13R14_Section_L.doc

Section L – Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Bidders

Notice to Offerors:

1. Project Funding.

(a) Funds are not presently available for this project. No award will be made under this solicitation until funds are available. The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation, either before or after the closing date.

(b) Performance and Payment Bonds: Within 10 calendar days after receipt of the signed contract or notice of award, the contractor shall furnish two bonds, each with good and sufficient surety or sureties acceptable to the Government; namely a Performance Bond (SF 25) and a Payment Bond (SF 25A). The penal sums of each bond shall be 100 percent of the original contract price for each.

(1) In determining the penal sums of the Performance and Payment Bonds for an indefinite quantity contract, the minimum quantity or value of the contract, as described in FAR 16.504(a), shall be considered to be the original contract price. When the minimum value of the contract is exceeded, the Government may require additional bond protection in accordance with the guidance at FAR 28.102-2. For purposes of the SABER contract, Performance Bonds and Payment Bonds shall be required for all orders $150,000 or greater. For orders greater than $30,000 but not greater than $150,000, the contracting officer shall determine the payment protection on a case by case basis.

(2) Bonds will be furnished by the contractor to the Government prior to commencement of contract performance.

2. Proposal Preparation Instructions

(a) FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL PARTS I through V SHALL BE AS FOLLOWS:

(1) Offerors must follow the instructions contained herein to assure timely and equitable evaluation of proposals as follows:

(i) Proposals must be complete, self-sufficient, and respond directly to the requirements of the solicitation

(ii) Proposal shall be prepared in five separate sections in accordance with the page limitations and number of copies specified below. The sections shall be titled as follows:

a. PART I – Past Performance Information

b. PART II – Technical and Management Areas

c. PART III – Contract Forms

d. PART IV – Subcontracting Management Plan

e. PART V– Coefficient Factor Percentage Proposal.

(2) No program cost data or cross-reference to the Coefficient Factor Percentage proposal will be included in any other section.

(3) Proposals will be prepared on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper except for foldouts which may be used for charts, tables, diagrams, pictures or graphs, but may not exceed 11 x 17 inches. A page is defined as one face of a sheet of paper containing information. Foldouts will be counted as two (2) pages.

(4) Page margins shall be a minimum of one-inch top, bottom, and each side.

(5) Proposal pages shall not contain Offeror identification marks, such as logos. Include company name in Past Performance and Coefficient Factor Percentage sections. Do not include name anywhere in Management and Technical Section, except on the cover page.

(6) Each section shall be complete in itself. Page 1 of a section is defined as the first page after the Table of Contents and List of Figures. All pages shall be numbered sequentially from the first to the last page using only Arabic numerals.

(7) Typing shall not be less than 11 pitch.

(8) Elaborate formats, bindings, or color presentations are not desired or required.

(9) Client authorization letters on any commercial contract shall be included.

(10) Pages exceeding the page limitations set below will not be read nor evaluated and will be removed from the proposal.

3. Specific Instructions:

(a) PART I – PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION – Limited to no more than 5 pages per contract listed. Past Performance Surveys do not count toward the 5 page limit. Only references for same or similar type contract desired. Submit original plus (3) copies.

(1) Offerors are advised that Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award, includes past performance confidence as an evaluation factor. Offerors will present the data in paragraph (3) below.

(2) Relevant past performance data is any meaningful information to demonstrate the Offeror’s ability to perform the proposed effort. In developing such information, Offerors are requested to consider relevant contracts that best display performance within the areas and factors identified in Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award.

(3) Offerors shall provide a listing of recent contracts that are relevant to this procurement.

(i) “Relevant” contracts are defined as contracts involving multiple, simultaneous vertical construction projects/orders involving carpentry, plumbing, masonry, electrical, painting, mechanical, architectural, and lead/asbestos abatement, all as identified in the current R.S. Means ®Facility Construction Cost Data.

