Solicitation Amendment 2 - Industry Questions - Government Responses.pdf

TAK SETA W909MY21R0001 – Amendment 02 – Industry Questions/Government Response – 4 January 2021

1. In Section L.2.3.4.1 the government provides the following "Stated again, the Government anticipates the stated labor hours and labor categories in the Cost Summary Sheet reasonably approximate the Government’s requirements throughout the Ordering Period of the IDIQ contract. (The Cost Summary Spreadsheet does not create any obligation by the Government to order more than the IDIQ’s contract minimum). Between the reference section L and the hours listed in attachment 7 it seems the government is indicating that these will be the total hours per LCAT for the entire contract period. Just looking at the hours for the Key personnel this is confusing as the PM would only be working 1/2 time and the other 3 Key personnel would be working less then 20% of the time over the life of the contract. Is this the government’s intent?

Government Response: Yes

2. L1.1. Given the three federal holidays (12/24, 12/25, 1/1) in the response period, would the government consider a one-week extension to the response period?

Government Response: No

3. L.2.3.4.1. Part-time personnel are indicated by the hours estimate, will the government separate addition part-time labor rates for LCATs that indicate part-time requirements?

Government Response: No

4. L.2.3.4.1. What does the government consider a full-time equivalent? This is needed for overhead cost estimation.

Government Response: 1960 hours

5. L.2.3.4.1. Reference the direction to estimate hours as 60% on-site and 40% off-site, will the government furnish computer assets for off-site personnel, or should we include these costs in our rate build?

Government Response: Personnel will not have access to Government furnished computers except on a case by case basis.

6. L.2.3.4.1. Reference the direction to estimate hours as 60% on-site and 40% off-site and 85% in the Ft.

Belvoir area and 15% in the Tampa area, does the government anticipate four separate rates for each LCAT? i.e. Ft. Belvoir Onsite, Ft. Belvoir Offsite, Tampa Onsite, Tampa Offsite. Further, if some/all LCATs will have part-time requirements, this adds an additional 4 rates per LCAT if part-time rates are needed for each work location. Is this the government's intention?

Government Response: Total of three rates. Government space will be provided for personnel in Tampa, FL. For Belvoir, VA will require on-site and off-site rates.

7. N/A Is there an incumbent currently performing this requirement? If so, please provide the incumbent name and contract number.

Government Response: This is a new requirement.

8. 2.2 In order to better inform our response, can the Government please provide the percentage of work anticipated to occur OCONUS?

Government Response: Less than 5%.

9. L.2.4.1 In order to satisfy the past performance requirements, can Offeror's include past performance references from our proposed subcontractors?

Government Response: Yes

10. L.2.4.1 Are past performance citations limited to 3 per offeror?

Government Response: Yes

11. L.2.4.1 Does the government require past performance questionnaires for major subcontractors?

Government Response: Past Performance information shall only be provided by the Prime Contractor.

12. L.2.3.4.1. Does the government envision 60% of the personnel working at a government site and 40% at the contractor facility, or do they foresee personnel splitting their time between government site and contractor facility? This impacts the amount of contractor facility seating capacity needed.

Government Response: For estimating purposes, full time on-site or full time off-site.

13. Section L due date is 1/13/21, while cover sheet due date is 1/4/21. Please resolve this discrepancy.

Government Response: The due date was corrected in Amendment 01 to 13 January 2021.

14. Exhibit A (CDRLs) is missing from the solicitation. Please provide.

Government Response: CDRLs have been attached.

15. Section M.2.2 discusses 5 volumes, but Section L only shows 4 volumes. Please resolve this discrepancy.

Government Response: Corrected

16. The numbering of the proposed volumes on page 121 in Section L.1.10 is not consistent. The Proposal Volume number does not match the volume number referenced in the File Name Convention. Additionally, the Proposal Volume Title does not match the title referenced in the File Name Convention. Please clarify.

Government Response: Corrected

17. Does the Government consider this effort CPFF Term or Completion?

Government Response: CPFF Term

18. Attachment 7 – Cost Summary Spreadsheet: The Acquisition Specialist row on the cost model does not calculate properly. Please resolve this discrepancy.

Government Response: Calculation for the Acquisition Specialist row is rate multiplied by hours consistent with other labor categories.

19. Attachment 7 – Cost Summary Spreadsheet: The sum in Cell C43 only includes cells C12, C13, C14 & C16 for a total of 73,800 hours. Please correction the calculation. Total hours across all categories equals 343,755.

Government Response: Total hours should equal 343,755.

