Amendment_0003_Final.pdf

Amendment 0003

The purpose of this amendment is to:

1. Publicly provide answers to inquires posed by interested parties.

Q1. Can the government please provide more information on its current resilience datasets and databases as mentioned in the RFP?

A database on potential community resilience metrics has been developed in MS Access, and will be converted to a SGL database with a user-friendly GUI in FY18. This database been compiled for a range of time points (~ 18), geographies (~3,800) and parameters (~ 300). The data come from largely publicly available sources. The metrics include physical, social, and economic aspects of community resilience

Q2. For personnel, do advance degrees substitute for years of experience?

The combination of personnel qualifications will be evaluated, which include education and experience. A substitution formula is not used between education and experience.

Q3. Please confirm that the proposal response to Factor B.b, Personnel Experience, needs only to include the Level IV and III personnel from the contractor proposed IDIQ organizational chart.

Yes, unless there is a specific reason to include another labor category level for a complete response.

Q4. Please confirm that the SB goals in the RFP are a percent of sub-contracted dollars.

Yes.

Q5. Please confirm that the attachments do not count towards the 30-page limit, specifically the PPQs, SB Plan and Letters of Commitment for TO 1.

See the amended RFP page 112: The entire Volume I- Technical Proposal shall be typed, on 8- 1/2" by 11" paper, not exceeding 30 pages, single sided, single spaced, using a of minimum of 11-point theme of choice font. The 30-page limitation is exclusive of a table of contents, list of tables and figures, a one-page cover page, and resumes. Resumes shall be limited to three pages per person. Project descriptions for experience and past performance shall be limited to a ½ page per project.

The past performance questionnaires (PPQs) and SB Plan are to be provided as attachments to Volume I – Technical Proposal, and will not count towards the page limit. Additionally, the offeror’s proposed schedule of labor categories will not count towards the page limit.

Letters of Commitment will not count towards the 30-page limit.Q6. Does the small business subcontracting plan count against the page limit in the technical proposal or can it be submitted as part of the business proposal?

The SB Plan is to be provided as attachments to Volume I – Technical Proposal, and will not count towards the technical volume page limit.

Q7. Is there a defined number of meetings or conferences that should be included in the planning for meeting support under SOW Task C?

There is not a specific number of meetings or conferences that can be specified. This is a capability that is used with varying frequency, depending on the current task orders in place.

Q8. Regarding listed labor categories starting on page 10:

a. As long as minimum education requirements are met, can advanced degrees substitute for some portion of experience (PhD, M.S.) in any/all of the labor categories?

No, advanced degrees will not be accepted as substitutes for experience. The combination of personnel qualifications will be evaluated, which include education and experience. A substitution formula is not used between education and experience.

b. Computer Database Manager is described in the categories on page 14, but missing from the master list of positions. Please clarify that this is an included position.

Computer Database Manager is included on the list of labor categories beginning on page 10.

c. On page 113, under Factor B, Experience, Subfactor 2, Personnel Experience, it states that the Technical Proposal must include: “Descriptions of projects proposed Level IV and Level V and the Program Manager have performed in the past 5 years….” No Level V positions are listed in the RFP; can you clarify what positions are considered Level V so we can be responsive to this requirement?

Section M.2 of the RFP has been amended to reflect the following:

The Government will evaluate the extent to which the offeror has, on-hand as part of the Offeror’s team, individuals at the Technical Levels III and IV of the IDIQ’s required labor categories with the experience and qualifications necessary to perform the roles under which they would be proposed.

Additionally, the Instructions to Offerors in Section L.10 has been amended to reflect this change in the Instructions.

Q9. Regarding Section 4, Contractor Requirements, Section D. Web Design and Management, please confirm that NIST Community Resilience website this refers to the existing NIST sites:

https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/community-resilience program and (https://www.nist.gov/topics/community-resilience and any related NIST sites. If so, please clarify if this requirement must be filled by an onsite contractor with access to the NIST network, or if remote/offsite access is possible.

Section 4 D refers to the NIST Community Resilience website at https://www.nist.gov/topics/community-resilience and other sites under the NIST Resilience Goal at https://www.nist.gov/topics/resilience.

Remote offsite access is possible once the contractor/subcontractor staff meet NIST IT security requirements and are issued RSA tokens and access to the NIST internal website. It is not expected that onsite personnel will be required to fulfill this function.

Q10. Under Volume II, Price Proposal, Section B.2, Base Contract, should a full set of rates for these categories be proposed for subcontractors as well as the Prime?

No. Offerors shall propose a single, full set of fully burdened hourly labor rates for the required IDIQ labor categories. The offeror’s proposed labor rates will be applicable to the offeror’s team as a whole. Q11. The instructions state that complete past performance questionnaires completed by references be attached to the quotation. Each of these forms is approximate 6 pages long. Will these completed forms (as attachment) be included in the 30-page proposal page count?

