Question and Answer.pdf

Questions and Answers Admin/Clerical Support Services 9 February 2025

Q# Document Name/ Attachment #

Page # and Section Question/ Answers

1 General/ No Reference N/A

Q: Is there an incumbent? Can the Government please provide the incumbent contract information?

What is the total value of the contract?

A: The previous contract was for Management Analyst, therefore, the requirement has changed so there is not incumbent for this requirement.

2 General/ No Reference N/A

Q: Are the 2 FTE positions currently fully staffed?

A: The positions under the old requirement were 1 FTE and 1 PTE. This is a new requirement for

2 FTE.

3 RFQ Page 2 Section L

Q: Can the Government please confirm the Period of Performance is base + 4 option years?

J-0 Section L, page 12 states “The period of Performance (PoP) is from 30 March 2025 through 29 March 2026.” which contradicts various other sections of the attachments.

A: Please refer to page 2 of the RFQ information to Offerors, which shows the requirement for base +4.

General/ No Reference

N/A

Q:.Can the work be performed remotely?

A: NO

RFQ

Section 1.6

Q: "Housing allowances, education allowances, or any other type of overseas allowances will not be paid by the U.S. Government." Could you clarify what is specifically included under "housing allowances"?

A: Living allowance will not be paid by the Government, your fully burden rate should include any cost, G&A, etc that it takes to accomplish mission. Rates should be in line with the OSD website, living allowances will not exceed that of Military and Government personnel.

General/ No Reference

N/A

Q: Does the local Contract Manager or Team Lead need to be full-time on-site, or is part-time or remote work acceptable?

A: There are only 2 FTE positions available; therefore, one of those persons must act as the onsite Contract manager or team lead. Remote work is not acceptable.

RFQ

Section 1.5

Q: "NAVSUP FLC Bahrain may require occasional performance at other NAVSUP FLC Bahrain buildings aboard NSA Bahrain or at ISA Air Base, also located in the Kingdom of Bahrain." To accurately quote travel expenses, can you clarify whether "occasional performance" refers to on-site presence, and how frequently this might occur (e.g., once a month, once a quarter, etc.)?

A: IAW with the PWS there is a one-time travel to Bahrain. Any travel in the local area once on boarded is considered travel to and from work and is not reimbursable.

8 General/ No Reference N/A Q: Is it acceptable for past performance to be considered if it occurred up to five years prior to the solicitation closing date, instead of the three-year requirement?

A: No, we will not go back further than 3 years on Past Performance.

9 General/ No Reference N/A Q: Is the RFQ is solely for local entities or if this is open for U.S.-based companies too. If yes, what exactly would be considered the minimum company requirements for bidding in the form of local staffing?

A: RFQ is open to companies that have an active CAGE code in SAM that can meet the requirement set forth in the RFQ.

10 RFQ Page 3 Section 1.6.9

Q: Key Personnel: The Contractor personnel working on this contract are considered key personnel by the U.S. Government. The contractor shall provide a local Contract Manager or Team Lead who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the Contractor when the manager/team lead is absent shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer. The Contract Manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The Contract Manager or alternate shall be available between 0800 thru 1700 Bahrain time, Sunday thru Thursday except U.S. Federal holidays or when the U.S. Government facility is closed as required by the U.S.

Government. Can the contract manager located in the US mainland and communicate with the NAVSUP via online meeting when needed?

A: With the 8-hour difference from the U.S. and Bahrain, we require timely communication in case of illness or other emergency that may keep an FTE from reporting to the office.

11 General/No Reference N/A Q: Should there be incumbent employees performing this work, is it please possible to let me know their name(s), contact info for us to consider them for employment for ease of transition / minimizing the loss of Institutional Knowledge to the benefit of the Govt?

A: No, information on employees working for the Government cannot be disclosed.

13 General/No Reference N/A Q: Since specifically no Set-Aside has been mentioned, is it an Unrestricted Procurement? Possible to kindly confirm?

A: There are no restrictions on this procurement.

14 General/No Reference N/A Q: If this is indeed an Unrestricted Procurement, will the Govt confirm that we being a HUBZone firm will be given a 10 % Price evaluation preference for HUBZone small business concerns per FAR 19.1307 (b), (c) and (d) AND FAR 52.219-4 Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small Business Concerns?

