RAPID MAC RFP Questions_Answers (01.23).pdf

# Reference Questions Answers

Submitted in writing at conference

With respect to AS9100, please consider other comparable certifications, such as ISO.

The Government will require a Quality Management Systems (QMS) and the QMS requirements will be defined on a per TO basis.

Submitted in writing at conference

Please consider that AS9100 may not apply to all task orders within Pools 3 and 6.

The Government will require a QMS and the QMS requirements will be defined on a per TO basis.

Submitted in writing at conference

Is AS9100 certification required at Prime level or can it be held by a subcontractor? (Required in Pools 3 and 6)

The Government will require the Prime Contractor to hold the certifications for the

QMS and the QMS requirements will be defined on a per TO basis.

Submitted in writing at conference

At which level is the AS9100 certification required, at the MAC or TO level? (Required of Pools 3 and 6) The Government will require a QMS and the QMS requirements will be defined on a per TO basis.

Submitted in writing at conference

It was mentioned that AS9100 may be required by location. Can the Government specify the location(s) and whether or not it will be required at the MAC and/or TO levels?

The Government will define locations and QMS requirements on a per TO basis.

Submitted in writing at conference

Will the Government consider increasing the COR approval threshold of $3,500 for ODC procurements?

This has caused delays in the past. Recommend $10k limit.

No.

Submitted in writing at conference

Will Pools 2-6 have any Small Business goals/requirements? Recommend yes. Large businesses will be required to submit a subcontracting plan.

Submitted in writing at conference

What percentage of work is expected to be performed on-site vs. off-site, per Pool?

For the entiretly of the MAC (section 3.1.2.1) 5% of the work will be performed at

Government site and 95% of work will be performed at Contractor site. Per pool estimates will not be derived.

Submitted in writing at conference

Can large companies be on multiple pools one small big teams?

(Note: this is the question exactly as submitted)

Unfortunately, we are unable to understand the question as written. Therefore, we are unable to provide a response.

RAPID MAC Questions Received 4 - 18 December 2019

Submitted in writing at conference

Can companies compete on more than one team as a sub-contractor? Yes.

Submitted in writing at conference

Are companies able to add teammates post-award? Offeror may include subcontractors, as needed, when proposing to TO RFPs.

Asked During

Conference

The cyber work is being performed in Pool 2, if an order is issued against Pool 5 will a companion order be issued against Pool 2 for the cyber portion of the work?

It depends on the TO requirements. Accreditation and documentation could be placed on a Pool 1 TO as a supporting TO if a secondary set of eyes is needed. It is possible for

Tos to have two (2) Pools to support it.

Asked During

Conference Is there a defined process that ensures existing contracts within 4.11 that cover the scope will be used? Yes – we have a system in place to ensure we are not duplicating requirements.

Asked During

Conference Can you provide an estimate on timeframes and value of Tos?

There are no historicals to use to present now. TOs can span higher and lower efforts.

They are for the "unknown" work and as such we cannot definitize until the work comes in.

Asked During

Conference Is there any historical information the Government can provide? No, this is a new requirement.

Asked During

Conference

With regards to communications security, how are you going to handle JTIC's 6 mo certification process with your rapid business model?

This will be TO dependent and based on a Sponsors risk profile. End user and sponsor risk assessment will be reviewed.

Asked During

Conference CLIN Structure – Is it the same for each Pool?

If you are awarded to a Pool only the CLINs applicable to the Pool will be reflected. The award will be one (1) contract that allows the vendor to submission on three (3) pools and CLINs will be as applicable. CLINs 0002 & 0003 only apply to Pools 3 & 6

Asked During

Conference Will the sample tasks be representative of primary work under each specific Pool? Yes

Asked During

Conference Will the Sample Tasks be published in the DRAFT RFP? Sample Tasks will not be published until final RFP is released

Asked During

Conference Will you allow fee on material?

No. Material will be a COST only CLIN. However, OH, if IAW with your company's regular business practice, can be charged.

Asked During

Conference Under which CLINs will FFP contracts possibly be awarded? This would be applicable to the flight hour CLINs.

