J.3 Instructions to Offerors and Basis for Award.pdf

Supplies, Services, and Material Management Division Ford House Office Building, Room H2-263 Washington, DC 20515 202.226.2557 www.aoc.gov

Attachment J.3

AOC Congressional CATV Assessment

AOCSSB26R0050

Release Date: TBD

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Acquisition & Material Management Division (AMMD) is issuing Request for Proposals (RFP) AOCSSB26R0050 for the Capitol Power Plant (CPP) Architect of the Capitol (AOC) Congressional Cable TV (CATV) Assessment Services contract. It is anticipated that this RFP will result in a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract to a responsible Offeror actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and whose proposal provides the overall best value to the AOC in accordance with the requirements set forth by this solicitation and the Statement of Work (SOW). This solicitation will use the procedures in AOC Contracting Manual § 9.1 Negotiated Acquisitions. The AOC Contracting Manual can be found here:

https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/AOC-Order-34-1_Contracting-Manual-2022.pdf.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for this requirement is, 541512, and PSC code R499. The contract period of performance will be 180 calendar days from the date of the award.

The List of Attachments is in Section J of Standard Form 33 (SF33).

L.1 RFP GENERAL CONDITIONS

The submission of a proposal to the Government shall constitute the offeror’s acknowledgement, agreement and compliance with the terms and conditions of the RFP. The Government will not be obligated to pay any cost incurred by a contractor in the preparation and submission of a proposal.

Offerors are cautioned to ensure that their proposal submissions are complete and reflective of the evaluation criteria and requirements described herein. Offerors are encouraged to provide their best terms with their initial proposal submission. Offerors shall not assume that the Government will afford an opportunity to clarify, discuss, or revise a proposal. The Government reserves the right to enter into discussions with offerors if it determines that it is in the best interest of the Government.

Proposals shall be valid for 90 days from the date of proposal submission.

Any exceptions or conditional assumptions taken with respect to the requirements outlined in the RFP or SOW shall be fully explained in the offeror’s Introductory Letter. The Government cautions offerors that taking exception to any term or condition may render their proposal non-responsive and the offeror will be ineligible for award, unless the RFP expressly authorizes such an exception with regards to a specific term or condition.

Architect of the Capitol | Supplies, Services, and Material Management Division Ford House Office Building, Room H2-263 | Washington, DC 20515 | 202.226.2557 | www.aoc.gov http://www.aoc.gov/ https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/AOC-Order-34-1_Contracting-Manual-2022.pdf

Architect of the Capitol | Supplies, Services, and Material Management Division

Ford House Office Building, Room H2-263 | Washington, DC 20515 | 202.226.2557 | www.aoc.gov

L.2 QUESTIONS AND PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

All correspondence in conjunction with this solicitation, including questions and proposal submittals, shall be directed to the Contracting Officer, Donald Fuqua, via e-mail at Donald.fuqua@aoc.gov. E-mail messages shall not exceed 10 MB. If necessary, offerors shall compress files with a .zip extension.

L.2.1 Questions Due Date

Questions about the technical or contractual details of this procurement must be submitted in writing via e-mail by noon (ET), Monday, August 17, 2026. When submitting questions, please include the RFP #, Company Name and the word “Questions” in the subject line of the email. For example, “AOCSSB26R0050_ ABC Inc. Questions”. Questions submitted after this cut off may be responded to at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. Offerors shall use Attachment J.4 – Offeror Questions Template to submit questions.

Answers to questions will be provided as an amendment to the RFP.

L.2.2 Proposal Due Date

Proposals must be received no later than noon (ET) Monday, August 24, 2026. When submitting your final proposal, please include the RFP #, Company Name and the word “Proposal” in the subject line of the email. For example, “AOCSSB26R0050_ ABC Inc. Proposal”. Proposals received after this date and time shall be considered late and shall not be accepted by the Government unless it is determined by the Contracting Officer to be in the best interest of the Government.

