Government Responses to Industry Questions for Solicitation N00030-20-R-0015 dtd 21 Apr 2020.pdf

Government Responses to NTIP Mission Support Solicitation N00030-20-R-0015 Questions dated April 21, 2020

1. Page 66 Section L-2 Executive Summary (c) Corporate & Administrative Information instructs the Prime and all team members provide the facility code”. Would the Government please clarify which facility code it is requesting under “county and facility code”, as well as “telephone and facility code”? Is the Government asking for the Facility SMO Code? Please clarify.

Government Response: The verbiage in provision L-2 Executive Summary has been revised in Solicitation Amendment 0001 to clarify we are seeking the applicable DoDAAC for the CAO, DCAA, and DFAS.

2. Page 5 in Section C, 3.1.1 the SOW states “The contractor shall be responsible for employing personnel having the levels of education, professional, and technical experience, or their equivalent, for each of the labor categories described below.” Will the Government allow years of relevant experience to account for education requirements, such as Bachelor’s/Master’s degrees?

Government Response: The requirements remain as identified in the solicitation and will not be revised.

3. Page 5 in reference to SOW Section 3.1.2: Personnel Requirements and Position Descriptions: Chemical Weapons Convention Lead: Minimum Experience Requirements. In order to provide the Government with the most qualified candidate for the position, will the Government consider removing the requirement that the Chemical Weapons Convention Lead have the required experience entirely within 15 years of the solicitation closing date?

Government Response: The requirements remain as identified in the solicitation and will not be revised.

4. Page 5 in reference to SOW Section 3.0 Technical Requirements; Key Personnel Labor Category Requirements. In order to provide the Government with a qualified candidate for the position, will the Government consider removing the requirement that the Open Skies Lead have the required experience entirely within 10 years of the solicitation closing date?

Government Response: The requirements remain as identified in the solicitation and will not be revised.

5. Page 26 in reference to Section H – Special Contract Requirements; SSP H2 – Employment of Government Personnel or Former Government Personnel. Is it the government’s intent to be notified of all prior service personnel regardless of grade or separation date? If so, would the Government please clarify which service it should be notified of how?

Government Response: Yes, it applies to any and all personnel who meet the definitions and criteria identified in SSP H-2 Employment of Government Personnel or Former Government Personnel (Feb 2015). Offerors responses shall be included in the Executive Summary as reflected in Amendment 0001 to the solicitation.

6. 6. Page 29 in reference to Section H - Special Contract Requirements; SSP H8 - Competitive-Procurement Requirements. The phrase "qualifications of the replaced person" in paragraph (C) appears to place the focus on an individual's personal qualifications and not the government's stated requirements for positions/labor categories as identified in SOW Paragraph

3.1.2. The concern, for example, is if a person with 8 years' experience is proposed when the labor category as identified in SOW Paragraph 3.1.2 requires 5 years and the offeror subsequently requires to make a substitution, the government will from then on require substitute to have 8 years of experience ("qualifications equal to or higher than the replaced person") resulting in credential inflation impacting the sourcing of candidates for the position. If it is the government's intent to ensure substitutions meet the solicitations minimum requirements in SOW Paragraph

3.1.2 , recommend rewriting the paragraph to state "The contractor shall not make a substitution for any such person unless (1) the substitute meets the requirements of the appropriate labor category as specified in SOW Paragraph 3.1.2, and (2)..."

Government Response: SSP H-8 has been modified in Solicitation Amendment 0001 to address and resolve the identified discrepancy.

7. Page 51 Section K – Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors;

5.2.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications; paragraph (i)& (ii); The reference URL https://www.state.gov/t/avc/rls/rpt/ is a dead URL. Can the government provide the referenced report or working hyperlink to enable offerors to make such required certifications?

Government Response: The solicitation reference point in question is Section K provision

52.209-13 VIOLATION OF ARMS CONTROL TREATIES OR AGREEMENTS--

CERTIFICATION (JUN 2018) vs. the question reference point FAR 52.204 ANNUAL REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS. Note, the URL provided in 52.209-13 is content directly from the FAR clause, but appears to be outdated, but cannot be modified by an individual agency. However, SSP has identified a URL for the 2020 “Executive Summary” which is provided below for information purposes only. It is the offerors responsibility to review any and all documentation and reports on the www.state.gov website to ensure compliance with provision 52.209-13.

https://www.state.gov/2020-adherence-to-and-compliance-with-arms-control-nonproliferation-and-disarmament-agreements-and-commitments-compliance-report/ https://www.state.gov/t/avc/rls/rpt/ http://www.state.gov/ https://www.state.gov/2020-adherence-to-and-compliance-with-arms-control-nonproliferation-and-disarmament-agreements-and-commitments-compliance-report/ https://www.state.gov/2020-adherence-to-and-compliance-with-arms-control-nonproliferation-and-disarmament-agreements-and-commitments-compliance-report/

8. Page 64 Section L-1 Submission of Proposals; Page 64, paragraph (b) Proposal Format;

Within the table, under Volume I – Technical Proposal for Subjective Tradeoff Factors, the electronic file names appear to be reversed. Would the government consider aligning the naming convention to match file content?

Government Response: The transposition typo in the Section L-1 table has been corrected in Solicitation Amendment 0001.

9. Page 15 Section C-5.0 Travel and Page 72 Section L-6 Other Direct Cost. Section C-5.0 states: “The Contractor’s allowable travel costs incurred in performance of the SOW requirements shall be invoiced on a cost only basis.” Section L-6 states: “The Attachment L-1 Pricing Model includes the Government’s plug number for anticipated travel for the base and all option year efforts. This amount does not include any provision for G&A expense or other loading factors. Offerors shall use the stated amounts for Travel in the preparation of their cost proposals with no variation.” The formulas in Attachment L-1 add G&A to ODCs, including travel. Would the government please clarify whether it is acceptable to add G&A burdening to travel costs?

Government Response: Yes, it is acceptable to add G&A burden to the Government provided travel plug number(s). The Provision L-6 Other Direct Costs verbiage has been revised in Solicitation Amendment 0001 for additional clarity.

10. Section L, Part II, A., paragraph (5) Paragraph (5) states: “Since this solicitation requires work to be performed at both the contractor and Government sites, the proposal must include your company policy concerning any stipulations as to when Government site / contractor site rates are effective.” Would the government please specify if any positions are planned to be full-time at the government site?

Government Response: There is no requirement for any full-time position to be full time at the Government site.