Asked During

Conference What is a TDL?

Technical Direction Letter. TDLs provide tasking specifity and reduce the required

CLINs to meet Purpose Time Amount statutes.

Asked During

Conference Will TDLs be utilized? Yes, it is the Governments intent to utilize TDLs.

Asked During

Conference Pool 1 - $5M Magnitude? Yes, the magnitude for Pool 1 is $1M annually.

Asked During

Conference

How are you going to apply to the solicitation to a 75% COTS project? Will licenses be included? How do you handle the multiple years for licensing? How should we plan to bid it and execute?

Depends on the TO. Some may even be hardware which would be outside the scope of this vehicle.

Asked During

Conference Cost Proposal for LCATs?

Cost will not be evaluated on the MAC level. Contract will be awarded exclusively on technical and past peformacne. Cost will be evalauted at the Task Order level.

Asked During

Conference Pools 2-6 – are there any targets/goals for Small Business participation? Large businesses will be required to submit a subcontracting plan.

Asked During

Conference

With regards to evaluations, will there be a minimum threshold for Sample Task/Past Performance ranking? Will proposals be ranked, or on a pass/fail type basis?

We are not planning to limit awards.

Asked During

Conference Will advanced notice be provided on requirements (TOs)? Typically 30 days and draft orders will be provided whenever possible.

Asked During

Conference Can you talk about allocation of ceiling? Does it make sense to bid for a low pool ceiling?

The current plan is to award value for the contract at $249M. The aggregate award is

$249M.

Asked During

Conference Is there a limit to the awards per pool? No limits on awards on a per pool basis.

Conference Can the sponsor transfer funds throughout the contract?

Ceiling and funding are different. A sponsor can apply funding but that does not change the ceiling.

Asked During

Conference Can a sponsor apply funding to the vehicle?

This is a NAWCAD WOLF contract. It supports oLSI NAWCAD WOLF requirements. This is not a GWAC and not intended for other Agencies.

Asked During

Conference

RFQ on TO – Will other pool holders be able to see the requirement for potential to team with existing pool holders?

Only Contract Holders within the specific Pool will be able to bid. We don't not currently plan to publish the requirement outside of the Pool Holders.

Asked During

Conference Task Order level – are teams limited to who is eligible within pool? Prime must be a pool holder – the subcontractor is not required to be a pool holder.

Asked During

Conference Will fluid teaming be allowed at the TO level? Yes.

Asked During

Conference Will multiple Primes be able to bid to the Pool? Companies may team as they see fit for each TO RFP.

Asked During

Conference When is the contract award anticipated? Reference conference brief and monitor beta.sam.gov for updates.

Asked During

Conference When will questions be cut off? When will answers be posted? Questions can be submitted through December 18 with answers in mid January.

Asked During

Conference Request for reassessment and decrease of the $20M magnitude for past performance Will discuss amongst the group. Clarification that Pool 1 has a magnitude of $5M.

Asked During

Conference What can you tell us about pricing?

There will be no cost evaluation at the MAC level. Evaluations will be exclusively on

Sample Task and Past Performance responses.

Asked During

Conference Scope of response will be taking into consideration Yes.

Asked During

Conference How much FACE requirements will be needed? This will be TO dependent.

Conference Given the ceiling and time to turn around, this could impact response times? Yes

Asked During

Conference No provisions on adding subs? No.

Asked During

Conference AS9100 - Is this required at the Prime or can subs have it?

This is TO dependent. At this time it can be either but mostly likely will be location dependent. This is applicable for Pools 3 & 6. Yes, for Pools 3 & 6 as published today.

47 N/A

With six pools and likely many contractors selected for each pool, coupled with a maximum value for all six pools of $249 million, many contractors are viewing this opportunity as having little possibility of return. Respectfully request you consider awarding both a contract under the IDIQ and a companion

Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) to each successful Offeror. That way, you can use the streamlined procedures under the IDIQ when needed. And, when appropriate, use competitive task order procedure under the BOAs which would not count against the $249 million ceiling.

The MAC orders will be awarded using competitive proceedures to MAC IDIQ holders.