20. Attachment 7 – Cost Summary Spreadsheet: Please confirm the accuracy of the hours for the four Key Personnel categories. They contain significantly less hours than the other categories.

Government Response: Key personnel numbers are accurate.

21. Is there any relief/substitution from the stated EDUCATION, CERTS for the KEY PERSONNEL with additional years of experience?

Government Response: No.

22. For the non-KEY PERSONNEL, only the ENGINEER 3 provides required Years of Experience; the other 18 Labor Category descriptions only have “Related Work”. Are there specific years of experience required for the other positions? If so, please provide.

Government Response: No.

23. Do Subcontractor companies need to submit total compensation plans?

Government Response: The subcontractor shall submit a total compensation plan in order to assess the cost portion of the proposal.

24. Pursuant to FAR 16.301-3(3), the Contractor's accounting system must be determined adequate to receive CPFF task orders. The statement implies that an IDIQ contract award could be made to a contractor with an accounting system that has not been reviewed and deemed adequate. However, prior to any award of a TO, the contractor's accounting system must be reviewed and deemed adequate. Is this an accurate determination/understanding?

Government Response: No, this is inaccurate. A determination regarding the accounting system will be made prior to award.

25. Estimated Labor Hours Attachment:

Question: Are any of the labor categories anticipated to be Service Contract Act positions?

If yes is the government going to provide Wage Grade Determination information for expected work performance geographical locations.

Government Response: No, none of the positions are anticipated to be SCA positions.

Question: How many working hours does the government anticipate in a full working year?

Government Response: 1960

Questions: Total Hours (experimental, developmental, research) indicates 73,800 hours but the total for the entire cost element for direct labor categories totals to 343,755 hours. Can the government explain if the hours indicated by the 73,800 is the estimated hours for a one year period of performance? Does the 343,755 hours indicated the estimated hour per labor category over the 5 year ordering period?

Government Response: 343,755 is the correct total hours over the 5 year period.

26. PWS Paragraph 2.2 Place of Performance:

Question: 2.2 states “Other task specific locations CONUS and OCONUS may be designated by the Government during the performance of the contract.” OCONUS rates and costs vary dramatically from CONUS rates and from different OCONUS geographic locations. How does the government intend to account for the price differentials for different geographic locations?

Government Response: This is a CPFF contract. For estimating purposes, less than 5% of the labor will be performed OCONUS.

27. PWS Travel/Temporary Duty:

Question: Will the government provide a NTE travel amount to standardize pricing for vendors?

Government Response: Yes, $327,600.00 will be the travel plug number.

Question: 2.5 states “Contractors will not be reimbursed for travel within a 50-mile radius.”

Does the 50-mile radius mean from Ft. Belvoir, VA and Tampa, FL?

Government Response: 50 miles from place of duty.

28. Solicitation Section H, Special Contract Requirements, H2 Task Order Proposal, a. Cost Plus fixed Fee(CPFF) Task Orders states “ Pursuant to FAR 16.301-3(3), the Contractor's accounting system must be determined adequate to receive CPFF task orders.”

Question: The statement implies that an IDIQ contract award could be made to a contractor with an accounting system that has not been reviewed and deemed adequate. However, prior to any award of a TO, the contractor's accounting system must be reviewed and deemed adequate. Is this an accurate determination/understanding?

Government Response: No this is inaccurate. A determination regarding the accounting system will be made prior to award.

Question: Will the Govt support the determination if a small business’ accounting system is adequate to receive CPFF task orders as small business accounting system, as small business are not required to have a DCAA approved/Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliant accounting system?

Government Response: If a small business’ accounting system is determined to be adequate to capture cost to receive a CPFF award then it meets the standards required and further determined in not required.

Question/Statement: It is assumed that the government has fulfilled the requirements of FAR IAW 16.301-2 Application. 16.301-2 states:

(a) The contracting officer shall use cost-reimbursement contracts only when-

(1) Circumstances do not allow the agency to define its requirements sufficiently to allow for a fixed-price type contract (see 7.105); or

(2) Uncertainties involved in contract performance do not permit costs to be estimated with sufficient accuracy to use any type of fixed-price contract.

(b) The contracting officer shall document the rationale for selecting the contract type in the written acquisition plan and ensure that the plan is approved and signed at least one level above the contracting officer (see 7.103(j) and 7.105).

Government Response: The Government has fulfilled the requirements of the FAR

Question: Can you please clarify why the government is using CPFF verses FFP?

