RFQ--CALR - 02-11-25.docx

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (RFQ)

February 11, 2025

SOLICITATION#: 89303025QGC000007

FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT

OF

INDEFINITE DELIVERY INDEFINITE QUANTITY (IDIQ)

FOR

COMPUTER ASSISTED LEGAL RESEARCH SERVICES

ISSUED BY:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF HEADQUARTERS PROCUREMENT SERVICES (MA-64)

1000 INDEPENDENCE AVE. SW

WASHINGTON, DC 20585

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF HEADQUARTERS PROCUREMENT SERVICES

Solicitation Number: 89303025QGC000007

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION TO ESTABLISH AN INDEFINITE DELIVERY INDEFINITE QUANTITY AWARD

1. GENERAL INFORMATION:

1.1. The Government anticipates awarding approximately three (3) IDIQ contracts; however, the Government reserves the right to award more or less than three (3). The IDIQs issued as a result of this RFQ will contain, by reference, all of the applicable FAR clauses/provisions. Any additional clauses required by DOE will be incorporated separately in this RFQ and subsequent Task Orders.

1.2. These IDIQs do not obligate any funds. The Government is only obligated to the extent of authorized purchases placed under these IDIQs and Task Orders, during the specified period of performance. The Contractor is cautioned that acceptance of purchases from personnel other than those authorized and acting within the scope of their authority could result in non-payment.

1.3. The Government estimates, but does not guarantee, the total value of work under these IDIQs. A minimum amount is guaranteed at $500. This amount is the minimum total IDIQ value guaranteed.

1.4. Please see Attachment 1, “Statement of Work,” for the full of scope of this requirement.

1.5. The DOE anticipates these IDIQs will have the following period of performance (POP): (FAR 52.217-8, if exercised, will be at Ordering Period 5 rates or at the rates of the last exercised Option Period):

1.6. The resulting Task Orders are anticipated to include the Contract-Line-Item-Numbers (CLINs) identified below, which will be firm-fixed-price (FFP):

See Attachment 2—Price/Cost Schedule

2. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:

2.1. This request for quote does not commit the government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a quote. Furthermore, the government is under no obligation to procure any supplies or services relative to this request for quotes. You are reminded that the Contracting Officer (CO) is the only person who can legally commit the government to the expenditure of funds in connection with this requirement.

3. IDIQ CLAUSES

See Attachment 3—Terms and Conditions

4. RFQ PROVISIONS

4.1 52.204-7 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (AUG 2023) (DEVIATION)

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision— “Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) indicator means a four-character suffix to the unique entity identifier. The suffix is assigned at the discretion of the commercial, nonprofit, or Government entity to establish additional System for Award Management records for identifying alternative accounts (see subpart 32.11) for the same entity.

Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) means that—

(1) The Offeror has entered all mandatory information, including the unique entity identifier and the EFT indicator, if applicable, the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, as well as data required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (see subpart 4.14) into SAM

(2) The offeror has completed the Core, Assertions, and Representations and Certifications, and Points of Contact sections of the registration in SAM;

(3) The Government has validated all mandatory data fields, to include validation of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The offeror will be required to provide consent for TIN validation to the Government as a part of the SAM registration process; and

(4) The Government has marked the record "Active".

Unique entity identifier means a number or other identifier used to identify a specific commercial, nonprofit, or Government entity. See www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers.

(b)

(1) An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered until at the time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. A failure to register in SAM or a lapse in SAM registration may be treated by the Contracting Officer as a correctable matter of responsibility.

(2) The Offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation "Unique Entity Identifier" followed by the unique entity identifier that identifies the Offeror's name and address exactly as stated in the offer. The Offeror also shall enter its EFT indicator, if applicable. The unique entity identifier will be used by the Contracting Officer to verify that the Offeror is registered in the SAM.

(c) If the Offeror does not have a unique entity identifier, it should contact the entity designated at www.sam.gov for establishment of the unique entity identifier directly to obtain one. The Offeror should be prepared to provide the following information:

(1) Company legal business name.

(2) Tradestyle, doing business, or other name by which your entity is commonly recognized.

(3) Company physical street address, city, state, and Zip Code.

(4) Company mailing address, city, state and Zip Code (if separate from physical).

(5) Company telephone number.

(6) Date the company was started.

(7) Number of employees at your location.

(8) Chief executive officer/key manager.

(9) Line of business (industry).

(10) Company headquarters name and address (reporting relationship within your entity).

(d) Processing time should be taken into consideration when registering. Offerors who are not registered in SAM should consider applying for registration immediately upon receipt of this solicitation. See https://ww.sam.gov for information on registration.

