SFSIAQ16R0002_QandA_for_fbo.pdf

SFSIAQ16R0002 Q&A

Questions are listed in black below. The Government’s answers appear beneath each question in red

1. I noticed on the solicitation in reference that you don’t have the interested vendors tab.

Please let me know if you can open that tab. I’m interested in a partnership with an interested vendor but I can’t see the list. Please let me know.

No, the interested vendors tab will not be visible.

2. Does the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation under solicitation number SFSIAQ16R0002 contain requirements similar to a current contract? If possible, please provide the current contract number. Or, is this a new requirement for the government?

Some of the contract requirements are being performed by incumbents (See Section C.1.17 Transition Plan).

3. Section H- Special Contract Requirements : “The Contractor shall have a Secret Facility clearance (FCL) prior to contract award and through the life of the contract”.

What if contractor do not have the facility clearance, will government sponsor it to the successful offeror or not?

No. See Section H.

4. Section B 5.1 Hourly Rates: States, "Please see Section J for Wage Determination No: 2015- 4281 Revision No: 2 Date of Revision: 12/29/2015." Section J does not include a copy of the wage determination. Would the Government please provide a copy of the applicable prevailing wage determination?

Yes. This section has been amended to reflect Wage Determination No: 2015-4283 Revision No: 3 Date of Revision: 04/08/2016. This revised WD has been incorporated into Section J.

5. Section B 5.1 Hourly Rates States, "Please see Section J for Wage Determination No: 2015- 4281 Revision No: 2 Date of Revision: 12/29/2015." This wage determination is currently on revision 3, dated 04/08/2016. Should Offerors use revision 2 or revision 3 in preparing their price proposals?

See Question 4

6. Section H.1 Security Requirements: A SECRET facility clearance is required for this contract.

Will the Government provide a draft DD254 as part of the solicitation?

Yes. A draft DD254 will be incorporated into the solicitation via a later amendment.

7. Section H.1 (c): Since there are both Cleared and Un-Cleared personnel on the existing contracts, can the Government supply a breakdown of which CLINs require clearances?

No. Clearance requirements are determined on a case by case basis due to program needs and are not linked to specific CLINs.

8. Section C and Section L: 1.7 Labor Categories/Position Descriptions and Subfactor 2:

Personnel Qualifications: The RFP states no substitution or replacement of the PM or APM designated within the technical proposal will be approved within the first 90 days, however the instructions for Subfactor 2 include ‘Although the incubment personnel currently occupying these positions will be afforded the first right of refusal, FSI still requires sample resumes in order to assess the Offeror's ability to recruit and obtain qualified personnel.’

Please confirm the PM resume is a sample and the incumbent PM will be afforded the first right of refusal.

There is no incumbent PM. The sample PM resume that is submitted shall also include a signed letter of intent from the proposed candidate. This has been amended in Section M.

9. Section B and Section C 1.17 Transition Plan: Section B does not include a CLIN for Transition In costs. Will the Government add a CLIN for Transition In of the overall IDIQ contract? If not, will the task orders issued under this IDIQ contract include a CLIN for Offerors to price their Transition In costs associated with the individual task order?

No.

10. Section C 1.17 Transition Plan: How long is the transition period?

The transition period is contingent upon the award timeframe. Companies should include their recommended timeframe within their TIP. The Transition Out Plan (TOP) shall not exceed 45 days as stated in Section C.1.17

11. Section L 3.9, Offers: Will the Government exclude the Executive Summary, Table of Contents, Cover Letters, Acronym lists from the page count for each volume?

The Executive Summary is part of the technical proposal and is not excluded from the page count. Table of Contents, Cover Letters, Acronyms lists are excluded from the page count for each volume.

12. Section L 2.0 Authorized Negotiators (pg. 93) Should this information be included in the Representations and Certifications section, or provided separately?

This information can be included in the beginning of the proposal on the cover page. It should not be included in the Representations and Certifications section.

13. Section L 3.7 Representations and Certifications: Will the Government exclude the Representations and Certifications from the page count?

