RFI_Response_NIHOF2011367_12-13-2012.pdf

Market Tier 1 Phase II

Number Question Answer

It appears that there have been a few amendments to the solicitation issued after we submitted our phase 1 proposal. Are these amendments part of our solicitation going forward, or were they indented for only the other market tiers?

All amendments were issued stating to whom the amendment applied.

Please consider a one week extension to the due date, to the 21st of December.

Proposals now are Due at 2:00 PM EST on Thursday December 27, 2012

3 We respectfully request that NIH reissue the solicitation incorporating all amendments to the Phase II requirements.

Each time a new solicitation package was issued with the amendment, all updates had been incorporated.

We request that A/E and sub consultants be allowed to provide approved total OH rates without having to provide the fringe benefits and G+A breakdowns % and $ as prescribed within their spreadsheet as some of the consultants proposed have in-place approved rate schedules with NIH. As such we request that NIH accept cumulative % and $ values that comprise the OH number.

The NIH requires that each offeror provide the requested information.

Article I.1 in section I indicates that the FAR clauses in the contract will be based on the NIH templates provided on the web site. The identified standard lists are the “General Clauses for a Fixed-Price Construction Contract” and the “General Clauses for a Negotiated Fixed-Price Services Contract” lists. The remainder of section I addresses planned adjustments to these templates. What type of services does NIH plan to order under this contract other than A/E services and construction services?

The general class for Fixed-Price Services Contracts does not apply. Tasks will be issued for either design-build or construction.

Is it acceptable to provide the forms used for our negotiations with DCMA in lieu of the “indirect cost worksheet” provided by NIH?

No it is not. We would like each submission to comply with the requirements stated in the solicitation document.

Are amendments issued after submission of the Tier 1 large business proposals applicable? Which version of the solicitation should contractors use to base their phase 2 response on, the version as of amendment 6 or some other version?

An amendment is posted with these RFIs. It should incorporate all changes listed to date, however each offeror is required to be familiar with and comply with each amendment.

If offerors have changes to their Phase I proposal (eg, new resumes because of staff turnover), in what format should that be submitted? The entire factor or should we just provide the revised pages?

Please provide the entire factor with a clear indication of what has been removed (in the case of resumes) or what has simply been updated.

The instructions to offerors indicate that the Phase II technical proposal shall not exceed 100 pages. Does the 100 page limit include revisions made to Phase I factors?

No, the Phase I factors are not included in the 100 page count limitation.

10 Regarding the page count, does a single sided 11x17 page count as one or two pages?

Proposals shall be typewritten, with fonts no smaller than 11 points, font type - Times New Roman, 1/2" top, bottom and 1" side margins, single space, paginated, reproduced on letter size paper; except charts and matrices can be in foldout sheets not exceeding 11" x 17", and will be legible in all required copies.

Is a Small Business Subcontracting Plan required, or just the percentage goals for the small business categories listed in the RFP?

As stated in Section L, 2 Phase II Proposals: Section 3 shall include the Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Applicable only for Market-Tier-1 - Large Business Concerns)

Does NIH have proposed minimum small business subcontracting goals, or can offerors propose any goals they want?

The goals are listed on the form provided Attachment 5 of Section J. Firms may choose to propose rates that are higher than the listed goals, but no goal shall be below the required percentage.

If a Small Business Subcontracting Plan is required, should it be submitted in the Technical Proposal or in the Price Proposal?

Phase II proposal Factor F

Assuming a plan is required, contractors will need a total contract value to determine the dollar amount subcontracted. What contract value does NIH want contractors to use in their subcontracting plan?

Please complete the proposal subcontracting plan based on the $800 million aggregate contract value. Article G of the solicitation has been modified to require a subcontracting submission with each Tier 1 task order proposal.

15 Does NIH still intend to issue a one year contract with four one year options beginning at the time of award? Yes, the anticipated dates have been revised in the latest amendment.

16 Will NIH provide a revised estimated award date? The anticipated period of performance for the base year and each of the four one-year options (if exercised) is March 2013 thru March 2018

What parts of NIH-2043 is the offeror required to complete and what parts are not to be completed with the proposal submission?

When completing the NIH-2043, do not fill in the Name and Title of Principal Investigator, Co-investiator or their Social Security Numbers. Also, Do not sign for a Principal Investigator. Do complete the remainder of the form.

Is there any guidance on how to complete this form or is NIH allowing for contractor interpretation?

When completing the NIH-2043, do not fill in the Name and Title of Principal Investigator, Co-investiator or their Social Security Numbers. Also, Do not sign for a Principal Investigator. Do complete the remainder of the form.

