Amendment_No._1.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION / MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

PAGE OF PAGES

1 2

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

SEE BLOCK 16C

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO

REQ-674-12-000372

5. PROJECT NO.

(If applicable)

6. ISSUED BY

CODE

USAID/SA RAAO

7. ADMINISTERED BY

Regional Acquisition and Assistance USAID/Southern Africa 100 Totius Street P.O. Box 43 Groenkloof 0027 Pretoria, South Africa

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP code)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

SOL-674-12-000035

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

11/02/2012

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

FACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended is not extended.

Offerors must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods: (a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c)

By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BE RECEIVED

AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify Authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation data, etc.) SET

FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible)

The purpose of this Amendment is to provide clarification and provide answers to questions.

Accordingly, the above referenced solicitation is modified as follows:

(See Continuation Page)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16A NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

15C. DATE SIGNED

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

16C. DATE SIGNED

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

PREVIOUS EDITION UNUSABLE

30-105

STANDARD FORM 30 (Rev. 10-83) Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

Dana Rose, Contracting Officer

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION / MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

PAGE OF PAGES

2 2

2. AMENDMENT/MOD. NO.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

SEE BLOCK 16C

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO

REQ-674-12-000372

5. PROJECT NO.

(If applicable)

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.) – CONTINUATION

1. Section C.6.1, Chief of Party, first bullet, ADD the following language “(three to five years of additional relevant professional experience may be substituted for the Master’s Degree)”.

2. Section C.6.2, Deputy Chief of Party, first bullet, ADD the following language “(three to five years of additional relevant professional experience may be substituted for the Master’s Degree)”.

3. Section C.6.3, Technical Program Director, first bullet, ADD the following language “(three to five years of additional relevant professional experience may be substituted for the Master’s Degree)”.

4. Section C.6.5, Technical Program Director, first bullet, ADD the following language “(three to five years of additional relevant professional experience may be substituted for the Master’s Degree)”.

5. Section H.2(a), Geographic Code: DELETE “937” and REPLACE with “935”.

6. Section L.7, General Instructions for the Preparation of the Technical Proposal, (c) and (d), Technical Proposal Annex requirements, ADD “overall management plan (not to exceed 2 pages) and organizational chart (not to exceed 2 pages)”.

7. Section L.10, Management and Staffing, (a) Overall Management Plan, ADD the following language “(include in Annex)”.

8. Section L.10, Management and Staffing, (b)(1) Organizational Chart, ADD the following language “(include in Annex)”.

9. Section L.13, (b) Part 2 – Proposed Costs/Prices, 2. Budget Line Item Headings, A. Direct Costs, 1. Labor Costs, DELETE “c. Overhead”.

10. Questions and Answers are provided as Attachment 1 to this Amendment. These answers serve to clarify only. Any amendments to the RFP are included above.

Solicitation No. #SOL-674-12-000035 Attachment 1 to Amendment No. 01

ATTACHMENT 1 – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

GENERAL

QUESTION 1: Who is eligible to submit a proposal?

ANSWER 1: The geographic code is 935, which means an organization from any area or country including the recipient country, but excluding any country that is a prohibited source. (Section H.2 of the RFP will be amended accordingly.)

QUESTION 2: Would USAID welcome proposals from consortia?

ANSWER 2: Yes, if by “consortia” you mean two or more companies forming a partnership or joint venture to act as a potential prime contractor; this would thus be consistent with RFP Section L.13(e).

QUESTION 3: Would USAID consider extending the submission deadline for proposals due to the upcoming holidays?

ANSWER 3: No.

QUESTION 4: Will the successful offeror be awarded the full contract for the entire country, or will multiple contracts be awarded based on geography or task-splitting?

ANSWER 4: USAID anticipates awarding one contract.

QUESTION 5: Could USAID please provide an estimated total budget amount for this contract?

ANSWER 5: No, we have indicated magnitude through the Professional Technical Level of Effort.

SECTION B

QUESTION 6: On Page 2, Section B.3, ESTIMATED COST, FIXED FEE, AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT, headings are given there with blanks following and no further information- for example: indirect costs and sub-sections a) b) and c)

– must we complete the blanks when we submit? And how would we do this without further information concerning for example the indirect costs tables and sections in B3?

ANSWER 6: Your cost proposal should follow the instructions in Section L.13. Section L.13 does not instruct the offeror to fill the blanks in section B.3.

QUESTION 7: On Page 3, Section B.5, COST REIMBURSABLE, there are documents referenced. How can offerors access these documents?

ANSWER 7: The full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at the following addresses:

FAR clauses – https://www.acquisition.gov/far/

AIDAR clauses - http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/ads/300/aidar.pdf

SECTION C

QUESTION 8: Section C, DESCRIPTIONS/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK, can the proposal link in to

SANAC (South African National Aids Council) strengthening at local and district levels?

