QA 12-1-25.odt

12/05/25 M005 Q&A

1. Is submitting the translator’s resume/CV, references, and sample translations as part of the solicitation a suitable way for contractors to indicate the relevant experience and expertise requested? YES. Are you looking for any additional materials? IF THEY HAVE ANY TYPE OF CERTIFICATIONS, THEY COULD INCLUDE THAT AS WELL.

2. I see that the CLIN structure is not set up as a unit price per week (for 52 weeks) or per hour but rather a unit price per year (containing 52 weeks); i.e., the unit price and total price for CLIN 001 should be the same number, correct? YES Are you looking for any calculations as to how proponents arrived at this total, or simply an annual total amount? ANNUAL COST

3. Will the contractor be able to bill and be paid on a monthly basis, drawing from the annual total mentioned above?

There are two ways vendors can submit invoices: through IPP (Invoice Processing Platform) or via the Invoices email. Below is a summary of each process:

1. IPP Submission Process Vendor submits invoices via IPP

COR (Contracting Officer’s Representative) reviews and approves services

Finance approves the invoice

Payment Timeline: Vendor receives payment within 1–5days after Finance approval

2. Email Submission Process Vendor emails invoice to the designated Invoices email

COR receives the invoice for review and must approve or reject it within 7 days

Once approved, Finance enters the invoice into the financial system

Payment Timeline: Vendor receives payment within 1–5 days after Finance approval

General Notes Finance has 30 days from the date the invoice is received to process payment.

If all steps are completed correctly and promptly, Finance typically processes invoices within 5–10 days.

4. Are the translators or other personnel involved required to have any clearances for this contract? A BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION IS REQUIRED BUT NOT A SECURITY CLEARANCE. The contractors will be required to undergo a Non-Sensitive, Public Trust background investigation. This may be at the moderate-risk (Tier 2) level. It would include being fingerprinted, submitting several documents and a security questionnaire, and having their background investigated going back as far as 10 years. Although these investigations can take months to be fully completed, we are typically able to provide an employment determination (and start date) within 2-3 weeks once the initial screening process is complete.

1. Are out-of-state vendors able to participate? YES. Is there a local preference clause for businesses in Texas? NO.

2. Are there any certification requirements? PER THE SCOPE OF WORK, “Translator(s) assigned to this contract must have a documented track record of performing translations from Spanish to English of complex documents, such as contracts, legal briefs, international agreements, engineering specifications, water studies, or scientific reports. Translator(s) assigned to this contract must be able to demonstrate a high level of competency in Spanish to English translation by verifying such things as: previous work for the Department of State as a Spanish to English translator, submission of technical documents the contractor has translated from Spanish to English (including both the original Spanish as well as the English translation), client references in the water, engineering, or scientific field, other accreditations or certifications as a Spanish to English translator.”

3. Are there any Small Business or Minority Business Enterprise preference clauses? If yes, does the SBE or MBE have to hold a certification from the State? VENDOR NEEDS TO BE CERTIFIED AS WOSB AT TIME OF AWARD. WILL CHECK VIA SAM.GOV.

4. Is there an incumbent for this contract? If there is, can you tell us who the incumbent is? Can you share the rates you are currently being charged? INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED ON SOLICIATION VIA SAM.GOV

Document: SOW_Human_TranslationServicesFY2026OneYrPlusOption.docx Section: Requested Services Page: Page 2 Question: Are the listed volumes firm or subject to fluctuation? Should pricing assume these volumes as ceilings or averages? THEY FLLUCTUATE. PRICING SHOULD ASSUME THESE AS AVERAGES.

Document: SOW_Human_TranslationServicesFY2026OneYrPlusOption.docx Section: Requested Services Page: Page 2 Question: Will the Government provide advance notice for priority letters requiring one-day turnaround? ALL LETTERS ARE PRIORITY AND ONE-DAY TURNAROUND IS GENERALLY EXPECTED. THERE WILL NOT BE ADVANCE NOTICE. THE CONTRACTOR IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE SERVICES AND TRANSLATE DOCUMENTS ON A DAILY BASIS.

Document: SOW_Human_TranslationServicesFY2026OneYrPlusOption.docx Section: Requested Services Page: Page 3 Question: Is the two-translator limit strict, or can additional personnel be proposed for surge capacity? BECAUSE THE TRANSLATORS PERFORM OTHER DUTIES WHICH REQUIRE SPECIFIC TRAINING AND PRE-ARRANGED ACCESS TO TRANSLATION MEMORY AND OTHER DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS AND BECAUSE THE TRANSLATORS MUST MEET CERTAIN QUALIFICATIONS, WE WOULD NOT BRING IN ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR SURGE CAPACITY.

