Amendment 2_RFP_25-004_11182024.pdf

100 Stellarator Road Princeton, NJ 08543 USA

AMENDMENT 2

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) 25-004

November 18, 2024

TO: Potential Offerors for RFP No. 25-004

SUBJECT: Amendment No. 2 Amendment No. 2 includes:

Questions asked and answered session period.

1. General: Given the amount of information PPPL has requested in offerors’ responses, would PPPL please consider extending the proposal due date by 10 business days?

PPPL will extend the Proposal Due date to Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

2. General: Would PPPL please clarify how many audits of each audit type it anticipates annually?

PPPL is not able to ascertain the number of audits that may be awarded annually. The Agreement type is a Basic Ordering Agreement which holds no value and there is no guarantee of any Job Order awards.

3. Instructions for Proposal Preparation, Part III B. (p. 4 of 7): The proposal instructions require offerors to provide a copy of their latest annual report. Given that many companies do not publish a formal annual report, would PPPL please clarify what information it requires to meet this request?

The request relates to your firm’s Annual D & B report and DUNS number.

4. Statement of Work Audit Closeout Services, 16.0 Security and Training (p. 12 of 11) and Subcontractor Travel Guidelines (General): The SOW states subcontractor personnel expected to be on site at PPPL for more than 40 hours during the subcontract are required to complete General Employee Training.

Would PPPL please clarify whether the vendor will be required to travel to Princeton, New Jersey, or any other PPPL locations on a regular basis?

If so, is there a minimum expected amount of time the vendor should have a presence at PPPL facilities?

There is No Travel requirement for this procurement, this is just standard language in the RFP.

5. Subcontractor Travel Guidelines (General): Would PPPL please clarify whether the vendor will be required to travel to any of the lab’s subcontractors?

If so, would PPPL please clarify whether there is a minimum expected amount of travel?

There is No Travel requirements for this procurement, this is just standard language in the RFP.

https://www.pppl.gov/

TO: RFP24-054

SUBJECT:Amendment No. 1 Page 2

Would PPPL please clarify whether the reference to Section V is a typo and that offerors should complete Attachments 3, 4, and 5? Section V is a Typo, and offerors should complete Attachments 3,4 and 5.

If not, would PPPL please provide the missing Section V? Section V is Attachments 3, 4 and 5.

6. Instructions for Proposal Preparation (p. 4 of 7): The instructions for proposal preparation section includes three parts, with descriptions of required information under each part; however, Part III includes information previously requested under Part I and Part II. Page 5 of the instructions subsequently states, “Offerors’ Financial and Administrative Information (Part I) shall be separated from the Minimum Qualifications (Part II), and Offeror’s Proposal Content (Part III), and clearly identified and labeled accordingly. No pricing information shall be included in Parts II and III.”

a. Would PPL please confirm that offerors should provide three proposal volumes corresponding to Parts I, II, and III in the proposal instructions?

Offerors may submit Parts I and II together, and Part III (pricing) in a Separate file of its own. The Proposal can be 1 email.

b. Would PPPL please clarify whether offerors should include overlapping information in both volumes?

(e.g., Part II and Part III both require offerors to provide Evidence of Minimum Qualifications, with the same description of what information to provide in this section; Part III, section g. specifically requests that offerors provide “Financial and Administrative Information* (identified in Part I).”)

Information can overlap in both volumes and must be clearly identified.

c. If the Evidence of Minimum Qualifications requirement for both Parts II and III and the Financial and Administrative Information requirement for both Parts I and III are not identical between volumes, would PPPL please clarify the difference between the information required in the two volumes?

Please reference the answer to 10b.

d. Part III, section g. is titled “Financial and Administrative Information* (identified in Part I).” The financial information required in Part I includes the Offeror Information and Pricing Form. However, page 5 of the instructions states that pricing information shall not be included in Part III. Would PPPL please confirm that offerors should not include section g, Financial and Administrative Information, in their Part III proposals?

Offerors should not include Financial and Administrative Information in Part III. Part III should only include Offerors proposed pricing.

7. Instructions for Proposal Preparation (p. 4 of 7): The description of requirements for Part III, section a, Letter of Submittal, states, “The Letter of Submittal and the attached Offeror Information and Pricing Form, Representations and Certifications, and Organizational Conflicts of Interest Certification Form must be signed...”

However, the Offeror Information and Pricing Form, Representations and Certifications, and Organizational Conflicts of Interest Certification Form are also included under Part I and under Part III, section g, Financial and Administrative Information* (identified in Part I), and page 5 of the proposal instructions file states that no pricing information shall be included in Part III.

