Q_&_A_SOL-167-17-000014_LEGO.pdf

Amendment 01_Q & A_SOL-167-17-000014 Local Effective Governance (LEGO) activity in Kosovo

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Q & A) SOL-167-17-000014

Q.1 Could USAID please provide an anticipated start date for the project?

A.1 Assuming competitive range, expected start date of the LEGO activity is on or about end of

February 2018.

Q.2 Section C.11 (p. 18). Can USAID confirm that a final list of indicators will be confirmed after award and that the offeror does not need to submit a draft list of indicators in the proposal?

A.2 Yes, proposed indicators will be submitted in the AMP after award (See Section F of the

RFP)

Q.3 Section L.6 (p. 71), states that technical proposals are limited to 30 pages. However, later in the same paragraph, USAID refers to a “40 page limitation” for technical proposals.

Could USAID please clarify whether the page limit for the technical proposal is 30 pages or 40 pages?

A.3 Page limit for the technical proposal is 30 pages, please see the amended RFP.

Q.4 Per section L.6 (p. 71), would USAID prefer that offerors include CVs for Key Personnel as an annex to the technical proposal or within the body of the staffing plan section of the technical proposal? If Key Personnel CVs are to be included as an annex, could USAID please consider excluding CVs from the technical proposal page limitation requirement.

A.4 CV’s for Key Personnel should be part of the staffing plan in the technical proposal (not to exceed 2 pages each and does count against page limit), see section L.6 of the RFP.

Q.5 Per Section L.6 (p.72), would USAID like offerors to include the Summary Table of Professional Technical Level of Effort (Summary Table) as an annex to the technical proposal or within the body of the staffing plan section of the technical proposal? If the Summary Table is to be included as an annex, could USAID please consider excluding the Summary Table from the technical proposal page limitation requirement?

A.5 Technical Level of Effort (Summary Table) should be part of the staffing plan of the technical proposal and does count against page limit.

Q.6 Section L.7 (page 76): Will USAID make an evaluation of past performance primarily based on projects selected from the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), the past performance information records the offeror submits (for projects not in PPIRS), or some combination of both? For those projects not in PPIRS, is there a limit to the number of past performance information records the offeror may supply? Will USAID also clarify and confirm if past performance should be part of the cost proposal or a separate volume? Section M implies this section will be separately evaluated from the cost proposal.

A.6 USAID will evaluate offerors relevant past performance selected from PPIRS and past performance information records submitted by offeror (for projects not in PPIRS). Past Performance information must be submitted as a part of cost proposal and there is no limit to the information that offerors may provide, provided it meets the relevant criteria in section L.7 for the RFP. Offerors Past Performance will be separately evaluated from technical and cost factors.

Q.7 Section H. 12(d) (p. 39) states that “One annual salary increase not more than 3% (includes promotional increase) may be granted after the employee's completion of each twelve-month period of satisfactory services under the contract,” which may not be in-line with a contractors approved personnel policy. Please confirm that the contractor will not be required to seek Contracting Officer approval as long as they are following their personnel policy that has been approved through their government annual audit.

A.7 No, the clause stands as is and the contractor will be required to abide by it

Q.8 Could USAID please provide an estimated total budget range for the project?

A.8 This is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee Term type Contract, so in order to understand the magnitude of requirements in section C and F, USAID is providing the estimated days of LOE for the life of the contract.

Q.9 Should offerors budget for project vehicles or will USAID provide the LEGO project with vehicles from previous USAID projects?

A.9 Offerors should budget for project vehicles.

Q.10 Could USAID provide the most up-to-date FSN scale for Kosovo?

A.10 The range of the current Local Compensation Plan for USAID/Kosovo starts from minimum range of €11,700 to maximum of €38,803 (gross).

Q.11 Does USAID have an agreement with the Kosovo government that exempts implementing partners from corporate income tax in Kosovo when implementing USAID programs?

A.11 YES.

Q.12 On page 9, bullet 1.6 of RFP Attachment 4: Initial Environmental Examinations (IEE):

USAID describes small-scale rehabilitation and refurbishment infrastructure as part of activities under Objective 1. Can you please confirm that the small-scale infrastructure is anticipated to be funded from the Support Fund described in section C7, and that small-scale infrastructure can be funded in all 14 targeted municipalities?

A.12 Yes, small-scale rehabilitation and refurbishment projects may be funded from the Support Fund. Currently, there are no limitations on which municipalities will be able to access these funds as this should be driven by communities. Should any restrictions arise during implementation, USAID will discuss this directly with the awardee. Any construction activity must be subcontracted and is subject to the contract clauses in section I.10, please see the amended RFP.

Q.13 On page 14, paragraph 2 of the RFP: USAID lists the 14 targeted municipalities where

LEGO activities are to be conducted, but also opens the possibility for scale-up if such opportunities arise. Given the limits of the LOE under LEGO and to more adequately address this scale-up as part of the proposed technical approach, can USAID define the number of additional municipalities that could be considered as part of scaling-up of activities?