Government Response: CPFF is often executed when the output or outcome to complete or achieve the task is unknown. This is often the case in the research and development environment.

29. Solicitation Section H, Special Contract Requirements, H3 Fee, H.3.2 references fee on Other Direct Costs (ODCs). Question: Will the government provide a NTE amount for ODCs anticipated?

Government Response: Yes, $1,550,000.00 will be the ODC plug number.

30. Will the government provide necessary computers, network, office space, etc. for personnel working in government facilities?

Government Response: Yes.

31. Cell C43 of Attachment 7 only sums the hours for the first five LCATs listed (C12:C16). Similarly, cell D35 only sums Rows 12 through 16 as well. Can the Government confirm whether or not cells C43 and D35 are supposed to sum all of the LCATs (C12:C34) or (C12:C16)?

Government Response: 343,755 is the correct total hours over the 5 year period.

32. Attachment 7 Cell C43 - please confirm the total number of hours that should be evaluated for the RFP total evaluated price?

Government Response: 343,755 is the correct total hours over the 5 year period.

33. Box #9 of the first page of the RFP states "Sealed offers in original and copies for furnishing the supplies or services in the Schedule will be received at the place specified in Item 8, or if handcarried, in the depository located in ____ until 12:00pm on 4 January 2021." However, these instructions contrast with those in Section L.1.1, on page 120 of the RFP, General Instructions, which say "Each Offeror shall submit one (1) proposal via email to the Contracting Officer, Darryl Seegars at darryl.t.seegars.civ@mail.mil, and Contract Specialist, Megan Francis at megan.m.francis3.civ@mail.mil.

Proposals are due by 12:00 PM in Durham, NC (Eastern Time) on 13 January 2021." Can the government confirm the submission instructions and due date?

Government Response: The due date was corrected in Amendment 01 to 13 January 2021.

34. The RFP states that past performance references may include "work the Offeror has performed as a major Subcontractor." Can the government define what constitutes a "major Subcontractor?"

Government Response: Work that a reasonable person would consider significant with respect to the overall Government requirement.

35. Senior Sensor Scientist (NVESD SPPD Related). The government provides very specific “Required Experience” which severely limits the pool of qualified candidates and it is further restricted relevance by including (NVESD SPPD Related) qualifier in the job title. Does the government have a specific candidate identified for this position? If so, will the government provide the name and direct the candidate will be non-exclusive?

Government Response: The Government does not have a specific candidate in mind. NVESD SPPD related requirement is to ensure that the candidates experience is not in an unrelated sensor development field outside of NVESD core competencies.

36. The government outlines of Senior Software Scientist (TAK Related) implies the Software Scientist must have specific work developing TAK products. However, L.1.4. Organizational Conflicts of Interest pg 120-121 the government describes a signification OCI avoidance requirement. Can the Government confirm whether or not the Software Scientist must have specific work developing TAK products?

Furthermore, does the Government consider development work a conflict of interest on this SETA contract? And if not, why?

Government Response: The Government does not have a specific candidate in mind. TAK related requirement is to ensure that the candidates experience is not in a completely unrelated field.

37. RFP paragraph L.2.3.4.2., requires direct labor rates from 'PRIME CONTRACTORS ONLY'. Please confirm that subcontractors do not have to submit fully disclosed direct labor rates.

Government Response: No, subcontractors should submit a summary of labor and other cost categories.

38. RFP paragraph L.2.3.4.2., requires direct labor rates from 'PRIME CONTRACTORS ONLY'. Please confirm that Attachment 7 is not required of every subcontractor, and that all subcontractor pricing disclosure requirements can be submitted at the Prime Contractor level?

Government Response: Confirmed

39. RFP paragraph L.2.3.4.2., requires direct labor rates from 'PRIME CONTRACTORS ONLY'. Please confirm that a full rate build for direct and indirect labor is not required of every subcontractor?

Government Response: Confirmed

40. RFP paragraph L.2.3.4.11, In response to this RFP, please confirm that subcontractors are not required to submit the FAR 52.222-46 (Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees).

Government Response: Confirmed

41. For key personnel positions that require an advanced degree (such as a Masters), would the Government consider a lesser degree (Bachelors) if the candidate proposed has more years of experience in the field? Example: Senior Software Scientist requires 10 years of experience and a Masters degree – in lieu of a Masters degree, a Bachelor’s degree and 16 years of experience to meet the requirement.

Government Response: No

42. In the Senior Software Scientist Key Personnel description, the term “relevant programming environments” is used. Can the GOV provide what the “relevant programming environments” are, such as the current Tech Stack, or the languages (C++, Java, Assembly, etc) being used?

