Attach_8_-_Addendum_1_-_Add_Instructions.pdf

ATTACHMENT 8

ADDENDUM 1 - INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

In accordance with FAR 12.302, this addendum provides additional information and instructions to offerors to assist in proposal submission:

A. NAICS CODE AND SIZE STANDARD

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 112990. The small business size standard is $0.75 (in millions).

THIS REQUIREMENT IS NOT SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESS. However, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires in every solicitation, (except for foreign acquisitions) the inclusion of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code and corresponding size standard which best describes the nature of the requirement in the solicitation.

B. TYPE OF CONTRACT AND NUMBER OF AWARDS

It is anticipated that up to 4 awards will be made from this solicitation and that the awards will be made on/about 12/15/2018.

It is anticipated that the award(s) from this solicitation will be a multiple-year Fixed-Price type Task/Delivery Order contract with a Period of Performance of one base year plus 4 option years.

C. COMMUNICATIONS PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD

Offerors shall direct all communications to the attention of the Contract Specialist or Contracting Officer cited on the face page of this SOLICITATION. Communications with other officials may compromise the competitiveness of this acquisition and result in cancellation of the requirement.

D. SELECTION OF OFFERORS

1) The acceptability of the technical portion of each contract proposal will be evaluated by a technical review committee. The committee will evaluate each proposal in strict conformity with the evaluation factors of the RFP, utilizing point scores and written critiques. The committee may suggest that the Contracting Officer request clarifying information from an offeror.

2) The business portion of each contract proposal found to be technical acceptable will be subjected to a cost and price analysis, management analysis, etc.

3) If award will be made without conducting discussions, offerors may be given the opportunity to clarify certain aspects of their proposal (e.g., the relevance of an offeror's past performance information and adverse past performance information to which the offeror has not previously had an opportunity to respond) or to resolve minor or clerical errors.

4) NIEHS reserves the right to make a single award, multiple awards, or no award at all as a result of the SOLICITATION. In addition, the SOLICITATION may be amended or canceled as necessary to meet NIEHS requirements.

E. PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Offerors shall submit the following information as part of their Business proposal:

a) A list of the last five (5) contracts completed during the past two (2) years, and THE LAST five

(5) CONTRACTS AWARDED currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation workscope. Contracts listed may include those entered into by the Federal Government, agencies of state and local governments and commercial concerns. Offerors may also submit past performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience or subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to the instant acquisition. Include the following information for each contract or subcontract listed:

1. Name of Contracting Organization

2. Contract Number (for subcontracts, provide the prime contract number and the subcontract number)

3. Contract Type

4. Total Contract Value

5. Description of Requirement

6. Contracting Officer's Name and Telephone Number

7. Program Manager's Name and Telephone Number

8. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code

The offeror may provide information on problems encountered on the identified contracts and the offeror's corrective actions.

b) The Government is not required to contact all references provided by the offeror. Also, references other than those identified by the offeror may be contacted by the Government to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation of the offeror's past performance.

F. SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN (applicable to large businesses only) If the proposed contract exceeds a total estimated cost of $700,000 for the entire period of performance, the offeror shall be required to submit an acceptable subcontracting plan in accordance with the terms of the clause entitled "Small Business Subcontracting Plan," FAR Clause No. 52.219-9, incorporated herein by reference in the Solicitation, See SECTION J - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS, for an example of such a plan.

a) THIS PROVISION DOES NOT APPLY TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

b) The term "subcontract" means any agreement (other than one involving an employer-employee relationship) entered into by a Federal Government prime Contractor or subcontractor calling for supplies or services required for the performance of the original contract or subcontract. This includes, but is not limited to, agreements/purchase orders for supplies and services such as equipment purchase, copying services, and travel services.

c) The offeror understands that: 1. No contract will be awarded unless and until an acceptable plan is negotiated with the Contracting Officer which plan will be incorporated into the contract, as a material part thereof.

1) An acceptable plan must, in the determination of the Contracting Officer, provide the maximum practicable opportunity for Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Women-Owned Small businesses, HUBZone Small Businesses, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, and Service Disabled Veteran- Owned Small Businesses to participate in the performance of the contract.

2) If a subcontracting plan acceptable to the Contracting Officer is not negotiated within the time limits prescribed by the contracting activity and such failure arises out of causes within the control and with the fault or negligence of the offeror, the offeror shall be ineligible for an award. The Contracting Officer shall notify the Contractor in writing of the reasons for determining a subcontracting plan unacceptable early enough in the negotiation process to allow the Contractor to modify the plan within the time limits prescribed.

