ATTACHMENT - Q and A - AMENDMENT 0002.pdf

Solicitation# N68171‐22‐R‐0005 Amendment 0002

Questions & Answers (Q&A)

Q16: A Responsibility Determination report to comply with Far 9.104‐1 is required. We would like to know if the report is self‐certification or must be accompanied by documentation and, if so, what kind.

A16: There is no set format for the responsibility determination report. Documentation submitted is at the discretion of the offeror to support statements included in the proposal. The information provided, however, needs to be sufficient in order for the Procuring Contracting Officer to determine if the offeror is responsible.

Q17: Is this opportunity open only to US bidders?

A17: The opportunity is not limited to only U.S. bidders.

Q18: Will there be multiple seat holders per region?

A18: Yes. Per section M of the solicitation, "The Government will make multiple awards to the qualifying offerors who are determined responsible. The Government has the complete discretion to determine the number of awards for each region. Each Region will be evaluated independently from all other Regions.”

Q19: Must a contractor be able to support all SubCLINs/ELINs to be awarded a specific region?

A19: Yes, the contractor must be able to support all CLINS/SCLINS/ELINS within the Performance Work Statement for all regions the contractor wants to receive an award OR must have the ability to obtain the services, such as through subcontracting.

Q20: Requesting an extension for proposal submission.

A20: The Government is extending the proposal submission from 15 February 2022 to 22 February 2022. Refer to Section L.

Q21: IRT Section L‐2 SUBMISSION IMNFORMATION/Amendment 0001/Paragraph 4 ‐ Responsibility Determination Report: Offeror shall provide documentation in accordance with FAR 9.104‐1, not to exceed five (5) pages. The five (5) pages allowed for the Responsibility Determination Report would be sufficient for the narrative portion of the Report, but certainly insufficient to incorporate all the above listed supporting documentation and/or certifications. In this regard, shall we be able to consider the external supporting documents/certifications as attachments to the five (5) pages Report/narrative?

A21: Section L‐2 is revised to reflect the following:

Responsibility Determination Report. Offeror shall provide documentation in accordance with FAR 9.104‐1, not to exceed twenty (20) pages. Supporting financial documentation is excluded from the twenty (20) ‐ page limitation and may be submitted in addition to the page limitation established.

Q22: I would like to inquire whether we are required to submit prices or just register our interest. I noticed that there isn’t a place to enter our prices in the solicitation for the ports we can service.

Questions & Answers (Q&A)

A22: Offerors should not submit any pricing information with their proposals. See Amendment 1 ‐ In accordance with Section B, page 2 of 152 of the solicitation, firm fixed pricing for all items shall be set at the task order level, therefore no pricing will be submitted at the basic contract level.

For submission instructions, refer to Section L of the solicitation.

Q23: 1 H‐5 Mandatory eligibility for contract award and installation access within USCENTCOM AOR.

Prime Contractor is required to certify access and an acceptable Vendor Rating in the Joint Contingency Contracting System (JCCS). Please confirm this requirement applies only after a prime contract has been awarded to a bidder for regions that contain USCENTCOM AOR countries. Confirmation requested.

A23: If submitting a proposal to include USCENTCOM AOR, it is highly advised to request and receive access within JCCS using the solicitation number. If a contract award includes USCENTCOM AOR prior to JCCS approval, the awardee will be ineligible for task order awards within this AOR until approval is completed.

See Section H‐5 Paragraph c: “To be eligible for contract award and installation access, Contractors at all tiers are required to register for installation access in the US Government Information Technology (IT) Joint Contingency and Expeditionary Services (JCXS) system containing the JCCS module and are responsible for keeping the information in this system updated at all times. HSP Prime Contractors or contractors at any tier may verify their registration at https://www.jccs.gov/jccscoe/ by selecting the ‘Vendors Login’ module and logging in with their user name and password. The offeror must be registered, approved, and eligible for installation access prior to award, and remain eligible for installation access for the life of the contract.”

Q24: Section I – Contract Clauses Damage to Property of the Government During Task Order Performance “52.246‐25 Limitation of Liability‐Services” is listed on page 109 of the Solicitation in Section I – Contract Clauses. However, wording in the “H‐4 Damage to Property of the Government During Task Order Performance” appears to indicate that 52.246‐25 will not provide a limitation of liability: “Nothing in these Damage to Property of the Government during Task Order Performance paragraphs limits the Government’s rights and remedies under any other provisions of this contract, or to bring suits under any other provision of law, including under admiralty law.”

