DRAFT_RFP_Questions_Feb202013.pdf

SAQMMA-12-R-0130

Responses to Draft RFP Questions--2/20/2013

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Technical B.1 Overview, Bullet 4 (pg 2), B.7.2, Fuel

Acquisition and Delivery Services (pg 7)

In B.1 (pg 4) Why is Erbil shown as

Optional, while on Page 7 ESDC is listed as fuel and delivery site with a description and quantities listed?

Please clarify whether the Erbil location will be included in this solicitation and then modify the table to reflect that decision.

Due to changes in the DOS mission in Iraq, the Erbil Diplomatic

Support Center is scheduled for reduced operations. Erbil requirements are being removed from the contract.

Cost B.8 Other Direct Cost para c) For supplies’ costs under arrangements when payment is made based on actual costs incurred (e.g., cost-reimbursement arrangements, materials portion of time-and-materials arrangements, and progress payments based on costs under fixed-price arrangements), the Government will pay the actual incurred costs that the

Contracting Officer determines allowable, pursuant to FAR 31.201-2

(Determining Allowability).

Please clarify, will supplies be fee bearing?

If so which type? If not which type?

Supplies will be reimbursed under a CPFF arrangement for the 6 task order requests. Offerors are required to propose the Fixed Fee as part of their price proposal under Exhibit F Pricing Tables. If appropriate, future task order requests may be negotiated under a time and material basis.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Admin B.13 Travel Costs, para 8

The Government will not pay for a

Contractor employee’s travel time that is outside the employee’s regular working hours during the employee's normal workweek. A normal workweek is defined in Section B.7 (g)

.and B.16 Overtime, para e)- A normal workweek is defined in Section B.7 (g)

Both B.17.8 and B.16.e) refer to the

"normal work week" being available at

B.7.(g). There is no B.7.(g), there is a B.7.1

(g), B.7.2 (g), and B.7.3 (g) none of which specifies the "normal work week". What is the "normal work week"?

Please ensure that the cross references in the RFP are consistent and specify the

"normal work week".

A normal work week varies by site and individual service sector.

Mission Iraq's normal work week is Sunday through Thursday, with weekends occurring on Friday and Saturday. USG employee direct hires normally work 40-hour work weeks Sunday through Thursday.

Contractor personnel living off site will likely have different normal work week hours versus critical service contractor personnel living on site. Each site has restricted access, which could change depending on the GOI mandates. Currently, access into the IZ is restricted from 12 am to 6 am. Basrah site access is restricted from

7 pm to 7 am. BDSC site access is restricted from 8 pm to 7 am.

Service hours of operation (e.g. Fire Protection versus Postal

Operations) will likely determine different normal work weeks for contractor employees. As this is a firm-fixed price contract, Offerors will need to determine what staffing models work best with regards to meeting requirements and being in compliance with US and Iraqi labor laws, taking into consideration DOS site limitations and regulations. It will be incumbent upon each Offeror to explain the approach and model used for staffing at each site in the proposal.

Admin B.15 Defense Base Act Insurance, para k),The number of hours included in an eligible employee’s basic compensation for a given workweek cannot exceed the number of hours for the task order’s normal workweek.

What is the "normal work week"? See No. 3 above.

Admin C.1.B. A general Description of each site is provided below.

Exhibit A.1-Attachment 1

2. Scope (Facility table)

If information in the RFP is different from the SOO, which take presedence and which do we follow? Specfically, in this case the number of meals served is different.

Please eliminate conflicting numbers. If there is a conflict, please specify which document takes presendence if there is a conflict.

At the time of this response, the FOOD SOO is more recent.

However, with the RFP the language in the RFP is expected to reflect the language in the SOOs.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Admin Section J There is no Government Furnished

Property List included in Section J. Will the

DoS be providing this list in the final RFP?

Please include a Government

Furnished Property List in the final

RFP.

DOS anticipates providing a more complete list of GFP/GFEs under a later amendment.

Admin L.16.1 Volume 1: Technical Proposal, third paragraph, The organization and content of the Technical Proposal shall follow the sequence of paragraphs listed below. The Technical Proposal shall include separate sections to address each of the following requirements.

We want to ensure that we provide the response to the RFP in the way that you expect to see it. Does the reference mean the you want the numbering exactly as listed?

If this is the case please specifically indicate that the numbering is required.

