N00421-16-R-0089_Q&As_30_May_2017.pdf

N00421-16-R-0089 – SOLICITATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The following Questions and Answers were posted to www.fbo.gov on 9 May 2017:

Question 1: The magnitude requirement for past performance is listed as $30M. Will past performance submissions with values less than $30M be considered not relevant, and not evaluated? If a robust competition is desired by the Government, a contract value of $20M for multiple contracts would still provide adequate confidence in a company’s ability to successfully execute this contract and would significantly increase the competitive field within the 541330 NAICS code.

Answer 1: Section M, Part A, Paragraph 2.0 Past Performance states “More relevant past performance will typically be a stronger predictor of future success and have more influence on the Performance

Confidence Assessment Rating than past performance of lesser relevance”. The Relevancy definition in

Section M, Part C, Paragraph 4.0 Other Definitions “is the measure of the extent of similarity between the service/support effort, complexity, dollar value, contract type, and subcontract/teaming or other comparable attributes of past performance examples and the source solicitation requirements; and a measure of the likelihood that the past performance is an indicator of future performance”. Magnitude is only one aspect of relevancy, and an overall relevancy rating will take into consideration all aspects as outlined in the definition.

Question 2: Do key personnel who are contingent employees require two separate letters – a contingent offer letter and a letter of intent?

Answer 2: In accordance with Section L, Part B, Paragraph 1.3.2.2 “If the “Key” employee is a contingent hire, the Offeror shall submit a corresponding letter of intent in Volume 4. The letter of intent is a separate written agreement signed by the potential employee(s) to work for the Offeror effective at task order award”.

Section L, Part B, Paragraph 3.3(c) inadvertently states “For contingent hires, the Offeror shall provide contingent offer letters outlining salary information for contingent hire employees”. In order to address this ambiguity, Paragraph 3.3(c) will be updated in a forthcoming amendment to read: “For contingent hires, the Offeror shall provide letters of intent outlining salary information for contingent hire employees.”

A letter of intent is required for all Key personnel who are contingent employees.

Question 3: Section M, Part B, is missing paragraph 4.0. The paragraphs jump from 3.0 to 5.0. Should

5.0 be renumbered as 4.0?

Answer 3: Paragraph 5.0 should be renumbered as 4.0 and will be updated in a forthcoming amendment.

The following Questions and Answers were posted to www.fbo.gov on 18 May 2017:

Question 4: Would the Government consider changing the Due Date from 5 June to at least 19 June

2017 to allow an adequate time for a response?

http://www.fbo.gov/

Answer 4: The closing date of the RFP will be extended to 16 June 1:00 p.m. EST.

Question 5: With regards to Past Performance Section L requires the relevancy narrative to be provided on P4 in the “Contract Effort Description” section. Section M defines the criteria for relevancy.

However, the space allocated on P4 is not sufficient to adequately address the relevancy criteria; when printed only 8 lines of text are available. Please either change P4 to allow for additional space when printed.

Answer 5: Offerors shall use Attachment P4 in the format provided. The solicitation, Section L, Part A, paragraph 3.0 will be revised to include an Annex under Volume 2, Past Performance. Due to the form’s printing limitations, the offerors may utilize this Annex to include an exact copy of the full text from the

“Contract Effort Description” block of Attachment P4.

Question 6: On page 77 of 95 under 3.3, paragraph two says, “complete attachment 6 (Fully Burdened

Labor Rates)” – should this reference attachment 8?

Answer 6: The reference to Attachment 6 is incorrect and will be changed to Attachment P8 in a forthcoming amendment.

Question 7: Will the Government consider submission on a later date (i.e., June 20 th )? This would allow our Veteran staff to properly observe Memorial Day. This would also allow vendors to adjust their approach if questions are only going to be addressed after the question submission deadline of May 15 th

Answer 7: See Answer 4.

Question 8: Page 20, paragraph 5.1 states that the contractor shall perform work up to the Top Secret level. All labor categories described under paragraph 11.0 indicate that only a Secret clearance is required. Can the Government help clarify this apparent discrepancy?

Answer 8: The current security clearance requirement is Secret. However, Section C, paragraph 11.0 states “During the performance of the contract, higher level security clearances (Top Secret) may be required and will be identified at the task order level.”

Question 9: In Section L, Part 3.0 Proposal Content and Volumes, will the Government clarify if the 10 page limit for 1.2.1 Statement of Work (SOW) Narratives is 10 pages for both SOW narratives 3.2.5 or

3.2.6 or is it a 10 page limit for each section?

