Minutes_and_questions_preproposal_conference.docx

February 28, 2014

US Embassy Buenos Aires

Minutes from Pre-Proposal Conference of February 25, 2014

Introduction

The Facilities Manager welcomed all attendees and introduced the facilities personnel responsible for the OBC and CMR, the procurement supervisor and the procurement assistant.

Discussion of the Solicitation Package

Issues surrounding the solicitation package concerned the fact that the documents are available only in the English. Some of the participants had had trouble accessing the package on Fedbizopps, and found the contract clauses challenging. The procurement staff explained that if participants required translation of the package, it would be their responsibility to do so and at their expense. Advice was given about access to Fedbizopps and access to the FAR online. Participants were asked to send their questions in written form by email.

Questions:

The following questions were asked during the conference and via email:

Q: How many persons are working at the site/s?

A: 334 full-time employees

Q: How many annual visitors to the site/s?

A: The consular section, which receives the greatest number of visitors, estimates that 275,000 people come to the section annually.

Q: How many bathrooms are there in the OBC and CMR:

A: There are 8 bathrooms of various sizes in the chief of mission’s residence (CMR). There are 16 bathrooms in the chancery (OBC).

Q: Is there a wage determination?

A: Labor for this contract is subject to Argentine minimum wage.

Q: Do we bid in US Dollars or Argentine Pesos?

A: Argentine pesos

Q: Where do we send this bid and can it be emailed:

A: Bids cannot be emailed. They should be sent or delivered within the specified deadline to the embassy address:

Avenida Colombia 4300 CABA, Argentina

Q: According to Section 4.4.1 of the solicitation, “at least 60 percent of the personnel assigned to perform under the contract shall have a minimum of one year service with the contractor. XXX company, in the past, has used employees previously employed under the predecessor contractor. Will use of some or all of the predecessor contractor’s employees satisfy the requirements of the aforementioned section 4.4.1?

A: The solicitation has been amended to eliminate the 60 percent requirement.

Q: What is the amount of the current contract for the OBC and the CMR?

A: The embassy does not divulge this information

Q: Are there any changes in the SOW for the new janitorial contract from the present SOW Janitorial contract for OBC and CMR?

A: The SOW has been updated for this solicitation. All interested parties should refer to the SOW in the current solicitation

Q: In embassy building; do all floors have carpets?

A: yes, although some areas of some floors are not carpeted. For instance, large areas of the basement are not carpeted

Q: Is the cafeteria kitchen included in the solicitation?

A: Not on a daily basis. It could be specifically requested under the terms of “temporary additional services”

Q: Is the solicitation posted in Spanish?

A: No

Q: Can we pose questions in Spanish?

A: yes

Q: Window cleaning; are the windows fixed or mobiles?

A: The windows in the OBC are fixed. There are both types of windows in the CMR

Q: Does cleaning company need to provide the exterior cleaning?

A: The SOW (1.351 and 1.3.13.1 provide for quarterly cleaning of the outsides of the office building windows and the outsides of the CMR compound windows. At the CMR, the janitorial service is only responsible for cleaning the outsides of the windows of the offices/rooms that they clean on the inside. In addition to the above, the janitorial staff is responsible for cleaning the grills and perimeters of all the ground floor windows.

Q: Does cleaning company need to provide cleaning supplies? E.g: toilet paper, liquid soap, paper towels.

A: No. See attachment 1 to the description/specifications/performance work statemet-government furnished property. This is the subsection 1 of the scope of work just before where section 2 begins (contract clauses)

CMR

Q: What are the cleaning hours for kitchen, sidewalks, etc? Are they fixed?

A: See chart in SOW (3.2) for work hours in various locations

Q: The cleaning company in CMR is the same as in the Embassy?

A: Yes

Q: Is there an elevator to use to carry cleaning equipment up to the last floor?

A: no

Q: Do windows have a protective film?

A: yes.

Q: Are there any drawings of the buildings in the solicitation?

A: No, only references to square meters .

Q: What’s the cleaning frequency in all areas as the “quincho” for example?

A: See chart 3.2 in SOW

Q: Does the government provide a large yard/street vacuum machine for cleaning the sidewalks and asphalt?

A: No

Q: Shall we include general gardening services such as lawn mowing?

A: No. The embassy has a separate gardening contract

Q: Is the contractor required to provide (in addition to refilling) supplies such as toilet paper, paper towels, and soap?

A: No

Q: How many janitorial workers are needed and for how many hours to provide the current service in the chancery and the residence?

A: It is up to the contractor to decide how many workers are needed to provide the services specified in the scope of work provided in the solicitation. The charts in section 3.1 and 3.2 show the hours when the various offices and areas are cleaned.

Q: What cleaning machines does the embassy provide?

A. See “Attachment 1 to Description/Specifications/Performance Work Statement – Government Furnished property for a complete list (this section appears in the scope of work as the last section before Section 2 – Contract Clauses).

Q: How should we quote a price- by the number of workers, by square meter, or some other method?

A: Please see form SF1449, section 19. For the base year, you should quote the total cost per month for your services for 12 months (VAT should be quoted separately). In addition, you should quote a per meter price for your services that may or may not be required (see temporary additional services) for a maximum of 2000 square meters per year. An example of a temporary additional service would be clean up after a special event, such as the U.S. independence day. Again, VAT should be quoted separately. You should quote the same way as described above for the option year.

Conclusion

The conference concluded and attendees were thanked for their presence and expression of interest in serving the U.S. Government. The meeting was adjourned.