Regarding memoQ licensing provided for contractors, does the USIBWC provide access to a project manager license or is it translator license only? How many licenses are available for translators/editors? WE CAN PROVIDE ACCESS TO ONE PROJECT MANAGER LICENSE AND, IF MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS ASSIGNED TO THE CONTRACT, TO ONE TRANSLATOR LICENSE.

Could the USIBWC confirm that all translations will need editorial review (level 2 translations that include both a qualified translator and editor team for each translated product)? Or is the intent for the “2 translators” to be one Translator and one Editor used for projects, which would make it more challenging to complete rush projects if there was no backup Translator/Editor team? THE INTENT IS TO HAVE NO MORE THAN 2 DEDICATED TRANSLATORS. THE WORK CANNOT BE FARMED OUT TO MULTIPLE TRANSLATORS AS THERE ARE OTHER DUTIES BESIDES TRANSLATION.

Would the weekly check-ins need to be with the translators themselves? Or could an assigned Project Manager attend these meetings? YES, MEETINGS WITH THE TRANSLATORS.

Regarding the reference to machine translation in the PWS, what is the volume of machine translation expected? Given that a plug-in is mentioned to perform machine translation, should vendors assume that machine translation has not been used on these projects in the past? Moreover, which materials would be translated using machine translation (e.g., letters, manuals, etc.) since the subject matter appears to be rather complex? MACHINE TRANSLATION IS A TOOL TO ASSIST THE HUMAN TRANSLATOR. TYPICALLY, A FIRST DRAFT IS PREPARED THROUGH MACHINE TRANSLATION. MANY OF THE DOCUMENTS FOR TRANSLATION ARE REPETITIVE.

The RFP mentions US business hours, but the specific time zone can be relevant when working on same day or rush projects; could the USIBWC confirm the time zone they are sending the projects from? PROJECTS WILL BE SENT FROM MOUNTAIN OR PACIFIC TIME ZONE.

Since the CLINs include all services (translation, editing, meetings, desktop publishing) on a weekly basis, what is the format for monthly invoicing? The only metric provided is 30 hours per week. Are the 30 hours to be understood as an estimated number or a minimum of hours (commitment for handling projects as part of the contract)? Would the invoices essentially be based on hours worked on projects each week based on time reported by resources without other metrics? CONTRACTOR CAN SUBMIT A TIME CARD WITH HOURS, EXPECTED TO AVERAGE 30 HOURS PER WEEK.

As mentioned in Q/A thus far, the industry standard for pricing on-demand translation services is not based on labor hours or employed translators/editors. Could the USIBWC consider revising the pricing table with CLINs similar to the sample table below, which would provide a more accurate basis for vendor pricing? PREVIOUS TRANSLATOR CONTRACTS HAVE USED THE PRICING PROVISIONS OF THE CURRENT SCOPE OF WORK/CLIN STRUCTURE.

January 1, 2026-December 31, 2026

January 1, 2026-December 31, 2026

January 1, 2026-December 31, 2026

January 1, 2027 – December 31, 2027

January 1, 2027 – December 31, 2027

January 1, 2027 – December 31, 2027

Does the USIBWC require that translators be employed on this contract rather than independent contractors, which is industry standard? Or is the intent of applying the SCA to only provide guidance on minimum hourly rates for translators used on the contract? I DON’T UNDERSTAND THESE QUESTIONS. THE INTENT IS TO HAVE 1-2 PEOPLE ASSIGNED TO THIS CONTRACT. FARMING OUT THE WORK TO MULTIPLE TRANSLATORS IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THIS CONTRACT.

Are you able to provide a spreadsheet that contains Annual Quantity (words)? There is no annual spreadsheet with word count.

We do have logs regarding the names and number of translated documents, but they do not indicate the length.

The scope of work provides estimates for the number of documents and pages.

Does the Government anticipate that the Contractor will need to handle any documents that are designated as Controlled Unclassified Information? MOST DOCUMENTS ARE SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.

Will the Government confirm if this contract is to be firm fixed price? Firm Fixed Price

Will there be opportunities for the contract duration to exceed two years? Possible, but can not be sure

Page 3: REQUESTED SERVICES Page 1. Item 1 Question: Could the Office Affairs Office provide an estimated or historical volume expressed in word counts to complement the document counts? CONTRACTOR CAN ESTIMATE WORD COUNTS BASED ON THE ESTIMATED NUMBER AND LENGTH OF THE DOCUMENTS DESSCRIBED IN THE SCOPE OF WORK.

