N0018920RZ029-0006.docx

N0018920RZ029

SECTION SF 30 BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

SECTION L - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO BIDDERS

The following have been modified:

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS (BEST VALUE/TRADE-OFF)

I. GENERAL

In addition to instructions to offerors contained elsewhere in this solicitation, the following instructions are provided.

Initial proposals and any modifications thereto are to be submitted on or before the closing date and time cited elsewhere in this Request for Proposals.

Proposals shall be submitted electronically using either (1) email to Danielle Udinson at danielle.udinson@navy.mil or (2) the DoD Secure Access File Exchange (SAFE) found at https://safe.apps.mil/.

As stated on the SAFE site, “Authenticated CAC users can send files to any email address (i.e., .mil, .gov, .com). Guests (i.e., PIV holders, users with .com and .edu emails) can send files but only if solicited by CAC users.” Contractors who intend to submit a proposal through SAFE as a Guest will need to contact Danielle Udinson at danielle.udinson@navy.com for a “Request for Drop-off” prior to the closing of the solicitation. Additional time will not be provided to submit proposals. Contractors shall plan accordingly.

Any other method of delivery (e.g., hard copy, CD, thumb drive, portal, etc.) will not be accepted. Proposals shall be received no later than the DATE and TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSAL specified elsewhere in the solicitation. Offerors shall comply with the detailed instructions for the format and content of the proposals contained herein; proposals that do not comply may be considered unacceptable and may render the proposal ineligible for award. All electronic files and versions of offerors’ proposals shall be submitted in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office Suite (Excel) formats and be in a unlocked and searchable format. The offeror shall be responsible for ensuring that its submissions are virus free.

The Navy Electronic Commerce OnLine (NECO) website has a “submit bid” button next to the solicitation number. Offerors are cautioned NOT to use the “submit bid” button on the NECO website to transmit or submit its proposal in response to the solicitation. Faxes and/or responses through NECO, or any other method, are not acceptable.

Offerors are strongly encouraged to confirm their proposal was received PRIOR to the closing date and time. It is the responsibility of the offerors to ensure that the Contracting Office has received their entire proposal, with all attachments, PRIOR to the solicitation closing date and time. Only the documents received, or uploaded if using the DoD SAFE website, prior to the solicitation closing date and time will be evaluated. According to Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) help desk, the maximum file size for emails is 10 MB.

If using email submission, offerors should include the following information in the Subject Line for their electronic submission:

Proposal - N00189-20-R-Z029 – (Name of Offeror) – Email (#) of (#)

Offerors shall submit their proposals in two separate volumes as follows:

Volume I Non-price Proposal

Volume II Cost/Price Proposal

In addition, offers consist of and shall include the following items as part of Volume II:

Solicitation cover sheet with appropriate blocks completed by the offeror

Solicitation pricing pages completed by the offeror

Acknowledgement of solicitation amendments pursuant to FAR 52.215-1 (if not previously acknowledged).

Representations and Certifications completed by the offeror in accordance with instructions contained elsewhere in this solicitation. If the offeror has completed all of the representations and certifications required by this solicitation in SAM in accordance with FAR 52.204-8 and DFARS 252.204-7007 ALT A, then the offeror need not submit the hardcopy Representations and Certifications.

The offeror’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan (this Plan is not required for Small Business offerors). However, all offerors, including small business concerns, must submit a Socio-Economic Plan to address the Socio-Economic Plan evaluation factor of this solicitation. (See paragraph III. PROPOSAL CONTENT subparagraph (c) Socio-Economic Plan.)

The Small Business Subcontracting goals are as follows:

Small Business 23% Woman Owned Small Business 5% Small Disadvantaged Business 5% Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business 3% Veteran Owned Small Business 3% HUBZONE Small Business 3%

The completion and submission of the above items will constitute an offer (proposal) and will be considered the offeror’s unconditional assent to the terms and conditions of this solicitation and any attachments and/or exhibits hereto. Alternate proposals are not authorized. An objection to any of the terms and conditions of the solicitation will constitute a deficiency (see FAR 15.001) which will make the offer ineligible for award.

Potential offerors are encouraged to carefully review all solicitation requirements and, if they have questions concerning the solicitation, should submit one consolidated list of questions concerning the solicitation via email to the solicitation point of contact, Danielle Udinson at danielle.udinson@navy.mil, NO LATER THAN 5:00 pm, Philadelphia time, five (5) business days after solicitation issue date. Questions should be submitted as early as feasible prior to the above date and time; questions received later may be answered at the discretion of the Navy.

