H92222-18-R-0010_Amd_1_Section_L_19_Apr18(Track_Changes).docx

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Section L - Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders

CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY FULL TEXT

52.215-20 REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA OR INFORMATION OTHER THAN CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA (OCT 2010)—ALTERNATE IV (OCT 2010)

(a) Submission of certified cost or pricing data is not required.

(b) Provide data described in Section L.3 below.

(End of provision)

52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

The Government contemplates award of a Single-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) personal services contract resulting from this solicitation. The Government may issue TOs on a T&M basis.

52.216-29 TIME-AND-MATERIALS/LABOR-HOUR PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS--NON-COMMERCIAL ITEM ACQUISITION WITH ADEQUATE PRICE COMPETITION (FEB 2007)

(a) The Government contemplates award of a Time-and-Materials or Labor-Hour type of contract resulting from this solicitation.

(b) The offeror must specify fixed hourly rates in its offer that include wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit. The offeror must specify whether the fixed hourly rate for each labor category applies to labor performed by--

(1) The offeror;

(2) Subcontractors; and/or

(3) Divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of the offeror under a common control;

(c) The offeror must establish fixed hourly rates using--

(1) Separate rates for each category of labor to be performed by each subcontractor and for each category of labor to be performed by the offeror, and for each category of labor to be transferred between divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of the offeror under a common control;

(2) Blended rates for each category of labor to be performed by the offeror, including labor transferred between divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of the offeror under a common control, and all subcontractors; or

(3) Any combination of separate and blended rates for each category of labor to be performed by the offeror, affiliates of the offeror under a common control, and subcontractors.

(End of provision)

252.216-7002 Alternate A, Time-and-Materials/Labor-Hour Proposal Requirements – Non-Commercial Item Acquisition with Adequate Price Competition.

As prescribed in 216.601(e), substitute the following paragraph (c) for paragraph (c) of the provision at FAR 52.216-29:

(c) The offeror must establish fixed hourly rates using separate rates for each category of labor to be performed by each subcontractor and for each category of labor to be performed by the offeror, and for each category of labor to be transferred between divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of the offeror under a common control.

52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)

(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from:

Mr. Jace Anders

SOF AT&L-KH

7701 Tampa Point Blvd.

MacDill, AFB, FL 33621

Jace.Anders@socom.mil 813-826-3005

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

http://farsite.hill.af.mil/ FAR - https://www.acquisition.gov/browsefar DFARS and PGI - https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfarspgi/current

52.252-3 ALTERATIONS IN SOLICITATION (APR 1984)

Portions of this solicitation are altered as follows:

TBD

52.252-5 AUTHORIZED DEVIATIONS IN PROVISIONS (APR 1984)

(a) The use in this solicitation of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of"(DEVIATION)" after the date of the provision.

(b) The use in this solicitation of any Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (48 CFR Chapter 2) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of "(DEVIATION)" after the name of the regulation.

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

L.0 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

L.0.1 Each offeror intending to submit a proposal in response to this solicitation should notify the Contracting Officer via e-mail jace.anders@socom.mil within 10 days of RFP issuance. This is an all-electronic solicitation release. No hard copies of the solicitation will be mailed. Amendments to the solicitation will be posted to www.fedbizopps.gov. The offeror is responsible for reviewing the webpage for notice of amendments, updates, or changes to current information. Proprietary information submitted in response to this solicitation will be protected from unauthorized disclosure as required by Subsection 27 of the Office of Procurement Policy Act as amended (41 U.S.C. Sections 2101 - 2107) and as implemented in the FAR. Proposals shall be unclassified and will be treated as Source Selection Information (see FAR 2.101 and 3.104). Classified information will not be accepted and will be returned to the offeror.

L.0.2 Proposals must be complete, self-sufficient, and respond directly to the requirements of the solicitation. Any significant inconsistency, if unexplained, raises a fundamental issue of the offeror’s understanding and/or ability to perform the contract. This may be a basis for rejection of the proposal. In no case shall words like, “we will comply with the requirements of the contract” or equivalent statements be acceptable to meet all the requirements of this RFP. However, the proposal shall include a declaration statement that acknowledges and accepts, without exceptions, all performance work statement (PWS) requirements. Failure to comply with these instructions may result in an offeror’s proposal being excluded from further consideration for award. The offeror shall submit a cover letter with the proposal that includes a list of names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of persons authorized to conduct negotiations as well as names, telephone numbers, and email addresses for the cognizant Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Contract Management Office and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) office for the business unit proposed.

