Amendment 1 Questions.doc

Questions to PSC-RFP-CUSTODIAL-09

Amendment 1

Q1 The Cover Letter and Standard Form 33 indicate that proposals must be received by the Contracting Office no later than 3:00 PM, Monday, May 26th, 2008.

Will the Government consider postponing this due date as Monday, May 26th, 2008 is a Federal Recognized Holiday for Memorial Day? Yes, Proposals now scheduled for Wednesday, May 28th 2008 at 3PM Q2 Section B.1, page 2 of 46, Description of Services, indicates that the Contractor be responsible for performing services at the Personal property Facility located at 16701 Industrial drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20877.

What is the extent of the services and staffing for these additional facilities ? See attached Task and Frequency Chart for services. Contractor shall provide staffing levels.

When are services to be provided for these facilities (Day or Night) ? See Exhibit #1 for times.

Q3 Section B.6, page 3 of 46, Permanent Changes indicates that “The Government reserves the right to decrease the total square feet of cleanable space required by the contract. The decrease will be computed as specified in Attachment A – Price Template – Base Services, space reduction.”.

Is this reduction of space clause being utilized at the present time ? No How much space is currently vacant ? 35,000 +/- Does the Government anticipate any reductions in space affecting this contract in the foreseeable future and, if so, how much space will be involved ? Yes, Unknown Q4 Section C.6 Supplies, Materials, Equipment and Utilities, Paragraph B. Furnished by the Contractor, Sub-paragraph (3) states that “The Contractor shall as needed repair or replace damaged toilet paper dispensers.”

Will the Government please provide the make, model and number of units for each differing type of toilet tissue dispenser currently in use ? Most prevalent brand is Scott, Rollsavr is also used. All dispenser use large rolls. See exhibit # 1 for numbers.

Will the Government please provide the number of units, by make and model, of the number of units currently awaiting repair and/or replacement ? Contractor responsibility, no known repairs under way.

Will the successful offeror being able to conduct an on-site inspection for the purpose of preparing a pre-existing deficiency checklist of all units needing repair or replacement prior to assuming operational responsibility on October 1st, 2008 ? Yes, Q5 In Section C.10 Deductions, page 14 of 46, describes the criteria for deductions.

Will the Contractor be provided the opportunity to successfully re-perform the work prior to the assessment of a deduction for non or inadequate performance ? Yes, with the exception of Daily, VIP and Snow removal,.

What is the history of performance deductions being assessed under the current contract, either by day, week, month or contract period ? When needed.

Please provide a summary of the performance items which comprise the operations deductions that have been assessed under the previous question. Question is vague unable too answer.

Q6 Section C.10 Deductions, Paragraph D Suspension of Work, page 15 of 46, indicates “In the event services are not required by the Government because the building is closed, deductions will be computed as follows: The deduction rate in dollars per day will be equal to the per month contract price for the building, divided by 21 days per month; the deduction rate in dollars per day will be multiplied by the number of days services were not provided or required.”.

Some months may have as many as 23 workdays, especially during the winter months when this suspension of work clause is more apt to be utilized for a weather related closing. Consequently taking a 1/21 month deduction for a month that has 23 days would be disproportionate penalty against the Contractor.

Additionally, the Government has essentially forced the Contractor to pool all costs on an annual basis, to be paid in 12 monthly installments. Consequently, there are certain costs that would be included in this suspension of work deduction for items where performance and cost are not waived.

This 1 day deduction would include pooled costs for periodic work functions;

This 1 day deduction would include pooled costs for equipment;

This 1 day deduction would include pooled costs for subcontracted services;

Would the Government consider a more equitable deduction consisting of 1 day (depending on the number of work days in that particular month) times 60% which would represent the amount of daily services not performed ? No Q7 Section C.10 Deductions, Paragraph E Assessment of Government Administration Fees, page 16 of 46, indicates that “A fee shall be charged to the Contractor for each time a deduction is taken by the Contracting Officer. This fee represents a portion of the administrative cost the Government incurs each time a deduction is taken. This fee is set forth in Exhibit 4.”.

Please confirm that this Administrative Fee does not apply to deductions taken for items outside the control of the Contractor, such as, for 1 day suspension do to weather, executive proclamations, etc., space reductions, etc. Deductions are not applied to any items “outside” the contractor’s control.

Please provide some details regarding the dollar amount of this fee and the numbers of times this fee is assessed under the current contract. Fee has been assessed as needed. Dollar amount consists on portions of all Government employees’ salaries that must spend time and effort on issuing the deduction.

Q8 In section F.6 Observance of Legal Holidays and Government Closure, page 23 of 46, addresses the 1/21 deduction for building closing for various reasons. Please refer the same questions previously submitted. See answer # 6 Q9 Section H.4 Identification Credential, page 29 of 46, gives specifications for t=Contractor’s Credentials including; “A photograph of the employee that is at least 1 inch square. The photograph shall show as a minimum the head and shoulders of the employee and be no more than a year old at the time the credential was issued, etc.”.

