Final_RFP_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

# Pg. # Sect. Par. Question / Comment Government Response

1 6 A Blk 9 In light of the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend preceding the due date, would NOAA consider delaying the proposal due?

No

2 7 A Sche dule

Do we need to include this form and associated schedule in our proposal?

No

3 8 B 1 Please also confirm that there are no partial set asides? Confirmed

4 8 B 1 Would you please provide the anticipated ceiling for the Oceans domain, separate from the combined $3B ceiling for the five domain contracts?

The total ceiling of $3B is shared between all 5 domains. There is no ceiling per Domain.

5 8 B 2

The cited paragraph states that "The term of ProTech Oceans is a two-year base period and three one-year option periods for a total of five years if all options are exercised". If this is a maximum five-year contract, why is 10 years of pricing requested?

The resulting award will be an IDIQ with a five year ordering period.

Orders place on the IDIQ may have periods of performance that extend up to 60 months beyond the IDIQ ordering period.

6 11 C 1

Since the NDBC Technical Support Services RFI was cancelled prior to the

ProTech Oceans Domain RFP and the scope of work is to be included in the Oceans Domain, will that scope of work remain intact and offered as a single award TO under ProTech or will it be broken into multiple smaller awards?

Please see the current RFI EA-133W-16-RFI-0002 on FBO for the most up-to-date information regarding the NDBC requirement.

7 13 C 3.1.1 Please define the electromagnetic range for spectral data collection Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

8 13 C 3.1.1 Please define information products acquired and is data fusion required within the product line

Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

9 13 C 3.1.4 Will the publishing support function require a map production capability -would map volume be required

Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

10 13 C 3.1.5 Is this imagery only - please define format Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

11 13 C 3.1.6 Does this paragraph imply the ability to perform large-scale map production for oceanographic, meteorological and nautical charting

Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

12 15 C 3.2.1

Please define range of production scale ie. 1:5k -1:100k and would NGA standards be implemented ie. MIL-PRF-89038

Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

13 14 C 3.2.6 Should the word newscasts be nowcasts? No

14 14 C 3.2.7

Will respondents need to show corporate experience performing all of these requirements in order to be considered compliant? Can the Govt provide any examples of these services to help clarify these requirements? Can the Govt provide any examples of NOS line offices that might request these services? Can the Govt provide any further elaboration or definition of the term "new boat construction and acquisition"?

If an offeror chooses to respond to a specific element of the SOW, it must respond to the entire element. Please see response #15 on the

Draft RFP Q&A response for additional details. Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

15 15 C 3.2.1

In the Industry Day Questions and Answers Template, NOAA's answer to

Question 10 was that "It is the intent of the Government to procure the

NDBC requirement off of ProTech Oceans. References to the 'ReCon

System' have been removed from SOW elements C.3.2.10 and C.3.2.11, so that the scope of the possible work under them could be appropriately broadened." However, references to ReCon still appear in the Final RFP.

Does the Government plan to remove these references or otherwise modify these two SOW elements?

Yes, that was an oversight. The word ReCon has been removed from the RFP.

16 19 C 3.3.5 Are grant programs and scholarship programs included in this area?

NOAA has existing grant and scholarship programs that have opportunities to include similar work.

17 17 C 3.4.4 Please clarify what is required of the contractor for this item.

Additional details on the day-to-day requirements of this element will be provided at the order level.

18 18 C 3.4.1

Please clarify what is required of the contractor for this item.

Additional details on the day-to-day requirements of this element will be provided at the order level.

19 18 C 3.4.1

Can the Govt provide any examples of these services to help clarify these requirements? Can the Govt provide any examples of NOS line offices that might request these services? Can the Govt provide any further elaboration or definition of the term "financial technical assistance to place-based Coastal and Oceans programs"?

Additional information, examples, and elaborations on individual elements will be provided at the order level.

20 35 H 1

Please confirm the Government will specify the applicable Department of

Commerce Acquisition Regulation security clauses with each Task Order

RFP.

Confirmed

21 36 H 6

Will the subcontracting plan incorporated apply to all Task Orders? Or will contractors be required to submit a new subcontracting plan for each

Task Order proposal?

Yes, they will be incorporated into the IDIQ for orders. However the ordering contracting officer reserves the right to request an additional plan at the order level if deemed necessary by the

Government.