Answer 9: The page limitation outlined in the table under Section L, Part A, paragraph 3.0 for Section

1.2.1 Statement of Work (SOW) Narratives is for both SOW narratives, 3.2.5 and 3.2.6.

Question 10: Attachment P4, the Past Performance Information form is a fillable pdf document required under Section L, 2.1 Volume 2/General. Is a Word version of this document acceptable should the

Offeror need additional space beyond the allotted pdf document to complete the “Contract Effort

Description” and “Demonstrated Systemic Improvement Information” sections so long as it covers all the required elements of the pdf document?

Answer 10: See Answer 5.

Question 11: Please confirm that in Section L, part 11.0 Personnel Qualifications, the security requirement is only different for the General Clerk II labor category. Is there any security requirement for that position?

Answer 11: The General Clerk II does not require a security clearance. Per Section C, paragraph 11.0, “All personnel, with the exception of the General Clerk II, shall be able to obtain at minimum a Secret security clearance within 90 days of contract award or within 90 days of the start of their employment, whichever is later.”

Question 12: Is the General Clerk II a SCA labor category?

Answer 12: The Service Contract Act is not applicable to this solicitation.

Question 13: Section L part 3.7.1, Other Direct Costs (ODC), identifies the Government’s estimate for travel and material and identifies these costs by performance year. However, there is only 1 CLIN, 0002, that appears to be used for pricing the entire period of performance per Section B. Is the offeror to modify that provided P6 in order to demonstrate the different years in supporting the price for CLIN 0002? The

P6 currently reflects one ODC CLIN for “COST ODC” but the tab says “YEAR 1”.

Answer 13: Section B outlines CLIN 0001 for all labor and CLIN 0007 for all ODCs associated to the five (5) year ordering period. The Attachment P6 should reflect the labor cost and the travel and material costs per year as outlined in Section L, Part B, paragraph 3.7.1. Attachment P6 attached to the solicitation should have been a representation of contract Year I and as such, will be revised in a forth coming amendment. The offerors are to create tabs for each of the remaining contract years and create a summary tab to develop the Section B total contract pricing for CLINs 0001 and 0007.

Question 14: In Section L part 3.7.2, Labor Hours, provides the Government estimate for labor hours per year with the total for the 5 year ordering period in the last row of the table. However, there is only 1

CLIN, 0001, that appears to be used for pricing the entire period of performance per Section B. Is the offeror to modify that provided P6 in order to demonstrate the different years (corresponding escalation, change in rates, etc.) in supporting the price for CLIN 0001? The P6 currently reflects one labor CLIN for

“CPFF LABOR” but the tab says “YEAR 1”.

Answer 14: See answer 13.

OTHER INFORMATION OF SPECIAL NOTE:

With reference to workforce, offerors are reminded of requirement for compliance with the terms of

NAVAIR Clause 5252.237-9501 Addition or Substitution of Key Personnel.

The following Questions and Answers were posted to www.fbo.gov on 24 May 2017:

Question 15: On page 10, paragraph 3.1, the last sentence of the first paragraph states that the Contractor shall maintain a secure contractor facility within 30 miles of NAS Pax River. Page 22, paragraph 7.0 second subparagraph states that “off-site at a secure Contractor’s facility located within 30 miles of the

Government facilities listed above (which is NAS Jacksonville and NAS Pax River).” Page 22, paragraph

7.0 third subparagraph states the contractor shall maintain a secure contractor facility located within 30 miles of NAS PAX River. Which of the above is correct, only near NAS PAX River or near both NAS

Jacksonville and NAS PAX River?

Answer 15: A secure contractor facility is required within 30 miles of NAS Pax River. Section C, paragraph 3.1 will be revised in a forthcoming amendment to remove the last paragraph with reference to the contractor facility location.

Question 16: On page 16, the SOW states in paragraph 4.5.1“Capabilities Description Document

(CDD).” Do you mean “Capabilities Development Document (CDD),” which is the language consistent with the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) documents?

Answer 16: Section C, paragraph 4.5.1 will be updated in a forthcoming amendment to read

“Capabilities Development Document (CDD).”

Question 17: Page 22, paragraph 7.1: for Government spaces, will an internet drop be available and will it be compatible with NMCI only?

Answer 17: The Government provides computers for on-site contractor personnel as appropriate.

Internet drops for these computers will only be compatible with NMCI.

Question 18: BLS SOC is missing from Engineering Training Specialist. Will the Government provide the code? We recommend using 13-1151 Training and Development Specialist.

