N0018918RZ007-0002.docx

N0018918RZ007

SECTION SF 30 BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

SECTION SF 1449 - CONTINUATION SHEET

The following have been modified:

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The amendment contains a list of questions that were received in response to this RFP and their respective answers. If you have submitted a question and do not see an answer provided in the below list, the Contracting Office and the Navy Personnel Command are still in the process of developing an answer. Please wait for the next amendment for answers to the questions that are missing from the below list.

1. Question: Will the Government provide any supplies to the contractor with respect to wrapping “non-viewable” remains?

Answer: The PWS under Part 3 has been changed to reflect that the Government will not provide blankets and pins to wrap non-viewable remains that cannot be dressed. The contractor will be required to purchase and provide these blankets and pins.

2. Question: Does the Presolicitation posted as solicitation number N0018918RZ007 on FBO contain requirements similar to a existing contract or will this be a new requirement? If possible, please provide the current contract number.

Answer: While the PWS requirements are similar to existing contracts/purchase orders, this is considered a new requirement because the services will be required on a CONUS scale. The current/expired contract numbers and purchase orders can be located under “RFP Info” prior to the start of the PWS (approx. page 67)

3. Question: In the subject solicitation you have included line items for the base period only even though it appears that the resulting contract will be for a base and 4 option years. Should the proposer add pricing for the option years, or do you intend for the base period to be 5 years and prices to remain static for the entirety of the contract? Do you anticipate any changes, such as potential quantities, during the out years?

Answer: Per paragraph 1.5 of the PWS and paragraph III(2)(a) under (SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS (BEST VALUE/TRADE-OFF), the resultant Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract will consist of a five (5) year ordering period. Therefore, it will not contain Options. The quantities provided in the CLINs represent the entire amount that may be ordered over those 5 years. Please refer to paragraph III(2)(a) under (SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS (BEST VALUE/TRADE-OFF) (approx. page 17), for information regarding the pricing of the individual years within the 5 year ordering period. With regard to prices escalating or remaining static, that is a business decision that has to be made by the offeror.

4. Question: Quantities in the SF 1449: Are the quantities in each Line Item a “total” for the 5-year period of performance? If so, should they be broken evenly throughout the Option Years in the cost escalation model? (For ex, Line Item 0001: 1500 / 300 per year. Line item 0009: 50 / 10 per year, for each of the Line Items / 5 years of the POP)?

Answer: The quantities provided in the CLINs represent the entire amount that may be ordered over those 5 years. For pricing purposes, break out the quantities evenly amoung the 5 year ordering period.

5. Question: Are the quantities in each Line Item a “total” for the 5-year period of performance? If so, should they be broken evenly throughout the Option Years in the cost escalation model? (For ex, Line Item 0001: 1500 / 300 per year. Line item 0009: 50 / 10 per year, for each of the Line Items / 5 years of the POP)?

Answer:

6. Question: Removal from Place of Death (“POD”) & Transportation to Airport: Under what Line Item should costs for each of these services be placed? In previous DOD contracts, removal from POD has been included in the base Mortuary Services CLIN (ie, Line Item 0001 of this Solicitation). Transport to airport -- within a 30-mile radius – has been included in a Transportation CLIN (the equivalent of Line Item 0007, in this Solicitation). However, given Line Item 0007 of this Solicitation specifies “AIR” Transportation, it appears both trips may now more appropriately fall under Line Item 0001 (and, any additional mileage charges as/if applicable placed in Line Item 0006). Since all cases involve a PU from POD and a delivery of remains to “destination” (by hearse) should the charges for both transports be included in Line Item 0001? If not, please advise where pricing for each of these transportation charges should be included in the available list of Line Items for this Solicitation.

Also: industry standard does not typically call for use of hearses for removal of remains from POD (ME offices, Hospitals, etc), especially if the remains are in remote areas requiring trips of + 30 miles. Using a hearse in all cases would affect average removal cost significantly. However, item 5.2 (p 71) states: use of an “eg, first call (funeral coach (hearse). May a “first call” funeral coach (ie, late model, closed side van) be used for removal from POD, in most cases?

Answer:

7. Question: LINE ITEM 0007 Air Transportation: Air fares vary widely based on “zones” of travel. (For example: LAX to JFK, vs. LAX to SEA, DFW, DEN or ORD). Is the Government seeking a single, average unit price for all flights, including those to / from Alaska and Hawaii? If our offer is to include an accurate unit price for Air Transportation, request the Government supply the number of flights anticipated to / from these two locations as they are far more expensive than flights within the contiguous 48.

Likewise, factoring international flight costs into a single unit price for air fare is virtually impossible without destinations, or levels of frequency. Will the Government allow the awardee to recover flight costs over the standard Transport charge by submitting an AWB, and placing charges for the flight cost overage in Line Item 0009? (And/or, should or can the above mentioned higher variants for Alaska and Hawaii, be handled this way as well?)

Answer:

8. Question: SF 1449 states, 11 Death Certificates (“DCs”) per case. However, IAW the PWS (5.18.2.1 and 5.18.2.2; page 77), it would seem very likely that 22 Death Certificates would be required for almost every case performed under this contract. Most cases served herein occur due to traffic accidents or suicide. Both instances require an ME/Coroner’s determination of Cause (and Manner) of Death before DCs are final. This can sometimes and often does take weeks or even months from Date of Death, depending on the circumstances and the State and County the death occurs in. If final DC’s are not immediately available, is it the Government’s intent to obtain 11 Pending Death Certificates immediately, in the 15-day time frame and later, when Cause is established, obtain an additional 11 copies? If so, will those charges fall under Line Item 0009? Or will offerors will need to take the likelihood of providing 22 copies per death vs. the 11 stated in Line Item 0008, when submitting a unit price for Death Certificates? Please clarify.

9. Question: LINE ITEM 0009 / Special Circumstances: What parameters should be used to develop a price for each of the 50 (assuming per above, 10 per year) occurrences of “Special Circumstances”? In our experience, costs associated with incidents falling under a “Special Circumstances” Line Item vary widely, since its purpose is literally to cover items or services that cannot be logically placed under other Line Items in the SF 1449. It is virtually impossible for an offeror to provide a price that can be successfully compared to the prices submitted by other offerors, if the parameters for this are optional or interpretive. Request the Government provide more detailed specs that should be used to develop an “each” price.

(End of Summary of Changes) image1.wmf