Offeror may use sequential numbering in acending orders.

Numbering does not need to follow Section L numbering sequence.

However, the numbering should be relatable back to the RFP for ease of referencing. It is also helpful to provide cross-referencing where possible.

Admin L.16.1 Volume 1: Technical Proposal, third paragraph, The organization and content of the Technical Proposal shall follow the sequence of paragraphs listed below. The Technical Proposal shall include separate sections to address each of the following requirements.

Are the following sample plans required for each Task Order ?

L.16.1.3.1 - Sample Staffing Plan

L.16.1.3.2 – Sample Food Operation Plan

OR (depending on the TO)

L.16.1.3.3 – Sample Fuel Operation Plan

AND

L.16.1.3.5 – Sample Transition Plan

Only one plan type is to be submitted, but the plan shall address all sites and tasks. For example, it is incumbent on the Offeror to provide a plan that is clear on how the staffing approach is developed overall and for each proposed task, similar to a work breakdown structure.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Admin L.16.1.5 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

OFFICE (PMO)

Do we submit one each of the following sample plans only under the PMO requirement :

L.16.1.8- Sample Program Management

Plan

L..16.1.9 – Sample Quality Management

Plan

L.16.1.10- Sample Cost Control Plan?

If these sample plans are subordinate to the PMO L.16.1.5 can we have the final PWS adjust the numbering to show the subordination?

It would then be numbered like this.

L.16.1.5.1- Sample Program

Management Plan

L.16.1.5.2– Sample Quality

Management Plan

L.16.1.5.3 - Sample Cost Control

Plan

Under the PMO requirement, Offerors are to submit each plan

(PMP, QMP and CCP). With regards to the recommendation for numbering, the requirement is only to be clear in your response.

Admin L.15 GENERAL PROPOSAL

INSTRUCTIONS (Pg. 128) and

L.16.1 Volume 1: Technical Proposal, fourth paragraph "The organization and content of the Technical Proposal shall follow the sequence of paragraphs listed below. The Technical Proposal shall include separate sections that address each of the following requirements..."

In the Section L instructions there is a conflict between the volume assignments on the table and the requirement to follow the sequence as it appears in L.16.1.

The table lists the volume assignments as:

Vol 1: Technical Proposal

Vol 2: Price Proposal

Vol 3: Business Management Proposal

Vol 4: Small Business Subcontracting Plan

Proposal

Vol 5: Slides for the Oral Technical

Proposal Presentation however in L.16.1 the outline is as follows:

Vol 1: Technical Proposal to inclide the

Oral Presentation L.16.1.13- L.16.1-18

Vol 2: Price Proposal

Vol 3: Business Management Proposal

Vol 4: Small Business Subcontracting Plan

What will the volume assignments be?

Please make the volume assignments consistent in the final RFP.

Proposed oral presentation slides shall be submited under Volume

5 of the Offeror's proposal.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Technical Exhibit A.1 - Attachment 1

Statement of Objectives

DOS Iraq Food Operations and

Management (Page 167-180)

Throughout the Food Operations &

Management SOO, the DOS indicates it may be necessary to redesign how the meals are prepared and served. Will the

DOS provide drawings or pictures of the

Cafeterias?

Recommend providing drawings or photos of the cafeterias to facilitate a more complete solution.

The DOS does not plan to provide picutres or drawings of the

Cafeteria sites that are sufficient to begin redesign. The Site Survey conducted in December provided a tour of each site. For companies not able to attend the site survey, Offerors should be aware that the cafeterias are currently sufficient for the numbers

(patrons and hours of operation) proposed. Redesign or reconfiguration of the Cafeterias and Snack Bars will be discussed and negotiated post-Award. The costs will be born as CPFF and the work will be done via a separate contract. Each Offeror should address the concept for providing appropriate traffic flow and accountability as addressed in the Food SOO. Basic floor plans for

BEC, Condor and Basrah have been made available and will be provided to Prime Offerors. Please refer to the instructions in FBO to have a copy of these diagrams sent to you.

Cost B.7.2 Fuel Acquisition and Delivery

Services (pages 5-7)

Will the Government provide a Sub-CLIN so that it is distinguishable from Food and other services for cost management purposes?

Yes. SubCLINs for fuel are provided in B.7.2. SubCLINs for food will be different.