This has been amended, please see Section L.3

14. The RFP States (page 18, under Section 2. Set Aside) that if submitting a response through a Joint Venture, the JV must be approved by the SBA prior to contract award as visible on the SBA’s Dynamic Small Business Search. However, if this is the first award to the Joint Venture, the JV may not be visible on the SBA’s Dynamic Small Business Search website.

Is the agency looking for JV’s who have previously been approved by SBA and have a current contract?

No. New joint ventures are acceptable. However, contract award will not be made until the intended awardee’s joint venture agreement has been finalized and approved by the SBA and visible via the Dynamic Small Business search website. SBA must approve a joint venture agreement prior to the award of an 8(a) contract on behalf of the joint venture. 13 CFR Ch.1 § 124.513 (e)

15. If submitting as a JV, does the JV (as an entity) need to have its own Past Performance or is past performance from each JV partner sufficient?

Past performance from each JV partner is acceptable, as long as at least two (2) references or half of the total past performance references come from each JV partner. See Section L.5 which has been amended.

16. On page 96 of the RFP, under 52.222-46 Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees (Feb 1993), the government indicates that they will be evaluating contractors’ submitted compensation plans to assess contractors’ ability to “obtain and keep suitably qualified personnel.” Since only the incumbent contractors know this information, we request the government release the current compensation plan for the existing employees so that all potential bidders have the same information and that we can ensure employees are “properly and fairly compensated.”

The Government is not privy to this information and cannot share it with offerors. This is a new contract requirement.

17. In Transition Plan, the RFP requests the Contractor Company to deliver a Transition Plan at proposal submission. In order to comply with this request, please provide us with a list of major milestones and deliverables.

No. This should be developed as part of the offerors proposal.

18. Section L.3.9 page 94: Would the Government consider excluding the title page from page count?

Yes. See question 11.

19. Section L.3.9 page 95: Would the Government confirm that the 5 page executive summary is excluded from page count?

No. See question 11.

20. Section L.3.5 page 94: Would the Government confirm that the SF 33 is excluded from page count?

No. However, the only required documentation from the SF-33 are those specific pages identified in the solicitation (e.g. signature page, etc…).

21. Section L.3.7 Page 94: Would the government confirm that the 17 page Section K is excluded from page count?

Section L.3 has been amended. See question 13.

22. Section L.3.9 Page 94: Will the Government allow for the use of 11x17 size paper for tables, charts, figures and graphics? If so, will you allow for each 11x17 fold-out to count as one page?

No, no fold outs will be allowed. However, see question 31.

23. Section L.2 Page 93: Does the Government intend that L.2., “Authorized Negotiators” be included in its entirety in the response, or may the offeror simply list two authorized negotiators clearly on the title page (to include names, titles, telephone numbers and electronic mail addresses)?

See question 12.

24. Section B.5.1 Page 19: Will the government please release the referenced Wage Determination and identify which positions are SCA and which are exempt?

See answer 4 and Section B.5.1. Also, the government will not identify which positions are SCA exempt/nonexempt as that determination is made by the contractor.

25. Section H.8.0 Page 61: This section makes no mention of a requirement for a Department of State Office of MED issued medical clearance. There are several overseas missions that require a MED clearance for deployment and TDY travel and country clearance will not be granted without demonstrating evidence of a MED clearance. Will the Department reimburse at cost the amount necessary to obtain a MED clearance if necessitated by a particular Post?

Yes, if a DOS/MED clearance is required for a contractor to travel, the Department will reimburse at cost the price of the MED clearance. This has been amended, see Section G.6.4

26. Section G.6.4 Page 56: Will contractors be permitted to obtain and travel under official passports?

Yes, contractor staff can obtain official passports, but only on a case by case basis and only as required and requested by the Government.

27. Section G.6.4 Page 56: Will the cost of obtaining a primary or secondary tourist passport be reimbursable at cost?

No. Visa costs will be reimbursable but not passport costs.

28. Section G.6.4 Page 56: Will costs associated with the use of a third party service to facilitate and obtain visas be a reimbursable expense?

