N4215817RN002_Questions_with_Responses_Pt2.docx

Solicitation N4215817RN002 Questions w/Responses Part 2

1. Please define billable hourly rate (see cell F6) versus fully burdened rate (G6). Should billable be base labor rate?

RESPONSE: The fully burdened rate is loaded (Fringe & Benefits) but does not include the fee, G&A, or Overhead. “Billable hourly rate” has been removed.

2. If billable hourly rate means direct base labor, how do we input this for our subs? Our subcontractor's buildup is proprietary. The design of the worksheet with required hours is that only the Prime will complete. As the Prime, we will not be privy to our subs base labor, only their fully burdened amounts.

RESPONSE: “Billable hourly rate has been removed”. The subs should have separate pricing sheets.

3. Is the worksheet asking for a blended rate between team members based on percentage of hours per labor category? The Q&A response to #30 seems to suggest that we include separate labor rates for the subcontractor and we can't modify the spreadsheet.

RESPONSE: The labor categories will require a blended rate for the respective categories. Subcontractors’ rates shall also be blended and provided on a separate pricing sheet.

4. CLIN0001 multiplies the billable hourly rate by the estimate hours. Should the hours be multiplied by the fully burdened rate? The spreadsheet is inconsistent as CLIN0005 multiplies the hours by the fully burdened rate.

RESPONSE: “Billable hourly rate removed”

5. The orange cells across from the labor categories in CLIN001 do not allow for the user to click into. See cells F19:G26, base tab only.

6. When the fee is applied in Column M, it is done so as a percentage. See cell M29.

RESPONSE: Corrected

7. G&A and O/H rate percentages are a dollar value. See cells M144:M145.

RESPONSE: Percentage boxes have been added to the Pricing Worksheet. The result box has been changed to represent a dollar value.

8. Why is there an estimation of hours by the contractor when the government is providing the estimate for CLIN0005?

RESPONSE: The extra estimate hours column has been removed.

9. Isn’t all of the SME work to be performed in Norfolk? The base and option 1 tabs indicate Bremerton. See cell H122

RESPONSE: All SME work will occur in Norfolk, VA. This has been corrected on the Price Submission Worksheet.

10. D6 says "Labor Category", but D32 says "Code". This is for the same work, which is the correct label?

RESPONSE: The correct label for the Pre- and Post- Shipcheck is “Code”. The only exception is the labor category of “Technical Typist”. Thus, the Pricing Worksheet has been changed to reflect “Code/Labor Category”. The “Code” represents the pre- and post- shipcheck representative for each of the codes as suggested in the PWS. The representatives of each code shall be the same labor codes required in the shipcheck (i.e. Sr Engineer, Engineer, Sr Engineering Tech, and Engineering Tech).

11. Is the offeror to price codes as well as labor categories? It seems to be the intent of the worksheet. Cells D59:69 seem to indicate that we should be pricing codes, instead of labor categories in these cells. Although technical typist D69 is a labor category listed within the codes.

RESPONSE: The “Code” represents the pre- and post- shipcheck representative for each of the codes as suggested in the PWS. The representatives of each code shall be of the same labor categories required in the shipcheck (i.e. Sr Engineer, Engineer, Sr Engineering Tech, and Engineering Tech). The Pricing Worksheet has been changed to reflect “Code/Labor Category” for the Pre- and Post- Shipcheck pricing.

12. Is the offeror required to price overtime?

RESPONSE: The offeror is required to separately price overtime. If the rate is the same, this amount shall still be input into the worksheet.

13. We aren't totally certain of this, but doesn’t the competitive award provide an exemption to the requirement for certified cost and pricing? I thought you didn't have to have certified pricing if it was a competitive award.

RESPONSE: Certified cost and pricing data is not required if there is competition. The requirement for Certified Cost and Pricing data has been removed; however, if there is only one offer received, the offeror will be required to provide it.

14. Reference: RFP Section B p. 28 Item No. 2005AC & p. 53 Question: RFP Reference allocates a total of 2,288 estimated hours for Structural Design and Analysis but the attachment 18 Price Submission Worksheet allocates a total of 686 hours, please clarify.

