Systems Technical Support - QA Sheet 09JAN2023.xlsx

Q&A

2 In reference to L.4.1.1., will the government open the Technical Experience Factor (volume 1) up for evaluation to the prime and their subcontractors as a team, to allow the government to evaluate the technical experience of subcontractors that includes small business allocation that will play an impactful role at the IDIQ task order level for subcontractors that bring recent and relevant technical experience on Army Watercraft allowing AWS to ensure all are capable of adhering to Army requirements and quality ISO standard while being utilized for their specific skill sets? The Government will only allow a contract and deliverables from a prime contractor. However, the prime gets credit for all the work performed under that contract, so if your subcontractors worked for you before on a relevant and recent contract you could provide that contract and get “credit” for their work.

3 L.4.1.1. identifies that technical experience will be from recent contracts. However, L.4.1.2 it states “The offeror shall submit one recent contract to demonstrate comparable technical experience. For each contract submitted, the offeror shall provide:” In Attachment 0011 the Technical Capabilities Matrix for subfactor 1 has three citation requirements. Would the government please confirm that three citations should be made in Attachment 0011 for subfactor 1? Or is it to be a single contract as cited in L.4.1.2? One recent contract is correct. The three citations have been corrected to one citation in Attachment 0011 - Technical Experience Matrix. Section L.4.1.2 has also been revised from "for EACH contract submitted" to "for THE contract submitted". Additionally, Attachment 0011, Subfactor 2 Tab, has been updated to include a fourth and fifth contract column so that it is in accordance with Section L.4.1.3.1 of the RFP.

4 Would the government consider an extension to the submittal due date to January 27, 2023? At this time, the Government will only extend the RFP to 18 January 2023 at 1:00 PM. Please see Amendment 0002 that includes this new date and time.

5 The Attachment 0012 pricing spreadsheet shows Pearl Harbor as OCONUS, but section C.1.0.7 shows Pearl Harbor as CONUS. To price appropriately, will the Government please move the hours aligned to Pearl Harbor to the CONUS FSR labor category? Section C.1.0.7 language has been updated to change Pearl Harbor from CONUS to OCONUS.

6 Will the government confirm that IAT Level 1 certified staff will be detailed in the Task Orders as required, and not all employees need that certification as stated in C.1.0.10? IAW C.10 All contractor employees, including subcontractor employees, requiring access to Army installations, facilities, or controlled access areas shall complete AT Level I awareness training within 60 calendar days after contract start date or effective date of incorporation of this requirement into the contract, whichever applies.

7 The provided submission address in Section L.2.2.4 conflicts with the instructions for L.2.2.3, which states proposals should be delivered to the Detroit Arsenal (DTA) Mail Handling Facility, Building 255. Will the government please confirm the correct proposal submission address? The submission address is correct. The hand carried or mailed offers will be delivered to the mail handling facility in Building 255 and from there will be delivered to the address in L.2.2.4.

8 In section L.4.3, the instructions for Volume III state the completion of the Small Business Participation Factor Workbook (Attachment 0013) is required. Will the government please clarify if a separate narrative volume is also required or if the completion of Attachment 0013 satisfies the requirement for Volume III? If the offeror is a SB then only attachment 0013 is required; however, If the offeror is an other than small business then they must also submit a small business subcontracting plan IAW L.5.7

9 Would the Government provide additional, editable columns for multiple labor overheads or other indirect cost elements to be calculated in support of the CPFF Fully Burdened Labor Rate Builds in the Attachment 0012 GFPM? The current Attachment 12 GFPM format does not support multiple overhead pools or additional indirect cost elements and the Offeror provided OFPM will not be enough to reconcile the rates calculated within the Attachment 12 GFPM. Labor Overhead columns were created for each Labor Category for the Prime KTR (Columns L, M and N) + Sub KTR Labor Build (Columns I, J and K) in Attachment 0012 - GFPM. **The instructions tab has been updated to refelct these changes.

10 Due to the tight solicitation schedule over the holidays, will the Government consider accepting email or DoD SAFE Submissions from Subcontractors submitting Volume II proposals? No, Per Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) guidance, DoD SAFE should NOT be used for transmission of contract proposals or other contract award documentation.

11 FAR 52.222-41 Service Contract Labor Standards is included in Section I of this Solicitation, but wage determinations have not been provided pursuant to FAR 52.222.41 Service Contract Labor Standards. Will the Government please confirm that FAR 52.222-41 does not apply to this solicitation and that the omission of the wage determinations is intentional as the majority of this work is for professional services? FAR 52.222-41 Service Contract Labor Stanards was removed from the soliciation via Amendement 0002.

12 Paragraphs C.5.14; C.5.15; and C.5.16 all state "RESERVED". Will the government please clarify if these paragraphs will be provided at a later date? The Government does not intend on adding any language under the specified paragraphs marked "RESERVED".

13 Paragraph C.7.9.2 states "Reserved". Will government please clarify if this paragraph will be provided at a later date? The Government does not intend on adding any language under the specified paragraphs marked "Reseved".