L.0.3 The Government will perform a virus scan using McAfee VirusScan Enterprise version 8.8 on all electronic files/CDs provided by the offeror. Any submittal failing the virus scan shall be rejected and returned to the offeror.

L.0.4 Volume 1 – Technical (Factor 1) shall be prepared in accordance with these instructions and will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria in Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award. Proposals shall include necessary information to enable the evaluators to form a definitive conclusion concerning the offeror’s ability to perform the required support. The Technical volume shall be organized in tab format in the order listed in this Section L and prepared IAW L.0.9 and L.0.10.

L.0.5 Volume 2 - Past Performance (Factor 2) shall be prepared in accordance with these instructions and will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria in Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award. The Past Performance volume shall be submitted IAW L.0.9 and L.0.10.

L.0.6 Volume 3 - Price (Factor 3) shall be prepared in accordance with these instructions and will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria in Section M Evaluation Factors for Award. The Price volume shall be submitted IAW L.0.9 and L.0.10.

L.0.7 Volume 4 - Administrative Criteria shall be prepared in accordance with these instructions and will be provided to the Contracting Officer and utilized as part of the separate determination of Contractor responsibility IAW FAR 9.104-1. The Administrative Criteria volume shall be submitted IAW L.0.9 and L.0.10.

L.0.8 If hand delivering proposals, hand delivery is from a person from an offerors/teaming partners staff. A messenger service delivering a package is not considered a hand delivery. Offerors are required to pre-coordinate all hand deliveries with the Contracting Officer in writing and at a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the proposal submission deadline.

Submit proposals to:

USSOCOM SOF AT&L-KH

ATTN: H92222-18-R-0010; Mr. Jace Anders 7701 Tampa Point Blvd MacDill AFB, FL 33621-5323

L.0.9 Format of the proposal volumes shall be as follows:

0. Text size shall be no smaller than what is equivalent to Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, 11 point, uncompressed font.

0. Pages (to include Cover Pages) shall be single sided, one and one half spaced, with a minimum of one inch margins on all sides.

0. Text size and spacing requirements do not apply to header and footer text.

0. Pages shall be dated and numbered sequentially by volume. All documents identified in L.0.10 as excluded from the identified Volume page count shall be provided at the end of the applicable Volume and distinguished by adding “unlimited” after the page number.

0. Proposal table of contents, cover page, acronym lists, compliance matrices, and tab dividers are not included in the page count.

0. Elaborate format, color representations, and bindings are not desirable. Three ring binders are preferred per Volume for required print copies. The pages in the binders shall be easily removed and replaced to facilitate page changes.

0. Legible tables, charts, graphs and figures shall be used when necessary to depict organizations, systems and layout, implementation schedules, plans, etc. These displays shall be uncomplicated, legible, may be single spaced, and shall not exceed 11 by 17 inches in size. Foldout pages shall fold entirely within the Volume, and count as two pages. Foldout pages may only be used for large tables, charts, graphs, diagrams and schematics; not for pages of text. For tables, charts, graphs and figures, the text shall be no smaller than 8 point Arial font.

0. Electronic copies must be provided on compact disks, read-only memory. Microsoft Office presentation and spreadsheet products are preferred. PDF files where Microsoft Office formats are not available are acceptable.

L.0.10 Proposal Submission and Preparation:

L.0.11 Questions shall be submitted using RFP Attachment 4 Q&A Template. Prime offerors should consolidate questions from its team members and submit as one submission to the maximum extent practicable. Offerors may submit questions to the Contracting Officer at any time; however, questions received after the date(s) specified in the www.fedbizopps.gov posting may not be answered prior to the RFP closing date referenced in block 9 of the SF33.

