CSC-26502 Questions and Answers.xlsx

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The $2,000 threshold is a combined labor plus materials cap (total cost per work order). In accordance with PWS Section C4.4.7, a repair is considered a Demand Maintenance Order (DMO) and included in the fixed-price maintenance scope if it requires thirty-two (32) labor hours or less AND the total estimated cost (combined labor and materials) is $2,000 or less. If an individual repair exceeds 32 hours of labor OR exceeds $2,000 in total cost, the work must be converted to a Project Work Order (PWO).

2026 Columbus Ohio market rates were not reviewed. The thresholds are based off DFARS 222.402-70 Installation support contracts, 40 USC § 3142: Rate of Wages for Laborers and Mechanics and 41 USC Chapter 67 SERVICE CONTRACT LABOR STANDARDS.

The Government does not have a set expectation or mandated target ratio for DMOs converting to PWOs. DMOs are inherently unscheduled and corrective in nature; therefore, the conversion rate is driven by equipment condition and unpredictable failure events. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to manage the workforce and materials to meet the PWS objectives within these established thresholds.

1. If Administrative/Privileged Access is Required:

(a) Investigation Level: IT-I or IT-II level of trust is required. Specifically, all CONUS Contractor personnel performing IT-II/Moderate Risk duties require a Tier 3 (T3) investigation. If IT-I duties are required, a Tier 5 investigation is necessary.

(b) CAC: Yes, a Common Access Card (CAC) is required.

(c) Work Role & Certification: This role maps to DoDM 8140.03 / DoD 8570.01-M IAT Level II or III baseline certification (e.g., Security+ CE, CISSP, or equivalent). Additionally, a Computing Environment (CE) certification applicable to the application is required: all contract employees must be certified in the operating systems of any system on which they perform system administration duties.

2. If Administrative/Privileged Access is NOT Required:

(a) Investigation Level: Standard IT-III/Tier 1 (National Agency Check with Inquiries - NACI) is typically required for basic network access.

(b) CAC: Yes, a CAC is required for network and physical facility access.

(c) Work Role & Certification: Standard non-privileged user rules apply; specific cyber work roles may not be triggered unless direct system configuration changes are within the scope.

3. (d) Processing Times:

Steam: Cleaver Brooks CEW-700, CB-700 No record of 3rd party inspections.

Building 10 boilers are only boilers with restrictions

(b) The distribution system for this site is fed from a 138kV Main Substation and is stepped down to a site distrition system of 13.2kV. The 13.2kV enters building transformers and is typically stepped down to 208V or 480V. Equipment that operates above 600V are the 3 centrifugal chillers in Bldg. 20A which operate at 4160V.

(c) 700,000 SF and 253 panels within Bldg. 20. Reoccuring preventative maintenance on panels handled under seperate contract effort.

For PWOs Bidders may use their own format for these cost breakdowns, provided the proposal includes a transparent breakout of labor, materials, and equipment to allow the Contracting Officer to determine price reasonableness.

Please specify whether:

Please specify:

are included within the fixed-price scope or separately reimbursable when directed by the Government.

Please also clarify:

Premium labor rates or shift differentials are only applicable to separately funded Project Work Orders. If the Government initiates a Project Work Order for major repairs or upgrades that exceed the Demand Maintenance Order thresholds, and explicitly directs that the work be performed outside of normal operating hours, the Contractor may include negotiated premium labor rates in their Project Work Order cost estimate for Contracting Officer approval prior to execution.

Examples include:

Routine Maintenance and Minor Interruptions (Fixed-Price Scope) For routine preventative maintenance (PMO) or Demand Maintenance Orders (DMOs) that fall under the 32-hour and $2,000 total combined cost thresholds, after-hours execution is included within the fixed-price scope. In accordance with PWS Sections C4.4.1 and C2.4.7, the Contractor must arrange work to cause the least interference with Government business. If a minor electrical shutdown, cybersecurity patch, or utility interruption is required for a routine task, the labor is included in the fixed-price monthly maintenance CLINs, and premium labor rates are not separately reimbursed. The Contractor is expected to utilize the mandated Saturday shift (0700 to 1100) or other off-hours for these disruptive maintenance services.

Major Upgrades and Cutovers (Separately Funded PWOs) Major system modifications, such as controls upgrades, full BAS cutovers, or significant cybersecurity maintenance windows, generally exceed the DMO thresholds and are processed as Project Work Orders (PWOs) in accordance with PWS Section C4.4.8. PWOs are separately funded. If the Government explicitly directs these PWOs to be executed after hours to prevent tenant disruption, the Contractor may include negotiated premium labor rates or shift differentials in their PWO cost proposal for Contracting Officer approval prior to execution.