14 To provide flexibility with staffing in this tight labor market, would the government consider allowing equivalencies for education and experience in performance? As an example, the following equivalencies could be added to Attachment 0012, Minimum Qualifications TAB: “During performance, 1 year of education may be substituted for 1.5 years of experience, and 1.5 years of experience may be substituted for 1 year of education.” The Minimum qualifications tab of Attachment 0012 - GFPM has been updated.

15 For pricing purposes, would the Government please define the labor site (Government or Contractor Site) by Labor Category in the Attachment 0012 GFPM? Any category could be at either the Government facility, the contractor facility, or both.

16 Could you please provide additional clarification of what the Government is requesting in terms of technical support? The Solicitation and PWS require the contractor to provide services on technical and programmatic issues, but isn’t specific on services needed/systems supporting/etc. (i.e. C4I support, Navigation, Weapons systems, etc.) The systems/subsystems being supported are identified in C.1.0.2, the scope of services required are identified in C.1.0.3. The specific work needed will be identified in the individual task orders.

17 Section L.2.2 “Proposal Format and Instructions,” does not specify page limitations. Can you confirm that there are no page limitations for this proposal? The only page limitation is on the number of sheets of drawings which is identified in L.4.1.3.1.

18 Would the USG consider allowing for the use of a subcontractor's technical experience for Volume 1 if a teaming agreement is provided as substantiation showing that some TBD minimum percentage of work will be performed by that subcontractor? No, the Government will not allow the submission of subcontractor technical experience

19 Attachment 0012 GFPM identifies a list of labor categories to support the effort. Would the Government clarify how program management support should be identified in the GFPM? Section L.4.2.2.1(a) has been added into the solicitation.

20 Attachment 13 – Small Business Participation Workbook, Reports tab, includes a column for DUNS. Small business subcontracting reports (including ISRs) are now submitted using the contractor’s Unique Entity ID (UEI) as opposed to the contractor’s DUNS number. Would the Government allow offerors to revise the DUNS column to reflect the UEI instead? Yes, you may input the UEI as opposed to the DUNS number. Please specify which number you are using.

21 Will the government please clarify the response to Question #2. Is it the government’s intent that the prime Offeror may submit a reference contract for Subfactor 1 in which the Prime Offeror performed as a subcontractor? You must submit a contract in which you were the prime contractor. Any contract in which you were the subcontractor would lead to a contract in which you were the prime contractor. For example, company A has a contract with the Government called Contract 1 and subcontracts with company B using Contract 2. Company B can bid on this effort and provide Contract 2 (to which company B was a prime contractor). Company B cannot provide Contract 1 because company B was not a prime contractor on Contract 1.

22 Would the Government unprotect the Attachment 0012 GFPM pricing model workbook to allow for modifications in the event that the indirect burden application in the model does not align with the offeror’s approved accounting practices? The Government does not intend to unprotect the spreadsheet. The offeror needs to provide the labor OH for each of the labor categories requested (i.e.: L2, M2 and N2 for the Ordering period 1) If the percentage is identical for each labor category, then the offeror just have to duplicate the percentage in each of these three cells.

23 Per L.4.1.1.3, does the government consider an internal work order issued from an associated entity of the parent company as a defined contract in which the prime offeror, performing intercompany work under the associated entity’s contract, may use the internal work order as a recent contract citation for any of the three subfactors? The Government would need to see the internal work order to determine if it meets the definition of a contract. The Government considers a contract to be an agreement between at least two parties and the RFP further defines a contract “as a written instrument that requires the performance of a distinct effort and demonstrates the distinct effort was actually performed.”

24 Section M.4.3.1 The government states “As part of this assessment and based on the information submitted IAW L.4.3, the Government will consider the offeror's performance in complying with past Small Business Subcontracting Plans if they were required on prior contracts. Please note the solicitation goals are expressed as a percentage of 'Total Contract Amount', which is defined for this Small Business Participation Factor as total proposed labor cost for ordering periods 1 through 5 as calculated in Cell G58 of the 'Summary' Tab of the offeror's proposed Pricing Matrix (Attachment 0012).” Would the Government provide clarification as there is no “Summary tab” in The Attachment 0012 GFPM and the “Totals” tab cell G58 does not calculate data? Section M.4.3.1 has been revised via Amendment 0003.

25 Would the government provide a conformed copy of the RFP with the most recent Amendment changes? A conformed copy is provided via SAM.gov.

26 In the Attachment 12 - GFPM, The G&A calculation for the following categories within the ‘Ordering Period 1’ tab is not including the Overhead calculation in the equation; Logistics I (Cell 012), Logistics II (Cell O13), Logistics III (Cell O14), CONUS FSR (Cell O17), and OCONUS FSR (Cell 019). The Engineering categories and all categories within the other Ordering Period tabs are calculating G&A correctly. Will the Government please correct the Ordering Period 1 calculation for G&A in the cells referenced above and provide a revised spreadsheet for offerors? Offerors will not be able to reconcile the G&A calculation in the ‘Ordering Period 1’ tab without this correction. Attachment 0012 - GFPM has been updated and provided via SAM.gov