ConsolidatedQuestionsandAnswers20070611.pdf

General

Q: How does DO-CATs play out with the 50/50 rule?

A: Counts as contract maintenance

Q: Can you give an idea of how many DO-CATs are being used at Ogden?

A: Could vary from 500 to 600 and 160 at AMARG. We expect to use less under the new contract.

Q: Why DO-CATs compared to using the CFT contract?

A: CFT will no longer support DO-CATs when new contract is established. CFT will not use local wage determinations in their contract. Ogden is a lower pay scale than the national wage determination used in CFT.

Q: 3 year ordering period - is this the period of performance?

A: No, it is possible to have a 4 year period of performance plus six month option to extend.

Q: For task order competition, contract performance and price will the main driving factor for award consideration, but in the basic RFP it talks about 3 elements to include technical.

A: For task orders we will usually be using contract performance and price, but we want to leave some flexibility to use technical when the requirements are more technical in nature. In the RFP for the basic contract we will consider all three factors.

Q: Will there be any decentralized ordering?

A: No, this contract will be managed at Ogden OO-ALC.

Q: Most of the documents are in PDF and are very difficult to work with, is that going to change.

A: We have been recently given a policy to use PDF because of past problems with embedded information getting out, etc. We do have the ability to obtain a waiver to this policy in some circumstances, but only in case by case situations.

Q: Is the competition process after award going to be defined?

A: We will write a users guide for the awardees which will define the process.

Q: How long will the awardees be given to submit proposals for individual task orders?

A: In general, the awardees will be given 7 days to respond. The user’s guide to be given to the awardees will further define this process.

Q: What is the availability of space for a site manager over our work force? Can we count on office space for any managers?

A: Ogden ALC – We cannot guarantee any space. Some groups may be able to provide space, some may not. You may need to come up with off-base space. We are still working on an answer to this question and we’ll post our final answer as soon as possible.

AMARG – We currently provide DO-CATs supervisors office space and phones.

Q: When will task orders begin after award of the contract?

A: TBD. We want to get the contract going as soon as possible at the end of year, but we also expect a ramp-up period.

Q: I was under the impression that the workers will be working side-by-side with government employees, but now it sounds like you want the day to day supervision, etc. to be handled by the contractors?

A: Yes, we must stay away from the perception that we are working under a personal service with this contract, meaning that the government supervisors will not manage DO-CATs.

Q: What are you looking for size-wise in terms of required number of people? Can you provide the number of CFT personnel provided at Hill & AMARG during the past couple of years by labor category?

A: AMARG has 160 and Ogden ALC has 500 – 600. These are not broken out by labor category. Although we are planning to reduce these numbers, you will need to potentially plan on being able to handle at least half those numbers with 3 contractor awards.

Q: Are all task orders open to small business, or full and open?

A: The contract will be awarded with one full and open award that could be awarded to any business, large or small. All acquisitions (task orders) below the simplified acquisition threshold are automatically set-aside per the FAR. Task orders above the SAT will be evaluated for small business set-aside based on FAR 19.502-2 and FAR 52.219-14.

Q: SBA graduation. If a company is an awardee as a small business, will they still be classified as a small business if they grow beyond the small business size limitation during the contract period?

A: It is the Contracting Officer’s intent that businesses getting an award as a small business will be classified as a small business through the life of the contract unless they have been bought out.

Q: Under CFT, a lot of the delivery orders start out small and then grow into larger orders. How will this work with small business set-asides with potential to grow?

A: The task orders will be awarded based on the current identified scope.

Q: What does it mean to have a world-wide recruiting ability?

A: We are looking specifically for companies who have developed robust capabilities for finding and hiring personnel world-wide who have specialty skills required to perform the tasks. This means that if there are workers who possess those specialty skills and may be located outside of the local area, the company will have a process in place for locating and hiring those individuals.

Q: Do you anticipate the task orders in the future to be similar to how they are done today?

A: Under this contract we may do one task order per group per year?

Q: Ground support equipment is within the Commodities Group of the 309th Maintenance Wing, correct?

A: Yes.

Q: Is the support needed in ground support, or in aircraft?

A: Both.

Q: Is it possible that the ground support work can be sent to off-base facilities?

A: No. We want the work to be done here (Ogden ALC) or at AMARG.

Q: Are all the tools are provided?

A: Yes, the Government will supply all the needed tools. The winning Contractors will have to provide all the personal protective gear.

Q: How realistic is the 22 June RFP release date?

