A07_Amendment_W56ZTN-16-R-0002-0003.Executed.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

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)

30-105-04EXCEPTION TO SF 30

APPROVED BY OIRM 11-84

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

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

The purpose of this amendment is to provide Questions and Answ ers (Q&A) regarding the above mentioned solicitation.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE PAGE OF PAGES

U 1 9

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

16C. DATE SIGNED

BY 28-Oct-2016

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA15C. DATE SIGNED15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of Contracting Officer)(Signature of person authorized to sign)

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., Street, County, State and Zip Code) X W56ZTN-16-R-0002

X 9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

27-Sep-2016

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

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

Offer 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 1 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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 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 date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(B).

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.)

10A. MOD. OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 5. PROJECT NO.(If applicable)

6. ISSUED BY

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

28-Oct-2016

CODE

ACC-APG - GARRISON DIVISION (W56ZTN)

ACC-APG GARRISON DIVISION

6001 COMBAT DRIVE

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD 21005

W56ZTN 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than item 6)

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.

CODE

See Item 6

FACILITY CODECODE

EMAIL:TEL:

W56ZTN-16-R-0002

SECTION SF 30 BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

SECTION SF 30 - BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

The following have been added by full text:

AMENDMENT 0003

Q&A FOR BESS III - W56ZTN-16-R-0002

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS from 1 - 72 can be obtained in the Solicitation Amendment W56ZTN-16-R-0002- 0002 posted in FedBizOpps on 24 October 2016.

Q Page Section QUESTION & ANSWER

73 Page

C.5.2.3 Should “shall elect to propose” be “shall propose” or “may elect to propose”?

ANSWER #73: This should be changed to “shall propose”.

74 Schedul e of Labor Rates

The schedule lists Support Staff Level 1; however, no levels of Support Staff are described in the RFP. Please clarify.

ANSWER #74: Support Staff Level 1 is deleted from the schedule and Technical Level 1 replaces it (see attached revised Attachment 1, Schedule of Labor Rates Version 1). Technical Level 1 is described in paragraph C.5.4.1.5 of the PWS.

75 Schedul e of Labor Rates

Must our proposed key staff be at the labor qualification levels noted in the spreadsheet? Minimum requirements for the Regulatory Specialist and Health and Safety Officer (BS and 10 years of experience) identified in Sec C and Sec L put those individuals in PL5 (vs. PL3 and 4, respectively, on the spreadsheet). Please clarify.

ANSWER #75: Labor qualification levels for Regulatory Specialist and Health & Safety Officer proposed shall meet the minimum requirements stated in Section C

(PWS).

In the Schedule of Labor Rates, it should be deleted "Professional Level 3" for Regulatory Specialist, and deleted "Professional Level 4" for Health & Safety Officer.

See attached "A07 RFP_Attachment 1 - Schedule of Labor Rates Version 1" file.

76 Page

Section C.3.4.2.

1.10

The two sentences in this Section seem to be talking about two different tasks. Is the public meeting tasks noted here only related to noise monitoring studies?

ANSWER #76: The two sections are only about public meeting tasks associated with noise monitoring studies.

77 Chemical and biological facilities/buildings and test areas/grounds/grids are located at Edgewood the former home of the Army Chemical Command. Will there be work on these?

ANSWER #77: Some of the old Chemical / Bio facilities are currently under contract for clean-up. There could be various sampling on future facilities.

78 There are a number of historically important test facilities/areas at both Edgewood and Aberdeen Proving Ground that involved special explosives, special built environments, and special fuels testing - will those be included?

ANSWER #78: This effort does not include any testing. However, environmental condition of the property analysis can be included.

79 Will the airplane bone-yard be included?

ANSWER #79: No.

80 Will all housing be included?

ANSWER #80: No work is conducted in housing since all Army housing management is privatized. However, environmental compliance work outside housing, such as soil sampling or water Analysis could occur.

81 100;

112-

5 Pricing for actual staff and BLS/DOL labor rates do not support a single rate based only on years of experience and education level regardless of discipline. To ensure that all scientists/engineers/others in a given labor category are covered by the rate we provide, we will need to cost-average based on the anticipated need of individual disciplines over the course of the contract. Is this information required to “adequately support and explain the reasonableness and realism” for rates? Do we need to provide all of the rates that went into determining our Professional Level 3 rate, for example?

ANSWER #81: Yes, it is necessary to have supporting documents so that the Government is able to conduct a price reasonableness analysis.

82 112-

5 The level of pricing detail required by subcontractors is considered proprietary by most companies. However, without the prime having the details, we cannot appropriately split hours and determine a total “cost” based on the provided hours by labor position.

