Section L. - Instructions to Offerors.pdf

Source Selection Information –See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

Section L. - Instructions to Offerors

The contractor is expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the proposed tasks and the existing resources, as specified in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) or Statement of Work (SOW). The proposal should be written in enough detail so that the reviewer can adequately judge its full merits. This Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued under FAR part 6.

Proposal Submission The technical and business proposals shall be submitted as separate volumes.

Specific Proposal Submission Instructions The offeror must prepare separate technical and business/cost proposals for the project.

Each proposal must be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the other. Cost information must be restricted to the business proposal and the technical proposal must not contain reference to specific costs (although resource information may be included so that the offeror’s understanding of the scope of the work may be evaluated).

Technical proposals must not exceed 55 double-spaced pages with a 12-point font size and margins of at least 1 inch. The page limit includes the cover sheet, narrative and corresponding tables/graphics, letters of commitment, abstracts of current corporate work, and lists of the current contractual commitments of proposed staff. The first page of the technical page shall be identified as page 1. The page limit does not include Appendix A, which shall contain résumés for key project staff. Résumés must be no more than 4 pages each and shall include educational and professional background and should highlight experience relevant to the PWS. The page limit does not include Appendix B either, which should contain subcontracting agreements/letter of commitments. The Department will redact any pages that exceed the maximum page limit (excluding appendices). All pages should be numbered consecutively, including appendices.

Offerors shall use the format and content requirements detailed below in preparing their technical proposals.

An official authorized to bind your organization must sign the proposal. Offerors must submit the technical proposal electronically in WORD and PDF format and the business proposal (including a narrative description of costs) electronically in WORD and PDF format. The offeror must also electronically submit an EXCEL WORKBOOK version of the business proposal.

Technical Proposal (Volume I) The Department has prepared a PWS for the requirements of this contract. Through the technical proposal, the offeror must show a thorough understanding of the goals and activities of the PWS and demonstrate that proposed staff have the necessary experience and expertise to meet task objectives. While the intent of each task is spelled out in the

PWS, this should be considered a starting point and technical proposal must include a detailed approach and illustrative examples where needed to fully describe the offeror’s plan to accomplish each task/subtask and the relevant deliverables.

Technical Proposal Format and Contents Proposals must include, but are not limited to, each of the following sections:

• A cover sheet with the name and address of the firm and signed by an officer of the firm.

• Abstract. A one-page summary is to be provided abstracting the proposal contents in language understandable to an informed layperson. The abstract shall indicate full acceptance of the solicitation requirements or note any exceptions justified in the text.

• Table of Contents. The Table of Contents must provide a means of quickly accessing important points of discussion in the proposal. The table of contents must also provide the name of the senior author (and coauthors, if applicable) of each section.

• Technical Approach (Task Descriptions). This section shall completely and concisely explain the strategies, operations, and procedures the offeror proposes to achieve the objectives of the PWS, addressing each subtask/task, in the order presented in the PWS. In the deliverable schedule, the offeror shall note any adjustments to the proposed schedule that are considered necessary for success of the project.

• Management Plan and Timelines. The offeror shall present a proposed timeline that includes start and end dates for each project task and activity. It should be clear when work related to each subtask and deliverable will be accomplished, the key staff responsible for the work, and how time for Department approval of deliverables has been accounted for.

• Proposed Personnel. This section shall provide the names of the proposed project director, other key personnel, subcontractors, and consultants. Key personnel include the Project Director, Task Leader, Sampling Expert, Survey Methodologist, Weighting Expert and Senior Analyst. The Offeror must indicate the number of proposed hours for each staff person (including subcontractors and consultants) by task and should describe the specific responsibilities of each proposed staff person. A narrative description that clearly describes how staff qualifications relate to the requirements of the PWS and proposed task assignments must be included.

Any sub-contractual arrangements shall be described thoroughly, and it must be clear those tasks that will be completed by sub-contractors and the role that they will play. The offeror shall assure that proposed subcontractors/consultants are free of conflicts of interest that might bias their approach to this work.

• Small Business Participation and Plan. The Department values an approach where substantive work in a meaningful capacity is performed by small businesses more highly than an approach where only menial work is performed by small businesses. A meaningful capacity for substantive work includes work other than courier services, office supplies, or travel services. Therefore, a valued approach for the anticipated contract will be one where technical, analytical, data collection or significant service (for example) is performed by a small business.