Regarding requests for time extensions for change orders, the paragraph “f) Time Extension” on page 24 of the solicitation appears to bar the contractor from receiving any time extension if it is not requested with the change order proposal or if it is not requested in accordance with the specifications. While it may be reasonable to not provide the contractor a time extension for a change after the parties negotiate a change without a time extension, it is both unfair and inconsistent with the Changes clause in any of its variations to use an administrative process to bar the contractor from an equitable adjustment resulting from a government change. The same can be said of paragraph “g) Delay and Impact Costs” which requires delay proposals to be submitted within 60 days of changes.

Recommend either altering these clauses to conform to the Changes clause or removing them from the solicitation, since the FAR clause will govern.

Changes clauses are more unilateral, we may require that the contractor proceed with work while concurrently requesting a proposal at a later date. Once the contractor submits a change proposal without a corresponding Time Impact Analysis, meeting the requirements of the pertinent Specification Section, the Contractor acknowledges that the particular change order, modification, delay or contract request does not require an extension of the contract time (or milestone) and the Contractor shall not thereafter be entitled to request or receive any such extension(s).

What is the specific reason or specific data requirement that justifies the use of FAR 52.227-17 Rights in Data—Special Works in the solicitation?

In cases where the Government requires design/specifications (design-build) and or shop drawings it is appropriate to include this clause.

20 Can the Government clarify who will make payments to the contractor? Payment will be made by the Government and FAR Clause 52.232-33

Article H.2 requires the contractor to provide builders risk insurance equal to $1 Million and further requires such insurance from all subcontractors. Does this mean that NIH will accept responsibility for all losses above $1M?

No the NIH does not accept responsibility. The language requires at least $1 million, the Contractor may choose to have higher coverage.

Is it allowable to modify the formula for calculating hourly rate to match our corporate accounting methodology (and disclose sub calculations with our proposal)?

No, the offerors proposed prices will be reviewed in a consistent manner. We require that all offerors provide information that allows us to conduct the price evaluation.

On the Proposal Cost Summary (Section B) there are positions identified for both the Contractor and the three A/E firms. Since the definition and role of a Sr. Project Manager (for example) varies from firm to firm, will NIH be providing a definition of each of the roles to include their minimum qualifications?

How the company uses employees in the titled roll is not up to the Government. A project manager is a person who is responsible for numerous projects as opposed to the superintendent who is responsible for that particular project. We would expect the project manager to spend less that 100% of his time on the project while at the same time expect the superintendent to provide 100%

Please confirm whether or not offerors are required to submit an executed certificate of current cost or pricing data with their Phase II proposals. Also, is the certificate of current cost and pricing data required for the Offerors A/E team members?

On the Business Proposal Cover Sheet the following statement is a requirement: "By submitting this proposal, the offeror, if selected for discussions, grants the contracting officer or an authorized representative the right to examine, at any time before award, any of those books, records, documents, or other records directly pertinent to the information requested or submitted."

This cover sheet information is for use by Offerors to submit information to the Government when cost or pricing data are not required but information to help establish price reasonableness or cost realism is necessary. Such information is not considered cost or pricing data, and shall not be certified in accordance with FAR 15.406-2.

25 Section J BUSINESS PROPOSAL ATTACHMENTS, attachment 5, small business subcontracting plan. -

a) Please confirm that offerors are to submit a small business subcontracting plan with the phase II proposal Confirmed

b) If the answer is affirmative, where in the business proposal should offerors place the small business subcontracting plan (Other attachments and Supporting Information)?

As stated in Section L, 2 Phase II Proposals: Section 3 shall include the Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Applicable only for Market-Tier-1 - Large Business Concerns)

c) If a small business subcontracting plan is required, is it correct to assume that NIH is requiring the "Master Plan" type

The solicitation contains an attachment with the HHS Small Business Subcontracting Plan (December 2011) template.

d) If so, should offerors use the full contract capacity of $800M evenly distributed between the base and option years for the New/Initial Contract value sections or can offerors leave the dollar values blank and just provide the proposed percentages in the Goals portion of the plan?

Offerors shall complete the Subcontracting Plan in it's entirety.

For purposes of completing the proposal cost summary, section B data for labor rates and burdens, please confirm that the Period of Performance remains unchanged (i.e.

Market Tier 1, March 2012 through March 2013 with options one, two, three and four remaining March 2013-14, March 2014-15, March 2015-16 and March 2016-17 respectively). If the performance periods for the base and option years will change, please provide the new performance period dates so offerors can appropriately complete the pricing documentation.

Please see the modified solicitation document (ARTICLE F.1. Period of Performance).

Indirect Cost Worksheet for G&A and Overhead. Item 4) states “Offeror shall provide Indirect Cost calculations for determining General and Administrative (G&A) and Overhead rates (see Section J - Attachment entitled:

Indirect Cost Worksheet as an example).” Please confirm whether the Offerors A/E’s and their sub consultants are required to submit indirect cost worksheets in support of their Section B-schedule of rates.

