A07_-_Section_L_(Instructions_to_Offerors).DOCX

Section L – Instructions to Offerors

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

1. INTRODUCTION

This is a Request for Proposal (RFP) under W911QX19R0004. The IDIQ contracts total maximum ceiling is $24,769,516.56. The guaranteed minimum award for the basic IDIQ contract awards is $10,000.00 and will be provided prior to contract expiration. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is NAICS 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services and the Business Size Standard is $15.0M.

The offeror’s proposal shall be submitted electronically to the AMRDEC Safe Access File Exchange (SAFE) https://safe.amrdec.army.mil/SAFE/. Files shall not contain classified data. The use of hyperlinks in proposals is prohibited. The offeror’s proposal shall consist of the following volumes: 1) Set #1 consisting of four (4) volumes for the CPFF IDIQ and 2) Set #2 consisting of two (2) volumes for TO 0001. The volumes shall be organized as follows:

a. Set #1. CPFF IDIQ (Basic PWS)

i. VOLUME I – Technical

ii. VOLUME II – Past Performance

iii. VOLUME III – Cost (Labor Category and Rate Breakdown)

iv. VOLUME IV - Solicitation, Offer and Award Documents and Certifications/Representations

b. Set #2. TO 0001 (TO 0001 PWS)

i. VOLUME I – Technical

ii. VOLUME III – Cost (Full Cost Proposal)

The offeror’s files shall not contain classified data. Additionally, the use of hyperlinks in proposals is prohibited.

Offerors are cautioned that “parroting” of the Technical requirements or the Basic PWS and First Task Order PWS with a statement of intent to perform does not reflect an understanding of the requirement or capability to perform. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. The Offeror shall ensure that Proprietary information is clearly marked.

Questions concerning this solicitation must be submitted in writing to Brittany Smith, Brittany.l.smith136.civ@mail.mil AND Tommy Kim, tommy.i.kim.civ@mail.mil.

8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time (ET) on 13 November 2018. All questions concerning the solicitation must include Company Name, Point of Contact and Title, Telephone Number, Email Address and Fax Number. Questions received without the aforementioned information will not be answered. No additional questions will be accepted after this deadline. Questions will be answered by the issuance of a solicitation amendment.

Solicitation Released Solicitation Closing Date 1 November 2018 3 December 2018

2. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The offeror’s proposal shall be submitted electronically to the AMRDEC SAFE https://safe.amrdec.army.mil/SAFE/. Any pages that are changed (as a result of negotiations or proposal revisions) should be in track changes. The revised pages shall be dated. Each volume shall be clearly labeled with its title.

Each volume shall be single spaced. Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one (1) blank line. A standard, 12-point minimum font size applies. Arial or New Times Roman fonts are required. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size no less than 8-point and may be landscape.

The following volumes of material shall be submitted:

CPFF IDIQ (Basic PWS)

TO 0001 (TO 0001 PWS)

NOTE: Pages that exceed the required page limitations will not be evaluated. Table of Contents, Cover Pages, Summary Sections, Manpower Charts, Letters of Intent, Contract Work Breakdown Structure, Letters of Commitment, Resumes, and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans (QASP) are excluded from the page count.

3. PROPOSAL FILES

a. Format. The submission shall be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume shall be clearly identified and shall begin at the top of a page. All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date, and solicitation number in the header and/or footer. A Table of Contents should be created using the Table of Contents feature in MS Word. MS Word (.doc or docx) files shall use the following page setup parameters:

Margins – Top, Bottom, Left, Right 1” Gutter – 0” From Edge – Header, Footer 0.5” Page Size, Width – 8.5” Page Size, Height – 11”

