Questions Responses 2.22.2012.pdf

Questions and Responses to

HSFEMW-11-R-0001

2/21/2012

Q1: Section K.2 establishes a small business size standard of $7M for the subject RFP.

Will FEMA please confirm that it will adhere to the SBA change in the small business standard size for 541990 NAICS code from $7M to $14M, effective 3/12/2012.

A: The Contracting Officer consulted with the FEMA Small Business Specialist and SBA, and learned that the small business size standard for this requirement should remain at $7M because it was released prior to 3/12/2012. The change in size standard for this does not affect RFPs released prior to 3/12/2012.

Q2: The RFP has a requirement for the contractor to have a Top Secret Facility Clearance at the time of award. Can you please clarify if all contractors submitting a resonse – either as a prime or subcontractor – must have Top Secret Clearance prior to award?

A: Section 1.4.4 of the STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) states that all contractors must have Top Secret facility clearances. The SOW of work will be incorporated into the contract(s) at award, and therefore, does not speak to the requirements at the time of proposal submission. Attachment 2 TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS, Section 6 Management Plan, states that “Offerors shall address the plan to provide both company/facility security clearances and individual security clearances required to support the programs and tasks identified in the SOW at the time the proposal is submitted, and to maintain clearances after award.” In order to be eligible for award any proposed Prime Contractor must demonstrate they possess a Top Secret Security Clearance at the time proposals are submitted. Likewise, any subcontractors that are proposed to work on tasks that require clearances must possess facility clearances at the time proposals are submitted. If they desire, offerors may also propose sub-contractors or personnel that do not have clearances (facility or individual) to work only on unclassified tasks, but offerors should not assume that clearances, either facility or individual, will be obtained after award. Any contractors proposed to work on tasks requiring clearances must have the appropriate clearances at the time proposals are submitted. FEMA will not wait for a contractor to obtain clearances, and will not pay for contractors to obtain clearances.

Q3: Are small business primes required to perform a certain percentage of the work on task orders that are awarded to them? If so, what is the percentage they are required to perform?

A: Paragraph (b)(1) of FAR Clause 52.219-14, entitled Limitations on Subcontracting (Nov 2011), states that the clause does apply to contracts that have been set aside or reserved for small business concerns. It further states in paragraph (c), that by submission of an offer and execution of a contract, the Offeror/Contractor agrees that in performance of the contract in the case of a contract for services (such as this requirement), that at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern. It should be noted, however, that Clause G.3 TASK ORDER PROCEDURES, paragraph (c)(2) allows for awardees to “NO BID” a particular Task Order Fair Opportunity Competition at their own discretion. It is possible that Small Businesses may utilize the “NO BID” provision for Task Orders where they may not have sufficient in-house resources to meet the Limitations on Subcontracting requirement.

Q4: The Questions and Responses posted on 12/15/2011 concerning HSFEMW-12-R- 0001 led small businesses to believe they would be able to submit proposals against only the task areas of their choosing, based on capabilities and relevant past performance.

However, the RFP now leads small businesses to believe that each offeror must submit against all three task orders. Is it a requirement for small businesses submitting proposals to respond to all three task areas?

R: The responses received to Sources Sought/Request for Information HSFE50-12-I- 0012 indicated that there were multiple small businesses that stated that they could potentially perform all of the task areas in the Statement of Work (SOW). After review of those responses, FEMA determined that rather than conducting this competition as a Partial Small Business Set-Aside, where only certain task areas would be set-aside for small businesses, it would be appropriate to conduct this procurement as a Full and Open Competition, with the goal of “reserving” two of the multiple-award IDIQ contracts to small businesses. Accordingly, small businesses submitting proposals under RFP HSFEMW-12-R-0001 should address all of the task areas within the SOW, as well as the three Initial Task Orders contained in the RFP. It should be noted that this strategy is in accordance with a November 2011 change to FAR 19.502-4, which also permits certain Task Orders to be set-aside after award for competition among the small business awardees.