Bidder Inquiries - As of 10-Jan-2023.pdf

BIDDER INQUIRIES

SOLICITATION W912HZ23R0001

PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES IDIQ

Page 1 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

Bidder Inquiry 001: Please clarify the relationship of RFP section 8.1 Minimum Qualifications by Position and the labor categories provided vs the labor categories provided in Attachment 4 –

Task Hours and Labor Rates.

Government Response: Section 8.1 of the PWS describes the minimum qualifications a person needs to possess to be eligible to perform work under that position. Attachment 4 is used to provide the fully burdened rates that will be used when a task order is issued.

Bidder Inquiry 002: Please confirm the Government’s intent per RFP FACTOR 4 – Cost/Price to negotiate fee at the task order level and that the fully burdened labor rates being requested will not be the rates used for future Task Orders?

Government Response: Fully burdened labor rate will coincide with the year the task order aligns with, in order to establish the base and option years rates.

Bidder Inquiry 003: Based on the following from RFP FACTOR 4 – Cost/Price, are bidders to include labor escalation in their proposed rates? As quantities are unknown at time of award, evaluation of cost for purposes of exercising options in accordance with either FAR 52.217-8 or

52.217-9 will be as follows: The contract allows for an increase in labor category rates limited by the formula in Section B. For evaluation purposes only, initial evaluation of the labor rates for option periods shall assume an escalation of 3% per year above the year 3 labor rates. This does not affect the actual prices calculated by the formula identified in Section B, for inclusion in the option periods.

Government Response: This section has been revised

Bidder Inquiry 004: Solicitation document page 46 Part B: Evaluation Process: FACTOR 2 –

Past Performance. The government stated, “The Government will consider the Offeror’s recent

(performance has been within the past 3 years) and relevant record of performance as it relates to all solicitation requirements, including cost, schedule, performance and management of subcontractors”. Question: The government is indicating that the offerors past performance will be rated on the elements traditionally found in a CPARS assessment, Past Performance

Questionnaire, or another method of traditional performance information source. On page 49

Part C Past Performance Relevancy Rating table then references scope, magnitude, and complexity. Will the government provide clarification as it relates to weighting of the two and how magnitude and complexity will be evaluated?

Government Response: The elements of past performance that will be evaluated are not weighted. Updated past performance language has been provided.

Bidder Inquiry 005: Past Performance instructions and evaluation – Can an offeror submit the performance of their single award IDIQ and any associated awarded task orders issued under that IDIQ as a single reference? This would appear relevant given the governments indication of awarding a single IDIQ for this effort.

Page 2 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

Government Response: A single award IDIQ and any relevant task orders may be submitted as a single reference.

Bidder Inquiry 006: Solicitation document page 46 Part B: Evaluation Process: FACTOR 2 –

Past Performance. The government stated, “The Government will utilize information obtained from the Contractor Performance Assessment System (CPARS), as well as from questionnaires tailored to the circumstances of this acquisition and similar services as compared to the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541330”. Question: Should the NAICS code reference be changed to 541715 to align with the NAICS code utilized for this solicitation?

Government Response: The NAICS code has been corrected to 541715 in this section.

Bidder Inquiry 007: Is there a current incumbent for this effort? If so, will the government please identify and provide contract award number?

Government Response: This is a new scope for CHL and there is no incumbent performing these services.

Bidder Inquiry 008: Will the government please confirm that a Top-Secret facility clearance is required at time of submission?

Government Response: The FCL (Facility Clearance) requirement has been removed.

Bidder Inquiry 009: Instructions – The government has requested the SF 33, proposal adequacy checklist, representations and certifications be submitted with Volume 1 but these elements were released as non-fillable PDF making it difficult for offerors to return completed as instructed. Will the government please provide these elements as fillable PDFs?

Government Response: These forms will be provided in MS Word format.

Bidder Inquiry 010: Past Performance – Will the government please confirm that completed

Questionnaires only need to be submitted when a CPARS or PPIRS record is not available?

Government Response: A PPQ is not required if a CPARS record is submitted with the proposal or if the record exists in the CPARS system and performance was within the last 3 years of the proposal submission date.

Bidder Inquiry 011: Attachment 2 Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) – Will the government please provide a fillable PDF PPQ form to ease the burden for organizations completing the PPQ?

Government Response: These forms will be provided in MS Word format.

Bidder Inquiry 012: If offerors elect to submit CPARS, PPQs, or other forms of official performance records within their Volume 3 Past Performance, do these forms count against the

15-page limit?

Page 3 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

Government Response: Per Section L.3 of the RFP, past performance questionnaires do not count towards the page limit. Any submitted CPAR records or other performance related documents will also be excluded from this page limit

The government has requested offerors to submit “rates” in accordance with Attachment 4 and has indicated these “rates” will essentially be the ceiling rates an awardee will be subject to for contract execution and that fee will be negotiated on a firm fixed price contract. Questions relating to this are:

Bidder Inquiry 013: If the government is requesting cost data information should this be a cost type contract and not a firm fixed price contract?