The following additional restrictions apply:

a. File Packaging. All of the proposal files shall be compressed (zipped) into one file entitled proposal.zip using WinZip version 6.2 or later, or as separate uploads in their native format, i.e. doc, docx, xls, ppt, etc. **Please note Self extracting .exe files are no longer accepted.**

b. Content Requirement. All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal and provide adequate basis for evaluation. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details, in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. Each file of the proposal shall consist of a Table of Contents, Summary Section, and the Narrative discussion. The Summary Section shall contain a brief abstract of the file. Proprietary information shall be clearly marked. The following shall be included in the Narrative discussion:

(i) VOLUME I – TECHNICAL The Technical Volume shall be clear, concise, and include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims in the Offeror’s proposal. The Offerors shall submit the technical documentation to support the Contract requirements set forth in this Base PWS, Task Order PWS, and Section M of the solicitation. Legibility, clarity and coherence are very important. Offeror’s responses will be evaluated against the Technical Factor with three (3) Subfactors: (1) Understanding of Work to be Accomplished; (2) Management and Personnel; (3) Onboarding and Assimilation Approach, as defined in Section M, Evaluation Approach. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements, but rather shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities and experience, and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror’s proposal.

The volumes for the Basic IDIQ and TO 0001 shall be organized into the following sections:

(1) Section 1-Subfactor (a): This subfactor evaluates the offeror’s Understanding of Work to be Accomplished. The offeror will provide information that substantiates:

(i) Completeness and Accuracy

(ii) Clarity

(iii) Soundness of Approach

(2) Section 2-Subfactor (b): This subfactor evaluates the offeror’s Management and Personnel. The offer will provide information that substantiates:

(i) Contract/Program Management Structure and Approach

(ii) Communications

(iii) Internal Controls

(iv) Adequacy of Work Force

(v) Availability

(3) Section 3-Subfactor (c): This subfactor evaluates the offeror’s Onboarding and Assimilation Approach. The offer will provide information that substantiates:

(i) Method

(ii) Efficiency

(iii) Effectiveness

Technical Documentation. The Offerors shall submit the technical documentation necessary to support both the Basic PWS and the TO 0001 PWS set forth in this solicitation. The Offerors shall ensure their technical documentation addresses the following as it relates to the denoted subfactor (at a minimum):

1) A contract and management structure that provides the necessary control, management and supervision over personnel. (Subfactor B)

2) Channels of communication between the Government and offeror to provide for efficient and timely resolution of contract performance issues. (Subfactor B)

3) Internal management control mechanisms to avoid the appearance of inherently governmental functions and personal services. (Subfactor B)

4) Ability to manage the day-to-day operations of the work and services as set forth in the Basic PWS and Task Order 1. (Subfactor A)

5) Ability to respond to fluctuating workloads (e.g. ramping up/ramping down, turnover, surges and decreases) in requirements. (Subfactor B)

6) Personnel have the current knowledge, skills, and educational requirement in the disciplines required by the Basic PWS and TO 0001 PWS, with sufficient business acumen to work with world class scientists and engineers substantiated by resumes for key personnel on the base IDIQ and all personnel for the first task order. (Subfactor B)

7) Personnel that meet the requirements set forth in the Basic PWS and TO Order 0001 are available to support the contract effort. (Subfactor B)

8) The screening process that the offeror will have in place prior to vetting candidates to the Government for factors including but not limited to appropriate skills/knowledge (contracting/budget/operations), relevant experience, technology skills (Microsoft Officer, SharePoint, etc.) and interpersonal skills. (Subfactor B)

9) Recruitment procedures and details on each stage of the recruitment and selection process when recruiting Key Personnel and TO 0001 proposed personnel that meet the requirements detailed in the Basic PWS and TO 0001 PWS. (Subfactor B)

10) Procedures that will be used to verify the qualifications of candidates prior to placement. (Subfactor B)

11) Procedures to ensure Contractor personnel meet and maintain expertise regarding agency specific policy, procedures, and systems, necessary to fulfill the requirements established in base PWS and Task Order PWS. (Subfactor C)

12) A Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) that ensures proper oversight of personnel, training, certifications, subcontractors, and compliance with Operational Security requirements (Reference C.10 in base PWS). (Subfactor B)