Volume I Non-Cost/Price Proposal

This volume shall address Performance Approach, Past Performance, and Socio-Economic plan and include all information required for proposal evaluation.

This volume of the proposal shall exclude any pricing/cost information, except for the information required to be provided under the Socio-economic Plan factor, that would reveal the total costing/pricing detailed in Volume II of the proposal.

Each page of each copy should include the following legend: Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

Volume II Cost/Price Proposal

This volume shall include the completed solicitation documents and a complete and detailed Cost/Price breakdown with all supporting information. Each page of each copy should include the following legend: Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

IMPORTANT NOTES:

(1) Offerors shall respond to all requirements of the solicitation document. Offerors are cautioned not to alter the solicitation.

(2) In the event any person who is not a bona fide employee of the offeror participated in the creation, formulation, or writing of any portion of the proposal, a statement to this effect shall be included in the proposal. Such statement shall identify the name of the person who is not a bona fide employee, that person’s employment capacity, the name of the person’s firm, the relationship of that firm to the offeror, and the portion of the proposal in which the person participated.

II. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSAL CONTENT

(1) CLASSIFIED data shall NOT be included in the proposal.

(2) Introduction and Purpose - This section specifies the format that offerors should use in proposals submitted in response to this solicitation. The intent is not to restrict the offerors in the manner in which they will perform their work but rather to ensure a certain degree of uniformity in the format of the proposals for evaluation purposes.

(3) Each volume should contain the following items in addition to the other information required by this solicitation:

Table of Contents: The table of contents should provide detail sufficient to allow the important elements to be easily located. The use of tabs and dividers is encouraged.

(4) Requirements for Style: Each offeror shall submit a proposal that clearly and concisely sets forth the contractor’s response to the requirements of the solicitation. Unnecessary elaboration or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the offeror’s lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork and expensive visual aids are neither necessary nor desired. The proposal shall contain all the pertinent information in sufficient detail in the one area of the proposal where it contributes most critically to the discussion. When necessary, the offeror shall refer to the initial discussion and identify its location within its proposal.

(5) Page Limitations

Volume I, “Non-price Proposal,” is limited to a maximum of 25 pages in length inclusive of any charts, diagrams, and/or other graphics. Each “page” is defined as one sheet, 8 ½ “ x 11”, with at least one inch margins on all sides, using a font with a point size of 12 or greater (e.g., "Times New Roman" style with 12 point font). Lines shall, at a minimum, be single-spaced. Pages shall be consecutively numbered. Multiple pages or double pages will count as an equivalent number of 8 ½" x 11" pages. The cover sheet, table of contents (not to exceed one page per volume), and dividers will not count toward the page limit. The one exception to the font size requirement shown above is that the "corporate experience and past performance information forms" may be completed with a point size of 10 or greater. In addition, 10 point font can be used for tables and graphics.Pages submitted in excess of the page limitations described above will not be evaluated.

Volume II, “Cost/Price Proposal,” is not page limited.

III. PROPOSAL CONTENT

(1) Volume I – Non-price Proposal

The non-price proposal will consist of the following factors: Performance Approach, Past Performance, and Socio-economic Plan. Performance Approach and Past Performance are considered of equal importance to each other and are both considered significantly more important than Socio-Economic Plan.

The Non-price evaluation factors are listed below:

(a) Performance Approach

The offeror shall provide in detail a performance approach that will successfully accomplish the requirements of the solicitation, including the PWS, with a focus on the areas addressed in PWS Paragraph C0001.3, General Scope. The offeror should describe any risks associated with the solicitation, including the PWS and any risks associated with implementation of the offeror’s performance approach; describe any techniques and actions to mitigate such risks; and explain whether the techniques and actions identified for risk mitigation have been successfully used by the offeror. The offeror should provide any other information the offeror considers relevant to the solicitation.

(b) Past Performance

The offeror shall demonstrate relevant past performance or affirmatively state that it possesses no relevant past performance. Relevant past performance is performance under contracts or efforts within the past five years that is the same as, or similar to, the scope, magnitude, and complexity of the work described by this solicitation.

To demonstrate its past performance, the offeror shall identify up to three (3) of its most relevant contracts or efforts within the past five (5) years, and provide any other information the offeror considers relevant to the requirements of the solicitation. Offerors should provide a detailed explanation demonstrating the relevance of the contracts or efforts to the requirements of the solicitation. If subcontractor past performance is provided as part of the three (3) of its most relevant contracts or efforts, the subcontractor past performance will be given weight relative to the scope, magnitude and complexity of the aspects of the work under the solicitation that the subcontractor is proposed to perform. Therefore, the offeror’s proposal should detail clearly the aspects of the work in the solicitation that the subcontractor is proposed to perform.