Section H‐4 of the RFP at p. 103 explains how damage to property of the government during the course of performance is handled. In the unlikely event of damage to government property that exceeds $25,000, is it the Government’s view that liability for such damages would be capped at the amount of the required insurance? "

A24: As provided for under the terms of the solicitation, the contractor can be liable for damage caused by the contractor or its subcontractors. The contractor can determine the risk at each port based on the RTOP issued and price its proposal accordingly. The contractor can charge the Navy for this liability by putting a cost in its HSP Fee, or procuring suitable insurance. How a contractor intends to do this is its choice.

Questions & Answers (Q&A)

Q25: G‐2 Invoicing Instructions page 95: “The Contractor agrees to segregate costs incurred under the task orders at the ELIN level of performance, rather than on a total task order basis or SubCLIN basis.

Submitted invoices shall be at the SubCLIN level, with attachments reflecting costs incurred under that SubCLIN at the ELIN level. Supporting documentation in WAWF for invoices shall include evidence of the ship’s SUPPO”s acceptance of the services on the ship.”

Can the Government please clarify what “..attachments reflecting costs incurred..” and “Supporting documentation..” is required? It is not clear why, under a Firm‐Fixed‐Price (FFP) Task Order, the Contractor would be required to submit detailed cost data.

A25: An invoice submitted in WAWF for each task order shall include all applicable SUBCLIN totals to equal the total value of the task order. The attachment(s) itemize the SUBCLIN total by ELIN prices.

The contractor is not required to submit detailed cost data with an invoice.

Example:

AR01 – First Day ‐ Ships Husbanding Services $125.00

AR03 – Pilot Services $100.00

AR03 – Tug Services $275.00

0001AA ‐ Charter & Hire Funded Items $500.00

Q26: Section 10 ‐ Reporting

10.1 Enterprise‐wide Contractor Manpower Reporting Application (ECMRA)

10.1.2: The contractor is required to completely fill in all required data fields using the following web address https://www.ecrma.mil.

The eCRMA.mil system, in late 2020, moved to the usage of Contractor Manpower Reporting utilizing the SAM.gov system. Clarification that SAM.gov will be used for FYE manpower reporting."

A26: Section 10 – Reporting: This section has been removed from the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The solicitation does not meet the reporting requirements under DFARS 252.204‐7023 and therefore does not require Service Contract Reporting via SAM.gov.

Q27: With no Excusable Delay clause, what are the Government’s expectations if/when local port authorities limit or deny access to local contractors due to pandemic or other considerations?

A27: The contractor is responsible for ensuring that it and its subcontractors can access the subject port to service the ship at the time it submits its RTOP proposal. For any issues, which arise after task order award, the contractor needs to notify the Contracting Officer and COR as soon as practicable.

The Contracting Officer, however, may terminate the task order if the contractor is unable to perform.

The Contracting Officer will review specific delays or issues to determine responsibility. The Contracting Officer may or may not grant an equitable adjustment. If the contractor disagrees with the Contracting Officer’s equitable adjustment determination, the contractor may submit a Claim pursuant to the disputes clause, FAR §52.233‐1.

Questions & Answers (Q&A)

Q28: Does the Ordering Contracting Officer process REA’s or is that delegated to DCMA?

A28: Each ordering office and Fleet Logistic Center is responsible for processing Request for Equitable Adjustments (REA) on a task order by task order basis.

Q29: Regardless of delegation, how long is the current average process for REA settlement from date of submission to funding modification?

A29: Each ordering office and Fleet Logistic Center processes Requests for Equitable Adjustments (REAs) on a task order by task order basis. Each REA is fact‐specific. Therefore, there is no average time for processing REAs. Each individual Ordering Office, however, will closely monitor all REAs to ensure timely status notification and if necessary, payment adjudication. Contractors may bring issues regarding timely resolution of REAs to the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO)’s attention.

Q30: 52.228‐10 VEHICULAR AND GENERAL PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE (APR 1984) ‐ Is this requirement on contract level or RTOP level?

A30: The method used by the contractor in order to comply with this FAR clause is its choice but it must have sufficient insurance in place when performing any task order awarded to it.

Q31: Instructions to offeror mentions ""OFFERORS SHOULD NOT SUBMIT ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WITH THEIR PROPOSAL" ‐ What constitutes as additional information? Are supporting documents such as business license, financial reports, or company profile considered as additional information?