A. This is not a set-aside; HUBZONE does not apply in overseas locations.

15 RFQ / PWS Page 1, Page 3 Travel, Page 6 PWS, Relocation

Q: Page 1 of 17 of the RFQ does not List the CLIN numbers? How many CLINs are there? A CLIN each for Labor per year of POP - Base + 4 Option Years + 6-Month Option, A One time Relocation CLIN and a Travel ODC CLIN for base and each Option Year? Will the Govt. look into it and do the needful to outline this in a clear unambiguous manner? Should Travel ODC CLIN be there, what is the Govt. estimate / Plug-In number that must be used as the Travel is unknown / TBD at this point and an accurate number cannot be provided?

Same is applicable for J-2+CLIN+Price+Breakdown? Should there be no material items as is the case for this work how can a summary breakdown of material items and services under remarks section be possibly shown here?

A: Please refer to the CLIN Breakdown sheet provided to you in the RFQ. Travel is an actual cost CLIN, as noted in the PWS 6. Relocation- NOTE: One-time transportation costs will be paid to bring new contractor personnel to Bahrain at the beginning of the contract. Transportation costs related to personnel substitution for any reason shall be at the contractor’s expense.

16 RFQ Page 1 Q: Page 1 of 17 of the RFQ mentions "AIRFIELD Management" which appears to be in error as this refers to some other work and not this RFQ N4033925RS010 - Administrative / Clerical services. Will the Govt.

kindly correct this error and outline the correct scope?

A: Correction Made

17 RFQ Page 13 Q: Past Performance Information: Offeror shall provide Past Performance Information using Attachment J-4

For Offerors like us who have CPARS in CPARS.gov and / or completed signed PPQ attesting to the quality and relevance of the work by our govt customers, can we instead submit them in lieu of Past Performance Information using Attachment J-4 as the purpose of these CPARS / completed signed PPQ attesting to the quality and relevance of the work by our govt customers is met for the Govt be able to evaluate our past work like it would with PPI without imposing an additional burden on the same evaluators should they still be in those same jobs / roles with constant changes in govt personnel been re-assigned / transferred especially

OCONUS?

A: CPARS within the three year time frame is also acceptable.

18 RFQ Page 15 Section M

Q: Technical evaluation is more important than Past Performance

However in our experience as a Prime Contractor outlined in the beginning of this E-Mail:

Extensive experience in providing Administrative / Clerical, Engineering and other Professional support services to USG - USN / DOD, DOS etc as a Prime Contractor with 125+ Contracts / Tasks and $100+ Million Value employing over 500+ resources in 20+ years

We have provided these kind of services all across CONUS and OCOUNS including @ NSA Bahrain and are well versed in working @ NSA Bahrain and surrounding areas - ISA, UAE etc with the nuances in mobilizing resources, SPOT, Bahrain Work Visa (have the ability to sponsor on our own rather than 3rd Party Visa Brokers) and Bahrain Labor Law - LMRA compliance, ISA access etc - typical challenges that we have successfully met since 2013.

Will the Govt allow us to include this as a minimum as a part of the most important criteria in terms of the all important award criterion Technical Evaluation as stated per Section M especially our Bahrain experience @ NSA Bahrain to assure the Govt that we are truly equipped to deliver mitigating the risk instead of awarding to a firm with no prime contracting experience @ NSA Bahrain offering professional services as Acceptable / Unacceptable like us as an Amendment? It is our submission made in the most respectful manner that merely submitting a signed affirmative statement (Attachment J-3) as the most important Technical Evaluation does not mitigate risk on the part of the Govt but rather supporting NSA Bahrain directly does and we can provide more details if sought in the RFP response / Post Award.

A: Please submit based on the RFQ. You can add any information to your capability submittal as to your how you will complete the requirement in a manner satisfactory to the Government.

19 RFQ Page 16 Q: FACTOR 2 PAST PERFORMANCE (i) - Will the Govt consider recent Past Performance greater than 3 years like 5 - 10 years? We do have quite a few Administrative Services Experience of tasks of 30+ FTEs in that period rather than just 3 years as is the case adopted by other Navy Commands like NAVFAC, NAVWAR and NAVSEA including Seaport-NxG - 10 years?

A: No, do not submit any Past Performance past 3 years.

20 RFQ Page 17 Q: The following items, after award, form a part of the award:

1. Part I – The Schedule (Sections A through H)

2. Part II – Contract Clauses (Section I)

3. Part III – Attachments (Section J)

Will the Govt kindly provide Section A - F, H as they have not been provided in the RFP?

Section C - J-1 Performance Work Statement (PWS)?

A: Corrected

21 RFQ- PWS Page 1 Section 1.3

Q: 1.3 Objective NAVSUP FLC Bahrain requires professional Administrative/Clerical support services of two (2) Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) (3,840 hours annually) to support the administration of NAVSUP FLC Bahrain Operations.

