SFSIAQ16R5001_A001_QandA_for_fbo.pdf

SFSIAQ16R5001 Q&A

1. While reviewing of the Labor Categories for Solicitation # SFSIAQ16R5001, we have found that the following sections below showed Zero requirement for the Base Year:

9.2 Computer Systems Trainer Level One (Basic Level):

Anticipated Need for Base Year: Approximately 0

9.5 Technical Telephone Systems Trainer Level One (Basic Level):

Anticipated Need for Base Year: Approximately 0

9.9 Systems Staff- Support Technician Level Two:

Anticipated Need for Base Year: Approximately 0

Do you foresee these Labor Categories be required for the Option Years?

If so, what will be the anticipated number per Option Year?

The government does not foresee the need for this position in Option Year 1. Although there is not an anticipated need for these labor categories at this time, the need may arise in the future. The Government may issue a task order for these labor categories regardless of option year.

2. In the RFP it asks for “sample resumes.” Do the sample resumes require the names of the individuals to be listed?

No. Sample resumes may have personal information redacted.

3. Would the government consider alternative solutions to this RFP? As it is stated as a best value evaluation, and “the offer must go well beyond the requirement by offering exceptionally innovative or particularly well thought out or insightful methods, procedures, solutions or new opportunities for major improvements” (page 90, “evaluation factors”). The Time and Material pricing model limits industry’s ability to provide innovative solutions.

Would the Government consider FFP proposals?

No. Please respond in accordance with the solicitation.

4. Would the government consider including an ODC CLIN at a NTE amount since this will be a “time and material/labor hour ID/IQ” (page 82, “Type of contract”) for non-labor type of support?

No.

5. Does the 15 page limit of Volume II include the Compensation Plan (Factor 1) that is associated with Volume I but in Volume II? Or does the Compensation Plan count towards the 40 pages in Volume I? If the Compensation Plan is included will you consider raising the page count?

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

6. On page 85 of 94, it states, “15 page limit for Volume II excluding section B proposed rates.”

This still includes the Representations and Certifications which alone is 15 pages (pages 66- 81 of the RFP). Will you revise the authorized page count for Volume II?

No, the page count for Volume II is not revised. However, the requirement for Representations and Certifications has been amended. Please see Section L.3

7. Does the Gov’t want to offeror to submit only the overtime hourly cost in the schedule (page 5-13)?

No, pages 5-13 do not need to be included in the price proposal. 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.

8. The table required by section 5.2 (pg. 16 -20) is 5 pages. If we submit this table and the schedule (9 pages) we are will be submitting 14 of the 15 page count without the Reps and Certs, compensation plan, and required executive summary. Will the authorized page count be increased above the current 15 page count?

No. However see question 7 and question

9. Page 5: Please advise on Overtime rates? Does the contract require overtime hours outside the normal working hours of 40 per week?

On occasion, to meet program needs, contract staff may be requested to perform more than 40 hours in one workweek. Hours worked beyond 40 will be billed at the Overtime rate provided by the offeror in Section B.5.2.

10. Page 5-7: Please confirm that only 13 FTE’s labor categories are to be priced with the cost proposal?

Evaluation Factor 3 Price will be evaluated in accordance with Section M. The Cost Proposal should include the Procurement Specific Rate Table in Section B.5.2

11. Page 33: Please confirm if a firm does not utilize subcontractors that a subcontractor plan is not needed with the proposal package.

This is correct. The Subcontracting Management Plan is only applicable for small businesses electing to subcontract.

12. Page 34: Does the quality assurance plan need to be submitted as part of the proposal?

Yes. The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan shall be submitted in accordance with Section C.1.12

13. Will this be a single award or will there be multiple awards?

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.

14. SOW 1.17 Transition Plan: Would the government please provide the length (in days) of the TIP and the TOP?

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

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

Multiple awardees will be given fair opportunity to fill new positions in accordance with section C.1.7.2

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

Yes, for tables and graphics, font not smaller than 10 point may be used. Section L.3.9 has been amended.

17. Section G-4.1, page 46: 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.

18. Section C-1.9, page 24-33: For evaluation purposes and to provide the Government with consistent levels of personnel, would the Government provide the required years of experience needed for each labor category?

See question 24.

19. Section B-1, page 13; Section L, page 82; Section M, page 89: 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?

See question 13 and question 15.

20. Section L-9, page 85: Please confirm. Would the Government please consider excluding the SF-33, SF-30(s) if required, and Representations and Certifications from the page count?

The SF-33 is not excluded from the page count. However, the only required documentation from the SF-33 are those specific pages identified in the solicitation (e.g. signature page, etc.)

The requirement for Representations and Certifications has been amended, please see Section L.3

21. Section L-9, page 85; Section M-3, Subfactor 3, page 92: To ensure comparability of benefits among team members, does the Government want the prime Offeror to include the benefits of all subcontractors (major or 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?