22 53 J J-2 Can we add multiple labor categories with different levels under each labor category description

No, however awardees will be permitted, as needed and based on the nature of the requirement, to propose additional labor categories at the order level beyond those outlined in Attachment J-

2.

23 53 J J-2

Labor Category Descriptions have varying requirements for education and directly related experience, but the minimum requirement is a BA/BS plus 4 years of directly related experience for Level 1. To be clear, recent college graduates with a BA/BS would not be able to support NOAA

Oceans for this program?

Yes, individuals proposed under the specified labor categories must meet BOTH education AND experience requirements.

24 53 J J-2 Can NOAA clarify if there is a provision for substituting education and advanced degrees for years of experience.

There is no blanket provision for substituting education for experience. Please see response #22 on the Draft RFP Q&A response for additional details.

25 53 J J-5

How should offerors fill out past performance questionnaires if they are proposing both as a prime and as a sub in separate teams? Should they ask reviewers to fill out a single questionnaire that is routed or linked to all proposals? Or do they send multiple copies to the same reviewer, specifying which proposal it is in reference to?

Only one past performance questionnaire needs to be filled out for offerors using the past performance questionnaire in both prime and sub situations. Please see Attachment J-5, Section A, Instruction to

Offerors for further details.

26 53 J J-5

Is it acceptable to provide Past Performance documents in PDF format to reviewers for ease of use? Or must documents to remain in Word format?

Volume IV proposal submission must be in word format. The past performance questionnaires may be converted to PDF format.

27 53 J J-6

Can NOAA please clarify if it wants to have the ceiling rates offerors provide in Attachment J-6 to be rounded to the nearest dollar in EACH year or just the initial year?

Correct, rounded to the nearest dollar each year.

28 53 J J-6

Can NOAA clarify that it intended to have an input in the draft J-6 attachment that would define a proposed annual escalation rate for each year starting with the proposed Year 2 labor rates?

Offerors are asked to input their own escalation rates.

29 53 J J-6

Column C is labeled “Direct Labor Rate”. To confirm, our read is that this is the hourly wage rate paid to the employee rather than the hourly billing rate billed to NOAA. Is that correct?

The Government cannot provide additional information on proposal price structure.

30 53 J J-6

Attachment J-6 includes loaded hourly billing rates through Year 10 however the RFP only includes 5 total years (2 base years and 3 option years). Do offerors need to provide ceiling rates through year 10?

Yes

31 53 J J-6 Should ceiling rates submitted in Attachment J-6 be the same for the first two years, based on those being base years as?

The Government cannot provide additional information on proposal price structure.

32 53 J J-6

There is an error in the J-6 Cost Price Template, in cell Q7 when you enter an escalation the formatting of the cell is different than the previous escalation cells to where the math for the rate applies a full number for the escalation versus a percentage. Cell Q7 should be formatted as a percentage.

The error has been corrected.

33 61 L 1

Relevant to 1352.209-70 - POTENTIAL ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF

INTEREST (Page 61) - Our reading is that if an offeror has not done any work involved in or supporting the ProTech acquisition process itself, they would not have to submit any further information under this clause.

Strictly as an example, if a firm has done no work associated with or supporting the ProTech acquisition process, but has done previous or ongoing work that would fall under C.3.1.5 - “Provide scientific support to analyze satellite data in support of Coastal and Ocean programs” of the ProTech Oceans SOW, would information on that previous or ongoing scientific work (under C.3.1.5) be required under this clause?

Correct. However as part of the OCI Mitigation Plan the government is asking to be made aware of any potential conflicts of interest at the order level as well. Ex: If work on C.3.1.5 exposed the offeror to an unfair competitive advantage for that work at the order level.

34 60 L 1

On page 60 “Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number (JUL

2013)” is listed as 52.204-6 . Is this FAR meant to reference “Unique

Entity Identifier (Oct 2016)?

Yes, the FAR clause remains 52.204-6, with the title updated to

Unique Entity Identifier.

35 60 L 1

On page 60, “Submission of Electronic Funds Transfer Information with

Offer (JUL 2013)” is listed as 52.232-8. Is the number meant to be

52.232-38 and point to a “Discounts for Prompt Payment"?

Yes, the Clause Reference has been updated to FAR 52.232-38

36 67 L 4 Can NOAA clarify the definition of Illustration?

An illustration is a picture or diagram that helps make something clear or attractive.

37 64 L 7.2 Should Solicitation # “TBD” be amended to read “ST-1330-17-RP-0050” as found on page 6 of the RFP?