The references will be evaluated in the aggregate in order to allow offerors who may not have the entire scope, magnitude, and complexity of the requirement under one individual contract to still be considered acceptable if past performance with the full scope, magnitude, and complexity of the requirement can be demonstrated within the allotted number of references as described above.

The offeror should complete a “Past Performance Information Form” for each reference submitted. The form is an attachment to the solicitation. The forms will count toward the Volume I page limit described above. For additional information regarding a particular reference beyond that which will fit on the form, the offeror may continue onto another sheet of paper. Such continuation sheet(s) for submitted references will count toward the Volume I page limit.

The offeror should address its past performance in complying with requirements of the clauses at FAR 52.219-8, "Utilization of Small Business Concerns," and 52.219-9, "Small Business Subcontracting Plan."

(c) Socio-Economic Plan

The offeror, including small businesses, shall address the extent of participation of small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone small businesses in performance of any resultant contract. The solicitation, however, does not require participation by such entities. The offeror shall provide targets, expressed as percentages of total contract value, for small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone small businesses in any of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Major Groups as determined by the Department of Commerce. The targets may provide for participation by a prime contractor, joint venture partner, teaming arrangement member, or subcontractor. Targets will be incorporated into and become part of any resultant contract.

If the offeror fails to provide targets for the contract and/or any of the six (6) socio-economic categories, the offeror's proposal will be evaluated at zero percent for the contract and/or any socio-economic category for which a target is not provided. However, an offeror that provides no socio-economic plan in response to this factor may be considered ineligible for award. All offerors, including small business concerns, must submit a socio-economic plan and may designate themselves as the primary or sole contractor on the effort.

Note: The Socio-economic Plan factor and the separate requirement for submission of a Small Business Subcontracting Plan are included in the solicitation in an effort to promote small business participation under the solicitation and the resultant contract. The Socio-Economic Plan is a non-price evaluation factor and is separate and distinct from the requirement for an offeror to submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan. The requirements for a Small Business Subcontracting Plan are set forth in this solicitation under FAR clause 52.219-9 Alt II (Dev).

Government small business participation objectives are set forth in FAR clause 52.219-9 Alt II (Dev) in conjunction with the Small Business Subcontracting Plan. The solicitation does not establish separate small business participation objectives for the Socio-Economic Plan evaluation factor. As set forth in FAR 52.219-9 Alt II (Dev), the offeror, if other than a small business, is required to submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan that includes the offeror’s proposed small business subcontracting goals, and the successful offeror’s approved Small Business Subcontracting Plan will be incorporate into the Contract. While Contracting Officer approval of the offeror’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan is required prior to any contract award, the Small Business Subcontracting Plan is not a component of the comparative evaluation of proposals; rather, it will be treated under the solicitation as a matter of contractor responsibility.

The following adjectival ratings will be used for Performance Approach and Socio-Economic Plan: Outstanding, Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Unacceptable. “Acceptable or better” means ratings of Acceptable, Good, or Outstanding.

The following past performance relevancy adjectival ratings will be used: very relevant, relevant, somewhat relevant, and not relevant, The follwing past performance confidence assessment adjectival ratings will be used: Substantial Confidence, Satisfactory Confidence, Unknown Confidence, Limited Confidence, and No Confidence.

(2) Volume II – Cost/Price

Volume II, "Cost/Price Proposal', is not page limited.

The Cost/Price Proposal in Volume II shall include the solicitation pricing pages (Section B) completed by the Offeror and a complete and detailed breakdown of the Offeror's cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) with all supporting documentation. The Offeror’s Cost/Price Proposal shall not deviate from the level of effort set forth in Section B of the solicitation. The Cost/Price Proposal shall support the Non-Cost/Price Proposal. The Cost/Price Proposal shall include all elements of cost and such other cost information as considered appropriate to support the Offeror’s Proposal. The burden of proof for establishing the realism of all proposed costs rests with the Offeror. The cost and pricing information shall be completed in accordance with the following:

(a) Supporting data including labor rates and hours, burden rates, and travel charges used in developing the Cost/Price breakdown shall be furnished.

