Amendment_1_to_MID-BRR_RFP_-_Qs_ _As.pdf

RFP Reference Question Offeror's Recommend-ation

NIAID's Response

1 Page 4 and page 47 The solicitation states 46 FTE on page 4, and 46.75 on page 47. Which FTE count should be used?

Clarify which is the right number.

The base level of effort the Government requires is 46.75 full-time equivalents (FTEs). Accordingly, the level of effort of

46.00 FTEs per Year which appears in the

second column of the Article B.2. table for the Base Period through Option 6 should be read as 46.75 FTEs per Year. We apologize for the confusion and thank the prospective offeror for bringing this discrepancy to our attention.

2 RFP (pg 25). IT Security Certification and Accreditation (IT-SC&A). The Contractor shall perform the IT-SC&A in accordance with the HHS Chief Information Security Officer's Certification and Accreditation Checklist; NIST SP 800-37, Guide for the Security, Certification and Accreditation of Federal Information Systems; and NIST 800-53, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems.

RFP (pg 26) Note: The NIST Special Publication SP-800-26 cited in subparagraph c.1.a.(ii) of this clause has been superseded by NIST SP 800-53A, "Guide for Assessing the Security Controls in Federal Information Systems and Organizations" for use for the assessment of security control effectiveness.

Please clarify which revision of NIST SP 800-53 should be used, 53 or 53A?

--- NIST SP-800-53 rev 4 shows the controls that need to be reviewed. NIST SP-800-53a provides the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to be used to perform the review of the SP- 800-53 controls. They are both required.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) thanks all those who submitted questions in response to RFP-NIAID-DMID-NIHAI2015039. We look forward to receiving your proposals by 12:00 noon local time on July 2, 2015.

AMENDMENT 1

to

RFP-NIAID-DMID-NIHAI2015039

"Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Biological Research Repository"

3 RFP (pg 49) 2.a.2 Authorized Official and Submission of Proposal.

Your proposal shall be submitted in the number of copies, to the addressees, and marked as indicated in the Attachment entitled, PACKAGING AND DELIVERY OF PROPOSAL, Part III, Section J hereof. Proposals will be typewritten, paginated, reproduced on letter size paper, printed/ copied double-sided, on at least 30 percent post-consumer fiber paper, as required by FAR 4.302(b), and will be legible in all required copies.

Per Guidance in Attachment 1 (pg

75) the Offeror is required to submit the proposal on line and in disc format. There is no requirement for a hard copy submission.

Please remove referenced text in 2.a.2 that refers to hardcopy submission, including paper type, reproduction, and printing.

The third sentence of 2.a.2 (which makes reference to paper type, reproduction, and printing) is hereby deleted.

4 RFP, pg 55, Section L.2.b.4 Resumes.

Attach 5. Section 4.,pg 4 Scientific and Technical Personnel Resume vs. C-V vs. Biosketch

What format should be used for personnel information:

resume, C-V, or NIH Biosketch?

--- Please use NIH Biosketch so all resumes will be in the same format and easier to assess.

Please refer to:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/i ndex.htm for biosketch information and forms.

5 Attachment 1 (pg 3) IV.

Formatting, Number Of Copies, And Page Limitations:A. 2. Font size must be 10 to 12 points.

Per guidance in Attachment 1, the Offeror is restricted to 10 to 12 point font size.

Request approval to use 8 or 9 point font in graphics and tables to accommodate layout and readability.

NIAID approves the request that offerors be able to use 8 or 9 point font in graphics and tables.

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 1 attached to this Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO) announcement. The change appears highlighted in yellow.)

6 Attachment 1 (pg 3) IV.

Formatting, Number Of Copies, And Page Limitations:

B. Number of copies and applicable page limitations:

1. Total page count does not include: Title and Back Page;

Table of Contents; Section Dividers that do not contain information other than title of Section.

Since proposal is a softcopy submission, are the back page and section dividers required?

Remove back page and section dividers from instructions.

The words “and Back” removed so that the sentence reads: “Total page count does not include: Title Page; Table of Contents;

Section Dividers that do not contain information other than title of Section.”

Reference to section dividers will remain. i.e., Offerors have option of including or not including section divider pages. If an offeror includes section divider pages which contain no information other than the title of the Section, these divider pages will not be counted against the 175-page limit.

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 1 attached to this FBO announcement.

Change is highlighted in yellow.)

7 Attachment 3, page 3, item 2a requirement for a clean agent fire suppression system.

Since this type of system- halon or CO2- depletes the oxygen in the work area and poses a significant safety risk to personnel, will this requirement be included in the

RFP?

