Q and A - N00039-18-R-0059 - Afloat - 22 MAY 2018.pdf

SOLICITATION N00039-18-R-0059

FINAL RFP QUESTIONS AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

# Reference Question Answer/Resolution

1. L-317(b)(3)(A)(i) Volume I, Written Capability Information, Section A, Relevant

Organizational Experience

Page 93 of the RFP, section L-317, under Content of Volume I indicates that, “Where the contract reference is for an IDIQ contract, offerors shall identify the IDIQ contract as one reference in attachment

7 and Attachment 12.” And further states, “Offerors claiming multiple task orders under an IDIQ contract shall also provide a separate sheet(s)

(which will not count toward the page limitation) identifying the task order numbers and values for each relevant task order.”

If an offeror claims multiple task orders under an IDIQ contract it will therefore be indicated as one-line entry on Attachment 12, and the

Government will not be able to see the SOW areas covered or the period of performance of each of the relevant Task Orders. Rather the

Government will see the performance period of the entire IDIQ contract and an “X” for a SOW area, even if the area was only covered on one of the contract Task Orders.

Should the information contained in the “separate sheet(s)” that identify the Task Order number and value of each relevant Task Order, also include the Task Order Performance Period and indicate which of the three SOW areas the Task Order encompassed?

No, the Government will not be changing the requirement.

L-317(b)(3)(A)(i) instructs offerors to provide the supporting pages to demonstrate to the Government that the proposed reference, which in the cited paragraph is the IDIQ contract, meets the requirements of the minimum gate.

As specified in L-317(b)(3)(A)(i), “The Government will validate the claims of installation work where determined to be necessary.”

2. L-317(b)(3)(D)(i) Technical and Management Capability, Oral Presentation

Does the Government have an anticipated date of when orals will be conducted?

No, the Government does not currently have an anticipated date. As specified in L-317(b)(3)(D)(i), “At a minimum offerors will be given two (2) weeks’ notice of the date for their presentations.”

3. L-317(b)(3)(B)(ii) Are subcontractors limited to only FFP or Cost Reimbursement contract types?

As specified in L-317(b)(3)(B)(ii), “All subcontractors with an accounting system that has not been deemed adequate by the Government shall be proposed as a FFP proposal.”

4. L-317 (a) Table The table in Paragraph (a) of Section L-317, on Pages 89-91 of the RFP, has multiple rows in Volume II and III that indicate “None

(Responsibility)” in the Evaluation Factor column

Can the Government define what “None (Responsibility)” means? It is unclear as to how much information or what type of information the

Government expects to receive to a give a “passing” grade for these requirements. At present, the response appears to be subjective to the offeror where a paragraph or multiple pages could be submitted for each question, yet the table indicates that there are no evaluation criteria provided. Can the Government provide specific guidance on how an offeror can be fully compliant and how the offeror’s responses will be evaluated?

“None(Responsibility)” refers to the fact that there is no evaluation factor correlated to the submission of the cited information, but rather that the cited information will be utilized in the

Contracting Officer’s determination of the offeror’s responsibility.

Section L of the solicitation provides the necessary guidance on how an offeror can be compliant with this solicitation. Section M of the solicitation provides the necessary information on how an offeror will be evaluated.

The Government believes the guidance is clear. If an offeror has specific questions regarding a specific requirement, those questions should be submitted.

5. L-317(b)(3)(D)(v) Technical and Management Capability-Orals Presentation, Section D, Relevant Organizational Experience

Page 98 of the RFP, Section L-317 under Technical and Management

Capability-Orals, Section D, subsection v, Offeror’s presentation team requires identification of orals participants in Attachment 6 (2 nd

Tab) at written proposal submittal. However, it goes on to say that “Offerors shall provide a summary of the Oral Presentation team including each participant’s full name, labor category proposed, company, and percent committed to this contract as proposed. Summaries shall be provided to the Contracting Officer in accordance with direction provided at the time offerors are notified of their scheduled Oral Presentation.”

Will the Government allow alternates to be specified in Attachment 6, nd

Tab and permit changes to orals presentation team members initially selected at proposal submittal (Attachment 6, 2 nd

Tab) should an urgent circumstance arise (medical emergency, death of immediate family member, etc.) that would require a selected orals team member to be absent from orals? Any such replacement would then replace the absentee with respect to Attachment 6, 2 nd

Tab (e.g., FTE committed to the contract).

The Government is amending the solicitation to clarify the requirement.