L.3 VOLUMES AND ORGANIZATION

Proposals shall be clearly and concisely written, as well as being neat, indexed and logically assembled as described herein. Offerors are advised to supply all information in the sequence and format specified in the table below. The submitted proposal must provide a sufficient basis for a thorough evaluation and contain the information necessary for evaluation. The Government will not assume the offeror possesses any capability, understanding, or commitment not specified in the proposal. The proposal must not merely repeat the solicitation and Statement of Work requirements but rather must provide convincing documentary evidence in support of conclusive statements of how contract requirements will be met.

Proposals shall be prepared in separate volumes: Volume I – Technical and Volume II – Price. The offeror shall provide the requested information within the designated volume evaluation factor. Any requested information placed outside of the designated location shall not be considered or evaluated under that evaluation factor regardless of whether it is located somewhere else in the proposal. In order for the technical proposal to be strictly evaluated on the merit of the material submitted, Volume I and Volume II shall be submitted as separate documents. Pricing is prohibited in, and shall be omitted from, Volume I. Each volume shall be indexed by evaluation factor.

mailto:Donald.fuqua@aoc.gov

Volumes shall be organized in the following manner:

Volume Factor Title Page Limit (Not to Exceed)

I

NA Introductory Letter NA 1 Technical Approach Maximum of 10 - page limit 2 Key Personnel and Staffing Maximum of 7 - page limit 3 Corporate Experience and Expertise Maximum of 10 - page limit

II 4 Price No page limit (7 Tabs) Excel Attachment J.6)

NA Standard Form 33 (Provision Fill-Ins) Sign Page 1 & Fill in Section K

All pages in Volume I, except the introductory letter, shall include page numbering.

Content which is outside the Page Limits in the above chart will be redacted and not evaluated by the Government.

L.3.1 Paper Size and Formatting

Written materials shall be submitted 1-sided single-spaced pages using standard 8 ½” x 11” size paper with a minimum of 1” margins. Font size shall be Times New Roman, Calibri, or similar fonts with a minimum of 12-point size for text and 10-point size for tables and graphics.

L.3.2 Introductory Letter

The following introductory information is required before the first index of Volume I:

• RFP Number & Title;

• Name and address of offeror;

• Unique Entity identifier (UEI) & cage code;

• NAICS / PSC;

• Name, telephone number & e-mail address of offeror’s main point-of-contact;

• Date of submission;

• Name, title and signature of authorized representative;

• Name and business address of all subcontractors.

• All technical factor assumptions to the RFP and SOW shall be identified in this section. Pricing assumptions shall be identified in Volume II. Exceptions identified in other areas of the proposal will not be considered.

L.3.3 Standard Form 33

The offeror shall complete Page 1 of the SF33 and all the provision fill-ins under Section K - Representations, Certifications, and other Statements of Offerors or Respondents. The entire form shall be returned in PDF format in Volume II. Any SF-30 associated with any amendments to this RFP shall be signed by the offeror and included in Volume II as well.

L.3.4 Factor 1 – Technical Approach (Maximum of 10 pages)

The offeror shall describe how they will accomplish the requirements of Attachment J.1 Statement of Work - based on their written narrative for their technical approach.

The offeror shall provide a technical approach plan in a narrative format that describes the offeror’s approach to managing and executing the requirements of the SOW. Offerors are cautioned that the submitted approach will be contractually binding.

The Technical Approach narrative shall reflect key personnel, policies, and procedures to be implemented to ensure exceptional project management, delivery, deliverables, and quality control to complete the requirements of J.1 Statement of Work.

The technical approach shall describe:

a) Ability to provide details and information to indicate that they can manage a project of this magnitude.

b) A Summary of timetables and deadlines for ALL deliverables.

b) Background of the company, number of employees and specialists.

c) Supply chain resiliency.

d) Sustainable product certification.

Subcontracting:

If the offeror will be using a subcontractor to perform any of the work listed herein, please submit the following subcontractor information. Please also provide the following information regarding any plans to subcontract

• Portion of the work:

• Name:

• Telephone: #:

• Address:

L.3.5 Factor 2 – Key Personnel and Staffing (Maximum of 12 pages)

General Requirements:

The offeror shall demonstrate that it has a clear, concise project organizational structure and experienced key personnel to fulfill the contract requirements. The key personnel outlined by the proposal shall be the key personnel implemented and leading the project solicited in this RFP. Any personnel changes desired by the offeror after the award will be subject to the judgment of the Government.

