Batch 3 - Official RFP Questions and Responses.pdf

Batch 3 Questions and Answers

EWAAC

# Comments/Questions from Industry Responses from Government

Attachment 2, L-3.1.1 Subfactor A-1: Digital Engineering and Management - Is there an existing GRA doctrine that drives armament and weaponry development? Or does scope for this effort include development of GRA components?

Although no formal GRA doctrine exists for armament and weapons development, the Government's requirement is derived from "best of breed" examples of several sources to develop the AFLCMC/EB Weapons GRA which can be tailored to specific programs. The scope of the EWAAC effort includes the ability of the vendor to work with and apply the Government developed reference architecture to a specific application.

The RFP requires each volume to contain a glossary that is part of the page limit. However, Volume II must be submitted in the Proposal Response Guide, which does not have space for glossary. Please clarify where we should add the glossary for Volume II. In addition, will the Government consider omitting the glossary from the page limit?

Please see question and answer #9 of "Batch 2 Questions and Answers"

Electronic proposal materials: The requirement states that all electronically submitted content shall be READ ONLY. Is this correct? Please clarify what is intended for the requirement for read-only documents.

Documents should be locked or submitted in a way that prevents future editing.

This requirement refers to an "original" copy of SF33, which should be clearly marked on the cover and should be provided without any punched holes. Since this is an online submission, can the Government please clarify what an original copy of SF33 without punched holes means?

The Government cannot locate the reference to this requirement in Section L, INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO

OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS.

For electronic proposal materials, Offerors are required to identify RFP # FA8656-21-R-0095, Government Address, disclosure statement, and company name in the space provided in Volume I.

What disclosure statement is the Government referring to?

The Government wishes to receive the CAS disclosure statement for your company, if applicable.

What should the Offeror take into consideration under the $ value for the nominal post-award conference preparation fee?

Please see question and answer #8 of "Batch 1 Questions and Answers"

Are we correct that the statement, “the Government does not wish to receive graphics, pictures, flowcharts, etc. in the proposal submission” refers only to the proposal artifacts that are submitted in the Attachment 4 format, and that graphics, pictures, flowcharts, etc. are acceptable and allowed to be included in the proposal artifacts that are submitted in offeror format?

The Government will not evaluate artifacts that are not part of the Proposal Response Guide and Staffing Proposal Price Template. For the initial Delivery Order, the Government does not wish to receive any graphics, pictures, flowcharts, etc. of any kind in any form. Submission of these may not impact an award decision.

When is the correct timeframe for offerors to request the code?

The Government will issue drop-off codes for DoD Safe at any time requested by offerors. The code is good for 14 calendar days after being sent. Please be aware that a request for a DoD Safe code is not the same as the receipt of an official RFP submission. RFP responses must be received prior to the RFP closing date and time to be considered timely.

“The Offeror shall provide an Index/table of contents to include, as a minimum, summary descriptions of estimating, purchasing, and accounting systems; any deviations to estimating, accounting practices, or Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Disclosure Statement.” -- Are these summary descriptions and deviations to be included in the actual table of contents or should the summary descriptions be within the sections that are listed in the table of contents and not in the table of contents itself?

It is important that the Government receive the content, however the section which submitted is not critical.

Will the table of contents count towards page count limitations?

The Proposal Response Guide should not be altered. Offeror's discretion of how to use the space provided. Section L, paragraph 4.2.1 request a table of content, and an optimal location would be to provide in the Staffing Proposal Price Template spreadsheet.

Is it acceptable to submit the entire proposal via email?

The Government will accept entire proposals via email or DoD SAFE, at the offeror's discretion.

Should the "Other Information Required" section be a separate volume (Volume V)? If not, in which volume and section should these requirements be included?

There is no Volume V. The Proposal Response Guide should not be altered, and only this guide and the Staffing Proposal Price Template will be evaluated.

Is the compliance statement equivalent to the capability statement?

The compliance statement is to show how the offeror will comply with DFARS 252.242-7006, Accounting System Admin.

What is the default font style and size in the Proposal Response Guide?

The Proposal Response Guide should not be altered. Font sizes should be set and not changed.

in the Final RFP section L-1.4A Proposal Format, the government does not specify any formatting requirements beyond submitting the separate written sections in PDF. Is there a specific format that the government requires for the written sections submitted separately?

Offeror's should submit proposals using the template named Proposal Response Guide. The Proposal Response Guide should not be altered.

