SOL-520-12-000014 - Indigenous Assessment Clarifications to Questions

Solicitation for Quotation No. SOL-520-12-000014 USAID/Guatemala Indigenous Assessment

Amendment No. 1 Annex A

LIST OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

USAID/GUATEMALA INDIGENOUS ASSESSMENT

SOL-520-12-000014

Question No. 1: Is the scope of a drafted action plan to inform the entire Guatemala Mission or just the EGO?

Response to Question No. 1: The scope of a drafted action plan would be to inform the entire Guatemala Mission.

Question No. 2: What annexes need to be included with the technical proposal?

Response to Question No. 2: Charts, timeline of proposed activities, organizational structure of the assessment team, biographical data sheets, and any other relevant information that the potential contractor would like to provide can be included as annexes to the technical proposal.

Question No. 3: Are contractors expected to present to USAID after final comments have been received from USAID, or will they present, leave country (if necessary), and continue to make comments on the draft from out of country?

Response to Question No. 3: On page 9 of the Scope of Work in the original solicitation, there is a table (Activity and Schedule). This table lays out in detail what things and when they are due. After the draft report is turned in to USAID, it will be reviewed and comments will be provided in 5 days or less. Then USAID/Guatemala comments should be included into the final report and the presentation would be the last part of the activity before finishing.

Question No. 4: Please kindly provide the expected award date.

Response to Question No. 4: It is expected that this purchase order will be awarded o/a the last week of September 2012.

Question No. 5: Please kindly provide the size limit of each attachment for submission. We understand that the submission of PDF files and excel sheets, but no zipped will be adequate.

Question No. 6: Please confirm that one-inch margins on all four sides of the letter-sized pages are adequate.

Question No. 7: Please verify that charts and diagrams will not be included in the page count.

Response to Questions No. 5, 6, and 7:

Although no specific technical proposal format is mandated, the technical proposals should take into account the guidance below.

Amendment No. 1 Annex A

Offerors shall submit a proposal in response to this solicitation that is specific, clear, and complete, and that responds to the instructions provided. The proposal shall be written in English and typed on standard 8 1/2” x 11” paper, single spaced, 12 characters per inch with each page numbered consecutively. One-inch margins on all four sides of the letter-sized pages are adequate. The proposal must be organized according to the Evaluation Criteria is Section I of the original solicitation and shall be organized as such:

Cover Page – Title, names of organization(s) submitting the quotation, contact person, telephone and fax numbers, addresses and emails.

Technical Proposal - The technical proposal shall not exceed 12 pages, excluding the cover page and annexes (resumes, charts, diagrams, bio data sheets, etc.). The annexes shall not exceed a total of 10 additional pages (this may be printed on one side or both sides), excluding resumes/curriculum vitae of proposed personnel. A technical proposal and all annexes that exceed these page limits will only be evaluated through page 12 and 10 respectively and the remaining pages will not be evaluated.

The technical proposal shall include the following:

• Proposed methods of data collection and analysis

• Timeline of proposed activities

• Overall approach and methodology

• Organizational structure of the assessment team, team members’ roles in the assessment and their areas of expertise

• Past performance

PDF files and excel sheets will be adequate. Electronic files shall not exceed 10MB limit and shall not be zipped files.

Question No. 8: Submit the procedure and guidelines for this award as well as a list of items, schedule of requirements, scope of work, terms of reference, bill of materials required.

Response to Question No. 8: This information was included in the Solicitation for Quotation (SOL) No. SOL-520-12-000014 published on July 23, 2012. You may download this solicitation in the following websites: https://www.fbo.gov and http://www.usaid.gov/gt/ under SOL-520-12-000014.

Question No. 9: Names of countries that will be eligible to participate in this process.

Response to Question No. 9: This is a full and open competition process. Any organization, firm or individual from countries included in USAID Geographic Code 937 is eligible to apply under this solicitation. Code 937 includes the (the United States, the recipient country, and developing countries other than advanced developing countries, but excluding any country that is a prohibited source). For more information please refer to ADS 310 following this link: http://transition.usaid.gov/policy/ads/300/310.pdf

Amendment No. 1 Annex A

Question No. 10: Any extension of bidding deadline?

Response to Question No. 10: We are not contemplating an extension of bidding deadline.

Question No. 11: Please provide the page limit of each CV. Do the annexes include the curricula vitae?

Response to Question No. 11: Three-page is the limit of each CV. Yes, the annexes include the curricula vitae.

Question No. 12: Please provide the number of past performance references that the prime contractor and subcontractor should submit:

Response to Question No. 12: The contractor/subcontractor should submit at least 3 past performance references.

Question No. 13: Please provide the evaluation criteria for the cost submission:

Response to Question No. 13: As indicated in the original solicitation, page No. 10 of Attachment No. 1, cost will be taken into consideration for evaluation purposes, even though no points are assigned. This award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors.

Question No. 14: Can USAID/Guatemala provide any information on preparation of the cost proposal?

Answer to Question No. 14: The offeror must include in the cost quotation a detailed budget reflecting every estimated cost item, broken out and submit a detailed budget narrative that supports item for item the cost estimates proposed in its detailed budget.

The budget narrative should describe the nature of individual cost items proposed and include a description of the source of that particular cost estimate (historical experience with the cost item, catalogue price, vendor price quotes, etc.).

Question No. 15: Please provide the updated local compensation plan and/or the FSN scale.

Response to Question No. 15: Pursuant to the most recent local compensation plan, dated June 6, 2010, the following represent the minimum and maximum annual basic compensation paid (base salary) for different professional Cooperating Country Nationals (CCN) and Third Country Nationals (TCN) levels:

Professional level Minimum annual basic rate Maximum annual basic rate Clerical staff Q34,703 Q147,407

Administrative staff Q133,375 Q301,125

Amendment No. 1 Annex A

Professional [low level] Q230,914 Q357,922

Professional [mid level] Q310,769 Q481,697

Professional [high level] Q354,093 Q548,841

Daily rates for proposed consultants shall be in accordance with their bio data sheets. In the event a proposed consultant does not have recent salary history, the above FSN Local Compensation Plan can be used as a reference. However, note that a firm fixed price purchase order will be awarded as a result of this solicitation.

Question No. 16: Please provide a range of the expected funding for this assessment:

Response to Question No. 16: The range of the expected funding for this purchase order is between $90,000 - $125,000.

Question No. 17: On page 2 of cover sheet, it mentions that the biographical data sheets are included in the proposal. Should it be included in the Technical or the Cost Quotation?

Response to Question No. 17: The biographical data sheets should be included in the technical proposal as an annex.

Question No. 18: Any addendum or pre-bid meeting minutes?

Response to Question No. 18: There is no addendum and/or pre-bid meeting minutes information.

Question No. 19: Is there a Spanish version of this solicitation?

Response to Question No. 19: There is no Spanish version of the solicitation.

Question No. 20: While USAID requires the total assignment be completed in no more than 60 work days, what period of time is a consultant allowed to complete the project? Could this work potentially span a longer period (such a few months) to allow for necessary processes, as long as the 60 work day requirement is respected?

Response to Question No. 20: The 60 work day period is the total period to complete the assessment. USAID/Guatemala does not anticipate an extension of the period of performance.

Question No. 21: Please confirm that offerors may submit technical and cost submissions electronically.

Answer to Question No. 21: As instructed in original solicitation, page No. 1. All technical and cost quotations should be submitted electronically to Ms. Carolina Villegas at the e-mail cvillegas@usaid.gov.