29. Section L.3.9 Page 94: Would the Government consider allowing the use of tabs to separate proposal sections? If so, please confirm that tabs will be excluded from page count.

Tabs will be excluded from the page count.

30. Section L.3.9 Page 94: The solicitation makes no mention of a Table of Contents. Would the Government prefer a Table of Contents in each volume and, if so, confirm that the Table of Contents is not included in page count?

See question 11.

31. Section L.3.9 Page 94: For graphics, tables, charts and figures, will the Government allow the text to be no smaller than 10 point font?

Yes. For tables and graphics, font no smaller than 10 point may be used. Section L.3.9 has been amended.

32. Section L.4 Page 95: Based upon GAO rulings, please confirm that the Government will permit the use of affiliated company experience and past performance if a meaningful relationship is documented in a commitment letter.

No.

33. Section L.4 Page 95: When submitting past performance information of an affiliated company, we include an INTER-COMPANY CONTRACT PERFORMANCE COMMITMENT AGREEMENT letter showing the meaningful relationship between the affiliated companies. Being that we may need to submit this letter for multiple affiliated companies, will the government exclude these letters from page count?

Yes.

34. Section C.1.9 Page 38: Do the authorized training/travel expenses to be reimbursed for “voluntary” participation in conferences include contract employee labor costs? The solicitation characterizes this participation as “voluntary” and this may run afoul with federal and state labor laws if this is considered unpaid or unbillable.

Although participation is voluntary, time spent at conferences at the Government’s request shall be considered billable.

35. Section B Pages 5-17: Would the Government like offerors to complete the chart on pages 5- 17 of section B, filling in unit prices and total costs for each Line Item Number? If so, where in the proposal would you like us to present this information?

No, the line items on those pages do not need to be completed. However, the procurement specific rate table shall be completed and submitted in accordance with the instructions in Section B.5.2. This shall be included in Volume II.

36. I am interested in bidding on the Administrative & Training Program Support Services solicitation. I’ve added myself to the interested vendors list, but the list is not visible to the public. Would it be possible for me to get a list of those who are on the list?

No, see question 1.

37. As it states that Volume II: Price Proposal includes Evaluation Factor 3 and Factor 1 Subfactor 3 Compensation Plan, should the Compensation Plan be included within offeror’s pricing volume? If so, will it be excluded from the 15-page limit?

No, it does not need to be included in Volume I. The compensation plan shall be included in Volume II, but will be evaluated as part of Evaluation Factor 1 in accordance with Section M.

38. The Compensation Plan is detailed under Evaluation Factor 1: Quality, which is to be provided in Volume I. However, Volume II states that the Compensation Plan is to be submitted within that volume. If the Compensation Plan is only to be provided in Volume II, will it also be evaluated in Volume I?

Yes. The compensation plan will be evaluated in accordance with Section M as a part of Evaluation Factor 1, but shall be submitted as part of Volume II.

39. On page 101 of the SOW, it states “Proper presentation, organization, and clarity, as well as adequate supporting documentation, must be provided to facilitate Government evaluation of the proposal.” For additional documentation provided (e.g. such as documentation to fully reflect our compensation plan and its benefits, etc.), please verify that those will not be counted against the page limits.

The Compensation Plan included as part of Volume II will not contribute to the 15 page limit for Volume II.

40. Will cover sheets, tables of contents, cross-reference tables/matrices, and acronym lists be exempt from the page restrictions?

Yes, see question 11.

41. Can the five-page executive summary be excluded from Volume I and Volume II page count?

No, see question 11.

42. May we use a lesser font size and different font style for tables, figures, graphics, resumes, and headers and footers as long as it is legible?

See question 31.

43. Is it the Government’s intent to require contractors to charge G&A allocable to travel to an unallowable account in performance of this contract? Would the Government consider allowing contractors to “charge indirect burdens in accordance with their standard accounting practice”? Would the Government provide the historical travel expenses reimbursed under the incumbent contracts and the time period attributable to those costs?