(b) Uncompensated Overtime. Uncompensated overtime is not encouraged as work schedules averaging more than 40 hours per week can, over a period of time, lead to degradation of performance. Pursuant to FAR 52.237-10, “Identification of Uncompensated Overtime,” Offerors are reminded (1) “Whenever there is uncompensated overtime, the adjusted hourly rate (including uncompensated overtime), rather than the hourly rate, shall be applied to all proposed hours, whether regular or overtime hours”, (2) “All proposed labor hours subject to the adjusted hourly rate (including uncompensated overtime) shall be identified as either regular or overtime hours, by labor categories, and described at the same level of detail. This is applicable to all Proposals whether the labor hours are at the prime or subcontract level. This includes uncompensated overtime hours that are in indirect cost pools for personnel whose regular hours are normally charged direct.” In that 52.237-10 requires that the Offeror’s accounting practices used to estimate uncompensated overtime be consistent with the Offeror’s cost accounting practices used to accumulate and report uncompensated overtime hours, each Offeror proposing on the basis of uncompensated overtime should provide evidence of that consistency. Also, pursuant to FAR 52.237-10, each Offeror proposing on the basis of uncompensated overtime is required to include a copy of its policy addressing uncompensated overtime with its Proposal. To the extent that an Offeror is proposing on the basis of uncompensated overtime, the Offeror shall explain why the use of uncompensated overtime will not degrade the level of technical expertise required to fulfill the Government’s requirements.

(c) Direct Labor Rates. In order to verify the realism of the Offeror's proposed direct labor rates, all Offerors should submit, as part of their Cost/Price Proposal, documentation substantiating the realism of their proposed direct labor rates. To the extent that an Offeror is proposing a subcontractor on a cost-reimbursement basis, the documentation substantiating the accuracy of the subcontractor’s proposed direct labor rates is also requested.

Acceptable documentation may include the following:

(1) Payroll data (if proposing current, named employees)

(2) Actual billing records showing direct labor rates (if proposing current, named employees).

(3) Copies of signed Letters of Intent that indicate agreed upon annual salary (if proposing named, new hires)

(4) Copies of current or prior fiscal year DCMA Forward Pricing Rate Agreement (FPRA), the Offeror’s Forward Pricing Rate Proposal (FPRP), Provisional Billing Rate Approval or Provisional Billing Rate Submission, whichever is most recent.

(5) If labor category averages are used as consistent with the Offeror's accounting practice and approved by DCAA, provide a detailed narrative and include the calculation used to establish the category average. For example, provide a list of the current salaries for all employees working in that labor category, divided by the number of current employees in that labor category.

(6) If proposing rates that do not fall within one of the above criteria, provide a detailed, comprehensive description of the methodology used to establish the proposed direct rate. The description shall include both the source where the rate was obtained and a description of how the resulting rate was calculated. Merely stating that a "salary survey" or "market survey" was used is generally not sufficient.

In preparing the cost quotation, the Offeror shall include a spreadsheet that depicts the following total amounts tied back via formula into the cost development spreadsheets:

DIRECT LABOR (PRIME): $_________________

*A line for each separate indirect expense rate, for example:

FRINGE: $_________________

OVERHEAD: $___________________

G&A: $_______________________

ANY OTHER INDIRECT EXPENSE ELEMENT: $____________________

*Subcontractor total for each subcontractor: $____________________

Fixed Fee: $____________________________

TOTAL COST PLUS FIXED FEE: $__________________

TRAVEL: $_______________

TOTAL AMOUNT PROPOSALD: $________________________

*The prime Offeror shall instruct the subcontractors to follow the same format in the development of its cost spreadsheets, when proposed CPFF type subcontracts. Subcontractor cost/price information shall be submitted for all subcontractors regardless of contract type.

Offerors shall not lock any cells in their corresponding excel spreadsheets. Locked cells make it difficult for the Government to evaluate the Proposal. The Offeror shall provide a narrative to explain any assumptions and the application of all burdens. This narrative shall be included as an attachment and cross-reference to the specific sections of the Cost/Price Proposal. Offerors shall also include the percentage of cost the prime’s cost with respect to the total Proposal amount, and the prime shall also describe the percentage of cost each subcontractor makes up compared to the total Proposal amount. Offerors shall describe the percentage of level of effort (hours) the prime is proposed to deliver when compared to the solicited total estimated level of effort, and the prime shall also describe the percentage of level of effort (hours) each subcontractor is proposed to deliver when compared to the solicited total estimated level of effort.

The prime shall describe the type of contract arrangement established between the prime and subcontractor (i.e.

CPFF, FFP, etc), as well as the value of the subcontract.