A: It’s a tight schedule, which has slipped before. The probability of releasing on this date is about 50%.

Q: Is understanding the Aircraft Mod Process more important than the ability to hire the qualified people?

A: Both are important. Having an understanding of the Aircraft Modification process allows contractors to hire employees who meet the requirements where someone without that knowledge may not understand the complex requirements of a task that would require special skills. The reason why we chose the NAICS code that we did was because we are looking for not only the ability to provide the workers, but also the ability to understand the tasks performed and to adequately supervise those workers.

Q: There are no supervisory listings in the wage determination, so supervisors would be a part of our overhead?

A: Yes.

Q: Will the contractor supervisor be responsible for the communication with the government line supervisor?

A: Yes. The workers are to be supervised by the contractor supervisor.

Q: Pricing question. Will there be provisions to allow for shift differential (working two shifts or overtime)? How will we plan for this in our pricing and completing the pricing matrix?

A: I think we have clauses for overtime, but we may need to add something for swing/graveyard-type shifts. We will get with our pricing people and research how we want this in the pricing matrix and post that as soon as possible.

Q: There is a reference to appendix B somewhere in the RFP and we were unsure of where to find that.

A: The reference is in the PWS which contains an appendix B ESTIMATED

WORKLOAD DATA.

Q: Transition plan. What are you looking for transition-wise from one contractor to another or from one wage determination to another? Are you looking for transition between one contractor to another or from one task order to another?

A: Both. There is a requirement in the RFP to have workers within 30 days. Part of the reason for the transition plan is that we need to see how you are going to meet the requirement to transition from one contractor to another, from a national wage determination to a local wage determination, and from one task order to another.

Q: Informal Joint Venture – What if we get the contract as a small business and through 4 or 5 different task orders our employee level goes above the 1500 mark which qualifies us as a small business. If we go over that mark, are we going to be then labeled as a large business?

A: That, at this point, is up to the discretion of the contracting officer. I do not intend, at this point, to change the status of the small business if this occurs. The SBA could always change the rules on this, so there is no concrete answer to this question.

Q: If the base is shut down for some reason and the workers are showing up at the gate, but can’t get in – is this time chargeable or non-chargeable?

A: The Government may only be billed for work performed

Q: What about Holidays for workers working 9 hour days? The wage determination has holidays as 8 hour days. Can we charge the Government 1 hour for that extra hour on a paid holiday to keep a 40 hour work week?

A: The Government may only be billed for work performed. Holidays are covered by the contractor. The contractors will need to work out their pay policies internally.

Q: PPE – Can it be billed as an ODC in CLIN 4? Are coveralls considered PPE? If we have to provide masks, will the disposable parts of those be supplied?

A: We need to get with our pricing people to determine if/where this should be billed and once we have the answer we’ll post it.

• Coveralls will not be supplied by the Government.

• Disposable parts to PPE will not be supplied by the Government

Q: Can you provide the number of workers per labor categories that there are?

A: This information will not be available, nor is it possible for us to give to you in any reliable sense as the number of workers is currently being reduced.

Q: How much variation will you have year to year for work?

A: There will be some variation. The different groups have different numbers that they target each year for work. Those numbers may vary from year to year.

Q: What are your expectations for the prime contractor in relation to the personal services issue?

A: The prime will be more responsible for their employees than in the past. They will need to provide supervision for their employees.

Q: What is the plan if we can provide the basic qualified personnel, as far as the PAC certification is concerned?

A: There is a 30 day window to provide the workers, 90 day window for them to get PAC certified.

Q: Are you providing the same type of support as current DO-CAT contracts are?

A: In general, yes. We will want increased contractor supervision for their workers.

Q: Within the 30 day timeframe to provide personnel, does that include security access to base (in-processing)?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you trying to have a minimal turnover time from the end of the current contract.

A: Yes. The current contract is administered by Tinker and expires at the end of this fiscal year. They are planning to extend the current contract by six months. We will begin our contract sometime during this time frame.

Q: Any reservations on a large business bidding as a joint venture with a small business?

A: No. Large business can bid as a prime on the full and open portion or as a subcontractor for the reserved small business awards.

Q: Will the slides and attendance list from industry day be posted?

A: Yes.

Q: How many contracts currently awarded?

A: There is one contractor currently at AMARG and two at Hill.

o Incumbents are DS2 (AMARG) and Lear Siegler and L3 Vertex (Hill)

Q: Any information regarding incumbent contractor performance?

