Questions and Answers I.pdf

Questions and Answers for HSHQDC-11-R-00144

1. Question: Please provide an extension to the Proposal submission date of 15 September 2011.

Answer: The revised Proposal submission date is October 7, 2011. Please refer to Amendment 000002 posted on www.fbo.gov on September 15, 2011.

2. Question: Are letters of intent required for just contingent hires, or for all resumes regardless of whether they are a contingent hire or not?

Answer: Letters of intent are required for all proposed hires in accordance with Attachment D in the RFP.

3. Question: In an effort to maintain low page count, can letters of intent be replaced by statements of intent at the bottom of included resumes?

Answer: Offerors shall provide a letter of intent in lieu of the “proposed statement at the bottom of a resume”.

4. Question: Does the cover page count in the volume 1 page count?

Answer: No.

5. Question: Can subcontractor financial statements, as requested in the “Other Proposal Requirements” section, be sent by the subcontractor directly to the government to protect proprietary data?

Answer: Yes, Subcontractors may submit proprietary data directly to Marcelle.loveday@hq.dhs.gov as permitted in Attachment D in the RFP .

6. Question: Attachment D, under Government Offices, there is a reference to both DCAA and DACO. Can you please clarify what you are looking for in terms of DACO? Is this the ACO for our DCMA office?

Answer: Please provide the contact information for your ACO.

7. Question: Reps and Certs are included in the RFP under Attachment C. Are they expected in the proposal package? Or is a statement in Volume V that our ORCA record is current and accurate sufficient?

Answer: Offerors shall provide fully executed Reps and Certs with their Proposal submission.

8. Question: Given the limitation of one file attachment per volume, what is file size limitation that your email system can receive?

Answer: The file size limitation for each email transmitted by an Offeror is 15Mb.

9. Question: Can the government restrict past performance to the HUBZone prime? This will support the government’s evaluation of prime strength and capabilities.

Answer: The RFP does not request submission of past performance questionnaires for subcontractors.

10. Question: Can the government reconsider its restriction on pdf files? Documents including signed offer letters are sufficiently handled by this format.

Answer: PDF files will be permitted.

11. Question: For Attachment D - Offeror Team Matrix, can the government provide an example matrix for use by the offeror to properly address this request?

Answer: Contractor format is acceptable.

12. Question: For Attachment D - Price Proposal, can the government provide a template for the company financial information to be provided by the offeror?

13. Question: What is the minimum font size acceptable for writing the response?

Answer: The minimum font size acceptable is 11.

14. Question: Will the government allow the subcontractor’s staff security clearance held by the Prime until the Subcontractor has the facility security clearance?

Answer: Yes.

15. Question: Currently besides the incumbent's three (3) key personnel, what are the total number staff/staff hours that anticipated for the contract?

Answer: Offer has to determine based on a combination of GFI, technical knowledge, and subject matter expertise.

16. Question: Who is the incumbent contractor for the current (or the equivalent) contracting effort?

Answer: Blackstone Technology Group is the incumbent contractor for the existing HSIN PMO effort.

17. Question: Members of our staff currently have Secret and Top Secret clearances; however, one of the key team members is not cleared beyond Public Trust as yet. Will the government provide the necessary clearance background check, etc., so the entire team can be cleared beyond Public Trust level?

Answer: Clearances are granted by the Defense Security Services (DSS) in conjunction with the Prime. DHS does not provide security clearances. DHS grants SCI access.

18. Question: What is the award timeline?

Answer: Award is projected for December 1, 2011. Please refer to Amendment 000002 posted on www.fbo.gov on September 15, 2011.

19. Question: Attachment D page 3: 2. Staffing and Management Plan: Does the government have a preferred Letter of Intent for key Personnel to sign?

20. Question: Attachment D page 3: 2. Staffing and Management Plan: Will the letter of intent be excluded from the page count for the Staffing and Management Plan?

Answer: Yes.

21. Question: Attachment D page 2 & 3: Past Performance discussion is limited to 2 pages. 3

References are required. Request 3 page allowance?

Answer: The RFP will be revised to permit 3-page responses for past performance information submitted in an Offeror’s Proposal.

22. Question: Attachment D page 1 Submission Requirements: “Offerors are hereby notified that only one attachment per volume will be considered.” Are past Performance Questionnaires submitted by the reference considered an attachment?

Answer: No.

23. Question: Attachment F, Statement of Work: requires that candidates for key positions have a

“Secret security clearance with eligibility for access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).” How should Offerors demonstrate SCI eligibility for Secret-cleared personnel?

Answer: Ideally, by clearing the person to the TS level. SCI is an access level within the scope of a TS clearance.

24. Question: The Key Staff are all required to have a Secret level of clearance. Do the proposed staff need to have the clearance currently or do they need to be clearable to the Secret level? If required would the Government accept an “interim” clearance?

Answer: The Government will evaluate the need on a position/case-by-case basis.

25. Question: To assist Offerors in scoping TO1, would the Government please state how the SOW for TO1 differs in scope from the current task order (e.g. subtasks added or removed)?

Answer: The scope of TO1 is consistent with the Program’s current level of support.

Engineering, Development, Agile, and Portal services have been added to this acquisition.

26. Question:Attachment E, Item 12(g) page 5: Would the Government please confirm that the “handling charge” terminology used in this section does not limit the Contractor’s ability to recover their full indirect rate expense (i.e. G&A) applicable to Travel costs?

Answer: The Contractor will be able to recover the indirect expense rate bid in its proposal.

The RFP will be amended to remove the 4% Handling Charge. Profit shall not be paid on any non-labor items.

RFP Section RFP Pg. Reference Text

Question Answer

Atch D, Additional Instructions

4 Do all of these items (team matrix, price proposal, Organizational Structure Change History, Govt Offices, DACO or DCAA, Assoc Contractor Agreements) go in Volume V, Other Proposal Requirements?

Yes

Atch D, Price Proposal

4 A major subcontractor is a subcontractor whose total Offer is priced at $500,000 or greater.

Is this dollar value for the Task Order or an anticipated value over the life of the

IDIQ?

The dollar value cited in Attachment D refers to the total IDIQ contract.

Atch D, Add’l 4 The Offeror Please provide acceptable An Offeror may

Inst, Price Proposal shall indicate its current Dunn and Bradstreet rating or equivalent.

alternatives for the D&B rating.

provide information from an independent, accredited accounting firm.

Atch D, Evaluation Methods, 3

5 The Government will evaluate how well the offeror’s Technical Proposal demonstrates the ability to provide comprehensi ve services in accordance with the SOW and demonstrates how efficiently these approaches provide for successful completion of the performance objectives.

This RFP contains a SOW, with no associated PWS, QASP, or other reference to performance objectives. Will DHS be providing a set of performance objectives and associated QASP with incentives and/or disincentives?

The HSIN PMO will not be a performance-based contract.

The successful Offeror shall perform in accordance with contract requirements.

Confirm minimum percentage of work required by the HUBZone prime in a teaming arrangement (e.g.

51%).

Offerors shall submit Proposals compliant with FAR Part 19 requirements and All applicable Parts of the Code of Federal regulations (CFR).

Will the government provide contact information for incumbent personnel to the prevailing bidder?

No.