6. Section B, Fixed

Fee Pool, page 9

(b) The fixed fee pool consists of the total fixed fee of the contract AND includes the total fee to be paid to the prime contractor and all subcontractors. SUBCONTRACTOR FEE WILL NOT BE BILLED AS

A SEPARATE DIRECT COST ON THE VOUCHER SUBMITTED BY

THE CONTRACTOR TO THE GOVERNMENT, BUT WILL BE

PAID TO THE SUBCONTRACTOR BY THE PRIME CONTRACTOR

FROM THE FEE BILLED FROM THE FIXED FEE POOL.

Please confirm that this clause only pertains to (1) Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee type Task Orders and (2) to Subcontractors being issued a CPFF type

Subcontract (i.e., not a FFP, FP/LOE or T&M type Subcontract). Under

FFP, FP/LOE or T&M type subcontractors, it is not possible to break out fee from fully burdened FP/LOE or T&M rates and FFP subcontracts.

This clause will only be included in

Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee task orders.

As task orders are issued to the prime contractor, the note regarding subcontractor fee will be applicable to all Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee task orders issued regardless of the type of subcontract.

7. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 89

Vol I, Written Capability Information, Sect. A requirements: Separate sheets listing relevant task orders under an IDIQ contract referenced in

Att 7 - L-317(b)(3)(A)(i) p. 93

Will the Government provide a format for the “Separate sheets listing relevant TOs under an IDIQ” or list desired/required information?

Required information for the separate sheet(s) is provided in L-

317(b)(3)(A)(i).

8. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 89

Vol I, Written Capability Information, Sect. A requires a one (1) page acronym list.

Does the acronym List apply only to the Att 7 RIS and Supporting

Sheets?

If the list of acronyms exceeds the one page limitation, can offerors use additional pages that are also outside page count for the volume?

9. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 89

Vol 1, Sect B. requires Att 7, Reference Information Sheets(RIS) (up to

10) and Up to 4 supporting pages per RIS.

Att 7 RIS and RIS Supporting Pages are submitted in Vol 1, Sect. A.

Will the Government confirm that these documents are to be submitted again for Sect. B, or can Section B reference the documents in Section

A?

Volume I, Section A and Section B have separate instructions in the solicitation.

Offerors shall submit proposals in accordance with the instructions provided in the solicitation.

10. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 90

Vol 1, Sect B. requires Individual Subcontracting Report (ISR) per Att 7, block 14c). This requirement is not included in the Sect L-

317(b)(3)(A)(i) “Content” on p.93

Should the requirement to submit the most recently submitted ISR/SSR per item 14c of the Att 7 RIS also be added to

Sect L-317(b)(3)(A)(i) “Content” on p.93?

No. The submission of the ISR is already a specified requirement to be submitted with Attachment 7.

The inclusion of the ISR in the table is to identify that it is not counted toward the page limitation of the section.

11. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 90

Vol 1, Sect B. requires Individual Subcontracting Report (ISR) per Att 7, block 14c).

If submitting a RIS for a subcontractor teammate’s prime contract, is the

ISR/SSR to be submitted in the prime’s proposal documentation, or can it be included with the prime’s proposal in a sealed package?

Subcontractors are permitted to send any information they deem to be

“proprietary” or “sensitive” directly to travis.cowsert@navy.mil and chris.thompson1@navy.mil.

However, regardless of the separate submission of information by a subcontractor, offerors shall still be required to meet all submission requirements of the solicitation.

12. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 90

Vol I, Written Capability Information, Sect. B requires a one (1) page acronym list.

Will the government identify the submissions that the Sect. B acronym list applies to?

The Government is amending the solicitation to clarify the requirement

13. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 90

Vol I, Written Capability Information, Sect. B requires up to 10 Past

Performance Questionnaires (Att 9), one per RIS

Per L-325, the Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) are provided to the past performance references who are to e-mail the completed forms to Mr. Chris Thompson. Will the Government clarify what offerors are to include in Sect. B regarding the Past Performance Questionnaires?

The Government is amending the solicitation to clarify the requirement mailto:travis.cowsert@navy.mil mailto:chris.thompson1@navy.mil

14. RFP Sect. L-317, Submission of

Proposals, (a)

Proposal page limitations (table),

p. 90 and

RFP, Sect L-317

(b)(3)(D)(v), Offeror’s

Presentation Team

Attachment 6, p. 97

Vol II Cost Related Information, Sect. A requires a completed Ceiling

Distribution Proposal (Att 6) (“Summary” sheet).

