Q A_Rev_1.pdf

1. Will USUHS sponsor SBA 8(a) certified companies for a Top Secrete Facility interim clearance

(4.5.1) as the USUHS awardee’s facility clearance application is sent to DSS for approval?

A. No. the contract prime company must already be certified with a facility Top Secret

Level clearance, in order to fully execute this contract with qualified guard members.

2. Will the agency consider sponsorship of clearance for the awardee if they do not currently have the clearance?

A. No. the contract prime company must already be certified with a facility Top Secret

Level clearance, in order to fully execute this contract with qualified guard members.

3. Shift Supervisor Minimum Requirements (5.0): What labor category does the Shift Supervisor correspond to in the CBA since the position of Shift Supervisor is not listed in the CBA?

A. Guard II.

4. Security Guard Basic Training (13.0): How many hours are required for basic guard training? Are the basic training hours billable, or should this be factored into the pricing?

A. 8 hours of classroom instructions and must be factored into pricing.

5. In-Service Training (13.1): Are the required in-service training hours billable, or should this be factored into the pricing?

A. In-service training should be factored into the pricing.

6. Specialized Training (13.3): How many hours required? Are the required specialized training hours billable, or should this be factored into the pricing?

A. Specialized Training should be factored into the pricing.

7. Refresher Training (13.4): Are the required refresher training hours billable, or should this be factored into the pricing?

A. Refresher Training should be factored into pricing.

8. Temporary Additional Services (19.0): How many temporary additional service hours were performed in the past 12 months? How much lead time is typically given for a request for temporary additional services?

A. In the past 12 months, 80 hours of temporary additional services were requested. For scheduled events the government will contact the successful offeror within 24 to 48 hours; and for unforeseen necessity of additional guards due to security equipment failure, the contract company will be notified the same day for guard service.

9. Employee Personal Equipment (23.0) Does the contractor furnished policemen-type uniform have to be approved by the COR/KO?

A. Yes , to ensure the contracting company meets the uniform requirements

10. Page 27, item 29.2, of SOW states that “The Contractor must constantly man the USU Security

Guard Office, which is the focal point of USU security operations and emergency response operations.” Please identify what post corresponds to the USU Security Guard Office.

A. Shift Supervisor, Post 2 and Post 3

11. Page 29, item 30.2, of SOW AFRRI Security Desk states that “The employee must constantly man the AFFRI Security Desk”. Please identify what post corresponds to the AFRRI Security Desk.

A. Post 5, Post 6 and Post 7

12. Section 2.1.3 Question: Are incumbent personnel required to undergo a physical examination, drug screen, and physical fitness test as a condition for continued employment?

A. Yes, All incumbent personnel must meet all requirements under this SOW

13. Section 2.4.2: Please clarify whether the number of days is seven or 10

A. Seven (7), SOW has been updated with the correct information.

14. Section 7.1.3: Is the choice of location for the physical agility test the contractor’s decision or

USU?

A. The location of the physical agility test can be done at USU grounds with a Health

Liability Waiver for all participants. It is the responsibility of the contracting company to ensure all participants are medically cleared to conduct the physical agility test. The government will not be held liable for possible injuries incurred during the physical agility test.

15. Question: Can the physical agility test be conducted on USU grounds (or adjacent USG property)?

A. The location of the physical agility test can be done at USU grounds with a Health

Liability Waiver for all participants. It is the responsibility of the contracting company to ensure all participants are medically cleared to conduct the physical agility test. The government will not be held liable for possible injuries incurred during the physical agility test.

16. Section 7.2.1: What panel drug is used for the pre-employment and recurring drug test?

A. The panel is at the discretion of the contractor, but must be disclosed in the offerors response.

17. Sections 9.0 and 10.0: Is the incumbent contractor required to provide information and records specified in 9.0 and 10.0, for incumbent security personnel to a new awardee?

A. Training records are required to be transferred, per the existing SOW. Any other records that are required to be transferred from the incumbent in accordance with the SCA, will be transferred.

18. Are incumbent personnel subject to the provisions of 12.1, misdemeanor convictions and financial difficulties as a condition of continued employment?

A. Yes, All incumbent personnel must meet all requirements under this SOW

19. Section 13.0: Are incumbent personnel required to complete basic training upon employment with a new awardee?

A. Yes, All incumbent personnel must meet all requirements under this SOW

20. Is the incumbent contractor required to provide training records for incumbent security personnel employed by new awardee?

