Q_and_A.docx

Question 1:

Can I submit a proposal for consideration of the Financial Management part under this solicitation?

Government answer:

Yes, you may submit a proposal for a single FTE. The PCO has amended the RFP to allow for multiple awards. However, the PCO’s preference is to make a single award for all FTEs. Interested vendors are strongly encouraged to propose as part of a team if they are unable to provide all FTEs of support.

Question 2:

Can you define the different qualifications to differentiate the intermediate level and the senior position for the Finance Professionals?

Government answer:

The qualifications for the two senior positions are titled “Director-Level Team Leaders/Managers” in section 8.1 of the RFP. The qualifications for the other four are under the Section 8.1 title “Finance Team Member” and “Energy Business Development Specialist.”

Question 3:

For the requested positions do you have other qualifying data you prefer, i.e. level of education, years of experience, etc.?

Government answer:

Yes, see section 8 of the RFP.

Question 4:

Are exclusive commitment letters for each of the identified candidates required? Or is it enough to list their résumés in the technical volume?

Government answer:

A statement from the résumé owners saying they have entered into a non-exclusive agreement to support OPIC should the bidder win the contract and including the associated résumés in the tech volume is sufficient. Section 9 of the RFP strongly discourages potential bidders from entering into exclusive teaming arrangements.

Question 5:

The solicitation contemplates 8 FTEs and indicates the place of work to be OPIC. Is OPIC's intention to embed all 8 contractors in OPIC (utilizing OPIC offices and systems)?

Government answer:

Yes.

Question 6:

I see from the Q&A that there are contractors contacting you about submitting individual bids that have not necessarily contacted the active firms you listed yet. Are you able to share the contact information of those who have reached out to you in order to facilitate coordination?

Government answer:

OPIC likes this idea since it will help facilitate team formation. However, the release of this information is the discretion of potential bidders. If a potential bidder consents to this information being released, then OPIC will include that potential bidder’s contact info in a simple spreadsheet that will be added as an RFP attachment.

Question 7:

Are you open to receiving part-time support for 1 or more of the positions?

Government answer:

No, each position must be filled by one person working full-time. For example, 2 part-time equivalents cannot be proposed as the functional equivalent of a full-time equivalent

Question 8:

Will you consider an extension to the due date to allow our organization more time to source and screen candidates?

Government answer:

Yes, we can extend the proposal submission deadline to August 4, 2016 but no later.

Question 9:

Please can OPIC confirm that OPIC intends to provide sufficient internal management resources to provide management oversight and decision making capacity and that the consultant will be providing OPIC management with the necessary analysis to support decision making but that the Consultant and their employees/sub-contractors would not be required to act as management or undertake management functions.

Government answer:

Yes, OPIC confirms your statement. Only personal service contractors or Government employees may legally perform management functions or act as management. However, the team leads for the financial group of 6 FTEs will be expected to manage their team of specialists on the projects to which they are assigned. Since the team leads will be managed by Government employees in accordance with the Statement of Work, no rules related to inherently Governmental functions will be broken.

Question 10:

Please can OPIC provide details as the expected start date of the engagement? What is the expected notice to proceed date and when are all 8 resources required to be on-boarded to OPIC?

Government answer:

The effective award date will be the date the Contracting Officer signs the contract. OPIC currently expects it to be 1 September 2016 but not later than 30 September 2016. The period of performance for the team will be the date they are all on-boarded at OPIC and able to begin full-time work.

Question 11:

Please provide List of Items, Schedule of Requirements, Scope of Work, Terms of Reference, Bill of Materials required.

Government answer:

All relevant publicly available solicitation documents are accessible via FBO or GSA e-buy RFQs posted on schedules 736-5 and 520-13

Question 12:

Please provide Soft Copy of the Tender Document through email.

Government answer:

Soft copies of all relevant solicitation documents are accessible via FBO or GSA e-buy RFQs posted on schedules 736-5 and 520-13.

Question 13:

Please provide the names of countries that will be eligible to participate in this tender (sent by a company based in India).

Government answer:

Most countries are eligible. Those that are not eligible are restricted for security reasons. India is not restricted. However, all prime contractors must be registered in sam.gov as a responsible contractor and all contractor support provided must have valid USA work authorization.

Question 14:

Please provide Information about the Tendering Procedure and Guidelines.

Government response:

This information is contained in the solicitation documents accessible via FBO or GSA e-buy RFQs posted on schedules 736-5 and 520-13.