Will the Govt clarify that this is a FAR 37.1 / 37.6 Performance Based Non-Personal Services as DOD acquisition policy calls for? Although we do intend to have 2 FTE @ 3,840 Hours per annually per the RFQ, the actual hours of 3,840 is or should be NTE 3,840 Hours as this is a FAR 16.2 - 16.201 / 16.202 FFP contract irrespective of the actual level of effort (LOE) as FFP Tasks are unlike FAR 16.3 Cost Type LOE or FAR 16.6 T & M / LH contracts are? Hence as long as the Performance Standards are met per the PWS for this

FAR 37.6 Performance Based Contract subject to FAR 37.1 - Non-Personal Services, will the govt agree that being a FAR 16.201 / 202 FFP, it may be OK should the actual LOE be less than 3,840 Hours as proposed and may be used as a basis for a REA should this exceed subject to prior to approval should more hours be needed than 3,840 Hours?

A: This is a FFP requirement and your rates should be fully burdened. The 3,840 FTE equals to 1,920 hours per FTE, which excludes any holidays, or personal leave. The requirement is for each FTE to work 1,920 hours.

22 RFQ PWS Page 2 Section 1.6.5

Q: Per FAR 16.202 Firm-fixed-price contracts. In light of these will the Govt include FAR

16.2 - 16.201 / 16.202 FFP a sit appears to be running it like a FAR 16.6 T & M / LH Contract based on CLIN pricing sough in terms of labor hours and unit labor hour cost in RFQ - Page 1 of 17 and J-2+CLIN+Price+Breakdown unlike a FFP contract as stated in Per J-1 Performance Work Statement (PWS) - Page 2 of 7 ?

A: No, this is a FFP requirement and your submitted rates should be fully burdened.

23 RFQ- PWS Page 2 Section 1.6.6

Q: Respectfully JPAS is extinct and has been replaced by DISS. Will the Govt kindly rectify this and issue an Amendment to reflect the same?

Additionally, since this is Uncleared Work with just a T-1 (Public Trust), a contractor cannot "own" such individuals and record such in DISS as this can only be done by a contractor for cleared work work - "Confidential", Secret - t-3 or Top Secret - T-5 with issuance of a DD 254. For T-1 work, such action / record can only be maintained by the Govt and for a cleared contractor to "own" such employees in DISS with no DD 254 maybe considered as a Security Vulnerability / Administrative Finding by DCSA with oversight if cleared contractors who have access to DISS. Hence will the Govt remove the requirement of maintaining uncleared Public Trust employees by contractors in DISS? Additionally, since the employees may be needed to preform in classified space or access classified data, will the Govt. consider issuing a DD 254 with at least a Secret - T-3 or a Top Secret - T-5v allowing personnel to be able to access space / data up to TS level?

Should the Govt still keep it at T-1, will non-US citizens be allowed - TCN / LN with a CAC like is for other commands in NSA Bahrain like NAVFAC PWD Bahrain where we have provided services?

A: A Public trust is required for this position.

Since access to DISS is required that is only available for cleared US contractors with a FCL of Secret or above, will the govt kindly outline that this RFP is only for cleared US firms and not any local and / or non-US firm with no FCL nor can they obtain one?

A: Anyone who believes that can meet the RFQ requirements may submit their capabilities and pricing.

24 RFQ- PWS Page 3- Requirements

Q: Based on this will the Govt remove "shall provide" or at least add "shall provide estimated" to be in compliance with FAR 37.101 as outlined above?

A: Question not clear.

25 RFQ- PWS Page 5- Training

Q: Since this a FFP, will the Govt kindly outline the personnel training, certification, licensing, and proficiency, unless otherwise specified in the contract; and pay all costs incurred for training required by the PWS to include such costs or such be reimbursed as ODC and provide Attachment XX?

A: Training required by the PWS are Government trainings that are to be completed for on-boarding. Any training required for personnel to maintain the position is at the expense of the Contractor.

26 RFQ- PWS Page 5- Job Categories

Q: Hence in order to obviate the possibility of this work be construed as a PSC proscribed by FAR 37.104, will the Govt use these qualifications only as a desired / guide with the contractor still being responsible to deliver "'perform" per per 2.1 - 2.10 for this FAR 37.1 /

37.6 Performance Based Non-Personal Services task removing the word "shall"?

Additionally will the govt remove "Resumes shall include name, telephone number and email address for at least two references" unless the goal / desire of the govt is to contact the employees directly aka "interview" thereby inserting itself in the "hiring process" acting as the "super employer" like it would to hire its own staff thereby making it akin to a Personal

Services Contract proscribed under FAR 37.104?.It is the contractor who has the ultimate prerogative to "hire" and "fire" its staff to deliver / perform for this FAR 37.1 / 37.6 Non- Personal Performance Based Services Contract? Respectfully, the Govt must not act in any manner directly or indirectly in the process of hire / fire of contractor employees or appear to with this contract clause adhering to sanctity of a FAR 37.1 / 37.6 Non-Personal Performance Based Services Contract and not violate these clauses including FAR 37.101 / 37/104.

