medical Doctor.

86. Reference L.4.0 Volume IV - Past Performance, L.5.0 EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

SUBMITTED WHEN QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS DO NOT EXIST.

Question: Is this section applicable for this solicitation?

Government Response. This section has been removed.