(ii) “Relevant” contracts that involved work in a secure area or military installation or computer/server facility/laboratory will be considered “More Relevant”.

Past performance data to be supplied:

(i) QUALITY AND SATISFACTION RATING FOR CONTRACTS COMPLETED IN THE PAST THREE YEARS: Provide any information currently available (letters, metrics, awards, customer surveys, independent surveys, etc.) which demonstrate customer satisfaction with overall job performance and quality of completed product for same or similar type contract. In addition, explain corrective actions taken in the past, if any, for substandard performance and any current performance problems such as cost overruns, extended performance periods, numerous warranty calls, etc.

(ii) PAST PERFORMANCE SURVEYS: The Government will evaluate the quality and extent of Offeror’s experience deemed relevant to the requirements of this RFP. The Government will use information submitted by the Offeror from other Federal, State, and local Government sources as well as commercial customers to evaluate the quality of past performance. In addition, the Government may evaluate other resources to assess Offerors experience and past performance history. The Offeror shall complete contract information on the survey (Sections 1 & 2) and forward the survey to no fewer than six references (3 Government and 3 Commercial) nor more than twelve references that have contracted for or are contracting for relevant work during the last 3 years. Referenced sources should be reflective of all work completed during the last 5 years and not solely the latest work performed. Provide a list of all firms who were provided the survey and furnish the following information:

a. Company/Division Name

b. Product/Service

c. Contracting Agency

d. Contract Number

e. Title of Contract

f. Description of program/product (including discussion as to its relevancy to this acquisition)

g. Contract Dollar Value

h. Period of Performance

i. Name, Address, E-mail Address, FAX and Telephone Number of the Contracting Officer

j. Comments regarding compliance with Contract Terms and Conditions

k. Comments regarding any known performance deemed unacceptable to the customer, or not in accordance with the Contract Terms and Conditions

l. Submit information on key personnel, major subcontractors, and work performed as a team of joint venture partner if prime contract history is not available

(iii) COMPLETED SURVEY SUBMITTAL: It will be the sole responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the surveys are received by their referenced sources and returned to the Contracting Office no later than the proposal due date. The cover letter that is used to forward the survey to your references should instruct them to e-mail it to:

HYPERLINK "mailto:jonesa@rl.af.mil" Cody.Owens.4@us.af.mil , mail it to: AFRL/RIKO, ATTN: Cody Owens, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4514, or FAX it to: (315) 330-2555. Once completed, the surveys will become source selection information; so the media used for transmittal of the completed survey shall be marked as “SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104”. In the event that a survey is FAXed back, references shall be instructed to telephone Cody Owens at (315) 330-2921 relaying that a FAX is being transmitted that contains source selection information.

If a teaming arrangement is contemplated, provide complete information as to the arrangement, including any relevant and recent past performance information on previous teaming arrangements with same partner. If this is a first time joint effort, each party to the arrangement must provide a list of past and present relevant contracts.

a. RELEVANT CONTRACTS: Submit information on contracts that you consider relevant in demonstrating your ability to perform the proposed effort. Include rationale supporting your assertion of relevance. Offerors are required to explain what aspects of the contracts are deemed relevant to the proposed effort, and to what aspects of the proposed effort they relate. This may include a discussion of efforts accomplished by the Offeror to resolve problems encountered on prior contracts as well as past efforts to identify and manage program risk.

b. CLIENT AUTHORIZATION LETTERS: In the event that commercial contracts are presented as past/present sources of information, a client authorization letter shall be issued to those commercial POCs authorizing/instructing them to complete the Past Performance Survey. The Offeror is required to send the client authorization letter with the Past Performance Survey to each POC on commercial contracts. A separate copy of client authorization letter(s) for each commercial contract shall be included in the Offeror’s proposal submission for the Government’s use in case additional surveys need to be sent by the Government after proposal submission.