4.2 DOE-L-2016 NUMBER OF AWARDS (OCT 2015)

It is anticipated there will be multiple awards resulting from this solicitation. However, the Government reserves the right to make any number of awards, or no award, if it is in the Government’s best interest to do so.

4.3 DOE-L-2026 SERVICE OF PROTEST (OCT 2015)

(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests which are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgement of the receipt from:

Name: Kelley Vandecoevering Email: Kelley.Vandecoevering@hq.doe.gov

(b) The copy of any protest must be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

(c) Another copy of a protest filed with the GAO must be furnished to the following address within the time periods described in paragraph (b) of this clause:

U.S. Department of Energy Assistant General Counsel for Procurement and Financial Assistance (GC-61) 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, DC 20585 Fax: (202) 586-4546

4.4 DOE-L-2027 NOTICE OF PROTEST FILE AVAILABILITY (OCT 2015)

(a) If a protest of this procurement is filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in accordance with 4 CFR part 21, any actual or prospective offeror may request the Department of Energy to provide it with reasonable access to the protest file pursuant to 48 CFR 33.104(a)(3)(iii), implementing section 1605 of Public Law 103-355. Such a request must be in writing and addressed to the Contracting Officer for this procurement.

(b) Any offeror who submits information or documents to the Department for the purpose of competing tin this procurement is hereby notified that information or documents it submits may be included the protest file that will be available to actual or prospective offerors in accordance with the requirements of 48 CFR 33.104(a)(3)(iii). The Department will be required to make such documents available unless they are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore, offerors shall mark any documents as to which they would assert that an exemption applies. (See 10 CFR part 1004).

4.5 DOE-L-2028 AGENCY PROTEST REVIEW (OCT 2015)

(a) Protests to the agency will be decided either at the level of the Head of the Contracting Activity or at the Headquarters level. The Department of Energy’s agency protest procedures, set forth at 48 CFR 933.103, elaborate on these options and the availability of a suspension of a procurement that is protested to the Department. The Department encourages potential protestors to discuss their concerns with the Contracting Officer prior to filing a protest.

5. FAR 52.217-5 EVALUATION OF OPTIONS (JUL 1990)

Except when it is determined, in accordance with FAR 17.206(b) not to be in the Government’s best interests, the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

6. SUBMISSION DATES AND INFORMATION:

6.1 Questions regarding this requirement must be submitted no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on February 18, 2025, via email to the Contracting Officer at Kelley.Vandecoevering@hq.doe.gov . Questions received after the due date or transmitted by any other method may not be answered. Answers to questions will be sent via email to the interested vendors as soon as practicable.

6.2 Quotations must be received no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) March 13, 2025, via email to the Contracting Officer at Kelley.Vandecoevering@hq.doe.gov . Quotes received after the due date and time or transmitted by any other method may be rejected.

6.3 DOE-L-2015 OFFER ACCEPTANCE PERIOD (OCT 2015)

The contractor's quote shall be valid for 180 calendar days after the required due date for bids/proposals.

7. QUOTATION SUBMISSION AND PREPARATION:

a. General Instructions for Responses

Offerors are strongly encouraged to carefully review the Statement of Work, evaluation factors, and these submittal instructions when providing the written response.

Offerors must submit their written response in three separate files: Volume 1 – Offer and Other Documents (Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word); Volume 2 – Technical (Adobe PDF); and Volume 3 – Price (Attachment 2 – Cost/Price Schedule) on the provided Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Use letter-sized (8-1/2” X 11”) pages, single-spaced, with one-inch (1”) margins. One page equals one side of a sheet of paper. Any pages in excess of the page limitations imposed on the technical submission herein may not be considered.

Number the pages consecutively and use a 12-point font size in an easily readable font, such as Times New Roman, Calibri or Arial. Eleven (11) point font size and single spacing are acceptable for any tables, graphics, and illustrations; however, do not submit an abundance of information in chart format. The page limitations shown below do not include any “front matter” information such as a cover letter, table of contents, and definitions or acronyms. Any technical or pricing information submitted within the “front matter” will not be considered. Any pricing information submitted with technical information may be grounds for being found non-responsive.

b. Technical Submission Instructions

Volume 1 – Offer and Other Documents (Unlimited Pages)

(a) General. Volume 1 – Offer and Other Documents contains the offer to enter into an order and other documents. The signed original(s) of all documents requiring signature by offerors shall be contained in the original Volume 1. Offerors shall include the information listed in the following paragraphs in Volume 1, assembled in the order listed.

(b) Cover letter. The offeror may provide a brief cover letter. The cover letter will not be considered in the evaluation.

(c) Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items – One signed original of the Standard Form (SF) 1449 must be provided.