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/ http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/ads/300/aidar.pdf

ANSWER 8: Offerors are encouraged to submit their best proposal for consideration.

QUESTION 9: Section C, DESCRIPTIONS/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK, will the contractor be expected to submit aggregated national data on PEPFAR indicators based on submissions by implementing organizations to DSD?

ANSWER 9: Yes, but only where applicable.

QUESTION 10: Section C, DESCRIPTIONS/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK, to help inform offerors’ proposals, would USAID kindly provide the following documents:

a) Conceptual Framework of Accredited Training;

b) Conceptual Framework for Child Protection Training; and

c) Implementation Plan, costing model and any training reports related to CANE?

ANSWER 10: No; USAID will not provide these additional documents.

QUESTION 11: On Page 10, Section C.3, KEY COMPONENTS, TASKS AND OUTCOMES, Component 2, the RFP notes the following expected outcome, “Costing and expenditure analysis for services to vulnerable children completed and disseminated through knowledge management activities.” Can USAID please provide additional details on the expected scope and components of the service costing/expenditure analysis?

ANSWER 11: No. USAID looks forward to receiving proposals from offerors which demonstrate how this can be done in an efficient and comprehensive manner.

QUESTION 12: On Page 15, Section C.6, KEY PERSONNEL, a master’s degree is required for all of the key personnel positions. Would USAID accept additional years of experience (additional meaning in addition to the experience required for each position) in lieu of a master’s degree for any of the key personnel positions?

ANSWER 12: Yes, three to five years of additional experience would be an acceptable substitute for a master’s degree for the key personnel positions of Chief of Party (COP), Deputy Chief of Party (D/COP), Technical Program

Director (PD) and Senior Advisor, Monitoring, Evaluation and Research. (Section C of the RFP will be amended accordingly.)

SECTION F

QUESTION 13: On Page 20, Section F.5 PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL LEVEL OF EFFORT, (a) the RFP states that the contractor shall devote 74,100 person-days of level of effort of professional technical labor for the period specified in the period of performance clause. Requesting all offerors to use a single fixed number could make it difficult for USAID to compare prices on an even basis, given the wide variation in cost accounting standards among firms in the industries. For example, some organizations allocate certain types of technical labor to indirect cost pools that other organizations treat as direct costs, meaning these two organizations would require a different amount of total LOE to deliver identical service offerings. Accordingly, can USAID please confirm that this number in Section F.5 will be replaced in the eventual awarded contract with the actual number of days included in the successful offerors’ proposal?

ANSWER 13: No. The Mission requirement is the number of professional technical level of effort that is stated in the

RFP; any more or any less would be inconsistent with the requirement. Your proposal must clearly indicate the amount of professional technical level of effort as per the instructions, regardless of the financial accounting methodology (e.g. direct, indirect) associated with the proposed individual.

QUESTION 14: On Page 20, Section F.5 PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL LEVEL OF EFFORT, (a) the RFP states, “The contractor shall devote 74,100 person-days level of effort of professional technical employee, consultant, and subcontractor labor for the period specified in the clause Period of Performance, above. This labor can be US, third country or South African staff and can be long or short-term labor. It should not include administrative positions such as the Program Officer, HR Manager, Administrative Assistant, Administrative Manager, Program Assistant or any other position that has the primary function of providing administrative support to the contract. The Chief of Party is included as professional technical labor.” Please clarify whether the Director, Financial Management and Operations, is included as professional technical labor

ANSWER 14: No; the Director, Financial Management and Operations is not included as professional technical labor if the position’s primary function is providing administrative support to the contract.

SECTION H

QUESTION 15: On Page 32, Section H.7, AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE, please confirm whether the authorized geographic code for this contract is 935 or 937.

ANSWER 15: The authorized geographic code is 935. (Section H.2 of the RFP will be amended accordingly.)

SECTION L

QUESTION 16: Section L, INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS, please confirm whether

USAID permits a performance management plan to be included in the technical annexes.

ANSWER 16: It is unclear what you mean by “performance management plan.” If you mean “overall management plan,” it must be included in the Annex but is not to exceed 2 pages. (Sections L.7 and L.10 of the RFP will be amended accordingly.)

QUESTION 17: Section L, INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS, please confirm whether

USAID will take the annexes into consideration during evaluation.

ANSWER 17: Yes, for those annexes permitted by the RFP Section L.

QUESTION 18: On Page 55, Section L.1, NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY

REFERENCE, FAR 52.222-46, Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees is included. This provision includes the requirement that offerors submit a “total compensation plan” with proposals. Could USAID please clarify what offerors are required to submit?

