RFP_Q A.pdf

N00173-16-R-HD01

Question & Answers

07/25/2016

RFP Reference Question Answer

1 Volume VI, Contract Documentation, paragraph (a)(1), page 89

Section A - Please confirm that the Government doesn’t require blocks #13, 14, and 15 be completed on the

SF33.

Block #13 is not required. Block #14 will be required for any amendments. Block #15 identifies the name, address and contact information of the offeror - yes, it is required. See Amendment 0001.

2 Volume VI, Contract Documentation, paragraph (a)(1), page 89

Section A - Please confirm if an electronic signature is acceptable for the “original” copy of the SF33.

Electronic signatures are acceptable.

3 B-5 Material Purchases, Please confirm that the requirement to get prior approval from the COR/PCO as it relates to material purchases is not required for those purchases proposed at the DO/TO level.

Material purchases not evaluated at the task order proposal must obtain the advanced approvals required by Section B-5.

4 C-4 Special Requirements, paragraph (3), page 16

C-4 Special Requirements, paragraph (3), page 16 states that “Contractors shall comply with all documents listed below as mandatory and referenced in Section F-3 Performance Requirements.” A documents list is not provided under this clause and clause F-3 is called out as deliverables in the RFP.

Revised to remove erroneous reference to Section F-3. See Amendment 0001.

5 G-6 Subcontractors / Consultants, paragraph (b), G-6 Subcontractors/Consultants, paragraph (b), page 23, makes reference to the FAR 52.244-2 paragraph (j) fill-in, but it doesn’t make reference to the FAR 52.244-2 paragraph (d) fill in. Please provide the paragraph (d) fill-in for this clause.

The paragraph (j) fill-in is to be completed by the offeror. See Amendment 0001 - This is to be completed by the offeror for the base and task order proposal to identify any subcontractors/consultants that are necessary for meeting contract requirements.

Paragraph (d) is not an offeror fill-in;

however, if the Government determines that consent is required for any other specific subcontracts, paragraph (d) will be incorporated into the task orders as appropriate.

6 Section H-4, Page 35 As a key person, will the Program Manager be assigned office space on-site at NRL?

Whether or not to provide office space onsite at NRL will be driven by delivery/task order requirements.

7 Section H-5, Page 36 Key Personnel for each task order are to be identified for each specific Task Order. Will the individuals specific as Key Personnel for each specific Task Order to assigned office space on-site at NRL?

Whether or not to provide office space onsite at NRL will be driven by delivery/task order requirements.

8 H-12 Prime Contractor

Subcontracting, paragraph (b), page 39

Please confirm that unless being used as evidence of an Offeror’s commitment to small business under L-15(b)(3) that teaming agreements are not required to be provided unless an exclusive arrangement exists between the Offeror and its subcontractor(s).

H-12 is specific to DO/TO competitions, in which copies of any teaming arrangements for specific work under a DO/TO will be required. In reference to L-15, offerors shall submit letters of intent, teaming agreements, past performance on small business utilization in contract performance, or other evidence of commitment to the Small Business Program as part of the Small Business Participation Plan.

9 H-7 Level of Effort, page

H-7 Level of Effort, page 38 states “*to be completed in each individual FFPLOE or CPFF term type DO/TO.” Request that FFPLOE is removed from this statement as this clause talks about a reduction in fixed fee which is only applicable to CPFF term efforts.

FFPLOE has a fee or profit built into the rate and Contractors are only paid the number of hours worked under these efforts.

Revised to remove erroneous reference to FFPLOE orders. See Amendment 0001.

10 Section I, FAR 52.215-17 Waiver of Facilities Capital Cost of Money, page 45

If Offeror doesn’t propose FCCM and this clause is included in any subsequent contract award, will Offeror’s subcontractors be allowed to propose and bill for FCCM if they do so in their normal course of business.

If FCCM is not proposed by the prime offeror in the base cost proposal, FAR 52.215-17, Waiver of Facilities Capital Cost of Money, will be incorporated into the resultant contract between the prime and the Government. However, this is not a mandatory flowdown clause to subcontracts, therefore, subcontractors may propose and bill for FCCM if they do so in their normal course of business.

