Q and A from previous solicitation.pdf

36C78622R0044 RFI and Answers from a Previous

Solicitation of the PWS

1. Can the Government please verify what information it expects to be provided in the PRICE column versus the TOTAL column? If the intent is to price out a document by the each (as assumed by the EA of the UNIT column), we respectfully warn against the inaccuracies of such cost estimates, especially for firm-fixed price contracts, which will burden all parties in the end. For such work, it is better practice to break down costs by either (1) labor category and estimated effort or (2), if interested in the pricing breakdown by document, then by document type (simple versus complex) and other greatly impactful specifications, like page counts/ranges.

A. The Unit EA is one document and you would price it accordingly given your variable and fixed costs, profit margin etc. Then you multiply across the row to get the estimated price if you were to be given the estimated 1360 documents to remediate. The unit price is fixed, the total prices are estimates as stated in the price schedule. You have the ratio of documents. Please price accordingly. We have no interest in a pricing breakdown.

2. The CLIN tables do not have rows for pricing out management costs, tasks that are required in the SOW. As the Submission Information states that offerors are not permitted to manipulate the tables, can the Government please revise the CLIN tables so offerors can include management costs?

A. Please see answer to #2 above.

3. As this work is firm-fixed price, it is important that offerors be provided with enough information to provide a reasonable cost estimate. The cost estimate for 25,000 simple documents at about 60 pages each will be vastly different from the cost estimate for 25,000 complex documents at about 60 pages each.

A. The information provided gives 2 types of complexity, an estimated number of documents per type and a breakdown of range of number of pages for each type for NCA.

4. In the Submission Information, the sixth item mentions "3 (each) electronic samples of both simple and complex documents that are fully 508 compliant to the WCAG 2.0aa or higher standard." Can the Government please confirm that "each" refers to offers submitting 3 simple and 3 complex sample documents?

A . 3 each of the two types means a total of six samples should be sent.

5. In Submission Information, the seventh item mentions "Department of Homeland Security Trusted Tester Certification." There is no other mention of this certification in the RFQ.

Further, DHS offers many different types of certifications. Can the Government please provide additional information regarding this requirement, including the exact certification(s) it is referring to, why it/they is/are required, where offerors can go to obtain further information/the certification(s), and exactly what information the Government wants to satisfy this requirement?

A: Google s tates : The DHS Trus ted Tes ter Certification (TTv5) is a certification granted to thos e who have demons trated an ability to apply the DHS Trus ted Tes ter Conformance Proces s . Pleas e s end a copy of the certification.

6. In Submission Information, the twelfth [sic] item mentions "Proof of required Business and Technical Licenses and Certifications." Can the Government please clarify what business and technical licenses and certifications are required so offerors can meet this requirement?

A. Localities have different licensing and taxing requirements. If your state and local area require any, please send copies. If your business/employees have certifications other than the DHS one that pertain to this work these are required.

7. Is this a new requirement, if not can you please specify the name of the incumbent?

A. This is a new requirement, however, if it were not, I do not provide incumbent information.

8. Can the government specify the exact volume of document per category in Section 2.1 Objective?

A. No and those bullet points may not be a full list please see Section 2.1.

9. In the Section 2.2.3 the government specifies it uses CommonLook Plug-In to scan websites, is this the same tool the government would be using to scan documents? Or the government is asking vendors to suggest the tool to use as part of this acquisition?

A. Paragraph 2.2.3 says that VA using CommonLook as the standard when it tests/scans pages. The scan/test tool itself may vary, but if a document passes CommonLook (both automated and manual checks), then it should pass the test/scan.

10. Can the government please confirm the place of performance?

A. Place of Performance is at the Contractor’s facility.

11. If a company submits its response in teaming arrangement between a SDVOSB and 8(a) company, in what tier would that response be considered.

A. In a teaming agreement, the set-aside designation is based on the Prime Contractor.

12. VA provides the estimated number of documents and page lengths. Does VA expect that those documents/workload will be at a fairly predictable and constant level throughout the performance period, or will the documents come unpredictably and sporadically throughout the POP?

A. It will be a steady flow of documents throughout the Period of Performance for the base year and the first two option years while the backlog of non-compliant documents are remediated. After that, the flow may become less predictable.

13. The price schedule specifies the “EST # of DOC”, would it not be better to price remediation work by Page and Complexity instead of simply by Document? Otherwise, it appears that we will charge VA a fixed-price per document regardless of length or complexity. Is that VA’s intent?

A. The price is per page. You have an estimated percent of each type, your pricing should be commensurate with that information.

14. The PWS states that either two (2) or seven (7) days will be allowed for remediation depending on whether a document is simple or complex. That requirement does not take into consideration the length of the document. We suggest that VA provide a range of completion days that correlates to the complexity level AND page length. For example, a simple one (1) page document would be required to be remediated in 2 days, but a simple, 40-page document would be remediated in four (4) days; and a simple, 80-page document would be remediated in seven (7) days, etc. Likewise, a similar scale would be established for complex documents. For example, a complex one (1) page document would be remediated in four (4) days and a complex, 80-page document would be remediated in 10 days, etc.

A. VA declines the suggestion.

15. Based on VA’s estimated workloads, how many non-administrative personnel has VA estimated will be required to meet the workload requirements?

A. VA does not tell contractors how many people it should take to perform the requirements of a contract.