No indirect G&A costs will be allowable for travel. Authorized travel expenses will be reimbursed at cost in accordance with Section G. No historical travel expense data will be provided, however travel is only occasional for some contract staff. See question 85 for estimates.

44. Section C.1.7 Page 30-33: The Government has requested 3 levels of the Curriculum Specialist/Instructional Designer labor category. However, the years of experience do not correspond to the labor category titles. Provided in the RFP are the following requirements:

Curriculum Spec/Instr Designer I – min 5 yrs or 2 yrs + BS/BA Curriculum Spec/Instr Designer II – min 5 yrs or 2 yrs + MS/MA Sr. Curriculum Spec/Instr Designer – min 6 yrs + MS/MA

If a candidate does not have a degree, then both the level I and II have the same years’ experience. Does the Government intend for level I and II to have the same years of experience? Would the Government consider a substitution of experience for a degree – for example, 6 years + MS/MA or 8 years + BS/BA or 10 years without a degree?

No. These labor categories have been amended. Experience is not a substitution for the required degree for the senior position.

45. Section C-1.7 Page 33-34: The Government has requested 3 levels of the Evaluation Specialist labor category. However, the years of experience do not correspond to the labor category titles. Provided in the RFP are the following requirements:

Evaluation Specialist I – min 5 yrs or 3 yrs + BS/BA Evaluation Specialist II – min 5 yrs or 3 yrs + MS/MA Sr. Evaluation Specialist – min 6 yrs + MS/MA

If a candidate does not have a degree, then both the level I and II have the same years’ experience. Does the Government intend for level I and II to have the same years of experience? Would the Government consider a substitution of experience for a degree – for example, 6 years + MS/MA or 8 years + BS/BA or 10 years without a degree?

See question 44.

46. Section B-5.1 refers to WD 2015-4281 Rev 2, but Section J did not include the WD as a reference document. Rev 3 of the WD was released on 4/19/2016. Would the Government consider updating the WD to Rev 3 and incorporate the WD into section J?

Yes. See question 4.

47. Section B-1, page 17; Section L, page 91; Section M, page 98: Does the Government intend to award a single contract or multiple contracts? If multiple awards are made, will all awardees compete for all task orders issued? If so, are contractors to provide maximum fully-burdened labor rates that could be discounted when competing for a task order?

Awards will be made at the discretion of the Government and will be determined by the amount of awards that will be most advantageous to the Government. See section B.1. In the event of multiple awards, the rates submitted at proposal submission and contract award will be used.

48. Section L-9, page 94: Please confirm. Would the Government please consider excluding the SF-33, SF-30(s) if required, and Representations and Certifications from the page count?

See answers to questions 20 and 13.

49. Section C-1.10, page 38; Section L-9, page 94; Section M-3, Subfactor 3, page 101: Would the Government provide a list of benefits that are required to be the same among Joint Venture members and Subcontractors? To ensure comparability of benefits among team members, does the Government want the prime Offeror to include the benefits of all Subcontractors (major and minor) or in the case of a Joint Venture, all members of the Joint Venture? If so, would the Government consider increasing the page count for Volume II?

Would the Government allow proprietary company information to be submitted directly to the Government?

See question 85.

50. Does the Government intend to evaluate the 1,880 total hours times the number of FTEs for each year provided in the Labor Category Descriptions in Section C-1.7? For example, for the Secretary I in the base year, will the Government evaluate 21 FTEs times 1,880 total hours = 39,480 hours at the fully-burdened hourly rates in Section B? Will the Government evaluate any overtime hours? If so, how many hours of each labor category will the Government evaluate?

Overtime hours will not be evaluated

51. Section B-5.1, Wage Determination reference, page 19; Section J, page 73: Would the Government please provide the current length of service (adjusted hire dates) for incumbent employees?

No. This information will be provided by the incumbent contractors after contract award is finalized. The Government does not have this information.

52. Section C.1.17 Transition Plan: Would the government please provide the length of the TIP?

No. This is part of the offerors TIP.

