AmendmentOneQuestionsAnswers.pdf

1. PWS, 5.5 Requirements/Tasks, last bullet: In reviewing the solicitation, we noticed that at least one requirement does not meet industry standards. We believe this non-standard requirement was mitigated by the contract minimum in the previous contract, but with the current solicitation the conflict with industry standards creates a serious concern. The result of not following industry standards would be that NIH would get resources that are substandard as the only interpreters who will work for less than industry standard are sub-standard interpreters. In order to ensure the interpreters provided to NIH are of the quality and skill levels necessary for the type of work required at NIH, we would strongly encourage NIH to revise the item that is not in line with industry standards so that companies with high quality standards will be able to bid. This bullet states that only 2 hours is paid for a general cancellation and 4 hours for a cancellation of an assignment that was scheduled for 8 hours or more. The national industry standard is to remunerate interpreters for the scheduled time for any assignment cancelled with less than two full business days' notice (the standard is even shifting to a 3 business day cancellation, but the minimum is 2 business days). We request that NIH change this requirement to state that all cancellations with less than two full business days' notice will be paid in accordance with the national industry.

Answer: NIH will adjust the PWS to remove the requirement in parentheses “(Standard 2 hour minimum paid for general requests, 4 hour minimum paid for any requirement/task schedule for 8 hours)”

2. PWS page 5 Based on historical data, will NIH provide the number of hours of interpreting service which were required at each location outside the DC Metro area in the past 12 months?

Answer: NIH will provide the data, and update the PWS.

In FY 2018 (October 2017 – September 2018), NIH requested a total of 36,001.93 hours of sign language interpreting service. Of those hours 0.93% (336) were for requests outside of the DC Metro area. NIH had 302 sign language interpreting hours in Raleigh, NC and 34 hours in Missouri.

3. PWS 5. Interpreting Service Requirements on page 15 - (Certification):

a. In the table of Key Personnel, for the Primary POC, the requirement is for RID CI/CT or

NAD Level 4 AND NIC? We believe that “AND” here was supposed to be “OR” as each of these certifications is considered nationally certified. Can NIH edit “AND” to “OR”?

Answer: OR is acceptable. This key personnel table is on page 9. We will also adjust Section 5.2 Interpreter Qualifications and Tasks to include the NIC certification.

b. In the table of Key Personnel, for the Primary POC, the requirement is for NIC Advanced or Master and does not seem to allow for a person with NIC certification (without the advanced or master level certification testing even being offered anymore). NIC no longer offers various levels and “NIC” is the only certification that has been offered by RID for several years. Interpreters cannot earn and Advanced or Master level. Therefore, not accepting the NIC would eliminate all interpreters who have become certified since this changed--and unnecessarily reduce the pool of available, qualified interpreters. We request that NIH add NIC to the list of acceptable certifications?

Answer: NIH will adjust the PWS key personnel table to remove “(Advanced or Master)”

c. Also, there are various certifications mentioned throughout the solicitation documents. Can NIH make one list and reference that list throughout consistently and/or verify that NIH will generally accept RID CSC (held by the most experienced interpreters) CI, CT, NIC (all levels) NAD IV and V?

Answer: Yes, NIH will accept all of these certifications. NIH will adjust “Interpreter Qualifications and Tasks in the PWS Section 5.2.

4. PWS page 5 - Rates for interpreters in other cities are different than those in the National Capital Region (NCR). In the best interest of the government, will NIH allow CLINs per geographic location to allow vendors to offer the most competitive rates in the lower cost areas?

Answer: See Attachment 11 Price Sheet, which will allow the offeror to enter in rates for different localities.

5. PWS page 5-6 Emergency requests - In the rare occasion that an onsite interpreter cannot be found within this time frame, will NIH allow Video Remote Interpreting as a replacement or until an onsite interpreter can arrive?

Answer: Yes this is acceptable. NIH will update PWS 3.1 to include VRI as an acceptable replacement.