(1) The person signing the SF 1449 must have the authority to commit the offeror to the terms and conditions of the resulting order. By signing and submitting the SF 1449, the offeror commits to accept the resulting order as contained in the solicitation, unless an exception or deviation to the terms and conditions as stated in the solicitation is explicitly stated by the offeror in accordance with the below subsection.

(2) Include a statement of validity of proposal for 180 days.

(d) Exceptions and deviations.

(1) The offeror must acknowledge receipt of all amendments to the solicitation.

(e) Administrative information. Offerors shall provide the following information:

(1) Solicitation number

(2) Offeror name. Name, address, telephone and facsimile number, e-mail, and Universal Entity Identifier (UEI) of the offeror

(3) Authorized signatory. Name and title of person authorized to sign the proposal

(f) Subcontractors and other entities. (1) Name, address, and UEI for all proposed, named subcontractors or other entities that will perform any portion of the contract work.

(1) If proposed, a copy of all Contractor Teaming Arrangement (CTA) teaming agreements, clearly indicating who is the lead in said agreement. The CTA member who is going to perform the preponderance of the effort shall have NAICS 519290- Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services—listed in their Representations and Certifications.

(g) Representations and certifications.

(1) If the offeror has completed the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management website in accordance with the provision at FAR 52.204-8, Annual Representations and Certifications, and those representations and certifications are current, accurate, complete, and applicable to this solicitation, the offeror does not need to resubmit such representations and certifications in response to this solicitation. However, if any of these annual representations and certifications requires a change, the offeror shall submit those changes in accordance with FAR 52.204-8. The offeror shall also complete any additional representations, certifications or other statements required in this solicitation’s Representations, certifications, and other statements of the offeror.

(2) If the offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management, the offeror shall complete and provide all of the representations, certifications, and other statements of the offeror as required in this solicitation.

(h) Exceptions and deviations.

(1) Exceptions and/or deviations are not sought, and the Government is under no obligation to enter into discussions related to such. If an offeror takes exception to or deviates from the terms and conditions of the proposed order or other provisions of the solicitation, each exception and deviation shall be specifically identified and fully explained. Any exceptions or deviations must also identify the applicable solicitation section, clause or provision number, paragraph number, and the proposal volumes to which the exception or deviation applies. In addition to identifying this complete information in Volume 1, any deviations or exceptions shall be repeated in the other volumes to which the deviation or exception applies – Volumes 2 and 3. Only exceptions or deviations specifically identified in this section, if accepted in writing by the government, will take precedence over the terms and conditions of the solicitation.

(2) Any exceptions or deviations by the offeror to the terms and conditions stated in the solicitation for the resulting contract may make the offer unacceptable for award without discussions. If an offeror proposes exceptions or deviations to the terms and conditions of the contract, then the Government may make an award without discussions to another offeror that did not take exception to the terms and conditions of the contract.

Volume 2 – Technical

(a) Written Technical Narrative

Page Limitation is 30 pages. This 30-page limit does not include cover page or Table of Contents. Any pages in addition to 30 pages shall not be considered for evaluation. No pricing information is to be included in this section, or it may be grounds for being found non-responsive.

In the written component of Volume 2, Offerors shall provide a technical discussion written submission detailing their approach to accomplishing the mission and activities identified in the Statement of Work (SOW). The written submission shall discuss any resources, proven techniques, unique offerings, or any other technical information that demonstrates the Offeror’s technical understanding, organizational capability, and overall capacity to perform the requirements as set forth in the SOW.

Offerors shall include in their technical discussion a full list of the task items of the SOW, and for each task area, the Offeror must demonstrate its approach and understanding of the work. For each Database/Source listed in SOW Attachments 1 and 2, the Offeror shall identify whether: (1) Offeror currently provides access to the Database/Source and proposes doing so to DOE GC for the duration of the agreement; (2) Offeror does not currently provide access to the Database/Source, but proposes doing so to DOE GC for the duration of the agreement; (3) Offeror does not propose providing DOE GC access to the Database/Source as part of the agreement. The written submission and video submission should not include discussion of price.

(b) Video Demonstration

In addition to the Written Technical Proposal for Volume 2, Offerors shall submit one video to demonstrate how the Offeror’s system capabilities, databases, and sources meet and/or exceed the requirements of the SOW. DOE GC is particularly interested in demonstrations of the following:

· Advanced search and retrieval functions;

· Citators, legal topic navigation, and other legal organizational tools;

· Document highlighting, commenting, or other markup;

· Document saving to folders, downloading, emailing, or other document organization; and

· Any artificial intelligence features, including those related to the list of System Capabilities

The video should be submitted in a clearly marked email to the Contracting Officer as a secure link to a video hosted by the Offeror and accompanied by brief instructions necessary to access and download the video file, including a password.

