W912HQ-15-R-0003_Q A_for_Amendment_0001.pdf

Question Number Question Answer

Technical Understanding and Approach, Subfactor 1, Sample Task Order (page 68): Should the proposed LOE include hours for the optional tasks (Tasks 8-10) or is the LOE intended to only cover the base tasks (Tasks 1-7)?

The LOE for All Tasks shall be entered including Options

Technical Understanding and Approach Subfactor 2, PWS (page 68):

Should Offeror propose an approach as well as demonstrate understanding in Tab A, section ii?

Yes

Personnel Experience, Subfactor 1 (page 68): How are ” Key Individuals” defined? Should offeror use labor category descriptions to be compliant?

Offerors shall propose Key Individuals for this requirement and submit résumés demonstrating appropriate education and experience. Key Individuals are integral to the performance of work under the entire contract spanning multiple Task Orders. The Project Manager/Administrator (PM) shall be proposed as a Key Individual. At least two (2) Key Individuals will be proposed from the following Labor Categories: Senior Principle Investigators (SPI) Principle Investigators (PI), Senior Analysts (SA). The replacement of any Key Individual during performance of the contract requires approval by the Contracting Officer.

Section L (p. 55) states “offerors shall submit PPI for a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 contracts or subcontracts completed or on-going within the last 5 years from the release date of this solicitation.”

However section M (p. 71) states “offerors shall submit all Government and/or commercial contracts for the prime offeror and each major subcontractor in performance or awarded during the past five years, from the issue date of this RFP, which are relevant to the efforts required by this RFP.” Please clarify: The number of contracts that should be submitted for past performance evaluation for work conducted by the prime offeror; and should past performance information for work performed by subcontractors be submitted, and if yes, under what circumstances, and how many contracts should be submitted?

Section L(p. 55) Under Tab-D Factor IV- Past Performance, is amended to read “ Offerors shall submit a maximum of 5 contracts or subcontracts completed or on-going within the last 5 years from the release date of this solicitation which are relevant to the efforts required by this RFP.

PPI may be submitted for the Prime Contractor, a proposed Major Subcontractor, Teaming Partner, or on behalf of a Joint Venture.

Regardless of which PPI is chosen, the number of PPI forms submitted should not exceed 5. “ Section M(p.71) Para 5 is amended to match Section L.

Does an 11 x 17 page count as one page or two? Do the following items count toward the page limit: Cover Letter, Tabs, Table of Contents, Acronyms and Definitions? Can you raise the Page Limit to account for the large number of PPI forms?

With regard to Tab E, Factor V, in Section L, Appendix B states, “Separate from Small Business Participation Plan, other than U.S. Small Business offerors must also submit a subcontracting plan meeting the requirements of FAR 52.219-9 and DFARS 252.219-7003 (or DFARS 252.219-7004 if the offeror has a comprehensive subcontracting plan).” Is the required Business Subcontracting Plan to be included in the 250 page limit for Volume I?

The page limit restriction is raised to 500 pages which should be adequate for submittal of all required documents. An 11 x 17 Page counts as one page.

Section M, Part C (Evaluation Approach), Part 2, sub-factor 2 (p. 68), the bulleted list appears to be missing “Studies” (section 3.1 of the PWS). Please confirm that offerors response to the section on “Studies” will be evaluated.

The Bullet for “Studies” has been added to the section.

5-Year Pricing Spreadsheet. In completing the 5-Year Pricing Spreadsheet, should large business offerors assume that the five-year total price must not exceed $39,950,000 ($47 million minus 15 percent set aside for the Small Business Track)? If so, should the numbers of labor hours by category be reduced by 15% as well?

No, because it is not possible to predict with 100% certainty that small businesses will be awarded contracts under each Domain under this IDIQ MATOC. In the unlikely event no small business concerns are awarded a contract, the ceiling price of $47 Million will apply. The Level of Effort (LOE) labor hours is the Government’s estimate for evaluation purposes.

Q: For Factor 1, Subfactor 1 (Task Order Request for Proposal – TORFP), please amend this requirement to allow the offeror to create a response to an alternative TORFP. This change would allow the offeror to choose between the TORFP provided in the solicitation or a different TORFP identified by the offeror. Allowing the choice will better enable offerors to demonstrate their understanding of IWR’s requirements and their ability to fulfill those requirements.