11 Section I, FAR 52.222-19 Compliance with Environmental Management Systems, page

Please correct the FAR number to reflect 52.223-19.

Corrected this typographical error. See Amendment 0001.

12 Section I, FAR 252.237- 7024 Notice of Continuation of Essential Contractor Services, page 49.

Please remove this clause as it is no longer reflected in the DFARS.

Removed DFARS 252.237-7024. See Amendment 0001.

13 Section I, FAR 252.225- 7006 Quarterly Reporting of Actual Contract Performance Outside the United States, page 48.

Please remove this clause as it is currently stated as Acquisition of the American Flag in the DFARS.

Removed DFARS 252.225-7006. See Amendment 0001.

14 Section J, Attachments, Item #4 Section J, Attachments: Item #4 indicates that an Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Mitigation Plan is to be submitted with the proposal. Will the government please confirm that offerors are required to submit an OCI Mitigation Plan with the IDIQ proposal irrespective of whether they have an actual or potential OCI? If yes, should the OCI Mitigation Plan be provided in Volume VI: Contract Documentation? In lieu of an OCI Mitigation Plan for the IDIQ proposal, will the Government instead consider making this a task order proposal requirement to be provided as needed?

In accordance with H-15 and L-19 of the RFP, the contractor shall provide a full disclosure statement and mitigation plan if the offeror is aware of circumstances that may hinder its ability to render impartial, technically sound, and unbiased assessments, recommendations and/or evaluations; or that circumstances exist that may result in the appearance that it may have any unfair competitive advantage.

If no OCI exists, offeror's are to make an affirmative statement that no OCI exists-- See Amendment 0001.

The disclosure statement or affirmative statement that no OCI exists shall be provided in Volume VI: Contract Documentation.

In accordance with paragraph (j) of H-15, the Contractor shall provide a prompt and full disclosure in writing if the Contractor discovers a potential OCI during contract performance.

15 L-6 and L-7 If Offeror or its subcontractor(s) are to provide any assertions which volume should these assertions be captured in?

Revised to complete at task order level with materialized requirements. See Amendment 0001.

16 Section L-9(a), Page 76 Given the size and complexity of the required proposal responses, will the Government grant a two-week extension on the due date for proposals?

No. Given that a draft RFP was also posted in June 2016, 30 days is adequate.

17 Volume III, Past Performance

We wanted to ask if we would be able to discuss obtained patents as part of addressing Volume III (Past Performance)?

Volume III specifically asks for Past Performance Questionnaires and Previous Contracting Effort Narratives. The Past Performance Questionnaire is to be completed by an offeror's Federal, Commercial or other customer. If patents obtained is relevant to the narrative provided in support as part of the Previous Contracting Effort Narrative, it may be appropriate to discuss.

18 Attachment L-1, Recent and

Relevant Past Performance Questionnaire; should these attachments be provided to the relevant past performance CORs for completion and submission?

Yes, please see L-14(b). To expedite the process, the offeror may complete the "Contract Information" portion only. The remainder of the questionnaire is to be completed by the customer POC.

19 L-15.1.c Small Business Subcontracting: Is 34% to be considered the minimum percentage of total small business subcontracting dollars inclusive of all proposed socio-economic categories, or must the minimum percentages for at least 3 socio-economic categories be met in addition to the 34% minimum for standard small businesses?

The Small Business subcontract percentage of 34% is inclusive of all socioeconomic categories.

20 Volume IV, Small Business, paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2), page 85

Are the names of each Small Business and the associated agreements required to be submitted with the proposal?

The names of Small Businesses and agreements are not required to be submitted as part of the subcontracting plan.

21 Volume IV, Small Business, paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2), page 85

Can the Small Business Subcontracting Plan identify the intended efforts to meet/exceed the minimum SB subcontracting requirements without providing SB company names?

Yes.

22 The rate table response provided as Attachment 3 is stated in to establish the ceiling rates for future DO/TO cost/price submissions. Is this the ceiling rate intended for future FFP LOE DO/TO cost/price responses or will this ceiling be applied to all DO/TO cost/price responses?

Attachment 3 establishes the unburdened, direct labor rate ceiling for each labor category, and will serve as ceilings for all DO/TO cost/price responses.

