RFP_Q A.pdf

HSFE70-15-R-0017

Questions & Answers

Q. Was the site visit mandatory in order for us to bid? Will all information from the visit and any questions be posted on FBops?

A. No, the site visit was not mandatory. All questions and answers are included in this amendment and its attachments.

Q. Is the access road going to be closed at any time due to safety reasons such as large truck traffic or limited access?

A. Access road will continue to have vehicle access since we are sharing facilities with two (2) other tenants. Safety cones will be placed on the side of road when we have generators services so that the other vehicles know to proceed with caution at a lower speed.

Q. Guam is in a constant 24-hour typhoon warning condition. Bad weather is unpredictable and can be lengthy. As all work is performed outside, how will inclement weather delays going to be determined and how will the contractor be compensated if FEMA is narrowing the performance window to just eight business days?

A. Contractor will not be compensated for delays due to inclement weather. If inclement weather affects the services, then the days affected will not be counted towards the eight (8) day window and the contractor will be afforded eight (8) work days to complete the services. Also please refer to FAR 52.212- 4(f) Excusable delays.

Q. FEMA is requesting a one-hour no-load Quarterly run-up period compared to the existing half- hour run-up period. Such a longer period will induce wet-stacking and an unsafe condition. Is FEMA going to be held responsible for all wet-stacking conditions cause by the excessive running of generators under no-load?

A. The one hour requirement is to allow the engine to come up to normal operating temperature. Most units do not reach normal operating temperature in a half hour no-load scenario. Wet-stacking should not be an issue.

Q. The eight business days are arbitrary and have no bearing upon the outcome based services rendered by the contractor. All services are performed outside and do not impact FEMA operations. How long a contractor takes to perform a task is up to them as long as it is accomplished within the 90-day quarterly period and done during normal FEMA business hours. The arbitrary eight days is overly restrictive and must be removed.

A. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to fulfill this time requirement and supply enough personnel/equipment to meet this requirement. Exceptions can be made for time constraints by the COR for instances such as inclement weather (extreme cold, lightning, tornados, etc.), but this is to occur on a case by case determination. FEMA’s operations/response capability is impacted by these services as the units are taken out of immediate rotation for disaster response. The eight day window allows ample opportunity for the Contractor to execute the required services, while simultaneously minimizing the amount of time that the units are not immediately available for disaster response.

Q. Why is this solicitation not a SDVOSB set-aside as the prior solicitation and contract was a SDVOSB set-aside that received 16 offers?

A. Based upon current market research and the scope of this requirement, it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the Government to solicit this acquisition is a Total Small Business Set-Aside.

Q. Why is this not a commercial Firm-Fixed-Price contract like the existing contract as required by FAR Part 12? The PWS actually is written for a non-commercial, Cost-Plus solicitation. The emphasis is all about unforeseeable NMC conditions and selective pre-approved “cost- reimbursable” repairs. Such solicitations are not allowed by FAR Part 12 and this appears to be FEMA’s attempt to morph this basic commercial service into version of USACE’s generator deployment Cost-Plus contract. Cost reimbursement terms or contracts are prohibited under government commercial contracts and this requirement must be removed.

A. Please see the revised documents issued with this Amendment.

Q. Is FEMA provide all diesel fuels to perform the Quarterly/Annual inspections/Testing and any FEMA approved repairs? How is the contractor being reimbursed or provided diesel fuels?

A. Per PWS section 1.2 “The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform on-site generator maintenance” which includes fuels. As such, cost for any of these items, including fuels should be included in the contractor’s pricing proposal.

Q. The solicited requirement does not meet the “performance based service” as all of the work is specific “outcome based” and must be changed. All Quarterly and Annual inspection and testing services are based upon a fixed service on a “per generator” basis and are required tasks.

A. The agency has determined to use the approach reflected in the PWS which is consistent with established practice.

Q. It appears FEMA is alluding to the conclusion or standard that the contractor is being held responsible for the Fully Mission Capable (FMC) status of individual generators and along with the overall FMC rate for the generator fleet. If so, that cannot exist since FEMA retains all authority on all repairs for Non-Mission Capable (NMC) generators discovered (PWS 4.2) during Quarterly or Annual inspections. The attachment, with all implications, of the contractor to any FMC status or rate must therefore be removed as the contractor has no ability or span of control over the FMC status or rate.

A. The Contractor’s performance is based on the number of units that are FMC prior to the Contractor leaving the site during each service period. If parts are ordered and FEMA chooses to execute the repair, then the Contractor is not responsible for that unit. FMC status is determined by FEMA based on the requirements outlined in the PWS.