Q: Can a small business submit for only one domain? If yes, then how should the small business respond to the task order as it requires a more comprehensive response?

An Alternative Sample Task Order Request for Proposal (TORFP) is now included. This Task Order aligns more closely with Domain 3 Tasks.

LARGE BUSINESSES: Must submit a Proposal that encompasses all listed Domains (all tasks listed in PWS Part 3 Performance Requirements) and must respond to the Original TORFP.

SMALL BUSINESSES: Small Businesses have two options:

1. If a Small Business wishes to submit a Proposal that includes either Domain 1, 2, or both, they must respond to the Original Sample TORFP.

2. If a Small Business wishes to submit a Proposal for Domain 3 only, they may respond to the Alternate Sample TORFP.

Will task orders set aside for the Small Business Track only be competed among small business contract holders? Similarly, will task orders not set aside for the Small Business Track only be competed among contract holders on the Unrestricted Track?

Future Task Order requirements will be analyzed by the Customer and the Contracting Officer, and if the requirement is determined to be suitable for two or more of the small businesses contract holders, it will be set-aside for small business for competition. Once the Government has reached its goal of setting aside 15% of the total contract award ceiling (per year), both large and small business contract holders will be given fair opportunity to submit proposals for all remaining Task Orders.

On Page 60 of the solicitation, large business offerors are instructed to submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan. In what volume of the proposal response should the subcontracting plan be included?

Because the Subcontracting Plan will include cost information, we assume it should not appear in Volume I. Should the plan therefore be included in Volume II or in a separate document?

The Subcontracting Plan required by FAR 52.219-9, DFARS 252.219- 7003/7004, is required only by Large Business concerns and is to be submitted in Volume II. Completed Appendix B (SBPP) forms shall be included in Volume I and removed upon receipt for evaluation by the Small Business Evaluation Team.

Some government personnel choose not to complete past performance questionnaires (PPQs) if they have already filed an evaluation form for the project in the Contractor Performance Assessment Report System (CPARS). For this reason, it is becoming standard practice, in solicitations that use the NAVFAC/USACE Past Performance Questionnaire, to allow offerors to substitute completed CPARS evaluations for PPQs. Please allow offerors the choice to provide existing CPARS evaluations in lieu of completed PPQs.

Offerors may choose to submit either the NAVFAC/USACE Past Performance Questionnaires or completed CPARS evaluations.

For the electronic (CD or DVD) deliverable, are unzipped files in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format with hyperlinked tables of contents an acceptable alternative to MS Word files?

Can you confirm that offerors must place all Word files of the Volume I proposal on the CD, organized by Subfactor? Do you also want a PDF of the complete Volume I and II proposals on the CDs?

Per Section L (2) (e) “All of the proposal files shall be compressed (zipped) into one file using WinZip version 6.2 or later, OR as separate uploads in their native format, i.e. doc, xls, ppt, etc., and provided on CDs or DVDs if space is an issue, otherwise uncompressed files are acceptable.” .PDF files are allowed. Volume I and Volume II should be submitted on separate CDs or DVDs.

Can you please clarify in perhaps more detail on the requirements of a facilities clearance for SUB CONTRACTORs or tier 1 or tier 2 sub-contractors for W912HQ-15-R-0003 – Water Resources Professional Consulting Services? Will they be required to also have a facilities clearance?

This applies to both Prime Contractors and Subcontractors at all levels, however, it is not anticipated that awardees under this IDIQ will be required to handle or process any classified data. For Official Use Only (FOUO) is the expected highest level of information classification. A FCL is not an issue with award of the base contract. In the event a FCL ever becomes an issue, for awardees not possessing an FCL , the prime contract company will be sponsored by the supporting Government Contracting Activity in obtaining the FCL.

If a small business is going to submit under multiple Domain Tracks, should the response be in a single proposal or should the small business submit a separate proposal for each Domain Track they wish to be considered for? Do they need a separate Small Business Participation Plan for each domain?

All offerors are required to submit a single proposal and clearly describe on its cover page which Domain/s they are submitting the proposal for.

Only one (1) Small Business Participation Plan is required.