A31: “Additional Information" would be information or documentation not relevant to Section L‐2.

The examples in the question, "business license, financial reports" could be included as part of the company's Responsibility Determination Report. The "company profile" could be included as part of the Cover Letter or Responsibility Determination Report.

Q32: For Region 1‐4, kindly confirm: small business subcontracting plan is not necessary if offeror is small business, is this correct?

A32: In accordance with Section L‐2 of the solicitation, "Small Business Subcontracting Plans are not required from offerors that qualify as Small Business concerns under NAICS Code 488310 with a Size Standard of $41.5 M.

Q33: The total length of proposal will be 8 pages (not including SF33 & section K): 2 pages max cover letter, 5 pages Responsibility Determination Report, 1 page explanation of how an offeror intends to ensure that the prices they offer in response to an RTOP are fair and reasonable. Is this correct?

A33: The total pages of a proposal will vary by Offeror. For example: Whether the contractor is a large or a small business or the regions proposed will alter what is included in a proposal and therefore result in differing total pages included per Offeror. Carefully review section L‐2 for submission requirements #1 through #6. In addition, Section L‐2 is revised to reflect the following change:

Questions & Answers (Q&A)

Responsibility Determination Report. Offeror shall provide documentation in accordance with FAR twenty (20) ‐ page limitation and may be submitted in addition to the page limitation established.

Q34: To ensure 24 x 7 account management capability by the primary carrier, is the Government willing to accept US‐based assigned cellular telephone numbers?

A34: Yes.

Q35: Is there a requirement to provide both a device with service option and SIM only service option? If so, will the Government accept a post‐paid SIM option in lieu of a pre‐paid SIM option?

A35: No, there is not a requirement to provide a device (cell phone) with service option and SIM only service option. Para 6.3 SIM CARDS WITH PREPAID AIRTIME AND DATA is for SIM cards with prepaid airtime and data for the contractor to provide where the ship or operating unit has mobile phones and desires only SIM cards for use in the specific port area. The contractor shall propose firm‐fixed prices for all ELINS.

Q36: Will the cellular devices need to meet any NAVY security certification requirements?

A36: Any cellular devices provided in any task order issued must comply with FAR § 52.204‐25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (NOV 2021) and DFARS § 252‐204‐7018 Prohibition on the Acquisition of Covered Defense Telecommunications Equipment or Services (JAN 2021).

Q37: Will the devices need to be enrolled into any form of device management (i.e. Apple Business Manager, Flankspeed)?

A37: No.

Q38: PWS page 6 of 152 – Pricing – Does it have to be a lump sum price OR a price breakdown of all requirements that must be provided. If so, where are we supposed to include the breakdown prices OR is there no need to provide any pricing for now?

A38: Offerors should not submit any pricing information with their proposals. See Amendment 1 ‐ In accordance with Section B, page 2 of 152 of the solicitation, firm fixed pricing for all items shall be set at the task order level, therefore no pricing will be submitted at the basic contract level.

Q39: L2 – Page 147 of 152 – point 6 – Is this explanation to be given with our proposal submission?

A39: Yes. In accordance with Section L‐2, "To be considered for award, Offerors shall electronically submit an offer consisting of the following: (Number 1 through 6)

Questions & Answers (Q&A)

Q40: Responsibility determination – page 150 of 152 – Points 1 – a, b, c, d, e & f – Are we needed to provide a write‐up to demonstrate our capability?

A40: The Responsibility Determination Report shall be in accordance with FAR 9.104‐1. The documentation submitted is at the discretion of the offeror so long as it satisfies the requirements of FAR 9.104‐1. A written narrative along with documentation to support the narrative is acceptable.

Q41: Responsibility determination – Page 151 of 152 – Point 1 – a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, & i – Are we needed to provide a write‐up and documentation during the proposal submission OR it is a post award requirement upon Contracting Officers request?

A41: The offeror shall submit the Responsibility Determination Report with the proposal in accordance with Section L‐2. Section M (Page 151‐152 #3 a‐i) includes examples of documentation the Contracting Officer may request to determine a vendor is responsible. When preparing the Responsibility Determination Report in accordance with FAR 9.104‐1, consider these examples. In addition, the following changes were made to Section L‐2:

Responsibility Determination Report. Offeror shall provide documentation in accordance with FAR twenty (20)‐page limitation and may be submitted in addition to the page limitation established. "