In reference to the Attachment 6, 2nd sheet, (Orals Presenters), “Offerors shall provide a summary of the Oral Presentation

Team….Summaries shall be provided to the Contracting Officer in accordance with direction provided at the time offerors are notified of their scheduled Oral Presentation.

Will the Government confirm that only the first sheet of Attachment 6

(“Summary” tab) is to be completed for the submission of Vol II, Sect.

A, and that the “Orals Presenters” tab is to be left blank and submitted separately if notified of a scheduled Oral Presentation?

No. Attachment 6 is to be completed in its entirety and submitted with the offeror’s proposal.

The “Summaries” are a separate submission, and as specified in the solicitation: “shall be provided to the

Contracting Officer in accordance with direction provided at the time offerors are notified of their scheduled Oral

Presentation.”

15. RFP, L-317, (a) Vol

III, Offeror

Information:

Sect H, p. 91

Sect H requires Corporate Information, L-317(b)(3)(C)

Will the Government confirm that the Corporate Information reference should be L-317(a)(3) on page 91?

solicitation to clarify the requirement

16. RFP, L-317(b)

Format, Organization and

Content). p. 92

- All pages Times New Roman 12-point font

- Tables, charts, graphs and spreadsheets no smaller than TNR 9-point

The text in Att 7 RIS, is 8-point font. Shall offerors provide inputs in

TNR 12-point or no smaller than TNR 9-point?

Offerors shall consider content entered by Offerors in Attachment 7 to fall under the “exception” of tables, charts, graphs, and spreadsheets as specified in Section L-317 (b)(1)(B) and utilize

Time New Roman 9-point font.

Information provided by offerors in response to block 15 shall NOT be considered to fall under the exception, and shall be prepared using Times

New Roman 12-point font as specified in L-317(b)(1)(B).

17. RFP, L-317

(b)(3)(A)(i) Vol I

Written Capability

Information, p. 93

Paragraph (i) states that “the number of referenced contracts/task orders shall not exceed the maximum of 10 references allowed per proposal.”

Will the Government clarify that the number of contracts referenced for

Relevant Organizational Experience cannot exceed 10, but the total number of task orders within all referenced contracts can exceed 10?

The complete sentence from the cited paragraph is: “The matrix shall not exceed one page, and the number of referenced contracts/task orders shall not exceed the maximum of ten (10) references allowed per proposal.”

This is instructing offerors that the matrix shall not contain more than the ten (10) allowed references.

18. Page 94 of 104, (B)

(ii) Volume II, Cost

Related Information

All subcontractors with an accounting system that has not been deemed adequate by the Government shall be proposed as a FFP proposal.

If a proposed subcontractor does not have an approved accounting system, please confirm if FP/LOE type Subcontracts can be issued in accordance with this clause.

Additionally, please confirm that T&M subcontractors may be proposed if the Subcontractor has an approved accounting system.

The requirement is: “All subcontractors with an accounting system that has not been deemed adequate by the Government shall be proposed as a FFP proposal.”

FP/LOE subcontracts will not be considered to meet this requirement.

If a subcontractor has an accounting system that has been deemed adequate by the Government, the prime offeror is permitted to choose any contract type for the subcontract that is otherwise permitted by this solicitation.

19. Section L-317 (B)

(i), page 94

Section A, Ceiling Distribution Proposal: Offerors shall submit a completed RFP Attachment 6, Ceiling Distribution Proposal.

Attachment 6 shall be used by the offeror to annotate the distribution of ceiling amongst the prime and all subcontractors.

How will the Government be evaluating the information provided in

Attachment 6?

Section M provides offerors with information on how proposals will be evaluated. M-307(c)(2)(iv) states:

“Subcontractors may be used for the purposes of meeting the relevant organizational experience thresholds specified above only where the offeror proposes a subcontractor for this contract at a value equal to or greater than the referenced relevant organizational experience value for that same subcontractor in Attachment

6 and the proposed cover sheet(s) of the letters of commitment.”

20. Section L-317 (B)

(i), page 94

Section A, Ceiling Distribution Proposal: Offerors shall submit a completed RFP Attachment 6, Ceiling Distribution Proposal.

Attachment 6 shall be used by the offeror to annotate the distribution of ceiling amongst the prime and all subcontractors.

Please confirm that Attachment 6 is only being evaluated for proposal purposes and will not be incorporated into the resultant award as stated in Section J.

