HSFE20-14-R-0001_-_Questions_and_Answers___1.docx

RFP # HSFE20-14-R-0001 – CDP Facility Operations and Support Services Questions and Answers # 1 The Government’s responses to questions are provided below in red:

1. Past Performance Questionnaire Attachment R is not attached to the RFP, as mentioned in the PWS, and in M.2, "The Government reserves the right to look into all or a portion of the offeror's references, and collect data through the past performance questionnaire or telephone (call) listed references, or from other sources.”

a. **Will the Government provide this form with instructions? Disregard Attachment R reference.

2. Please clarify what the Government means by “Bookmarks are encouraged,” in L.7.2. Are bookmarks considered to be tabbed section dividers? Yes.

3. Are Letters of Commitment from Key Personnel included in the 100-Page Count for Technical Section 1? No.

4. Does the Government intend to send out Schedule B as an Excel document? No.

5. The FBO page for this Solicitation now states that electronic responses are allowed, although this is not stated in Section L, Proposal Instructions.

a. **Will the government release an amendment stating electronic submission is now acceptable? FBO made a recent change to their website. Electronic submissions are not allowed. Please follow the instructions provided in the RFP.

6. Section H.10, we could not find FAR 52.228-87 as referenced in this section, We are unable to locate FAR clause 52.228-87 as referenced in Section H.10 on page 18. Is it supposed to FAR 52.228-7?

a. Please advise. FAR 52.228-7 is the correct reference.

7. Can you please confirm that there is no Collective Bargaining Agreement applicable to this procurement? There is no Collective Bargaining Agreement applicable to this procurement.

8. General Question, Reference: Scope of Services:

Question: Is the scope of work identical to the current contract? If not, has it increased or decreased? Please identify specific differences in the RFP scope and that of the current contract. Proposals shall be based solely on the information found in this RFP.

9. General Question, Reference: Labor:

Question: Is the Government aware of any outstanding or unresolved labor issues (DOL or Wage & Hour) on the current contract that may affect the incoming successor contractor? If so, please provide relevant information. No.

10. Reference: RFP, Section: B, Page 5-6, Paragraph: B.3 G&A Rate or Handling Fee for Other Direct Costs, Question: The Table provided seems more applicable to a “Cost-Type” contract instead of a “FFP”. If the intent of this Table is to provide the G&A Rate/Handling Fee on the Cost Reimbursable CLINs why would Indirect Cost, Base of Application, Billing Rate and Contractor’s Fiscal Year be applicable? It would be more appropriate to simply ask for the percentage (%) markup the contractor proposes to add to the Cost-Reimbursable CLINs for ODC’s. Revised Table, and included term “Mark-up”.

11. Reference: RFP Section H, Pages 16—19 Question: The header of this section is mislabeled as Section “I” instead of “H”. Typo, will be corrected on contract.

12. Reference: RFP, H.9 Electronic and Information Technology (EIT), Page 17, Question: Please confirm that the computers and peripheral equipment furnished by the government to the contractor is in compliance with the requirements of this paragraph. Yes.

13. Reference: RFP, H.12 Limitation of Contractor Obligation, Page 18, RFP Question: Please clarify that the $10,000 or less liability pertains only to project work orders CLIN xxx6 and not to service calls/repair work under the FFP. If it is the intent that the contractor is responsible for the first $10,000 on service calls/work orders under the FFP this would seem to give the Government carte blanche ability to procure goods and services outside the scope of the work at little or no cost to the Government. The $10,000 limitation only applies to special project work orders paid under the cost reimbursement CLINs. This is not a liability on the contractor. The limitation applies more so to the Government.

14. Reference: RFP, H.12 Limitation of Contractor Obligation, Page 18 - 19 Question: In developing estimates for this limitation, the contractor shall use current unburdened rates being paid to their employees at the time of each estimate and shall support material costs with written quotations or invoices. No directs costs or profit are to be included in the estimates. By excluding the statutory payroll costs (FICA, Medicare, SUTA, FUTA, etc.) and other direct costs in the $10,000 limitation, this would not be an accurate reflection of the costs and could in essence require the contractor to perform work at rates lower than their actual costs. This would be [in violation of numerous FAR clauses and federal laws]. Request this language be deleted. No.

