Answers to Industry Questions.pdf

Question Answer

1. Could the Government please clarify intention with the following statements.

a. The solicitation SF1442 states, "This is a 100% 8(a) competitive set‐aside under NAICS 237310 with a small business size standard of $36.5M. It has been determined that competition will be limited to only

8(a) firms w hose business plans are being serviced by the Small Business Administration (SBA) Seattle

District Office operating under the applicable NAICS code."

b. While, Section 00100 ‐ Bidding Schedule/Instruction to Bidders, paragraph 5. Bid Content, Subparagraph

h. States, "The bidder shall include 8a program certification approval letter form the SBA Seattle District

Office or the SBA Washington District Office;, OR..."

2. Would the Government consider changing the verbiage to the following to promote competition among certified 8a companies within the local region, "Competition for this solicitation is set aside for eligible 8a

Small Business concerns only. It has been determined that competition will be limited to 8a firms located within the geographical area serviced by the SBA’s Region X, with a bona fide place of business within the geographical competitive area. All other 8a Business Development (BD) Participants are deemed ineligible to submit offers."?

UPDATE 5/27/2020: I was checking to see if you and your team had considered this RFI. We have longstanding relationships with many subcontractors near JBLM, and they are asking if we are pursuing this requirement. It is important for us to clarify the Government’s intention in order to determine the best method to proceed. I have spoken to Mr. John Dicus with SBA and my impression is that he would support the suggested language if it was consistent with the Government’s intention to have 8a competition in the limited geography.

The Government will follow the precise terms of the SBA acceptance letter which states:

"It has been determined that competition will be limited to

8(a) firms located within the SBA Seattle District Office territory and other 8(a) firms with a bona fide place of business within the geographical competitive area. All other 8(a) BD

Participants are deemed ineligible to submit offers."

Per the SF1442, the solicitation states that “This is a 100% 8(a) competitive set‐aside under NAICS 237310 with a small business size standard of $36.5M. It has been determined that competition will be limited to only 8(a) firmswhose business plans are being serviced by the Small Business Administration (SBA) Seattle

District Office operating under the applicable NAICS code.”

Due to SBA staffing limitations and the sharing/shifting of duties and responsibilities, there are several 8(a) firms in the Northwest that are serviced by the different SBA Region X District Offices, such as Seattle, Boise, Anchorage, and Portland. The servicing SBA District Office does not necessarily correlate with the geographical location of the 8(a) firms.

The Government will follow the precise terms of the SBA acceptance letter which states:

"It has been determined that competition will be limited to

8(a) firms located within the SBA Seattle District Office territory and other 8(a) firms with a bona fide place of business within the geographical competitive area. All other 8(a) BD

Participants are deemed ineligible to submit offers."

Can you clarify the 8(a) business plan must be managed by the Seattle SBA? I had an office on JBLM, I have certified 8(a) offices in the region 8 & 9. Does this restriction rule me ineligible?

The Government will follow the precise terms of the SBA acceptance letter which states:

"It has been determined that competition will be limited to

8(a) firms located within the SBA Seattle District Office territory and other 8(a) firms with a bona fide place of business within the geographical competitive area. All other 8(a) BD

Participants are deemed ineligible to submit offers."

Solicitation Reference, Item 5 Bid Content, page 10/49:

There is a note following Tab D requirements stating that the Government is not requesting actual bonds at this time. Tab E: Bid Bond Guarantee requires bidder’s to provide a bid bond guarantee per FAR 52.228‐

1. If bidders are to provide a bid bond guarantee, will you please provide the bid bond guarantee requirements?

The Government has addressed this issue in the amended solicitation. FAR 52.228‐1 has been made a full text clause and contains the information needed in order for bidders to properly comply with this clause.

Will drawings be provided at some point in the future?

The Government as part of the first amendment is providing

"example task orders" from the current contract period that represent the type of work to be expected on each task order.

The examples are not representative of the scope for all task orders however. Any other drawings will be provided for each task order as part of its solicitation.

REDACTED is an SBA 8(a) certified company with bonified office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Monroe, North Carolina.

We are very much interested in bidding this project, our experiences from paving, building replacement, runway airfield cleaning and airfield repair, our VP of operations are very familiar with Lewis McChord he has work they for many years, this put us in a great spot for this opportunity.

I’m hoping that you can open this to other states for bidding

The Government will follow the precise terms of the SBA acceptance letter which states:

"It has been determined that competition will be limited to

8(a) firms located within the SBA Seattle District Office territory and other 8(a) firms with a bona fide place of business within the geographical competitive area. All other 8(a) BD

Participants are deemed ineligible to submit offers."

I was wondering how we go about providing sub bids to the bidders if we don’t know who is bidding the project?

The Government cannot recommend how a firm will proceed with business acquisistion.

We have been asked to take a look at this solicitation and I have to admit my navigation skills with the new beta.SAM.gov are not very good.

Right now I'm looking for how to submit questions regarding the project, could you please point me in the right direction?

One of my immediate questions is what value is the bid bond supposed to be for?

Another question I wanted to ask is if the deadline for questions could be considered an interim deadline for the first round of answers and the final deadline extended to end of business on 6/19 to give bidders an opportunity for follow up questions once the initial questions have been answered?

You have reached to correct method to ask questions. We are taking questions by email. In accordance with the solicitation questions will close on June 14. An amendment will follow soon after. Please monitor FBO for any changes to the solicitation. Thanks.

The Government has addressed this issue in the amended solicitation. FAR 52.228‐1 has been made a full text clause and contains the information needed in order for bidders to properly comply with this clause.

The Government does not intend to provide further RFI periods before award.

1. Solicitation Reference, TE 05 – General Decision Number WA202000001 13 Mar 2020:

a. Currently the local union wages for operators is 11.7% higher than the provided WD. Can we anticipate a new wage determination prior to award?

2. Solicitation Reference, W911SB‐20‐B‐0001:

a. With no seed project for the umbrella contract provided, could the government please provide several sample task orders of either completed or anticipated task orders for us to base our pricing on?

3. Solicitation Reference, TE 02 ELIN Descriptions 21 Apr 2020:

a. The following UFGS specs are referenced in the Elin descriptions for ELINs 61‐65 but are not included in the provided specifications. Please provide

i. 31 12 13 Bituminous Tack and Prime coats

ii. 32 12 15 HMA for Airfields

iii. 32 12 16 Hot‐mix Asphalt (HMA) for roads

1. Yes the most up to date wage determination will be provided.

2. The Government as part of the first amendment is providing

"example task orders" from the current contract period that represent the type and scope of work to be expected on each task order.

3. UFGS references that are not specifically provided in full text in specification sections of the contract shall still apply IAW the general provisions under the UFGS guide specifications.

How do we go about registering to be on the plan holders list for the following project?

All actions pertaining to this requirement are available at beta.SAM.gov There is no "plan holders list".