Attachment_0017-Industry_Questions_&_Government_Responses_-_Part_I.pdf

No# Date submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

1 8/21/2017 L-Volume VI

Request elimination of the requirement for small business participation plans from small businesses, IAW Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)) as implemented by FAR 19.702(b)(1)?

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Addition of new para. 5.2.6.1.1, reading “Small business contractors are exempted from the requirements of section 5.2.6.1, IAW FAR 19.702(b)(1).”

SECTION OF RFP: Paragraph 5.2.6.1(p. 32)

The Government will not eliminate the requirement for a Small Business Participation Plan. Offerors should ensure to refresh their understanding of the difference between a small business participation plan and small business subcontracting plan.

2 8/21/2017 SECTION OF RFP: 4.1.4

Can exceptions be made at the TO level to the requirement that all contract employees must read, write, speak, and understand English? We can envision situations where, for example, hiring Local National life support personnel (e.g., cooks, housekeepers, drivers) would be cost effective and in the best interest of the Government. The requirement for English fluency would be unnecessary and costly for such low-level support positions.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Add language to At the TO level, the Contracting Officer may authorize hiring Local National or Third-Country National personnel without English fluency to fulfill non-operational functions (e.g., cooks, cleaners).

When appropriate, exceptions to speaking, reading, writing or understanding English will be made at the TO level and will be identified in the TORFP.

3 8/21/2017 I-171(c) (p. 70)

Should the total period of performance a base of 5 years and one possible extension of 5 years, or a total of 120 months?

RECOMMENDED CHANGE: Change “60 months” to “120 months.”

You are correct. I-171 should read, "(c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 120 months.

4 8/21/2017 Section L (D)(1)(b)(ii) at p. 132

Can the 12-month overseas Prior Performance “entry gate” criterion for small business prime offerors be eliminated?

Reference: “Entry Gate Criteria” in paragraph L-19 D1(b)(ii) at p. 132.

Recommendation: Contractor requests the last sentence of the above-referenced “Entry Gate Criteria” subparagraph be deleted, allowing small businesses to meet the entire entry-gate requirement for 24 months of overseas rotary-wing CLS experience through selection of appropriate subcontractor teammates. Discussion posted in the Notes column.

No. The Government gave careful consideration in establishing the Entry Gate criteria and believe OCONUS experience performed by the prime offeror to be important to the success of TO performance. NOTE: This experience could be obtained by an offeror while performing as either a prime, JV partner, or subcontractor on a previous acquisition over the past five years.

submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

5 8/24/2017 L-20.D.(5).c) Completed Section J Attachments as Required

Would the Government specify which Section J attachments should be completed and submitted within the contracts volume? It seems the RPP specifies the Section J attachments for each particular volume except this one (i.e., PP, Pricing, SB, and technical crosswalk attachments are mentioned by name to be included within their respective volumes).

Here is a list of attachments that are required to be submitted with the proposal and the volume they are to be submitted in as described in Sections L and M of the

RFP.

Attachment 2 - Pricing volume (See Section L - Volume IV for further instructions) Attachment 4 - Past Performance volume Attachment 5 - Small Business Participation volume Attachment 6 - Small Business Participation volume Attachment 7 - Contract Documentation volume Attachment 9 - Technical volume Attachment 10 - Pricing volume Attachment 12 - Pricing volume

6 8/24/2017

L-20.D.(4).(b).ii Task Order Management Plan; Attachment 15, STO PWS paragraph 5.2.5; and L-20.D.(6).b, Small Business Participation Plan (Volume VI)

RFP paragraph L-20.D.(4).(b).ii, Task Order Management Plan, instructs offerors to submit the Small Business Participation Plan (identified in the Sample Task Order [STO] PWS paragraph 5.2.5) IAW L- 20.D.(6).b. RFP paragraph L-20.D.(6).b provides the instructions for completion of Volume VI, Small Business Participation, which specifically references the total value of the STO and the extent SB firms are identified in the STO proposal. Is it the Government's intent that Volume VI, Small Business Participation, be accomplished specifically in relation to the STO? Yes