Qualifications: (Minimum of 2 pages per person, not exceeding 4 pages)

The offeror shall provide the resume(s) of the proposed Project Manager/Technical writer, IPTV Network Engineer, and a Senior Broadcast Technician. The resume(s) will document recent and relevant past experience by detailing the proposed Project Manager/Technical writer, IPTV Network Engineer, and Senior Broadcast Technician’s level of involvement in at least three (3) projects comparable to the project solicited in this RFP, within the last five years, two (2) of these three (3) projects must have been on the projects described in the offerors corporate experience proposal (See L.3.6) The resumes should clearly show for which comparable project the proposed key personnel performed for the offeror. The resume(s) shall include any training education, and certifications.

At a minimum, the following resumes will be provided:

Project Manager/Technical Writer (PM): The offeror shall provide a resume that enables the Government to evaluate whether the PM possesses the following MINIMUM qualifications:

(a) Five (5) years of relevant experience.

IPTV Network Engineer: The offeror shall provide a resume that enables the Government to evaluate whether the IPTV Network Engineer possesses the following MINIMUM qualifications:

(a) minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience

Senior Broadcast Technician: The offeror shall provide a resume that enables the Government to evaluate whether the Senior Broadcast Technician possesses the following MINIMUM qualifications:

(a) minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience

Organizational Structure: (Maximum of 1 page)

Provide a simple, one-page organizational structure diagram for all team elements, including prime and consultants/subcontractors. Clearly depict all critical staff and key management positions, including individual names, job locations and firm affiliations. The information may be presented in a size and format of the offeror’s choosing that is easy to read, of a paper size up to 11” x 17”. The offeror may choose to represent their organization in a way that best suits their needs.

Partners, Consultants, Subcontractors, and Affiliated Companies: (Maximum of 2 pages)

Offerors are to be constrained to no more than half of direct employees over subcontractors for all labor, materials, supplies, equipment, transportation, management, and any incidentals necessary to establish and perform services at the CPP. The offeror shall provide a short narrative of no more than two pages to describe the companies committed to the prime offeror(s) for the completion of all work that will not be performed by the prime offeror. Include an overview of which tasks described in the Statement of Work and summarized in the submitted project schedule each company will be primarily responsible for. Also include any prior cooperation between the offeror and other companies. Include the addresses of all entities where work will be performed, and the current number of staff employed there.

L.3.6 Factor 3 – Corporate Experience and Expertise (Maximum of 5 Pages)

1.1 The Offeror shall provide a narrative for three (3) past projects/contracts similar in scope, size, and complexity from the last five (5) years that involved IPTV/CATV services as described within the SOW. For each of the three (3) past project/contracts similar in scope, size, and complexity the offeror shall provide the following information.

Project Name and Contract Type Description (Firm Fixed Price, Labor Hour/Time & Material or Cost Reimbursable)

1) Client/Agency

2) Client Project Manager/ Point of Contact

3) Current E-Mail Address for Point of Contact

4) Dollar Value of Contract/Task Order

5) Brief summary of the project including size of company/agency services was provided.

1.2 The Offeror shall describe their current capabilities and expertise related to IPTV/CATV under this solicitation. The narrative shall include the following information:

Provide a management plan identifying how each key personnel will be used to accomplish the tasks;

Note:

Offerors providing narratives on fewer than the required minimum of three (3) IPTV/CATV services task, within sections 5.1 of the statement of work (SOW) will be rated as non-compliant within the terms of this solicitation and not be eligible for award and their proposal will not be evaluated.

L.3.7 Factor 4 – Price

Offerors shall fill in ALL tabs within Attachment J.2Pricing Sheet -Sec B with the Firm Fixed Price (FFP) to perform all requirements of the Statement of Work.