Cost B.7.3 BLISS Task Orders – Other (pages 8-

10)

Will the Government allow the offeror to add additional digits to Sub CLINs to designate positions proposed by nationality?

No. Labor for all task order requests are to be included as a FFP or

FUP basis. Staffing mix and level review will only be under the technical proposal.

Cost B.8 Other Direct Costs para f (page 11) Fuel is mentioned in section B.7.2 as well as B.8. Is fuel acquisition and delivery considered a supply under ODCs or a service?

Fuel acquisiton and delivery will be under a FUP per gallon as described in Section B.7.2 and Fuel SOO (Section J Exhibit A.1 Atch

12). A part of fuel management is also included in the PMO task requests (Section J Exhibit A.1 Atch 11)

Cost L.16.2.2. Price proposal instructions

Offerors shall prepare on a CD-ROM one electronic file for each of the above sections. Therefore, offerors shall prepare four files on each CD-ROM.

For clarification Volume 2 Price Proposal requires Original and 2 Copies. To meet this requirement, will the offeror need to provide a total of 3 CDs?

Yes. One CD per binder.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Cost L.16.2.2 PRICE PROPOSAL

INSTRUCTIONS page 142

9) In Pricing Table (TBD), the proposed provisional billing indirect cost rates shall not exceed the ceiling indirect cost rates proposed in Pricing Table 3.

Table 3 is not included in draft RFP for review. Will the Government provide

Table 3 as an exhibit?

Will the Government provide a basis for how ceiling indirect rates were determined?

See pricing tables (Section J Exhibit F) included in the RFP posted on

2/1/2013.

Cost L.16.2.2 PRICE PROPOSAL

INSTRUCTIONS page 143

17)In Pricing Table (TBD), each proposed firm-fixed-unit-price shall consist of all applicable personnel’s

(excluding program management personnel) taxable direct compensation costs (e.g., unloaded labor, bonus, Post

Hardship Differential Pay, and Danger

Pay costs), fringe benefits costs (if not included in applicable indirect costs), DBA Insurance costs, applicable indirect costs, and profit. No other costs shall be included

Can the Government clarify as to the difference in price proposal direction in section B.6 Transition Period c)For a given direct labor category, Post

Hardship Differential Pay (if applicable – see Section B.14), Danger Pay (if applicable – see Section B.14), and DBA

Insurance (see Section B.15) costs, in addition to other costs, shall each be allocated on a separate line item under the labor category’s distinct sub-CLIN. Is this for Transition only?

Yes. Please see pricing tables (Section J Exhibit F) included in the

RFP posted on 2/1/2013.

Cost L.16.2.2 PRICE PROPOSAL

INSTRUCTIONS page 145

32) In the Detail Pricing Tables (for

Pricing Table (TBD)), offerors shall show a breakdown of their proposed DBA

Insurance costs included in the proposed firm-fixed-unit-prices. The breakdown shall consist of at least the following:

b.Each covered employee name

The offeror may not have specified names for a particular labor category until award.

Will the Government allow a designation of TBD in the breakdown for DBA insurance costs?

DBA is now treated as Other Direct Cost.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Cost Supporting Information The Government states that supporting documentation must be in word or PDF.

There may be instance when support is in

Excel (quotes, labor rates from subcontractors, etc.) Will the Government except an Excel file as support as long as it appropriately ties back to the price volume and model?

Yes. However, labor rates are no longer requested under the Final

RFP.

General L.15 General Proposal Instructions, page

Per the Draft RFP, "An editable copy in

Microsoft Word is to be provided for

Volumes 1, 3 and 4 and an electronic

Excel/of Excel compatible format copy of

Volume 2 will be provided by proposal due date in zip file to LawS2@state.gov". What is the file size limit for the zip file to be sent to the government's email address?

When an editable copy of the volumes indicated are emailed as per the RFP, please send a separate email the same address alerting

Mr. Law to the incoming email with file size and request a "return receipt". File size limit will be provided at a later date.

General L.15 General Proposal Instructions, page

Per Draft RFP, "Any charts, graphs or tables shall be self explanatory and can utilize size Times New Roman 10 fonts."

Would the government consider allowing

Arial or Arial Narrow instead of Times New

Roman for all charts, graphs, or tables?