The Offeror shall state the work to be performed by a small business(es), the name of the small business(es), the socio-economic status of each small business concern, and the percentage of work proposed to be performed by each small business concern (by and for each performance period), but NO COST INFORMATION SHALL BE PROVIDED. A Small Business Subcontracting Plan shall be submitted for review, to satisfy the applicable requirements of 48 CFR 52.219-9 II as a part of the business proposal.

The Department’s small business goals for Fiscal Year 2021 are shown below. All subcontracting small business goal figures are Percentage of Total Subcontracting Dollars.

FY2022 Subcontracting Small Business Goals Small Business Category Goal Small Business 39% Small Disadvantaged Business 5% Women-Owned Small Business 5% HUBZone Small Business 3% Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

3%

Alternative Approaches Offerors are encouraged to suggest better, more efficient or creative ways to conduct this work than have been outlined in the PWS. Offerors are also encouraged to suggest additional/alternative strategies that complement, update, or more appropriately address the issues discussed in the PWS. The offeror shall clearly identify and fully describe and justify significant differences from the approach suggested in the PWS and alternative strategies from those listed in the PWS.

Business Proposal (Volume II) The Business Proposal shall be submitted as a separate document from the Technical Proposal. It shall contain complete information in sufficient detail for the Department to make a fair and reasonable price determination. The Contracting Officer may reject a proposal if a negative determination is made, or if proposed prices are found not to be reasonable. There is no page limit to the business proposal. The business proposal shall be formatted in a readable way (e.g., no tiny fonts). The business proposal shall start with a cover page that provides:

• The name of the company.

• The point of contact (name, phone number, email address) of a company representative who can answer any questions that the Department may have.

• Date.

Abstract Chart At the beginning of the business proposal, there should be a summary chart showing the offeror’s proposal prices, which includes core tasks and all optional tasks for each year of performance of the contract.

Labor Categories and Labor Rates. Offerors must submit their labor rates broken out, not fully loaded. Offerors are encouraged to propose discounted rates to improve the competitiveness of their proposal. The labor mix and labor categories proposed must be consistent with the personnel proposed in the technical proposal. The business proposal must include a chart with labor categories and labor rates that were used in formulating the proposal (for each performance period), as well as labor rates for an additional 6 months after the scheduled end of the contract, which may be used if the anticipated contract is later extended into this period. Labor rates should be shown unloaded with separate columns showing the application of indirect and escalation rates, leading to a loaded labor rate. Either within the chart or in notes below, the percentage indirect rate (e.g., X% for General and Administrative (G&A)) should be disclosed.

The business proposal must provide a complete cost/price breakdown by task/subtask and by contract period, so that the Department can determine the total cost per Period per task/subtask. The breakdown should include identification of proposed labor categories (including named individuals where possible), level of effort (labor hours), hourly labor rate, and extended labor cost/price (labor hours x labor rate). The breakdown shall distinguish prime contractor costs from subcontractor/consultant costs, so that the Department can easily identify which subcontractors/consultants are involved in which tasks and to what extent. The breakdown shall include any other costs. If costs such as G&A and profit are not already included in a loaded labor rate, those costs should be broken out and their percentage rate should be disclosed. All costs other than labor must be discussed and justified in the business proposal narrative. For instance, if a G&A rate is used, it should be disclosed; if it is based on an indirect rate agreement, this should be stated and a copy of the indirect rate agreement should be provided as an appendix to the business proposal. Where a rate is being applied (e.g., “Technology Fee” at x%), the business proposal narrative should clearly disclose what the rate is being applied against (e.g., against total labor costs). Offerors are encouraged to justify any indirect rate by explaining its purpose and providing evidence of its reasonableness (e.g., an approved indirect cost rate agreement or usage in other competitively procured contracts). The same level of detail is required for subcontractors/consultants.

If subcontractors or consultants are proposed, a separate detailed price/cost breakdown (by task/subtask) should be submitted for each proposed subcontractor/consultant – or the detailed breakdown of subcontractor/consultant costs can be included in the master breakdown if feasible. The detailed subcontractor/consultant cost breakdown(s) may be broken down in separate Excel documents if needed, but their cost should be included in the overall master breakdown of the prime offeror.

FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. Offerors shall submit the same cost/pricing information that was provided for the period of performance of the contract for an additional 6 month extension that may be required, as required by FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. The 6-month extension would require the offeror to complete the same work that was completed during the first 6 months of the last year of the period of performance.