13) Procedures for addressing Contractor staff performance issues in terms of not meeting quality, timeliness, professionalism and other related performance requirements associated with the performance of duties. (Subfactor A)

14) Procedures for identifying and removing any personnel not adequately performing required activities. (Subfactor A)

15) Procedures and approach to defining novel, research and development objectives for a customer of the requiring activity to draft PWS, SAS or AP and then using that information to suggest an acquisition strategy. (Subfactor A)

16) Explanation of the approach to pricing a novel, pathfinder technology for which there is little precedence. (Subfactor A)

17) The offerors shall detail how to use Onboarding and Assimilation period in a productive manner prior to Contractor Personnel receiving full network access. Beyond this onboarding period the offerors shall detail how to assimilate and progress the entire workforce on any new or changed agency specific polices. (Subfactor C)

(ii) VOLUME II – PAST PERFORMANCE.

This volume shall contain past performance information regarding similar contracts. The Government will focus its inquiries on the offeror’s (to include Major Subcontractors and Joint Venture Partners) record of performance as it relates to all solicitation requirements, including cost, schedule, performance, and management of Subcontractors. Major Subcontractors are defined as members of an offeror’s overall team who are expected to perform 10 percent or more of the proposed effort. If a Joint Venture is not assigned, the Government will evaluate the prime offeror. A prime offeror is defined as the prime offeror that provides a signed Joint Venture agreement or an approved DoD Army Protégé agreement within their proposal. In the case of an assigned Joint Venture, the Government will consider the relevant experience and past performance history of the stated primary joint venture partner (if a primary joint venture partner is assigned) and will evaluate the individual venture partners of the proposed joint venture that are expected to perform a meaningful role (10 percent or more of the proposed effort) in evaluating the past performance. This volume shall not exceed 10 pages plus five (5) pages for each major Subcontractor and Joint Venture Partner(s) excluding Past Performance Questionnaire Forms. Offerors shall submit the first page of Government and/or commercial contracts for the prime offeror and each major Subcontractor in performance or awarded during the past three (3) years, from the issue date of this RFP, that is the same as or similar to, the scope, magnitude, and complexity of the work described by this solicitation. Relevant efforts are defined as services/efforts that are the same as or similar to providing the duty descriptions detailed for each labor category. Relevancy will be further evaluated based on services/efforts that occurred at a Government laboratory, an Army facility, or any location. Data concerning the offeror shall be provided first, followed by each proposed major Subcontractor, in alphabetical order. The offeror shall demonstrate relevant past performance or affirmatively state that it possesses no relevant past performance. The Offeror shall also submit the written consent (in the offerors preferred format) of its major Subcontractors to allow the disclosure of its Subcontractor’s past performance information to the Offeror. In addition, letters of commitment (in the offerors preferred format) shall be included for all major Subcontractors for their past performance to be considered (the first page of each referenced Government and/or commercial contracts, letters of commitment and written consent do not count against the allotted page count for this section).

(1) Section 1 – Contract Descriptions. This section shall include the following information in the following format:

(a) Contractor/Subcontractor place of performance, CAGE Code and DUNS Number. If the work was performed as a subcontractor, also provide the name of the prime contractor and Point of Contact (POC) within the prime contractor organization (name, and current address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers).

(b) Government contracting activity, and current address, Procuring Contracting Officer’s name, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers.

(c) Government’s technical representative/ Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and current email address, telephone and fax numbers.

(d) Government contract administration activity and the Administrative Contracting Officer’s name, and current e-mail address, telephone and fax number.

(e) Government contract administration activity’s Pre-Award Monitor’s name, and current e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers.

(f) Contract Number and, in the case of Indefinite Delivery type contracts, GSA contracts, and Blanket Purchase Agreements, include Delivery Order Numbers also.

