AMENDMENT_1_-_RFP-NHLBI-CSB-WH-2016-01-CM.pdf

SOLICITATION: NHLBI-CSB-WH-2016-01-CM

AMENDMENT: One (1)

TITLE: Women’s Health Initiative - Regional Centers

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 08, 2014

ISSUED BY:

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH Office of Acquisitions, CSB, OM 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 6140, MSC 7902 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7902

Point of Contact: Cornelius Moore, Contracting Officer [E-mail – Cornelius.Moore@nih.gov]

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth below. The hour and the date specified for receipt of proposals has been changed to 4:00pm local time on November 17, 2014. Offerors must acknowledge receipt of the amendment prior to the hour and the date specified for receipt of proposals, by one of the following methods:

A. By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the proposal submitted. Please note that this is the preferred method.

B. By separate letter or email which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment number.

All other terms and conditions of the solicitation remain unchanged.

DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT

PURPOSE: To revise Section A., Section J, Section L, of the solicitation and answer questions submitted in response to the Request for Proposals (RFP).

I. REFERENCE: Section A., item 8 is revised to read follows:

Proposals for furnishing the supplies and/or services in THE SCHEDULE will be received at the place specified in, and in the number of copies specified in Attachment 1, "Packaging and Delivery of the Proposal," until 4:00 pm local time on November 17, 2014. Offers will be valid for 120 days unless a different period is specified by the offeror on the Attachment entitled, "Proposal Summary and Data Record, NIH 2043. Questions on this solicitation shall be submitted electronically by 4:00 pm local time on September 30, 2014. If offeror intends to submit a proposal, offeror must complete and submit the Proposal Intent Response Sheet, Attachment 2 by October 2, 2014.

II. REFERENCE: Section J., Attachment 11 is revised to replace the link attached with the following:

http://www.hhs.gov/asfr/ogapa/osbdu/Small%20Business/subcontractplan.html

III. REFERENCE: Section L., Paragraph c., Type of Contract and Number of Awards, items 1 & 2, are revised to read as follows:

1. It is anticipated that multiple awards will be made from this solicitation and that the awards will be made on /or about

October 15, 2015.

2. It is anticipated that the award(s) from this solicitation will be a multiple-year Cost-Reimbursement type Completion contract with options pricing, and will have a Period of Performance of October 15, 2015 through October 14, 2020, (See Section L.2.c. Business Proposal Instructions).

IV. REFERENCE: Responses to Questions (Attachment 1 of Amendment 1)

END OF AMENDMENT

http://www.hhs.gov/asfr/ogapa/osbdu/Small%20Business/subcontractplan.html

NHLBI-CSB-WH-2016-01-CM

Amendment-1

1. Attachment 6-7-8-9: there is no clear indication in the RFP where to include these attachments in the Technical Proposal – should they be included at the end of the Technical Proposal?

Please include attachments 6 – 9 as appendices to the Technical proposal.

2. Attachment 7: Technical Proposal Cost Information / Summary of Labor and Direct Costs. This attachment asks for a breakdown of hours, and Attachment 12 the instructions note to use the Percent of effort spreadsheet if your institution tracks labor by percent of effort. Our organization tracks effort as a percentage, not in hours. May we complete Attachment 7 using the percentage of effort even if it notes to provide a breakdown of hours?

You may complete Attachment 7 using percentage of effort and not hours.

3. Attachment 11: Subcontracting plan link on P. 37 (http://www.hhs.gov/about/smallbusiness/subcontractplan.html) does not work. We have found a copy of the Small business subcontracting plan using the following link:

http://www.hhs.gov/asfr/ogapa/osbdu/Small%20Business/subcontractplan.html. Please verify that this is the correct document to be used for Attachment 11 of this solicitation.

Yes this is correct. The link has been updated on page one (1) of this Amendment.

4. Attachment 12: Breakdown of Proposed Estimated Costs (plus fee) w/Excel Spreadsheet. We will have several Sub-contracts on our project, when submitting the electronic copy of the Business proposal, should we include a separate Attachment 12 Excel Spreadsheet for our institution and each Sub-contractor site? For example, we will have our main project budget and 3 subaward sites – total number of Excel files contained on the electronic file would be 4.

That is correct. A separate Breakdown of Proposed Estimated Costs (plus fee) spreadsheet will be required for the prime and each of the subcontractors. The total amount of all costs shall be provided on a summary sheet.

5. Informational Attachments 16-27: Do we need to include any of these attachments with the proposal being submitted?

Attachments 16-27 are for information purposes only.

6. Funding Amount: P. 5 indicates “The estimated cost of the Base Period of this contract is $TBD.” Has this amount been determined yet, or is there not going to be a limit to the amount we can request?

Please formulate your cost based on the requirements outlined in the Statement of Work. This will be the negotiated cost for any resulting contract that is awarded.

7. Start date and Duration: P. 11 shows the period of performance as 10/15/2015 – 10/14/2020 if the base and all option periods are requested. P. 44 notes a 10/1/2015 – 9/30/2020 time period.

Please indicate which one is the correct period of performance to use on the proposal documents.

Please refer to the face page of the amendment for the revisions to page 44.

8. Allowable Costs: P. 5 indicates: The following is a list of items that may be included in the resultant contract as applicable. 1) Conferences and Meetings, 2)Food for Meals, Light Refreshments and Beverages, 3) Promotional Items, 4) Acquisition, by purchase or lease, of any interest in real property; 5) Special rearrangement or alteration of facilities; 6) Purchase or lease of

NHLBI-CSB-WH-2016-01-CM

Amendment-1 any item of general purpose office furniture or office equipment regardless of dollar value; 7) Travel Costs including Foreign Travel; 8)Consultant Costs; 9) Subcontract Costs; 10) Patient Care Costs; 11) Accountable Government Property; 12) Printing costs; and 13) Research Funding. On P.44 it notes Any contract awarded as a result of this solicitation will: Specifically prohibit the use of contract funds for the provision of food for meals, light refreshments and beverages for any NIH funded meeting or conference; and Limit the procurement of meeting space, promotional items, printing and publications. Regarding the latter items of cost, please let us know which section is correct for this solicitation.

Offerors are allowed to propose cost for all the items listed on page 5 of the Request for Proposal (RFP) but Contract Officer Authorization is required for the specific cost prior to contract award.

On page 44 of the RFP the paragraph titled “Promoting Efficient Spending”, prohibits any of the listed items for any NIH funded meeting or conference and limits the procurement of meeting space, promotional items, printing, and publications.

9. Information and Physical Access Security: P. 51 - 59 sections 18 A-D – If we are not using

Government Facilities nor Government data, do we need to address any of these items within this section in our proposal?

The section pertaining to Information and Physical Access Security is for planning purposes. The cost is to be negotiated at the time of award. State in your proposal if you are not using Government Facilities nor Government data.

10. Level of Effort for Scientific Activities: P. 89 – chart containing the annual level of effort for completion of scientific activities. Should consultant effort be included in the estimated levels of effort? The note below the chart references retaining funds for the TBN consultants, but does not mention retaining any of the effort listed within the chart. Please clarify.

Yes, consultant effort and funding should be included within the estimates in the chart. The consultant effort would also be listed in the budget under Other Direct Costs.