Page 1. Item 2. “The contractor will format the translations, generally using MSWord or PowerPoint, to match the format of the original document. Formatting elements could include such things as PowerPoint graphics, colors, and diagrams...”

Question: May desktop publishing (DTP) costs related to recreating images, graphics, and other formatting elements be included in the pricing structure? CONTRACTOR SHOULD INCLUDE THESE COSTS IN THE QUOTE.

Pages 1-2. Item 3. “The contractor will maintain records of documents translated in accordance with Foreign Affairs Office procedures and filing conventions.”

Question: Will the Foreign Affairs Office provide these procedures and filing conventions to the contractor? YES.

“The contractor will also track the correspondence on the agency spreadsheets by establishing links for letters referenced in the incoming correspondence and links for U.S. Section letters that are being responded to. “ Question: The task of creating and maintaining links across correspondence spreadsheets is time-intensive and extends beyond standard translation responsibilities. May the project-management time associated with this requirement be billed separately or included as a distinct cost item within the contract? IT IS AN INTEGRAL COST OF THE CONTRACT. THE TRANSLATOR WOULD TRANSLATE THE DOCUMENT, DISTRIBUTE THE DOCUMENT VIA EMAIL, SAVE THE FILES IN SPECIFIC FOLDERS USING SPECIFIC NAMING CONVENTIONS, AND UPDATE THE SPREADSHEETS WHICH CROSS REFERENCE RELATED DOCUMENTS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE DOCUMENT TRANSLATION AND LOGGING PROCESS.

Page 2. Item 4. “The contractor will distribute translated documents to USIBWC personnel via email. Incoming letters from the Mexican Section shall be translated and distributed as a priority, generally within one day of receipt. “ Question: Depending on the volume of the correspondence received, this requirement may constitute expedited or rush service. Will the contract allow for the application of rush-processing fees under these circumstances? NO. THE CONTRACTOR IS EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE ON A DAILY BASIS TO PROCESS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE, GENERALLY ON THE SAME DAY OR WITHIN ONE DAY OF RECEIPT.

Page 2. Item 5. “The contractor will use MemoQ and machine translation or other machine translation service, provided by USIBWC, to assist with the translations and to ensure consistent translations of recurring words of phrases. The contractor will update these services/databases with new documents that are translated. The contractor must have the skills, training, and ability to independently be the agency subject matter expert on MemoQ and/or translation memory, and machine translation.”

Questions:

If the Agency provides the machine translation tools and licenses, will it retain ownership of the corresponding translation memories and linguistic assets? YES.

Will the contractor be permitted to use its own CAT tools, if preferred? WE HAVE A SPECIFIC, TECHNICAL, RECURRING VOCABULARY THAT IS PART OF OUR TRANSLATION MEMORY WITH COMPATIBLE MACHINE TRANSLATION PLUG-IN. THEREFORE, OTHER TOOLS MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE AND WOULD LIKELY NOT PRODUCE RESULTS COMPRABLE TO THOSE OF OUR EXISTING TRANSLATION MEMORY. IN ANY EVENT, NEW DOCUMENTS WOULD NEED TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE USIBWC’S MEMOQ TRANSLATION MEMORY.

Does the Agency currently maintain translation memories, glossaries, or other linguistic resources? YES.

Page 2. Items 6-7. “Attend webinar staff meetings to review translation assignments (generally once per week)” “Attend webinar meetings with personnel from the U.S. and Mexican Sections of the IBWC to review documents in English and Spanish to provide expert input to assure accurate translations. About once per quarter.”

Question: Will the time spent attending these webinars be considered billable? YES. Additionally, is there an estimated average duration for each meeting? MOST MEETINGS ARE 30 MINUTES IN LENGTH. OCCASIONALLY, A MEETING WOULD BE LONGER, UP TO A FEW HOURS.

Page 2. Item 9. “The contractor will be available during normal U.S. business hours.“ Question: Does “availability” mean active coverage (i.e., translators must be consistently online and monitoring email) or general responsiveness with defined response-time expectations? CONTRACTOR IS EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE ON A DAILY BASIS VIA EMAIL AND/OR PHONE, BUT IMMEDIATE RESPONSES ARE NOT EXPECTED.

Page 2. Item 11. “The contractor must assure that the work will be performed by no more than 2 individual translators assigned to this contract.”