(g) Contract Type (specific type such as Fixed-Price (FP), Cost Reimbursement (CR), Time & Materials (T&M), etc.). In the case of Indefinite Delivery contracts, indicate specific type (Requirements, Definite Quantity, and Indefinite Quantity) and secondary contract type (FP, CR, T&M, etc.).

(h) Awarded price/cost.

(i) Final or projected final price/cost.

(j) Original delivery schedule, including dates of start and completion or work.

(k) Final, or projected final, delivery schedule, including dates of start and completion of work.

(2) Section 2 – Performance. Offerors shall provide a specific narrative explanation of each contract listed in Section 1, “Contract Description”, describing the objectives achieved and detailing how the effort is relevant to the requirement of this solicitation.

(a) For any contracts that did not/do not meet original schedule or technical performance requirements, provide a brief explanation of the reason(s) for the shortcomings and any corrective action(s) taken to avoid recurrence. The offerors shall list each time the delivery schedule was revised and provide an explanation of why the revision was necessary. All Requests for Deviation and Requests for Waiver shall be addressed with respect to causes and corrective actions. The offerors shall also provide a copy of any Cure Notices or Show Cause Letters as well as any Corrective Action Requests received on each contract listed and a description of any corrective action implemented by the offeror or proposed subcontractor. The offerors shall indicate if any of the contracts listed were terminated and the type and reasons for the termination.

(b) For all contracts, the offeror shall provide data on all manufacturing warranty returns. Data shall delineate total number of warranty returns, number of Could Not Duplicate (CND), number of failures attributable to Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) component failures, and number and nature of failures attributable to the offeror’s delivered product.

(3) Section 3 – Subcontracts and Joint Venture Partners. Offerors shall provide an outline of how the effort required by the RFP will be assigned for performance within the offeror’s corporate entity and among the proposed subcontractors and Joint Venture Partners. The information provided for the prime offeror and each proposed major subcontractor and Joint Venture Partners must include the entire company name, company address, CAGE Code, DUNS Number and type of work to be performed by citing the applicable Government PWS/TO PWS subparagraph number. This includes all subcontractors and Joint Venture Partners who will be providing support services valued at 10% or more of the contract value, or who’s to perform more than 10% of the total proposed cost/price. This section will further include written consent of major subcontractors and Joint Venture Partners to allow the disclosure of their subcontractor’s past performance information to the Offeror. In addition, letters of commitment shall be included for all major subcontractors and Joint Venture Partners.

(4) Section 4 – New Corporate Entities. New corporate entities may submit data on prior contracts involving its officers and employees. However, in addition to the other requirements in this section, the offeror shall discuss in detail the role performed by such persons in the prior contracts cited. Information should be included in the files described in the sections above. Letters of Commitment shall be included in the proposal for these employees in order to be considered.

(5) Past Performance Questionnaire. For all contracts identified in Section 1, Contract Descriptions, a Past Performance Questionnaire must be completed and submitted. The offeror shall complete Part I of the Past Performance Questionnaire and e-mail the questionnaire to both the Government contracting activity and technical representative responsible for the past/current contract. The POCs shall be instructed to electronically complete Part II of the questionnaire and e-mail the entire questionnaire to the Contracting Officer, no later than the proposal due date, to Brittany Smith, Brittany.l.smith.136.civ@mail.mil. The offeror shall e-mail to the Contracting Officer a list of all the POC’s who were sent a questionnaire. The Government must receive this list no later than 20 days after RFP release. The POC List shall be submitted in Word for Windows Table Format to include the following fields: Solicitation Number; Company Name; Contract Number; Government Agency; POC Last Name, First Name; POC Title; POC Telephone Number; POC E-mail Address; and Date E-Mail to POC (month/day).

(6) Submissions. Offerors are discouraged from providing points of contact with another contractors’ facility, i.e., in case an offeror (or one of his/her team members) is in a subcontract with another contractor who has submitted a proposal on the same requirement. Offerors shall provide and submit the prime contract number and all Governmental agency points of contact (POC) in lieu of subcontract numbers or prime contract POCs in situations as described above.