On-site coverage is required on Saturdays from 0700 to 1100 utilizing alternating FTE schedules (PWS Section C2.4.7). Outside of those hours, the Contractor must maintain standby status and respond on-site to Priority 1 (Emergency) DMOs within one (1) hour of receipt or after-hours approval (PWS Sections C5.1.1 & C4.4.7.1.1).

If the Contractor determines weather conditions are unsafe for continued operations, they must notify the KO/COR/ACOR within twelve (12) hours of the suspension. Operations must resume immediately upon weather clearance and KO/COR approval (PWS Section C2.4.3).

For DMOs and emergencies, premium holiday labor is not reimbursable. The cost of maintaining on-call/standby personnel on Federal holidays to meet the 2-hour emergency response requirement must be built into the Contractor's monthly firm-fixed-price proposal.

If required, please specify:

Full-time on-site coverage is not expected for Kitchen Equipment or Cybersecurity support. The Contractor may propose on-call, dispatch, or scheduled subcontractor support for these specific disciplines, provided all PWS performance metrics, regulatory certifications, and emergency response times are strictly met.

Please clarify whether:

Please identify:

All requests for planned premium labor, overtime, weekend, or holiday work must be submitted in writing to the COR and the Contracting Officer. This notification must include a justification of necessity, estimated labor hours, and an estimated cost breakout. For emergency after-hours support that exceeds the routine fixed-price thresholds, the Contractor must provide immediate notification to the COR, followed by an estimated cost of work within 24 hours for budgeting and Not-To-Exceed authorization purposes

Premium labor for routine utility interruptions is not separately reimbursable. If the interruption is part of a routine preventative maintenance task or a Demand Maintenance Order that falls under the $2,000 total combined cost and thirty-two labor hour thresholds, the effort is entirely included within the fixed-price scope. The Contractor must absorb any after-hours or weekend labor costs associated with these routine shutdowns into their firm-fixed-price proposal.

The on-site staffing hours must be covered by a combination of shifts (for example, some employees working 0700 to 1530 and others working 0730 to 1600) to ensure continuous coverage throughout the day.

On Saturdays, the Contractor is required to maintain the minimal staffing necessary to successfully perform basic operations checks and execute any required off-hours maintenance, in accordance with PWS Section C2.4.7. The specific labor categories and quantities for this shift are not mandated by the Government but must be determined and proposed by the Contractor to satisfy this specific performance objective.

Outside of standard operating hours, there are no mandatory on-site staffing level quantities. The Contractor is not expected to have employees working unless there is an emergency. However, the Contractor must maintain on-call and standby coverage.

The Contractor is required to support installation emergencies and Continuity of Operations plans. This includes participating in exercises, executing emergency recall procedures, and maintaining personnel accountability. During an actual emergency or continuity activation, the Contractor must follow all procedures directed by the KO/COR to ensure critical facility systems remain operational.

In the event of an unplanned utility failure, the Contractor must act immediately to troubleshoot, check backup systems, and restore services, and must provide a verbal report to the KO/COR within one hour. The initial troubleshooting, system resets, and routine repairs associated with utility failures are included within the fixed-price scope.

If the Government initiates a Project Work Order (PWO) and explicitly directs that the work be performed outside of normal operating hours (e.g., to prevent tenant disruption per PWS Section C4.4.1), the Contractor may include applicable shift differentials or premium labor rates in their PWO cost estimate. Per PWS Section C4.4.8.1 (Execution of PWO Work), the Contractor must provide a detailed proposal addressing the scope, schedule, and proposed price, supported by detailed labor and material estimates. These rates will be reviewed, negotiated, and approved by the Contracting Officer on a case-by-case basis.

Please identify:

If so, please identify:

There are no physical equipment size thresholds (such as tonnage, horsepower, or voltage) used to determine when a repair becomes additional work. The scope of a repair is evaluated solely by the estimated labor-hours and total combined cost required to resolve the specific failure, regardless of the physical size of the machine or system being repaired.

Examples include:

Specifically:

1. Standalone (Non-Networked) Systems:

If the Contractor's proposed solution requires a standalone, non-networked system, the Contractor is fully responsible for furnishing and maintaining the entire system, including both the Operating System (OS) and all applications.

2. Networked Systems / General Division of Responsibility:

For systems residing on the Government network, responsibility is divided between the OS/Infrastructure layer and the Application layer:

Contractor Furnished/Responsible (Application Layer - Included in fixed-price scope):

Controllers Sensors Actuators Vendor application licensing Vendor-specific supervisory software and applications

Note: The Contractor is responsible for maintaining and applying STIGs to all vendor-specific applications.