Question 15:

Please provide the Estimated Budget for this Purchase.

Government response:

This information has not been publicly released and will not be publicly released unless required by the OPIC President or a court of law.

Question 16:

Any Extension of Bidding Deadline?

Government response:

The deadline has been already extended to August 4, 2016 and will not be extended further.

Question 17:

Please provide Any Addendum or Pre Bid meeting Minutes.

Government response:

All amendments and modifications to the solicitations have been provided via FBO or GSA e-buy RFQs posted on schedules 736-5 and 520-13. Pre-Bid meeting minutes are not released publicly as they constitute negotiation sensitive OPIC work product.

Question 18:

How much is the award amount for the current contract or previous contract this solicitation will be replacing? Is this a new solicitation or was there a previous or current one that is being fulfilled? And how much was the awarded amount for the 2 year contract with 2 1-year optional extensions?

Government response:

This is a solicitation for a new requirement, so there is no prior award amount info to report.

Question 19:

Is a projected budget for this project for each consultant position or for the whole overall solicitation. In the RFP it was written "Based on prior experience soliciting highly-specialized services" and based on your list of Satisfactory OPIC vendors, I ask if you have an idea for the estimated budget for this solicitation based on your prior experience in this. It would be helpful to have an idea of the living and other expenses involved in what could be a 4 year contract.

Government response:

The projected budget for this procurement is negotiation sensitive and will not be released to the public. Bidders are asked to propose FFP labor costs only, which are based on a daily, fully-burdened rate. The consultants will be based in Washington DC, so living and other expenses not directly related to contract performance will not be reimbursed. OPIC will estimate travel costs separately and does not require bidders to propose these or any other ODCs.

Question 20:

Also it was written the estimated payment date is Sept 1, 2016. Is that also the day when the hired FTEs are expected to report for work in Washington DC?

Government response:

This is the estimated award/effective date of the contract. There will probably be a gap in time between that date and when the hired FTEs will be able to report for work due to processing the consultants security clearances. The period of performance for the labor CLIN will be set to begin the day the consultants are cleared to report for work.

Question 21:

Do the individual full-time personnel (FTE) proposed by the Contractor have to be U.S. citizens? Alternatively, can the Contractor propose FTEs who are either Green Card holders or non-U.S. citizens? In your response, could you please highlight relevant FAR provisions.

Government Response:

No, they do not have to be US citizens, only eligible to work in the US (which would be evident from their I-9 if they are not a citizen or permanent resident). So green card holders and immigrants authorized to work under the terms of their visas or other immigration status may be proposed as support.

The personnel suitability and security requirements are addressed in Section 9.0 of Attachment A – Statement of Work. They are not addressed by a FAR provision but instead by an OPM Suitability regulation, specifically 5 CFR Part 731.

Question 22:

Can we provide pricing based on each candidate or must we provide one price for each labor category listed?

Government Response:

The labor categories named in the RFP are provided as position titles. A bidder may propose rates as at its discretion. If submitting a quote via GSA, then the bidder must bid according to labor categories on its price list and refer them back to the position titles listed in the RFP. A bidder submitting a proposal in response to the RFP listed on FBO may use the RFP position titles as the labor categories it proposes. Either way, if the bidder proposes labor categories that are not identical to the position titles in the RFP, then the bidder must provide a reference to the RFP position titles so OPIC can determine which resumes are proposed for which positions in the RFP.

Question 23:

Are there any FAR related forms to be submitted as part of the proposal submission? Or, are the forms referenced in FAR provisions to be completed once the project is awarded to a particular contractor? (For instance, registration in the SAM database, etc.)

Government Response:

The only documents that must be provided as part of a proposal are identified and described in the RFP itself and Attachment B to the RFP. OPIC will obtain all SAM data directly from SAM. A bidder need only provide its DUNS number and CAGE code.

Question 24:

Are there any commercial terms specific to this current acquisition other than those referenced in FAR provisions? Is there a draft of the contract that the selected contractor has to enter into with OPIC that can be shared now?

Government Response:

FAR 52.212-4 will be in included in the contract, including the relevant clauses required for commercial, FFP contract. A draft contract has not been prepared. The Government wasn’t planning on preparing one because the final contract will depend on whether we award one or multiple contracts to fill this need. However, we would be able to prepare a notional sample contract by the middle of next week if it would be helpful.