The Architect of the Capitol reserves the right to request from each offeror information regarding the breakdown of all costs that are included in the total price for all line items, to include copies of all worksheets used in forming the proposed pricing.

L.3.8 Site Visit

The AOC will host a site visit on Friday, August 7, 2026, from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm Eastern Time (ET) at Russell Senate Office Building. Note: only participants who reserve will be allowed to attend due to clearing with the Capitol Police at the 24-Hour Dirksen Senate Office Building Screening door located between First St. NE & C St. NE.

Participants attending the site visit are requested to gather outside at the entrance to the Dirksen Senate Office Building at the 24-hour Entrance located between First St. NE & C St. NE. The AOC staff will escort participants to the site visit space by 8:00 am sharp. Each participant will need to have valid identification

(i.e., driver’s license) on their person the day of the site visit in order to participate. There is no public parking at the Dirksen or Russell. Therefore, it is imperative that participants properly plan their travel to be on time for the site visit. The AOC will not host another site visit prior to the award. Attendance on the site visit is not mandatory to submit an offeror or to be eligible for award, however, attendance is highly recommended.

To attend the site visit, the offeror shall register with the Contracting Officer, Donald Fuqua, via email at Donald.Fuqua@aoc.gov no later than Friday, July 31, 2026, at 12:00 pm EST. There is a maximum of three No more than three individuals per company to include any partnering. Registration requires the following information to be submitted:

• Name of Company

• Number of Attendees

• Name of Individual(s) attending.

• Title of person(s) attending (President, CEO, CFO, ETC.)

• Email Address(es) of person(s) attending

• Valid copy of the attendee(s) identification (i.e., driver license) – Note: Copies must be legible

• Company Physical Address

• Cell Phone Number of at least one individual attending (In case of changes the morning of site visit)

Questions will be permitted during the site visit; however, all government responses during the visit are unofficial. For an official response, the offeror shall provide a written question by the question due date. In addition, no photography will be permitted.

M.1 BASIS FOR AWARD

Evaluations will be conducted in accordance with the procedures defined below. The Government will first verify the on-time submission of all proposals. The Contracting Officer will then verify the proposals meet the Volume and Organization structure described in Section L.3. Volume I of the proposals that meet the requirements of Section L.3 will be submitted to the Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) for evaluation. The proposal submission date is the date the government receives the proposal.

The TEP evaluation will start with Volume II Price, Lowest price proposal, then evaluate Volume I against the evaluation criteria. If Volume I is found acceptable, then that will conclude the evaluation.

Factor 1,2,3 will be assigned a rating of acceptable or unacceptable.

Note:

If the lowest price proposal was found to not be acceptable, then the second lowest price would be evaluated in the same manner as the first lowest price proposal.

The Government will make an award to the offeror whose proposal represents the best value to the Government. Within the best value continuum, the Government will use the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection process in evaluating the proposals approved for evaluation. The Government will reserve the right to make an award without discussions if there is a fully acceptable proposal received in the initial submissions. If not, the Government may enter into discussions in accordance with section 9.1 of the AOC Contracting Manual. The Government also reserves the right to make no award.

Evaluations will be based on a complete assessment of the proposal submission. Proposals will be evaluated on the following factors.

Non-Price Factors:

Factor 1 - Technical Approach

Factor 2 – Key Personnel and Staffing

Factor 3 – Corporate Experience and Expertise

Price Factors:

Factor 4: Price

The evaluation criteria for each factor is as follows:

M.1.1 Factor 1 – Technical Approach

The Government will evaluate offerors’ technical approach to determine whether the offeror can accomplish as well as understands the requirements of Attachment J.1 Statement of Work – AOC Congressional CATV assessment based on their written narrative for their technical approach.

M.1.2 Factor 2 – Key Personnel and Staffing

The Government will evaluate the Offerors proposed Project Manager/Technical Writer, IPTV Network Engineer and Senior Broadcast Technician to determine that they have, at a minimum, performed their respective duties for the offeror on at least two (2) of the three (3) projects submitted by the Offeror in response to the Corporate Experience and Experience evaluation factor. The Offeror must show that the Project Manager/Technical Writer, IPTV Network Engineer and Senior Broadcast Technician have adequate experience in projects of similar complexity and requirements as those given in the Statement of Work and is able to provide any and all necessary guidance for AOC Congressional CATV assessment. The Key Personnel will be evaluated from the Key Personnel Qualifications criteria set forth in Section L.