L.1 VOLUME 1 – Factor 1 - Technical

L.1.1 Subfactor 1: Management Organizational Structure and Teaming Arrangements. The offeror shall provide a concise summary of the approach and proposed organizational structure for meeting the requirements of the USSOCOM Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF) Programs, across the USSOCOM Enterprise to include how they intend to interact with, allocate work to, and simultaneously exercise oversight/control over subcontractor cost, schedule, and performance of multiple teaming partners that demonstrates an understanding of the organization, management expertise (both key personnel and teaming partners) and subcontract management required by this solicitation. At a minimum the offeror shall address the following elements and, when viewed collectively, demonstrate its team’s ability to successfully execute the requirements in the solicitation:

· Identify each organizational element with explanatory rationale and defined responsibilities in support of the requirements in the Attachment 2, Performance Work Statement (PWS), including locations of key management personnel and how these personnel will have the ability to manage all pre-award task order functions, personnel recruiting and selection activities through final selection, while simultaneously managing the performance of existing task order personnel.

· A list by team members (both large and small businesses) and the types of tasks projected to be subcontracted outlining the team’s ability to support all personnel requirements outlined in PWS, Appendix 1 across the POTFF Enterprise.

· Describe the proposed team’s expertise and understanding of the type of personal services to be provided. Specifically addressing human resource management expertise with similar efforts of this type and magnitude, experience with recruiting and retaining similar labor categories (both medical and non-medical) simultaneously across numerous customers and locations, including expertise in the various credentialing procedures and security requirements that are required of the solicitation and is resident within the proposed team.

· Describe how you will assess the contractual requirements of various task orders, determine the most effective allocation of effort among prime and subcontractors/team members, while still meeting the 15% Small Business subcontracting mandate (Section H.16) and ensuring the required contractual timelines for hiring are not delayed and fill rates are being met (PWS Sections 3.0 and 6.0).

· Describe how you will exercise oversight/control over subcontractor cost, schedule, and performance as well as how you will ensure standardized processes are utilized across the team. Specifically addressing how you ensure the proper flow down of all contract requirements, handle subcontractors who are performing poorly, those team members that are unable to effectively retain or recruit personnel, as well as how you will ensure commensurate compensation packages are being offered across all team members.

L.1.1.1 Key Management Personnel. The offeror shall provide information regarding their proposed key management positions including identification of the key management positions and the corporate and personal commitment of providing proposed candidates to identified positions. For each proposed key management position candidates, the offeror shall include a letter of commitment stating their intent to assume position and resume (3 page limit) that includes the following information:

1. Management experience on other relevant contracts, to include familiarity with relevant DoD policies and procedures (PWS 2.4 and Section H)

1. Length of time employed with current employer

1. Technical competency for the position being proposed to fill (i.e. Management, Psychological Performance, Human Performance, Human Resources, etc.)

1. Specific examples of knowledge and skills in interfacing with people at all levels including problem solving capability

1. Education and training

L.1.2 Subfactor 2 Personnel Management and Continuous Retention/Recruitment: The offeror shall summarize its management approach and team’s capability to obtain and retain suitably qualified personnel and maintain program continuity. At a minimum, the offeror shall address the following elements and, when viewed collectively, demonstrate its team’s ability to provide uninterrupted, high-quality work throughout the anticipated period of performance.

1. Describe how your team intends to interface with Government personnel at various levels (HQ USSOCOM, Components, and Units), with clear lines of responsibility and authority for controlling, reporting, and reviewing to ensure successful contract performance by all team members.

1. Describe how your team intends to internally communicate and processes that you will utilize to ensure processes and procedures are standardized across your team and consistent messages are presented to all employees and the Government across all members within your proposed team.

1. Describe your team’s verification personnel, their qualifications, and the management processes they will use to perform the initial verification of potential employee’s qualifications/certifications/licenses to support the non-traditional military training environments required of this solicitation as well as the procedures and/or processes in place to ensure all required certifications/licenses are tracked and renewed as required.

1. Describe how your retention plan(s) will ensure the ability to maintain the required technical expertise, allow for developmental growth/career progression, and ensure total compensation plans across all team members is commensurate with the surrounding labor markets and does not vary greatly within a given location in order to minimize turnover across all locations and maintain contractually required fill rates, without unreasonably driving up costs.

1. Describe your processes to train new and existing employees to ensure initial capability and continued technical expertise (including training for licenses/certification renewals, PWS Sections 2.2 & 2.4) across the entire workforce throughout the contract period of performance.

1. Describe automated management tools that you will utilize in order to manage this effort (both external and internal across your team). Include how these systems will meet the reporting requirements and ensure near real-time data is available to the Government (cost, schedule, and performance) for all task orders IAW PWS Section 2.3.

