S-IT700-14-Q-0050_Questions__Responses_(Revised_Oct_20).docx

Solicitation S-IT700-14-Q-0050 Janitorial Services for the US Government Tri Mission in Rome, Italy Questions Received and US Government Responses October 20, 2014

1 - Is there a current Contractor working at present days? The Italian Law states that a new Contractor must hire the personnel of the former Contractor. For this reason, we need to know if we must hire the present personnel or not.

Response: Yes, there is a current contractor providing janitorial services to the Tri-Mission in Rome. Should a new firm be awarded this contract, Contractor will be expected to comply with applicable Italian labor laws with regard to offering continued employment to the present personnel.

2 - Section 3 of the Solicitation, point 7, states that the offeror has to demonstrate to have an average work force of at least 50 workers in Rome and an office settled in Rome since at least 1 year. Does this mean that a Company outside Rome can't participate to the competition? This seems restrictive and looks that the Solicitation is not totally open except for Companies operating in Rome.

Response: Offerors are asked to submit a declaration specifying the average number of workers registered during the last three years in Rome. The average number of registered workers during the last three years in Rome must not be less than 50 per year. A separate, but related, requirement is that the offeror has had an office in the city of Rome for at least one year .

3 - Section 3 of the Solicitation states that the offerors have to submit past performance regarding the last 10 years. How many past performance must be submitted? Usually, under US Government Solicitation, three past performances are required. Please, specify.

Response: While no firm minimum number of past performances is required, for each of the last 10 years offerors should submit at least 1 client for whom similar services have been performed.

4 - The cover letter to the solicitation seems to indicate that only firms who are invited to bid may participate. We are reading this to mean that our firm should submit an EOI or LOI, along with the documentation requested under Section 3, point 7 (page 50 of the Solicitation). Is this accurate or a misinterpretation on our part?

Response: No documentation is/was required in order to attend the pre-bid conference.

5 – Regarding the documentation requested in Section 3, point 7 – please clarify the following:

- total yearly amount for similar services (not less than €1.250.000 per year) can be arrived at by adding annual totals of two or more contracts?

- what is intended by “workers registered during the last 3 years in Rome (not less than 50 per year)”?

Response: Offerors are requested to submit a declaration of the total value of the janitorial services provided to their clients during the past three years, demonstrating that a minimum of €1.250.000 in services has been provided each year, Regarding part two of this question, please see the response to question # 2 above.

6 – Can you please email me the contract solicitation and other relevant documents.

Response: As stated in our web-site advertisement, “this solicitation has been issued via FedbizOpps and all documents are attached to that posting. No hard copies are being provided.” To access the solicitation documents, please visit: www.fedbizopps.gov and enter S-IT700-14-Q-0050 in the Keyword/Solicitation # search box.

7 - Please provide the RFP/Contract documents. Also if possible, the attending parties of today's Pre-Conference meeting.

Response: Please see response to Question 6 above. The parties attending the conference were:

8 - The Section 3 of the solicitation, point 7, it means that a company outside of Rome cannot participate? This seems restrictive and looks that the solicitation is not totally open except for Companies operating in Rome. This is not provided for in the solicitation of the Italian Law Public Procurement. Waiting for your response.

Response: Offerors are asked to submit a declaration specifying the average number of workers registered during the last three years in Rome. The average number of registered workers during the last three years in Rome must not be less than 50 per year. A separate, but related, requirement is that the offeror has had an office in the city of Rome for at least one year .

9 - Do we need to have the bank references translated into English?

Response: Bank letters of reference written for the purpose of this solicitation must be submitted in English. Standard documents issued by banks may be submitted in Italian.

10 - Does each reference have to cover the entire 10 year period or can they have been performed during the 10 year period (if so, for how many years).

Response: No, each reference does not have to cover the entire 10 year period, but should be from clients for whom you have provided services similar to our requirements during the 10 year period. There is no set number of years.

11 - Will the Lead Manager be required to be on site? If yes, for how many hours per week?

Response: As specified in Exhibit A, Section 1.1, the contractor’s designated supervisor will be on site from 0600 am to 1500 pm, Monday to Friday. The LEED Manager will be required to be on site as needed to support the activities and duties outlined in Section 8 of Exhibit A.

12 - Can you clarify how to complete sections 12 and 19 to 24 on Standard Form 1449.

Response: In Section 12 you should document the terms of discounts, if any, that you are offering to the Embassy. Sections 19 to 24 may be left unchanged as they refer to Section 1 –The Schedule, which should be completed and attached to your offer.

13 - Is it correct that section 2, 3 and 4 have to be in one envelope and section 1 in a separate envelope?

Response: Yes

14 - Where do we have insert the technical documents of products?

Response: The technical documentation referred to in Section 3, point 8 should be included with other Section 3 documents and certifications.

15 - To calculate the bathroom supplies for each building, can you divide for us for each building the data indicated in section 3.14 of Exhibit A?

Response: We do not have such a breakdown available, but please note that Exhibit A, Section 2 does list the number of restrooms, wash basins and toilets within various buildings.

16 - Do we have to include a singed copy of Exhibit A with our offer?

Response: No, Exhibit A is incorporated by reference.

17 - What do you mean by “abstract of the company register book” required by point A.2.7.?

Response: We are referring to the bidder’s Libro unico del lavoro (LUL).