Should small business offerors submit 3-5 past performance examples overall, or 3-5 past performance examples per Domain Track they are bidding on?

Offerors shall submit a maximum of 5 past performance examples in total.

Does the government want to see a separate Attachment 4: Pricing Spreadsheet presented for the Prime contractor and each subcontractor or should each Prime contractor only submit a pricing spreadsheet for their firm and assume the subcontractors will comply with those rates?

Submit one Pricing Spreadsheet for the Prime Contractor.

Can Tab D: Financial Statements be submitted under separate cover, sent directly from a Prime Contractor’s financial institution to the Government?

Financial Statements must be included with the proposal documents in Volume II.

The pricing instructions as well as the price schedule indicate that a small business choosing to submit a response for one domain still needs to complete pricing for all domains. Is this the intention of the government? If the intention of the government is for small business submitting a response for one domain to use the price schedule included with the solicitation, would the government please provide additional instructions?

The 5-Year Pricing Spreadsheets will be utilized for all Domains and must be completed by all offerors.

Do the evaluation factors, as presented in the solicitation, apply to a single domain response? If so, would the government please provide additional instructions and/or examples?

The Evaluation Factors listed in the Solicitation apply to all Domains.

20 Who is currently performance the scope of domain 3 for the USACE?

There is no single firm performing the work as outlined in Domain 3.

Similar work is being conducted by the current contract holders: Louis Berger Group, ABT Associates, and CDM Federal Programs Corporation.

21 Would the government please provide examples of upcoming training needs and workshops?

This information is not currently known, but all future training needs and workshops will align with the scope in the PWS.

22 Deleted Deleted

23 Is the customer contemplating multiple awardees for small businesses or a single award?

The Government anticipates making multiple awards to Large and Small Business firms that represent the Best Value to the Government.

24 For the sample Task Order Request for Proposal, what is the expected For the purpose of the sample TORFP the Geographic Regions are geographic concentration of the survey sites? What regions? Have any of these project site areas been surveyed previously within the recent past?

TBD...some sites have been surveyed before, but that information is not releasable.

For the sample Task Order Request for Proposal, is it envisioned that new questions would need to be developed (thus requiring OMB approval) or is it more likely to be a matter of tailoring existing, approved surveys to match the type of activity/facility to be surveyed?

The sample TORFP involved tailoring the existing approved surveys.

For the sample Task Order Request for Proposal, if there are predetermined proposed recreation areas for this task order, does the Government have an estimated traffic volume as compared to prior survey sites?

Traffic volume does not directly relate to the surveys which are based on conducting the surveys for specific amounts of time. Each site must be sample twice during the week and twice during weekends in accordance with a CE provided schedule.

27 What is the projected breadth of financial advisory services as requested in this RFP? These services are described in Section 1.3 and 3.

Can the government share the name of the software, and whether it will be used in field, and can be used on tablets (and any other details about the software) ? Will contractors need to get software licenses and/or hardware to use the survey software?

The software is a web based Cold Fusion data entry into a local access database. Past surveys have been performed used laptop computers.

No license is required. See Training slides (Attachment 6, Solicitation Amendment 0001) for additional information.

Because the sampling approach and survey delivery methodology have been established via the previous survey seasons (and the 2012 and 2013 survey), it is possible to receive:

a. The final report from 2012/13

b. A methodology report from 2012/13, or some sort of documentation which outlines the sampling approach and survey delivery methodology Can the government provide more information about the following items which will be provided by CE:

a. Traffic stop recreation survey procedures

b. Survey software

Deliverables from previous surveys are not releasable. The attached training slides (Attachment 6, Solicitation Amendment 0001) were prepared for prior surveys with a different entity, but do describe the sampling approach, survey delivery methodology, and software.

30 Regarding page 53, item e): Is it acceptable to use the compression system that is built into the PC computers, in lieu of WinZip? Yes, as long as the compression system is compatible with WinZip.

Regarding Past Performance PPIs/PPQs: We would like confirmation that IDIQ/MATOC contracts can be used as examples in this section and as part of the 3-5 examples.

Yes, but see Section L, Tab D Financial Statement for updated information.