L.1.3 Subfactor 3: Initial Phase-In Transition. The offeror shall provide a phase-in transition plan that describes its overall management approach and procedures and processes the team intends to utilize to execute the initial contract phase-in transition as defined in PWS 6.0. The plan shall address the offeror’s capability to execute a smooth and turn-key phase-in transition leading to assumption of full contractual responsibility and the capability to recruit and potentially fill all 21 labor categories across all 26 geographic locations as outlined in listed in Attachment 3, Price Matrix. At a minimum the plan shall address the following elements and when viewed collectively, demonstrates the offeror’s ability to successfully execute a contract phase-in transition while minimizing impacts to SOF users.

· The plan shall include identification of management expertise, ability to meet all security requirements (facility and personnel), potential risks with associated mitigation techniques, flexibility, and ability to identify and satisfy site specific requirements prior to personnel assignment. Special attention should be given to the unique nature of OCONUS locations that require visas, travel coordination (to include US Military coordination and transportation), and DOCPER/TESATCSA requirements.

· The plan shall explain how each activity would be assured of timely completion, identify the offeror’s phase-in transition management team and the offeror’s capability to effectively partner with the Government team, including a demonstrated understanding of the government processes and/or roles in the hiring processes (in-person interviews, clearances, credentialing, and Government resume reviews, etc. (PWS Section 2.4 and Sections H.11 – H.13)).

· The plan shall describe its approach for interfacing with the incumbent contractors and employees and contingency plan for insertion of non-incumbent employees in the event incumbent employees decline employment with their team. The contingency plan shall demonstrate an understanding of and the ability to retain those critical "No Fail" incumbent positions (identified within PWS, Appendix 2) and how they will mitigate the risks associated with the loss of those existing relationships that have been built over time within the components.

· The plan shall describe how the team’s recruitment processes (outlined in Subfactor 2) will ensure the transition of services currently in place (including ensuring all incumbent personnel meet the qualification requirements of the new contract (PWS Appendix 1)) qualifications, as well as, support the planned future requirements which include 5 new labor categories as outlined in PWS Appendix 2.

· The plan shall also include a timeline that graphically supports the narrative and highlights key milestones that demonstrate an understanding of the requirements necessary to assume full contract responsibilities following contract award. The timeline shall demonstrate how the Offeror intends to meet the minimum staffing requirements (fill rates) for both Phase I and Phase II transition periods as outlined in the PWS, Section 6.0 and PWS Appendix 2.

L.2 VOLUME 2 – Factor 2 - Past Performance

L.2.1 Contents. The offeror shall submit a Past Performance Proposal (Volume 2) containing the following:

0. Table of Contents

0. Summary Page describing the role of the offeror and each major subcontractor, teaming partner, and/or joint venture partner (herein referred to as subcontractor) for which the offeror is required to provide Past Performance Information Sheets in accordance with paragraph L.2.1.1 below.

0. Past Performance Information Sheets (paragraph L.2.1.1 below).

0. Past Performance Information regarding Subcontracting (paragraph L.2.1.2 below).

0. Consent Letters executed by each major subcontractor, teaming partner, and/or joint venture partner, authorizing release of adverse past performance information so the offeror can respond to such information. **Excluded from page limit for Volume 2**

L.2.1.1 Past Performance Information Sheets. The offeror shall submit information on contracts it considers most recent and relevant in demonstrating its ability to perform the proposed effort. The offeror shall submit a maximum of five and a minimum of three Past Performance Information Sheets identifying active or completed contracts, either Government or commercial, for the prime and a maximum of two and a minimum of one Past Performance Information Sheets for each major subcontractor. The Government does not anticipate a single prime offeror will have the capability to perform nor has performed in the past the entire scope of the effort on its own. Therefore, “major” is defined as those subcontractors, teaming partners, or joint venture partners who the offeror feels are key to demonstrating its ability to perform the entire scope of the proposed effort. No more than four separate major subcontractors may be submitted.

Past Performance Information Sheets for each prime contractor are limited to five pages and for each major subcontractor to three pages (does not include SF 294/295 or consent letters). Offerors are advised that the Government will use the information provided by each offeror in this volume as well as information obtained from other sources for the overall evaluation of past performance. The Government requests the offeror provide references (i.e. Organization, Agency, Company, names etc.) including current Points of Contact (POCs) at those references for each contract identified. Contact information for each POC and reference shall include both a telephone number and email address.