Question: Could you clarify the process (if any) for having additional translators pre-approved or approved on an as-needed basis to cover situations such as unexpectedly high volume, expedited turnaround requirements, or temporary unavailability of the two assigned translators? THERE IS NO PROCESS FOR HAVING AN ADDITIONAL TRANSLATOR. WE RECOGNIZE THAT SOMEONE MAY GET SICK OR GO ON VACATION. WE WILL WORK WITH THE CONTRACTOR TO ADDRESS THESE REASONABLE SITUATIONS. DEADLINES CAN BE ADJUSTED BASED ON WORKLOAD. FOR EXAMPLE, IF A COMPLEX TECHNICAL DOCUMENT REQUIRES TRANSLATION, RATHER THAN BRINGING IN AN EXTRA TRANSLATOR TO WORK ON IT, WE MIGHT NEED TO PROVIDE AN EXTENDED DEADLINE TO COMPLETE THE TRANSLATION.

Page 3: CLIN STRUCTURE Questions:

May the pricing structure be expanded or modified to include additional categories such as quality assurance, training, rush fees, and other applicable labor rates (e.g., per-word or per-hour structures)? NO.

Given that the unit is listed as 52 weeks, should we interpret this as pricing for a full-time weekly service? And if so, is the agency expecting pricing based on an 8-hour workday, Monday–Friday, or another hourly/availability model? Additionally, since the scope allows the work to be performed by up to two translators, should we assume that the weekly rate should cover two full-time positions, or is the intent to price one full-time equivalent, regardless of whether one or two translators share the workload? WE ANTICIPATE AN AVERAGE WORKLOAD FOR ONE PERSON OF 30 HOURS PER WEEK.

Would the Agency consider allowing a per-word pricing structure for translation, proofreading, and related services instead of (or in addition to) a 52-week unit price? BECAUSE OF THE WAY TRANSLATIONS ARE INTEGRATED INTO THE OTHER ASPECTS OF THE CONTRACT, WE DON’T WANT TO CHANGE THE STRUCTURE TO BIFURCATE IT IN THE WAY SUGGESTED.

Translator Qualifications Questions:

Are there preferred or required credentials, certifications, or qualifications for translators performing work under this contract? PREFERRED PRIOR SPANISH TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION WORK FOR DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

Could you clarify the process for verifying translator qualifications? Specifically, will the agency require blind CVs, copies of certifications, sample translations, or other documentation during the evaluation stage, or will the verification take place after award as part of the onboarding process? AS PER THE SCOPE OF WORK, “Translator(s) assigned to this contract must be able to demonstrate a high level of competency in Spanish to English translation by verifying such things as: previous work for the Department of State as a Spanish to English translator, submission of technical documents the contractor has translated from Spanish to English (including both the original Spanish as well as the English translation), client references in the water, engineering, or scientific field, other accreditations or certifications as a Spanish to English translator.” CONTRACTOR MUST DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY MEET THIS REQUIREMENT PRIOR TO AWARD.

Terms and Conditions PG 6 - The solicitation includes FAR 52.222-41 and 52.222-42. Regarding the Service Contract Labor Standards provisions referenced in the solicitation, we noticed that a Wage Determination was not included in the documentation provided. IT HAS BEEN ADDED AS AN ATTACHMENT ON THE SOLICITTION VIA SAM.GOV

Question: Could you please confirm whether this requirement applies to this contract and, if so, provide the applicable Wage Determination? We want to ensure full compliance with SCA requirements, if they are intended to apply.

Pg 14 - The solicitation contains:

FAR 52.212-2 states: "Lowest Price Technically Acceptable – LPTA"

Addendum to 52.212-2 states: "Technical and past performance, when combined, are equal to price"

Question: Please clarify the evaluation methodology. Is this an LPTA or Best Value procurement? If LPTA, what constitutes "technically acceptable"? INFORMATION HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE SOLICITATION VIA SAM.GOV

I see the item 8 statement in the SOW. But does this mean we can work at home office in any State? YES.

Please provide full name and notice ID for the previous contract. INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED VIA SAM.GOV. PLEASE REVIEW MODIFICATIONS

Please provide the list of incumbents. INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED VIA SAM.GOV. PLEASE REVIEW MODIFICATIONS

Please list incumbents’ rates. INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED VIA SAM.GOV. PLEASE REVIEW MODIFICATIONS

Please provide historical volumes. AVERAGE OF 30 HOURS PER WEEK.

Please provide historical spend. INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED VIA SAM.GOV. PLEASE REVIEW MODIFICATIONS

Please provide projected volumes. SEE ATTACHED SCOPE OF WORK FOR ESTIMATED PAGES.