The Prime and A/E shall provide the requested calculations.

The RFP clearly denotes “Offeror” under each section of the Business Proposal Instructions as the required entity from which all the documentation is required. Are we to assume that the “offeror” is defined as the General Contractor or does the “Offeror” include the AE and consultants? If the “Offeror” is limited to just the Contractor would the AE have to provide all the pricing backup to support their respective G&A and OH rates and their certificate of current cost and pricing data per Section J?

The Offeror submitting the proposal should flow down the same requirement to all proposed subcontractor and should provide this information with the proposal. (All requested/required documentation from the Prime and subs is required.

Does NIH have a small business goal for this MAC? If so, please advise along with breakouts by small business types (i.e., woman-owned, veteran-owned, etc.)

The HHS Small Business Subcontracting Plan provided lists the HHS goals subcontracting.

Phase II – Factor A & B, we are instructed to provide information on changes to the Offeror’s Past Performance submitted in Phase I. It is our interpretation that changed information will be inserted into the previously submitted form and denoted in bold red font. These changes are primarily due to final Owner directed changes that affected final contract amount and completion date. Relative to Factor A & B, we have the following questions/confirmations:

Please confirm that this is a suitable method for denoting the changes. The proposed method is suitable.

Are the revised sheets to be included in the page count limit for the Phase II Technical Proposal? No, the updates are not included in the page count for Phase II proposals.

Please confirm that it is not required to re-solicit Part II responses of the Past Performance Questionnaire from our Customers.

Confirmed - Additional Past Performance Questionnaires are not required

QC Program, Section 01450 p 3, Section 1.4 A, “the QC Manger shall report to an officer of the firm and shall not be subordinate to the Project Superintendent or Project Manager” - Section 1.6, a. “ in addition to implementing and managing the QC Program, the QC Manager may perform the duties of project superintendent” (one of 2 choices) which section 1.4 or 1.6 has override?

The QC Manager can perform some of the duties of a Project Superintendent, but he/she cannot be subordinate to the Project Superintendent. Additionally, it is the Government's intention that these two positions be separate.

Under Instructions to Offeror’s Section 2, it states the Technical Proposal should not exceed 100 pages. Does this include, Cover Pages, Tabs, Small Business Plan and Safety Certificates?

Yes, that is all included.

Attachment 6, Section B, CLIN 0022: Please confirm that Contractor’s Overhead on Subcontracted work does not include profit.

Profit and overhead are two distinct areas. The prime contractor should show his proposed rates (mark-up) for both overhead and profit for work that he will not perform with his/her own workforce.

We do not see any place that the government is asking for Subcontractor or Material markups for profit. Is this intentional? If so, how is this accounted for in a task order proposal?

The prime should flow down to the subcontractor the same information that the Government is asking of the prime. The prime should show their mark-up (profit & overhead rates) for work that he/she will perform with his/her own workforce, and the sub should show the mark-up for work that is performed with his/her own workforce. Both prime and sub should show their mark-ups (profit & overhead) for work that is performed by their subcontractor.

Page 89 of the solicitation we are provided with the tabbed sections for Phase II of the Technical Proposal which states the tabs should be as follows:

Section 1: Offeror’s Management Plan Section 2: Offeror’s Corporate Safety Plan Section 3: Small Business Subcontracting Plan According to page 101 under proposal instructions we are asked to provide updated responses to Factor A - Offeror’s Past Performance, Factor B – Offeror’s Corporate Experience and Factor C – Offeror’s Key Personal. Should the tabs be renumbered to state the following?

Section 1: Offeror’s Past Performance (Changes) Section 2: Offeror’s Corporate Experience (Changes) Section 3: Offeror’s Key Personnel (Changes) Section 4: Offeror’s Management Plan Section 5: Offeror’s Corporate Safety Plan Section 6: Small Business Subcontracting Plan

If there are no updates to the Phase I submitted information, follow the instructions provided on page 89. If it is necessary to submit updated Phase I information, follow the instructions provided on page 101.

Page 2 of Attachment 5 – “New / Initial Contract” – this section asks for dollar values and performance period / quantities – please provide the $ values and quantities the contractor should use to complete these fields.

Please complete the proposal subcontracting plan based on the $800 million aggregate contract value. Article G of the solicitation has been modified to require a subcontracting submission with each Tier 1 task order proposal.

Please clarify - For Page 3, Items 2a – 2h of Attachment 5

– What dollar values should the contractor use for the base and option years, as the basis for the development of the percentages?

Please see #36 response.

Market Tier 1 Phase II