Q A_for_OPIC-16-R-0017.pdf

Questions & Answers Environmental and Social Requirements

For the Office of Investment Policy Request for Proposals

OPIC-16-R-0017

Q1. Does the work need to be performed by U.S. Citizens.

A1. Work does not need to be completed by U.S. Citizens as long as the individual(s) do not need to access OPIC’s networks or any U.S. Federal Building.

Q2. Can foreign firms submit a response to this solicitation?

A2. Foreign firms may submit a response to the unrestricted portion of this solicitation.

Q3. Would OPIC would entertain a collaborative/subcontracting agreement as it relates to this solicitation?

A3. While subcontracting is not precluded, preference will be given to those firms that already have relevant capacity in-house.

Q4. Are we permitted to sub-contract with any non-US entity?

A4. Yes.

Q5. Are there any contractors currently performing this work? If so, what are the award numbers?

A5. Previous contractors that have provided similar services to OPIC include:

• SC&A

• ERM

• Environmental Solutions ER2M LLC

• EEM

• The Clark Group

OPIC encourages any incumbents as well as new contractors to submit responses to this solicitation.

Q&A for OPIC-16-R-0017

Q6. On Standard Form 1449, Block 12, we are asked to provide Discount Terms. Is guidance available on standard format for such terms?

A6. Please ignore this Block.

Q7. In Section C1, the sectors that are covered by the IDIQ Contracts appear to be extractive industries, agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure. Does extractive industries include the Oil & Gas sector or the mining only? Does infrastructure include Power Generation?

A7. Extractive industries includes mining only. Infrastructure does include power generation.

Q8. Is the Non-Disclosure Agreement for Contractors required to be submitted as part of our response to this solicitation? If required, which part should it be included with?

A8. This information would be provided by the Contractor at the Task Order level.

Q9. How should bidders provide pricing for the solicitation?

A9. Hourly rates are being requested for the IDIQ Contract. These rates will be used at the Task Order level for pricing purposes. If any travel is required, travel will be based on cost and determined at the Task Order level.

Q10. Are escalations allowed for the Option Periods?

A10. Escalation in hourly rates is acceptable for the Option Periods. When providing escalations, please provide fixed hourly rates. Including percentages or the usage of indices (e.g. CPI) is not allowed.

Q11. If a Task Order is to be awarded competitively, will all contract holders in the appropriate category have the opportunity to qualify, or will OPIC pre-select a short list, or even sole-source the award?

A11. All contract holders in the appropriate Prospective Contractor List (List) will be provided the opportunity to submit a response to any Task Orders. This was changed via Amendment 001 that was posted on June 22, 2016.

Q12. On what basis will task orders proposals be requested and task orders be awarded: firm-fixed-price, time & materials (with fixed ceiling), some mixture thereof, or some other option?

A12. The solicitation will state if the Task Order will be awarded as a firm fixed price, Labor-Hour, or Time & Materials Task Order. Travel expenses will always be at cost and in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR).

Q13. In the past, can OPIC estimate the approximate proportion of competitive task orders that have been awarded to the lowest bidder?

A13. OPIC always considers the best value to the Government. This may or may not be the lowest bidder.

Q14. Can OPIC provide data on the numbers or proportions of task orders that have dealt with the type of work in each of the Section C3A contract lists that are to be awarded (that is review, monitoring, specific industry sectors and other E&S support, and policy support) over the past one or more years?

A14. This solicitation is for multiple Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) awards. At this time, OPIC does not know the proportion of Task Orders that will deal with each type of work outlined in the solicitation.

Q15. Is there any limitation to a person being on the core team of more than one bidder, or being the team leader for one bidder and on the core team of another?

A15. No

Q16. Will OPIC’s evaluation of proposals consider the number of qualified personnel offered by a bidder? That is, will a proposal with a team leader and five core team members (the maximum number) be scored higher than a proposal with a team leader and two core team members (the minimum number), assuming qualifications were equivalent?

A16. Yes. The number of qualified personnel will be taken into account, assuming all qualifications are equivalent.

Q17. Section L6, Technical Factor 2 requires at least three and no more than five similar projects.

Section M2 technical factor 2 then advises that OPIC will evaluate proposals based on the number of “previous experience submission[s]” that are “descriptive and clearly related to the requirement.” A “large number” of satisfactory submissions would qualify as Exceptional, a “significant number” would be Very Good, and up to three would be Satisfactory. This suggests that four descriptive and relevant submissions would be scored as Very Good and five as Exceptional. Is this correct?

A17. No, this would not be correct. If there are large number of satisfactory responses that would still mean the technical submission is satisfactory. Quality is more important than quantity, as long as the minimum is met.

Q18. Would a previous IDIQ contract that involves performance of multiple relevant task orders be considered a “similar project”, or would each individual task order constitute a “similar project”?

A18. The IDIQ Contract does not involve performance of any work. The Task Orders would be considered the “similar projects”.

