Q&A.03.pdf

SOLICITATION NUMBER N00173-19-R-WR01

Questions and Answers #03

The following questions were submitted relating to this solicitation and are answered as follows:

Question 1: Which positions are acceptable to be staffed with uncleared individuals?

Answer 1: Software Engineer Level 3 (1,920 hrs), Software Engineer Level 4 (1,920 hrs) and Software Engineer Level 5 (3,840 hrs).

Question 2: Which positions are currently staffed with uncleared individuals?

Answer 2: See answer to Question 1.

Question 3: If uncleared positions are acceptable on this contract, could the Government change the wording of SOW Section 4.1.3 to read “Individuals being proposed for positions that require clearances must possess a favorably completed DoD investigation and a final DoD granted Top Secret security clearance with the eligibility of SCI at time of proposal submission”?

Answer 3: Section 4.1.3 will be revised in Amendment 0002 to clarify that TS/SCI is only required for tasks that require TS/SCI.

Question 4: Please provide the number of workspaces available for cleared contractor personnel at the NRL site.

Answer 4: Workspaces will be available and provided for all required personnel at NRL under this effort.

Question 5: Is there an area for uncleared personnel at the NRL site? If yes, please provide the number of workspaces available for uncleared contractor personnel at the NRL site.

Answer 5: See answer to Question 4.

Question 6: If there is no work area for uncleared personnel at the NRL site, does the Government anticipate Contractors will provide space for these employees at the Contractor site?

Answer 6: See answer to Question 4.

Question 7: Section M-2-1 of the RFP states: “The proposed personnel shall be available for work efforts on the first day after contract award.” Only the incumbent could potentially meet this requirement as currently written. In order to provide for fair competition, we recommend that will the Government change this requirement as follows (or something equivalent)?

“The proposed program manager shall be available for work within two weeks of contract award. The remaining proposed key personnel shall be available for work within two weeks of contract start date. All remaining personnel (non-key) will be available within 60 days of contract start date.

Answer 7: Section M-2-1 will be revised to require all proposed key personnel shall be available for work efforts on the first day of the period of performance start date and all proposed non-key personnel shall be available for work efforts within two weeks of after the period of performance start date. Section M-2-1 will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 8: What is the percentage of work to be performed at the Government facility and the percentage of work to be performed at the Contractor's facility (Onsite vs. Offsite)?

Answer 8: It is anticipated 100% of work will be performed on-site at the Government’s facility at NRL in Washington DC. Section F-3 will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 9: FAR 252.204.7012, Para K-18, Both identify cyber reporting. Please specify Cybersecurity Requirements.

Answer 9: The requirements relating to cyber reporting are listed in the DFARS provision and DFARS clause referenced.

Question 10: Will all required unclassified and classified automation equipment/support be provided by the government at all sites?

Answer 10: It is anticipated 100% of work will be performed on-site at the Government’s facility at NRL in Washington DC. All equipment will be provided for work efforts as required.

Question 11: Will there be any onsite requirements to locations that are in an “active deployed” status? This question applies to other requirements related to deploying communication/automation products and performing Operations and Maintenance (O&M) support of various elements. Any Defense Base Act requirements?

Answer 11: No.

Question 12: In section L-3 it states: Each page shall be counted except for the following: cover pages, table of contents, cross reference tables, tabs, glossaries, acronym lists, subcontractor/teaming agreements and resumes. But the only place agreements are mentioned is in the Vol III (small business participation plan). Is it the intention of the govt that the teaming agreements are presented in Vol III? If not, should they be presented in Vol V (Contract Information)?

Answer 12: Subcontractor/teaming agreements shall be included in Volume III. Section L-6(1) will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 13: Two different requirements are labeled with the same numeric identifier, 3.1.6.2.2. Would the Government update the SOW to reflect a distinct number for the second requirement?

Answer 13: The SOW will be corrected in Amendment 0002.

Question 14: Please confirm that offerors may submit CPARs or PPQs.

Answer 14: Offerors may submit CPARs or PPQs.

Question 15: Please confirm that there is no minimum and no maximum number of past performance contracts an offer must provide.

Answer 15: Section L-5(1)(iv)(a) and (b) and L-5(2) will be revised in Amendment 0002 to establish a maximum number of five.

Question 16: Please confirm that the government did not mean “all” efforts, but that offerors may provide ‘any’ efforts.