Answer 18: The Engineering Training Specialist outlined in Section C, paragraph 11.11 will be updated in a forthcoming amendment to add BLS SOC 13-1151.

Question 19: When we search the BLS database for SOC 15-1252 or 15-1253, we do not find any data.

Will the Government explain in which BLS database file these SOCs can be found?

Answer 19: Section C, paragraph 11.7 will be revised to change the BLS SOC from 15-1252 to BLS

SOC 15-1130 for the Software Engineer, Journey labor category, and paragraph 11.8 will be revised to change the BLS SOC from 15-1253 to BLS SOC 15-1121 for the Systems Specialist, Senior labor category in a forthcoming amendment.

Question 20: SOC 13-1111 does not appear to be a good match for the specific experience requirements of the Systems Analyst position. Would the Government consider aligning these to 11-3021 Computer and Information Systems Managers?

Answer 20: The Systems Analyst, Senior and Systems Analyst Journey outlined in Section C, paragraphs 11.14 and 11.15 will be updated in a forthcoming amendment to change the BLS SOC from

13-1111 to BLS SOC 11-3021.

Question 21: Please clarify the page limit for the Annex response for P4 “Contract Effort Description” block.

Answer 21: There is no specified page limit for the Annex. However, the Annex is added to include only duplicate information provided within the “Contract Effort Description” block of Attachment P4.

Question 22: When will the Government release an amended RFP that includes all of the changes that the

Government states are forth coming in the Q&A? And will adequate time be allowed after the amendment is released to develop a proposal based on an amended RFP?

Question 22: The Government anticipates release of the RFP amendment not later than 24 May 2017.

The RFP closing date has been extended to 16 June 2017 allowing adequate time to develop a proposal.

Question 23: Please clarify what is requested for the 10 pages of past performance? The Section L requirements only request P4 and P5.

Answer 23: Per Section L, Part B, paragraph 2.1, there is additional information required with reference to consent from principle subcontractors and JV team members. This information should be included within the past performance submittal.

Revised Response to Question 8:

Question 8: Page 20, paragraph 5.1 states that the contractor shall perform work up to the Top Secret level. All labor categories described under paragraph 11.0 indicate that only a Secret clearance is required. Can the Government help clarify this apparent discrepancy?

Answer 8: The current security clearance requirement is Secret for the personnel. However, Section C, paragraph 11.0 states “During the performance of the contract, higher level security clearances (Top

Secret) may be required and will be identified at the task order level.”

OTHER INFORMATION OF SPECIAL NOTE:

Additional Security Information:

In accordance with Section C, paragraph 5.1, the contractor shall have the capability to perform up to a

Top Secret level. As such, the offeror must be able to obtain a Top Secret facility clearance during the transition period (prior to the performance start date of the contract). At this time, personnel under the effort are only required to have a Secret clearance to perform tasking. However, Section C, paragraph

11.0 states “During the performance of the contract, higher level security clearances (Top Secret) may be required and will be identified at the task order level.” In accordance with Section L, Part B, paragraph

1.1.5, the Transition Plan narrative should take into consideration the Security Requirements.

The following Questions and Answers were posted to www.fbo.gov on 25 May 2017:

Question 9: Question 15 in the Q&A dated 18 May provides that "The page limitation outlined in the table under Section L, Part A, paragraph 3.0 for Past Performance is not inclusive of Attachment P4 or

Attachment P5." Will the Government please clarify in Section L, Part B, 2.0 Past Performance what is required to be addressed in the ten (10) page limitation?

Answer 9: Per Section L, Part B, paragraph 2.1, there is additional information required with reference to consent from principle subcontractors and JV team members. This information should be included within the past performance submittal.

The following Questions and Answers were posted to www.fbo.gov on 30 May 2017:

Question 10: Will the 50% rule for the small business prime contractor be managed at the Task Order level or the overall contract level?

Answer 10: The 50% rule for the Small Business Prime Contractor shall be managed at the Contract

Level.

Question 11: In Part B Specific Instructions, Section 2.1, the RFP says “The Offeror shall submit no more than five (5) Past Performance Information Forms as the Prime Contractor, no more than two (2) forms for each principal subcontractor, and/or no more than two (2) forms for each JV team member.” Is this meant to say Principal Subcontractors must submit past performance information forms, or is this at the discretion of the prime offeror?

Answer 11: The Offeror shall submit the Past Performance Information Forms for itself and for its

Principle Subcontractors and JV Team Members.