(b) PART II – TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT AREAS– Submit original and three (3) copies. Limited to a maximum of 35 pages, excluding resumes of personnel, as specified in paragraph (ii) below.

(1) Failure to follow the format below may cause your proposal to be determined non-responsive to the requirements of the RFP and therefore rejected.

(i) Section 1 – Introduction and Summary.

The Government will not evaluate this section which is limited to three pages. This section is not included in the page limit for the Technical and Management Section. It should contain, in no more than three pages, a concise summary of your proposed approach to the SABER effort. The Introduction and Summary shall be numbered along with the Table of Contents and List of Figures (preferably in lower case Roman numerals).

(ii) Section 2 – This section shall describe:

a. The Offeror’s management organization, to include a description of functions, authorities, and credentials of management personnel. The Offeror’s proposal should give the qualifications of the members of the home office and on-site staff, including superintendent, and their responsibilities should the Offeror receive contract award. The proposal should further show an organizational diagram (including resumés, but excluding names) and where the on-site staff fit into the Offeror’s company. The proposal should further define the authority held by the members of the home office and on-site staffs.

b. The Offeror’s approach to detection and resolution of problems with the actual work in sufficient detail to evaluate the frequency, and quality of Contractor inspections and how progress will be measured. Specifically, the Offeror shall explain how their staff will administer the Quality Control plan. .

c. The Offeror’s ability to mobilize a work force of skilled crafts persons for work at Rome Research Site. Include the Offeror’s approach to effectively interface with Rome Research Site and subcontractor personnel keeping in mind that a basic objective of this contract is a quick response capability.

d. Any skilled tradespersons with qualifications on staff who are expected to be employed on the proposed contract or business relationships with local trade union(s) and show evidence of ability to acquire additional in-house labor when required. Additionally, Offeror shall describe their plan for mobilizing aforementioned skilled tradespersons for any proposed task associated with this contract.

e. The Offeror’s contemplated full time on-site supervision and describe how the Offeror will be able to formulate and manage new and ongoing task orders.

f. The Offeror’s plan for providing quick response (i.e. – emergency work order) capabilities in-house and through subcontractors, as well as a similar plan for on-site requirements during non-working hours (as defined in paragraph 2.0 of the contract specifications).

g. The Offeror’s approach to providing cost proposals for each order (i.e. – who will prepare cost proposals).

(c) PART III – CONTRACT FORMS

(1) The following data shall be included in this section in the format indicated.

(i) Section I:

a. Proposal forwarding letter, if any

b. Standard Form 1442, Information to Offerors or Quoters Cover Sheet – Complete in its entirety the “Offeror” portion of the Standard Form 1442, blocks 14 through 20.c, located at pages 1 and 2 of this solicitation. In doing so, the Offeror accedes to the contract terms and conditions as written in the RFP Sections A through K. These sections constitute the model contract. An official having the authority to contractually bind your company must sign and date the SF 1442 in accordance with FAR 4.102

c. Sections G through K – Complete the necessary fill-ins and certifications in Sections I through K. Section K shall be returned in its entirety. For Sections G through I, the Offeror shall submit only those pages that require fill-in(s)

d. Small Business Administration Documentation (SBA) – In accordance with FAR 19.1305-2, this effort is a 100% HUBZone Small Business set-aside. Include documentation to substantiate that the Offeror qualifies as a HUBZone small business concern.

(ii) Section II Exceptions to Terms and Conditions

a. Offerors are reminded that exceptions to terms and conditions will be considered as part of an integrated assessment of all offers received (as indicated in Section M, paragraph 1.(c) of this solicitation, entitled “General Considerations”). Thus, the most effective time to request clarification of, or express an exception to, the terms and conditions set forth in the solicitation is during the proposal preparation stage, i.e. prior to the proposal due date, NOT in your proposal. If your offer includes exceptions to terms and conditions, they must be explained and justified in this Section in sufficient detail to allow the Government to determine the acceptability of your offer without necessitating discussions with your firm. Failure to provide detailed support for your position may, in conjunction with the other evaluation elements identified in Section M, lead to the determination that your proposal does not offer the best overall value to the Government. In the event that award is not made based on initial proposals and discussions are held, any revisions to the model contract (Sections A through J and Attachments) are to be agreed upon to the maximum extent possible during discussions by the Offeror and the Government before the Government requests a Final Proposal Revision.