Answer 16: Section L-5(1)(iv)(a) and (b) will be revised in Amendment 0002 to clarify what’s required.

Question 17: L-17 says - No material, labor, or facilities will be furnished by the Government . . . but F-3 says that work will be performed at NRL. Please clarify if work will be performed on contractor site or government site. If on government site, please clarify what is expected in the response to address government furnished property.

Answer 17: It is anticipated 100% of work will be performed on-site at the Government’s facility at NRL in Washington DC. Section L-17’s purpose is to list property the Government will furnish to the contractor in accordance with FAR Part 45. Any property provided to a contractor for on-site work is not considered GFP in accordance with FAR 45.000(b). There is no requirement for a response from an Offeror relating to GFP.

Question 18: Please clarify how offerors are to submit the electronic copies (email, CD/DVD, portal).

Answer 18: All electronic submissions shall be via e-mail to ryan.wheelock@nrlssc.navy.mil. Section L-2, paragraph 1 and the table in Section L-3 will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 19: Please confirm the NAICS code is 541715 as shown on FBO, since it wasn’t shown in the RFP in K-2 (or elsewhere in the RFP).

Answer 19: NAICS code is 541715. Section K-2 will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 20: Will all required unclassified and classified automation equipment/support be provided by the government at all sites?

Answer 20: See answer to Question 10.

Question 21: TS/SCI is required for many of the employees. Where in the RFP or SOW does it discuss how to process SCI accesses?

Answer 21: Companies shall have an FSO and should know how to request or handle TS with SCI eligibility clearances.

Question 22: Request Government confirm that information specified in FAR 52.215-1, (c)(2) applies to the cover letter and not the title page of each volume?

Answer 22: It applies to the cover letter. Section L-3, paragraph 2 will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 23: Will the government please consider a two week extension to the due date and time due to the requirement for hard copy original proposals and associated documents and in light of the as yet unanswered questions?

Answer 23: Yes. The RFP close date will be extended from 10/10/2019 to 10/24/2019 in Amendment 0002.

Question 24: “Each volume shall contain a more detailed table of contents to delineate the subparagraphs within that volume.” To what level subparagraph should the TOC provide? All?

Answer 24: One-level. Section L-3(4) will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 25: Section L-3, Proposal Volume Requirements, paragraph 5 states each volume shall contain a glossary; however Section L-6, Volume III Small Business Proposal, does not include a Table of Contents, or a Glossary under paragraph (1) “Volume Organization.” Are these also required for inclusion in VOL III?

Answer 25: No. Section L-3(4) and (5) will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 26: Request the Government clarify the requirements for submission of electronic copies of the proposal Volumes. Is the “electronic form” acceptable as a CD or is other electronic media preferred or required? If CD(s) are required, request the Government clarify if all proposal Volumes can be saved to a single CD or is an individual CD required for each Volume? Is each Volume required to be submitted as a single electronic file, or are multiple files acceptable? May the electronic copies be submitted in pdf format to ensure a match to the pages of the hard copy submissions?

Answer 26: See answer to Question 5. The cover letter and each Volume shall be submitted as a single file in accordance with the table in Section L-3. Volume IV is listed twice to account for the cost proposal and the excel version of the cost proposal. The table in Section L(3) will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 27: Request the Government update section L-5 to also permit/include Tables as in Volume I- Technical Proposal.

Answer 27: Section L-3(1) allows for tables in any volume.

Question 28: Request the Government specify the information and format Offeror should provide in order to demonstrate “distribution and effective use of the work force necessary to support this requirement?”

Answer 28: This is in reference to Attachment 3. Offeror shall comply with the anticipated level of effort.

Question 29: Request the Government amend the RFP and confirm the NAICS Code fill in for K-2 is 541715 and the small business size standard is 1000 employees, as noted on FedBizOpps.Gov.

Answer 29: See answer to Question 19.

Question 30: Request the Government confirm if an Executive Summary is exempt from page count.

Answer 30: No.

Question 31: Request the Government confirm if Excel Cost Workbooks must be submitted in hard copy and electronic versions or if Electronic Version only. If offerors are required to print the excel file pages, are the custom margins already in the spreadsheet acceptable, or must the Offeror reformat the pages to comply with the requirement for 1” margins on top , bottom, and sides of each page?

Answer 31: Section L-3 specifies what is required relating to electronic and paper versions. Section L-3(1) paragraph 2 will be revised in Amendment 0002 to exempt the cost spreadsheet from the page limitations in Section L-3.