Page counts and font styles/ sizes should not be changed.

L-4.2.1 INDEX/TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Offeror shall provide an Index/table of contents to include, as a minimum, summary descriptions of estimating, purchasing, and accounting systems; any deviations to estimating, accounting practices, or Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Disclosure Statement.

Will the volume table of contents meet the requirement for L-4.2.1, or should we insert another TOC in this section?

It is important that the Government receive the content, however the section which submitted is not critical.

All of the earlier draft documents specified a NAICS code of 332993 (Ammunition) for size determination. However, the final RFP specifies TBD for the NAICS in all places except Section M- 1.2.

Please confirm that this is the applicable NAICS for this program.

The primary NAICS code for the base IDIQ is 332993. Delivery orders and task orders written from this IDIQ will be determined at the DO/TO level.

The RFP requires each volume to contain a glossary that is part of the page limit. However, Volume II must be submitted in the Proposal Response Guide, which does not have space for glossary.

Question: Will the Government please allow Glossary to be submitted as a Separate file for Volume II?

Please refer to question and answer #7 of Batch 1 Q&A

Will the Government please provide Font Type & Size for the OCI Plan & Small Business Subcontracting Plan?

Offeror's format for the OCI plan and SB Subcontracting plan is acceptable. The Government will not provide font style/ sizes.

Will the Government accept following naming convention for the File Name: Offeror_Vol II_Proposal Response Guide_MMDDYYYY.pdf for Volume I & II of the Proposal Response Guide?

Offeror's file naming conventions are acceptable.

The instructions request the Offeror to notify the CO or CS in writing regarding the POC details.

Question: Can the Government please confirm if the POC Information requested in the Proposal Response Guide will satisfy this requirement?

The POC(s) listed in the Proposal Response Guide will satisfy the requirement as long as the individual has the authority to negotiate and enter in contractual agreement for the offeror.

This requirement refers to an "original" copy of SF33, which should be clearly marked on the cover and should be provided without any punched holes.

Question: Since this is an online submission, can the Government please clarify what an original copy of SF33 without punched holes means?

The Government cannot locate the reference to this requirement in Section L, INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO

OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS.

In regard to the Subject Solicitation, specifically Section L-2.3 “Section III Exceptions to Solicitation Requirements” of the Section L “Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors or Respondents”, I see reference to a “Model Contract” and “ITO”. I do not see model contract or ITO listed in the Solicitation Section J List of attachments. Will the Model Contract and ITO be released separately? Or is the Model Contract the Solicitation Document? What is the “ITO”?

The model contract is the solocitation document.

The initial task order will be released if the offereror's proposal is determined acceptable.

Section L2.4.1.1 states that completion of block 7 is required on the SF 33. However, the SF 33 with this solicitation is already populated with the location information of the issuing government agency. Would the Government please confirm if offerors should disregard the instruction to complete box 7? If box 7 is to be completed, would the government please provide guidance as to what editable version of the SF 33 should be used by offerors to complete all the applicable submission requirements?

Please refer to question and answer #20 of Batch 2 Q&A

Is there is a size/font requirement for the additional written documents that are submitted separately from the PDF template?

The only documents which should not be altered (font/size) are the Proposal Response Guide and the Staffing Proposal Price Template. Other documents can be submitted in the offeror's format.

We respectfully request that the Government consider removing requirement 252.204-7021

(CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE

CYBERSECURITY MATURITY MODEL

CERTIFICATION LEVEL REQUIREMENT)

from this solicitation. Given the delays authorizing Certified Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) by the CMMC Accreditation Body to conduct and deliver the CMMC assessments needed to obtain a CMMC certification at any level, it seems contractors cannot meet this requirement at this time.

The Government will keep the requirement. The Government has no trend data supporting removal of this provision.

In the provided Attachment 5: Staffing Proposal Pricing Template in Tab-2 Staffing Proposal, is the “Conference Preparation Fee” cell to be left blank or should that cell be the difference between the Contractor price and the $1000 ceiling?

Please see question and answer #8 of "Batch 1 Questions and Answers"

Can the Government please clarify if the Other Information Requested can be submitted as a Separate file and the following file name will be accepted “Offeror_Other Information_MMDDYYYY.pdf?

The offeror's format for information in L-6.0 is acceptable.

Will the Government please confirm if the “Proposal Number” to be provided is the Offeror internal proposal number or the Government provided solicitation number?

The "proposal number" is the offeror internal proposal/tracking number.