RESPONSE: The RFP allocation is correct. The Pricing worksheet has been updated.

15. Reference: Q&A No. 26 Question: Please confirm that the only Key Personnel for whom resumes are requested are the 3 SME’s listed in Section 6.5.h.

RESPONSE: This is correct.

16. Reference: Q&A No. 27 Question: Is certified cost or pricing documentation required from the subcontractors?

RESPONSE: The requirement for Certified Cost and Pricing data has been removed; however, if only one offer is received, the offeror will be required to provide it.

17. Reference: RFP PWS Section L p.129 and Q&A No. 33 Question: What is the Compliance Matrix?

RESPONSE: This answer was incorrect on the initial Q&A. The Proposal Adequacy Checklist is the same as the Compliance Matrix; however, is required of acquisitions requiring Certified Cost and Pricing Data. As this requirement has been removed, offerors are able to create a Compliance Matrix to verify all aspects of the solicitation are met. A sample Compliance Matrix follows these questions.

18. Reference: RFP PWS C.4.d (11) and Q&A 17 & 48 Question: RFP C.4.d.(11) states that the 3-D scanning services will be required for 5 days for base years shipchecks and 3 days for option year shipchecks. Q&A 17 and 48 states the 3D scanning personnel shall be part of the personnel conducting the shipcheck. The base year notional shipchecks are for 20 days. Are the 3-D scanning personnel expected to leave the shipcheck after the 5 days required or are they expected to perform another function on the shipcheck? How does this relate to the shipcheck hours given in the Price Submission Worksheet?

RESPONSE: The expectation is that the personnel conducting the scanning will be part of the shipcheck team and will perform other shipcheck requirements when not conducting scanning. Therefore, the estimated man-hours are inclusive of all shipcheck personnel.

19. Reference: Price Proposal Worksheet Questions:

a. What is the difference between Billable Hourly Rate and Fully Burdened Hourly Rate?

RESPONSE: “Billable hourly rate” column has been removed.

b. The spreadsheet is not fully functional; please provide a fully functional spreadsheet.

RESPONSE: Pricing Worksheet has been updated. The orange cells are able to be changed. Others are protected to avoid removal of formulas. NOTE: Offerors are able to add rows to allow additional data to be captured. Also, the “Travel & ODCs” and “Other than Travel and ODCs” totals are editable; however, justification for changes shall be provided on the “Additional Data” sheet within the workbook.

20. Reference: III Proposal Content, Volume I (Page 26 of 28) The offeror shall provide resumes are all proposed key personnel. Resumes shall be in Microsoft Word format, Times New Roman style with 10 point font, and are limited to two (2) pages each. Resumes are excluded from page count for this volume.

Question: Can resumes be in PDF format so that we can include in with Volume I and not have to have two separate files, a PDF of Volume I and a Word Document for Resumes?

RESPONSE: PDF documents, in Times New Roman/Times Roman style with 10 point font and limited to two (2) pages will be accepted.

21. Reference: The chart provided on Page 5 of 28, titled "Historical Level of Effort for Complete Development of RCOH SIDs (excludes Shipcheck effort)" seems to include historical work that included some percentage of rollover of source files from previous efforts. However, Section 4 Work Specification (Page 4 of 28) says that we "shall assume use of zero rollover of source files from previously developed SIDs."

Question: If we will have zero turnover on previously developed SIDS, the amount of hours per sheet on this contract will be higher than the chart posted on Page 5 of 28. Is that correct?

RESPONSE: The chart for historical efforts did not take any rollover into consideration. As work will be conducted by one contractor or one team throughout the period of performance, the expectation is the hours per sheet will be close to the Government’s estimate.

22. The Pricing_Submission_Worksheet cells for SubCLIN0001AA Shipcheck is locked so you can't enter the Billable Hourly Rates. Will the Government please reissue the attachment with those cells unlocked?

RESPONSE: Updated Pricing Submission Worksheet is provided. NOTE: Offerors are able to add rows into the worksheet to provide additional data which needs to be calculated into the total. The additional rows shall be added, if required, within a range of rows which are totaled in order for the total to calculate at the bottom and on the “TOTAL” page.