Question 32: As currently written, the Solicitation provides no guidance on the transition period. Request the Government clarify the transition period for this program. Recommend the Government provide for a 30-day transition period to commence after award on day one of the contract POP start date.

Answer 32: The transition period for this effort will consist of two weeks commencing on the period of performance start date and consist of only the key personnel. Section M-2-1, SubFactor 3 will be revised to include the two week transition in Amendment 0002.

Question 33: Request the Government clarify if it is requiring the Offeror to have available all key and non-key personnel on the first day after contract award. In this context, recommend the Government clarify the solicitation by requiring Offeror to have all personnel available by the end of a 30-day transition period, which would commence on day one of the contract start date.

Answer 33: See answer to Question 7.

Question 34: Request the Government clarify the minimum and/or maximum number of past performance citations the Offeror must submit in order to achieve an acceptable rating.

Answer 34: See answer to Question 15. An “acceptable” rating isn’t applicable to the past performance evaluation. Past performance ratings will be in accordance with Section M-3-2 of the RFP.

Question 35: Instructions on Attachment A.6, the PPQuestionnaire.pdf indicate the completed form should be emailed to _______, no later than _______. Are PPQs required to be submitted directly to the Contracting Officer, or should they be collected by the Offeror for inclusion in the Proposal Volume?

Answer 35: See Section L-5(1) paragraph 3. Copies or references to the questionnaires may be included in Volume II. This will be added in Section L-5(1) paragraph 3 in Amendment 0002.

Question 36: Reference CPARS for citations that Prime Offeror’s subcontractors submit in support of Volume II Past Performance. Some subcontractors classify their CPARS as proprietary and “Sensitive Source Selection Information”. As such, those subcontractors will not release that information to the Prime Offeror for inclusion as part of the Offeror’s team proposal submission. They require the option of including those CPARS with their sealed package that they will submit directly to the Government. The current RFP guidance does not provide for this option. Will the Government modify guidance to allow subcontractors to provide their CPARS directly to the Government within a separate sealed package including other sensitive or proprietary data?

Answer 36: All offerors shall follow the instructions in the RFP regarding proposal submissions.

Question 37: Is the government currently using an Agile Software Development approach (SCRUM) in addition to implementing the ISO IEC 12207-2008(E) Standard for Information Technology?

Answer 37: Yes. Agile Software development approach is utilized.

Question 38: In accordance with current DoD guidance, DoD organizations have been replacing legacy DIACAP with the Risk Management Framework for information assurance certification and accreditation.

Request the Government confirm if NRL intends to apply the Risk Management Framework for this purpose.

If it intends to apply the Risk Management Framework, request the Government replace DIACAP citations in the SOW with appropriate “Risk Management Framework” language.

Answer 38: The SOW will be updated to the correct RMF citation of “Risk Management Framework NISP SP 800-37 Rev 2” in Amendment 0002.

Question 39: Request the government identify the software platforms currently adopted to support both the COP and CIP.

Answer 39: See SOW task 3.1.7.2.1 for primary software languages.

Question 40: Request the Government clarify which key and non-key positions must have SCI eligibility.

Request the government also identify if SCI eligibility will be verified and accepted in both JPAS and

SCATTERED CASTLES.

Answer 40: All personnel, except for the positions and hours listed in the answer to Question 1, require TS/SCI eligibility. SCI eligibility will be verified and accepted in only JPAS.

Question 41: Request the Government clarify the level of clearance required for each task / subtask within Section 3.1 MDA.

Answer 41: The level of clearance required for each task/subtask is added to each task title in the SOW in Amendment 0002.

Question 42: Request the Government confirm that Section B need only be filled in and included in Volume V – Contract Information, and it should not be included as part of Volume IV – Cost Proposal.

Answer 42: The RFP states Section B fill-ins are required in Volume V. Volume IV does not preclude the inclusion of Section B fill-ins.

Question 43: Offerors are instructed not to submit pricing for the optional 6-month extension that may be authorized under FAR 52.217-8. Please clarify the evaluation method, specifically with reference to the stated CLINs in the Basis of Evaluation table for the Cost Factor (0002, 1002, 2002, 3002, and 4002) which would appear to include an evaluation of the Government provided ODC numbers only, and exclude any consideration of the Service Costs as proposed under CLINs 0001, 1001, 2001, 3001, and 4001.