Government Response: Java, Javascript, C#/.NET, C++

43. L.2.4.1 Reference: Past performance references may include work the Offeror has performed as a Prime Contractor; work the Offeror has performed as a major Subcontractor; or, work performed by major subcontractors or joint venture partners that are being proposed in response to this solicitation.

Question: Since the burden of providing thorough and complete past performance information of a major Subcontractor is extremely difficult beyond simply submitting a Past Performance Questionnaire and this is an IDIQ proposal, will the Government consider removing “work the Offeror has performed as a major Subcontractor;”? If not, will the Government at least define what constitutes an Offeror as being a major Subcontractor in terms of percentage of revenue with respect to total dollar value of the contract (i.e., 20%, 25%, or 33%) and that relevancy would be in terms of the subcontractors portion of the contract, not the prime’s?

Government Response: Work that a reasonable person would consider significant with respect to the overall Government requirement.

44. Attach 2 Reference: Please return the completed Questionnaire to the Contracting Officer identified in the cover letter within 3 days

Question: Will the Government specify the actual date when the Questonnaires need to be submitted by (assuming it would be the date and time the solicitations are due) and then therefore use the “within 3 days” as a desired response time?

Government Response: The Questionnaires are due on or before the proposals due date.

45. L.2.3.4.2 Reference: Offerors shall submit a direct labor rate (PRIME CONTRACTORS ONLY) for each of the labor categories listed in Attachment 7.

L.2.3.4.3 Reference: Offerors may also include additional worksheets in the workbook for labor rates and categories that are being subcontracted. … The Offeror may also insert additional rows to account for …, or for differing rates between the Prime and a Subcontractor for the same position.

Question: Most subcontractors will not be providing prime with detailed cost breakdown, Can the offeror revise the worksheet to accommodate a means to show the fully burdened rate without Offeror Fee for both the Offeror’s rates and it’s subcontractor rates?

Government Response: No

46. L.2.3.4.10 Reference: If proposing subcontractors, the Offeror shall explicitly detail on its Cost/Price proposal the amount of work subcontracted, in terms of both dollars and percentage. A Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data, in the format specified in FAR 15.406-2 (as applicable).

Question: “A Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data, in the format specified in FAR 15.406-2 (as applicable).” - does not appear to be a complete sentence; is this a task for the Prime Offeror or for the Subcontractors to provide the Prime Offeror with the Certificate?

Government Response: This is a responsibility of the prime contractor to provide the Certificate of Current Cost and Pricing Data.

47. L.2.3.4.10 Reference: … An Offeror’s cost analysis which supports the determination of fair and reasonableness of price must be included to support subcontractor proposal costs.

H2 Reference:

2. Prime contractors are responsible for ensuring THAT fully disclosed rates are provided for evaluation of proposals in response to TOR.

a. Subcontract proposals <750K. The Prime Contractor must provide a cost analysis that fully supports the reasonableness of subcontractor costs to include an analysis of costs and fee/profit.

b. Subcontract proposals >$750K. Prime Contractor must provide a cost analysis that fully supports the reasonableness of subcontractor costs to include an analysis of costs and fee/profit. In addition, Prime contractors must either provide along with prime proposals or ensure that subcontractors provide a complete breakdown of costs to include subcontractor cost and fee/profit proposed to the KO by the closing date.

Question: Section H2 is only referring to TOR pricing submittals, does a subcontractor need to submit detailed cost breakdown (and associated narrative) to either the Prime Offeror or the KO directly by the closing date of the IDIQ?

Government Response: Subcontractors shall submit cost breakdowns directly to the procuring contracting office.

48. Can the Government please clarify the years of experience required for each labor category and level in the Attachment 7 Cost Summary spreadsheet?

Government Response: No

49. C1.2 Objective Reference: Provide the necessary technical, analytic and operational integration skills across NVESD core competencies to enable and enhance NVESD SPPD ability to develop, prototype, evaluate, and support equipment and systems.

H.3.1 Table Reference: Non Experimental, Developmental or Research Work

Attachment 7 Reference: Fee (experimental, developmental, research work)

Question: There is conflicting information as to whether this effort is considered “Non Experimental, Developmental or Research Work” or “Experimental, Developmental or Research Work”. Can the Government clear up confusion by either replacing Non Experimental, Developmental or Research Work within the table in H 3.1 to Experimental, Developmental or Research Work and update the fee limit accordingly; add Experimental, Developmental or Research Work to the table in H 3.1 and perhaps provide the percentage of effort for each element, or convey that the entire effort is considered Non- Experimental, Developmental or Research Work.