23 L-16d(ii)(A) The Government has provided a table of plug numbers for ODC’s.

The first line in the table has “subcontractors” listed. Can the Government further explain this cost and confirm this amount has no bearing on actual subcontractor labor being bid by the offeror.

This "plug number" provides a reasonable hypothetical to provide a common basis for comparing the relative costs of the proposals. It will have no bearing on actual subcontractor labor bid by the offeror for materialized requirements at the task order level.

24 Section L-16 Volume V:

Cost/Price (Factor 4), Page

The number of hours considered a full time equivalent is not specific in the RFP. Does the Government consider a full time equivalent to be 1920 hours or some other number?

Not relevant for proposal purposes. Please propose on level of effort provided.

25 Volume V, Cost/Price, paragraph (ii) Estimated Other Direct Costs, page 87

This clause shows a plug number for subcontractor(s) in the amount of $798,348.00. However under Volume IV, Offerors who are required to submit a small business subcontracting plan are to use the total acquisition value of $48M to come up with our subcontracting goals. Offerors will not be able to meet what is proposed in the small business subcontracting plan if the $48M value is used vice the $798,348.00 value Offerors are being asked to propose against.

Please advise.

The estimate used in Volume V, Cost/Price provides a hypothetical to provide a common basis for comparing the relative costs of the proposals in Volume V only. It will have no bearing on actual subcontractor labor bid by the offeror for materialized requirements at the task order level.

As per L-15(b), for proposal purposes, offerors will use a total acquisition value of $48 million, and propose a total subcontracting percentage based on historical experience of contracts with a similar scope, complexity and dollar value.

26 The solicitation mentions onsite and offsite. However, the rate file attachment 3 does not specify which site to use for the effort. Please advise.

Attachment 3 establishes the unburdened, direct labor rate ceiling for each labor category. For evaluation purposes in Volume V, the place of performance for the prescribed level of effort is to be onsite at NRL, Washington, DC, as described in L- 16(d)(3)(i)(c).

27 What Period of Performance dates should be used for the rate on this effort?

As per L-16(d)(3) and for evaluation purposes, it is a 5 year period of performance, and the start date assumption shall be October 01, 2016.

28 Which Volume should include the Research Fields table identified on page 5 of the soliciation?

See L-17(a)(1)(ii) - This table shall be included in Volume VI.

29 L-19 Are Offerors required to provide an affirmative statement that no OCI’s exist in its proposal response? If so which volume should this statement be placed in?

In accordance with L-19(e)(1), the offeror shall provide a Disclosure Statement if the offeror is aware of any circumstances described in the paragraph. However, if no OCI exists, offeror's are to make an affirmative statement that no OCI exists-See Amendment 0001.

The Disclosure Statement or Affirmative Statement that no OCI exists shall be placed in Volume VI, Contract Documentation. See Amendment 0001.

30 Section M-1(a)(3)(iii)(B)

This section applies the second aspect of part performance evaluation to how well the Contractor performed on the contracts. It appears to only address prior contracts related to past performance with the federal government. Will past performance on commercial contracts or contracts with state or local government be considered valid for evaluation? If so, how will they be evaluated in comparison to prior contracts with the federal government?

As described in Section L-14(b)(1), contracts for which past performance questionnaires and supporting narratives can be with Federal, Commercial, or other customers. Each past performance submission will be assessed for recency, relevancy and how well the Contractor performed, and will then be assigned a Performance Confidence Assessment rating based on this information.

31 M-2.A.2.ii Section M-2.A.2.ii states, “(ii) The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s methodology for supplementing its core capabilities to meet the component areas identified in Section C for completeness and soundness of approach. Emphasis will be placed on those areas not addressed by internal resources or reflected in past performance.” Will the Government please clarify what is meant by “component areas identified in Section C?”

For clarification, the phrase "component areas" was revised to "Research Field(s)."

See Amendment 0001.

32 M-4 M-4 Number of Contracts to be Awarded: M-4 states that the Government intends to award between 5 and 10 contracts. Will the Government please clarify if it intends to award between 5 and 10 contracts for each Lot? If not for each Lot, of the 5 to 10 awards, how many will be for the Lot I versus for Lot II?

The Government intends to award 5 and 10 contracts in total. There is not a predetermined number of awards for either Lot.