Please provide projected spend, or budget. Your Q&A #4 is not clear on this point. Does the Commission have a budget for the current project? CANNOT RELEASE THAT INFORMATION

To be consistent with the industry standards, will the Commission change CLIN structure to translation per word, and formatting, or desktop publishing, or DTP, to per hour? The Commission’s answer in Q&A #1 was not clear on this point. Furthermore, as per Q&A #3, PDF documents are to converted to editable files. This is part of formatting, or DTP. CLIN STRUCTURE REMAINS THE SAME.

Would the Commission add separate CLINs for attendance at virtual meetings, logging of correspondence on spreadsheets, and updating the translation memory? Please use the unit of measurement as per hour with 15-minute increments after that. AVERAGE OF 30 HOURS PER WEEK IS EXPECTED.

If the Commission were to maintain its current CLIN structure, would the Commission guarantee the minimum number of hours per week, which includes translation, formatting, attendance at virtual meetings, logging of correspondence on spreadsheets, and updating the translation memory? AVERAGE OF 30 HOURS PER WEEK IS EXPECTED BUT NOT GUARANTEED.

As per the listing at https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/d10074fa850c4b2bb673cb6d17737f88/view Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer. NOTE: The offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) website accessed at https://www.sam.gov. There is nothing to complete in (b). There is no space for signature in terms and conditions. Please clarify what vendors are to complete. LEAVE IT BLANK

Does the wage determination apply? The provided wage determination does not list code 30110, which is the code in SCA DIRECTORY OF OCCUPATIONS for Foreign Language Translator. WAGE DETERMIANTION HAS BEEN POSTED ON SOLICITATION

Are vendors required to go through Conformance Process, as per Wage Determination? NO

For wage determination and Conformance Process, are vendors allowed to contact COR Sally Spener prior to the award? NO, SALLY DOESN’T KOW ANYTHING ABOUT WAGE DETERMINATION AND CONFORMANCE PROCESS.

How are vendors to price their bids, if the following will be determined upon award only: The Wage and Hour Division shall make a final determination of conformed classification, wage rate, and/or fringe benefits which shall be paid to all employees performing in the classification from the first day of work on which contract work is performed by them in the classification? PLEASE PROVIDE INFORMATION AS PER CLIN STRUCTURE

Please specify paid holidays that vendors are to provide their translators. Are vendors to include holidays in the US, Mexico or both? US HOLIDAYS ARE APPLICABLE.

Since the following factors shall be used to evaluate Offers: Technical acceptability to meet IBWC requirements; Technical Approach and Past Performance, how are we to document these factors? Are they applicable at the company level or at individual translator's level? As per SOW: THEY ARE AT THE TRANSLATOR LEVEL. IF THE COMPANY HAS THE EXPERIENCE BUT THEY ASSIGN A TRANSLATOR WHO DOES NOT MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS, THEN THAT WOULD BE A PROBLEM. AS PER THE SCOPE OF WORK, TRANSLATOR COULD VERIFY SUCH THINGS AS PREVIOUS WORK FOR DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SUBMISSION OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS, CLIENT REFERENCES, ETC. SEE SCOPE OF WORK.

Translator(s) assigned to this contract must have a documented track record of performing translations from Spanish to English of complex documents, such as contracts, legal briefs, international agreements, engineering specifications, water studies, or scientific reports. Translator(s) assigned to this contract must be able to demonstrate a high level of competency in Spanish to English translation by verifying such things as: previous work for the Department of State as a Spanish to English translator, submission of technical documents the contractor has translated from Spanish to English (including both the original Spanish as well as the English translation), client references in the water, engineering, or scientific field, other accreditations or certifications as a Spanish to English translator.

As per SOW, how can a vendor or its translators meet the following requirement: submit technical documents the contractor has translated from Spanish to English (including both the original Spanish as well as the English translation) when such documents are confidential? PER SCOPE OF WORK, TRANSLATOR ASSIGNED TO THIS CONTRACT MUST BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE A HIGH LEVEL OF COMPETENCY AS DESCRIBED IN THE SCOPE OF WORK. WHILE YOU MAY HAVE A CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSE FOR YOUR PRIOR TRANSLATION CONTRACTS, PERHAPS SOME OF THOSE DOCUMENTS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY PUBLISHED AND ARE IN THE PUBLIC REALM.

Will the Commission allow vendors to assign 4 translators to the project? One team of 2 translators will be responsible for translating legal documents and another team will handle technical documents. NO.

How many resumes are vendors to submit for their translators? 1-2 FOR THE 1-2 INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL BE ASSIGNED TO THE CONTRACT.