Answer 43: The bottom right cell in the table in Section M-3-4 will be revised in Amendment 0002.

Question 44: Request the Government confirm that the fiscal years associated with the expected period of performance should be for the applicable portions of government FY-20, FY-21, FY-22, FY-23, FY-24, and FY-25 instead of FY-17 through FY-21.

Answer 44: Attachment 8 will be updated in Amendment 0002.

Question 45: Request the Government confirm that the Employee column need only be completed for the named Key Personnel, and that it may be left blank for non-key positions.

Answer 45: The employee column shall be completed for all proposed named personnel.

Question 46: Because more than one subcontractor may be used, request the Government permit the addition of a column to this worksheet to indicate which subcontractor teammate is proposed for the specific labor category and rate.

Answer 46: Section L-7(1) paragraph 2 allows a vendor to edit the cost spreadsheet as applicable.

Question 47: In amendment 1 – all other references to the Infrastructure Engineer (KEY) was for Level 4. In H-2 – it shows as Level 5. Please confirm that this is a typo- and should be Level 4 in H-2 also.

Answer 47: Section H-2(d) will be updated in Amendment 0002 to change the Infrastructure Engineer Level 5 (KEY) to Infrastructure Engineer Level 4 (KEY).

Question 48: The solicitation identifies that the awardee will be ready to work efforts day one. The Government does not identify or define the length of a transition period with the incumbent. Will the Government define an acceptable transition period for this effort, e.g., 30 days?

Answer 48: See answer to Question 32.

Question 49: Can the Government provide the definition for the acronym MDA?

Answer 49: Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). SOW will be updated in Amendment 0002.

Question 50: The Government requires resumes for all proposed Key Personnel but doesn't identify where to place those resumes within the proposal response. Are the Resumes for proposed Key Personnel to be included within Volume 1 - Technical proposal as part of subfactor (2) content or included as an appendix to Volume 1?

Answer 50: It is up to the vendor; however, see answer to Question 51.

Question 51: Are the Resumes for proposed Key Personnel included with the page count for the Technical Volume?

Answer 51: Section L-3 states resumes will not be included in the page count.

Question 52: How many pages (not more than X pages) for each proposed Key Personnel Resume?"

Answer 52: No limitations are set on the page count of resumes.

Question 53: Can the 2nd page of the cover letter contain a 1-page overview of the volume?

Answer 53: The only limitations on the cover letter of the proposal is the page limit in accordance with Section L-3.

Question 54: To support realistic pricing, what is the percentage of work to be completed at Government site versus Contractor's facilities, e.g., 90% Government Site and 10% Contractor Facilities?"

Answer 54: See answer to Question 8.

Question 55: Q&A 02, Question 7, states: EVMS is not required for this procurement as this is a non-schedule based effort. Sections K-13, K14 and K-23 will be removed from the RFP in Amendment 0001.

Will the Government update CDRL A001 to reflect this?

Answer 55: After further discussion with the technical point of contact, EVMS will apply to this effort, as applicable. Sections K-13, K-14 and K-23 will be added back to the RFP in Amendment 0002. CDRL A001 will not be revised to remove EVMS.

Question 56: The EVMS Report description states that the contractor shall submit monthly EVMS reports in significant Programs per POWS. Will the Government identify the Programs that may require a EVMS, if applicable - see question above. Will the Government define the acronym POWS?

Answer 56: CDRL A001 will be revise the acronym POWS (Performance of Work Statement) to Statement of Work (SOW) in Amendment 0002.

Question 57: The CWBS Reports description references a Performance Work Statement (PWS) and the RFP includes a Statement Of Work (SOW). Can the Government update the CDRL Language to reflect the RFP's language.

Answer 57: CDRL A001 will be updated to change PWS to SOW in Amendment 0002.

Question 58: CDRLS A005 - A016 are not referenced in Attachment 1 Statement Of Work (SOW) under any of the Requirements or in any other document within the RFP Package. Are CDRLS A005 - A016 relevant to this effort? If not, will the Government remove these CDRLS in a follow-up amendment? If so, can the Government identify which SOW Requirements these CDRLS are applicable towards? "

Answer 58: CDRLs A005-A016 were included by mistake and will be removed from Exhibit A. CDRLs A017 and A018 will be changed to A005 and A006 in Exhibit A in Amendment 0002.