Offerors may use Arial Narrow 10 for charts, graphs and tables.

mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov mailto:LawS2@state.gov

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Technical L.15 General Proposal Instructions, page

Per the Draft RFP, "The Technical Proposal shall not exceed 120 pages. The above page count excludes: table of contents/list of figures, sample plans such as staffing plan; housing plan; preliminary transition plan; past performance information;

resumes; other required sample plans; and contingency offer letters. Sample plans required shall be limit to page counts disclosed in this RFP." Are the Executive

Summary (5 pages) and Program

Management Office (PMO) (20 pages) also excluded from the 120 Technical Proposal page count?

L.16.1.1 The Executive Summary (5 pages) and L.16.1.5 Program

Management Office (PMO) (20 pages) are excluded from the 120

Technical Proposal page count.

Admin L.16.1.11 Past Performance and

Experience (Page 138) ". Offerors shall include, at a minimum, two PPQs with their technical proposal."

Can the offerors include teammate's past performance questionnaires as part of the minimum two submissions? Or in addition to the two submissions?

The Offeror shall not submit subcontractor(s) past performance information for PMO functions (managing a prime contract). For task(s) other than the PMO which the offeror has no past performance , the offeror may include subcontractors' past performance. For a joint venture, all members must submit past performance information.

General In the industry day presentation, DoS provided an overall percentage distribution of labor across the service areas, however the total FTE on the current contracts was not provided as it was for the OMSS procurement. Will the

DoS provide all bidders with the current staffing levels as they did for the OMSS procurement?

DOS will not be providing current staffing levels except in those areas that are provided in the RFP . The scope of the contract and the requirements are significantly different from the current contracts that will be replaced, and we anticipate Offeror's providing a solution that is responsive to the requirements, addresses the operational environment, and is cost-efficient.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Technical Our experience shows that an "all in price per man / per meal rate" (which includes menu planning, groceries, fresh fruit & veg., logistics, meal preparation, serving and clean-up) is more cost effective to

DOS than the current LOGCAP (breakdown of purchasing, logistics, groceries, labor, tansport,and g&a costs) method. The "all in price per man/per meal rate" also allows for a simpler comparison of bids. Would the DOS consider using an

"all in price per man/per meal" rates for the RFP?

Please refer to the Food SOO provided in the RFP posted on

2/01/2013.

General B.5 SUB-CLIN STRUCTURE (ESTIMATING

AND BILLING) Pages 3 to 10

As part of the Vendor’s proposal, will the

Government allow an alternate Sub-CLIN structure be proposed that aligns with both the proposed WBS and the Vendor’s disclosure statement? Any proposed Sub-

CLIN structure would meet or exceed the structure as proposed in the Draft RFP.

Yes.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Pricing B.7.2 Fuel Acquisition and Delivery

Services, pgs. 5-7

We noted that the table of fuel requirements included only requirements for diesel fuel and mogas. JP8 fuel requirements were discussed during the site visit. Were JP8 requirements excluded from the table of requirements intentionally? If yes, can the offeror assume that DOS will satisfy JP8 requirements elsewhere?

Due to the possibility of quantity discounts with suppliers, we recommend that best known requirements for JP8 fuel be added to the requirements in the

RFP and that the BLISS contract be used to satisfy all DOS fuels requirements in Iraq. Being that the BLISS contract will be an IDIQ contract, JP8 can be ordered from the BLISS contractor at the convenience of DOS.

Yes, JP8 is excluded intentionally from the requirements matrix as aviation fuel is provided by other sources/contracts. Aviation fuel discussions during site visits centered around the temporary use of

JP8 in generators in lieu of DF2, a practice DoS will not continue.

Cost B.7.2 Fuel Acquisition and Delivery

Services, pages 5, 6, and 7 and L.16.2.2

(33)- Fuel Fixed Unit Prices

The fuel table in Section B and the fuel table in Section L do not match. The table in Section L omits items 009 and 010.

Which table is the correct table for the contractor to use.

Recommend that the table in

Section L be adjusted to reflect the information in the table in

Section B.

Both tables now match under final RFP released on 2/1/2013.

General EXHIBIT A.1- ATTACHMENT 1

Statement of Objectives

DOS Iraq Food Operations and

Management, pg. 169

The draft lists meal counts at each location per meal time. During the site tour we were told that Lunch is always the busiest meal. But the meal counts do not reflect a spike for lunch numbers. Please explain.