(7) Small Business Participation Past Performance. All Offerors shall submit information substantiating the Offerors’ past performance in complying with FAR 52.219-8, “Utilization of Small Business”, maximizing opportunities for U.S. small business subcontractors. Offerors shall also provide a statement indicating whether any negative information has been reported in the past six years concerning the Offerors’ past compliance with FAR 52.219-8. If any such negative information has been reported, the Offeror may submit explanations or comments responding to such negative information. Offerors with no prior contracts containing FAR 52.219-8 shall certify the same. The Small Business Participation Past Performance is excluded from the total page count of this section.

(iii) VOLUME III – COST

This volume shall consist of all information, required to support proposed costs and prices as defined in the cost proposal portion. A full cost proposal is NOT required in response to the Basic PWS. A labor rate table organized by year shall be submitted to include all potential labor categories and labor rates for the Basic PWS. The Contractor shall reference the attached Anticipated Labor Categories document for anticipated required labor categories for performance of this proposed contract. A full cost proposal IS required in response to the Task Order 0001 PWS.

Certified cost and pricing data are not currently required; however, the Government reserves the right to request such data prior to task order award if applicable. The information submitted in this volume shall comply with FAR 15.408, Table 15-2, and the requirements set forth below. There are no page limitations for this volume. The Offerors shall ensure their cost documentation addresses the following (at a minimum):

I. In accordance with FAR 16.301, the Contracting Officer shall determine that a contractor’s accounting system is adequate. To assist in this determination all offerors shall submit a DCAA Letter of Approval (if available), within their Volume III – Cost, along with the offeror’s current Accounting Policies and Practice.

II. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 15.403-1(b), data other than certified cost or pricing data is required to support cost realism. Each Offeror's and subcontractor’s cost proposal shall be broken out by cost element as specified in FAR 15.408, Table 15-2 Section I, General Instructions, Part A. Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall provide information necessary to help the Government understand why the proposed costs are realistic and reasonable in its cost narrative. Each Offeror's cost proposal shall contain sufficient quantitative and narrative documentation necessary to adequately support and explain that the costs proposed are realistic and reasonable, to include subcontractor proposed costs.

The cost file of the proposal shall be submitted via Excel spreadsheet(s) in the offerors preferred format. There is NO requirement to submit a printed copy of the Cost file of the proposal.

Basis of estimate write-ups in the cost file shall follow this structure.

a. Describe the base data used to estimate the labor hours or cost of a service.

b. Describe why the offeror chose to use this base data for the proposal.

c. Describe the adjustments, if any, to the base data and why the adjustments were appropriate.

Major Cost Element Information:

The Contractor shall submit cost information for Task Order 0001 as described below:

a) Materials and Services

The Offeror shall provide a consolidated priced summary of individual material quantities included in the various tasks, orders, or contract line items being proposed and the basis for pricing (vendor quotes, invoice prices, etc.). Include raw materials, parts, components, assemblies, and services to be produced or performed by others. For all items proposed, identify the item and show the source, quantity, and price. Conduct price analyses of all subcontractor proposals. Conduct cost analyses for all subcontracts when cost or pricing data are submitted by the subcontractor. Include these analyses as part of the cost or pricing data submissions for subcontracts expected to exceed the appropriate threshold in FAR 15.403-4. Submit the subcontractor cost or pricing data as part of the cost or pricing data in accordance with the Proposal Adequacy Checklist "Cost Elements" section for Materials (per the 15-2 Table, Section II, Paragraph A) where it states:

Does the proposal include a consolidated summary of individual material and services, frequently referred to as a Consolidated Bill of Material (CBOM), to include the basis for pricing? The offeror's consolidated summary shall include raw materials, parts, components, assemblies, subcontracts and services to be produced or performed by others, identifying as a minimum the item, source, quantity, and price.