23. The Solicitation states "Separate cost and pricing information shall be submitted for each year of services, as well as a total summary for all five years of service. The labor rates shall be fully burdened and submitted in accordance with the Price Submission Worksheet (shall be in Microsoft Excel format) provided as an attachment to the solicitation and will be utilized in the preparation of quotes at the task order level. The personnel qualifications included in the PWS provide the descriptions of each labor category. The offeror must identify the direct labor rates to be utilized under the contract; the fringe and overhead rates, including a description of how they are applied to the direct labor; and the general and administrative (G&A) rates. Attachment 18 that the Government provided does not provide for a breakout of the labor, fringe, overhead and G&A costs. Is the Government expecting to see a separate spreadsheet detailing these costs and does the Government expect the same level of detail for the Cost Plus and Fixed Price CLINS?

RESPONSE: It is expected that the “fully burdened” rate include fringe/benefits. There are separate boxes for “Fee”, “G&A”, and “Overhead” percentage and resulting calculations. The breakout of labor and fringe shall be added to the last worksheet within the workbook (sheet is named). The fixed priced elements do not require a breakdown.

24. Attachment 18 has prepopulated numbers of hours for each category. Are these hours required to be proposed by the contractor?

RESPONSE: The prepopulated hours are based on the independent Government estimate. It is required that offerors present pricing based on this estimate. Each resulting individual task order will be priced based upon the identified requirements utilizing an agreed upon rates.

25. Given the scope of the changes to pricing as a result of the amendment will the Government please extend the due date to 2 November 2017?

RESPONSE: Due to a very constrained schedule, the Government is not able to extend the due date beyond 26 October 2017.

SAMPLE COMPLIANCE MATRIX

Proposal:

Date:

Page Paragraph

Compliance Matrix Instructions

The compliance matrix is a tool used to help ensure that the proposal responds to and complies with all RFP requirements. Typically, the following proposal core team members use the compliance matrix tool:

The proposal manager (PM) is responsible for the compliance matrix from RFP release through proposal submission.

· The review team leader (RTL) uses the compliance matrix to aid in blue team and red team reviews.

· The volume leader (VL) uses the compliance matrix to identify where the volume responds to individual RFP requirements.

The compliance matrix is composed of three major sections: RFP, Proposal Response, and Comments and Actions.

RFP. The “RFP” section has two sub-columns: Section/Page/Paragraph and Requirement. The PM enters the identified RFP requirements and their location in the RFP into the RFP section. This list should accurately reflect not only the requirements in all sections of the RFP, but also requirements in the letter of transmittal, general introductory statements, and any referenced requirements documents (such as the SOW and CDRL). This section of the compliance matrix must be updated if the customer releases amendments or changes to the RFP. If parts of the RFP are long, detailed, or contain run-on sentences, it may be useful to retype these difficult parts sentence by sentence. By doing this, the sentences can be numbered so that it is easier to determine if the individual requirements have been incorporated into the proposal.

Proposal Response. During the Proposal Development phase, the VL fills out the “Proposal Response” section of the compliance matrix. The compliance matrix helps the VL ensure that the content and organization of his volume follow and address the RFP requirements. As the volume is written, the VL identifies the proposal volume, section/page, and paragraph number for the requirements listed in the RFP section.

Comments and Actions. The RTL uses the compliance matrix during blue team and red team reviews. The RTL verifies that all RFP requirements are listed and that the proposal is responsive to and complies with each RFP requirement. The RTL may find it useful to assign a review team member to crosscheck RFP compliance for all volumes. The “Comments and Actions” section of the compliance matrix contains notes about the status of the proposal response. Note potential problems, noncompliant responses, and any other issues in this column.

To aid customer evaluation, a compliance matrix is often included with the proposal submission. This is typically a simplified version of the compliance matrix showing only the RFP requirements and their locations and the proposal responses and their locations. This simplified compliance matrix may be included in the front matter of the entire proposal, in the front matter of each individual volume, or on tab dividers for each section. A sample completed compliance matrix is available as a template to follow.

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