Q19. Would a previous performance submission that identifies one or more of the team leader and/or core team member(s) as having participated be scored higher than an equivalent submission that does not?

A19. Yes, the more previous performance that involves the most amount of proposed individuals would be ranked higher, assuming the submissions are technically equivalent otherwise.

Q20. Would OPIC allow experience from Key Personnel be considered as “previous performance submission”, as opposed to only corporate experience? If so, would relevant experience need to be presented separately as “previous experience” project descriptions, or would inclusion in a CV (suitably cross-referenced in this section of the proposal, or extracted) be sufficient?

A20. If information on previous experience was to be submitted by individuals, project descriptions would be required as if he/she was its own entity.

Q21. Is OPIC seeking only full-service consulting firms, whether small or large, or will very small firms or associations (three- to five-persons) qualify if the personnel are otherwise qualified to perform the work?

A21. OPIC would prefer to work with full-service consulting firms, but very small firms or associations working together would also be considered acceptable if the personnel is qualified to perform the work.

Q22. For the five page limitation under “Previous Experience”, do you mean five pages total for up to five projects, or up to five pages for each of the five, for a maximum of 25 pages?

A22. Five (5) pages for each Previous Experience with a maximum up to twenty-five (25) pages. This limitation is per List. If a contractor is submitting for multiple lists, this would mean up to twenty-five

(25) pages for each proposed List.

Q23. Will contractors be unrestricted in their ability to propose other Key Personnel for specific Task Orders, or required in any way to use Key Personnel from the IDIQ?

A23. The contractors will be unrestricted in their ability to propose other Key Personnel for specific Task Orders. What is being restricted is the labor categories and labor rates that may be used at the Task Order level.

Q24. It is understood any personnel (Key and Non-Key Personnel) who are not named in the contract would need to fall within a specific labor category and labor rate that is part of the contractor’s IDIQ contract. Is this correct?

A24. Yes, this is correct. Please provide all potential labor categories that will be used for all IDIQ Task Orders. Individuals who are named as Key Personnel at the Task Order level must fit within one of those labor categories and must be priced at or below the hourly rate of that specific labor category.

Q25. Does OPIC wish to have separate proposal for each contract list that a contractor wishes to be considered for, or can all the information be in a single submission (with, for example, CVs covering all lists of concern but with separate collections of project descriptions that cover each separate list, and with all relevant sample task work plans)?

A25. OPIC would like to see all information for a particular list to be included together. This can be part of one proposal document with proper labeling or as multiple proposal documents. OPIC’s main concern is that all information is organized and it is easy to understand what information should be evaluated for what List.

Q26. The Sample Tasks in Section J, Attachment 2 include the identification of the appropriate team members to conduct the assignments. We assume that we may include in each Sample Task a pool of additional specialists other than those included in the Technical Factor 1 - Key Personnel. Could you please confirm?

A26. The Sample Tasks are to provide OPIC a response as to how a particular scenario would be addressed. This does not mean that the Key Personnel that are being submitted as part of Technical Factor 1 need to be part of the response from Technical Factor 3 – Work Plans to Sample Tasks.

Q27. The response to the proposal must be structured in three (3) parts: General Requirements, Pricing Requirements, and Technical Requirements. Shall we prepare a Technical Requirements Section for each that we will provide a submission?

A27. No. The Technical Requirements can all be put together as one Part. Please make sure that all information is properly organized and labeled so the evaluators and Contracting Officer are able to understand what information goes with each List being proposed.

Q28. If a prospective contractor wishes to be considered for more than one List, does the language of section L6 (Technical Factor #2) mean that OPIC wishes to see up to five project descriptions for each of those Lists, or a maximum of five for all contracts?

A28. It would be up to five projects for each List.

Q29. The RFP states: “The past performance will be used by the CO to determine that the Contractor is responsible according to the standards of FAR SubPart 9.1, ‘Responsible Prospective Contractors’.

Past performance is information regarding a Contractor’s actions under previously awarded Federal contracts.” If our firm has done little or no work for the federal government will our private sector experience be acceptable to prove we are “responsible”, according to FAR SubPart 9.1?

A29. If the firm has done little to no work for the Federal Government, there will be no positive or negative feedback in the Federal Government’s Past Performance Information Retrieval System. This will not reflect positively or negatively upon the firm.

Q30. The RFP states that a Master’s degree or higher is a minimum technical requirements for education. Does this apply to all Core Team members or just the Team Leader?

A30. This applies to the Team Leader, but it is preferred for all Core Team members as well.

Q31. In Section J, Attachment 2, there is a Non-Disclosure Agreement for Contractors document. Is this required to be submitted as part of our response to this solicitation? If required, which file should it be included with, Part I, II or III?

A31. The Non-Disclosure Agreement for Contractors would be provided at the IDIQ Task Order level, not as part of the submission to the RFP.