These requirements also apply to all subcontractors if required to submit cost or pricing data

(1) Adequate Price Competition. The Offeror shall provide data showing the degree of competition and the basis for establishing the source and reasonableness of price for those acquisitions (such as subcontracts, purchase orders, material order, etc.) exceeding, or expected to exceed, the appropriate threshold set forth at FAR 15.403-4 priced on the basis of adequate price competition. For inter-organizational transfers priced at other than the cost of comparable competitive commercial work of the division, subsidiary, or affiliate of the contractor, explain the pricing method (see FAR 31.205-26(e).

(2) All Other. The Offeror shall obtain cost or pricing data from prospective sources for those acquisitions (such as subcontracts, purchase orders, material order, etc.) exceeding the threshold set forth in FAR 15.403-4 and not otherwise exempt, in accordance with FAR_15.403-1(b) (i.e., adequate price competition, commercial items, prices set by law or regulation or waiver). Also provide data showing the basis for establishing source and reasonableness of price. In addition, provide a summary of the cost analysis and a copy of cost or pricing data submitted by the prospective source in support of each subcontract, or purchase order that is the lower of either $12.5 million or more, or both more than the pertinent cost or pricing data threshold and more than 10 percent of the prime contractor's proposed price.

Subcontractor cost or pricing data must be accurate, complete and current as of the date of final price agreement, or an earlier date agreed upon by the parties, given on the prime contractor's Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data. The prime contractor is responsible for updating a prospective subcontractor's data. For standard commercial items fabricated by the offeror that are generally stocked in inventory, provide a separate cost breakdown, if priced based on cost.

For inter-organizational transfers priced at cost, provide a separate breakdown of cost elements. Analyze the cost or pricing data and submit the results of your analysis of the prospective source's proposal. When submission of a prospective source's cost or pricing data is required as described in this paragraph, it must be included along with your own cost or pricing data submission, as part of your own cost or pricing data. The Offeror shall also submit any other cost or pricing data obtained from a subcontractor, either actually or by specific identification, along with the results of any analysis performed on that data.

(b) Direct Labor Cost

(i) Direct Labor Categories: The Offeror shall propose its direct labor categories and shall provide the basis for the proposed labor categories and skill mix, and discuss the assumptions and rationale for those proposed labor categories/skill mix. In addition, the Offeror shall provide a “crosswalk” between the proposed labor categories and those labor codes matching its accounting/estimating system.

(ii) Direct Labor Hours: The Offeror shall provide the basis of the proposed labor hours with supporting rationale, including calculations, documentation, the estimating method used, and the assumptions for the proposed estimates. In addition, the Offeror shall provide and discuss the planned employee hours worked per day, week, and year, as well as proposed overtime. The Offeror shall discuss how leave (sick leave, vacation, etc.) impacts the proposed direct labor hours (and staffing).

(iii) Direct Labor Rates: The Offeror shall provide and discuss the basis for the proposed direct labor rates, for both the prime and subcontractors, such as whether the rates are current/actual (with the effective date), Forward Pricing Rate Agreement (FPRA) or Submission (FPRS), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) or commercial consulting firm wage/salary survey (e.g., Watson Wyatt, etc.), or Offeror estimate. Documentation for the proposed direct labor rates may be recent actual direct labor rates supported by payroll records, and/or paystubs, Letters of Intent (LOIs), or salary survey data. If providing LOIs, Offeror and/or its subcontractor(s) shall include the direct hourly labor rate for the proposed employee, identify the position, submit the LOI on Offeror’s or subcontractor’s letterhead with both the prospective employee’s and the employer signatures, and state that the LOI is for this solicitation. If providing a salary survey, Offerors shall, at a minimum, include for each applicable labor category the salary survey information in support of the proposed rates. The salary survey information at a minimum shall have: the source of data used to develop the salary ranges, the job title and description being surveyed, the geographic location the survey data is valid for, and a range of salary amounts with reference to applicability of amounts. Recent (within the last twelve (12) months) DCAA audits may serve as support documentation for direct labor rates. A copy of the audit must be included in the proposal. If a copy is not available to the Offeror, the Offeror may provide the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and/or Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) POCs (including office names, office addresses, name of cognizant Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) and DCAA supervisory auditor/auditor, and their phone numbers) for the Government to contact.