No, the past performance questionnaires are to be provided as attachments to Volume I – Technical Proposal, and will not count against the 30-page limit.

Q12. Is the Small Business Subcontracting plan attachment, noted as part of Volume I, Technical Proposal, to be included in the 30-page proposal count?

The SB Plan is to be provided as an attachment to Volume I – Technical Proposal, and will not count against the page limit of the technical volume.

Q13. Regarding Task Order #1:

a. 4.1, 4.1.1, Meetings: It requests that video conference call be set up for some meetings – is a Webcam call acceptable?

A webinar/video conferencing capability that can accommodate multiple logins/locations is required.

b. Pricing for Task Order #1, page 115, (3)(i)(1) states that there are zero dollars of travel expected for Task Order #1. However, in the Task Order #1 Statement of Work, page 6, 9.0 Travel, it states that “Local and domestic travel for one-day https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/community-resilience%20program https://www.nist.gov/topics/community-resilience https://www.nist.gov/topics/community-resilience https://www.nist.gov/topics/resilience meeting at NIST is required. No other travel is expected. All travel costs will be paid in accordance with Federal Travel Regulation….” Please clarify - does this mean only local travel is allowed for this one-day meeting, so travel costs should be zero? Or is domestic/other than local travel allowable?

The Note on page 115 will be struck:

(1) Note: For the purposes of pricing, Offerors shall assume that there are zero dollars of travel expected. There is no travel expected under Task Order 1.

Task Order #1 requires an in person one-day meeting, and should be included in the budget. Other than local travel is allowed.

Q14. Per FAR 19.702(b)(1), please confirm that if offerors responding to this requirement are small businesses under NAICS 541715 that no requirement to submit a small business subcontracting plan exists and that offerors shall include a statement regarding this assertion in their proposals which shall be considered a compliant response.

That is correct.

Q15. Please confirm that offerors may use a combination of an excel workbook and narrative in word/PDF format for Volume II.

A word/PDF format that includes information from an excel workbook is acceptable. Volume II shall use a of minimum of 11-point font, as stated in the amended RFP.

Q16. Please confirm that offeror representations and certifications should be made a part of Volume II.

Representation and certifications can be submitted as attachments to Volume II.

Q17. Please confirm that offerors may substitute advanced degrees for years of experience in the following manner:

o Masters Degrees shall count for 2 additional years of experience o PhD’s shall count for 4 additional years of experience

No, advanced degrees will not be accepted as substitutes for experience. The combination of personnel qualifications will be evaluated, which include education and experience. A substitution formula is not used between education and experience.

Q18. Is this a new requirement or is there an incumbent vendor? If available, can you please send along the incumbent contract number?

This is a new requirement. There was a previous IDIQ contract that included some of these same services; however, the scope of work has been revised and expanded from the previous contract and this is considered a new requirement.

Q19. Our understanding from the Pre-RFP, RFI, and the current background listed on page 31 of the RFP for these services is that this program is meant to address resilience on a community level (e.g., “resilience of …infrastructure systems”, “science- based tools to assess and measure resilience at the community scale”, “systems-based modeling approaches to simulate and assess the physical, social, and economic systems present in a community”). We assembled a multi-disciplinary team based on these anticipated requirements, but it now appears that these initial requirements have changed or are now inconsistent. Between the sample task orders and the IDIQ labor categories, the IDIQ content appears to be more narrowly focused on built environment and building code/standards issues vs. a broader look at population factors and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and dependencies that are key contributors to community resilience.

a. Is a broader community resilience focus still the intention of these services? Will future task orders be released that cover other, non-construction and built environment areas?

The intention of this IDIQ contract is to provide broad services for research and development of community resilience topics related to physical, social, and economic systems. The task orders will support some of the ongoing research at NIST at this time.

b. Can NIST revisit the IDIQ labor categories or RFP as a whole to address the community-level capabilities that may be required beyond Task Order 1?

No, except as otherwise noted in the answers given in this amendment, the RFP and the IDIQ labor categories will not be revised.

c. The IDIQ Program Manager requirements are geared towards engineering and building structural resilience experience (“building and infrastructure performance”) and resiliency at the build level, not at the community level, particularly by requiring a “Bachelor's degree from accredited college or university in Engineering, Science, Mathematics or other related field.”

Please clarify.

Engineering can include engineers with experience in systems and infrastructure and Science can include social scientists and urban planners. The intent is to have a Program Manager with the experience, training, and knowledge to understand community scale issues, as well as supporting research that may be more detailed in scale. It is understood that there is no one discipline that can address physical, social, and economic aspects of community resilience. Therefore, the primary team assembled to cover the range of topics is also important.