(d) PART IV – SUBCONTRACTING MANAGEMENT PLAN – Submit original and (3) copies. Pages should be limited to five (5) pages.

(1) At a minimum, this plan shall include the following:

· Offeror’s proposed approach to investigating potential subcontracting opportunities

· Offeror’s policies, procedures, and functional responsibilities for selection and management of subcontractors, to include: subcontractor selection criteria and actions to promote competition

· Details of offeror’s subcontracting management system for surveillance, quality control, and scheduling of subcontractors

Through the subcontracting management plan, an offeror is expected to portray how it intends to acquire and manage subcontractors to provide high quality, efficient subcontractors with minimal response times in support of various SABER requirements. Successful offeror’s subcontracting management plan shall be incorporated in its entirety into any resultant contract.

(e) PART V – COEFFICIENT FACTOR PERCENTAGE INFORMATION – Submit original and three (3) copies. Pages should be limited to three (3) pages.

(1) Coefficient Factor Percentage Information – Offerors shall provide all coefficient factor percentage information necessary to provide a meaningful basis for the Government’s analysis and evaluation of contract line item prices proposed in Section B in accordance with Section M.

(i) Schedule of Pricing Coefficients Applied to Prepriced Items: The Offeror must propose one (1) coefficient for CLIN 0001 which applies to all Standard Working Hour line items included in this Contract. The Offeror’s proposal will be in the form of a multiplier applied to the R.S. Means Inc ® published cost for “TOTAL, INCLUDING OVERHEAD & PROFIT”. The multiplier is limited to two (2) decimal places; and shall represent "net" (equal to 1.0), or a percentage "decrease from" (e.g. .92) or an "increase" (e.g. 1.12) to the unit prices listed in the appropriate R. S. MEANS ® Facility Construction Cost Data Unit Price Book. The purpose of applying the coefficients to direct pre-priced costs from the Unit Price Book is to compensate the Offeror for burden costs and profit for performance. The pricing coefficient is not subject to economic price adjustments and will remain unchanged for the existing terms and conditions of the contract. Each offeror must submit one (1) coefficient (percentage factor) in order to be considered responsive to the RFP requirements. The Offeror's price coefficient (percentage factor) shall include all costs including, but not limited to, mobilization, demobilization, overhead, general and administrative expense, engineering services, project design work, insurance, expenses to comply with environmental and tax laws, and profit. No allowances will be made later for any other than prepriced or nonprepriced item unit prices. All Offerors shall provide explanation regarding the rationale used to determine the coefficient.

(ii) For proposal pricing purposes, Offeror should assume an estimated contract start date on or about November 2013.

(2) The Coefficient Factor Percentage proposal should be limited to three (3) pages. Submission of volumes of computer-generated data to support the cost proposal is not necessary or desired. If computer-generated data is essential to support the cost proposal, it may be submitted as an addendum and must be clearly cross-referenced to the material it supports in the cost proposal.

(3) Coefficient Factor Percentage proposals should represent the Offeror’s best response to the solicitation. Any inconsistency, whether real or apparent, between promised performance and cost or price data must be fully explained in the proposal. Failure to explain any significant inconsistencies may demonstrate Offeror’s lack of understanding of the nature and scope of the work required. Accordingly, coefficient factor percentage proposals must be sufficient to establish the reasonableness of the proposed coefficient. Further, any modifications made to the initial proposal must likewise by thoroughly supported in writing regardless of whether such changes are made during negotiations or at the time of a Final Proposal Revision, if requested.