Adjust the requirement to reflect the environment and safety concerns.

We acknowledge the safety risk associated with this method of fire suppression and have balanced it against the risk of other fire suppression systems. This remains a requirement of the RFP.

8 3.B.1.a.1 in the Statement of Work is a requirement to give secure access to the inventory and tracking system to registered requestors.

Please clarify if this web-based access is to the Web Portal or the Inventory and Tracking system.

(Access to the inventory and tracking system presents security and biosafety concerns.)

Remove “registered requestors” from this requirement.

"Registered requestors" has been removed from this requirement.

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 3 attached to this FBO announcement.

Change is highlighted in yellow.)

9 Statement of Work, page 2 of

21. Scope. Attachment 3 D.1.b.1.

Arthropod Vectors are not mentioned in the scope.

Arthropod Vectors are included in the SWG membership representation but not addressed in the scope. Please resolve this contradiction.

Please include Arthropod Vectors in the scope.

"Arthropod vectors" has been added to the list of research materials mentioned in the Statement of Work.

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 3 attached to this FBO announcement.

Change is highlighted in yellow.)

10 Attach 3, Quality Assurance Program, pg 12,

• b. QA/QC Program

• c. Audits

Attachment 5, B. QAP Program

The SOW includes QA/QC Program and Audits as tasks under QA/QC;

however they are not listed in Attachment 5, B.

QAP Program.

Where should QA/QC Program and Audits be addressed in the proposal.

--- Information regarding Corrective Action Reports and Audits has been added to Attachment 5, Section 3, Sub-section B.

Quality Assurance Program.

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 5 attached to this FBO announcement.

Changes are highlighted in yellow.)

11 Attach 3.E Meetings and Teleconferences pg 18

Attachment 5, pg 5, Section 6 Project Management

Are meetings and teleconferences to be addressed in Section 6, Project Management?

--- Yes, the offeror should include any discussion of meetings and teleconferences in Section 6, Project Management, of the Technical Proposal.

12 Attachment 5 (pg 4, 5) duplicate Requirement for Staffing Plan Section 4: Proposals should include a Staffing Plan for the conduct of the Statement of Work with role descriptions and level of effort of scientific and technical personnel, including scientific and technical personnel of all proposed subcontractors and consultants.

Section 6: Provide a Staffing Plan that describes roles, responsibilities, and level of effort for all scientific and technical personnel, including all proposed subcontractors and consultants.

Please clarify if two Staffing Plans are required in the Proposal and describe the difference in content for the one requested in Section 4 vice Section 6.

If only one Staffing Plan is required, should it be included in Section 4 or Section 6?

Remove duplicate Staffing Plan.

Recommend leaving in Section 4 because the evaluation criteria for Section 6 do not address the Staffing Plan.

Staffing Plan in Section 6 is not separate from Staffing Plan in Section 4. NIAID is requesting only one Staffing Plan.

Therefore, to avoid any confusion, any Staffing Plan information that appeared in Section 6 has been moved to Section 4.

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 5 attached to this FBO announcement.

Changes are highlighted in yellow.)

13 Attach 5, pg 2, Section 3A.

Biological Resource Repository Activities

Given the interrelationship between Authentication and Production, may the Offeror provide a combined response to “c” and “d”?

--- Yes, given the interrelationship between Authentication and Production, the Offeror may feel free to provide a combined response to “c” and “d.”

14 Attachment 6, 3) special shipping and packaging, page

Will the government clarify special shipping conditions?

Please include definition of a uniform assumption and special shipping conditions.

A uniform cost assumption could also be called a “Given.” It is a fact (or information that all offerors are asked to treat as a fact) so that cost proposals submitted by different offerors can be compared directly against each other. Uniform Cost Assumptions are particularly helpful when offerors are asked to prepare cost proposals based upon information that is difficult to predict.

To avoid misunderstanding, we have re-written Attachment 6, Section 3, Item 3) as follows: “A. For the purposes of preparing their cost proposals, offerors should assume that 200 shipments per year will shipped under special conditions (i.e., conditions of the type handled by, for example, Fedex Custom Critical).”

(Please see revised RFP Attachment 6 attached to this FBO announcement.

Change is highlighted in yellow.)

15 --- Please quantify the volume of work anticipated to be performed under cGMP for BSL1/2, BSL3, and BSL4.

--- Less than 5% for each.

16 --- How much of the infrastructure and/or facilities are required to be in place on Day 1?

--- None have to be ready on Day 1. We are allowing them up to 6 months to be fully operational.

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