(iv) Overtime Premium: No overtime is to be proposed for the base effort, however overtime may be required on an as need basis. The Contractor shall propose their overtime rates

(c) Indirect Costs/Overhead Rates (Fringe Benefits/Allowances, Material Handling, Manufacturing, Engineering, General and Administrative Expenses (G&A), and Facilities Capital Cost of Money (FCCOM).

(i) Offeror and its subcontractor(s) shall provide documentation to include at least one of the following: 1) a copy of the most recent Forward Pricing Rate Agreement (FPRA), 2) Forward Pricing Rate Recommendation (FPRR), 3) a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) or Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) report or memorandum containing the most recent finalized DCAA/DCMA audit or review, or 4) Forward Pricing Rate Proposal (FPRP) or other statement of current rates to include documentation to validate the proposed indirect expense rates. The Offeror shall provide the basis of the proposed indirect cost and/or rates, such as the following: actual/current with date, Forward Pricing Rate Agreement (FPRA)/Submission (FPRS), budget, or estimate, with supporting documentation.

(ii) Documentation of indirect expense rates for an FPRP or other statement of current rates shall include the proposed expense pool (by expense account) and allocation base detail, along with the last three years' certified incurred cost submissions. If certified incurred cost proposals have not been submitted to DCAA in the past, then the last three years’ actual expense pools (by expense account) and allocation bases shall be submitted. The rates reflected in the FPRA, FPRR, FPRP, DCAA/DCMA audit or review or other statement of current rates should directly match the proposed rates as detailed in the proposal.

(iii) If the award of this contract will have a significant impact on the Offeror’s business volume, the effects of those changes on the expense pools and bases shall be identified and disclosed.

(iv) Direct/Indirect Charged Costs: The Offeror is reminded that each type of cost shall be allocated only once and on only one basis in order to preclude the “double counting” of costs. Double counting occurs when cost items are allocated directly without eliminating similar items from indirect cost pools. The accounting treatment of all costs of a similar type and nature, in like circumstances, shall be the same. The Offeror shall follow the accounting practices/procedures described in its Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Disclosure Statement and/or established accounting/estimating system.

(d) Subcontracts/Inter-organizational Transfers/Consultants.

(i) The Offeror shall list all anticipated subcontracted effort or inter-organizational transfers, to include: subcontractor or consultant name, total price, service provided. The Offeror shall identify all proposed subcontractors and the contract type the Offeror has with each subcontractor in its cost narrative. For the major subcontractors and consultants providing labor services, the Offeror shall provide the prices broken down by major cost element, in the same format as required of the prime contractor, with all documentation supporting the proposed costs/prices. The Offeror shall provide a narrative describing the basis of selection; it should also document its evaluation of the cost reasonableness and realism of the subcontractors’ or consultants’ costs and/or prices. The Offeror’s price/cost evaluation of its subcontracts and consultants (and/or inter-organizational transfers) will assist the government in its evaluation of the cost realism and reasonableness of the prime contractor’s proposal.