ANSWER #82: The total number of hours for this effort has been provided in the RFP. The proposed amount of hours should be equal to the total number of hours in the RFP. The prime contractor is responsible for working with the subcontractors pricing and determine that the subcontractor’s pricing is fair and reasonable.

Subcontractors’ may submit their level of pricing detail in a sealed envelope to ACC- APG; however, this does not alleviate the prime contractor of their responsibility to determine that subcontractor’s price is fair and reasonable.

83 Please clarify if the Offeror and each subcontractor are required to submit separate price narratives and price proposal files as described in Section L, 3c(iii), or if a combined file under the Prime Offeror’s name would be appropriate.

ANSWER #83: See Answer 82.

84 Page

Volume

III,

Price, Item 6, a - l

Is a completed SF-1408, signed by an independent auditor, sufficient to satisfy these requirements?

ANSWER #84: Offeror may provide SF 1408 as supporting documents; however, the offeror shall provide the information requested in Item 6 regarding the offeror’s accounting system.

85 Page

Volume

III,

Price, Item 7 – Section L

A DCAA-approved purchasing system is not common among service contractors, especially small 8(a) firms. What are we to provide the Government in our proposal to satisfy this requirement?

ANSWER #85: In reference to Item 7, Price, Volume III, Section L, the adequacy of the offeror’s purchase system should be in accordance with FAR 44.305 and DFARS 244.305.

86 Page

Table 5.1 Calculat ion of Fully Loaded Rates and Attachm ent 1

The applications of indirect rates provided are not in accordance with our approved Disclosure Statement. Is it acceptable to modify the applications of indirect rates to be in accordance with our Disclosure Statement?

ANSWER #86: Yes, the table 5.1 may be adjusted based on offeror’s different business unit; but the offeror shall propose fully loaded rate for each labor category proposed, and total of hours for each year provided by the Government in the attached Schedule of Labor Rate Revision 1 (revised Attachment 1) remains unchanged.

87 Section L.3. (iii) VOLUME III – Price, paragraph 8 states that subcontractor cost shall be submitted in the same format as describe above in the schedule of labor rates.

Please confirm that a completed RFP Attachment 1 is all that is required from subcontractors for the pricing volume.

ANSWER #87: It is utilized for prime contractor and subcontractors. The proposed amount of hours should be equal to the total number of hours in the RFP. The prime contractor is responsible for working with the subcontractors pricing and determine that the subcontractor’s pricing is reasonable.

88 Page and

Ii and 4 Section L state projects must have been completed within 3 years of RFP release.

Section M states projects must have been awarded within 3 years of RFP release.

Please clarify.

ANSWER #88: Section L will be changed to read as follows to ensure consistency:

“All submitted projects must have been awarded during the past three years from the issue date of this RFP.”

89 Page

Section L, Volume II – Past Perform ance

Indicates that projects submitted “must have a completion date no earlier than three

(3) years prior to original date of issuance of this RFP”. Section M, Item 4, page 111, 2nd paragraph: indicates that “recent past performance is considered to be efforts awarded during the past three (3) years, from the issue date of this RFP.” Please clarify if Past Performance time frame is COMPLETED no earlier than 3 years or AWARDED during past 3 years.

ANSWER #89: See Answer #88.

90 PWS

3.6.3.1

“The contractor shall review, fully understand and implement Executive Order 13514:

Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. In addition, the Contractor shall review and fully understand "Executive Order 13423 -- Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management,” in particular those requirements pertaining to environmental management system (EMS).

The contractor shall be required to review and adhere to the installation's environmental management system, including the environmental policy and significant aspects/impacts. For EMS requirements, please refer to C.3.6.2.”

On March 19th, 2015, the “Executive Order – Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade” revoked EO’s 13514 and 13423. Does Aberdeen Proving Ground have an updated Environmental Management System they can distribute to offerors so that we can demonstrate compliance with requirements in Subfactor 6 of the Technical Approach?

ANSWER #90: Although EO 13693 revoked EO 13423, ISO 14001 standard is valid and will not change. The PWS (C.3.6.2) will be revised to cite the new standard EO13693 entitled “Executive Order – Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade”.

91 Please advise if the latest BESS III PWS will be made available on FedbizOpps for the solicitation.

ANSWER #91: Yes, it is the latest version for 27 September as stated in the issued date of the solicitation posted in the FedBizOpps.

92 Section L, 3c(ii) and Section M, C4 both reference “Appendix D” for forms and questionnaires. No Appendix D was supplied in the RFP; however, Attachment 2 indicates it is the PPQ. Please confirm that Attachment 2 is the correct reference rather than Appendix D.

ANSWER #92: Attachment 2 is the correct reference. Section L will be revised to correct this.

93 Section L, 3c(ii) denotes “recent” as “completion date no earlier than 3 years,” while Section M, C4 defines it as “awarded during the past 3 years.” Please clarify.