Streamlined ordering proceedures are only applicable to SA IDIQ. BOAs are agreements used between the Government and Contractor in a Sole Source environment.

Pg 119, Section M, Part B, 2.0

The requirement under Pool 1 for any past performance to be greater than $5 million does not seem to be useful to the Government. There is no correlation to size of contract and demonstrated capability of the contractor. In particular, in the cyber domain, much of the complex cyber work directly relevant to

Pool 1 is performed as part of a broarder system development contract, sometimes as a subcontractor to the prime system developer. A contractor should be able to cite this work in a past performance even if it was under $5 million. The evaluators should be able to evaluate this kind of past performance and draw conclusions about its viability, rather than eliminating it from consideration by an artificial dollar value.

$5M dollar magnitude will be reduced to $1M annually. The $20M magnitude will be reduced to $4M annually.

Pg 119, Section M, Part B, 2.0

Section M, page 119, of the draft Solicitation states that Past Performance will be evaluated for relevancy in accordance with the requirements of the PWS. All Pools show all PWS elements. Please correct to tailor the evlauation criteria for each Pool table to the PWS elements that apply to that pool.

As written, Offerors would be evaluated against all PWS elements in each pool. Section L, pages 108-

112, should also be corrected to apply the relevant PWS elements to each pool in the Past Performance cross reference matrix.

The Government will review the required SOW sections. Any updates that may occur will be reflected in the final solicitation release.

Pg 103, Section L, Part A, 1.0

Does the definition of "principal subcontractor" apply to the level of effort proposed in response to each sample task since there is no overall level of effort for the proposal? Can Offerors submit two past performance references for each principal subcontractor on each sample task?

Reference of "Principal Subontractor" will be removed and replaced with

"Subcontractor".

Pg 119, Section M, 2.0

Per Section M, 2.0 Past Performance, The Government will use a magnitude of $20M or greater for

Pools 2 through 6. The Government will use a magnitude of $5M or greater for Pool 1." During the pre-solicitation conference, the Government stated that the majority of RAPID activities within NAWC WOLF typically are for 1 year or less. Additionally, the Government stated the entire MAC (inclusive of awards made across Pools 1 through 6) would have a total ceiling of $249M. For the sake of relevancy of cited past performance to the size of future work, and considering the AMC Ceiling, this offeror recommends the dollar value of cited Past Performance references be reducded to $1M for Pool 1, and $5M for Pools

2 through 6. This adjustment would align more closely with anticipated work and would also not preclude small businesses to bid as a prime or principal subcontractor.

$5M dollar magnitude will be reduced to $1M annually. The $20M magnitude will be reduced to $4M annually.

52 Pg 2, SF33 Notes

The draft solicitation states "Offerors can propose one, multiple, or all of Pools 2 through 6. Pool 1 is strictly reserved as a small business set-aside." The draft solicitation currently does not include instruction for Small Buisness Subcontracting Plans for Pools 2 through 6. During the pre-solicitation conference, the Government states there was no plan to limit MAC Winnders to add subs at the Task

Order level. Without a Small Business Subcontracting Plan, there is currently no incentive for unrestricted bidders to submit proposals with small business subcontractors; especially considering the allowance for primes to add subcontractors at their discretion at the TO level. This offeror recommends that Pools 2 through 6 require a Small Business Subcontracting Plan to ensure that small businesses are considered for teaming and principal suncontractor arrangements at the MAC level.

All large businesses are be required to submit a subcontracting plan for all order above

$700,000.00

Pg. 103, Section L, 1.0

The solicitation states "… a 'principal subcontractor' is defined as a subcontractor who provides at least

20% of the proposed LOE, for the contractor or provides one or more Key Personnel." The Q&As released 12/04/19 indicate "The final RFP will be updated to remove 'at least 20'."

Assuming the final solictation will not include Key Personnel requirements (as indicated by the draft), this offeror requests the Government confirm the definition of a principal subcontractor at the MAC level and for proposal submission purposes.

Reference of "Principal Subontractor" will be removed and replaced with

"Subcontractor".

54 N/A Are the sample tasks to be provided in a draft RFP for each of the six pools? Sample Tasks will not be published until final RFP is released.

