CFSET Solicitation Questions and Answers to W911QY20R0020 Amendment 0001.pdf

Questions and Answers (Q&A): CFSET Solicitation W911QY20R0020 Amendment 0001

24 July 2020

1. REF: L.9.1.6; L.10.5, M.4.2, M.4.13, Exh A & Exh B Small Business Goals, Paragraph M.4.2 states, "The Small Business Participation Plan will not be given an adjectival or risk rating but will be evaluated to assess the extent of which the Offeror identifies and commits to Small and Small Disadvantaged Businesses."

However, M.4.13 states that, "To receive consideration for award, a rating of “Acceptable” must be achieved for the Small Business Participation Factor."

Unfortunately, the Government did not establish what the criteria was for an Acceptable or Unacceptable rating.

Would the Government please clarify what percentage of the overall effort must be allocated to Small Business?

A: Solicitation Sec. M.5.4.1 and M.5.4.2 have been removed.

2. REF: Exhibit B, Small Business SBPCD Worksheet Exhibit B, Cell K29, SBPP Template Blank, states that Small Business Participation Commitment percentages should meet or exceed the requirements listed in the RFP. The RFP does not provide SB requirement for this program. Exhibit A, Small Business Participation Commitment Document, identifies SB percentages as an example only.

Request the Government identify Small Business percentage requirements for this program.

A: The aforementioned language, "These percentages should meet or exceed the Minimum Quantitative Requirements (MQR) listed in the RFP,” will be removed from the RFP. The Government will not be providing the Small Business Participation Minimum Quantitative Requirements. Rather, the offeror will be expected to propose their own Small Business Participation Minimum Quantitative Requirements following the formats in Exhibit A, and SBPCD Worksheet, Exhibit B.

3. REF: Exhibit B, Small Business SBPCD Worksheet Column K, row 23 states “These percentages should meet or exceed the Minimum Quantitative Requirements (MQR) listed in the RFP.” We could not identify any place where the specific small business requirements are outlined in the RFP, only that a small business plan was required if the bidding entity was not a small business. Will the Government clarify small business requirements for large businesses to meet?

A: The aforementioned language, "These percentages should meet or exceed the Minimum Quantitative Requirements (MQR) listed in the RFP,” will be removed from the RFP. The Government will not be providing the Small Business Participation

Minimum Quantitative Requirements. Rather, the offeror will be expected to propose their own Small Business Participation Minimum Quantitative Requirements following the formats in Exhibit A, and SBPCD Worksheet, Exhibit B.

4. REF: Exhibit A – SBPCD, Exhibit A - SBPCD Overall Will the Government be providing offerors with a TCV for calculating Small Business Participation Commitments, or should offerors be using their "Estimated Yr 1 - Projections" (in the Exhibit C Worksheet) as their TCVs or TCV equivalent?

A: Offerors should use the TCV they are proposing to meet the contract's requirements.

5. REF: Solicitation, Sections M.1, M3, M4, Pages 86, 88-90 Section M.1, M.3, M.4 states that SBPCD and the Small Business (SB) Subcontracting Plan will be evaluated as part of the source selection. However Section L.10.5.2 states that the SB Subcontracting Plans are not evaluated as part of source selection. They are only reviewed if Offeror's proposal is selected. Would the Government please clarify as to whether or not the SB Subcontracting Plan will be evaluated as part of source selection?

A: All other than small businesses must submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan IAW RFP Section L.10.5.1. Upon conclusion of source selection and the identification of the apparent successful offeror, the Small Business Subcontracting Plan submitted from the apparent successful offeror will be reviewed for compliance IAW FAR 52.219- 9, DFARS 252.219-7003, DFARS 252.219-7004 (if the offeror has a comprehensive subcontracting plan), and AFARS 5119.705-4. Failure to submit and negotiate an acceptable Small Business Subcontracting Plan may result in the apparent successful offeror’s ineligibility for award.

6. REF: Exhibit A, paragraph (d) states, in part, that “…a business is considered small for Government procurements if it does not exceed the size standard for the NAICS code that the prime contractor believes best describes the product or services being acquired.” For the purposes of teaming agreements (TA), would the government accept TAs that identify socio-economic categories the subcontractor qualifies, under the NAICS code identified by the prime contractor, that best describes the services being procured? These NAICS codes may be different than the NAICS code identified in the solicitation.

A: Yes, RFP Section L.10.1.6. Section VI Teaming Agreements will be revised to state the following:

If applicable, the offeror shall provide a copy of all pages within signed teaming agreements with subcontractors. The agreement should outline the type of work, complexity and approximate percentage level of work assigned to the subcontractor.

Also, it must identify the business size and socioeconomic status category the subcontractor qualifies for based on the size standard for the NAICS code identified by the prime contractor that best describes the supplies or services being procured (e.g.

Small Business (SB), Other Than Small Business (OTSB), Small Disadvantaged

Business (SDB), Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone Small Business (HUBZone SB), Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)) as well as the subcontractor's POC with the address, phone, email and CAGE for verification.

7. REF: Solicitation, Sec. L.10.4.1.2., Page 27 Based on Amendment 0001, The solicitation has been revised in Sections M and L to include the following language: “Offerors may also provide a cost narrative with additional details to assist the Government to determine fair and reasonable pricing.” and "All Offeros are required to provide a completed excel workbook in its entirety as part of their proposal." Will the Government allow the offeror to submit two separate electronic files for the Cost Price Proposal Volume IV - one file for the Price Proposal Worksheet (MS Excel) and one file for the Cost Narrative (PDF) ?

A: Yes, the offerors may submit two separate files.

8. REF: Questions and Answers #10 and others, Page 3 The Government states in the Answer to Question #10 that, "The CLIN numbers in the Exhibit C, CFSET Price Proposal Worksheet have been updated to conform to Section B of the RFP." The Revised Price Proposal Worksheet, however, does not reflect the update. Will the Government update the Price Proposal Worksheet to reflect this change?

A: Yes, CFSET Price Proposal Worksheet has been further revised.

9. REF: RFP through Amendment 0001, Sec. L.9.1.8., Page 22 The Government states, in L.9.1.8., that "An index may be included but will not be counted towards the page limitations. No information within the index will be evaluated.

An index may contain a cover page, table of contents, and list of figures." Will the Government allow an Acronyms Table and Compliance Matrix to be included in the index, and therefore, not included in the page count limitations?

A: Yes, an acronym table is acceptable in the index. However, a compliance matrix is not.

10. REF: RFP through Amendment 0001, Sec. C.7.8, Page 9 In C.7.8, the Government states that, "These individuals must be available to work upon contract start." Will the Government please clarify whether this means "IDIQ Contract Start" or "Task Order Start"?

A: IDIQ contract start as it is anticipated task orders will be issued as soon as the IDIQ is awarded.