L.2.1.1.1 Past Performance Information Sheets shall include specific information for each effort regarding experience in accordance with the following areas outlined below. NOTE: If the experience in the following areas was not required under the referenced contract, the offeror shall indicate that it was not applicable on the Past Performance Information Sheet.

L.2.1.1.1.1 For each submitted prime offeror effort, offerors shall:

1. Describe if the prime offeror was the prime contractor or subcontractor for that effort. If not the prime contractor for the effort, all information should be reflective of what was actually performed as a subcontractor rather than what was required of the overall team.

1. Identify contract type, ceiling value (if applicable), current value (awarded tasks/exercised options), Government or commercial organizations supported, the period of performance (PoP), the number of task orders awarded by year for each year of the PoP (if applicable), and the number of Government task order requests for proposals for which proposals were submitted but not awarded by year for each year of the PoP (if applicable).

1. Describe performance in recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining large numbers of personnel (include number of employees) in similar environments including access to highly specialized skill sets and for long term requirements.

1. Show management of multiple subcontractors/teaming partners (include number managed) to include price negotiations, resolving performance issues, and demonstrating use of cost controls.

1. Show management of a geographically diverse workforce located primarily in Government facilities, specifically annotating if OCONUS support was required.

1. Describe experience in accessing internal and external team resources that were necessary to provide support for unique requirements to include multi-level security requirements, specifically citing what the security level required was for both facility and personnel.

L.2.1.1.1.2 For each submitted major subcontractor effort, offerors should:

· Describe what effort(s) that major subcontractor will be performing in support of the prime offeror under this contract.

· Describe if they were the prime contractor or subcontractor for that effort. If not the prime contractor for the effort, all information should be reflective of what was actually performed as a subcontractor rather than what was required of the overall team.

· Identify contract value (including all awarded tasks/exercised options), Government or commercial organizations supported, and the PoP.

· Describe overall scope of the effort and how it relates to the specific area(s) in the PWS the major subcontractor is proposed to actually perform under this contract.

· Any additional information the offeror finds necessary in order to demonstrate the overall team capability

L.2.1.2 Past Performance Information regarding Small Business Subcontracting. The offeror shall provide a one year history (the most current period) demonstrating its corporate commitment to meeting its subcontracting goals/targets by providing SF 294s, Subcontracting Reports for Individual Contracts, and SF 295s, Summary Subcontract Reports, for those prime offeror contracts/projects submitted under Past Performance. The SF 294s and SF295s are excluded from the Volume 2 page count. Equivalent copies of ISRs or SSRs may be submitted in lieu of SF 294/295s. Small Business offerors are exempt from this requirement.

If goals were not met on the SF 294/295s, the offeror shall provide an explanation as to why the goals were not met.

If a SF 294/295 was not required due to the contract (s) being designated as a personal services contract, or due to the offeror’s size status as a small business under the contract(s) submitted, then the offeror shall include a valid explanation with detailed information.

L.2.1.3 Recent Contracts. The Government defines “recent” as contracts that have been performed during the past five years from the date of issuance of this solicitation.

L.2.1.4 Relevant Contracts. Relevancy will be determined based on the below reflecting recent (within the past five years) past performance.

L.2.1.4.1 For the prime offerors, relevancy is defined as contracts that are most similar to this overall effort and require similar organizational structures, management expertise, and business processes required by this solicitation.

For the prime offerors, relevancy is defined as contracts that are most similar to this overall effort.

Some of the factors in determining relevancy include: Similarity of the Scope, i.e. required the recruitment and retention of personnel to perform services in a non-traditional training environment in support of Special Operations Forces or other Service within the DOD, and required providing personnel in a wide variety of both medical and non-medical related labor categories. Magnitude and Contract Type, i.e. was an IDIQ personal services contract, included cost reimbursable, labor-hour, and/or Time and Materials contract types, valued at $20M annually or greater (to be considered at least somewhat relevant.), and required providing 150 employees annually or greater. Complexity, i.e. required providing the personnel across numerous customers and locations both CONUS/OCONUS, required a Top Secret facility clearance, required to manage multiple subcontracts and/or teaming arrangements, included mandatory requirements for subcontracting to small businesses, and similar business systems (i.e. accounting, purchasing, etc.).