A: We don’t have that data and we don’t intend to give an answer.

Q: What are you looking for different from the current contracts?

A: We need more contract supervision.

Q: Will there be any support for composites in the B-2 area?

A: It is a possibility.

Q: What did you mean by a 1 year and then re-compete in your briefing?

A: That was for task orders. Each task order will have a maximum of 1 year. Then task orders will be re-competed.

Q: Can we recruit from the current work force? Any special procedures for doing that (are we allowed to post anything in a common area, conduct interviews, etc.)?

A: Yes. Probably can’t conflict with the current employees working hours.

Q: Any special skills needed in AMARG that are abnormal?

A: Nothing abnormal.

Q: Any data available for current turnover rates?

A: No.

Q: On the tour there was discussion on landing gear. We did not see any labor categories specific to Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) work. Is there going to be any need for NDI work in this contract?

A: Currently at AMARG, there is one DO-CAT worker working NDI. Not sure if there will be a requirement in the future for a worker in this category. At Hill, we believe that there will be no NDI work necessary for this contract.

Q: Are you intending for onsite supervisors at both AMARG and Hill AFB?

A: Yes.

Q: It is my interpretation that there is not a lot of incentive for large businesses to bid on this contract.

A: We realize that there is not a lot of incentive for Large Businesses. If there are two capable small businesses, we have to set it aside by law. The question will be whether or not there will be two capable small businesses.

Q: Task orders are on a one-year basis?

A: Yes.

Q: Any options to the task orders?

A: No.

Q: Can Large Businesses sub with multiple small business teams?

A: Yes

Q: How do you want us to distinguish the workers? By hat? By shirt?

A: This is something you can tell us in your CSOW. You tell us how you are going to distinguish the workers.

Q: The skills put out are not all on the wage determination A: We will look at that and make corrections and post them as soon as possible.

Q: Are you going to publish your requirements as to what you will be looking for in a joint venture?

A: What we have said in the past is that a joint venture is a temporary relationship between two companies (Formal or Informal). We put out some general information on Fed Biz Opps and will look into whether or not we need to add to it.

Q: Can we submit resumes?

A: You may, but they are not part of the requirement and will not be apart of the evaluation criteria. They will not go towards any page counts and will not impact your ratings.

Q: You talked about small business and going over a threshold. Can you talk about that?

A: If it is challenged that you are not a small business, it will be sent to SBA. The SBA will determine whether or not you are small and if teaming with a large business, they will determine whether or not you are dependant on that large business in order to do the work. The small business must do at least 50% of the work. The new rule is that if the 50% for small business is being done by more than two small businesses, those businesses must be classified as a formal or informal joint venture.

Q: Is there a breakout of the manpower requirements? How many Wage Grade (WG) 8, WG 9, WG 10’s, etc. are going to be required?

A: Currently, we do not know the number of WG 8’s, etc. that will be required.

These will not be defined until we have a specific requirement at the task order level.

Q: Will the contract awards be broken out by location? One contractor will be awarded AMARG, another Hill, etc.

A: No. All awardees will have the chance to bid for all locations on Hill and at

AMARG.

Q: Any more information on possible TDY?

A: It is possible that there may be some TDY at the task order level. You will not need to add anything in your bid for the basic contract for this as it would go on a cost-reimbursable line item if needed.

Q: Looking through all the attachments through fed biz opps, there are a lot of attachments. Is there anywhere where it shows a personnel grade level requirement and how many you are going to need?

A: No. In the pricing matrix there are hidden hours. There is also some work that we are going to need to do on the labor categories before the release of the final RFP.

Q: Is it going to affect our past performance ability if the work we are doing on a depot level is in the Navy, opposed to Air Force?

A: It should still be relevant.

Q: There is confusion on how the awards are going to be made in relation to small business.

A: There will be two awards set-aside for small businesses and one full and open award.

• The reason this was not fully set-aside in the beginning was because there is a possibility that there may be a requirement come up that the small businesses can’t handle.

• Within the task orders, set asides will be determined with each order.

Q: Can a small business also win the full and open award?

A: Yes.

Q: Is there any prohibitions on who you team with?

A: No. There is no prohibitions on teaming partners other than for the small business set-asides, the small business must perform more than 50% of the work. If teaming with other small businesses to meet the 50% or more of the work, the small businesses together must not go over the size standard of 1500 employees.

Q: Is there any limitation to the number of teams that one company can be on?

A: No.

Q: Are the DIDS out yet?

A: No, we are working on getting them out soon.