Government Response: This is considered Experimental, Developmental or Research Work

50. For the position of Program Manager: IDIQ Contract, the gov requires a master's degree in management, PMP or equivalent. Will the government accept a DAWIA III certification in program management as equivalent?

Government Response: No.

51. Page 124 references a Letter of Commitment for all teaming arrangements and Page 122 references a Written Consent of Major Subcontractors. Are there different documents and if so, how do they differ? Does the government have a preferred template for these documents?

Government Response: There is no particular template required for either letter. The difference is the Letter of Commitment is a memo signed by subcontractors in which they commit to supporting the SETA effort. The Written Consent of Major Subcontractors is signed by a major subcontractor to provide support up until a certain percentage as specified by “major” subcontractor.

52. Can the government provide a page count for Key Personnel resumes?

Government Response: Maximum of 4 pages

53. Page 122 states that Manpower/Org charts do not count against the Management Volume Page limit. Is this statement true if the figures are embedded within the Volume write-up? If so, is it acceptable to provide the chart separately and reference it within the write-up?

Government Response: Provide chart separately and reference it in the writeup.

54. Attachment 7 is not broken up by year. Should we assume the rates provided are an average over all 5 years or should we provided rates for each of the 5 years?

Government Response: Overall average for 5 years.

55. Do major subcontractors need to submit an unsanitized cost volume?

Government Response: Major subcontractors shall submit an unsanitized cot volume to the procuring contracting office.

56. For times when local employees are working off-site, should we assume they can work remotely from a home office?

Government Response: This will be on case by case basis, with consideration to work sensitivity, environmental factors, and other work specifics.

57. For LCATs that the government allows for remote work (Computer Programs (level 3 and 4) and Computer Systems Analysts (level 3 and 4)), can these employees work remotely from a home office?

Government Response: This will be on case by case basis, with consideration to work sensitivity, environmental factors, and other work specifics.

58. The government references travel, but does not include any required trips in the cost volume or PWS. Should we provide any cost associated with travel or material in our Cost Volume? If so, is there any direction as to the trips or materials required?

Government Response: Yes, see Government Response to travel question above.

59. Page 10, Section L.2.3.2.3. states that a 9% or less fee is allowed on CPFF task orders but does not state a maximum for FFP task orders. Is there a maximum fee associated with FFP task orders?

Government Response: FFP maximum fee for task orders is 15%. If contractor’s fee is 15%, contractor shall provide a justification.

60. For the Program Manager position, is there an experience equivalence for the Master’s Degree in management if they hold a Master’s degree of PhD in a technical field?

Government Response: NO, Position requires: Master’s Degree in management, PMP or equivalent

61. The job descriptions provided (apart from the Key Personnel) only have years of experience required for Engineer 3. All other job descriptions only give education requirements. Can the government provide years of experience for the rest of the job descriptions?

Government Response: NO

62. For items excluded from page limits, should these items be submitted as separate files or included in the same file as the Management Volume? Page 121 does not give a file name convention for these items.

Government Response: Separate File

63. Will the work OCI the contractor from pursuing any other contracts?

Government Response: It may, depending on the nature of the other contract.

64. The education and certification requirement for the Program Manager position states: “Master’s

Degree in management, PMP or equivalent”. Is it intended to require 1) a Master’s degree plus 2) a PMP or a PMP‐equivalent? Or is it intended to require one of the three: 1) Master’s degree, 2) PMP, 3) an equivalent to Master’s or PMP?

Government Response: One of the three

65. Will the government consider key personnel located in areas other than the vicinity of Ft Belvoir if there is an advantage to the government due to cost or skill set?

Government Response: YES

66. Pg. 14, 3.2.4 Subtask 4 3.2.4.3 ‐ What level of help desk and what will help desk hours be?

Government Response: This would be defined by individual task order

67. If there is no incumbent, the approach to "Transition-In" will be critical to the Government, will this task be evaluated separately or will a task be added to the final PWS?

Government Response: There is no incumbent. The final PWS was added with the solicitation.

68. 4.2 Sexual Assault/Harassment Policy references Attachment 1 for training compliance. Attachment 1 is the fee maximums. Is there another document for this policy?

Government Response: This language was included by error. The language has been removed.

69. States File Name Convention with an asterisk (*). What does the asterisk (*) mean/what is the definition?

Government Response: Asterisk has been removed.