Section J does not state that

Attachment 6 will be incorporated into the resultant award.

21. RFP, L-317

(b)(3)(D)(v), Technical and

Management

Capability, Oral

Presentation, p. 97

Paragraph (v) “Offeror’s presentation team” references “the 6 non-key personnel identified in Attachment 6”; however, there are only a maximum of 5 non-key personnel

Will the Government confirm that the number of non-key personnel participating in the orals presentation is no more than 5?

22. RFP, Sect L-317

(b)(3)(D)(v), Offeror’s

Presentation Team

Attachment 6, p. 97

Paragraph (v) identifies the Attachment 6 entries to be included:

participant’s name, labor category proposed, company, and percent committed to this contract as proposed. The “Orals Presenters” sheet of

Attachment 6 includes the following fields: Labor Category, Name, Function, Company.

Will the Government revise either the Sect L-317 reference or the “Orals

Presenters” sheet of Attachment 6 for consistency?

See Answer to question #14.

23. RFP, Sect. L-317

(b)(3)(E)(i) and (ii), Technical and

Management

Capability, Written,

p. 97

Paragraph (i) states that offerors will have 7 calendar days to respond to three questions and submit the written answers electronically.

Paragraph (ii) states that offerors shall not submit a response to the

[questions] until instructed to do so, as requested by the invitation.

Will the Government clarify if offerors are to submit written response within 7 calendar days, or wait until instructed to submit?

24. RFP, L-343(c)(1)

Contractor

Responsibility, pp.

98-99

The reference requires “If subcontracting, provide the following information: Draft Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Business

Subcontracting Plan, if applicable.”

Can the Vol III Small Business Subcontracting Plan, and the L-343 Draft

Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Business Subcontracting Plan be combined into a single document?

Is a DCMA-approved Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan acceptable for the Small Business Subcontracting Plan, the Draft Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Business Subcontracting Plan, or both?

Offerors are only required to submit one small business subcontracting plan in accordance with 52.219-9 ALT 2, in

Volume III, Section D. The

Government is amending the

No, a comprehensive subcontracting plan is not acceptable. The proposed small business subcontracting plan must be directly applicable to this acquisition. As specified in M-

307(c)(3)(iv) “The proposal for this acceptability criteria will be evaluated for consistency with the proposed

Small Business Subcontracting Plan

(for large businesses only). A conflict or disparity in the amount of total dollars subcontracted between the proposal for this acceptability criteria and the proposed Small Business

Subcontracting Plan may result in exclusion from further consideration for award.”

25. N RFP, L-343(c)(1)

Contractor

Responsibility, pp.

98-99

The reference requires “If subcontracting, provide the following information: Draft Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Business

Subcontracting Plan, if applicable.”

In the latest version of the FAR, section 52.219-25 is listed as “52.219-

25 – [Reserved.]” If this means that the Small Disadvantaged Business

Participation Program section has been removed, recommend the

Government remove this requirement from this RFP.

26. RFP, L-343 (d)

Contractor

Responsibility, pp.

98-99

The reference requires that offerors submit “A list of credit references, including suppliers.”

For a list of credit references, please confirm if a Dun and Bradstreet

(D&B) report would satisfy the requirement to show financial stability.

The requirement is to provide a list of credit references. Offerors shall provide the information requested.

27. RFP, L-349 (b)(3)

Submission of

Electronic

Proposals, p. 99

Paragraph (b)(3) “Cost or Pricing Type Data,” requires a “Paragraph cross-referencing between Cost Proposal paragraphs and technical/ management proposal paragraphs is requested to provide clarity.

The RFP does not require a Cost proposal, and the Vols I – III submission requirements do not include a technical management proposal. Will the Government delete this requirement?

28. Page 99 of 104, L-

343 Contractor responsibility, (d)

A list of credit references, including suppliers. Provide company name, point of contact, and telephone number.

Please provide the definition of “subcontractors” and “suppliers”?

There is no mention of

“subcontractors” in the cited reference.

The term “suppliers” in this context is the supplier of the credit.

29. RFP, Sect. M-307

(c)(2)(iv), p. 102

Paragraph (iv) establishes the thresholds for installation experience as follows:

- $95M of shipboard installations

- $30M of submarine installations

Will the Government provide the process for validating the nature and the value of the cited contracts submitted to meet the required thresholds, to ensure that offerors provide sufficient detail for the relevant shipboard and submarine installations experience?

The Government will be validating the nature and the value of the cited references as specified in M-307(c).