18 - We would also like to know what you mean talking about “the starting date of the firm’s activity”:

Should we consider the effective starting date of the firm? Or should we refer to the starting date of the firm in janitorial service?

Response: In Section 3, point 7 the solicitation states that offerors shall submit a Certificate of the Chamber of Commerce that documents the start date of the firm’s activity, without specifying the exact nature of that activity.

19 - Regarding the Anti-Mafia certificate, the Chamber of Commerce does not issue this certificate anymore, however we can self-certify. Would this be ok for you?

Response: Self certification is acceptable if it is not included with the Chamber of Commcerce certificate.

20 - Regarding the Administrative Documents, we would like to know if the documents listed in Section 3 (Solicitation Provisions) have to be in Italian or if just the Section 7 has to be in Italian.

Response: Copies of formal certificates from banking institutions, the Chamber of Commerce and government agencies may be presented in Italian, but declarations and statements written for the purposes of this solicitation must be in English language.

21 - We would also like to know, if it is possible, the number of people currently employed, and how many hours do they perform?

Response: Details on the current janitorial work force are not available.

22 - Referring to Section 3 of the Solicitation, point 7; is it possible to submit a statement in lieu of the anti-mafia certificate? Considering that, according to law, from 13/02/2013, it can be requested only by Public Administrations and/or governmental.

Response: Please refer to Question 19 above.

23 - What do you mean talking about “abstract of the company register book (copies)”?

Response: Please refer to Question 17 above.

24 - Is it possible to send a CD – ROM with various PDF files related to last months libro unico del lavoro (LUL), “instead” of it?

Response: We require hardcopy, not electronic files.

25 - Is it possible to write formal declaration in Italian language?

Response: Please refer to Question 20 above.

26 - The start date of the firm’s activity must be earlier than June 1, 1999?

Response: Yes, the firm must have been established as a business entity prior to that date.

27 - June 1 1999, refers to a specific law or regulation on the quality of the participating undertaking?

Response: Please refer to Questions 18 and 29 above.

28 - “Workers registered during the last 3 years in Rome”, mean that they have to be registered to the competent INPS and INAIL seat of the province of Rome?

Response: Offerors are to declare the average number of workers registered during the last 3 years in Rome (mus not be less than 50 per year).

29 - The office must be obligatorily located in Rome, or can be located in the province of Rome?

Response: The office location, as referred to in Section 3, point 7 may be located within the formal boundaries of the province of Rome.

30 - Section 3 of the main document of Solicitation, point 7, states that the offeror has to submit “Certificate of the Chamber of Commerce, non older than 3 months that demonstrates the starting date of the firm’s activity (must be prior to June 1, 1999)”: our Certificate fix the activity start in 2009. This date could be a motivation of exclusion for this Solicitation?

Response: Please refer to Questions 18 and 29 above.

31 - Section 3 of the main document of Solicitation, point 7, states that the offeror has to submit “Statement of two Bank Institutions”. These statements need to be translated in English?

Response: Please refer to Question 20 above.

32 - Do we have to produce an insurance certificate translated in English?

Response: Pleases refer to Question 20 above.

33 - In several part of the main document of Solicitation there are references to the Appendix A and to the Exhibit A. We found on the Internet only the Exhibit A: Is the Appendix A the same? If not, where can we find “Appendix A” in the 3 documents of this solicitation?

Response: The terms “Exhibit A” and “Appendix A” refer to the same document.

34 - We recognize that you already offered to the bidders the possibility to visit the work sites. As said, unfortunately, we had evidence of this solicitation only late last week. Therefore, with the goal to provide you our best offer, we kindly request if there are any chances to support us for an additional tour. As you can understand, knowledge of the working sites could help us to better cover all the bid requirements. In order to facilitate the organization of this tour, we also accept to only visit the areas that are not subjected to stringent accessibility restrictions.

Response: No additional touring opportunities are to be made available.

35 - Is the list of the actual personnel available (i.e. number of people actually used for each facility)?

Response: Please refer to Question 21 above.

36 - From the solicitation package seems that the only document that you want receive from the offeror is the cost proposal for the base bid (first year) and for each of the 4th options. Please, can you advice if other documents can be attached to the economical proposal (i.e. description of the company, past performances, organization chart of the company, etc.)?

Response: Please refer to Section 3 – Solicitation Provisions for a complete list of the items that should be submitted in addition to the economic proposal.

37 - For the declaration required by point A.2.6, there are no licenses or permits to perform janitorial services, just the chamber of commerce – is this what you mean?

Response: The Chamber of Commerce certificate is the one that offerors are to submit.

38 - For the anti-mafia there is no longer a certification, but a company has to supply a self-declaration – is this enough?

Response: Please refer to Question 19 above.

39 - Do bank statements have to be in English?

Response: Please refer to Question 20 above.

40 - We would like to know, regarding the document SF 1449 cover page, which blocks we have to fulfill and how to fulfill them .

Response: Offerors should complete boxes 12, 17a, 17b, 30a, 30b, and 30c with the information requested. Block 20 has already been filled in. Blocks 19 and 21-24 should be left blank.

41 - Also we would like to know, what do you mean for “Abstract of the company register book (copies)” because if you mean the shareholder’s book, it does not exist anymore. However, we can provide a Company Information release by the Chamber of Commerce with a list of shareholders.

Response: Please refer to question 17 above.