15. Reference: RFP, L: L.7.A Proposal Preparation Instructions, Page 44, Question: The Technical Proposal is limited to 100 pages. Section C alone which requires the offeror to respond to as part of their technical proposal is 70 pages with 34 pages attributed to the Scope of Services. This does not take into account Section H which also contains requirements to which the offeror must respond. It is not possible to adequately address all the scope of services and Section C—H within 100 pages particularly with a specified font of Courier 12 which is substantially larger than a Times Roman 12 font. Request that the page limitation be increased to 150 pages and the font to no less than a Times Roman 11 font to allow offeror’s sufficient space to adequately propose their solution to the solicitation requirements. 12 Point Times New Roman, Courier or Ariel or equivalent/similar font is acceptable. Illustrations may be 10 Point font.

16. Reference: RFP, L.7.C Business Proposal Instruction (Volume 2), Page 48 Question: Paragraph 2.a. Direct Labor requirements appear to be more consistent with a Cost-Type contract instead of a FFP. For example, (1) the reference to actual or average hourly rates and (2) the requirement that vacations, holidays, sick leave, and any other paid absences should be cited as a fringe benefit rate is typically a requirement for cost-type contracts. This would not seem applicable for a FFP effort. Request this be revised to more accurately reflect that this is being procured as a FFP contract with requirements applicable to a FFP effort. Regardless of contract type, the Government needs to review a breakout of labor categories, labor rates and fringe rates to verify compliance with the DoL Wage Determination requirements.

17. Reference: RFP, L.7.C Business Proposal Instruction (Volume 2), Page 48 Question: Paragraph c (2) requires identification of the extent of how competition was obtained and (4) proposed subcontract type. This requirement is typical of a cost-type contract and not a FFP. Request the requirements in this Paragraph c be revised to more accurately reflect requirements for a FFP contract and not those associated with a cost-type procurement. The offeror needs to identify the subcontractor, their total price, subcontractor labor rates (for DoL WD verification, same breakdown format as prime). The extent competed is not required and will be removed.

18. Reference: RFP, L.7.C Business Proposal Instruction (Volume 2), Page 50 Question: Paragraph 7 Indirect Rate Agreement is not applicable to a FFP contract. Request that this paragraph be removed in its entirety. An Indirect Rate Agreement is not required but for the purpose of determining a fair and reasonable price, the information could be provided to justify the offeror’s material handling/G&A/mark-up rate for the applicable CR portions of contract.

19. Reference: PWS, Page 2, Paragraph: Technical Exhibits Question: Attachment R: Past Performance Questionnaire was not included with the solicitation documents. Please provide. Typo, Disregard.

20. Reference: Section: PWS, Page 3, Paragraph1.1 Question: Has mowing and transportation been removed from this solicitation as support requirements? Mowers and trimmers are listed as Government Furnished Equipment. Was this an oversight? Grounds maintenance is not included in this solicitation or contract.

21. Please provide detailed specifications for landscaping of the FEMA acreage. Grounds maintenance is not included in this solicitation or contract.

22 Paragraph B.3, G&A Rate or Handling Fee for Other Direct Costs, Page 5-6, Section B:

It is not clear what Offerors are to include in the table shown in this section. Can the Government please expand on the instructions for this section? See previous response. RFP amended.

23. Paragraph B.3 G&A Rate or Handling Fee for Other Direct Costs, Page 5-6, Section B:

It is not clear what Offerors are to include in the table shown in this section. It would also seem that this information would not be applicable or required for this Firm-Fixed Price contract. Can the Government please expand on the instructions for this section or delete it from the solicitation? This information is needed for the Cost Reimbursement portions of the contract. See previous response. RFP amended.