A. Yes, training records are required to be transferred.

21. Section 13.2: Use of Force training. Is this training intended to be classroom training, practical training or both?

A. Both, class training and practical training.

22. Section 23.0.1, Uniforms: Under section 23.0.1., “Two (2) police-style cloth badges bearing the

Contractor's company name or logo on all uniforms” are required. Please identify where on the uniform both badges are expected to be affixed.

A. Please follow security and policing Industrial standards for Uniform requirements.

23. Collective Bargaining Agreement – In the Health & Welfare (H&W) section, the agreement indicates that the $4.50 per hour will be distributed to employees in four different items, however, item 1., is missing. Has Item 1. been removed or is there a sentence missing?

A. Given that all parties signed this agreement, only the material that is present in the CBA is binding.

24. Collective Bargaining Agreement – In the same paragraph, item 2 indicates that Payment for short-term/Long-term/Life insurance premiums will be paid, but it doesn’t provide amounts or percentages. Can you clarify this?

A. These amounts are at the discretion of the vendor.

25. Collective Bargaining Agreement – Item 7 of Appendix “A” Vacations, provides the number of vacation days based on length of service. Will the Government please provide a seniority list for pricing purposes?

A. This list will be provided in an amendment on Tuesday, October 11th.

26. RFP Sect. Proposal Submission Instructions, Page 6. “Proposals are due by 10:00PM Eastern local time on October 14th. QUESTION: Please clarify if proposals are due at 10:00pm or 10:00am on

Oct. 14th.

A. Due to a delay providing answers to questions, the deadline for proposals is now 10:00

PM Eastern local time on October 20th.

27. RFP Sect. Proposal Submission Instructions, Page 6. Page Limitations: Price Evaluation Factor: No

Limitation. QUESTION: Please clarify, for the Price Evaluation Factor Section, should the Sample

Pricing Spreadsheet be provided as a separate excel file or should the information be included as a pdf file in the Price Proposal Section?

A. An Excel document is preferred, and must be separate from the rest of the proposal.

28. SOW Sect 1.3.1, Page 2. USU is requiring the contractor to provide all full time employees. The contractor and the PM must coordinate their employees schedule accordingly to prevent part time employment. QUESTION: Please clarify, what defines full time employment? 40 hours/week, 32 hours/week or other?

A. 40 hours/week.

29. SOW Sect 1.3.3, Page 2. The Contractor must furnish: eight (8) guards and one (1) shift supervisor for the first shift, 0500-1330 hours, Six (6) guards and one (1) shift supervisor for the second shift, 1300- 2130 hours, and eight (5) guards and one (1) shift supervisor for the third shift, 2100-0530 hours, five days per week for the week-day staff. QUESTION: Please clarify, will the number of personnel change on federal holidays that occur during the weekday, Monday –

Friday schedule?

A. Yes. In the event that a Federal Holiday falls on a weekday than, the Security Guard

Force will follow a weekend schedule.

30. SOW Sect. 2.1.1, Page 8. The Government will provide a maximum of 60 days for the transition period to occur, prior to the December 1, 2016 start date. QUESTION: Please clarify, if the contract start date is Dec. 1, 2016 and the Government will provide a maximum of 60 days for transition, then the transition period would begin October 1, 2016. The proposal submission date is Oct. 14, 2016, based upon the timeline, a maximum transition period of 60 days is not doable.

A. This was an error. Transition Plans must encompass a two-week period prior to the start date of 1 December 2016.

31. SOW Sect. 2.6.1, Page 10. Contractor must provide KO and COR a preliminary quality control plan as part of the proposal package. QUESTION: A QC Plan is not defined in the Proposal

Submission Instructions Page 6. Please clarify if the QC Plan should be included in the Proposal and if so, what is the page limitation?

A. QC Plan should be part of the proposal with a limitation of 15 pages.

32. SOW Sect. 4.3, Page 11. Employees must currently have a security clearance at the SECRET level.

QUESTION: Is an Interim Level Secret Clearance permissible to begin work?

A. No, Interim Secret Level clearances are NOT authorized under this contract.

33. SOW Sect. 7.1.3, Page 14. Fifteen (15) days prior to the start of the transition period, the contractor is responsible for ensuring that all employees pass a physical fitness test with the

USU COR and/or the Security Director present. QUESTION: Should the sentence read, “Fifteen

(15) days prior to the start of the contract period of performance and not transition period?