Yes, correction made.

38 65 L 9 Capability Matrix: Please consider increasing the page limit to 2 pgs. Allowed. Section L.9 has been updated to reflect a 2 page limit.

39 67 L 9

We cannot find any instructions regarding the Capability Matrix listed in the table for the Past Performance volume. Is it optional as is the

Capability Matrix in the Corporate Experience and Commitment Volume?

Instructions have been added for past performance. Both documents are optional.

40 66 L 9.2 Please provide guidelines for submittal of confidential cost packages for subcontractors.

Confidential cost packages for subcontractors are neither required, nor requested.

41 66 L 9.2 In reference to the page size, will the Government allow 11 x 17 for the

Capability Matrices?

No

42 67 L 10

Volume 2 is limited to 25 pages. Due to the amount of information to be provided along with tables, graphs, exhibits and charts, please consider increasing the page limit to 35 pages

No

43 67 L 10 Would the government please allow an additional (1) page in Vol IV Past

Performance for an Introduction?

No.

44 68 L 10.1

Please confirm that two parties, a large business and a small business, may submit a single joint proposal response as provided under FAR 9.6

(Contractor Team Agreements) and receive a single award with both being in privity with the government. At the same time, the parties are dual prime contractors who can respond to potential task orders, where the small business can prime a small business set aside task order and the large business can prime a full/open task order.

Incorrect. This RFP does not allow for a dual prime scenario. There can only be one prime at the award level (determined to be EITHER a large business OR a small business), and that company shall remain the prime with sole privity of contract with the government, for the life of the IDIQ and for all orders.

45 69 L 10.1 Section L requires an OCI plan. If the bidder has no OCI concerns, will a simple statement to that effect suffice?

No, the Government is requesting a plan for how the offeror approaches detecting and reporting OCIs.

46 68 L 10.1 RFP requires a "certified" copy of Prime's Line of Credit. Who is acceptable for "certifying" the copy?

This is normally done by the financial institution issuing the document.

47 68 L 10.1

In Executive Summary, the first sentence in the Final RFP states, "The

Executive Summary letter shall include: ..." Please clarify if the Executive

Summary is to be in letter format or just the first three pages of Volume

I.

The government has no preference on if the executive summary is written as a 3 page statement or in a letter addressed to the

Contracting Officer.

48 68 L 10.1

Can the certified copy of the Prime’s Line of Credit be addressed to the

Offeror, or does NOAA require that to be addressed to the NOAA

Contracting Officer (or other recipient)?

It can be addressed to the offeror.

49 68 L 10.1

Our accounting system is based on the calendar year. Therefore, we would normally include the 2016 financial report through 12/31/16 to comply with the "past fiscal year" requirement. Is this acceptable to the

Government?

Yes

50 68 L 10.1 Will the Government please confirm what type of documentation is required to substantiate an offeror's line of credit?

A certified document from a financial institution establishing a maximum loan balance that the lender permits the borrower to access or maintain.

51 68 L 10.1

We generate quarterly accounting statements throughout our accounting cycle. Therefore, we would normally include a quarterly report through

3/31/17 to comply with the "current reporting period as of the date of the proposal" requirement. Is this acceptable to the Government?

Yes

52 69 L 10.1

Offerors should “complete and provide a copy of electronic annual representations and certifications at sam.gov “ - Is the intent that offerors print these from SAM and submit as part of their proposal in PDF format, or upload or update data within SAMS that NOAA will access separately?

Print and submit as part of the proposal.

53 72 L 10.3.

Will the government provide small business subcontracting goals or is it under the contractor's discretion to determine the goals? If it is under the contractor's discretion, what goals will be considered adequate?

Please see response #45 of the Draft RFP Q&A response for details regarding the creation of subcontracting goals.

54 72 L 10.3.

Based on the assumption of one $10,000,000 task order award per year, are the subcontracting plan goals to be calculated based on planned subcontract award dollars for a task order?

Yes

55 72 L 10.4

The section defines relevance as including "contract dollar value/size."

What is the anticipated average size of task orders to be awarded under this IDIQ program? This information will allow offerors to align past performance with the correct dollar value/size for the ProTech-Oceans program.

Because this is a new strategic sourcing effort for NOAA, the

Government does can not predict the average order size.

https://www.sam.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/ https://www.sam.gov/

56 73 L 10.4.