No Recommendation, requesting clarification

Mission Locally Employed Staff (LES/LNs) are entitled to lunch meals at State sites, and their numbers reflect the spike in lunch counts. LES projected hire numbers were provided at all the individual site surveys and these numbers were to be added to the projected USG employee numbers. These additional LES/LN numbers represents the spike in headcount for lunch at each of the

State sites along with the fact that fewer people authorized for breakfast actually eat breakfast.

General EXHIBIT A.1- ATTACHMENT 1

Statement of Objectives

DOS Iraq Food Operations and

Management, pg. 169

Do these meals counts reflect LN personnel who have eating privileges?

No Recommendation, requesting clarification

See answer above.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

General EXHIBIT A.1- ATTACHMENT 1

Statement of Objectives

DOS Iraq Food Operations and

Management, pg. 169

Do these meals counts reflect foodservice personnel eating during their shifts?

No Recommendation, requesting clarification

Contractor personnel, except for critical services personnel, are not included in the meal count numbers provided. However, it is reasonable to assume that contractor personnel will patronize the cafeteria during the transition period.

General EXHIBIT A.1- ATTACHMENT 1

Statement of Objectives

DOS Iraq Food Operations and

Management, pg. 169

BEC annex 2 Snack Bar is listed but meal counts are “N/A”. Is this site the small food shop attached to the AAFES facility?

No Recommendation, requesting clarification

No, the Annex 2 snack bar is not located next to the AAFES facility.

The Annex 2 snack bar is identical to the Chancery snack bar and located within a building marked Annex 2 on the eastern edge of

Main Streeet. Meal counts are provided for Annex 2 under final

RFP released on 2/1/2013.

Technical L.16.1.11, Past Performance and

Experience, & pg. 137

Please confirm that the list of contracts and subcontracts the Company has held over the past five years for relevant work, may also apply to the Company's Major

Subcontractors.

See answer to question No. 23.

Technical/

Cost

B.7.3 Bliss Task Orders, Para b, pg. 10 Please clarify if it is the Government’s intent that the labor category table in

Section B.7.3 applies to US citizens only?

If so, please indicate how the Government would like offerors to account for LN/TCN labor.

Recommend labor categories and

Section B.7.3 apply to all sources of labor

Labor categories are removed in the final RFP released 2/01/2013.

General B.7.3(a) Bliss Task Orders, pg. 8 SubCLINs X00XB9, 10, 11, and 12 appear to be used two times in the table included in this section. Is it the Government's intent that these subCLIN's be used more than one time?

Recommend that the Government use subCLIN numbers only one time to avoid challenges during contract accounting.

Corrected under the Final RFP released 2/01/2013.

Cost B.12 Ceiling Indirect Cost Rates, pg. 15 Will the price evaluation be based on the indirect rates proposed or will the proposed cost/price be recalculated based on the ceiling indirect rates included in the proposal?

Recommend that the Government perform their price evaluation based on proposed amounts vice ceiling indirect rates.

Offeror must propose RFP prices utilizing indirect rate ceilings.

During contract performance the contractor shall invoice based on actual or provisional indirect rates, not to exceed ceiling rates in the contract.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

General B.18(C)(2) Economic Price Adjustment

(Applicable to fuel Acquisition), pg. 24

The narrative refers to the "Table Below" but there is no table. Does the government intend to provide a table?

Recommend that the Government include a table that explains how the reference price would be used to adjust the price of the commodity being delivered/provided by the contractor.

Pricing tables are included in the Final RFP.

General B.18(C)(2) Economic Price Adjustment

(Applicable to fuel Acquisition), pg. 24

Under adjustments, the clause provides two references: One being Platts Oilgram and the other being the Iraq Ministry of

Oil. It would appear that the Government and/or the contractor would have to choose or agree on one of the two references. Please explain how the two references would be used to adjust the price to be paid for commodities being delivered/provided by the contractor.

Recommend that the Government settle on one of the two references to remove any possibility of confusion related to the calculation of the adjusted prices for delivered commodities.