A: The Government does not intend to contact the perspective employees directly prior to onboarding. As stated on page 1 of the PWS this is a non-personal services contract.

27 RFQ- PWS Page 3- Phase in/out

Q: Based on our experience, since US citizen employees typically working on this contract will need anywhere 45 - 60 Days before they can physically move to Bahrain after taking care of their affairs back home, will the Govt give a more realistic phase-in / phase out period of 60 days?

A: The plan is to award prior to the expiration of the Management Analyst contract so that there is some overlap. Boots on ground are required by 31 March 2025.

28 RFQ- PWS Page 5 Substitution of key personnel

Q: Since based on our experience, since US citizen employees typically working on this contract will need anywhere 45 - 60 Days before they can physically move to Bahrain after taking care of their affairs back home, will the Govt give a more realistic period of 60 days?

A: The plan is to award prior to the expiration of the Management Analyst contract so that there is some overlap. Boots on ground are required by 31 March 2025.

29 General- no reference N/A Q: Will all contractor personnel working on this contract including the local Contract Manager or Team Lead and alternate be provided CAC for base / system access tasked with supervision, work review and privileges like MWR, NEX etc afforded to contractors OCONUS as outlined in LOA? Will the Govt include the same in the contract?

A: Yes, they will have NEX and Post Office privileges outline in the LOA

30 General- no reference N/A Q: Since this is a OCONUS job, will the Govt clearly outline if Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance is a mandatory requirement as is the case for all other similar work OCONUS including Bahrain unless a specific waiver is in place issued by DOL? No such waiver exists per my knowledge. This typically a contract condition and is clearly outlined in the RFP / RFQ. In light of this will the Govt incorporate, this DBA requirement in the RFQ Via an Amendment should DBA be a mandatory requirement for this work in Bahrain?

A: Insurance is required for all contracts OCONUS

31 General- no reference N/A Q: . Should DBA be a mandatory requirement, will the Govt also kindly outline how the costs for such must be recovered? Include in the FFP CLIN rate or as an ODC item via an

ODC CLIN?

A: You insurance should be included in your fully burdened rate there will not be an ODC CLIN added to this award. It is not up to the Government to tell you how to quote.

32 General- no reference N/A Q: Does the Govt agree that since it is a FAR 37.1 / 37.6 Non-Personal Services Performance Based Contract per DOD Policy, the Govt may tell the contractor 'What" is needed in terms of services as outlined per PWS 2.1 - 2.10. but not "How"? "How" states -provide 2 FTEs with very specific narrow quals whose resumes must even show "Resumes shall include name, telephone number and email address for at least two references" thereby making it appear the Govt's desire to act as the "super employer" akin to a PSC with the ultimate decision to "hire" or "not hire" and other contraventions to FAR 37.101 and FAR

37.1014 as outlined at least Question - 15, 17, and 18 - please scroll below. In light if this will the Govt remove these "How" or at least mitigate these "How" as outlined in these questions 15, 17, and 18 and issue an Amendment to reflect the same.

A: This is unclear

33 General- no reference N/A Q: Personnel working on this contract will be at NSA Bahrain but may need to travel to other sites under your command like UAE, Oman, Isa Bahrain as needed and directed.

Correct? Travel for such will be reimbursed as an ODC and a CLIN shall be provided in the contract for such? If so, could this be outlined in the RFQ with either a Plug-In number or a TBD? UAE, Oman etc outside Bahrain will be TDY. Correct? Travel from NSA Bahrain to Isa Bahrain a round trip distance of 90 KM or more will be reimbursed as mileage and / or rental car for the trip or will govt. transportation be provided? In case, the govt would like to include this Isa Travel in the FFP CLIN price rather than as a mileage / rental car reimbursement, is it possible to provide the number of round trips per year and / or mileage to determine this cost and include it in the FFP CLIN Labor Price?

A:

34 PWS Page 2 Security

Q: What level of SECURITY clearance is required for the provided personnel ? Assuming TS/ SECRET clearance?

Would the govt. / COR office authorize NON US citizens in the proposed RFP ? or must be a US citizen with valid security clearance ?

A: This is a Public Trust position. Submit who is best qualified for the position.