Q: What's needed above & beyond what's being provided?

A: More supervision of contract employees. Due to recent audits there are concerns about personal services and direction of contractor employees by the Government. It is the Government’s desire to stay away from even the perception of personal services.

Q: We are curious about the schedule of the ASP and the approval process.

A: We have been through the ASP and gained approval. The next step is to gain clearance through the contracting side in order to get the go-ahead for the release.

Q: The labor categories that are listed in the RFP do not exactly match the Wage Determination categories, will you update?

A: Yes, we will update our list to match the Wage Determination.

Q: What level of supervision are you looking for? Are there ratios?

A: Currently there are no definite ratios, because it will depend on the nature of the workload. Keep in mind that the Government is trying to reduce the number of workers that are currently being used. Reasonable numbers would probably fall into the range of 8-23 workers per supervisor.

Q: Can we get a copy of current DO-CAT contract information?

A: You will need to contact Tinker, because they are administering the current contract that we are using.

Q: What are the notional labor-hours you will use to determine the total evaluated price?

A: The notional hours will not specifically be released; these are hours that we will use to evaluate everyone on a fair basis.

Q: How much fluctuation have you had in your DO-CAT requirement?

A: We do not have detailed information regarding fluctuation. We cannot provide an accurate answer to this question.

Q: Do you have any additions/deletions to the capabilities/job classification list?

A: There will be an updated version of the job classification list posted to the Federal Business Opportunities web site.

Q: Can you clarify what you intend to do about the Small Business Plan subfactor?

A: The Small Business Plan is no longer a subfactor to be evaluated. It has been moved to Volume IV, Contract Documentation.

Q: Confirm current number of DO-CATs:

• F-16-54

• C-130-56

• A-10 - 22

• Landing gear-17

A: These numbers cannot be confirmed. Keep in mind that such numbers will fluctuate at any given time.

Q: Will there be any requirement for DO-CAT with the Minuteman III program under this contract?

A: We do have DO-CATs in the Missile Maintenance Group, but not necessarily under a specific program, such as the Minuteman III. Again, there will be variations on the use of DO-CATs within the specific groups.

Q: Will task orders include a list of the specific PPE requirement to perform the proposed work? Will the Government pay for specific costs associated with medical examinations required for personnel for using certain PPE like respirators?

A: Yes. The task orders will include lists of specific PPE required to perform the proposed work. No. The Government will not pay for specific costs associated with medical examinations required for personnel for using certain PPE like respirators.

Section A

Q: Cover of RFP says prices to be good for 90 days, but award date is tentatively end of Oct.

A: We have changed this period to 120 days.

Section B

Q: Under the contractor statement of work it talks about the CLINS in section B.

Where is section B.

A: Section B is in the RFP, itself.

Section H

Q: H007 – need clarification on this paragraph.

A: We have re-written this clause to clarify where the costs of the supervisors and support personnel should be covered.

Q: H001 references a user’s guide, not familiar with this.

A: The user’s guide will explain post-award processes and will not be available until award of the contract.

Q: H002 references DESP II user’s guide A: Reference to DESP II has been deleted.

Q: H001(h) refers to “in the main”. We do not understand the meaning of this.

A: The wording in this sentence has been changed to “primarily”.

Q: 9952.762-H762 talks about employees needing to be identified for NDA. Can you clarify when the NDAs must be signed and submitted?

A: This clause has been re-worded to clarify when NDAs need to be signed and submitted.

Section I

Q: Page 11 of RFP. Are you going to post equivalent government rates?

A: Yes.

Q: Page 26 says award to be made to single awardee A: We intend to make multiple awards. Clause 9952.214-9001 will be deleted from the solicitation.

Q: We did not see DFARS Clauses for flight risk in the RFP. We would suggest that these be added.

A: We will look at these clauses and add them as appropriate.

Q: Is there a possibility of awarding more than two small business awards if there is enough capable of doing the work?

A: We stated that we reserve the right to award to more, but we don’t intend on doing that.

Section L

Q: Where will computer support classifications be used and what is that workload.

A: The computer support classifications will be removed and we do not anticipate this type of workload. The workers are blue-collar workers, no engineering-type services.

Q: In the RFP, there is a requirement for a CSOW. We are wondering why this is a requirement for the overall contract instead of per each task order.

A: The CSOW will describe how the contractor will provide the services, in general.

We don’t feel that there will be a lot of variation in task orders. However, there could be an instance where we may require a supplementary CSOW for a specific task order.