ANSWER #93: See Answer #88.

94 Page

M.C.4, Past Perform ance factor

The third paragraph on this page claims a neutral rating shall be considered “acceptable”. This seems overly lenient. By my read, FAR 13.305 does not require this “acceptable” designation. As written, this paragraph seems to encourage offerors not to submit past performance information. Please reconsider this.

ANSWER #94: This language is in accordance with the regulatory requirements in the Department of Defense Source Selection Guide. It cannot be changed.

95 Page

M.C.5, Price factor

Will all subcontractor costs be evaluated, even those providing less than 25% of the labor support cost as noted in the Past Performance

ANSWER #95: Yes. All subcontractors’ which are proposed will be reviewed and conducted in accordance with the solicitation requirement. See Question and Answer #14 for further information.

96 Past Perform ance Questio nnaires

I have a DoD client that has taken her time to complete a CPARS, which has excellent ratings for our past performance, and I would like to include this project in our past performance submittal for this offering. I have asked her in the past to fill out PPQs for other similar submittals and she indicated that if a CPARS has been completed, then a PPQ isn’t required. My question to you is whether a PPQ is required for a project for which a CPARS has been completed and is available to you in the Government’s system?

ANSWER #96: There is no requirement for an offeror to have their client submit a PPQ; PPQ’s provide information on specific projects. The information on a PPQ may be reviewed in order to analyze the past performance of the offeror. As stated in Section L “The Government may also analyze past performance of the offeror and major subcontractors by reviewing the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), and other Army sources and resources.”

97 Volume II Past Perform ance

Does the government require any particular project information or details to be submitted for the five (5) Relevant Projects?

ANSWER #97: See Answer #12.

98 C.5.4 of the

PWS

Section C.5.4 of the PWS provides a list of labor categories and qualifications, but not all of these labor categories are indicated on Attachment 1 – Schedule of Labor Rates, including all technical level (1-3) personnel, professional level 1, etc. Should the need for these labor categories arise during performance of work, how will pricing for these labor categories be handled?

ANSWER #98: All possible labor categories are not included with this RFP. Other labor categories not addressed in the Schedule of Labor Rates will be priced and finalized on a task order basis.

99 The PWS includes a significant amount of MMRP work which will require the use of various labor categories (including UXO Tech III, Tech II and possibly Tech I). The labor categories in Section C.5.4 and Attachment 1 – Schedule of Labor Rates, provide for the Senior UXO Supervisor (Professional Level 4) and “UXO Specialist” (Technical Level 3 – although this category is not on the schedule of labor rates).

Please provide additional detail on what the “UXO Specialist” is (i.e. SUXOS/QCS, UXO Tech III, II, etc.) and please provide instruction on where the offeror should include pricing for UXO Technicians I, II, III (unless the RFP-provided WD applies for these?).

ANSWER #99: Offerors are not required to provide pricing for positions which are not listed on Attachment 1 – Schedule of Labor Rates Version 1. Labor categories not addressed in the schedule of services will be priced and finalized on a task order basis.

100 Page

C.2.1 of the

PWS

Other than Sr. UXO Supervisor qualifications outlined in Section C.5.2.2, please define all other "UXO-qualified" personnel that are required for performing the work (e.g., UXOSO, UXOQCS, Tech III, Tech II, Tech I, etc.).

ANSWER #100: Section C.5.2.2 defines the requirements for Key Personnel. The Government is not defining all other “UXO-qualified personnel” in this RFP. These categories will be defined if and when they may be required by a particular task order.

101 RFP

Page 102, Volume

III -

Price.

Is Attachment 1, Schedule of Labor Rates, required for subcontractors that are not considered a "major subcontractor" as defined in Past Performance instructions on page 100 of the RFP.

#8 ANSWER #101: See Answer #95.

Page

L.3.c(ii) Volume II –Past Perform ance

It has a page limitation of 100 pages. Can you clarify what should be included in this volume that would require a 100-page limitation? Does this section require a description of the work performed (e.g., project descriptions to convey relevance) as well as PPQs (Appendix D) for each of 3-5 projects or just the PPQs?

ANSWER #102: See Answer #19.

103 Pages 100-

L.3.c(iii Volume

III –

Price

It requires a Schedule of Labor Rates (Attachment 1) and Section C.5.4 Contractor Personnel and Qualifications (pages 48-49) provides qualification standards for the various labor categories. However, Attachment 1 does not include pricing for all of the labor categories in Section C.5.4, including Technical Levels 1-3, Professional Level 1. Additionally, Attachment 1 includes Support Staff Level 1: Secretaries and Others, and Section C.5.4 does not provide any qualifications requirements for that category. Please clarify.

ANSWER #103: Many of these labor categories listed in Section C.5.4 will be set forth on a task order basis.