7 8/24/2017 L-20 C.(6) on page 132 of 145 and L-20 D.(6)c. on page 140 of

Whereas the Small Business Participation Plan and the Small Business Subcontracting Plan are both required to be in Volume VI - Small Business Participation (per Section L), whereas the Small Business Subcontracting Plan must respond to all subparagraphs of FAR 52.219-9(d), and whereas a Master Subcontracting Plan may be incorporated by reference, per FAR 52.219-9(f), will the Government exclude the Small Business Subcontracting Plan from the 20-page limit on the volume, or allow the Small Business Subcontracting Plan -- or the Master Subcontracting Plan incorporated into an Individual Subcontracting Plan -- to be provided as an attachment to the volume, as page-count relief?

The Small Business Subcontracting Plan will not count toward the overall page count of Volume VI Small Business Participation. We will include language in Section L to state this.

8 8/24/2017 Attachment_10_FFP_Labor_Rate_Table Column J Will the government please clarify if Terminal Indemnity is to be included in the Differentials/Allowances %, or is it only to be priced at the Task Order Level as an ODC?

Please refer to Note 3 on the "NOTES" tab of Attachment 0010. Offerors should follow its own standard business practices and any other regulatory guidelines to determine which overheads are applicable to a labor rate.

submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

9 8/24/2017 W58RGZ15R0166 Page 56 H-17, H.17.1, H.17.2, H.17.3 and Page 137 Section L Volume 4 PART e. Paragraph (iii).

H-17 states that the Service Contract Act is not applicable to any work performed outside the United States. Section L Volume 4 PART e. Paragraph (iii), states, “Pursuant to the Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS) (formerly known as the Service Contract Act of 1965), the determination by the Secretary of Labor as to the applicable minimum monetary wage and fringe benefits will be made part of any resulting contract and task orders for work performed within the United States. The offeror shall map the RFP specified labor categories to the appropriate SCLS Wage Determination categories. The offeror's mapping shall be provided in Attachment 0010- FFP Contract Labor Rate Table. Further, offerors shall attach the applicable Wage Determination to their proposal.”

Since the Base ID/IQ contract wages are to be based upon Afghanistan and Iraq laws, should the wages used be exempt from SCLS? No wage determination exists for Afghanistan and Iraq to be mapped to the RFP specified labor categories. Should Wage Determinations instead be applicable only at the Task Order level when the Task Order is located in a CONUS location?

The rates will serve as ceiling rates for all FFP task orders and for O&A and changes to FFP task orders whether employees work CONUS or OCONUS. Therefore, the base rates must meet the minimum wage determination rates to be in compliance with the SCLS in the event that labor performance is CONUS based.

10 8/24/2017 Attachment_0010-_FFP_ Labor_Rate_Table and W58RGZ15R0166 Section H-13.1

The labor rate table lists several project management positions that could be classified as indirect or direct employees such as “Contracts Manager” and “Program Manager”. These are positions that may not normally be located at an OCONUS location as a full time position would not be required for these titles in most contracts. Do the ceiling rates apply to any employee who works on the program as CONUS support, or must the cost of CONUS support employees be included in the fully burdened ceiling rates effectively making CONUS support employees indirectly billed.

The ceiling rates apply to all employees directly charging to the Task Order, CONUS or OCONUS.

11 8/24/2017 Attachment_14_TORP_Letter_STO & Attachment_15_STO_PWS 5.1.5

Attachment 14 states a 90 day Transition in paragraph 4. 5.1.5 of Attachment 15 states a 60 day Transition. Will the Government please clarify the Period of Performance the offeror is to use for Transition?

The transition period will be updated to reflect 90 days in the STO PWS.

12 8/24/2017 Attachment_14_TORP_Letter_STO Paragraph 4

The referenced paragraph states an anticipated award date of the fourth quarter of 2019. Will the government please provide a start date for the STO for consistency among offerors and subcontractors? Is the offeror to assume a January 1, 2020 start date?

For the STO, the offer shall assume a start date of 1 December 2018.

13 8/24/2017 Attachment 15 STO PWS paragraph 4.2.1.1.1, 4.2.1.1.2, and 5.2.5, 5.6.2.

