PA_TAC_IV_Final_Questions_&_Answers_5-22-2017.pdf

Location Doc ID Question / Comment FEMA Response General What training with the train-the-trainers will receive? What is the duration of their training? Where will that training take place?

Ref: Attachments J003, J001 & Section C of the solicitation.

The courses and duration of each course is identified in J003 and will be offered to the trainers as FEMA makes them available. Some of the courses will be offered online while others will be conducted in a classroom setting.

Answer to Question

Answer to question 22 states that, "The offeror should determine the courses required for their staff to take as part of their overall knowledge of the PA Program."

Without knowledge of the new training courses/content, offerors do not have information on which to base their determination of required training. Can FEMA provide details on the training to help offerors assess what training to require of their staff?

Ref: Attachment J003. The new courses consisting of:

0865, 0866, 0867, 0868, and 0869 located in J003 will be made available upon implementation or availability of the course materials once finalized. Content of the new courses will be provided once finalized.

Answer to Question

Answer to question 20, part 1, states that "FEMA will finalize the details of the training during the base contract kick off meeting."

Are offerors to assume that the training component of M&A will be renegotiated once training has been finalized?

M&A should be priced to account for the cost of training and any variances according to the requirements identified in Section 1.4.1 of the PWS. The training component of M&A will not be renegotiated.

Attachment J003, Pricing Schedule

Attachment J003, All Tabs. The inflation escalation factor is currently applied to all CLINs (0001 M&A, 0002 labor, 0003 travel, and 0004 ODCs). Offerors have already accounted for escalation in their labor rates on the Master Pricing tab. To avoid double-application of escalation to labor, will FEMA please revise the pricing worksheet to only apply escalation to CLIN 0003 travel and CLIN 0004 ODCs?

Attachment J008 - Pricing Schedule has been revised to only apply the inflation escalation factor to CLINs 0003 (travel) and 0004 (ODCs).

Attachment J003, Pricing Schedule

Attachment J003, Pricing Schedule, All tabs. The yellow cells for labor rates in the pricing sheets are not linked to the Master Pricing tab. Will FEMA please consider re-issuing the Pricing Schedule to with these cells referencing the Master Pricing tab and lock the spreadsheet to avoid the risk of error/inaccuracy of offerors making these changes independently?

FEMA will not revise the Master Pricing tab in J008.

Contractors shall input their rates across the tabs.

RFP Section L, Volume V (page 71)

The amended RFP Section L, Volume V requires large businesses to submit a small business subcontracting plan with the proposal. This is in conflict with Answer to question 32 that states it is due 7 days after award. Please clarify whether offerors are to submit a small business subcontracting plan with their proposals.

References to the small business subcontracting plan located in Section L, Volume V of the solicitation has been removed. For submission of the small business subcontracting plan see Section H.24 of the solicitation.

C.1, 1.4.1, Readiness M&A and PMO Support Staff Attachment J001, 1.4.1, Readiness M&A and PMO Support Staff

Amendment 2 requires that the Program Manager must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Business or a related field and a minimum of 15 years of experience performing program management functions. Would a proposed Program Manager that has over 26 years of leadership experience in emergency management, policy and regulatory development, benchmarking, performance management, business process improvement, and delivery of federal disaster programs be acceptable without having a bachelor’s degree?

We believe that an additional 11 years of direct disaster and emergency management experience over the minimum requirement would equate to a bachelor’s degree.

The degree requirements for the Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager and Deployment/Readiness Manager have been revised in the PWS 1.4.1, and Section C of the solicitation. Revised to read, "Must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Business or a related technical field.

Must also have a minimum of 15 years of experience performing program management functions."

C.1, 1.4.1, Readiness M&A and PMO Support Staff Attachment J001, 1.4.1, Readiness M&A and PMO Support Staff

Amendment 2 requires that the Deputy Program Manager must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Business or a related field and a minimum of 10 years of experience performing program management functions. Would a proposed Deputy Program Manager that has over 26 years of leadership experience in emergency management, policy and regulatory development, benchmarking, performance management, business process improvement, and delivery of federal disaster programs be acceptable without having a bachelor’s degree? We believe that an additional 16 years of direct disaster and emergency management experience over the minimum requirement would equate to a bachelor’s degree.