6. Appendix A page 5. B. Training Will NIH clarify if the required trainings can be done while the interpreters are on the schedule at NIH?

Answer: No, this training is not considered billable for interpreting services. These training are similar to the administrative time to necessary to receive a government ID badge.

Additionally, the required training is intended for key personnel, or those working on the NIH network, or managing the vendor information technology system.

a. The Department of Labor requires that all resources who are required to perform work, like this training, are required to be paid. For anyone required to take the training and who will not be on-site, we assume this training time be paid. Can NIH add a CLIN for paid training time.

Answer: NIH will not provide a CLIN for paid training time.

b. For those who will not be on site, can NIH verify that the training will be provided by NIH to the vendor in a format that can be accessed remotely?

Answer: This training cab be performed at any location remotely, on any internet connected device.

7. Page 90, Letters of Commitment (Subcontractors) - Does NIH want letters from individual interpreters, or only from agencies that would help cover the work? If individual interpreters, most do not have a "subcontractor letterhead". Will NIH confirm that personal letters would be accepted without a formal letterhead if the subcontractor does not have one?

Answer: Letters can be provided by either the agency or the individual interpreter. Personal letters would be acceptable.

8. 13. B page 102, states that the Business Proposal is part of phase II, but Technical Evaluation Criteria, Attachment 5 seems to state that Phase II will be oral presentation and Phase III will be Business Proposals. Will NIH please clarify what is required for each of the 3 phases?

Answer: The Business proposal must be submitted in Phase II and will evaluate in Phase III. Please follow Section M.

9. Page 102, #9 of the RFP states vendors are to include specific information on all contracts currently being performed that are similar in nature to the solicitation work scope. If “all contracts similar in nature” are required to be included in the Technical Proposal, some offerers could end up with much less space to provide an adequate technical response. In order to allow these offerers with extensive experience to have same size limit on their technical response to technical requirements, we request that NIH make the past performance section be provided in an appendix, separate from the technical response.

Answer: Vendors may provide this information in an appendix.

10. 5.5 Requirements/Tasks list on the job training in specific applications used in the fields of procurement, HR, supply planning and quality assurance… Can NIH clarify if they are stating the vendor's personnel will provide training, or that they will interpret the training?

Answer: The vendor would need provide the necessary personnel to interpret for all of these types of training.

11. Attachment 1 page 2, Page limits “All references to the PWS shall be cited in the proposal” Can NIH verify if the requirement is to reference the part of the PWS to which the response applies in each section of our offer? If not, can NIH clarify the meaning of this requirement?

Answer: Yes, references to the PWS shall be cited to which the response applies.

12. RFP Business Proposal Instructions: Much of the instructions appear to be for cost type proposals. Can NIH clarify if the detailed breakdowns listed are actually required for this type of solicitation? And if not, remove them. Attachment 14 Technical Proposal Cost Information/Summary of Labor and Direct Costs appears to be for cost-type contracts. Can NIH clarify if this form is intended for this type of solicitation? The form, "Technical Proposal Cost Information/Summary of Labor and Direct Costs" provides no information on what is required on the form. Is this form to be used to show actual costs on a previous contract?

Proposed costs to NIH? Also, it shows seven years. Most interpreting contracts are five years or less. Can NIH clarify if this form is applicable to this IDIQ contract and if so, provide instructions on how it is to be filled out? Page 85, Proposal Submission: The instructions state to provide cost information in the technical proposal, but in the next sentence it states that pricing data related to individual salary information, indirect cost rates or amounts, fee amount, and total costs should not be discussed in the Technical response. These instructions are unclear. Can NIH clarify if they are asking vendors to provide commercial rates and/or general rate information not related to NIH in order to provide a baseline? If not, can NIH provide clear instructions on what cost information should be included in the Technical?

Answer: attachment 14 requirement is hereby removed.