Q21. Can NIST please clarify what percentage Community Resilience R&D (page 32) are expected to be A) engineering and building structural resilience versus B) multi-disciplinary community resilience?

The scope and type of work will vary over time between community resilience aspects of physical systems, social science, and economics. We have ongoing research in each topic, as described in the Program and Project Descriptions at https://www.nist.gov/topics/community-resilience.

Q22. Can NIST please clarify what percentage of Community Resilience Guidance Documents and Community Studies (page 32) are expected to be A) engineering and building structural resilience versus B) multi-disciplinary community resilience?

The scope and type of work will vary over time for supporting guidance documents and community studies between community resilience aspects of physical systems, social science, and economics.

Q23. The Factor C - Past Performance instructions on page 114 requires the Offeror to provide references for "recently completed Federal Government contracts". Please clarify if contracts on which the Offeror is currently performing are eligible to be used as Past Performances in addition to completed contracts. Can Past Performances from subcontractors be included as part of the 3-5 Past Performance Questionnaires, or are all Past Performances required to come from the prime?

The government will consider past performance for work that has been completed or substantially completed within the last five years. This can include interim phases with significant deliverables that demonstrate technical quality and management. The term “Offeror” here is defined as the prime contractor and any of its primary subcontractors.

Q24. Please clarify if the Program Manager - Base IDIQ Level position detailed on page 37 is the same as the Principal (Contract Level) position described on page 10.

The Program Manager- Base IDIQ Level key personnel position in the IDIQ SOW is the same position as the Program Manager (Contract Level) position on page 10. The language on page 10 of the RFP has been amended to state “Program Manager (Base IDIQ Level) for clarification purposes.

Q25. Section L.1.(c) states that "the offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers". However, Section B.1.(b) of the Volume II Price Proposal instructions on page 114 specifies that "the acceptance period entered on the Proposal Form by the offeror shall not be less than 120 days." Please clarify what the acceptance period is for this solicitation.

Offerors shall hold the prices in its offer firm for 120 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers.

Q26. Is it acceptable to pull in subcontractors to meet labor category requirements?

Yes.

Q27. Is it acceptable to submit pricing tables as an attached Excel file to the Price Volume?

Yes.

Q28. Does NIST want pricing for each labor category as well as each tier within each labor category?

Yes.

Q29. Will any of the issued task orders be considered high or moderate risk contracts?

Some of the task orders may meet moderate risk criteria if they include human subjects research as part of data collection and/or surveys.

Q30. For ease of presentation, can offerors use less than 12-point font for tables, figures, and captions?

See page 112 of the amended RFP: The 30-page limitation is exclusive of a table of contents, list of tables and figures, a one-page cover page, and resumes.

Actual tables, figures, exhibits, etc. shall be part of the 30-page limitation. Graphics with a different typeface may be used where the font size is equal to or greater than a 9 pt font, as long as it is easily read. All other text, including tables, shall use a of minimum of 11-point font..

Q31. In Subfactor 3 - Schedule of Labor Categories, the Government requires that offerors submit their schedule of Labor Categories and include all labor categories listed in Section B of the RFP. In order to reduce space and increase readability of the response, could offerors acknowledge and reference the labor categories in Section B, rather than explicitly listing them, and instead list only labor categories they wish to propose in addition to those required by the Government?

See the Instructions to Offerors in Section L.10 of the RFP. Offerors shall include their entire proposed schedule of labor categories. Please note that the Schedule of Labor Categories does not count towards the page limit of the technical volume.

Q32. Graphic Artist is listed on page 10 but does not have descriptions included in the category descriptions. Is there a description / technical level for this labor category, or can this up to the Offeror’s discretion?

The description for Graphic Artist labor category is given on page 20.

Q33. Can offerors propose key personnel at the base IDIQ level in addition to the required program manager?

Yes. Only one Key Personnel is required, the Program Manager. The intent is to have a Program Manager with the experience, training, and knowledge to understand community scale issues, as well as supporting research that may be more detailed in scale. It is understood that there is no one discipline that can address physical, social, and economic aspects of community resilience.

Therefore, the primary team assembled to cover the range of topics is also important.

Q34. To accommodate the participation of institutions of higher learning on Offeror teams, would NIST please add FAR 52.227-14 Rights in Data – General (alt. IV) to the Terms and Conditions, and designate it as the governing clause for any rights in data first developed by academic partners?

The government will not add FAR 52.227-14 Alternate IV to the terms and conditions. This language is typically used for Grants but not Contracts by the US Government. The nature of grants is that the grantee is funded to conduct work deemed important for the public good, and the work is not tied to any government agency requirements and work products. The grantee formulates and conducts the work and, therefore, is granted copyright without government approval. The nature of Contracts is that the work is funded to help the government agency meet its requirements and work products. The government formulates the problem, and the contractor helps develop methods and solutions under the direction of the government. Therefore, the government needs to be involved with approving copyright assertions by the contractor.