Additionally, the Government will be evaluating the offerors entire proposal in accordance with M-307(e).

Offerors must meet all of the minimum requirements in M-307(c), and offerors are responsible for providing all of the information required and necessary in order for its proposal to meet the minimum requirements, without exceeding the specified page limitations.

30. Att 7, Reference

Information Sheet

Att 7 RIS requires CPARS to be provided “for all portions of the past 6 years on this contract, or confirm if CPARS evaluations are available through PPIRS.”

Will the Government confirm that CPARS or PPIRS confirmation should be added to the list of Vol 1, Sect. A or B requirements?

The PPIRS confirmation for a reference can be provided in

Attachment 7, Block 16.

31. RFP, Multiple

Sections

L-343 Contractor Responsibility, and Small Business Subcontracting

Plan (if applicable, may be submitted as a .pdf)

DFARS clause 252.219-7004 Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Test

Program) should be included in all DOD solicitations so that companies may utilize their Comprehensive Small Business Subcontracting Plan. In accordance with this clause, (b) The Contractor's comprehensive small business subcontracting plan is authorized by and approved under the test program of section 834 of Pub. L. 101-189. Please update the RFP to include this clause so that offerors may propose their Comprehensive

Subcontracting Plan in Section I and Section L-343(c)(2), Volume III, Section D, and Section M.

See the answer to question #24.

32. RFP Section B-300

Fee and/or Profit

Rates, pg. 11

Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Task Orders. Fixed Fee 7%

In accordance with FAR 15.404-4(C)(4)(c), CPFF type Contracts shall not exceed 10 percent.

Will the Government consider increasing the ceiling to 10% and then allow the Task Order competitions to drive a reasonable fixed fee? What is the rationale for setting the CPFF ceiling at 7%?

No. The Government finds the terms to be appropriate for this solicitation.

33. RFP Section B-300

Fee and/or Profit

Rates, pg. 11

Fixed Price Incentive (Firm Target) – Target Fee =7%

Please confirm that the target fee is not a ceiling and target fee can be proposed at a higher level at the Task Order level. If the 7% is a ceiling, please provide rationale for this figure.

The specified target profit is the ceiling that may be proposed for a FPI(F) task order under the prospective contract.

The Government finds the terms to be appropriate for this solicitation.

34. Section G –

Contract

Administration

Data

G-1 Payment

Clause, pg. 24

Payment Clause Table

In the Payment clause table, FAR 52.212-4 (ALT I) for T&M orders and

FAR 52.2327-2 is included. Will there be T&M orders issued under the

IDIQ?

No. Task orders will only be issued for the contract types specified in

Section B of the solicitation.

The payment clause is entered in this solicitation in accordance with DFARS

PGI 204.7108.

The payment instructions for each task order will be provided in individual task orders.

35. Section G –

Contract

Administration

Data

G-1 Payment

The Payment clause table includes various FFP type payment clauses.

Will the Government please clarify which payment clauses will apply to the IDIQ/FPI type TOs?

See answer to question #34.

36. Section G –

Contract

Administration

Data

G-1 Payment

The payment clause table references commercial terms. Will commercial terms apply to resultant Task Orders?

See answer to question #34.

37. L-317 Submission of Proposals, pg. 91

(3) Volume III Offeror Information – Section B – ORCA

Please update the reference from ORCA to SAM.

38. L-317 Submission of Proposal, L317(b)(3)(A)(i), pg 94.

Each prime contractor shall also submit a copy of the teaming agreement(s) with each proposed subcontractor (large and small) claimed for this minimum gate requirement. The teaming agreement, at a minimum, shall include the signatures of both parties, the subcontract amount, the type of contract, and the period of performance. The teaming agreement(s) will not count against the page limitations for this volume.

Please remove the requirement for subcontract amount, type of contract and period of performance, as these will be determined at the TO level.

No, the Government will not be changing the requirement.

39. Reference

Information Sheet

(RIS), Attachment

Block 16 states: Provide CPARS evaluations for all portions of the past six years on this contract, or confirm if CPARS evaluations are available through PPIRS. If customer evaluations, other than CPARS were completed, please submit them. Otherwise, your references may be contacted by the Government to respond to Past Performance questions.

For one of our contracts, the government provided quarterly reports (not

CPARS or PPIRS) that are marked “FOUO.” To meet the Block 16 requirement, can we state that reports can be requested from the

Contracting Officer?

No. See L-325(d).