REALISM OF COST QUOTATIONS: An Offeror's proposal shall conform to this solicitation. Any significant inconsistency, if unexplained, raises a fundamental issue of the Offeror's understanding of the nature and scope of the work required and of his financial ability to perform the task order, and may be grounds for rejection of the quotation. The burden of proof as to cost credibility rests with the Offeror. Offerors who do not have current DCAA approved rates or provisional billing agreements shall provide documentation such as payroll data, invoices, and/or letters of intent with salary information with their Cost/Price Proposal that will assist the Contracting Officer with analyzing their Cost/Price Proposal. Offerors shall require their subcontractor(s) to provide the same type of documentation to the Contracting Officer if the subcontractors do not have current DCAA approved rates or provisional billing agreements. If the Government is unable to verify the cost quotation, it will be deemed unrealistic and not be eligible for task order issuance.

In addition to the foregoing, the Offeror should explain why it believes its proposed direct labor rates are realistic for the requirements to be performed, considering the technical and experiential qualifications necessary to accomplish the taskings.

(d) Indirect Costs. In order to verify the realism of the Offeror's proposed indirect rates, all Offerors should submit, as part of their Cost/Price Proposal, documentation substantiating the accuracy of its proposed indirect rates. To the extent that an Offeror is proposing a subcontractor on a cost-reimbursement basis, the documentation substantiating the accuracy of the subcontractor’s proposed indirect rates is also required. Acceptable documentation may include the following:

(1) Copies of current or prior fiscal year DCMA Forward Pricing Rate Agreement (FPRA), the Offeror’s Forward Pricing Rate Proposal (FPRP), Provisional Billing Rate Approval or Provisional Billing Rate Submission, whichever is most recent.

(2) If none of the documentation identified in paragraph (1) above is available, historical indirect data, to include provisional rates, actual incurred rates, and annual incurred cost claims (if submitted), shall be provided for the three years prior to the Offeror's current fiscal year. This data should include the all of the Offeror's indirect rates as applicable to the Offeror's accounting system. If proposing indirect rates significantly different from recent incurred rates, Offerors shall include a detailed explanation and supporting cost data (including budget information).

If the Offeror is proposing subcontracts on other than a CPFF basis, the Offeror should submit information as to whether the rates for the subcontractors are fixed based on a firm bilateral agreement with the subcontractor or merely proposed. In addition, the Offeror shall explain why it believes the subcontractor can perform at those rates.

(e) For proposal purposes, the following ratios of On-site (Contractor facility) and Off-site (Government facility) labor performance are established for all labor categories:

ON-SITE (Contractor facility): 75%

OFF-SITE (Government facility): 25%

(f) The Offeror shall use the following estimated cost for travel in preparing its Cost/Price Proposal. This estimated amount will be used as common evaluation amounts in all Offerors’ Proposals; the amounts specified below include no associated indirect costs. The Offeror shall include the estimated travel costs specified below in its Cost/Price Proposal, and load the costs appropriately with indirect costs. The estimated amounts below, plus indirect costs, as determined cost realistic by the Government, will be used in the evaluation of Proposals, and will be included in resultant contracts as “not-to exceed” amounts under which the Offeror will be permitted to invoice its actual costs.

Travel: $1,500,000

(i) Travel estimated above is for travel and subsistence associated with performance under any resultant contract which will be reimbursed in accordance with the clause entitled “Reimbursement of Travel Costs.”

(ii) Any offeror having an accounting system which includes, within overhead or G&A, travel and/or material shall specifically state this fact within the Cost/Price proposal.

(g) Any and all subcontracts identified in the Non-price proposal shall be identified and priced in the Cost/Price proposal. Subcontracts (regardless of dollar value) shall be adequately documented. Subcontractor Cost/Price breakdowns may be submitted as a separate electronic submission(s) and should include the following information in the subject line: Proposal - N00189-20-R-Z029 – (Name of Offeror) – Email (#) of (#).

(h) The Offeror shall demonstrate that, as required by FAR 16-301-3(a)(3), its accounting system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. If the Offeror has an accounting system that has been determined by DCAA to be adequate for a cost reimbursement contract, the Offeror should provide documentation of DCAA’s determination. If an Offeror’s accounting system has not been determined, by DCAA, to be adequate for determining costs applicable to cost reimbursement contracts, the Offeror will be considered ineligible for contract award. If the Offeror’s accounting system has not been determined by DCAA to be adequate for determining costs applicable to cost reimbursement contracts, the Offeror shall complete and submit an SF 1408 attached hereto as part of the Volume II, Cost Proposal.

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