53. How does the Government intend to award Task Orders in the event there are multiple awards?

All awardees will receive fair opportunity for award of task orders for new contract positions.

54. Section L.3.9: Would the Government consider allowing bidders to use 10 point font New Times Roman for Tables and Graphics?

See question 31.

55. Section H.1, Page 49: In order to increase small business competition, will the Government re-consider their position regarding sponsorship of security clearances?

No.

56. Can you please clarify the Section B submission requirements. We understand the table in B.5.2 submission requirement, but is this in lieu of submitting the Section B information on pages 5 through 17? If Section B is also required, do we populate all of the columns or only the unit price column?

Yes, it is in lieu. See question 35.

57. Can equivalent PMP training certification be accepted in lieu of the PMP?

58. It states on page 37 of the SOW that the Project Manager must have a minimum “five (5) years of experience managing a federal contract workforce of comparable size (100+) or six

(6) plus years of progressively increasing management responsibilities in a government agency setting.” Will the government accept individuals with the following experience: “five

(5) years of experience managing a workforce of comparable size (100+) or six (6) plus years of progressively increasing management responsibilities in a government agency setting”?

No.

59. Are title pages, cover letters and table of contents excluded from the page count of each volume?

See question 11.

60. Is it acceptable to use a smaller font size on tables/graphics/illustrations/etc.?

See question 31.

61. Can the Government issue the relevant SCA WD’s (Wage Determination Sheet) for the specific incumbent SCA personnel?

See question 4.

62. Section L Page 96: "no more than five references that can describe and document the Contractor's recent successful past performance providing these types of services. If the offeror is subcontracting with another entity or submitted a proposal as a Joint Venture, then two (2) of these should come from the subcontractor/Joint Venture partner." Should the past performance requirement for subcontractors/joint ventures state no more than two should come from the subcontractor/joint venture partner?

Yes

63. Should the Sample Resumes have all personal identification information redacted? If it is not redacted, does the Government need a letter of intent to accompany each resume?

Sample resumes may have personal information redacted. Except, the resume for the PM should personal information and include a letter of intent.

64. The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan is a government provided document, does the Government want the vendors to provide our operating procedures based on the metrics provided in the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan, if so, please provide the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan metrics. If not, does the Government alternatively want the vendors to submit a Quality Control Plan? Please clarify.

Please submit in accordance with Section C.1.15

65. Due to the amount of time that is required for a small business to assemble a proposal response on a project of this size, and the potential impact the response to questions may have on our response, we are requesting an extension of the submission date to June 3, 2016.

This has been amended please see page 1.

66. Are the current contractors, identified on page 41 of 104, still eligible to submit a bid?

Yes.

67. Due to the significant discussion of teleworking, could we be provided with an estimate of the amount of hours, or percentage of effort the government expects to involve teleworking?

Telework hours are estimated to be highly infrequent and will occur only on a situational case by case basis.

68. Under Section 1.12 Staffing Plan and Requirements of the Statement of Work, page 39, the government requires the incoming company to offer the first right of refusal to the current incumbent employees. Therefore, in order to adequately price employee earnings, can the government provide the complete compensation package (including vacation, paid time off, healthcare coverage, dental or vision), the percentage the incumbent company pays for employees’ health, dental and/or vision benefits, and percentages matched for any type of 401K plan, if any (Section 1.12 Staffing Plan and Requirements, page 39)?

See question 16.

69. Since the government is requesting a Transition Plan at proposal submission that details intermediate and major milestones, deliverables, and equipment, can the government please provide the list of deliverables, milestones and equipment for the contract currently in place so that these items may accurately incorporated into the phase in plan (Section 1.17 Transition Plan, page 41)?

See Section M

70. A ‘Subcontractor Management Plan’ is referenced throughout the PWS, could the government advise if a JV partner is being considered a subcontractor, and if applicable, when is it appropriate to submit a subcontracting management plan?