For proposal pricing, the offerors must utilize PLATTS pricing as stated in the solicitation. During contract performance, if the fuel is purchased within Iraq and produced by an Iraq refinery, the

OPDC pricing is applicable, however, if the fuel is purchased from sources outside of Iraq, the PLATTS pricing is applicable.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

General L.16.4.1 Department of State

Subcontracting Goals, page 154 and

M.10.1.7 Small Business Subcontracting

Plan, page 163

The DOS stated goal is "normalization" therefore, offerors will attempt to subkt as much prime contract "content" as possible to reputable local Iraqi firms. Any subkting to firms other than Local Iraqi firms forms the basis for the 55% small business goal calculation. Naturally, offerors will work to minimize subkting to firms other than local Iraqi firms but some level of this type of subkting will be necessary depending on the offeror's proposed technical solution.

Once we have subkted as much as possible to local Iraqi firms and as little as possible to other than local Iraqi firms, there is little technical content left to achieve the subkting goals established in L.16.4.1. It appears that the requirements for normalization and small business subcontracting are mutually exclusive.

Would the Government reconsider either the normalization goal or the small business goals to make them work together to achieve DOS objectives?

If the DOS concludes that normalization is more important than small business subcontracting, perhaps the

Contracting Officer would consider reducing or eliminating the small business goals in favor of normalization. Alternatively, it might be acceptable to allow dollars subcontracted to local

Iraqi firms to count against the small business goals.

The priority is to utilize local subcontracts and laborers first. The remaining work pool which cannot be filled under the first priority may be used to achieve subcontracting goals.

Cost B.7.2 Fuel Acquisition and Delivery

Services, pages 5, 6, and 7

Eight of the items listed in the table specify a requested or required delivery schedule. Three of the 11 items in the table (003, 004, 009)do not specify a requested or required delivery schedule.

Was this omission intentional thereby leaving it to the contractor to determine the delivery schedule?

Perhaps it would be in the

Government's best interests to remove all of the required/requested delivery schedules from the table to allow the contractor to pursue potentially more efficient solutions while being responsible for ensuring the DOS tanks never run dry.

The delivery schedules in the solicitation are for information purposes. During contract performance the BLISS contractor shall coordinate with the OMSS contractor which will be managing the fuel tanks on the DoS facilities.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Admin SOO General Standards —Snack Bars, The paragraph number on this page appears to have been dropped. Did the

Government intend to insert "7" at

General Standards—Snack Bars? This will likely automatically renumber subsequent paragraphs.

We think this is an inadvertent omission that the government will want to reinsert for convenience of tracking bidder responses to the SOO.

Yes. Changes will be made.

Technical Will the Transition price be evaluated? We recommend the Transition price be excluded from evaluation to allow competitive comparison between all bidders.

Transition is included in the FFP of each task. However, price is the relatively less important than the technical factors.

Technical L.16.1.3 BLISS Sample Task Order

Proposal--Technical Approach

We understand the requirement to provide a PWS for each site; however, will

Exhibit A provide a SOO for each commodity? Likewise, how should offerors respond to the Food Services SOO

(reference DRFP 28 Dec 2012)? Are we to develop a PWS for that functional area or is the Food Service SOO only to be used for information in developing the

Technical Approach? Likewise will other

SOOs be issued for each commodity and/or functional area or will they be combined by the Government? If one or more commodities are combined in a

SOO, should the corresponding PWS also be a combination or should a separate

PWS be developed for each commodity?

Recommend the Government clarify the intention of the SOO concept as it applies to the proposal response.

Yes. See Final RFP SOOs.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Small Business

Sub contracts

M.10.1.7, H-53 We understand that offerors may elect to subcontract certain BLiSS work to other firms. Will the small business percentage goals apply only to US firm subcontracted totals or will they apply to all subcontracted dollars, including the total dollars subcontracted to non-US owned firms?

Please confirm or correct. The small business percentage goal apply to only the remaining pool of work that cannot be subcontracted to local subcontractors.

Technical L.16.1.11 The RFP states: Offerors shall include, at a minimum, two PPQs with their technical proposal. Offerors with no past performance shall type “NO PAST

PERFORMANCE” in Bold Letters on a clean sheet of paper and place it in the past performance section. Please clarify if Past

Performance Questionaires are to be included in the page count of 20 pages alloted for the Past Performance Section.

Recommend the Government exclude Past Performance

Questionnaires from page count.

A 2 page limit is established for each project or contract submitted to demonstrate the Offeror's past performance for a specific task.

(RFP page 137) .

Will this contract be awarded to a single contractor or is it possible to award certain portions to a separate contractor?