Q: Section L 6.1.5 mentions section K to be filled out online, but there is a section K to be filled out in the RFP, as well.

A: We have re-written 6.1.5 to clarify.

Q: Section L 6.3.2 requires a list of all locations where work is to be performed.

A: If you have an office off-base that you will be using to work this contract, we would like to know about it.

Q: Section L 4.2.3.2.1(b) and Section M 3.3.1.2.1 – talks about two different types of services. What are the two different services talked about?

A: Talks about how the task orders are set up and managed. One type would be to complete a specific task with the contractor telling the Government how many workers and how many hours are needed to complete the task. The other type would be the Government would procure a specific number of workers/hours.

Q: Page limits. Section L Table 2.1 Technical Volume indicates a 45 max page count but the CSOW indicates unlimited.

A: This has been updated to reflect a 30 page limit total to cover both Subfactors and the CSOW will be unlimited.

Q: In Section L 7.4 – states that 3 past performance sheets are required from the prime. Does that only pertain to the prime contractor?

A: Prime will submit a maximum of 3 and subcontractors will submit a maximum of 2.

Q: - Question - Section L.5.1.3.1 states “The SCA adjustments will be the difference between the contract base rates and the SCA adjusted base rate only, with no increase to the contract composite rates for indirect costs and profit”. However per FAR 52.222-43(e) it states “Any adjustment will be limited to increases or decreases in wages and fringe benefits as described in paragraph (d) of this clause, and the accompanying increases or decreases in social security and unemployment taxes and workers’ compensation insurance, but shall not otherwise include any amount for general and administrative costs, overhead, or profit”. Since we consider Fringe Benefits and Workers Compensation to be indirect costs, will the increase in theses costs due to an increase in the applicable Area Wage Determination be entitled to a Price Adjustments in accordance with FAR 52.222-43?

A: Section L 5.1.3.1 will be re-written to state that “the SCA adjustments will be the difference between the contract base rates and the SCA adjusted base rate only, and will be calculated in accordance with FAR clause 52.222-43.”

Q: Question – Section L.5.2.1 of the DRFP references providing summary descriptions of our estimating, purchasing, and accounting system in Section 1 of the cost proposal. However, L.5.2.2 references providing “Estimating Methodology” in Section 2 of the cost volume. This is then followed by L.5.3.X which states that the Estimating Methodology is to include descriptions of the estimating, purchasing, and accounting system. Please clarify as to which proposal section the estimating, purchasing, and accounting system description should be included in, Section 1 or Section 2?

A: These parts to Section L have been re-written to clarify.

Q: Question – Section L.5.3.2 of the DRFP references that is “It is assumed that management/supervision labor support will be recovered indirectly through overhead account costs” and therefore should not propose supervision/management costs as a direct charge”. Is the intent for this statement to be a requirement in developing ones burdened rates or does the contractor have latitude to propose management and supervision labor categories as separate direct billable rates if it is consistent with ones Disclosure Statement.

A: The words “it is assumed” have been deleted in order to require management/ supervision costs be recovered through the rates of workers supervised.

Q: Section L Volume V past performance page count indicates unlimited is that correct?

A: The only page limitations in Volume V are the following:

• Title Page – 1 page

• Team List – 5 pages

• Past/Present Information Sheets – 3 pages per contract

• Past/Present Questionnaires – 5 pages

Section M

Q: Tell us about teaming arrangements with Small Businesses and Large Businesses as far as size standards are concerned.

A: SBA will look to see if the SB is dependant on the large business. If they are SBA could lump the companies together when determining the size of the entity.

Q: We would like to understand the departure from the CSOW and the Technical proposal. It almost sounded like all you wanted in the CSOW was CDRLs.

A: The proposal addresses evaluation criteria in Sections L & M. The CSOW is based on our performance work statement, telling us how you will be performing the work – not just CDRLs. There could be some overlap, however, between them.

Q: Past Performance – how are we going to be rated if we have great past performance in providing workers, but not necessarily in an aircraft setting.

A: Look at past performance relevancy definitions. You will be rated on your relevancy in relation to the types of contracts you have had experience with in the past.

Q: What are your expectations for a transition plan? How do you intend to use a transition plan to stabilize the workforce, particularly in transition from national wage determination to the local wage determination?

A: The transition plan covers both contract start-up and transition between contractors with task order awards. We are relying on the contractors to assure us, through their transition plan, that they will be able to provide the necessary workers. There is definitely a risk that there will be many of the current workers who will be lost. Keep in mind the wage determination is a minimum.

