NIH-RFQ- 6866767 Combined Synopsis_Sol.pdf

NIH‐RFQ‐ 6866767 Scientific Writing and Reporting Service

1. This is a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Commercial Items and services prepared in accordance with the FAR Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation that will be issued; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The Government anticipates a Firm‐Fixed Price Purchase Order will be issued from this solicitation.

2. This requirement is being solicited as Request for Quotation (RFQ). The RFQ number is NIH‐RFQ‐

6866767. Please see the attachments for SOW, etc.

3. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through

Federal Acquisition Circular 2021‐06, dated July 12, 2021.

4. This requirement is solicited as a full and open competition. The associated North American

Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541690. Its associated Small

Business Size Standard is 1000 employees.

5. List of Item(s): The vendor shall provide the following item(s) in the quantities specified below.

1) The purpose of this solicitation is to obtain transcription services for five safety committees sponsored by DOHS. Specifically, the NIH Occupational Safety and Health Committee (OSHC), the IC Safety and Health Committee Chairpersons (ICSHCC) meeting, the Radiation Safety Committee, the Rocky Mountain Laboratory Institutional Biosafety Committee (RML IBC), and the Bethesda Campus Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).

a. BACKGROUND

The Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) facilitates innovative research at the NIH by promoting a safe and healthful work environment. DOHS provides leadership, management, and technical authority for comprehensive health and safety programs that collectively minimize health, safety, and regulatory risks to the NIH community. The programs and services of DOHS center on a range of health and safety issues including physical, biological, and chemical safety, animal care and use policies, compliance, medical surveillance, and workplace injury and illness avoidance. Through its extensive and contemporary occupational safety and health training, education, and information programs, DOHS aims to integrate safety awareness and practices into all activities at the NIH.

Supporting the DOHS are safety committees organized at various tiers within the agency.

b. General Requirements:

The vendor shall provide set‐up and test their own equipment to ensure that it is in proper working condition in advance of the meeting or hearing. The equipment must include a recorder and microphones that will accommodate recording in rooms that range from approximately 200 to 1500 square feet. The vendor shall attend and record all meetings, providing, operating, and monitoring all aspects of the recording equipment to ensure the meeting is being recorded at the proper level for transcription and copying purposes. The vendor shall provide a qualified and dependable technical/scientific writer(s) at each meeting. Specifically for the IBC and RML‐IBC meetings the writer shall have at least: (1) a four‐year college diploma, and (2) five years of specialized experience in the writing/recording of biological, medical, and radiological research related notes. The writer’s experience must be demonstrated by analogous work with groups that review highly sophisticated molecular biological, biochemical, micro‐biological, radiological, or clinical related medical research. Familiarity with the terminology and most of the current practices related to medical research is necessary: such as the principles of recombinant DNA research and molecular cloning, the use of viral vectors in research, the knowledge of in vitro and in vivo research methodologies, the creation of transgenic animals, and the basics of human gene therapy methods. During the meeting, the vendor shall maintain a detailed log of persons speaking to be used for transcription and minute preparation purposes and to be retained with the transcribed documents.

The meeting minutes shall be detailed and capture the essence of the speaker’s comments, but not word for word. The vendor shall produce draft meeting minutes within eight (8) business days containing all relevant discussion points for that meeting’s point of contact (POC) for preliminary review and comment. The minutes should contain all critical points and have identified areas or language that needs specific technical review by the POC. The vendor shall work to make necessary corrections with Project Officer. After NIH review and revisions at the next scheduled meeting, the vendor shall make any additional revisions required and then submit a final copy of the meeting minutes within five (5) business days to the POC.

7. Deliverables

A draft ‘notes’ transcript for each meeting is due to the Project Officer (or POC) within 5 (5) business days after the meeting conclusion (assume 20 double‐spaced pages; 15‐25 pgs. for the IBC, RML IBC, and RSC meetings). The meeting minutes will be submitted electronically in a Microsoft Word format. If a set of minutes is unacceptable, as soon as a defect is noted, the DOHS shall promptly notify the vendor in writing or verbally with written confirmation and will return the meeting minutes and the invoice, if an invoice was received, to the vendor. Corrected minutes shall be due within three working days after the transcript/minutes are returned to the vendor. After the initial draft, the writer will provide a refined, formatted, and edited version of the meeting minutes containing all critical scientific points in a ‘markup’ version containing ‘comment dialog boxes’ citing and describing any detail deficiencies where the Executive Secretary review is critical, and also containing highlighted text areas where omissions of information are noted for attention. Completed within five (5) business days of the meeting date. DOHS may terminate the contract if more than one set of minutes in any six‐month period is not completed and/or delivered within the five‐day delivery or any other timeline mutually agreed upon with DOHS.

DOHS may also terminate the contract if more than one set of minutes in a six‐month period is unacceptable to DOHS, if the vendor fails to correct unacceptable minutes within three working days or within a timeline mutually agreed upon by the vendor and DOHS, or if the vendor fails to attend a scheduled meeting. All deliverables (e.g., reports, presentations, training products, publications, flyers, posters, abstracts, manuscripts, transcripts, etc.) generated by this contract will be the sole property of

NIH.

52.252‐1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998) This RFQ incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this address: www.acquisition.gov/far

8. Provision 52.212‐1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items (July 2021) is incorporated by reference.

9. Provision 52.212‐2 Evaluation – Commercial Items (October 2014) is incorporated by reference.

The provision 52.212‐2 incorporated above is completed as follows. Quotes received in response to this

RFQ will be evaluated using the lowest‐priced‐technically‐acceptable (LPTA) methodology. Delivery times may be considered in the selection of an awardee.

10. Provision 52.212‐3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Items (Feb 2021) applies to this acquisition.

11. Clause at 52.212‐4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items (Oct 2018), applies to this acquisition and no addenda to the clause are included.

12. Clause at 52.212‐5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive

Orders—Commercial Items (July 2021), applies to this acquisition.

13. Questions are due no later than 12:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 4th,2024 . Send questions via email to ryan.alexander@nih.gov

14. Quotes are due no later than 12:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, August 9, 2024. Send quotes via email in

PDF format to ryan.alexander@nih.gov