I ask because of the requirement for Fire and EMS personnel. We are a small business currently holding a fire and emergency contract in Afghanistan and would like to have the opportunity to bid on the Fire and EMS portion of this potential contract.

The Government intends to award a single contract, however, reserves the right to make multiple contract awards.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

I represent a company that has been actively monitoring the DOS Baghdad Base

Life Support solicitation. We have extensive base life support, construction and engineering, maintenance and fuel supply operations experience as well as

DFAC supply and support history. Our company has participated on contracts for

LOGCAP III and IV as well as actively supporting NATO at the present time. We are a solid company in the region with a supply chain network already established and ready to support when and where needed. I noticed that the RFP date is TBD and would like to inquire is it to late for our company to get involved with putting together a solid proposal in to time to meet whatever RFP date is finally settled upon?

The final RFP was issued on 2/1/2013 with a due date of Apr 10, 2013.

DRAFT #2_BLISS_RFP_12_05_2012.pdfL.16.1.3.2 Sample Food Operations Plan Will the Government provide a copy of all

Cafeteria / DFAC blueprints(BEC,BDSC, and

Basrah) , or at a minimum, the rough floor plan to include: length/width of building, Dining Area, and Kitchen, to in include rough electrical. This is needed to develop the "Conceptual Set-up for the Cafeteria as outlined in L.16.1.3.2

Provide copy of existing Blue

Prints for all cafeteria/ DFACs

Available floor plans for BEC, Condor and Basra cafeterias will be provided directly to Prime Offerors on a “need to know” basis;

BDSC cafeteria is not available. In order to receive the floor plans, contact Mr. Stephen Law, Procurement Analyst, laws2@state.gov.

Provide a point of contact with email address, and the Subject Line should be “BLISS—Prime Offeror Request for Cafeteria Floorplans.”

The plans will be emailed in pdf format, with a request that recipients not post the plans on any public website.

No.

General, Technical, Cost or Admin

RFP Section#, Title, & Page Question Recommendation, if any Response

Technical Section L.16.1.12, Past Performance, pg.

Do you really want the "number of personnel employed by contract year per labor category?" For a larger contract with multiple Task Orders, this could be pages of labor categories.

Relevant Experience and other

Past Performance Data should give enough information to judge labor categories vice listing them.

Number of employees and dollar value is not issue.

L.16.1.12 Past Performance will be amended to remove "labor categories".

Admin Section J, Exhibit C - Past Performance

Questionnaire, pg. 1

Please provide the date the completed

Past Performance Questionnaires need to be sent to Mr. Stephen Law.

On or before the closing date of the RFP, April 10 2013 at 5:00 p.m.

ET.

Technical Section L.15, General Proposal

Instructions, pg. 127;

and

Section L.16.1, Volume 1: Technical

Proposal, pg. 129

Please clarify the specific page counts for the Technical Volume. Do the 120 pages cover the responses to the 6 TORs? Do the

5 pages for the executive summary count against the 120 pages for the Technical

Volume?Does the Recruitment Plan count against the 120 pages in the Technical

Volume?Does the Relevant Experience count against the 120 pages in the

Technical Volume?Do the Oral Slides go in both the Technical Volume and Volume 5?

Recommend the responses to the

6 TORs comprise the 120 pages and evertthing else does not count towards that page limit.

Yes to 120 pages cover responses to the 6 TORs. However, PMO is allowed another 20 pages. 5 pages of the Exec Summary do not count toward the 120 pages. Relevant experience under past performance do not count against the 120 pages as there is a separate 10 page count for relevant experence for each past contract.

Technical Section B.1, Overview, pg. 2;

Section C.1.A, Background, pg. 22;

Section H.62, Key Personnel, pg. 75;

Section L.16.1.5.1 Key Personnel, pg.

133; Section J, Exhibit A.1, Attachment

10 BLiSS Requirementsw Matrix, pg. 1

Please Clarify the specific Sites that DOS requires Site Managers. Are Site

Manager's required for CG Basrah, Chancery Compound (Embassy), Olympia, Embassy Heliport, Baghdad Diplomatic

Center, or is there one site manager each for TOR 2, 3 and 4?

Recommend one Site Manager for each TOR.

As a performance based contract, the Contractor needs to provide their individual staffing plan recommendation. However, regardless of the contractor staffing plan, only two PMO liaison/supervisory personnel are authorized housing per site at

Basrah and the BEC.