3) Prior compliance of the offeror with other such subcontracting plans under previous contracts will be considered by the Contracting Officer in determining the responsibility of the offeror for award of the contract.

4) It is the offeror's responsibility to develop a satisfactory subcontracting plan with respect to Small Business Concerns, Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns, Women-Owned Small Business Concerns, HUBZone Small Business Concerns, Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns, and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns that each such aspect of the offeror's plan will be judged independent of the other.

5) The offeror will submit, as required by the Contracting Officer, subcontracting reports in accordance with the instructions thereon, and as further directed by the Contracting Officer. Subcontractors will also submit these reports to the Government's Contracting Officer or as otherwise directed, with a copy to the prime Contractor's designated small and disadvantaged business liaison.

d) Each plan must contain the following: 1. Goals, expressed in terms of percentages of total planned subcontracting dollars, for the use of Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women- Owned, HUBZone, Veteran-Owned, and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns as subcontractors.

1) A statement of total dollars planned to be subcontracted. A statement of total dollars to be subcontracted to each of the following type of small business concerns: Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, Veteran- Owned, and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses.

2) A description of the principal types of supplies and services to be subcontracted with an identification of which supplies and services are expected to be subcontracted to Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, Veteran-Owned and/or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns.

3) A description of the method used to develop the subcontracting goals.

4) A description of the method used to identify potential sources for solicitation purposes.

5) A statement as to whether or not indirect costs were included in establishing subcontracting goals. If they were, a description of the method used to determine the proportionate share of indirect costs to be incurred with Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, Veteran-Owned, and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses.

6) The name of the individual employed by the offeror who will administer the offeror's subcontracting program and a description of his/her duties.

7) A description of the efforts the offeror will make to assure that Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, Veteran-Owned, and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses have an equitable chance to compete for subcontracts.

8) Assurances that the offeror will include in all subcontracts the contract clause "Utilization of Small Business Concerns." Assure that all subcontractors, other than small businesses, in excess of $700,000 adopt a plan similar to the plan agreed upon by the offeror.

9) Assurances that the offeror (and any required subcontractors) will cooperate in studies or surveys as required and submit required reports (Individual Subcontract Reports (ISRs) and Summary Subcontract Reports (SSRs) to the Government.

10) List the types of records the offeror will maintain to demonstrate procedures that have been adopted to comply with the requirement and goals in the plan, including establishing source lists. Also, the offeror shall describe its efforts to locate Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, Veteran-Owned, and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and award subcontracts to them.

For additional information about each of the above elements required to be contained in the subcontracting plan, see FAR Clause 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, and the Sample Subcontracting Plan which is provided as an attachment.

HHS expects each procuring activity to establish minimum subcontracting goals for all procurements. The anticipated minimum goals for this RFP are as follows: 33% for Small Business; 5% for Small Disadvantaged Business; 5% for Women-Owned Small Business; 3% for HUBZone Small Business; and 3% for Veteran-Owned Small Business and Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.

G. MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM, HHSAR 352.219-70 (DECEMBER) 2015

a) Large business prime contractors serving as mentors in the HHS Mentor-Protege Program are eligible for HHS subcontracting plan credit, and shall submit a copy of their HHS Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) approved mentor-protege agreements as part of their offers. The amount of credit provided by the Contracting Officer to a mentor firm for protege firm developmental assistance costs shall be calculated on a dollar for dollar basis and reported by the mentor firm in the Summary Subcontract Report via the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) at www.esrs.gov. The mentor firm and protege firm shall submit to the Contracting Officer a signed joint statement agreeing on the dollar value of the developmental assistance the mentor firm provided. (For example, a mentor firm would report a $10,000 subcontract awarded to a protege firm and provision of $5,000 of developmental assistance as $15,000 of subcontracting plan credit.) The mentor firm may use this additional credit towards attaining its subcontracting plan participation goal under this contract.

b) The program consists of—

1. Mentor firms--large businesses that:

i. Demonstrate the interest, commitment, and capability to provide developmental assistance to small business protégé firms; and

ii. Have a Mentor-Protege agreement approved by HHS' OSDBU;

2. Protege firms--firms that:

i. Seek developmental assistance;

ii. Qualify as small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, or woman-owned small businesses; and

iii. Have a Mentor-Protege agreement approved by HHS' OSDBU; and

3. Mentor-Protege agreements--joint agreements, approved by HHS' OSDBU, which detail the specific terms, conditions, and responsibilities of the mentor-protégé relationship.

(End of provision)