A. Yes, that is correct. SOW has been corrected.

34. SOW Sect. 7.1.4, Page 14. The contactor is responsible for conducting and coordinating with the

USU COR any additional physical agility tests, required for new employees brought to the contract after the award date and on an annual basis for all employees under this contract.

QUESTION: Please clarify if new or additional requirements are added to the contract via modification, will the contractor be able to request an equitable adjustment for additional requirements, if warranted?

A. The intent of this paragraph is to state that all new employees hired after the contract performance has already begun must pass the physical agility test, and that a date and time must be coordinated with the COR.

35. SOW 19.0.1, Page 23. Temporary additional services is a request in response to an identified temporary security services, such as special events, extended facility work hours, and malfunctioning or damaged security countermeasures. QUESTION: Does the Government want a rate for TAS to be provided in the price proposal section?

A. As stated in the SOW (19.1.3), the loaded bill rates proposed for this contract will be the same rates used for Temporary Additional Services.

36. In the solicitation document section I(b). Past Performance, it says there will be 3 past performance references and if teaming two of the three need to come from the prime. A few lines down on page 4 it says “More than three (3) past performance references will be accepted.” Is it the government’s intent to allow more than (3) three past performances to be submitted?

A. Yes. The requirement is for a minimum of three (3) past performance references, and we will accept more. Please also recall that a strong history of relevant past performance may be more advantageous to the Government than a less relevant record of favorable performance, and the Government reserves the right to use data provided by the offeror and data provided by alternative sources in conducting its assessment of past performance history.

37. The government makes clear the CBA rates supersede the DoL wage determination rates. Does it follow that the CBA governs where there is conflict with the SCA, or where the CBA terms are more favorable to the employees under this contract than would be available under the SCA?

A. This hypothetical strikes us as an unlikely occurrence, but faced with these circumstances, we would seek guidance from the Department of Labor, and the contractor would be entitled to an equitable adjustment for any increased costs.

38. 1.32 in the SOW calls for eight guards and one shift supervisor for the third shift. The numeral next to the word ’eight’ shows (5). Is it 5 or 8?

A. It is five (5), and the SOW has been corrected.

39. Will the government confirm that, if a contract is awarded to a contractor other than the incumbent contractor, the incumbent will have paid any unused vacation pay due to the employees per the SCA upon termination from the incumbent?

A. Yes, the SCA rules will apply, and all vacation will be paid out.

40. The SOW states that employees must have a Secret level Clearance, yet the requirement calls for the contractor to have TS FCL. Pls confirm that no employee is required to have a TS clearance.

A. At minimum a Secret level clearance is required for all security guard members and project manager. In the event the requirement changes and a Top Secret level clearance is warranted, the contract company must equipped and certified to process Top Secret clearances for their employees.

41. The SOW states that three hours of Additional training is required. Does that pertain to a 12 month period, or other duration?

A. Training must be conducted on a semi-annual bases.

42. The SOW also states that 48 hours of On the Job Training will be required. Does that pertain to a

12 month period, or other duration?

A. Training must be conducted on a semi-annual bases.

43. No minimum nor maximum allowable time is stated for the Basic training (13.0). Will the government provide guidance for Basic training on time allocation?

A. Basic Training must completed prior to the Security Guard member assignment to the

USU site.

44. Please confirm this a fixed price contract. As such will the contractor take the approved total contract value and divide by 12 for monthly invoicing over the course of 12 months? If not how is invoicing supposed to work?

A. Yes, this is a Firm Fixed Price contract, and the intent is to be billed monthly in arrears.

Pricing proposals should reflect this.

45. The table calls for 80 hours to be bid for vacation per person. The CBA calls for up to 160 hours to be granted based on seniority. How should this be reconciled in this fixed price bid?

A. The CBA is clear in how vacation is to be allotted (at a minimum). See section 7A of the

CBA.

46. If there are changes in the rate or terms for the CBA as of December 1, 2017, will the

Government Issue a contract modification to reflect any added costs to the Contractor.

A. If the CBA or the SCA requires the contractor to pay increased wages or benefits, the contractor is entitled to an equitable adjustment. Be aware that new wage decisions are typically not incorporated into the contract until the period of performance is extended.