Is this require more attributable to Security Officers ? No Will the Government issued Building Passes be sufficient for the Contractor Custodial Personnel ? Yes Will the remainder of the credentials section be deleted as not applicable ? No Q10 Section H.8 Security, page 33 of 46, indicates that ‘The Government has determined the position sensitivity under this effort to be level 5.”

Is this Security requirement applicable to this Custodial contract ? Yes Q11 Section H.8.3, page 33 of 46, indicates that the minimum Government investigation for a non-sensitive position is a National Agency Check and Inquires 9with fingerprinting), etc.

Is this a requirement of this Custodial contract ? Yes How many employees will be subject to a National Agency Check ? All Will the successful offer be required to have a Facility Security Clearance (FCL) in order to comply with this requirement ? Yes What is the cost which can be assessed under Section H.8.5 for these investigations ?

Should this Section be deleted ? No How many of the current employees are in compliance with this requirement ? All Does this requirement conflict with the requirements contained in Section H.9 ? No Q12 Section K.3, page 1 of 21, indicates that ‘The North America Industry Classification (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 561612 and small business size standard is 17$m.”

These requirements are for Security Guards. Shouldn’t these representations be NAICS code 561720 – Janitorial Services with a small business size standard of $15m? The NAICS code should be 561720 with the size standard at $15m.

Q13 Would the government please provide a list of deductions under the current contract, and the deductions table? No Q14 Has the building size (rooms added, rooms deducted, population, space changes, etc) changed since the last contract? No.

Q15 It was mentioned at the walk-thru that the incumbent contractor’s HubZone status expired which was the cause of this resoliciting of services. However what will happened to the new awardees if the incumbent restores their HubZone status in the following fiscal year? SBA Q16 In (Exhibit 2) “Quality Requirements” under Fixtures can we get an idea of (if any) how many fixtures have been cited for cru station? This will help us determine what level of cleaning will be required to maintain the performance at a higher level. Not available.

Q17 Please provide an average name of deductions (Exhibit 4) on previous contract? We do not name our deductions.

Q18 Once the snow removal surfaces (Exhibit 5) have been performed by the contractor what other use can the vehicles be utilized for? Unlimited number of uses, the vehicles are required to be onsite for use on this contract only.

Q19 Page 7 of 46 Qualifications of Project Managers and Alternates (C) How much notification (hour, weekly, monthly) does the government require when there is a need to place an alternate supervisor to cover the position in the event of an emergency? Emergencies are impossible to predict.

Q20 Page 9 of 46 Furnished by the Government (8) “Photocopy” machine. As for the use of this equipment what will be the government’s expectation of use of this copier by the contractor (weekly, as-needed, etc)? Not for daily use, at Government’s discretion.

Q21 What proposal methods are being accepted (hard copy, electronic, etc)? Hard copy Q22 CDC – May I have the number of :

-Baby Rooms

-Class Rooms

-Infant Rooms

There are 9 total classrooms. Room types are dictated be the enrollees.

Q23 May we get a total population of the building? Exhibit #1 Q24 May we get a average number of employees that have been cleared for this current contract? All Q25 Who will be responsible for furnishing the floor mats government or contractor? There is no requirement for floor mats.

Q26 With the Government providing the ice melt for snow and ice removal what will be the procedure for accessing this product especially when continuous use may occur during the winter months? The Government will reimburse the Contractor for the purchase of chemicals. Contractor is responsible for providing.

Q27 May we have the average number of Special Events that take place annually and the duration of each special event and also the location/space needed for these special events? The Government has daily events.

Q28 Will there be a drop box available for the proposal delivery if the contractor selects to submit early prior to the required due date? No. Contractor shall deliver as instructed Q29 Is there any marble floor in the Parklawn facility and if so will the government consider diamond honing as part of the maintenance? No Q30 As for the coordination with the window cleaning how much notification is required to perform this and what is the Government’s desired frequency (annually , semi-annually) Contractor Shall provide the frequency.

Q31 We did not tour a cafeteria. Was there one in the facility? If so who is responsible for the cleaning? No commercial entities are included.

Q32 There is no Schedule of Prices for Section B. Where can I find them? Pricing templates are located in the Exhibits 18 and 19.

Q33 Section M B.2 second paragraph page 19 of 21 reads:

"The information provided above will be used to contact your prior customers for a past performance survey."

Does this meant that the government (HHS) will be responsible for sending out the past performance survey found in Exhibit 14?

Section M.6 Past Performance Evaluation reads:

"The offeror's past performance will be evaluated concurrently with the technical evaluation. A survey consisting of the questions contained in Section J will be conducted"

There are no questions listed in Section J of the contract?

Section L.14 Past Performance Instructions explains:

The offer's past performance. Will a subcontractor's past performance be considered? Should subcontractor's also complete subcontracting info?

Regarding Past Performance – It is the responsibility of the contractor to submit the Past Performance Questionnaire’s to prior customers. Past Performance Questionnaires, as listed in section J, are in Exhibit 14. Subcontractor’s Past Performance will also be considered.