13. Instructions for both Business Proposal and Technical Proposal state to submit

Representations and Certifications. Does NIH require that vendors submit these twice? If not, can NIH clarify which volume requires the Representations and Certifications?

Answer: No, submit it in the Business Proposal.

14. PWS and RFP: In the PWS, specific Key personnel are required. In the RFP, vendors are asked to list personnel in three categories: 1. Project Director/Manager 2. Other Professional Personnel 3.

Additional Personnel. Can NIH clarify where the required Key Personnel would fit under these categories? For example, would the "Executive Officer" be the same as the "Project Manager"?

Would all other Key Personnel in the PWS table be "Other Professional Personnel? Would interpreters be "Additional Personnel?

Is it up to the Offeror to identify which positions will be considered Key Personnel?

Answer: Follow the Key Personnel listed in the PWS Section 5.1 Key Personnel for the necessary required positions.

15. The links in the documents do not work. Can NIH please provide the actual documents referenced by the links and additional time for questions when those links are made available?

Answer: We generally spell out the URLs. They can be entered into an internet search engine.

16. Page 45 of the RFP is missing. Can the government provide the page? Answer: Page 45 is attached to the questions and answers.

17. Page 104 of the RFP, #4. Proposal Submission. This entire page appears to be related specifically to research. Can NIH clarify if this section should be removed from this solicitation?

If it is to remain with the solicitation, can NIH clarify how this applies to the provision of sign language interpreters and CART services? Answer: Removed the paragraph.

18. Attachment 1 page 1. Paper submission: There has been a large push by the Federal Government to reduce the carbon footprint wherever possible, and most Government agencies now accept electronic submissions of proposals. With all the required documents and multiple copies from multiple vendors. This is in direct conflict with the Government’s policy of minimizing the waste of resources such as trees, and the unnecessary emission of CO2 for vehicles for those delivering the proposals. With the government's push for going green and reducing the amount of environmental waste, will NIH accept electronic copy for the submission of a vendor's bid?

Answer: NIH will accept electronic copy for the submission the vendor must ensure that NIH can open and read their proposal.

19. How many copies of the Technical Proposal does the Government want? One section of the instructions states Original + 5 copies while another states Original + 2 copies. Answer: NIH will accept electronic copy for the submission the vendor must ensure that NIH can open and read their proposal.

20. Page 10 "Homeland Security Directive". Are fingerprints required for all project personnel or just those determined to need Suitability Investigations? Answer: In accordance with HSPD-12, all badged personnel will be finger printed, regardless of suitability investigations.

21. How many copies of the Business Proposal does the Government want? One section of the instructions states Original + 2 copies while another states Original + 1 copy. Answer: NIH will accept electronic copy for the submission the vendor must ensure that NIH can open and read their proposal.

22. The list of attachments on page 76 of the solicitation states that Attachment 11 (Section B.

Pricing) is a Technical Proposal document. Assume this is in error? Answer: Section B Pricing is to a Business Proposal Document.

23. Letters of commitment are required for "personnel not currently members of the offeror's staff."

If a consultant has been supporting the offeror for years and is not being hired just for this project, is a Letter of Commitment still required?

Answer: The offeror should clearly demonstrate their ability to meet the deliverables in the RFP, which would include the necessary interpreters to meet NIH’s usage demand.

24. The Government requests a "listing of each related contract completed within the last three years or ongoing." Is there a limit to the number of projects an offeror can submit?

25. Volume II requests that the cover page include "Proposed cost and/or price, profit or fee (as applicable), and total". We would prefer not to include this information right on the cover of our Business Volume; request that that Government remove. Answer: The cover page: Cover Page (Limited to one page and does not count against page limit) Include RFP title, number, name of organization, DUNS No., identification of the proposal part, and indicate whether the proposal is an original or a copy.

26. The Government requires a Total Compensation Plan be submitted as part of an offeror's Business Volume. Is an offeror to submit actual salary and fringe benefits for each person proposed on the project or just a salary/compensation range for each position? Answer: Please read instructions starting on page 95 of RFP.