55 3.2.1 Can an employee with a Green Card support the contract/TO?

Waiver requests, if required, will be reviewed on an individual basis on the TO level.

56 N/A Would you consider incentives to larger companies to partner with Small Businesses for Pools 2-6?

Possibly at the TO level.

57 2.0 Does company Past Performance have to be on U.S. Contracts?

No, as per FAR 45.1502(a), past performance Past performance evaluations are required for contracts and orders as specified in this section, including contracts and orders performed outside the United States.

58 3.1.6 In Pool 1, do the subs also have to be a small business?

No.

59 3.2.1 Will all pools potentially require a factility within 50 miles of the base? (Specifically, a small business competing in Pool 1 that may not have a local facility) Facility requirements will be defined at the TO level.

60 2 Does a sub-contrator's performance carry the same weight as the prime's?

Yes.

Pg. 17, 3.1.2.5.2

Section 3.1.2.5.2: "AS9100D. The Contractor's industrial support facility shall hold an AS9100D certification. The Government will not take possession of the facility at contract termination."

The Government will require the Prime Contractor to hold the certifications for the

QMS and the QMS requirements will be defined on a per TO basis.

Pg. 119, Section 2.0

"The Government will use a magnitude of $20M or greater for Pools 2 through 6. The Government will use a magnitude of $5M or greater for Pool 1."

Is the Past Performance Magnitude reflective of a single or per project/reference, or is it based on a cummulative magnitude of all Past Performances provided?

$5M dollar magnitude will be reduced to $1M annually. The $20M magnitude will be reduced to $4M annually.

Pg. 119, Section 2.0

"The Government will use a magnitude of $20M or greater for Pools 2 through 6. The Government will use a magnitude of $5M or greater for Pool 1."

Will the Government reduce the $20M magnitude requirement for Pools 2-6 to facilitate potential small business participation?

$5M dollar magnitude will be reduced to $1M annually. The $20M magnitude will be reduced to $4M annually.

Pg. 106, Section 1.1.1

"Small Business concerns may propose to any of the samply task in any Pool. Only Small Business concerns may propose to the sample task in Pool 1 'System Accreditation and Certification'."

If a small business wins a contract for Pool 1 and also another contract in Pools 2 through 6, will that

Small Business be excluded from competing any subsequent validation effort in Pool 1 if they are supporting the same task in Pool 2 through 6? Would this create an OCI conflict during contract execution phase?

Depending on the the TO, an OCI mitigation plan may be required.

Pg. 119-122, Sections 2.0 &

3.3.3.6

Section 3.3.3.6 states TOs may require the georgraphic location of the Contractor's primary facility to be within a fifty (50) mile driving distance of NAS Patuxent River or WOLF. The percentage of the tasking that may be performed at Contractor's facilities outside the fifty (50) mile driving distance or at locations requiring travel will be determined on a per TO basis. Under Section M, 2.0 Past Performance identifies the requirement for section 3.3.3.6 PHS&T and warehousing (and all subparagraphs).

Is the Offerer required to have identified warehouse and office space within 50 miles at time of MAC award?

No. Facility requirements will be defined at the TO level.

Pg. 108, Section 2.1.2

Volume 2 states "2.1.2 The Offeror shall complete the Past Performance Information Form, Attachment

P3 and submit as part of volume 2, for each past performance reference performed within five years of the solicitation release date for each Pool being proposed. The offeror shall submit no more than five

Past Performance Information Forms as the Prime Contractor, no more than two forms for each principal subcontractor, and/or no more than two forms for each JV team member."

If these Past Performance Information Forms will be included in Volume 2, will the government please clarify if these sheets will be counted towards the 10-page count for the Volume, or will be they be included as part of the "Past Performance Supporting Documents" within Annex 1, and therefore not add to the page count?

Volume 2 will be retiteled to "Past Performance/PPIF" and will show a limit of 9 PPIF as opposed to 10 pages. (no more than five Past Performance Information Forms as the

Prime Contractor, no more than two forms for each principal subcontractor, and/or no more than two forms for each JV team member)