FA8650-19-S-6001-Q&As.pdf

FA8650-19-S-6001

MOLECULAR ASSESSMENT AND SENSING TECHNOLOGIES (MAST) PROGRAM

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

4 April 2019

Below are the Questions and Answers related to FA8650-19-S-6001. This Q&A document is dated 4 April 2019.

19. QUESTION: Can the Government provide clarification on the desired format for resumes, in addition to the requirement provided in the BAA Guidelines?

ANSWER: The Government has no other desired format beyond what is identified in the BAA Guidelines and the solicitation.

20. QUESTION: Can the Government clarify if resumes are required for all personnel bid on this contract, or can the offeror provide representative resumes for each labor category?

ANSWER: Resumes will be used to aid in the Peer/Scientific Review process, as described in section V of the BAA, specifically paragraph V(1)(a)(iii). This is an R&D effort, not a services effort, so representative resumes are acceptable. However, offerors are strongly encouraged to review the evaluation criteria contained at paragraph V(1)(a).

21. QUESTION: Could the Government clarify if content provided as reference, such as an acronym list, table of contents, dividers, list of illustrations / figures, etc., count toward the overall page limit?

ANSWER: Content provided as reference materials, like those listed in your question, do not count toward the page limitations as identified in paragraph IV(2)(c)(i)(f). However, these pages should not be used as a means to circumvent the stated page limitations. Should these pages include technical content, and your proposal exceeds the page limitation, pages will be removed from consideration, as stated in paragraph IV(2)(c)(i) (h).

22. QUESTION: Could the Government clarify if the Attachments requested in the Full Text Announcement replace the information requested in Sections 2.1 – 2.4 of the Proposal Table of Contents / Checklist in the BAA Guidelines?

ANSWER: The BAA Guide for Industry is just a tool meant for reference and additional information. Information in the BAA Solicitation #FA8650-19-S-6001 should take precedence over the BAA Guide as it pertains to proposal preparation instructions.

Archived Q&A dated 25 March 2019:

7. QUESTION: Is there an incumbent already working for this BAA? If not, was it renamed or reissued?

ANSWER: This is a new requirement. Similar research is currently being performed by UES, Inc. and The Henry Jackson Foundation (under separate vehicles).

8. QUESTION: Can the Government clarify if base support will be provided? If base support will be provided, will it include lab space and equipment, internet, office space / equipment for all Task Orders?

ANSWER: Base support is available for this effort (all Task Orders), but not required to be utilized. Please refer to paragraph I(6)(b)(i) for the list of work and laboratory space available for utilization, as well what equipment will be provided as part of base support.

9. QUESTION: Could the Government provide the initial start date for the three initial task orders?

ANSWER: The 3 initial Task Orders will be awarded with the basic IDIQ, currently estimated to be awarded in August 2019.

10. QUESTION: Could the Government clarify why the funding amounts for TO 0001 and TO 0002 decrease in the out years?

ANSWER: The budget profile specifies the amount of funding that the government expects each fiscal year for performance of the task order. Funding is not expected to be completely spent/earned in only that FY. It is acceptable for funding in one fiscal year to extend into another fiscal year for execution.

11. QUESTION: As the proposal will consist of signed and inserted documents, would the Government consider allowing the final proposal to be submitted as a PDF?

ANSWER: As stated in the BAA, the Government requires the cost spreadsheets to be in Microsoft Excel and include the formulas for calculating cost element bases. Signed pages may be submitted in Adobe as stated in IV(2)(c)(i)(a).

12. QUESTION: Would the Government clarify if the cost/business proposal must be in the same format as technical/management proposal, except for the cost file spreadsheet in excel?

ANSWER: Cost/Business proposals should utilize the same font type/size requirements and character spacing as described in paragraph 2(c)(i)(b), (c) and (d). However, please note Cost/Business proposals have no page limitations, as stated in paragraph 2(d)(ii)(m).

13. QUESTION: Considering the 45 page limit for TO proposals, would the Government allow resumes to be submitted as attachments, therefore not counting towards the page limit?

ANSWER: The Government feels that offerors should be able to provide all necessary information within the restrictions outlined in the BAA. Please note that in accordance with the referenced paragraph, attachments ARE included as part of the 90 and 45 page limitations. Paragraph 2(c)(ii) describes what type of information should be included in attachments.

14. QUESTION: Would the Government prefer the format below for the Project Funding Profile by FY?

ANSWER: Offerors are free to use any format they prefer, as long as it is broken out by Government Fiscal Year (GFY) as required by paragraph 2(d)(ii)(j).

15. QUESTION: Would the government confirm if this BAA is the final solicitation or the initial announcement?

ANSWER: This is the initial announcement of the final solicitation. Should the solicitation require subsequent amendments those will be released as amendment announcements.

16. QUESTION: Would the Government confirm that the Subcontracting Plans and Completed Certifications and Representations (Section K) need to be included in the IDIQ Cost/Business Proposal only, not under the task order proposals?

ANSWER: Confirmed.

17. QUESTION: Reference the Task Order SOOs, Contract Holiday paragraph. Paid holidays are a normal and allowable cost per the FAR Part 31 Cost Principles and their cost treatment can vary by contractor in accordance with their CAS Disclosure Statement. (e.g. can be considered either a direct or included in their fringe benefit rate). Would the government consider modifying this paragraph to remove the appearance that holiday cost is not allowable if holidays hours are considered a direct cost in accordance with the contractor’s disclosure statement?

ANSWER: The clauses included in the SOO are meant to be representative as to what will be negotiated as part of the final SOW. Offerors should propose in accordance with their approved Disclosure Statements.

18. QUESTION: Does an ex vivo model of barrier tissue such as the mammalian gut (i.e., mouse, pig, human) fit what you are looking for?

ANSWER: Yes. Interest in Ex vivo models may expand into other tissues of interest, including but not limited to lung and skin.

Archived Q&A dated 14 March 2019:

1. QUESTION: Would it be possible to receive the attendee list from Industry Day?

ANSWER: Unfortunately, we did not request permission from the attendees to release their information, and so therefore, a list will not be provided.

2. QUESTION: Are any of the Technical Areas rated more highly then others?

ANSWER: All Technical Areas are considered to be of equal importance to one another.

3. QUESTION: Are any of the Evaluation Criteria rated more highly then others?

ANSWER: Refer to paragraph V(1) of the BAA, which states, “The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority, shall be reviewed based on the following criteria that are of equal order of importance.”

4. QUESTION: Is there a particular mix of teaming that the Government is looking for?

ANSWER: This is a FAR Part 35 acquisition, and as such, offerors are asked to propose a unique research approach in response to the Government’s broad technical objectives.

Appropriate teaming should be determined based on the unique research approach.

5. QUESTION: Are there any notable challenges with this program?

ANSWER: Any specific challenges that should be addressed in an offeror’s proposal will be identified in the Task Order SOO.

6. QUESTION: It looks to me that your office is seeking to select a single contractor to support

R&D for this program. We lack infrastructure and SMEs to support the full breadth of areas of tech development in the solicitation. Will there be some future mechanism to submit individual concepts that fit your interests?

ANSWER: You are correct, for the MAST program, each offeror must propose to every Technical Area identified in the Basic ID/IQ SOO. While we can’t specifically identify any at this time, we would encourage you to continue to monitor fbo.gov for possible future requirements. You may also want to look for opportunities under AFRL’s current Open BAAs, which allow for unique research concepts to be submitted for evaluation.