The degree requirements for the Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager and Deployment/Readiness Manager have been revised in the PWS 1.4.1, and Section C of the solicitation. Revised to read, "Must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Business or a related technical field.

Must also have a minimum of 10 years of experience performing program management functions."

Performance Work Statement Section 1.4.1, paragraph 2, The revised Performance Work Statement states that the Deployment/Readiness Manager must have a four (4) year degree in business management or business administration. Based on the job requirements of the Deployment/Readiness Manager and the potential range of personnel with directly relevant experience, this specific degree requirement is unnecessarily limiting. Would the Government consider adjusting the degree requirement to state that the Deployment/Readiness Manager must have a four (4) year degree in a related field?

The degree requirements for the Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager and Deployment/Readiness Manager have been revised in the PWS 1.4.1, and Section C of the solicitation. Revised to read, "Must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in business management or business administration or a related technical field."

Performance Work Statement, Section 1.4.1, paragraph 4, and Section 1.4.1, paragraph 5, page 6

The revised Management & Staff Availability Deployment Readiness section in Performance Work Statement states that the Contractor shall have the capability to provide 40% of their resources capable to perform under this requirement by the base period of performance. The Background Checks / Badging section states that the Contractor shall have thirty percent (30%) of their staff submit all required security documents within 30 calendar days after the transition period begins. Since the base period of performance is estimated to begin approximately 30 days after the transition period begins, and personnel are not permitted to perform under this contract until passing the background investigation, would the Government confirm that Contractors will be compliant with both requirements once they submit all required security documents for at least thirty percent (30%) of their staff within 30 calendar days after the transition period begins?

The government has revised section 1.4.1 of the PWS and Section C of the solicitation to reflect a change to 30% of their resources capable to perform under this requirement by the start of the base period of performance. This will satisfy compliance with both requirements.

Solicitation Section L.8, Volume III, Section 3

Offerors are required to submit a separate proposal for each zone, if they choose to pursue more than one zone. If an offeror chooses to submit the same past performance reference for more than one zone, please confirm that the Government points of contact for the corresponding Past Performance Questionnaire are only required to submit a single completed PPQ that can be used across all proposed zones.

In accordance with the requirements of Section L.8, Volume III Section 3 of the solicitation: Offerors may submit a corresponding past performance questionnaire for all proposed zones.

Questions & Answers Questions 29, 67, 68, 92, and

The Government’s responses within the Question & Answers document state that the Government will award a transition Task Order separate from the Firm Fixed Price Task Order for annual M&A, and that the Government will issue a transition TOPR post award. The Performance Work Statement describes activities that must occur during the transition period based on calendar days following contract award. If the Government intends to issue a transition TOPR following award of the IDIQ, the transition Task Order will not be awarded after the TOPR response is submitted and approved. Will the Government clarify the due date for items that must be completed during Transition / Phase-In as being based upon the start date for the Transition Task Order, rather than IDIQ contract award?

The Government will take the following steps (may not be all inclusive) Step 1: Award IDIQ contracts;

Step 2: Kick off meeting;

Step 3: Develop transition/phase-in requirement package;

Step 4: CO issues task order proposal request (TOPR) to IDIQ Awardees; and Step 5: CO awards transition/phase-in task order.

The transition / phase-in period is scheduled from date of award to 11/30/2017. Deliverables have been outlined in Attachment J004 to include kick off meeting to start within 5 business days of awarded IDIQ contracts.

Amendment 01, Volume 1 - Relevant Experience, Criteria

The solicitation was changed to read, “Offeror must identify at least 40% of the Resources needed to perform as the Prime, Joint Venture or under a Teaming Agreement from at least one (1) contract/task order. To demonstrate this experience, submission shall include: resources, performed as the prime or subcontractor, contract/task order number, title, and point of contact.”

Would the Government please clarify the requirement of providing at least 40% of the labor resources for a particular contract or task order?

Reference the solicitation, Section L.8, Volume 1- the Government is requesting Offerors to demonstrate their ability to meet and identify at least 40% of the resources needed to perform under the PA TAC IV requirement from at least one (1) contract or task order in which they have performed as the Prime or Subcontractor.