The STO PWS lists flight hours and quantity of aircraft, but provides no further information on maintenance requirements for the aircraft included in the STO. No workload data such as Maintenance Man-Hours per Flight Hour, monthly utilization, daily launch cycles or other required data points for determining the full maintenance requirements has been provided. Additionally, there are multiple sites listed, and manpower will be divided among them, but there is insufficient information to determine how many aircraft are at each location or what the site staffing requirements will be. Will the government provide additional information to enable staffing analysis, or shall the contractor make stated assumptions when developing fully staffed organizational charts as required in paragraph 5.2.5 Task Order Management Plan (TOMP).

Offerors need to make stated assumptions in completing the Contract Management Plan, Task Order Management Plan, and Risk Management Plan.

Additional information/clarification has been provided in Attachment 0015 in paragraphs 5.1.5 and 5.2.5.2. Also, Appendix E has been included as a part of Attachment 0015 describing the aircraft density.

14 8/24/2017 Section C - Description/Specification/Work Statement Section 5.2.6.1.1 Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

The IDIQ Section C 5.2.6.1.1, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, contains the small business (SB) goals for the overall program. The Sample Task Order (STO) PWS, however, does not specifically identify SB goals for this STO. Is it the Government's intent that the SB goals specified in the IDIQ PWS (paragraph C.5.2.6.1.1) apply to the offeror's STO plan for small business participation as provided in Volume VI?

The Small Business Goals listed in the PWS are the Army's Goals, and should not be misconstrued as required goals for the specific Tasks in the Solicitation.

There are no specific goals for the sample tasks so as to drive competition among bidders. Offerors are requested to submit their competitive small business participation goals for evaluation.

submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

15 8/25/2017 L-20

Can you clarify the deadline for the receipt of questions?

Section L-20 Instruction to Offerors – A. Solicitation Points of Contact says “All questions shall be submitted in writing via e-mail to the POC's below no later than1600 hours on the 15th calendar day following release of RFP”.

However C. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND FORMAT INSTRUCTIONS within the same section (L-20) says “e. If an offeror believes that any part of this solicitation contains errors, omissions, or ambiguities, the offeror shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing with supporting rationale no later than 10 calendar days after solicitation release.”

Questions, IAW Instructions to Offerors, are due electronically by 5 September 2017. Notification of solicitation errors, omissions, or ambiguities, IAW

PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND FORMAT INSTRUCTIONS,

were due 28 August 2017.

16 8/28/2017 Overall How was the ceiling value estimate was determined?

The ceiling value was calculated through an internal Government estimate of all known potential customers flying rotary wing aircraft classified as non-standard.

17 8/29/2017 Overall

K-7 52.204-8 ANNUAL REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS JAN/2017

(a)(1) The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 488190.

(2) The small business size standard is $32,500,000.00.

(3) The small business size standard for a concern which submits an offer in its own name, other than on a construction or service contract, but which proposes to furnish a product which it did not itself manufacture, is 500 employees.

Question:

1. Because the WLSS-C is a Services contract and the IDIQ or STO PWS are not requesting that the Offeror provide a product, is the size limitation a dollar value or an employee size standard for this contract?

2. If the dollar value is strictly enforced, Will your office consider a waiver for the size to either of these thresholds in the restricted pool due to the period performance?

3. [Will the Government give] consideration of the complexities and austere environments this work will be performed in when placing the dollar thresholds for small business[?]

1. The size limitation is based off of the dollar value specified in paragraph (2).

2. Small Business size standards are set by the Small Business Administration. The Government will not allow for a waiver of the size standard for this NAICS.

3. FAR 19.102 (b) and paragraph (1) states, "Small business size standards are applied by --

(1) Classifying the product or service being acquired in the industry whose definition, as found in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Manual (available at http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/ ), best describes the principal nature of the product or service being acquired;

Consideration was given to the principal nature of the service being acquired. Small Business size standards are set by the Small Business Administration.