Q: Past Performance. What are you really looking for in past performance? Is the past performance going to be my ability to provide the people?

A: It will be more than that. We have had a problem in the past with the appearance of personal services. We need a company that can not only provide workers, but also supervise their employees. The Government cannot supervise these employees.

We have in the past issued task orders where we tell you how many workers we want and you give them to us, but also we are looking to try to get to where we can give you a task and you tell us what it will take to do that task.

Q: What about the technical part of the past performance? Does our past performance need to be aerospace specific in terms of the types of workers we provide, or is it looking more towards our ability to hire these types of employees and manage them?

A: Evaluations will be subjective. Look at past performance relevancy definitions and try to write your past performance in a way that will show the evaluators that you have the capability to perform. You may consider teaming with a company that has more specific experience in servicing the types of aircraft that we work on here.

Q: One of the releases on Fed Biz Opps indicated to the evaluation method of first looking at technical competencies. If that did not meet the criteria, they would not meet the acceptable portion?

A: That was an early release and has been changed, we intend on having separate teams do the evaluations for technical, price, and past performance.

Q: Will we have access to the notional labor hours for total evaluated price?

A: The pricing matrix is out on the web, but the hours are hidden/locked so that the hours cannot be manipulated in order to maintain a fair playing field for evaluation purposes.

Q: Will the solicitation request retention data on how companies retain employees?

A: We have some evaluation criteria on those things in section M. The past performance questionnaire may also address this in some of the questions.

Q: Will Technical be pass/fail?

A: Yes. A reasonably susceptible to being made acceptable rating could become a passing score through discussions.

Q: What is the proposed DO-CATs team list?

A: It is basically a list of any teaming partners that you may have on this contract and the percentage of work to be done by each team.

Q: In the area of the relevancy of Present & Past Performance Citations, Section M, paragraph 6.2.1 states "In determining relevancy, the Government will consider the portion of the effort accomplished on previous/current contracts compared to the portion to be performed on the proposed effort. For example, past performance for a subcontractor and/or teaming partner will only be considered if that same subcontractor and/or teaming partner is to perform a similar function on the proposed effort." Is this saying that cited past performance citations can only be used if the contractor cited in the citation is the contractor who will perform the work?

A: Yes, we would like to evaluate the past performance of the contractors who will be performing the work. In terms of relevancy, the contracts submitted by each prime/sub-contractor should be relevant to the portion of work that they will perform on this contract.

PWS

Q: How long with the contractor have to get workers on the job from the issuance of the task order.

A: The time frame stated in the PWS is 30 days to get workers on the job.

Q: There is a paragraph that addressed responsibility for facility security; will that be the Contractors responsibility?

A: There may be instances where you would be responsible for keeping the security standards of the areas where you would be working.

Q: PWS, Page 8, paragraph 4.5 – initial training, refers to paragraph 4.16. Am I going to have to pay for the initial training and annual training, or am I going to have to pay for only the initial training.

A: See rewritten 4.16 in PWS.

Q: Do you plan on many changes to the PWS?

A: Only minor changes. The strategy will remain the same.

Q: Why would contractors need to submit a statement of work when all the contractor is doing is placing workers?

A: In the CSOW we expect you to tell us how you are going to meet the requirement in the performance work statement.

Q: PWS paragraph 4.15 indicates contractor will provide all required PPE. The required PPE varies greatly between skill codes and areas worked and from season to season. In addition items such as respirators may vary depending on equipment used. Other items such as safety shoes may require different types such as rubber soles or rubber boots for use in the chemical areas. To keep guessing what equipment is required suggest this requirement be added to the ODC line item at a fixed amount determined by the government in order to keep a level playing field, or the government provide a list of safety equipment required types of HazMat that will be involved and in case of the respirators, the type of equipment used on.

A: The required PPE will not be part of your submission of pricing for the basic contract. PPE will not be apart of the evaluation criteria, as these items are not defined at this level. Once the contract has been awarded, the awardees will include these items in their pricing at the task order level where this equipment will be defined.

Q: Section L paragraph 4.2.4.2.1 (a) what type of agreements or contract are you requiring? With employees or agencies? If with employees you may have problems with bargaining unit agreements.

A: The Government has no preference to whether it is an agreement with employees or agencies. The requirement is that you define the agreements or contracts that you have in place, so that the Government can ensure that you have a system in place for obtaining the required skill sets.