JVs are not considered subcontractors. Subcontracting Management Plans are required when when 8(a) business elect to subcontract. Please see Section M and Section C.1.16

71. Does the Alternate Project Manager (APM) need to have the same qualifications as the PM?

After award, the Government will review proposed resumes of APMs and may accept APMs who have similar (if not identical) qualifications as the PM. This will be at the Government’s discretion. Also, see question 73.

72. The job description of the ‘Procurement Analyst’ suggests the potential for a conflict of interest; could the government detail what areas of performance our company would be prohibited from procuring in the future (Section 1.17 Labor Categories/Position Descriptions, page 30)?

Contract employees filling that role would not be tasked with responsibilities that present a conflict of interest.

73. In C.1.7 §17 On-Site Program Manager (PM), the RFP references the Alternate Program Manager (APM) and requests that the APM be designated in the technical proposal, but in M.3 Subfactor 2, the list of expected resumes does not include the Alternate Program Manager. As the section specifies that only 17 resumes are expected (one for each labor category) are we to understand that no resume is required for the APM?

There is no need for an APM designation or resume. This has been amended in Section C.1.7.19.

74. The solicitation states in Section L, Part 9 proposers will submit:

“ * One Original copy for Volume II: This section shall include the completed and signed SF- 33 with any subsequent amendments, section B pricing, Representations and Certifications and Quality Sub-factor 3- Compensation Plan.”

--and-- “*Offers have a 40 page limit excluding resumes, Subcontract Management Plan (if applicable) and past performance references for Volume I and 15 page limit for Volume II excluding section B proposed rates.”

Question: For Volume II, since the SF 33 requirement alone will exceed 15 pages, we request that the completed SF33 (including signature page, authorized negotiator page, and Section K) be excluded from the page count.

See questions 13, 20 & 48.

75. Section L.5 Page 96 Key Personnel (please highlight those individuals who worked in the relevant project(s) and also being proposed for this effort): Please confirm that contractors are only to complete this section if they are proposing key personnel for the FSI Support Services contract who are currently working on the referenced past performance contract.

Otherwise, the response would be “N/A”.

Yes, confirmed.

76. M.3 Factor 1, Subfactor 4 Page 102: Please confirm that this requirement is not applicable to 8(a) companies.

The subcontract management plan is applicable for 8(a) companies that elect to subcontract.

This is different than a small business subcontracting plan, which is not required for 8(a) companies.

77. C.1.7.9 and M.3 Factor 1 Subfactor 2 Page 30 and 100: Considering the fact that no Procurement Analysts will not be employed in the Base Year of the contract, will the Government consider excluding this position from the list of resumes required to be submitted with the proposal?

78. Are there incumbent contractors for this opportunity? If so, will the government provide the names of the current contract holders and their eligibility to bid on the current proposal?

See question 2.

79. Will the government provide the rates for the current contract to ensure that the government will be able to retain incumbent personal at or close to the current rates?

80. How many awards does the government anticipate for this IDIQ?

See question 47.

81. On page 19 in Section 5.1 the government states, “Please see Section J for Wage Determination No: 2015-4281 Revision No: 2 Date of Revision: 12/29/2015,” however, the attachment was not included in Section J. Can the government please provide the referenced above attachment?

See Answer 4

82. For the sample resumes does the government require that all positions possess a Secret clearance?

No

83. Will the government reduce the table and graphic font size requirements to Times New Roman 9 or 10?

See question 31.

84. What is the estimated amount of travel for this contract?

Currently, travel only occurs on an occasional basis (once or twice per year) by a handful of contract staff (estimated 5-10 per year).

85. Section 1.10 pg 38, Compensation Plan states: *In accordance with the policy set forth in FAR 22.11- Professional Employee Compensation, any professional services labor categories under this contract must, at a minimum, offer the same level of compensation plan/fringe benefits as non-professional services. This applies to any new or additional labor categories added under the contract in accordance with Section B.7. Does the government expect teaming partners to use carrier’s similar in scope and coverage or identical carriers in scope and coverage?

The Government expects that the benefits packages offered to all contract employees working under the ID/IQ award, regardless of whether they are employed by an 8(a) prime contractor, subcontractor, or JV partner, will be uniform.