The video submission is limited to 30 minutes in duration. Videos that exceed that duration will not be considered beyond the first 30 minutes.

c. Price Submission Instructions

Volume 3 – Price Proposal

In Volume 3, Offeror should provide the Offeror’s annual prices for the duration of the agreement, for both unlimited usage as well as any metered usage options.

If any of the Core or Ancillary Databases and Sources listed in the SOW, Attachment A, are not included in the “unlimited usage” price, the prices to access those databases should be specified and identified as being the annual prices for all DOE GC CALR users, per user who is given access.

Describe any add-ons or options available from the Offeror, and their respective annual costs on Attachment 2—Price/Cost Schedule following instructions on the spreadsheet

Pricing information shall be submitted via completed Attachment 2 – Cost/Price Schedule.

8. BASIS FOR AWARD AND EVALUATION FACTORS

The primary goal of this procurement is to obtain high quality CALR services for the Department. The Government may make one or more awards to the responsible Offeror(s) whose Offer conforms to the solicitation requirements and provides a fair and reasonable price to the Government, considering the factors in the solicitation. The final number of contracts to be awarded under this solicitation is at the discretion of the Contracting Officer.

The Government intends to award to the Offeror(s) whose Offer is determined to be the “best value” to the Government. Selection of the best value to the Government will be achieved through a process of evaluating each Offer against the evaluation factors described below. The Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities Volume will be adjectivally rated. The Factor 2 – Total Evaluated Price Volume will not be rated; however, the evaluated price will be used in determining the “best value” to the Government. In determining which Offeror(s) represent the best value to the Government, the Non-Price Criteria are significantly more important than the Total Evaluated Price. Specifically, the Government is more concerned with obtaining superior technical performance than making an award at the lowest price. However, the Government will not make an award at a price premium it considers disproportionate to the benefits associated with the evaluated superiority of one Offeror over another. Thus, to the extent that Offerors’ Technical Capabilities Volumes are determined to be close or similar in merit, Total Evaluated Price is more likely to be a determining factor in selection for award.

The Government intends to award without conducting discussions with Offerors (see section (f)(4) of FAR Provision 52.215-1); Offerors are therefore encouraged to include their best technical and price terms upfront with their Offer. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary.

All Offers received will be initially screened to ensure that the Offeror is qualified and that its Offer is complete and conforms to the solicitation instructions. An Offer may be eliminated from further consideration before a detailed evaluation is performed if it does not meet the submission requirements, does not conform to solicitation requirements, or is considered so grossly and obviously deficient as to be totally unacceptable on its face value. In the event an Offer is rejected, a notice will be sent to the Offeror stating the reason(s) why the proposal will not be considered for further evaluation.

The Government will evaluate two factors: Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities and Factor 2 – Total Evaluated Price. The Factor 1 rating will reflect the rating of its elements. Factor 2 will be assessed on fairness and reasonableness and based upon the Offeror’s calculated Total Evaluated Price and other pricing elements, as further described below. Factor 1 is significantly more important than Factor 2. However, if the Technical Capabilities of competing Offers are considered to be substantially equal, the Total Evaluated Price will become more important.

Evaluation Factors

Factor 1: Technical Capabilities

For Factor 1, the Government will evaluate the written narrative and video submission describing the Offeror’s means and methods by which it proposes to accomplish the requirements, tasks, and expectations set forth in the SOW. The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror’s proposed approach demonstrates the Offeror’s understanding of and ability to effectively and efficiently execute the SOW requirements, tasks, and expectations.

Elements described in Factor 1 are not sub-factors and will not be individually rated but will be considered in the overall evaluation for Factor 1. The Government will consider the various attributes presented by each Offer and use the following ratings and definitions to develop an overall adjectival rating for each Offer for Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities:

Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities Adjectival Ratings and Definitions

Factor 2: Total Evaluated Price

Total Evaluated Price will be evaluated separately from Factor 1 – Technical Capabilities. The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s proposed prices for fairness and reasonableness, primarily as to the base prices for Core Databases and Sources and services, but also as to the prices for Ancillary Databases and Sources and any a la carte or add-on prices provided. The Government will use the techniques and procedures described under FAR 15.404 to determine whether the proposed prices are fair and reasonable. This may include a comparison of price proposals with each Offeror or a comparison of price proposals to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE). Unlike Factor 1, the evaluation for Factor 2 will not result in an adjectival rating. The Government will consider both Factor 1 and Factor 2 in determining the best value to the Government.

The Vendor’s total price quote will not be rated but will be used in determining the best value to the Government, and to determine whether the total evaluated price is fair and reasonable. The total evaluated price includes the relevant base period price, all ordering period prices including FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services.

9. List of Attachments:

Attachment 1 – Statement of Work Attachment 2 – Cost/Price Schedule Attachment 3 – Terms and Conditions image1.png