Does the government want to see a separate Attachment 4: Pricing Spreadsheet presented for the Prime contractor and each subcontractor or should each Prime contractor only submit a pricing spreadsheet for their firm and assume the subcontractors will comply with those rates?

Submit one Pricing Spreadsheet for the Prime Contractor. See Section L, Tab G.

Regarding the Price Volume, Tab C: Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements: Is this required of only the prime or subcontractors as well?

This applies to the Prime Contractor only. See Section L, Tab D Representations, Certifications and Other Statements.

Regarding the Price Volume, Tab D: Financial Statement: In the case of a traditional prime-sub agreement, is the financial statement required of only the prime, or subcontractors as well? If required for subcontractors, do these statements need to be submitted directly to the government, or included in the offeror’s Volume II binder?

This applies to the Prime Contractor only. See Section L, Tab D Financial Statement

Regarding Price Volume, Tab E: We would like to confirm that, in the case of the traditional prime/subcontractor relationship, it would be acceptable to include this tab with a statement stating that this is not applicable.

This is confirmed.

In light of the detailed evaluation criteria in Section M, subsection C, paragraph 6, regarding the Small Business Participation, can the government clarify whether they are only requesting that Appendix B be completed and submitted as indicated in Tab E, Factor V, of Section L, or does the Government want a more detailed Small Business Participation Plan write up in addition to Appendix B?

Completion of Appendix B is sufficient.

With regard to Tab E, Factor V, in Section L, Appendix B states, “Separate from Small Business Participation Plan, other than U.S. Small Business offerors must also submit a subcontracting plan meeting the requirements of FAR 52.219-9 and DFARS 252.219-7003 (or DFARS 252.219-7004 if the offeror has a comprehensive subcontracting plan).” Is the required Business Subcontracting Plan to be included in the 250 page limit for Volume I?

The Page limit was raised to 500. See Section L , 2 Proposal Submission Requirements table.

38 The STO SOW states that Optional task 11 includes sub tasks 10a, 10b, 10c; please confirm that these should 11a, 11b, 11c. The subtasks have been corrected to 11a, 11b, and 11c.

39 The TORFP mentions that previous surveys were developed in 2012 and 2013. Can you provide the budget/fees for those efforts? Negative, the deliverables are not releasable.

For Tab B, Factor II – Personnel Experience;

When requesting resumes from key individuals do you want resumes to staff enough personnel to fill all the estimated FTEs in the solicitation, and/or are you requesting resumes for employees to staff the sample task requirements?

The Resumes for Key Individuals will be for that are currently identifiable and are expected to be employed during the duration of the contract, not just in response to the Sample TORFP.

41 Evaluation for Award, Section M, appears to be for the evaluation for the Statement of Work (SOW) as a whole as stated within this

Offerors shall be evaluated against the requirements in the PWS that pertain to the Domain they indicate they are proposing for. The solicitation. How will offers that only submit proposals for less that all three Domains be fairly evaluated against those offers that are submitted for all three Domain?

Government will select the Offeror/s that represents the best value in that Domain for award. This applies to Small Business only as Large Businesses must make a Proposal encompassing all Domains.

42 CLINS for travel and material are included. Are the estimated amounts for these CLINS inclusive of the total Not To Exceed amount of 47 MIL? Yes.

Is the Mid-Level analyst position considered a higher level position than the Journeyman analyst? I am asking because the Journeyman Analyst position requires more years of experience

See Solicitation Amendment 0001 for changes to the Labor Category Qualifications.

FAR Clause 52.222-46, Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees is cited on page 38 of the RFP. This clause requires that contractors provide a total compensation plan with the proposal submittal. Please specify where offerors should include this document within the proposal volumes.

This Data is to be included in Volume II , TAB H - Professional Employee Compensation Data.

45 Please confirm the sample TORP does not need to be priced and that TORP pricing will not be evaluated. This is confirmed.

46 If you are only submitting for one domain do you still need to price all labor categories or just those we intend to use? Yes, all Labor Categories must be priced.

47 Are the domains (1, 2, and 3) equal in regards to how much work is required for the length of the contract? Unknown at this time.

Is this Water Resources contract projected to include more, less, or equal participation of domain 2 (financial analysis) as the subsequent contract opportunities mentioned in section 1.3 (Scope)?

Unknown at this time.