Amendment 02, the

1.4.1. Objective 1

Readiness Management and Administration (M&A) Services under Readiness M&A and PMO Support Staff, degree requirements have been added for each of the key personnel. For the Program Manager and Deputy Program Manager the amendment requires “ a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Business or a related field”. Would the Government please confirm that degrees in engineering, architecture, science or construction management would be considered a “related field.”

See Q&A 8 and 9.

We are very concerned that the new guidance in the PWS regarding the qualifications for PMO staff is unduly restrictive. Many of the categories state that business degrees are a preferred or required element. We argue that there are plenty of other disciplines that are equally well qualified for leadership roles on this contract. Specifically, we suggest that the wording be changed to indicate that a BS degree in business or an appropriate technical field be established as the minimum requirement.

See Q&A 8 and 9.

More specifically, the requirements for the Deployment/Readiness Manager states that a person must “have a four(4) year degree in business management or business administration.” A business degree is certainly not the only suitable background for doing this position. This criterion would exclude numerous individuals that have proven experience doing this exact type of work for FEMA. Again, our suggestion is that the wording be changed to indicate that a BS degree in business or an appropriate technical field be established as the minimum requirement.

See Q&A 8 and 9.

Amendment 2, PWS Section 1.4.1 Readiness M&A and PMO Support Staff

A 4-year degree is not a requirement under the current contract for the Deployment Readiness Manager position. By adding the degree requirement in Amendment 2, bidders are prevented from proposing their most experienced and capable personnel. Can experience be an alternative to a 4-year degree for the Deployment Readiness Manager?

See Q&A 10

Per section L.8 Proposal Submission, Volume 1 - Relevant Experience, Table 1

Items 1, 2, and 3 all require the proposer to identify a 'point of contact' as part of the demonstration of the required experience. Can the government please confirm that the 'point of contact' should be the client representative for the specified contracts?

Confirmed.

The Program Manager and Deputy now require a minimum of a bachelors’ degree in business or a related field. We would like FEMA to clarify that a related field would be any field that would qualify a candidate to support this program in accordance with the labor categories described in Attachment J – which could include business, engineering, architecture, planning, science, etc. as long as the candidate demonstrates significant management experience leading programs similar to the PA TAC IV requirements. Not having this flexibility will significantly limit the pool of qualified candidates and could impact service delivery. Please clarify.

See Q&A 8 and 9.

The Deployment/Readiness manager now requires a four year degree in business management or business administration. Again, we would like FEMA to clarify they will accept a related degree that would prepare the person for the role of Deployment/Readiness Manager (e.g. engineering, logistics, etc.) as long as the candidate could demonstrate significant work experience in staffing readiness and deployment on similar or relate work to the PA TAC IV requirements.

See Q&A 10.

J008 Readiness Tab, 15 to 21

The instructions state that the yellow cells L16 to P20 are to include all costs (labor, overhead, profit, travel, … ). Does FEMA want to see the build-up of these costs and if so where would this be shown? 2. The categories of Project Management / Readiness, Reporting and Project Briefings seem to be performed in cells K5 to K11. Are these cells for hours in addition to K5 and K11 as well as any direct costs?

3. A material handling fee has been added on row 24. The definition of Material Handling from https://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%2016_6.html is “Material handling costs. When included as part of material costs, material handling costs shall include only costs clearly excluded from the labor-hour rate.

Material handling costs may include all appropriate indirect costs allocated to direct materials in accordance with the contractor's usual accounting procedures consistent with Part 31.” Is this where all travel and other ODC’s should be placed for the Readiness component?

1) The Government will not request backup documentation with the submission of proposals; however, the Government does reserve the right to request cost or pricing data prior to award (ref: solicitation Section L, Volumn IV). 2) J008, Readiness tab, K5-K11 offerors shall insert thier fully burdened hourly rates for each labor category and period of performance. All cells highlighted in yellow are unlocked for input. The other direct costs (ODC) consist of: badging, training, project management/readiness reporting project briefings. Attachment J008, Readiness tab has been revised to include travel.