The final sentence states “Offerors shall indicate their own assessment of their performance with supporting rationale.” Should all offerors provide this assessment, or only if offerors are submitting information on contracts that did not/do not meet original schedule or technical performance requirements?

Only in relationship to terminated contracts mentioned in the sentence above the reference.

57 73 L 10.4.

Is a past performance questionnaire response required for the contract to be considered among the eight past performance references? Some clients have specifically indicated in past requests that they do not respond to requests for past performance since they already provide

CPARs. In such case, will it be acceptable to rely solely on CPARs for the client feedback?

Per the instructions of Section L.10.4.3 of the contract, the

Government is requesting a past performance questionnaire for all contracts identified in the offeror's response to Section L.10.4.1. The

Government does not consider a CPARS rating to be a substitution for a completed questionnaire.

58 73 L 10.4.

Will the Government confirm that there is no specific content to include in Volume IV? All material for that section is delivered to the Government by the respondent, not the offeror?

The Offeror must submit the content requested in Sections L.10.4.1 and L.10.4.2 as Volume IV of it's proposal. Regarding Section L.10.4.3

The respondent delivers the Questionnaire to the Government directly.

59 74 L 10.4.

If PPQs are not submitted prior by the proposal due date, will this adversely impact the Offeror's rating for Past Performance?

If PPQs are not submitted prior to the requested due date, and the

Contracting Office has not been previously contacted to arrange alternate delivery options by the stipulated date, the PPQ will be treated as a late submission, and may not be reviewed as part of the proposal package.

60 72 L 10.4.

Is NOAA requesting offerors include copies of CPARS ratings/documentation within Volume IV?

No

61 73 L 10.4.

Is NOAA requesting that we include copies of Section A of the J-5 Past

Performance Assessment Questionnaire submitted to the past performance reference within Volume IV?

No, per the instructions in J-5, the document is to be submitted by the individual filling out the Questionnaire.

62 72 L 10.5.

The RFP asks for a fully burdened hourly rate (including profit) with

"component cost element detail" rounded to the nearest dollar. Doing so results in cases where amounts will appear to not total correctly across Direct Labor, Fringe, OH, G&A, and Profit. Should we continue with rounding to the nearest dollar?

Yes, however Offerors may modify the spreadsheet to correct errors found.

63 74 L 10.5.

Can you clarify "the component cost element detail used to develop the proposed ceiling rates should be rounded to the nearest dollar"? Does this mean the overhead/fringe/G&A/profit should all be rounded to the nearest dollar (no cents).

Only the overall yearly total needs to be rounded to the nearest dollar.

64 77 M 2

Is it correct that the term “element” is defined as those parts of the SOW that are identified by 3 digits (C.3.1.1, C.3.2.1, etc.) and, as such, offerors may choose the elements of the SOW to respond to?

Yes, to both parts of the question.

65 77 M 2 What are the socio-economic categories that the Government intends to award?

Women-Owned Small Business, HUBZone Small Business, Veteran-

Owned Small Business, and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small

Business.

66 77 M 2 Can the Government clarify the total number of expected awards, and the expected number of large business awards?

Per the RFP FBO announcements, the Government intends to award between 12 and 30 contracts. The Government cannot predict the number of large business awards.

67 77 M 2

Does NOAA’s approach to meeting its small-business procurement goals include accessing SB subcontractors under large-business prime contract holders, or will those SB goals be substantially or solely met through direct SB prime contracts?

The Department of Commerce assigns it's Operating Units both prime and subcontracting small business goals.

68 78 M 3.2

This paragraph states the small business subcontracting plans will be evaluated for adequacy in accordance with FAR subpart 19.704. Does this mean that the plan and the goals included in the plan are a "pass/fail" evaluation? May the contractor then assume that increasing our goals will not earn the contractor a higher rating for our management approach?

Please see response #45 of the Draft RFP Q&A response for details regarding the creation of subcontracting goals.

69 79 M 4

The paragraph states that "the Government will evaluate the proposed ceiling hourly rates submitted by each Offeror in the completed

Cost/Price Template for Ceiling Rates (Attachment J-6) provided in section J of this solicitation". If Attachment J-6 is used to evaluate cost/price, what is the purpose of the schedule on page 7 of the final RFP and how will it be used?

Please see response #1 on the Draft RFP Q&A response for details on the purpose of Service/Schedule Table in Section A of the RFP.