47. If the SCA wage determination rates or H&W rates subsequently are increased such that they exceed the rates in the CBA, will the Contractor be obligated to pay the employees for an increase? If so, will the Government Issue a modification to cover the increase?

A. If the CBA or the SCA requires the contractor to pay increased wages or benefits, the contractor is entitled to an equitable adjustment.

48. May the contractor pay the $4.50/hr H&W directly in cash to the employee or must the $4.50 be allocated to benefits as specified in the CBA?

A. If the CBA specifies how funds are to be allocated, then those instructions should be followed.

49. Please clarify the definition of Overtime Premium Labor rate. There is no number of hours proposed associated with this category.

A. The Sample Pricing spreadsheet is only a sample, and need not be copied exactly.

Offerors should prepare their pricing spreadsheets in accordance with their regular business practices as well as the requirements of this RFP.

50. Please confirm that the direct cost in the table is the price of the training, and not the price per labor hour for the employee to take the training. Where no number of hours is indicated for training, are the number of hours submitted in the bid at the discretion of the offeror. If not, how are we supposed to determine the hours for those categories?

A. To be clear, this is not a Labor Hour contract. All of the information pertaining to hours has been provided to assist offerors arrive at a more realistic Firm Fixed Price for this award.

51. The CBA calls for $2.00 of the $4.50/hour to be deposited into the Union’s retirement plan. Is it this figure that the government wants to be inputted to the pricing table under Pension?

A. The pricing spreadsheet is provided only as a sample. Offerors must account for all costs required by the CBA, as well as their own. If offerors choose to list the retirement plan

$2.00 as a pension, they may do so, but it must be clearly and visibly accounted for.

52. The SOW has ambiguity in regards to the clearance level. In Section 4.3.1 it states: Must have been the subject of a favorably adjudicated National Agency Check with Local Agency Check

(NACLC), coordinated by the Contractor, prior to beginning work under the provisions of this contract. The Contractor must provide and maintain a memorandum including the name, social security number, date of birth, and date the NACLC was completed in the personnel files of the employees. The Contractor must provide to the USU COR a copy of the final adjudication results of a NACLC. Employees must currently have a security clearance at the SECRET level. After initial phase-in of contract, the contractor must obtain approval from USU COR for all new hires. All requests will include a Memo from contractor as well as a Joint Personnel Adjudication Systems

(JPAS) screen shot of applicant. If and when an applicant is approved the USU COR will notify the contractor.

Additionally, under section 4.5.1 it states: The contracting company must possess a DOD Top

Secret Facility Clearance in order to meet the requirements in 4.3. Contacting company FSO is responsible for all matters involving employee’s clearances and will contact the COR in matters pertaining to employees security clearances and suitability.”

Please clarify on the necessary requirements needed for the clearance level as well as whether a

Top Secret clearance or a Secret clearance is required.

A. At a minimum, a Secret level clearance is required for all security guard members and project manager. In the event the requirement changes and a Top Secret level clearance is warranted, the contract company must be equipped and certified to process Top

Secret clearances for their employees.

53. If top secret clearance is required, since this requirement is 8(a) set aside and was previously a secret clearance requirement, can the subcontractor hold the top secret clearance and sponsor the 8(a) prime company to obtain the TS clearance?

A. No. the contract prime company must already be certified with a facility Top Secret

Level clearance, in order to fully execute this contract with qualified guard members.

54. Under section 4.3.1, it states: All requests will include a Memo from contractor as well as a Joint

Personnel Adjudication Systems (JPAS) screen shot of applicant. According to the JPAS operational policy on printouts from JCAVS, Personnel are granted access to JPAS for the specific purpose of verifying eligibility and determining access to classified information of their service members/employees and/or visitors. There is no authorized use of JPAS printouts. Security

Officers/Facility Security Officers should never print out any screen, screenshot, or provide JPAS printouts to any agency or person. Please advise on the proper protocol for new hires after the initial phase in of the contract.

A. The successful offeror must provide a Memorandum of intent to hire new applicants through the use of a company letterhead MEMO with the following information;

Applicant Full Name:

Date of Birth:

SSN:

Level of investigation conducted (Tier Levels):

Clearance Eligibility (Secret, Top secret, SCI):

Investigation and Adjudication dates:

USU will verify and validate the provided information on JPAS, prior to the approval of new hires assignment to USU Site. Changes has been made to the SOW to reflect this requirements.