NIST welcomes academic partners on teams, and has worked with academic partners in the past, as consultants through contracts and grants.

Q35. Please clarify whether references to Mock Task Order 2 in Sections J.1 and L.10 (p. 115) are to the file named Sample_Task_1_-SOW_Systems_Modeling.pdf.

Yes, Mock Task Order 2 is Sample_Task_1_-SOW_Systems_Modeling.pdf.

Q36. Is it correct to assume that ancillary document elements, such as headers, footers, tables of contents, tables, figures, exhibits, captions, footnotes, and graphics may contain text smaller than 12 point but not less than 9 point and use sans-serif typefaces?

See page 112 of amended RFP: The 30-page limitation is exclusive of a table of contents, list of tables and figures, a one-page cover page, and resumes.

Actual tables, figures, exhibits, etc. shall be part of the 30 page limitation. Graphics with a different typeface may be used where the font size is equal to or greater than a 9 pt font, as long as it is easily read. All other text, including tables, shall use a of minimum of 11-point font

Q37. To provide detail necessary to assess personnel qualifications within the 3-page limit for each resume, would NIST permit resumes to use 10 point font?

Offerors shall use a theme font of choice. Font shall be a of minimum of 11-point. See the amended RFP for this change.

Q38. Please confirm that the past performance questionnaires are to be provided as an appendix to the Technical Volume and are not subject to the page count limitation.

Yes, the past performance questionnaires are to be provided as attachments to Volume I – Technical Proposal, and are not subject to the page count limitation.

Q39. Is subcontractor labor mapped to the fully-burdened hourly rates proposed for Section B?

Or will each subcontractor propose their own list of labor category rates. If so, are prime contractor indirect costs and fee permitted on subcontractor costs?

The fully burdened hourly labor rates proposed for Section B will be applied to the offeror’s team as a whole. The offeror shall propose a single, full list of fully burdened hourly labor rates.

Q40. Are the Task Order 1 resumes part of the 30-page limit for the Technical Proposal or are they excluded from the limit in the same manner as the base IDIQ resumes? Should the Task Order 1 resumes be presented separately from the base IDIQ resumes?

Resumes will not count towards the 30-page count limitation, but are limited to 3 pages in length each.

Q41. No Level V is provided in the labor categories, but it is requested in the personnel section.

Also referenced as part of the evaluation criteria (Page 119, b. Subfactor 2). Should these references be to Levels III and IV?

See answer to Q8.

Q42. The government specifies the minimum education requirements and qualifications for each labor category on pages 10-29 of the RFP (Section B. 3, Schedule of Labor Categories).

If offerors choose to add labor categories, to save repeating NIST’s labor categories, is it correct to assume that offerors only need to cover any new labor categories in Factor A, Subfactor 3?

The offeror shall propose a single, full list of fully burdened hourly labor categories and rates, which shall include their entire list of proposed labor categories. The proposed schedule of labor categories does not count towards the 30-page count limitation.

Q43. For past performance, one of our current 5-year contracts is in Option Year 2, and we have already performed a substantial amount of work that is relevant to this SOW under XX individual task orders valued at over $XX to date.

Would this contract be an acceptable reference for relevant work that has been substantially completed within the last five (5) years?

The government will consider past performance for work that has been completed or substantially completed within the last five years. This can include interim phases with significant deliverables that demonstrate technical quality and management.

Q44. Is it correct to assume that the Table of Contents and List of Tables and Figures satisfies the “indexed” requirement? If not, please clarify.

A table of contents and list of tables and figures is satisfactory. If appropriate, the text can cross-reference other sections for clarity and brevity.

Q45. If it is the offeror’s standard practice to budget indirect costs on other direct costs or equipment/materials, should they be included in the quote?

Offerors shall follow the instructions given in the RFP for the Business Volume, and shall demonstrate their total proposed pricing and how the pricing was calculated.

Q46. With the Memorial Day Weekend occurring in the course of the proposal development schedule, would NIST consider extending the due date to June 12?

Yes.

2. Extend the due date for proposals from 06/06/2018 to 06/12/2018.

3. Post a revised copy of RFP SB1341-18-RP-0003 to reflect all changes made as a result of inquiries from interested parties.

4. Revise the solicitation to include the following:

Provision

1352.235-70 Protection of Human Subjects

Clauses

1352.235-71 Protection of Human Subjects – Exemption

1352.235-72 Protection of Human Subjects – Institutional Approval

1352.235-73 Protection of Human Subjects – After Initial Contract