A.13 This would depend based on the activities proposed within the initial proposal, the work plan, and activity outcomes. USAID is leaving the door open for scale up, but it is not a requirement.

Q.14 On page 17, Section C11, last paragraph, of the RFP: USAID states that it is also considering an independent third party monitoring mechanism for LEGO as part of a learning component and lists section C.7. (Support Fund) as a reference. Is the reference correct? Should this reference be section C10 and C11? In case the reference to section C7 is correct, can you please confirm that the third party mechanism will focus predominantly on monitoring the Support Fund?

A.14 The reference should be to C.10, not C.7; please see the amended RFP.

Q.15 Regarding the specified LOE estimate, the RFP notes that “the Government estimates 17,858 professional technical staff person days level of effort.” Could USAID please clarify if this estimated level of effort includes paid time off, holidays, sick leave, etc?

A.15 No, the LOE is productive days.

Q.16 Please confirm subcontractors and consultants engaged on a firm-fixed-price basis, should be excluded from the LOE categories and ceilings within section F.4 of the contract.

A.16 No, if they are performing portions of the SOW, they are included.

Q.17 Section F includes two different deadlines for submission of the Grants under Contracts Manual [120 days after award in F.7.j (page 27), and 60 days after award in F.7.m (page 28)]. Please confirm that the correct deadline is 120 days after contract award.

A.17 Correct deadline is 60 days after contract award, please see the amended RFP.

Q.18 Section L.5, page 70 states “The proposal must be accompanied by a cover letter typed on official organizational letterhead and signed by a person who has signatory authority for the organization.” Please confirm our understanding that if the cover letter is submitted as a separate e-mail attachment, it will not count against the page limit for the technical

A.18 Cover Letter/Executive Summary should be as part of Technical Proposal and does count against page limit.

Q.19 Please confirm that a cover page and divider pages will not count against the page limit for the technical proposal.

A.19 Please see Answer A.18; dividers do count against page limit.

Q.20 Section L.6 (page 71) shows the Summary table of Professional Technical Level of Effort as the last bullet in the required order of technical proposal elements. However, Section L.6.2 (page 72) refers to the table as part of the Staffing Plan. Please confirm that Offerors should include the LOE table within the Staffing Plan.

A.20 Please see Answer A.5.

Q.21 For budgeting purposes, please confirm that LEGO’s anticipated start date is February 28, 2018, as shown in the Mission Forecast dated August 30, 2017.

A.21 Please see Answer A.1.

Q.22 Please confirm that Offerors may use their own budget template, provided it incorporates all components of the RFP’s template and meets all requirements in Section L.

A.22 For easy of reference during the cost evaluations USAID requires offerors to use the budget template in the RFP.

Q.23 Section C.11 of the RFP (p. 18) indicates USAID may mobilize a third-party monitoring mechanism for the contract. Should this occur, can USAID please confirm that funds for the monitoring mechanism are outside the contract’s stated budget?

A.23 Yes, USAID confirms this is outside of the contract’s budget.

Q.24 Section C.8 Grants under Contract (GUC) provides that “The Contractor is authorized to use grants under contract (GUCs) up to $1,500,000…”, but in Section L.7(b)(1)(iv) (p. 73) instructions state that “Offerors must budget $1,500,000 for GUC as detailed in Section C.”

Can USAID please confirm that Contractors may propose less than $1,500,000 for GUCs?

A.24 No, offerors must use the plug figure.

Q.25 Section L.6 of the RFP (p. 71) says that “technical proposals are limited to 30 (thirty) pages, but later on the same page, it says that “pages that contain a table, chart, graph, etc.

that are not otherwise excluded are subject to the 40-page limitation.” Can USAID please confirm the technical proposal’s page limit?

A.25 Please see Answer A.3.

Q.26 RFP cover page/Section L.7 – The RFP cover page and page 76 of RFP state that, "USAID discourages the use of exclusive agreements as this limits USAID’s and Kosovo’s ability to receive the best services." Please confirm that this applies to both local subcontractors and local personnel (including key).

A.26 Yes, correct.

Q.27 Section H.12 – Does USAID have a more recently updated Local Compensation Plan, dated after April 21, 2013, that they can share with offerors?

A.27 Please see Answer A.10.

Q.28 Section L.5 – Page 70 of the RFP states that the "proposal must be accompanied by a cover letter." Can USAID confirm that the cover letter should be submitted as a separate document to the technical proposal and is exempt from page limit?

A.28 Please see Answer A.18

Q.29 Section L.6 – Page 71 of the RFP states, "Technical proposals are limited to 30 (thirty) pages (Any pages beyond these thirty will NOT be given to the evaluators and will not be evaluated) ...Pages that contain a table, chart, graph, etc. that are not otherwise excluded below are subject to the 40 page limitation." Please clarify the page limit for the technical

A.29 Please see Answer A.3.