Please see Section C.1.6 which has been amended to require that benefits packages offered to all contract employees under an ID/IQ award, regardless of whether they are employed by a prime contractor, subcontractor, or JV partner, will be uniform.

22. Section M-3, Evaluation Factor 3, page 93: 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-1.9? For example, for the Computer Systems Trainer Level Three in the base year, will the Government evaluate 4 FTEs times 1,880 total hours = 7,520 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?

Yes the government will evaluate the anticipated need for the base year times 1880 hours at the fully burdened hourly rates submitted in the Section B.5.2. For positions with an anticipated need of zero (0) for the base year, please see Section M which states that 1880 total hours will be used during price evaluation. No overtime hours will be evaluated.

23. Section C-1.2, page 21: Are all incumbent personnel currently trained and certified at the levels required in Section C-1.9?

Most employees are trained and certified at the levels stated; if they are not, as stated in the solicitation, the employees have 6 months to acquire the required certifications. See Section C.1.7.1

24. Section C.1.9: Is US Citizenship and fluency in English a requirement for any or all of the 11 labor categories identified for this effort? There are no minimum requirements listed for labor categories. Would the Government please specify for bidders? We are looking for requirements such as must be U.S. Citizen, HS Diploma, etc.

Section C.1.9 has been revised to reflect that all labor categories require candidates to be US citizens, fluent in English, and have at a minimum a high school diploma or GED equivalent.

25. Section C.1.9.10, Program Analyst Document Control Administrator and C.1.9.11, Program Analyst Quality Manager: Are there any other requirements the government would like to specify for this labor category, such as Level of Education, Years of Experience, etc.?

There are no additional requirements. Both of these labor categories have also been revised see

Section C.1.9.10 and Section C.1.9.11

26. Section C, 1.9: 9.7 “Test Center Administrator” Page #28 of 94: The second sentence reads “all three are crucial for delivering for all aspects of test delivery.”, but the prior sentence identifies only two systems. Q: Is there a third crucial system for which working knowledge is required from the Test Center Administrator?

No. There are only two systems. This has been revised see Section C.1.9.7

27. Section C, 1.11: 1 “Status Reports” Page #33 of 94: Paragraph 1 first identifies a “weekly Attendance & Leave Report” and then a “Weekly Time and Attendance Summary Report”.

Q: Are both reports the same, or are there two different requirements?

The reports are the same. C.1.11 has been revised to correct the report names.

Q: Is there an existing format for the weekly report(s) required, or can the contractor convey the information via E-mail text?

The government will accept reports as Microsoft word or .pdf attachments to emails. Section C.11 has been amended.

Q: Doe FSI/SAIT require this weekly report formalized and transmitted like other contract deliverables, or can each staff member provided on-site submit their weekly time report to their Task Order COR directly?

CORs will not receive reports directly from contract staffers. The Weekly Attendance & Leave report will be sent to the COR in accordance with Section C.1.11 and also Section G.1

28. Section C, 1.13 “Transition Plan” Page #34 of 94: The opening sentence requires that “The Contractor Company shall deliver a Transition Plan at proposal submission.”, addressing Transition In, Transition Quality, and Transition Out. Specifics are required for details such as tools, documentation, and equipment. As a Multiple Award IDIQ contract vehicle, these detailed Transition Plans seem appropriate for specific Task Orders.

Q: Are offerors expected to address these Transition Plan details in response to this contract-level

RFP?

Yes

Q: If so, should the offeror’s Transition Plan expect a single Task Order for the entire SOW and all Labor Categories?

Yes

Q: Is a high-level Transition Plan acceptable in response to this contract-level RFP, i.e., without addressing the tools, documentation, and equipment typically identified at the Task Order level?

Yes

29. Section L, 3.9 “Proposal Preparation Instructions” Page #85 of 94: Is the Executive Summary excluded from the 40-page and 15-page limits?

The Executive Summary is part of the technical proposal and is not excluded from the page count.

30. Section L, 3.9 “Proposal Preparation Instructions” Page #85 of 94: The fourth bullet identifies font and orientation for paragraphs, but only orientation for tables and graphics. Is a different font and font size acceptable for tables and graphics?

See question 16.

31. M, Subfactor 3 Compensation Plan Page 91: Please provide description or examples of what would be considered adequate supporting documentation for the Compensation Plan (are we to include Summary of Benefits from Insurance Providers as supporting documentation)?

The offeror may submit whatever documentation it chooses to support their proposal.

32. L, Proposal Preparation Instructions Page 85: Is it acceptable to use font size 10 in tables and graphs?

See question 16.

33. Since [our company] currently holds contracts that do not require a cleared facility, can we obtain sponsorship through this vehicle?

No. See Section H.