RFP_Amendment_No1.pdf

RFP No: NIHOD2019077 Amendment No. 1

Questions and Answers Related to RFP

1. Question: Section D – Packaging, Marking and Shipping: Please delete “Contractor shall guarantee that all required materials shall be delivered in immediate usable and acceptable condition”.

• This should be replaced with Contractor’s standard Terms and Conditions of Sale, which includes our warranty.

Response: An offeror’s standard Terms & Conditions of Sale, if acceptable, would be incorporated into the Contract document, not in the RFP.

2. Article D.1 – Packaging

• Please clarify if the following statement is optional or a requirement? “Containers “should be” divided into compartments”.

Response: Containers should be divided when necessary in order to separate animals of different genders, different cage mates, or otherwise necessary.

3. Section E – Inspection and Acceptance: FAR Clause 52.246-2, Inspection of Supplies – Fixed Price (August 1996) and FAR Clause 52.245-16, Responsibility for Supplies (April 1984).

• Please delete these provisions, as they are not applicable to commercial item contracts and would be covered under 52.212-4 -- Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items.

Response: Clauses 52.246-2 and 52.245-16 are removed. The following clause is added to the Solicitation, Section E: 52.212-4

4. Article F.1. – Deliveries: “b. Deliveries required by the Contractor shall be F.o.b. destination as set forth in FAR Clause 52.247-35, F.o.b. Destination, Within consignees Premises (April 1984)”.

• Please change to “F.O.B Origin, Freight Prepaid, as set forth in FAR Clause 52.247-32 F.O.B.

Origin, Freight Prepaid".

Response: FAR Clause 52.247-35 remains.

5. Article G.3. – Invoice Instructions for NIH Fixed Price Contracts NIH(RC)-2

• This section should be deleted and instructions for commercial items contracts invoicing be provided. This also pertains to Attachment 11.

Response: Attachment 11 is replaced with instructions found at:

https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/contracting-forms/inv_instrcts_sat_june17_508.pdf

6. Article H.3. – Care of Live Vertebrate Animals, HHSAR 352.270-5(b) (December 2015)

• Contractor’s St Constant QE production facility does not full under Contractor’s current OLAW assurance as it is a foreign entity. The request for a Foreign Assurance for this location would need to come from NIH.

Response: This clause applies to surgically manipulated animals from the Quebec facility.

7. Article H.4 - Animal Welfare: “In addition, the research involving live vertebrate animals shall be conducted in accordance with the description set forth in the Vertebrate Animal Section (VAS) of the contractor's technical proposal, as modified in the Final Proposal Revision (FPR), dated , which is incorporated by reference.”

• Please delete this paragraph, as this contract is not for research and thus no VAS will be included.

Response: Article H.4 is deleted.

8. Article H.6 – Subcontracting Provisions; Individual Subcontract Reports (ISR)

• Please delete this requirement as Contractor will be submitting our Commercial Subcontracting Plan which only requires an SSR.

Response: FAR Clause 52.219-8 is replaced with FAR Clause 52.219-9.

9. Article I.1. General Clauses for A Negotiated Fixed-Price Supply Contract:

• Please delete this provision. The items being purchased are commercial items, as defined in FAR 2.101; we assume PART II of the awarded contract will include only the clauses appropriate for a fixed price commercial item contract (52.212-4 -- Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items and 52.212-5 -- Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items.) rather than the GENERAL CLAUSES FOR A NEGOTIATED FIXED-PRICE SUPPLY CONTRACT and other clauses listed in this section of the RFP.

Response: Contract awards will include fixed price commercial item contract clauses.

10. Article I.2. Authorized Substitutions of Clauses:

b. Alternate I (February 2002), of FAR Clause 52.232-25, Prompt Payment (Jan 2017)

c. Alternate I (April 1984) of FAR Clause 52.243-1, Changes, Fixed Price (August 1987), is hereby deleted in its entirety and Alternate II (April 1984) of FAR Clause 52.243-1, Changes, Fixed Price (August 1987), is substituted therefor.

https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/contracting-forms/inv_instrcts_sat_june17_508.pdf https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/contracting-forms/inv_instrcts_sat_june17_508.pdf

d. FAR Clause 52.249-4, Termination for Convenience of the Government (Services) (Short Form) (April 1984), is deleted in its entirety and FAR Clause 52.249-2, Termination for Convenience of the Government (Fixed Price) (April 2012) is substituted therefor.

• Please delete these three provisions, per comments above.

Response: Contract awards will include fixed price commercial item contract clauses.

11. Section K - Representations, Certifications, And Other Statements of Offerors:

• As this will be a contract for the purchase of commercial items, we assume that we should submit the representations and certifications found at;

https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/SAP/52_212_3_508.pdf. Please confirm.

Response: Representations & Certifications can be found at:

https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/contracting-forms/52_212_3-nov2017_508.pdf

12. Section L - Instructions, Conditions, And Notices to Offerors; INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS- -COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION [FAR Provision 52.215-1 (January 2017)]:

• These instructions will be replaced with the following; 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors- Commercial Items. Please confirm.

Response: FAR 52.215-1 is replaced with 52.212-1.

13. b. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR SOLICITATION FOR PLANNING PURPOSES [FAR 52.215-3 (October 1997)]; (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

• Was this section included in error?

Response: This clause/section is removed from the Solicitation.