Breakdowns for Other Direct Costs and Other Resources. Offerors must submit proposed costs itemized for each task/subtask, as well as a total proposed cost for the entire work to be performed under the contract. The proposed budget for each task and subtask must indicate the number of hours being proposed for each staff person and breakdowns of direct charges for materials, supplies, consultants, equipment, telephone, copying, travel, and any other major budget items, as well as indirect cost rates used in preparing the cost estimate. Indirect rates must be proposed in accordance with an offeror’s current provisional indirect cost rate agreement. A copy of current indirect cost rate agreements must be included with the business proposal for the prime contractor and each proposed subcontractor.

Subcontractor Cost(s). Offerors must submit its cost analyses of all subcontractors proposed whose costs exceeds the threshold for certified cost or pricing data (as applicable). The following information must be addressed (as applicable):

o If a subcontract proposal exceeds the threshold for certified cost or pricing data (FAR 15.403-4(a)) and is not otherwise exempt from other exceptions in accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b), please include the prime contractor’s price/cost analyses establishing the reasonableness of each subcontract price.

o In accordance with the thresholds in FAR 15.404-3(c) and FAR 15.408,Table 15-2 II.A.(2), Cost and Pricing data, a copy of each subcontractor’s proposal must be provided.

o Identify in the proposal the degree of competition and the basis for establishing the source and reasonableness of price for each subcontract priced on a competitive basis (FAR 15.408, Table 15-2 II. A. (1)) exceeding the threshold at FAR 15.403-4(a).

o Additionally, in accordance with FAR 52.215-22 Limitations on Pass-through Charges – Identification of Subcontract Effort, if applicable, if the Offeror intends to subcontract more than 70% of the total cost of work to be performed, the proposal must identify (i) the amount of the Offeror’s indirect costs and profit applicable to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s) and (ii) a description of the added value provided by the Offeror as related to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s).

The business proposal shall clearly disclose any administration fees or profit that the prime contractor is charging on subcontractor/consultant work.

Additional Requirements

• Cost Accounting, Estimating, and Purchasing System Information. The offeror must include information on the status of its accounting, estimating, and purchasing systems. If these systems have been reviewed and approved by a Government Agency, the offeror must include a copy of the approval letter. If they have not, the offeror must provide a statement to this effect. This information must also be provided for each proposed subcontractor.

• Acceptance of RFP Terms/Offeror Assumptions. The business proposal must contain a statement that the offeror fully accepts the requirements set forth in the solicitation. If the offeror has based its proposal on any assumptions that are not already clearly laid out in the PWS, those assumptions must be listed in the business proposal narrative.

• Fixed Price Payment Schedule. The offeror shall prepare a Payment Schedule for FFP Work, to be included as an appendix to the business proposal. An Excel version should also be provided, so that the Department can verify summation calculations. This payment schedule should be based on accomplishments (e.g., submission of an approved deliverable), not passage of time (e.g., monthly). The payment schedule should be organized so that the Government can easily verify that the payments for a particular task add up to the proposal price for that task.

After contract award, the contractor will invoice for FFP task deliverables/accomplishments in accordance with this payment schedule. The offeror is permitted to include intermediate accomplishments as payment points if a specific FFP task has too few deliverables to ensure fair temporal distribution of payments.

The Offeror’s business proposal shall also contain the following information:

• Authorized Negotiators. The Business Proposal shall list the names and telephones numbers of persons authorized to conduct negotiations and a statement to the effect that the proposal submitted is firm for a period of at least 90 business days from the due date for proposals as specified by the Government.

• Contract Administrator. The Business Proposal shall list the name, email, and the telephone number of the offerors proposed Contract Administrator if the award is made to the contractor.

• Conflict of Interest Certificate. The business proposal shall include a Conflict-of- Interest Certificate (as provided in the solicitation under EDAR 3452.209-70 Conflict of Interest Certification).

• For any proposed subcontractors, a separate price buildup (by task/subtask) should be submitted for each proposed subcontractor, and these prices should also be included in the prime's total firm-fixed price for each task order. In the master buildup for each task order, it should be clear which costs are associated with the prime contractor and which costs are associated with subcontractors.

• Small Business Subcontracting Plan. The Business Proposal shall contain a Small Business Subcontracting Plan. (Not applicable to small businesses.)

Small Business Participation and Plan. The Department values an approach where substantive work in a meaningful capacity is performed by small businesses more highly than an approach where only menial work is performed by small businesses. A meaning...