18 8/29/2017 Attachment 14 and Section L

Per attachment 14, "In accordance with the instructions at Section L and evaluation criteria in Section M, a Firm-Fixed Price Sample Task Order (STO) Proposal is requested for the Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) services identified in the STO Performance Work Statement, Section J Attachment 15." however, no instructions were provided in Section L with regard of how to price the STO. Please provide detailed instructions pertaining to the pricing requirements of the sample task order.

Attachment 0014 contains the pricing detail which states, "Proposal costs will be captured in Attachment 0005..." Section L-20 paragraph D(6)b. contains information regarding the volume in which the attachment is to be provided.

19 8/29/2017 Attachment 14 TORP Letter STO; Section M 2-a-3

Per attachment 14, offerors are required to complete attachment 5 based on the total price of the STO, however per section M, "the sample task order will not be evaluated for price". How can the Government evaluate the Sub Contractor Participation Plan based on Total price of the STO, without evaluating the price of the STO?

The price factor will be evaluated IAW M-2E.(3) et seq.

The Small Business Participation factor will be evaluated IAW M-2E.(4) et. seq.

submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

20 8/29/2017 Attachment 14 and Attachment 5

Per Attachment 14 TORP Letter STO, Offerors are required to price the STO and to populate Attachment 5 with the total value. Must offerors develop a BOE for the Labor, parts and materials for the STO in order to complete this pricing requirement? If so, suggest the Government provide an additional 30 day extension and additional historical staffing levels and parts/materials usage by region.

Offerors must make their own determination as to what must be completed in order to price the STO. The Government has not requested that offerors provide BOEs for the labor, parts and materials for the STO with its proposal.

21 8/29/2017 L20-D-2-4-e-iii

Per this section: "The place(s) of performance will be determined and based on the task order requirements and may include Government sites and/or contractor sites. The place of performance may be CONUS, OCONUS, or a combination of CONUS and OCONUS locations to support requirements throughout the world. The Task Order RFP (TORFP)shall identify the place(s) of performance for the task order." and "Pursuant to the Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS) (formerly known as the Service Contract Act of 1965), the determination by the Secretary of Labor as to the applicable minimum monetary wage and fringe benefits will be made part of any resulting contract and task orders for work performed within the United States. The offeror shall map the RFP specified labor categories to the appropriate SCLS Wage Determination categories. The offeror's mapping shall be provided in Attachment 0010-FFP Contract Labor Rate Table. Further, offerors shall attach the applicable Wage Determination to their proposal." How are offerors to determine the appropriate wage determination for attachment 10 if the Government can not articulate which locations are applicable? Please provide a list of likely CONUS locations.

If an offeror anticipates any work to be performed CONUS in support of a future TO, and the labor category performing the work has a corresponding SCLS minimum wage rate, the offeror shall provide the SCLS rate from the location from which it will be performed. A good example or baseline would be the STO PWS at Attachment 0015

22 8/29/2017 Attachment 5 Please confirm that offerors are required to populate/calculate attachment 5 based on the total price of the STO over FIVE YEARS and nothing else.

Offerors are required to complete Attachment 0005 in its entirety based off of the STO. Nothing more.

23 8/29/2017 Draft RFP Q&A Dated 8/21/2017

Per Draft RFP Q&A Dated 8/21/2017: "No separate RFP or pricing template will be provided for the STO. All dollar values associated with the STO will be captured in Attachment 0005, entitled, "Utilization of Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Business". The Government has provided a CLIN breakout in Attachment 0014 entitled, "TORFP Letter for STO", to assist in the overall pricing of the STO for the Small Business Participation Plan breakout dollar value.

See Section M-2 A.(3)" Industry slides indicated that Attachment 11 would be used by offerors to price task orders. Why isn't the Government providing this attachment if it will be used as the basis of evaluating tats orders upon a ID/IQ Contract Awards?

Any industry slides or DRAFT RFPs were notional only.

Proposals shall be submitted IAW the final RFP guidance only. The Government didn't provide Attachment 0011 from earlier DRAFT RFPs or industry days because it isn't taking that approach to selecting contractors for each of the two pools.

24 8/29/2017 Attachment 10

Attachment 10 requires offerors to enter one Wage Determination Rate and then to apply one set of burdened rates to each labor category. The offerors are required to add allowances for work in Iraq and Afghanistan Most companies will use a different fringe rate for an LCAT for CONUS vs OCONUS.