(ii) Reference FAR 15.404-3, if the Offeror is unable to obtain the required documentation from its subcontractors in order to conduct a cost or price analysis as required, the subcontractor may provide the information directly to the Government following the submission instructions of the solicitation. However, the Offeror and its subcontractor in this scenario shall provide the rationale detailing exactly why the Offeror is unable to conduct the required price or cost analysis as required by 15.404-3 in their cost narrative. For example, if a price/cost analysis is required for a subcontractor and that analysis requires a breakout of the individual cost elements to a prime, and a subcontractor is unwilling to provide their proprietary data to the prime, the prime may then do a total price analysis per 15.404-1(b) and the subcontractor may submit their proprietary cost breakout directly to the Government. If the subcontractor submits their proprietary data directly to the Government, the prime Offeror shall also provide a separate document titled “Summary of Subcontractor(s) Proprietary Cost Breakout” following the submission instructions of the solicitation. The prime Offeror shall ensure this separate document lists the name of each subcontractor, each subcontractor POC who will be submitting the proprietary cost breakout document(s), the date of submission by each subcontractor, and the title(s) of the proprietary cost breakout document(s) to be provided by each subcontractor. The subcontractor shall submit all documents electronically via the ARL Safe website. Additionally, if a subcontractor submits directly to the Government, the subcontractor’s cost narrative and Excel files shall contain all the required documentation applicable to the cost volume for this procurement. The subcontractor shall identify in its cost narrative who the prime Offeror is.

(iii) The subcontractor/consultant names, addresses, phone numbers, and POCs shall be provided; the cognizant DCMA and DCAA offices, along with their addresses, phone numbers, and POCs, shall also be provided, as applicable.

(iv) The same level of cost detail, as required for the subcontracts/consultants, shall be provided for inter-organizational transfers.

(e) Other Direct Costs (ODCs).

(i) Materials/Supplies/Equipment. It is anticipated that miscellaneous laboratory supplies and/or office supplies may be required in direct support of task order 0001. Based on the onboarding and assimilation approach the offeror shall list contractor furnished supplies and equipment with unit and total costs, and the basis of the proposed costs (quote, purchase order, historic price, estimate, lease, etc.)

(ii) Travel. No travel is required.

(iii) Misc ODCs. The Offeror shall list all other ODCs to include with unit and total costs, and the basis of the proposed costs, for any other associated cost (i.e. Danger Pay, Hazard Pay, DBA Insurance).

(iv) Fee on ODCs. The Offeror shall not charge any fee on ODCs.

(f) Fee/Profit.

The Offeror shall indicate the proposed fee/profit.

(g) Economics/Escalation.

For the Direct Labor Rates, materials and equipment/supplies, ODCs, and any other costs, the Offeror shall provide the bases for any proposed/projected price changes and the assumptions used: forecast source (such as DRI/WEFA, or Economy.com), index used (index number and title), calculations (index values used: base and projected values), and dates used (month and year for applicable index numbers). The Offeror shall provide copies of the escalation forecasts as support documentation in the proposal.

(iv) VOLUME IV – SOLICITATIONS, OFFER AND AWARD DOCUMENTS AND CERTIFICATIONS / REPRESENTATIONS Certifications and Representations – Each offeror shall complete (fill-in and signatures) the solicitation sections indicated below using the file (without modification to the file) provided with the solicitation. An authorized official of the firm shall sign the SF 33 and all certifications requiring original signature. An Acrobat PDF file shall be created to capture the signatures for submission. This requirement is in addition to the Reps and Certs required pursuant to FAR 52.204-2.

Section A – Standard Form 33 (SF 33), Solicitation, Offer and Award

E. DISCUSSIONS

1. GENERAL INFORMATION. The Government intends to evaluate proposals and make award without discussions. If discussions are to be conducted, a competitive range will be established and comprised of all of the most highly rated proposals (unless the range is further reduced for purposes of efficiency pursuant to FAR 15.306(c)(2)) based on the evaluation criteria identified within Section M of this Request for Proposal (RFP). After completion of discussions with each offeror in the competitive range (if conducted) and in accordance with FAR 15.307(b), all offerors in the competitive range will be allowed a specified period to submit Final Proposal Revisions.

2. ORAL DISCUSSION SCHEDULING. If oral discussions are conducted, the Contracting Officer will schedule the discussion sessions, and each offeror will be notified of the time and place at least three (3) business days prior to their discussion session. Appropriate security clearances should be provided in sufficient time to process the requests. The Contracting Officer will provide additional instructions with the notification. The discussion sessions will take place at the Government’s facility.