Q.30 Section L.6 – The RFP states that the table of contents counts against the page limit (page 71). Would USAID consider revising the RFP to remove the table of contents from the page limit?

A.30 Table of content will not be counted against the page limit, please see the amended RFP.

Q.31 Section L.6 – The RFP states that key personnel CVs count against the page limit (page 71). Would USAID consider revising the RFP to allow offerors to submit CVs in an annex that does not count against the page limit?

A.31 Please see Answer A.4.

Q.32 Section L.6 – The RFP states that the Summary Table of Professional Level of Effort counts against the page limit (page 71). Would USAID consider revising the RFP to allow offerors to submit the table in an annex that does not count against the page limit?

A.32 Please see Answer A.5.

Q.33 Section L.7 – Would USAID please provide offerors with an estimated range for the budget?

A.33 Please see Answer A.8.

Q.34 Section L.7 – Does USAID have a preferred exchange rate offerors should utilize when developing their budget?

A.34 USAID does not have any preferred EURO to USD exchange rate.

Q.35 Section M.2 – Please confirm the weighted value for each evaluation criteria listed in Section M.2 (page 77).

A.35 USAID didn’t weight values for each evaluation criteria; the criteria are presented by major category, in descending order of importance in section M.2.

Q.36 Would USAID consider allowing offerors to include a cover page that is exempt from the maximum page limit?

A.36 Please see Answer A.18.

Q.37 Can the offeror submit Past Performance information from Cooperative Agreements in addition to Contracts?

A.37 Offerors may submit past performance information about Cooperative Agreements.

Q.38 Is there a limit to how many projects the prime offeror and major subcontractors can list on Attachment 1, the Past Performance Information Sheet?

A.38 There is no limit, provided that they are not in PPIRS and meet the relevant criteria in section L.7 of the RFP

Q.39 Page 77, Section M: Under M.2, there are three items labeled 1. 2., and 4. Is there a #3 missing or is this simply an oversight?

A.39 It is an oversight, please see amended RFP.

Q.40 Does USAID require an M&E plan to be submitted with the proposal?

A.40 No, an Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) will be submitted to USAID after award (see Section F of RFP).

Q.41 Could you please kindly provide the specific requirements in terms of qualifications and experience for the Key Personnel stated in Section F.5 of the RFP.

A.41 Offerors are required to describe requirements and responsibilities for each proposed Key Personnel position, consistent with their proposed technical approach, which will be incorporated in section F.5 up on contract award.

Q.42 B.8. For accurate budgeting purposes, you state in section B.8 you state that the “Payment of fixed fee shall be allocated based upon the proportion of the level of effort (LOE) specified in Section F.4 that was provided by the Contractor in the period covered by the invoice. In the event that the Contractor does not provide the total LOE stipulated in Section F.4, the total amount of fixed fee will be reduced in similar proportion.” Does this mean that the Fixed Fee should not be calculated on top of other direct costs? In addition, can the fixed fee be applied on top of the portion of the G&A and OH costs related to the project LOE?

A.42 Please calculate fixed fee as you normally would do. This only refers to how it is paid.

Q.43 Could USAID confirm that the Activity Management Plan (AMP) referenced in Section F (page 25) of the RFP should not be included with the proposal but submitted after award within the LEGO Annual Work Plan? If a draft AMP is to be submitted at the proposal stage, please confirm that offerors may include it as an annex that does not count against the technical proposal page limit.

A.43 Yes, correct, see question A.40. Additional annexes will count against the page limits of the

Q.44 Section L.6, Instructions for the Preparation of the Technical Proposal (page 71), lists both 30 and 40 pages as the technical proposal’s page limitation. Could USAID please clarify the page limit for the technical proposal?

A.44 Please see Answer A.3.

Q.45 May offerors include reference contacts for key personnel in a sub-annex separate from the CVs that does not count against the technical proposal page limit?

A.45 Reference contacts for key personnel should be included in their CV’s, which will be counted against the page limit.

Q.46 In order to identify recent projects most relevant to Kosovo LEGO (whether in PPIRS or not), may offerors begin the past performance annex with a summary list of projects, to be followed by the Past Performance Information Sheet for those projects not in PPIRs?

A.46 Yes.

Q.47 There are multiple references in the RFP to the fact that the 17,858 of professional technical staff person day’s level of effort (LOE) is an “estimate.” Could USAID please confirm that this estimate does not represent a floor or a ceiling, and that offerors may propose a total number of professional technical LOE days in accordance with their respective technical approaches?

A.47 No please use our estimate.

Q.48 Section L.7 (a) on page 72 of the RFP requires an original signature on the SF 33. Could USAID please confirm that an e-signature or scanned signature is sufficient as the proposal will be submitted electronically?

A.48 Scanned signature is sufficient as the proposals will be submitted electronically.