SUBJECT:Amendment No. 1 Page 3

Would PPPL please confirm whether offerors must include these forms under Part III, section a?

Representation and Certifications; Organizational Conflicts of Interest, should not be included in Part III. They may be included in either Part I or Part II.

8. Instructions for Proposal Preparation (p. 4 of 7): The instructions for Part III, section e, Proposed Methodology, state that offerors “May be required to provide resumes upon request.” However, resumes are required per Part III, section f, Offeror’s Team. Would PPPL please confirm that offerors should include resumes under section f, Offeror’s Team, and should not provide any information with regard to resumes under Part III, section e, Proposed Methodology?

Resumes should be included under Section f, Offeror’s Team, as required as part of the proposal submission documentation.

9. Attachment 6 – Sample Non-Disclosure Statement: Would PPPL please clarify whether offerors need to include a completed copy of Attachment 6 with their proposals? If so, would PPPL please confirm in which proposal volume offerors should include the completed attachment?

Attachment 6 is just a Sample and is not required as part of offerors’ submittal.

10. Instructions for Proposal Preparation (p. 6 of 7): The proposal instructions file states that the subject line of the proposal submission email should be “Subject Line: ABCCompany_RFP_25-004_Form.pdf.” However, offerors are required to submit multiple proposal volumes and will therefore have multiple filenames.

a. Would the government please clarify whether offerors should submit their proposals in multiple emails, with one attachment per email, or whether offerors may submit their proposals in a single email with multiple attachments?

1 Email, with Part I and Part II combined file and Part III as a separate file.

b. If offerors may submit their proposals in a single email with multiple attachments, would the government please clarify what the subject line should be?

If multiple emails, the subject line is the same, and add email 1 of 2, etc.

11. Offeror Information and Pricing Form: Would PPPL please confirm whether offerors are permitted to propose labor categories in addition to the four labor categories identified in this form?

Yes, but no more than 3 and a brief description and fully burdened labor rates.

12. Statement of Work Audit Closeout Services, 1.0 (page 3 of 11): Would PPPL please provide an estimate of hours/level of effort required for each of the three audit types (i.e., Pre-Award, forward pricing, and incurred cost audits)?

There is no requirement at this time for the offeror to provide the level of effort of costs for this procurement.

The Statement of Work for this procurement for this procurement supports the overall services required. Each Job Order Statement of Work (when there is a need) will outline more specific requirements. PPPL will not specify the required level of effort when a Job Order is needed; instead, it will be the suppliers’ responsibility to present their cost assumptions and level of effort for the requested audit services at that time.

SUBJECT:Amendment No. 1 Page 4

13. Travel is referred to in a few different places within the RFP and attachments. Two examples are:

Page 9, Section 7: Qualifications “Willing to travel to subcontractor/supplier sites at either domestic or foreign locations.”

Page 7, Section 5: Reports “Separating travel from labor, labor hours…incurred travel at costs in compliance with

PPPL.”

What level of travel is required or expected?

There are no travel requirements for this procurement.

14. Our personnel have years of experience conducting thorough and accurate audits through virtual platforms.

Is PPPL open to a response proposing these audits be performed using virtual platforms?

Work is anticipated to take place remotely by the supplier.

15. The Instructions for Preparation provides a date for the submission of questions as Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at 4:30 pm EST and the Invitation Letter indicates that the date for the submissions of proposals as November 19, 2024, at 4:30 pm EST. Can PPPL please clarify that the questions are due on November 19, 2024, and provide a later date for the submission of the proposal?

Amendment 1 clarified the correct date for the submission of questions deadline Nov. 6, 2024, as this was an error in the RFP documentation.

Can the due date of the proposal be extended to December 6, 2024, or after?

PPPL will extend the Proposal Due date to Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

16. Section 9 refers to "Bachelors, in accounting, business or related field."

While the SOW specifies a preference for a bachelor's degree in accounting, business, or a related field, we recognize that an equivalent combination of education and experience can also qualify. The individual in question, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree, 3 years of auditing experience, and certifications as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), likely meets the experience and continuing professional education (CPE) requirements outlined by the IIA Standards and Code of Ethics.

Given these qualifications, we may consider this an equivalent combination of education and experience. The offeror may submit the personnel’s resume for the Team to take into review.

SUBJECT:Amendment No. 1 Page 5

Please acknowledge your receipt of this RFP Amendment No. 2 by signing below and returning it with your proposal package.

Reminder: Proposals Due Date: December 4, 2024.

Sincerely, Cheryl Colan Procurement Specialist

Company: ______________________________

Signature: ______________________________

Name: _________________________________

Title: __________________________________

Date: __________________________________