24. L.7.C Business Proposal Instruction (Volume 2), Pages 48 – 50, Section L There is no mention in this section of Attachment Q (Cost Proposal Form) or where this spreadsheet should be included in the proposal. Is this attachment optional? If not optional, please advise offerors where it should be included in the Business Proposal. Additionally, the format and layout of this spreadsheet is typically found with cost-plus type contracts. If mandatory, please consider revising to remove the cost-plus elements to more accurately reflect the Firm-Fixed Price status of this procurement. This attachment is optional. Offerors may submit their own format that covers the requirements of the solicitation.

25. Reference: Attachment Q: Are the “plug” figures for all non-labor costs to be left as stated in the RFP, should they be supplemented with additional costs if we believe the plug figures are too low, or should we replace the plug figures with our forecast on these costs? All the plug-in figures are to be left as is. (Note: these figures will include overtime labor, temporary subcontracts, materials, equipment, and supplies.)

26. Please advise how the contract would work if non-labor pre-opening costs are projected to the higher than the plug figure provided? The cost reimbursement portions are flexible and will be incrementally funded as needed.

27. In reference to Attachment Q, plug figures for ODCs for CLINs 0002, 0004, 1002, 20002, 3002, 4002. Please clarify as to what is included under these costs, for example, materials – does this include the ordering of replacement mechanical parts, filters, refrigerant, oil, test and measurement calibration equipment, contractor purchased equipment, laptops, cleaning chemicals and floor finishes, paper and plastic supplies, relocation of employees, replacement fuel for generators, subcontracting to a company to perform employee background checks, etc.? If we subcontract for elevator, pest and fire safety, will these costs be paid out of “other costs?” Yes.

28. Per Attachment Q and the use of the plug number for ODC’s can you confirm if this is to contain all costs outside of labor and costs associated with labor? The plug-in numbers will cover all other direct cost (such as materials, equipment, supplies, temporary subcontracts or labor).

29. IS the plug number in Attachment Q solely for evaluation purposes and if so how will actual ODC’s be recovered? The ODC’s will be incrementally funded as needed.

30. Will the government consider a two week extension considering the need for time to address the answers received to these questions and previously submitted questions? The Government will consider whether or not additional time for response is needed. Any extensions will be posted as an amendment to the RFP.

31. Please provide detailed specifications for landscaping of the FEMA acreage. Grounds maintenance is not included in this solicitation or contract.

32. IRT B.2 Cost/Price Schedule – Are bidders to leave the Unit, Quantity and Unit Price fields Blank since the NTE price caps are stipulated? For those CR fields with plug-in numbers the Unit = LOT; QUANTITY = 1; UNIT PRICE = NTE Plug-in Number.

33. IRT B.3 Table Format, it is not clear what is expected to be provided for the terms Indirect Cost, Base of Application and Billing Rate.

a. For Indirect Cost are you looking for the G&A, Profit or Admin Fees? See previous response. RFP amended.

b. For Base of Application, are you looking for the total direct labor rate only. See previous response, RFP amended..

c. For the billing rate, are you looking for the fully loaded hourly rate? (This would include all direct labor cost, G&A/Profit/Admin Fee). See previous response, RFP amended

34. Will materials costs be included in the FFP CLIN or will there be a cost reimbursable CLIN for materials added?

Any materials costs will be included with the ODC cost reimbursement CLIN.

35. Are you wanting a full financial statement or just the P & L? It’s at the discretion of the offeror. Please see FAR 19.6.

36. If we work to meeting the 50% requirement of welfare recipients how do we keep the incumbent employees. If we don't keep the incumbent employees we are not complying with the FAR clause and we will loose knowledge base. There is no 50% requirement for contractors to hire welfare recipients. H.4 simply encourages contractors to actively seek welfare recipients for entry level, or other appropriate positions to the maximum extent possible.

37. Who is/are the incumbent contractor(s) and subcontractor(s)? See the FBO solicitation. A list of subcontractors is not available.

38. What were the contract(s) and award(s) amount(s)? See the FBO solicitation.

39. IRT Section H H.9, Electronic & Information Technology (EIT), contractor shall provide EIT that complies with Workforce Investment Act of 1998, please clarify what this actually requires within the scope of this contract. This is a standard clause, if applicable.

40. Is there any Bid or Performance bond required? No.