Amendment 2 defined minimum qualifications of the Deployment/Readiness Manager. specifically that this position “must have a four (4) year degree in business management or business administration.” Our experience has been that this position is typically a person not necessarily degreed but has experience aligning professional and non-professional staff to disaster resource requirements, personnel logistics management, maintaining and exercising staffing plans, and maintaining training and credentials. A) Would FEMA accept 10 years of experience in personnel resourcing in place of the degree requirements?

B) If the answer to A) is no, would the Government consider a four (4) year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree rather than limiting the degree requirements to business management or business administration?

See Q&A 10

Attachment J0008 Instructions worksheet has two contradictory statements:

1. Management & Administration Annual Task Order under CLIN 0001 shall be priced a firm-fixed-price for each period of performance (ref tab labeled “Readiness”) and shall be utilized throughout the life of the contract. And 3a.

CLIN 0001 M&A has been provided for evaluation purposes only and it will automatically populate the extended cost based on labor categories below for each PoP. Question: Is the M&A used for evaluation purposes only (with the final FFP amount to be negotiated after award), or is the cost populated in the Readiness worksheet our Firm-Fixed-Price amount upon contact award?

Attachment J008 instructions for #1 and #3 are correct.

Instruction #1 corresponding to the Readiness tab, which is the Readiness/M&A firm-fixed-price task order that is issued on an annual basis. Instruction #3 represents the M&A contract line item numbers (CLIN) that are priced under disaster task orders. Review the rollup tab under disaster CLINs. Yes, the Disaster CLIN 0001 M&A is for evaluation purposes only.

Attachment J008 readiness worksheet states the Material and Handling (M&H) Fee is not to exceed 10%. The response to question 123 states terms of allowable G&A for travel is reserved as a pre or post award negotiation item. As M&H fees (as well as general and administrative costs) are allowable cost per the FAR, will the government please confirm that the M&H Fee in Attachment J008 is for comparison purposes only and that contractors’ approved audited G&A or M&H rates will be used?

The Government previously answered "NO" to negotiate the Readiness tab under Attachment J008. After further consideration, the Government may conduct pre or post award negotiations under the Readiness tab for the following other direct cost items only: badging, training, project management, readiness, reporting, project briefings and material handling. However, under the Readiness tab, the labor categories under M&A Readiness / PMO Staff will not be negotiated.

Attachment J008 requires a price for Badging, Training, Project Management/Readiness, Reporting, Project Briefings. However, it is not clear what is to be priced here. For example, time for the trainers is included in row 11. Please clarify what price elements you are looking for to be included in rows 16 through 20.

Reference the following documents for Badging, Training, Project Management/Readiness, Reporting, Project Briefings- Ref J004 PRS for deliverables/reportings/briefings. Ref J001 PWS, 1.4.1 badging, training, project management/readiness.

Item 5 on the Instructions tab states "Offerors will input their inflation rate for positions 1 thru 14". It does not appear the functionality is provided in the spreadsheet. Offerors can include inflation costs in rates for each option period, is that FEMA's desire?

See Q&A 5.

Attachment J008 - Pricing Schedule (05-18-2017)

FEMA provides a cell for M&A and has entered a value of 3%. The cell is not highlighted yellow suggesting it is not a cell to be modified by the offeror.

Does FEMA want the offeror to propose a value for M&A or leave the value at 3%.

J008 Pricing Schedule under the position tabs 1 - 14; leave at 3% for evaluation purposes.

Attachment J008 - Pricing Schedule (05-18-2017)

Item 1 on the Instructions tab states "Management & Administration Annual Task Order under CLIN 0001 shall be priced a firm-fixed-price for each period of performance (ref tab labeled "Readiness") and shall be utilized throughout the life of the contract." Does FEMA want the offeror to provide only Other Direct Costs (ODCs) to support "Badging, Training, Project Management/Readiness, Reporting and Project Briefings" based on the labor hours FEMA provided above?

Or does FEMA want the offeror to include labor and ODCs related to "Badging, Training, Project Management/Readiness, Reporting and Project Briefings" which may include the labor for staff to attend training or get a badge?

No. Offerors should determine the costs required to support each ODC. All requirements listed for the ODCs are included in the following documents J001 - PWS and J004 - PRS (see Q&A 26).

Request to extend the proposal due date by 7 days or a week. This is the final Q&A that the Government will respond to .

The proposal due date is unchanged.