The more an effort is similar in these areas, the more relevant that effort becomes. No one relevancy criterion is more important than another when determining relevancy of a prime offeror effort, but rather all criterion are considered holistically in order to subjectively assess one overall relevancy rating (per the definitions in Table 2) for each prime offeror effort. A prime offeror effort does not have to be “Very Relevant” in all criterion in order to be determined “Very Relevant” overall. Additionally, a prime offeror effort could hypothetically be “Not Relevant” in one or more criterion and still be determined “Somewhat Relevant” or higher for that effort overall.

L.2.1.4.2 For proposed major subcontractors, relevancy is defined by that which reflects experience in the area of expertise the major subcontractor is proposed to actually perform under this contract (i.e. specific areas in the PWS).

L.2.1.4.3 When making the relevancy determination the following definitions will be used for both prime offeror and major subcontractor efforts:

SECTION L - Table 2. Past Performance Relevancy Rating Method

L.2.1.4.4 Organizational Structure Change History. Many companies have acquired, been acquired by, or otherwise merged with other companies, and/or reorganized their divisions, business groups, subsidiary companies, etc. In many cases, these changes have taken place during the time of performance of relevant present or past efforts or between conclusion of recent past efforts and this source selection. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to determine what past performance is relevant to this acquisition. In order to facilitate the relevancy determination, the offeror shall include in this proposal Volume a "roadmap" describing all such changes in the organization of its company (prime offerors only). As part of this explanation, the offeror shall show how these changes impact the relevance of any contracts/projects submitted under Past Performance. Since the Government intends to consider present and past performance information provided by other sources as well as that provided by the offeror, the "roadmap" should be both specifically applicable to the contracts/projects submitted under Past Performance and general enough to apply to efforts on which the Government receives information from other sources.

L.3 VOLUME 3 – Factor 3 – Price

L.3.0 Price Executive Summary. The offeror shall submit one executive summary applicable to all labor categories. The executive summary shall provide an introduction and overview of proposed costs to include any general cost assumptions, a list of any subcontractors proposed, an explanation of the methodology used to develop the unburdened direct annual salaries and fully burdened T&M rates (Defined in Attachment 3, Price Matrix). , IAW FAR provision 52.216-29 (b), this summary shall includeing identification and explanation of how the proposed fully burdened T&M rates were established for each of the labor categories IAW RFP provision 252.216-7002 (i.e. which of the three allowable approaches were used) as well as any applicable escalation or de-escalation of rates. If composite rates are used, the offeror shall explain the composite rates as well. This, in addition to the proposed Total Compensation Plan will demonstrate an understanding of the requirements and ability to attract and retain individuals with the requisite skill sets necessary to successfully execute the requirements. The executive summary will not be evaluated but rather will be used to guide the evaluators’ analysis of the proposal and Total Compensation Plan.

L.3.1 Price Matrix. IAW DFARS provision 252.216-7002 offerors shall propose the applicable fully burdened rate for all 21 labor categories and clearance requirements (S or TS/SCI clearance) in 26 geographic locations by completing Attachment 3. The offeror shall follow the instructions for completing Attachment 3 located within the spreadsheet itself.

All labor categories shall be proposed on a T&M basis. The Government has provided a Material CLIN plug number of $1,000,000.00 per year to cover those allowable costs outlined in Section H.6. The offeror shall apply the applicable indirect rates to the provided plug amounts, as instructed within Attachment 3. NOTE: The limitations on indirect cost rates outlined in Section H.7.

L.3.2 Total Compensation Plan. Offerors shall input the applicable unburdened direct annual salaries that will actually be paid to the employee as compensation as instructed within Attachment 3. In addition, offerors shall submit a Total Compensation Plan IAW RFP Provision 52.222-46. When describing the salaries and associated fringe benefits and/or labor related cost elements offered within the plan, offerors shall separately list those cost elements which are included within the unburdened direct annual salaries (proposed within Attachment 3, “Total compensation” tab) and which are not included, however still offered as part of the total compensation and therefore included within the fully burdened labor rates (proposed within Attachment 3, “OY-OY8” tabs).