Q. PWS 4.2 is explicitly a non-commercial cost reimbursement tasking that also violates FAR Part 12 by not allow any “mark-ups or fees associated with (repair) CLIN. This is a violation as commercial pricing includes not only overheads put profits and risk considerations. FEMA is effectively attempting to get unforeseeable parts and repairs accomplished below contractor’s operational cost without allowing any profits while holding the contractor completely at risk.

This cost reimbursement requirement must be removed.

Q. This entire PWS is overly restrictive and violates both FAR Part 12 and even FAR Part

37.602. FEMA is not defining end results, but is intentionally fencing the requirement towards a preferred performance method. All restrictions on “how” a contractor proposal to accomplish a requirement must be removed from the PWS to include, but not limited to, durations of services, timing of any services, timing of any FEMA approved repairs, and what personnel mix/staffing level a contractor proposes to use.

A. The agency has determined to use the approach reflected in the PWS which is consistent with established practice and is necessary to meet the agency’s needs and mission requirements.

Q. There are no “certifications” required in performing any of commercial generator requirements. All references, determinations, and any evaluations based on such directives or requirements for “certifications” must be removed since this is not required and overly restrictive.

A. Refer to PWS Section 5.10 Personnel and PWS PART 8: CONTRACT DATA REQUIREMENT LIST (CDRL) for the contractor’s certification requirements.

Q. There are no Lock-out/Tag-out requirements for stand-alone generators. This requirement must be removed.

A. Refer to PWS Section 5.10 for requirements regarding lockout/tag out. This requirement is consistent with established industry safety practice.

Q. There are no requirements for “Key Personnel” in this commercial outcome based services.

It is not a personal service nor is it a labor-hour contract. Whom a contractor uses and a contractor’s staffing structure is of no concern to FEMA. All requirements are outcome level tasks. There are no “Key Personnel”. This is not required to perform the outcome level tasks and is overly restrictive. This must be removed.

A. It has been determined to be in the Government’s best interest to include the Key Personnel requirement found in Section 2.5 of the PWS.

Q. This is not a “best value” acquisition as there are no grounds for trade-offs. This requirement must therefore be redefined as a lowest priced technically acceptable acquisition. How the contractor executes the task, how they are structure, who they employ and such are not determinations allow by FEMA. Either the inspection, testing, periodic maintenance, or approved additional repair tasks are accomplished or they are not. Only past performance appears to be a trade-off factor.

A. It has been determined to be in the Government’s best interest to consider award to other than the lowest priced or other than the highest technically rated offeror. Please refer to Section E.8 of the solicitation for the selection criteria in descending order of importance.

Q. All evaluation factor and requirements to such items as, resumes, certifications, financial documents, or such, must be removed. This is not a personal service contract. Financial statements are confidential and have no bearing in technical evaluations. Financial capability for all small businesses is an individual determination by the contractor officer and SBA.

Q. The entire PWS Part 9 is fundamentally flawed and must be revised or removed. As already detailed, a generator’s FMC status and fleet’s FMC rate is not controlled by the contractor.

FEMA retains all control over each generator’s ultimate FMC status along with the fleet’s overall FMC rate. The $500 penalties for each unit failing under 90% FMC is arbitrary and punitive and must be removed in its entirety. No evaluation or assessment can be made by FEMA against the contractor based upon the FMC rate.

A. The penalty has been determined to be neither arbitrary nor punitive.

Q. The $1,000 costumer penalty is arbitrary and punitive and must be removed in its entirety and contradict FAR Part 12. No evaluation or assessment can be made by FEMA against the contractor based upon the FMC rate.

A. The penalty has been determined to be neither arbitrary nor punitive.

Q. Will we be receiving a listing of the gensets to include nameplate data, maintenance history, current condition?

A. An updated DC Guam Inventory will be provided as an attachment to this Amendment. Please refer to A00002 for the most recent Generator Status report and readiness rate.

Q. Due to the distance to fly to Guam and Hawaii, we are interested to find out if there is a sub contractor and who they are so we may be able to use them to augment our crews and reduce response times. We also wanted to see if the local mechanics had seen any special needs over the years we may have to address if we are awarded the contracts.

A. FEMA does not maintain or provide the names of subcontractors. The development of any prime/subcontractor relationship will be developed thru channels exclusive of FEMA. All service requirements and/or needs are outlined in the PWS.