Attachment_5_-_Amendment_1_Questions_and_Answers.docx

N62645-16-R-0001 Amendment 1 Questions and Answers

1. Is the Japan Medically Related Administrative & Programmatic Support Services Multiple Award Task Order Contract a new requirement or not? If not, we'd like to request for the incumbent information, such as the contract number and task order if there is any.

Answer: This requirement was previously procured under the below listed contracts. Naval Medical Logistics Command is able to provide the following information, which represents work that may be ordered under the resultant contract:

2. Can a veteran owned company compete on this procurement?

Answer: Yes, if the veteran owned company meets the criteria, as this requirement is a 100% Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) competitive acquisition under NAICS 561320.

3. The government states that, “Unless a contractor is present in Japan solely to perform under a contract with the United States for the sole benefit of the United States armed forces in Japan and is accorded privileges under SOFA Article XIV, it and its employees shall be subject to all the laws and regulations of Japan, including the US-Japan SOFA.” While the RFP states that the contract extends SOFA benefits to the “contractor and its employees” which includes the exemption from income or corporation taxes on income derived under a contract with the US Government in connection with facilities covered by the SOFA (US military facilities), we request that the RFP be amended to include language that clearly extends the “SOFA Article XIV Status” benefits to Joint Venture member employees performing services under the contract.

Answer: A Joint Venture is considered the contractor; therefore, no change is made.

4. Can the government provide the GS rates for each position listed in the RFP?

Answer: No, per FAR 52.222-42 -- Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires is not applicable to this requirement.

5. The Government requires a font of “Times New Roman font of not less than 10 point font size inclusive of tables, charts, graphs, graphics, etc. Text, tables, charts, graphs, graphics, etc. that are not in compliance will not be considered by the Government in its evaluation.” Would the Government allow the use of an Arial font for tables, charts, graphs, graphics?

Answer: Tables, charts, graphs, and graphics may be other than Times New Roman font, but shall not be less than 10 point font size. Paragraph 2.1.5. of ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS has been revised.

6. The government states that “Contractor employees performing services under this order will be controlled, directed, supervised at all times by management personnel of the contractor.” Is it the government’s expectation that a program manager will be onsite at each facility? Will the government provide work space for a Program Manager?

Answer: This is a performance based requirement and the government cannot direct the contractor on how to meet performance requirements. If a contractor determines that a Program Manager is necessary to meet contract requirements, the government may provide work space on site for the Program Manager.

7. Is the cover page and table of contents included in the page count for Volumes 1, 3, and 4? Is a cover included in the page count for Volume 2?

Answer: The cover page and table of contents are not included in the page count for Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4. ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS has been updated to add Paragraph 2.1.6. and revise Paragraph 2.3.7.

8. On the pricing sheets, Lot B CLIN 0007 and Lot C CLIN 0011 are both in USNH Okinawa and they are asking for the same requirements and same labor category. What is the real differentiator?

Answer: The historical level of effort for each CLIN is different.

9. On the pricing sheet, Lot D USNH Okinawa CLIN 0012 and CLIN 0013 are asking for the same requirement and same labor category. What is the real differentiator?

Answer. The historical level of effort for each CLIN is different.

10. Assume a full-time worker is 1920 hours. Is holiday and PTO time billable to the government?

Answer: No, holiday and PTO are not billable to the government.

11. The solicitation on page one (1) mentions that this will result in a 5 year IDIQ contract award yet on the pricing sheet for all 15 CLINs, the performance period given is one year (09/01/2016 to 08/31/2017). Because the offerors are bound to have changing indirect labor rates in the out years, how will the government evaluate the out years?

Answer: Subsequent task orders will be awarded in accordance with the Task Order Ordering Procedures in the Special Contracts Requirement section of the solicitation. Pricing for the out years will be evaluated on future task orders. The initial award evaluation will not consider pricing for out years.

12. Paragraph 2.2.3. of ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS states the offeror (prime) may submit past performance that demonstrates prior experience of Key Personnel. If the offeror (prime) submits past performance of Key Personnel’s experience, will it be considered one of the offeror’s (prime’s) past performance or will the offeror’s (prime’s) Key Personnel past performance “count” as one of the two allowed for a teaming partner?

Answer: Key personnel references for the offeror (prime) submitted in accordance with Paragraph 2.2.3. of ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS will be considered the offeror’s (prime’s) past performance and will not count as one of the two past performance submissions for entities other than the offeror, members of SBA approved Joint Ventures, and key personnel.

13. Section 2.3.3. of the RFP talks about COLA and SOFA, should offerors include these cost elements as part of their fully burdened labor rates?

Answer: The contractor shall include all costs associated with doing business to meet the requirements of solicitation as part of their fully burdened rates.

14. Should the offerors include DBA in their fully burdened labor rates? DBA (Defense Base Act) is a type of worker's comp insurance that most defense contracts are required to have when the staff are stationed in U.S defense bases outside of the United States. It is unclear whether it is required for this effort. Can you please clarify if it is required for this solicitation?

Answer: The contractor shall include all costs associated with doing business to meet the requirements of solicitation as part of their fully burdened rates. FAR 52.228-3 Workers’ Compensation Insurance (Defense Base Act) is not applicable to this solicitation given the location of the overseas services. FAR 52.228-4 Workers’ Compensation and War-Hazard Insurance Overseas is applicable to this solicitation.

15. Does relocation reimbursement cover the shipment of household goods and POV?

Answer: Requirements that may be subject to relocation reimbursement will be addressed in Task Order Request for Proposals. Relocation expenses will be evaluated and negotiated on a case by case basis in accordance with Joint Travel Regulations (JTR).

16. Does the government want offerors to submit Attachment 1 with Section 1 completed as part of their proposal?

Answer: No. In accordance with Paragraph 2.2.1. of ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS, “The offeror shall complete Section I of the Past Performance Information Sheet and submit it to the customer Point of Contact (POC) for completion of Section II. The customer POC shall submit the entire completed Past Performance Information Sheet directly to the Contracting Officer via email to usn.detrick.navmedlogcomftdmd.mbx.matrix@mail.mil no later than the closing date and time of the solicitation.”

17. The government is requesting that offerors discuss some very complex concepts in our proposals such as risk analysis, our plan for managing workers in Japan, the ACA, the SOFA with Japan, labor laws, and labor market conditions in Japan; however, offerors are only given five (5) pages of text for our technical response. It is our position that this is not enough space to discuss these complex concepts and their application to this effort in a cogent fashion. Will the government expand the page count for the technical volume to allow offerors sufficient spaced to address all of the proposal instructions and evaluation factors?

Answer: The page limit for the technical volume has increased to seven (7) pages. Paragraph 2.3.7. of ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS has been revised.

18. If an offeror claims neutral past performance, is this evaluated favorably or unfavorably?

Answer: If an offeror submits a statement affirming that it possesses no relevant past performance in accordance with Paragraph 2.2.7. of ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1-- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS, the offeror’s past performance will be considered neutral and not evaluated as favorable or unfavorable.