ANSWER 18: The offer will be considered compliant with this FAR provision if consistent with the requirements in

Section L.13, including, inter alia, detailed labor costs with supporting budget notes and the certified version of the

Contractor’s written personnel policies.

QUESTION 19: On Page 57, Section L.7, GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL, (b) states that the page limit of the technical approach is 30 pages. Can USAID clarify if the summary table of professional level of effort is included in the page limit?

ANSWER 19: Yes, the summary table of professional level of effort is included in this page limit.

QUESTION 20: On Page 57, Section L.7, GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL, please confirm if you permit full-page graphics and tables to be excluded from the page limit?

ANSWER 20: No, all graphics and tables are included in the 30 page limit unless specifically stated otherwise.

QUESTION 21: On Page 57, Section L.7, GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL, the RFP states that the proposal should use 12 point font. Please confirm that applicants can use a smaller font that is reasonably legible for tables and figures.

ANSWER 21: No, all text in the proposal must be typed in Times New Roman, 12 point font.

QUESTION 22: On Page 58, Section L.7, GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL, the RFP states that letters of commitment or teaming arrangements with subcontractors should be included in the annexes. Please confirm that it is sufficient to include one of the two, i.e. only letters of commitment from subcontractors.

ANSWER 22: Yes, the Annex to the technical proposal must include either a teaming agreement or letter of commitment from each subcontractor.

QUESTION 23: On Page 58, Section L.7, GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL, the RFP states that letters of commitment should be included in the annex to the technical proposal. Page 66, Section L.13, INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE COST/BUSINESS

PROPOSAL, (g) Part 7, Letters of Commitment (Subcontractors) states that the cost/business proposal “must include a letter, on subcontractor letterhead, and signed by an authorized representative of each subcontractor…” Please clarify if letters of commitment from subcontractors should be included in the technical or the cost proposal.

ANSWER 23: Letters of commitment from subcontractors should be included in the Annex to the technical proposal.

QUESTION 24: On Page 58, Section L.7, GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL, (d) Organization, and Section L.8, SUMMARY TABLE OF PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL

LEVEL OF EFFORT, the RFP states that a LOE summary table is required. However, Section M, EVALUATION

FACTORS FOR AWARD, does not mention the summary table of LOE even though it is clear in section L that the table should be included. Could USAID confirm that the summary table is included with the term “other items” stated in Section L.7 on Page 57?

ANSWER 24: We do not understand this question; the term “other items” is not found on page 57. Section L.8 is clear.

QUESTION 25: On Page 58, Section L.8, SUMMARY TABLE OF PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL LEVEL OF

EFFORT, the RFP states that a summary table of professional technical level of effort is required. This section also states the table should include the total LOE for each labor category. Please clarify the different labor categories the table should be broken down by.

ANSWER 25: Professional technical expatriate, CCN and TCN status, and short- and long-term status.

QUESTION 26: On Page 58, Section L.9, TECHNICAL APPROACH, and Page 69, Section M.3, TECHNICAL

APPROACH FACTOR, submission of a detailed monitoring and evaluation plan is required. Please confirm that the

M&E plan should be included within the technical proposal, but that it is acceptable to include the indicator table as an annex?

ANSWER 26: The indicator table may be included in the Annex.

QUESTION 27: On Page 59, Section L.10, MANAGEMENT AND STAFFING, would USAID consider allowing offerors to include the organizational chart as an annex to the management and staffing section?

ANSWER 27: Yes, the organizational chart may be included in the Annex but is not to exceed 2 pages. (Sections L.7 and L.10 of the RFP will be amended accordingly.)

QUESTION 28: On Page 61, Section L.12, CONTRACTOR PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION, please confirm whether offerors can submit the SF 294 in a separate email or on a CD given the size of the file.

ANSWER 28: Offerors can submit the SF 294 in a separate email in accordance with the requirements on Page 57, Section L.6, DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS.

QUESTION 29: On Page 61, Section L.12, CONTRACTOR PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION, we acknowledge that the SF 294 and US small business references could include cost information. Could USAID please clarify these should be included as an annex to the technical proposal or the cost proposal?

ANSWER 29: The SF 294 and US small business references should be included in the Annex to the technical proposal.

QUESTION 30: On Page 62, Section L .13, INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE COST/BUSINESS

PROPOSAL, (b) Part 2 – Proposed Costs/Prices, 2. Budget Line Item Headings, Overhead is listed in both Section A.

Direct Costs (1. Labor Costs, c. Overhead) and in Section B. Indirect Costs (2. Overhead). Please confirm under which cost section overhead should be budgeted?

ANSWER 30: Overhead should be included in the Indirect Costs section. (Section L.13 of the RFP will be amended accordingly.)