Government Furnished Equipment/Responsible (OS & Infrastructure Layer):

Gateways Network switches Servers Workstations Firewalls

Note: The Government is responsible for furnishing, upgrading, updating, and applying STIGs for these GFE items, including the underlying Operating Systems.

Exceptions: While rare and highly unlikely, if a specific site or networked solution requires Contractor-furnished servers, the Contractor would then assume full responsibility for those servers. Otherwise, the baseline assumption is that servers and standard network infrastructure are GFE.

Examples:

1. Standalone (Non-Networked) Systems:

If the solution is standalone, both the Operating System (OS) and all applications (including any required local cybersecurity tools) are maintained by the vendor.

2. Networked Systems / General Division of Responsibility:

Government Furnished / Funded (OS & Infrastructure Layer):

Antivirus Licensing & Vulnerability Scanning Tools: Provided by the Government for systems on the network (e.g., ACAS, enterprise host-based security tools).

Network Segmentation Hardware, Switches, and Firewalls: Furnished and maintained by the Government.

Software Renewals (Government-owned): The Government is responsible for renewing licenses for all Government-provided (GFE) software, OS licenses, and enterprise tools.

Contractor Furnished / Funded (Application Layer - Within Fixed-Price Scope):

Vendor-Specific Software & Applications: The Contractor is responsible for the provisioning, licensing, maintenance, and renewals of any contractor-proposed or vendor-specific applications/supervisory software.

Clarification Required from Offeror:

If included:

The Contractor must strictly adhere to the EPA refrigerant management requirements detailed in PWS Section C9.5.5. The Contractor is required to identify and repair leaks that exceed applicable EPA thresholds, such as ten percent for comfort cooling, twenty percent for commercial refrigeration, and thirty percent for Industrial Process Refrigeration, within thirty days of adding refrigerant. Furthermore, per PWS Section C9.5.5.7, the Contractor must notify the COR and DPW Environmental if any appliance leaks one hundred twenty-five percent or more of its full charge in one calendar year.

A major refrigerant loss event caused by a catastrophic equipment failure that exceeds the $2,000 total combined cost or 32 labor-hour DMO thresholds will be excluded from the fixed-price scope and treated as additional work via a PWO. However, this exclusion only applies if the loss was not the direct result of Contractor negligence, such as a failure to perform scheduled preventative maintenance, a failure to repair a known leak within the mandated thirty-day window, or the improper handling of refrigerants by Contractor personnel.

Examples:

In accordance with PWS Section C4.4.7, routine corrective maintenance covers work where the estimated labor does not exceed thirty-two (32) hours and the total estimated combined cost of labor and materials does not exceed $2,000. Because catastrophic failures and major utility events naturally require repairs or replacements that exceed these thresholds, they fall outside of the fixed-price DMO scope and must be processed as Project Work Orders (PWOs) or Emergency PWOs in accordance with PWS Section C4.4.8 and Section C4.4.8.3. Emergency PWOs are separately funded, and the Contracting Officer or COR can immediately authorize the Contractor to begin stabilization and repair work under a Not-To-Exceed budget to protect personnel and property.

The labor associated with performing this baseline assessment is included within the Contractor's fixed-price scope. Physical lifecycle replacement and modernization costs for Government-furnished (GFE) systems and hardware identified during the baseline will be funded separately by the Government (subject to availability of funds), as the procurement of new GFE is not within the Contractor's fixed-price scope.

Ongoing Maintenance of Replaced/Modernized Systems:

Following any modernization or replacement, ongoing maintenance responsibilities are divided as follows:

Standalone Systems: If the system is standalone, both the Operating System (OS) and all applications are maintained by the vendor.

ATOs & RMF Packages: The Contractor does not directly obtain or "own" the ATO. The Contractor is responsible for supporting the Government team that leads the ATO effort by providing the required deliverables and artifacts as outlined in the PWS and awarded contract.

Specifically:

Remediation & Scope:

Networked Systems: The Government handles STIG remediation for the Operating System (OS) and network infrastructure. The Contractor is responsible for remediating all findings related to vendor-specific applications and software.

Standalone Systems: The Contractor is fully responsible for remediating all STIG findings for both the OS and the applications.

Note: Occasional Government assistance may be provided if Government applications or hardware are determined to be the root cause of an issue impacting Contractor systems.

Scanning Tools: As previously noted, the Government provides vulnerability scanning (and tools) for active networked/GFE equipment. The Contractor is responsible for scanning their own systems prior to implementation and site installation.

Existing POA&Ms: If applicable, the Government maintains the Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M). Currently, there are no existing POA&M items for this requirement.