27. Section L - Instructions outline requirements for the Technical Proposal very differently from Section M - Evaluation Factors. Which should the Offeror follow to ensure compliance? Section L’s in the RFPSign.pdg and AttachmentsRFPsign.pdf documents provide different instructions.

Answer: Section L is the instructions for the proposal submission and Section M is how the proposal will be evaluated.

Per the solicitation, CART writers are required to have at least a CCP certification. Given the types of various certifications in the industry, recommend the Government change the requirement to be "CCP certification or industry-equivalent". Answer: NIH will update the PWS Section 5.3 CART Reporter Tasks and Qualifications to include “or industry-equivalent.”

28. Page 49 "Communications Materials and Services" outlines the requirement for management of NIH's website, social media, etc. Assume this isn't applicable to this effort. Answer: That is correct, the government will maintain NIH’s website and social media. The vendor will be responsible for maintaining their online reservation system.

29. Given the size and scope of this contract, would the Government consider multiple awards?

Answer: No.

30. Could the Government provide the contractor service areas they would like to see improved or focused on for the next contract? For example, quality of interpreters, communication, etc.

Answer: The government desires a vendor in this RFP that will be able to meet the requirements of the PWS.

31. AttachmentsRFPsign, Attachment 3 – Proposal Intent Response Form. When does the Government want this to be submitted? Answer: Vendors may return them by May 1, 2019.

32. Section L.2 paragraph 3 states the “technical proposal must include direct cost and resources information, such as labor-hours and categories and applicable rates, materials, subcontracts, travels, etc., and associated costs so that the offeror’s understand of the project may be evaluated (See Section J – pg 76-, Attachment 14), but this information is not referenced in Section M for the Technical Proposal. Is this part of the page count for the Technical Proposal and would the Government like this included as an Appendix? Answer: Attachment 14, Technical Proposal Cost Information/Summary of Labor and Direct Cost requirement has been removed.

33. (AttachmentsRFPsign.pdf) In Attachment 1, page 1 Packing and Delivery of Proposals, states the Technical proposal shall be submitted at 1 original hard copy and 5 copes, but the next page states the Technical proposal shall be submitted in one original hard copy and two hard copies. Please clarify submission instructions. Answer: NIH will accept electronic copy for the submission the vendor must ensure that NIH can open and read their proposal.

34. (AttachmentsRFPsign.pdf) In Attachment 1, page 1 Packing and Delivery of Proposals, states the Business Proposal is to be submitted as one original hard copy and two copies, but the next page states the Business Proposal is to be submitted as one original hard copy and an electronic copy.

Please clarify submission instructions for the Business Proposal. Answer: NIH will accept electronic copy for the submission the vendor must ensure that NIH can open and read their proposal.

35. (Section L.3.8 and 9.a, pg 103) Are the past performance requirements included in the page limit for the Technical proposal? Section M (pg 106 of RFPSign.pdf) does not list past performance as being an evaluated part of Phase I – written proposal. Answer: Vendors may provide this information in an appendix.

36. (Section L.3.7 and 9) Are letters of commitment from subcontractors included within the page limit for the Technical proposal? Answer: Vendors may provide this information in an appendix.

37. Will the COR require any electronic (email) copies of the proposal? The solicitation asks for 1 original and 5 hard copies.

Answer: The proposals must be submitted electronically to Terita Stevenson, Contract Specialist @ stevenst@od.nih.gov.

38. There is no longer an Online Representations and Certifications system since the sunset of CCR and the migration over to sam.gov. This information is now part of the Entity Management within SAM. Please confirm that the government wants vendors to use the Reps & Certs information in their current active record and to attach a FAR/DFARS report in their response since the ORCA method described in the solicitation is no longer functional.

a. See https://fsd.gov/fsd-gov/answer.do?sysparm_number=KB0011625 for more on

ORCA/SAM/CCR.