104 Pages 112-

M.C.5 - Price Factor

This section indicates that offeror shall provide all rates for the base year and all option years in Attachment 1 and that subcontractors shall propose the same format as described in Attachment 1. Further, the RFP states: “The total number of labor hours from prime contractor and subcontractor shall equal the number of labor hours provided by the Government IAW Attachment 1.” Does this mean that we should provide multiple Attachment 1 sheets, i.e., one for the prime and one for each subcontractor…and then split the total # of hours provided by the government in Attachment 1 between the prime and subcontractors based on the percent of work each is expected to perform?

If so, is Attachment 1 required for all subcontractors or just those that are anticipated to provide critical services or who are responsible for efforts totaling at least 25% of the labor support cost?

ANSWER #104: See Answer #14.

105 After reviewing the requirements of the RFP, we feel that this is a fairly complex RFP to respond to for 8(a) firms with limited resources. Please consider a 2-week extension to the deadline, making proposals due 9 November 2016.

ANSWER #105: This RFP has been extended by Amendment 0001.

106 Reference: Question/Answer #39.

Question: The answer to Question #39 states that a project may be defined as an entire task order contract only if it is completed, and that projects for single tasks orders may also be used as long as they are completed. Is the government intentionally revising the original RFP requirement that states “Offerors may submit ongoing projects, but they must be at least 90% physically complete” (Page 100, Section ii, first paragraph)? If so, please consider extending the completion date of submitted projects from 3 years to 7 years, as this amendment per the Q&A would be an extremely difficult requirement for 8(a) businesses to meet.

ANSWER #106: No. Answer #39 should have stated “A project may defined as an entire task order contract only if it is 90% completed; projects for single task orders may also be used as long as they are 90% completed.”

107 The answers to Questions 14 and 43 appear to conflict. For subcontractors that are not "major" (at least 25% of the work), is a separate Attachment 1 (Schedule of Labor Rates) for that subcontractor required?

ANSWER #107: The Answer #14 is correct. The Answer #43 is clarified/updated in Q&A’s #108 below.

108 CLARIFICATION OF ANSWER #43 FOR THE QUESTION #43 issued in the Solicitation Amendment # W56ZTN‐16‐R‐0002‐0002 which was posted in FedBizOpps on 24 October 2016.

ANSWER #108: The following answer replaces Answer 43.

Prime contractor may submit any subcontractors’ fully loaded rates in their Schedule of Labor Rates Version 1 attached along with their proposal; however, as stated in page 101 of the solicitation (paragraph 5 of the Volume III – Price Section), the Government intends to incorporate a ceiling rate per year on any proposed fully loaded rates which are found to be reasonable on the resulting contract(s) to task order level during that year.

Moreover, any labor categories which are not included in the Schedule of Labor Rates Version 1 may be specified in the task order level requirement. Once Task Order Request for Proposal (TO-RFP) is issued under this contract the proposal submission and the evaluation approach for the task order will be described in the task order level at that time.

109 Volume III Price Volume, Attachment 1 and answers to Questions 6 and 27 of Amendment 2. If an offeror chooses to propose additional labor categories in the "Other" category (Item #16) and shift hours from labor category Items # 1 - 15 so that the total hours per year do not change, how will the government evaluate bids?

ANSWER #109: See Question and Answer #110 below.

110 CLARIFICATION/ADDITION OF ANSWERS #6 and #27 issued in the Solicitation Amendment # W56ZTN‐16‐R‐0002‐0002 which was posted in FedBizOpps on 24 October 2016.

ANSWER #110: The following answer replaces Answers #6 and #27.

Labor Categories (LCATs) which are not listed in the Schedule of Labor Rates Version 1 (Attachment 1) may be proposed under Item #16 (Other) if offeror realizes that this position is needed to perform the PWS requirement; however, total number of hours for all labor categories proposed shall equal the total hours given by the Government’s for each year of the effort. Additionally, any proposed LCATs which are added by the offeror under Other starting Item #16, number of hours proposed and split from any labor category given by the Government shall equal to the level’s to be split. For example: In Base Year of the Schedule of Labor Rates, the offeror split hours of Professional Level 4: Scientists, Engineers, and Others (Item #2) and put these hours into another labor category proposed in “Other” (Item #16) then this labor category pricing shall equal Professional Level 4’s.

Attachment 1 Column D. Please clarify the information requirements for the column labeled "Source/WD”.

ANSWER #111: When a labor category is proposed from any sources of Bureau of

Labor Statistics (BLS)/Department of Labor (DOL) or Wage Determination (Attachment 3 of the RFP) or pay stubs, etc. Offeror should state the source offered in this column and provide supporting document for pricings which the offeror proposes.

(End of Summary of Changes)