14. Separation of Technical and Business Proposals; The proposal must be prepared in two parts: a "Technical Proposal" and a "Business Proposal." Each of the parts shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of, and concurrently with, evaluation of the other. The technical proposal must include direct cost and resources information, such as labor-hours and categories and applicable rates, materials, subcontracts, travel, etc., and associated costs so that the offeror's understanding of the project may be evaluated (See SECTION J, Attachment entitled, TECHNICAL PROPOSAL COST SUMMARY.)

https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/contracting-forms/52_212_3-nov2017_508.pdf https://oamp.od.nih.gov/sites/default/files/DGS/contracting-forms/52_212_3-nov2017_508.pdf

• Since this will be a unit priced IDIQ contract for commercial items based on catalog pricing, Contractor assumes that the instructions to include direct cost and resources information in our technical proposal are not applicable. Please confirm.

Response: Direct cost and resources information in the technical proposal is not required.

This sentence is removed.

15. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS – Personnel; Describe the experience and qualifications of personnel who will be assigned for direct work on this program. Information is required which will show the composition of the task or work group, its general qualifications, and recent experience with similar equipment or programs. Special mention shall be made of direct technical supervisors and key technical personnel, and the approximate percentage of the total time each will be available for this program.

Response: Identify people who lead certain functions and would be available as resources to the NIH community.

16. Notice to Offerors of Requirement for Compliance with the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, HHSAR 352.270-5(a) (December 2015)

• Contractor’s St Constant QE production facility does not full under Contractor’s current OLAW assurance as it is a foreign entity. The request for a Foreign Assurance for this location would need to come from NIH.

Response: OLAW does provide assurances to foreign entity. The request for such would come from the firm – otherwise this particular production facility would be excluded from any contract award.

17. BUSINESS PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS; Basic Cost/Price Information. The business proposal must contain sufficient information to allow the Government to perform a basic analysis of the proposed cost or price of the work. This information shall include the amounts of the basic elements of the proposed cost or price. These elements will include, as applicable, direct labor, fringe benefits, travel, materials, subcontracts, purchased parts, shipping, indirect costs and rate, fee, and profit

• Please remove this provision. Since this contract is for the procurement of commercial items and will be based on commercial catalog pricing, we assume the requirements for detailed cost and pricing information in the Business proposal are not applicable and we may simply submit a copy of our commercial catalog.

Response: This paragraph is removed.

18. SOW Appendix A – J; Security and Privacy Language for Information and Information Technology

Procurements

• Appendix A-J, Security and Privacy Language for Information and Information Technology Procurements should not be included in this RFP, as this is not an Information Technology procurement.

Response: The ORS/ORF Information Systems Security Officer provided Appendix A-J for use in this contract as the contractor may be submitting electronic reports to the government.

19. With regard to the blood, tissue, organs, and other biological specimens, each order is custom collected. Therefore, volume or quantity of material required as well as more detail around the sera tissues would aid in pricing and delivery.

Response: Orders for blood, tissue, organs, and other biological specimens are contingent upon the future needs for these products by the NIH Intramural Research Program, and as such, cannot be estimated with any degree of reliability. This is the same for small animal species. The government’s expectation is that upon receiving a request for blood, tissue, organs, and other biological specimens, the contractor would price these at current commercial rates, minus any discounts.

20. Attachment 3, Page 3, the last paragraph states “…..transported in contact with animals of a different health status.” Animals from various Contractor facilities will be transported in a single truck, and comply with Contractor health monitoring program and are negative for pathogenic organisms but may be positive for one or more (potentially different) opportunists. Can we get confirmation how the NIH would prefer animals to be transported if we cannot combine barrier or isolator sites in a single truck?

Response: Combining barrier or isolator sites in a single truck is acceptable provided the shipping crates prevent the spread of any potential opportunists between crates.

21. ARTICLE H.5. INTRODUCTION OF RODENTS AND RODENT PRODUCTS

No rodent or rodent product shall be delivered into the NIH, facilities environment (NIH) directly, or through collaborative research or holding facilities under contract to NIH except by permit. Direct shipments to NIH from a Division of Veterinary Resources (DVR), Office of Research Services (ORS) approved source will be considered exempt. Non-exempt sources must be approved by permit issued through the DVR, ORS. The permit must be obtained by the Contractor prior to the shipment to NIH of the rodents and/or rodent products. The Contractor must be sure that this permit exists and is current before transferring rodents or rodent products into the NIH, facilities environment. Refusal or negligence to do so will be considered a material breach of contract and may be treated as any other such material breach. Applications for permits should be submitted by facsimile not less than 30 days prior (60 days in situations where quarantine is likely) to shipping date to: NIH Division of Veterinary Resources (DVR), Office of Research Services (ORS), Building 14G, Service Rd. South, Room 102, BETHESDA MD 20892-

5210, (301)496-2527, FAX: (301) 402-0352.

Response/clarification: The highlighted portion is replaced with the following:

Animals from the production facilities of vendors who receive a contract award are considered as coming from an "Approved" vendor. Please note that applications for permits are placed by the receiving investigator, not by the vendor. The vendor may need to confirm that the animals have an approved permit. The permit application is placed electronically using the Online Rodent Import Application (link on DVR and OACU websites) and is approved by the Institute Rodent Import Officer and the Receiving Facility Veterinarian. If non-production areas of the vendor’s facility receive Animal Program Directors (APDs) committee approval they may also be listed as approved; however, this is on a case by case basis.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.