Amendment_2_to_RFP.pdf

Questions for Clarification For: RFP: HHS‐NIH‐NHLBI‐CSB‐RG‐16‐002‐JF

Administrative and Technology Support Services for the NIH Peer Review Program

1. RFP, page 59: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS / 1.Technical Discussions / 5.

Personnel

The RFP states the following: “Special mention shall be made of direct technical supervisors and key technical personnel, and the approximate percentage of the total time each will be available for this program.” At the same time the RFP does not indicate any required key personnel for the project. Can the government state which roles should be considered key personnel for the contract?

Response: Offerors shall propose their best strategy solutions in response to the requirements set forth in the Statement of Work. Offerors shall identify labor categories, including key technical personnel, which reflect the best strategy solutions described in their technical proposals.

2. RFP, page 59: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS / 1.Technical Discussions / 5.

Personnel

The RFP states the following: ” OFFERORS SHOULD ASSURE THAT THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, AND ALL OTHER PERSONNEL PROPOSED …..”. The nature of the work under this contract does not require a Principal Investigator role. We suggest replacing Principal Investigator with Project Director. Can the government revised the RFP text accordingly?

Response: Please see the response to #1. The requirement is not research and development. Therefore, the Government concurs that the Principal Investigator model does not apply to this requirement.

3. RFP, page 59: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS / 1.Technical Discussions / 6. Past

Performance

The RFP lists paragraphs 1. Single Principal Investigator/Project Director and 2. Resumes under subsection 6. Past Performance. These paragraphs seem to be misplaced under Past Performance since Single Principal Investigator/Project Director and Resumes are personnel-related topics rather than past performance items. Can the government move paragraphs 1. Single Principal Investigator/Project Director and 2. Resumes under subsection 5. Personnel?

Response: Correct. This should all go under Personnel and not Past Performance.

4. RFP, page 66: BUSINESS PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS / 6. Qualifications of the Offeror

The information requested under the Qualification of the Offeror subsection in the Business Proposal is covered under the Past Performance section of the Technical Proposal. In addition, the information requested under Qualification of the Offeror does not seems to be part of the COST/PRICE evaluation criteria as stated in the RFP. Can the government remove the Qualifications of the Offeror subsection from the Business Proposal?

Response: Correct. Qualifications of the Offeror, page 66, item 6. is to be part of the technical proposal.

5. RFP, page 69: TECHNICAL EVALUATION FACTORS / Criterion 2: Personnel

The RFP states that “The proposal includes resumes for the personnel proposed for each sub-task…” Based on the estimate of effort provided by the Government (RFP page 43), this contract requires a large number of personnel. Given the fact that there is a 10-page limit (single sided) for proposal appendixes which already includes Past Performance information, we request that the page limit for appendixes be removed in order to accommodate resumes for all proposed staff (i.e. personnel proposed for sub-task).

We also suggest limiting resumes to 3 pages for key staff and 2 pages for non-key staff.

Response: The Government understands the request. Therefore, we will allow 3 single-sided pages for key personnel and a limit of 2 single-side pages for non-key staff.

6. RFP page 69: TECHNICAL EVALUATION FACTORS / Criterion 3: Past Performance

The RFP indicates that at least 3 references form federal government clients should be included under the Past Performance information including “1 contract completed in the last 12 months.” Can the offeror use a current contract (where at least one contract year has been completed) for this requirement?

Response: The Government has determined that any potential Offeror shall have one (1) contract completed in the last 12 months.

7. Solicitation p. 59, Additional Personnel

The solicitation states: "For all proposed personnel who are not currently members of the Offeror’s staff, a letter of commitment or other evidence of availability is required. A resume does not meet this requirement."

Is this for key personnel or all personnel proposed? Please confirm that letters of commitment may be outside of page count.

Response: The Government is requesting a letter of commitment from all proposed personnel not currently members of the Offeror’s staff. Each letter shall be only one (1) page in length and is outside the page count.

8. Solicitation p. 69

The solicitation states: “The proposal includes resumes for the personnel proposed for each sub-task that demonstrates the currency, quality, and knowledge, depth of experience, the appropriate certifications and the applicability of that experience to the task order." Are full resumes required for each proposed staff member, or only for key personnel?

9. May we use smaller font sizes in graphics and tables?

Response: Offeror’s shall utilize their best judgement with regards to the fonts on graphics and tables.

The text shall be legible.

10. Solicitation p. 49, item 15

The solicitation states: "A list of contracts with Federal Agencies completed during the past 12 months and ALL CONTRACTS AWARDED IN THE LAST 3 years that are currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation workscope. Contracts listed may include those entered into by the Federal Government, agencies of state and local governments and commercial concerns." If this is within page count, this would unfairly penalize companies that have more experience by forcing them to use up page count to list ALL contracts. We would request this be reduced to a finite number or be considered outside the page count limits.

Response: The Government is requesting a list of contracts that are similar in nature to the solicitation’s workscope. Which contracts are included and how they are referenced is up to the Offeror. The Government will accept as part of the Technical Proposal a list of contracts as an addendum.

11. Solicitation p. 60

May the narrative demonstrating Section 508 compliance be outside of page count?

Response: Section 508 compliance shall be addressed in a separate section of the Technical Proposal, entitled, “Section 508 Compliance.” It shall be part of the page count.

12. Solicitation p. 67

The solicitation states: Subcontractors must provide "A complete cost proposal in the same format as the Offeror’s cost proposal". We would like to confirm this means the subcontractors must provide the "Basic Cost/Price Information" and not every item required in the Business Volume.

Response: Subcontractors are to provide a complete cost proposal in the same format as the Offeror’s cost proposal. The Basic Cost/Price Information is acceptable.

13. Can you please clarify the correct RFP Number that should be listed on our proposal?

In Attachment 1 Packaging and Delivering of Proposal, the RFP is listed as: HHS-NIH-

NHLBI-CSB-RG-16-006-JF

In the Solicitation, the RFP # is listed as: HHSNIHNHLBISCBRG16002JF In FedBizOpps, the RFP # is listed as: HHS-NIH-NHLBI-SBSS-RG-16-002

Response: The solicitation number is HHS-NIH-NHLBI-CSB-RG-16-002-JF. The field is limited to 23 characters so the dashes were left out. The 006 is an error. A new packaging form is uploaded. The HHS-NIH-NHLBI-SBSS-RG-16-002 is not an “RFP” number. It’s the Sources Sought number.

14. Would it be possible for the government to change the Technical Proposal page limit to 50 (it is currently 30)? The SOW itself is 20 pages and the scope of each task and sub-task is extensive.

Response: The Government will change the Technical Proposal page count from 30 (15 two-sided) to 50 pages (25 two-sided).

MODIFICATION 2: REVISION TO AMENDMENT #1 OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

4. If this is a new requirement, can you let us know how many in‐house FTE’s are engaged to do this Work?

The amount of effort and number of employees required to fulfill the requirement is highly dependent on the number of grant applications received. You will find an Estimate of Effort on page 43, item f. of the RFP. For bidding purposes only, the Government estimates that approximately 55 contractor staff may be required for this effort. Offerors shall propose their best strategy solutions in response to the requirements set forth in the Statement of Work. Offerors shall identify labor categories that reflect the best strategy solutions described in their technical proposals.