Answer: Please follow section K of the RFP.

39. When does the government want vendors to return the Proposal Intent Response Form? Answer:

Vendors may return them by May 1, 2019 via email: stevenst@od.nih.gov.

Please explain why the Executive Officer position, which is not an interpreting position, requires strong voicing skills and cannot be filled by a certified interpreter who is Deaf (CDI)? What are the essential functions of this position that require strong voicing? Otherwise, the government is discriminating against people who are Deaf and otherwise qualified for this position. Answer: The government will amend the PWS Section 5.1 Key Personnel Table to remove this requirement.

40. Please explain why the Scheduling Officer position, which is not an interpreting position, requires strong voicing skills and cannot be filled by a certified interpreter who is Deaf (CDI)? What are the essential functions of this position that require strong voicing? Otherwise, the government is discriminating against people who are Deaf and otherwise qualified for this position. The Scheduling Officer is identified as also needing to be a certified interpreter (page 9 of the PWS).

Given the role of the scheduler, why do they also need to be an interpreter?

Answer: NIH will update the PWS Section 5.1 Key Personnel to remove the certified interpreter requirement.

41. The minimum qualifications for Executive Officer and Scheduling Officer both require a certified interpreter to fulfill these roles, however, none of the responsibilities listed include interpreting services. We are concerned the inclusion of this qualification:

• Dismisses qualified Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing individuals with equal or greater knowledge of all facets of the job including coordinating access needs, Deaf Culture, and American Sign Language

• Dismisses executive level staff that have a wealth of communication access Federal contract management experience

• Takes the best and most qualified interpreters out of the interpreting field and places them into a role of coordination

• Appears to be written to the incumbent’s existing staff Our recommendation is to remove this qualification in order to make room for an inclusive environment allowing for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals to exceed the minimum requirements. By doing this you will also allow veteran communication access leaders to provide oversight and retain the most qualified interpreters for the field of interpreting.

Answer: NIH will update the PWS Section 5.1 Key Personnel to remove the certified interpreter requirement.

42. What needs does this contract require a help desk to be provided?

Answer: The purpose of the vendor help desk is to assist customers in accessing the vendor provided information technology reservation system. This would include user IDs, setting up a profile, password resets, and generally assisting customers in using the reservation system.

43. Cancellation policy: Industry standard dictates a 48-hour cancellation policy from the requester or requires full payment for the time reserved. Would you consider updating to accommodate industry standard?

Answer: NIH will adjust the PWS to remove the requirement in parentheses “(Standard 2 hour minimum paid for general requests, 4 hour minimum paid for any requirement/task schedule for 8 hours)”

44. Assuming all questions are answered within days, the timeline to respond is still very brief considering the scope and requirements of this contract. Can the proposal submission date be extended?

Answer: No extension will be granted the proposals are due on May 8, 2019.

45. Interpreter Qualifications do not include current RID NIC certification. We suggest updating so that more recently credentialed high-level interpreters can be added to the interpreting roster.

Answer: We will adjust Section 5.2 Interpreter Qualifications and Tasks to include the NIC certification.

46. Could you please tell me if this is a new requirement, or if there is a current or previous contractor who has performed similar services? If available, can you please send along the incumbent contract or task order number? Answer: This is an ongoing requirement for NIH but there is no incumbent

47. Can the government provide searchable PDFs of the RFP and attachments? https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=90b6cef2f37f2e22 5cff0449de682b9d&tab=core&tabmode=list&= Answer: No

48. Will the government consider lifting the PPQ requirement because it is not easy to get those from other government Contracting Officers because they’re extremely busy. CPARS is a better method of confirming Past Performance information (attachment 2).

Answer: Please have at least three of your COR’s/customers to fill out this Attachment 2 and have them email it to the Contract Specialist as requested by May 8, 2019 via email:

stevenst@od.nih.gov.

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