In most cases the OCONUS hourly rate will be higher than the CONUS one. However, the OCUNS work week is 60 hours vs 40. So it is possible in some cases that the CONUS rate would b higher. In addition, it is generally considered inappropriate to base OCUNUS compensation on CONUS wages.

Ideally, these wages should be based on recent OCONUS market data. Suggest Government require bidders to supply separate ceiling rates for CONUS and OCONUS work.

Wage Determination minimums should be applied to those labor categories in Attachment 0010 that;

1) are subject to wage determination; and

2) the offeror proposes to utilize CONUS in performance of any future TO.

NOTE: A good representative of future work is the STO PWS, Attachment 0015.

The Government will not change the requirement. The requirement to provide one set of ceiling rates for the 75 labor categories in Attachment 0010 will remain.

25 8/29/2017 Attachment 10 Attachment 10 only allows offers to provide one set of ceiling rates per labor category for the entire 5 year base period. Shall offerors include escalation in their ceiling rates through year five?

Each of the first 10 years are broken out in Attachment 0010 from row 1 to row 3056. All offerors should ensure it has downloaded the latest Attachment 0010 with the formal RFP.

submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

26 8/29/2017 Section K, page 119

Government provided Q&A; PWS 5.2.6.1.2 requires the contractor to pay small business subcontractors within 15 days of receiving the subcontractors invoice; however, FAR 52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors, is contained in the final FRP. This clause clearly states that accelerated payments shall only be made to small business upon receipt of accelerated payments from the Government. As the PWS langauge doesn't provide for accelerated payments from the Government to the Prime contractror, it would appear that the FAR clause and the PWS language are in conflict. Question: will the Govnerment revise the PWS language to recognize FAR 52.232-40?

In reading OMB Memorandum M-12-16, Providing Prompt Payment to Small Business Subcontractors (and as extended by OMB Memoranda M-13-15 and M-14-10) the Government doesn't see how 5.2.6.1.2 is in conflict with the prompt payment clause 52.232-40. The OMB Memoranda set out a goal for agencies to pay small businesses within 15 days of receipt of relevant documents and prime contractors to pay their small business subcontractors in a prompt fashion. The PWS language sets out further clarification that prime contractors are required to pay their subcontractors within 15 days of receipt of an invoice.

27 8/29/2017 Section K

This section included FAR 52.222-57, Regarding Compliance with Labor Laws (Executive Order 13673). In March 2017 Congress enacted a bill which the President signed which prohibited the implementation of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule. This was done by means of a Congressional Review Act ("CRA") resolution. (See, e.g., https://www.pscouncil.org/News2/NewsReleases/2017/PSC_Applauds_Senate_Passage_of_Fair_Pay _Rule_CRA.aspx). This means the EO on Fair Play and Safe Workplaces, and the corresponding FAR clause (FAR 52.222-57), are no longer valid.

The agency therefore cannot include the FAR clause (52.222-57) in the Solicitation for WLSS-C, contingently or otherwise, because to do so would violate the CRA, an act of Congress. Moreover, because the Rule was invalidated pursuant to the CRA, 5 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq., agencies are prohibited from promulgating future regulations in “substantially the same form” as the disapproved rule, absent express congressional authorization. Based on this, will the Government remove this FAR clause from the final RFP?

FAR 52.222-57 is currently referenced as part of FAR 52.204-8. The Government is aware of both the federal court injunction that prohibits the enforcement of the provision and the subsequent Congressional action. As a result, the Government has no intention of attempting to enforce FAR 52.222-57. However, FAR 52.204-8 is still a required provision, and in light of the Administration's review of all federal regulations, there have been no amendments to the FAR (including FAR 52.204-8) since January 19, 2017. Until an appropriate deviation from the FAR is approved or until a new version of FAR 52.204- 8 is approved in accordance with 41 U.S.C. § 1707, the Government cannot remove FAR 52.204-8 from the solicitation.

submitted Reference Section Question or Discussion Gov Response

Post RFP Release Q&A