NOTE: Reference Attachment 3, “Instructions” tab for those minimum cost elements that shall be included within the unburdened direct annual salaries within the “Total compensation” tab as applicable.

52.222-46 EVALUATION OF COMPENSATION FOR PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES (FEB 1993)

(a) Recompetition of service contracts may in some cases result in lowering the compensation (salaries and fringe benefits) paid or furnished professional employees. This lowering can be detrimental in obtaining the quality of professional services needed for adequate contract performance. It is therefore in the Government's best interest that professional employees, as defined in 29 CFR 541, be properly and fairly compensated. As part of their proposals, offerors will submit a total compensation plan setting forth salaries and fringe benefits proposed for the professional employees who will work under the contract. The Government will evaluate the plan to assure that it reflects a sound management approach and understanding of the contract requirements. This evaluation will include an assessment of the offeror's ability to provide uninterrupted high-quality work. The professional compensation proposed will be considered in terms of its impact upon recruiting and retention, its realism, and its consistency with a total plan for compensation. Supporting information will include data, such as recognized national and regional compensation surveys and studies of professional, public and private organizations, used in establishing the total compensation structure.

(b) The compensation levels proposed should reflect a clear understanding of work to be performed and should indicate the capability of the proposed compensation structure to obtain and keep suitably qualified personnel to meet mission objectives. The salary rates or ranges must take into account differences in skills, the complexity of various disciplines, and professional job difficulty. Additionally, proposals envisioning compensation levels lower than those of predecessor contractors for the same work will be evaluated on the basis of maintaining program continuity, uninterrupted high-quality work, and availability of required competent professional service employees. Offerors are cautioned that lowered compensation for essentially the same professional work may indicate lack of sound management judgment and lack of understanding of the requirement.

(c) The Government is concerned with the quality and stability of the work force to be employed on this contract. Professional compensation that is unrealistically low or not in reasonable relationship to the various job categories, since it may impair the Contractor's ability to attract and retain competent professional service employees, may be viewed as evidence of failure to comprehend the complexity of the contract requirements.

(d) Failure to comply with these provisions may constitute sufficient cause to justify rejection of a proposal.

(End of provision)

Note: Each proposed subcontractor shall submit to the prime offeror a separate Total Compensation Plan meeting the requirements of 52.222-46. If there are concerns sharing the plan with the prime offeror, the subcontractor may submit their plan in a sealed package to the prime offeror, which will only be opened by the Government. The prime offeror shall submit its complete Price Matrix as well as all proposed subcontractor Total Compensation Plans as part of its proposal submission. The Government will not accept direct submission from any subcontractor.

L.3.3 The Contracting Officer has determined there is a high probability of adequate price competition on this acquisition. Upon examination of the initial proposals, the Contracting Officer will review this determination and if in the Contracting Officer’s opinion adequate price competition exists, certification under FAR 15.406-2 will not be required. However, if at any time during this acquisition the Contracting Officer determines that adequate price competition no longer exists, the offeror may be required to submit certified cost and pricing data. Additionally, all information related to cost shall be included in the section of the proposal defined as “Volume 3 – Price”. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should pricing data be included elsewhere in the proposal.

L.4 VOLUME 4 – Administrative Criteria. The offeror shall provide documentation as required below in order for the Contracting Officer to determine the offeror responsible IAW FAR 9.104-1 and therefore, eligible for contract award.

L.4.1 Top Secret Facility Clearance and Secret Safeguarding Capability. The offeror must have and provide proof of a Top Secret Facility Clearance and Authorized Secret Safeguarding as accredited by the Defense Security Service (DSS) at the time of proposal submission.

L.4.3 Acceptable Contractor Business Systems. The offeror shall provide documentation from DCMA, DCAA, or other Cognizant Federal Agency (CFA) that allows the Contracting Officer to determine that the contractor’s accounting and purchasing systems as defined in DFARS clause 252.242-7005 are Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliant and are acceptable or are capable of being deemed acceptable as defined in 252.242-7006 and 252.244-7001 respectively. If the offeror does not have documentation from DCMA, DCAA or other CFA approving its accounting system and/or purchasing system due to Government caused delay, the offeror must provide evidence that approval was requested and describe how the business system(s) are CAS compliant and are acceptable as defined in each of the applicable business system clauses listed in the definition of "contractor business systems" in DFARS 252.242-7005.

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