The Government will also evaluate the organization structure and experienced personnel to efficiently provide services that meet the requirements of the SOW. The government will evaluate the offerors partners, consultants, subcontractors, and affiliated companies’ section to determine whether they meet the requirements of the SOW, and that no more than half of their work will be subcontracted out.

M.1.3 Factor3 – Corporate Experience and Expertise

A. The Offeror’s corporate experience response will be evaluated to determine if the company’s experience outlined in the Offeror’s narrative of three (3) past projects/contracts demonstrates that services provided were similar in scope, size, and complexity to those required in this Request for Proposal, thereby demonstrating that the Offeror can perform the required services.

B. The Offeror’s current capabilities and expertise will be evaluated to determine if the offeror’s Management Plan, Quality Control Plan, and Safety Plan demonstrate the offeror’s ability to perform the required services.

M.1.4 Factor 4 – Price

The Government will evaluate the price proposal of the lowest priced offeror that is rated technically acceptable. The price criterion will measure not only the actual dollars but also the reasonableness of the offeror’s proposed price and its position in the range of all offeror prices.

The offeror’s price proposal shall be evaluated for price reasonableness to prevent the Government from paying too much for the services outlined in the J.1 Statement of Work - AOC Congressional CATV assessment. Additionally, a price realism analysis may be performed to determine whether an offeror’s price is unrealistically low. An unrealistically low proposal may question whether an offeror fully understands the size, magnitude, complexity, and scope of service outlined in the J.1 Statement of Work - AOC Congressional CATV assessment. An unrealistic price proposal may serve as a rejection for the proposal.

Price will not be rated adjectivally but will be evaluated based on a comprehensive review. Price proposals shall be evaluated with respect to accuracy and completeness based on information submitted in the offeror’s written submission. Additionally, the Government may utilize one or more of the following methods to evaluate price:

• Comparison to other proposals received;

• Comparison and/or analysis based on Independent Government Cost Estimate; or

• Comparison/analysis to historical cost

M.2 RATING AND DEFINITIONS

The Government will evaluate Factor 1, 2, 3, of Volume I using the following adjectival ratings and definitions scale:

Factor 1: Technical Approach:

Acceptable: Meets all requirements of the SOW.

Unacceptable: Does not meet all requirements of the SOW and all supporting documentation.

Factor 2: Key Personnel and Staffing

Acceptable: The resumes submitted reflect the relevant experience of which at least five (5) years for the Project Manager/Technical Writer, IPTV Network Engineer and Senior Broadcast Technician

Unacceptable: The resumes submitted did not reflect the relevant experience of which at least five (5) years for the Project Manager/Technical Writer, IPTV Network Engineer and Senior Broadcast Technician.

Factor 3: Corporate Experience and Expertise

Acceptable: The Offeror that provides a narrative for three (3) past projects/contracts similar in scope, size, and complexity from the last five (5) years that involved IPTV/CATV as described within the SOW. The Offeror’s that provides a Management Plan that demonstrates the offeror’s ability to perform the required services. Offerors providing narratives on the required minimum of three (3) or more IPTV/CATV projects will be rated as acceptable. Offerors showing more than half of the services provided under each contract should have been completed by the prime Offeror.

Unacceptable: The Offeror that does not provide a narrative for three (3) past projects/contracts similar in scope, size, and complexity from the last five (5) years that involved IPTV/CATV as described within the SOW. The Offeror’s Management Plan does not demonstrate the offeror’s ability to perform the required services. Offerors providing narratives on less than the required minimum of three

(3) IPTV/CATV will be rated as non-compliance within the terms of this solicitation and not be eligible for award and their proposal will not be evaluated. Offerors not showing more than half of the services provided under each contract should have been completed by the prime Offeror.