Government Response: This will be a firm fixed price contract. Language has been updated.

Bidder Inquiry 014: If firm fixed price should this solicitation be issued as a firm fixed price

(FFP) level of effort (LOE) type contract?

Government Response: The resulting contract and task orders will be firm fixed price.

Bidder Inquiry 015: How are offerors to account for different geographic locations in their rate builds given the RFP has indicated work locations may take place outside of the Vicksburg, MS area and the awardee will be held to the ceiling rates/cost proposed?

Government Response: Fully burdened labor rates (base and option years) are to be established at award but for all other geographic locations in accordance with task order requirements outside of Vicksburg, MS or the vendor’s anticipated remote workstation are to be negotiated and determined to be fair and reasonable prior to task order award. Some tasks within the PWS require onsite (ie 6.1 Physical Model Development but not limited to), others may be remote support (ie 6.2 Numerical Model Development but not limited to), or unknown until the requirement is known (ie 6.3 In Situ Data Collection and Field Support but not limited to). The vendors fully burdened labor rates should utilize a work location of Vicksburg, MS or the

Vendor’s anticipated work methodology throughout the labor categories with future (currently unknown) locations to be negotiated and determined to be fair and reasonable prior to task order award.

Bidder Inquiry 016: Since quantities for the IDIQ are unknown at this time, what values are to be included in Section B?

Government Response: The government is trying to establish a fully burdened base rate so use a quantity of one (1).

Bidder Inquiry 017: On page 43 The government has indicated a correlation between an offerors technical approach and cost reasonableness but there are certain task elements which may require labor categories not clearly identified in the solicitation and those which may be

Page 4 of 9 As of January 10, 2023 required to address potential task order requirements identified in section 6.1 through 6.9.1. For example, certain SCA type of positions may be required to address elements 6.1.1 and are not represented in the solicitation. Will the government please clarify this correlation between their technical approach, cost reasonableness, and labor categories which are not included in solicitation and specifically those not identified in section 8.1 Minimum Qualifications by position and all corresponding sub elements?

Government Response: The Government does not anticipate any SCA positions being required. If positions are required not identified at the base contract level, those will be negotiated at the task order level.

Bidder Inquiry 018: The government has indicated “minimum qualifications by position” in section 8.1. Given this has been released as a firm fixed price contract and the government has requested specific education and experience should this be a time and materials contract traditionally associated with individuals experience whereas FFP is traditionally associated with a specific deliverable? Will the government please clarify contract type?

Government Response: This will be a Firm Fixed Price contract.

Bidder Inquiry 019: Given there was no detailed draft solicitation or task order requirements, questions are not due until 10 days prior to closing, and that this is a small business set aside contract, will the government please consider a 10-business day extension to allow small business primes additional time to team and prepare their responses? We believe this will encourage competition and improve the quality of responses received by the government.

Government Response: The solicitation period has been extended by 7 days.

Amendment 0001 Page 6 - Submission Instructions.

Bidder Inquiry 020: Is there a file size limit for the email specified in the delivery instructions?

And is there a specific subject line needed?

Government Response: File size limitation is 20 MB per email, but multiple emails may be sent if necessary. If sending by email, include the notice ID (W912HZ23R0001) in the subject line at a minimum.

Bidder Inquiry 021: Please confirm that using a DoD SAFE drop off, the request for drop off should be sent to Ms. Christine L. Wilson, Contracting Officer at

Christine.L.Wilson@usace.army.mil and Mr. William Rawe, Contract Specialist at

William.T.Rawe@usace.army.mil.

Government Response: Unauthenticated Contractors who submit proposal by DOD Safe will only have the option to send proposal to the email address that sent the DOD Safe upload link to the offeror. Requests for the upload link shall be addressed to Mr. Rawe and Ms. Wilson.

Authenticated contractors (those with CAC Cards) will address their proposals to:

Ms. Christine L. Wilson, Contracting Officer at Christine.L.Wilson@usace.army.mil

Page 5 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

William Rawe, Contract Specialist at William.T.Rawe@usace.army.mil

Bidder Inquiry 022: Volume IV Section 4.4 references that the Project Manager is identified as

Key Personnel in PWS Section 7.5. The Performance Work Statement included does not contain a Section 7.5. Project Manager is not included in the Home Office Personnel column of

Attachment 4. Can you please clarify which positions are Key Personnel?

Government Response: Section 7.5 has been updated to PWS Section 8.5. Project Manager has been added.

Bidder Inquiry 023: The positions in Section 8 Summary Requirements of the Performance

Work Statement do not match the positions in the Home Office Personnel column of Attachment

4. For instance, Economist is in Section 8.6 but not included in the Home Office Personnel column. Scientist and Engineer is in Section 8.2 but the nearest position in the Home Office

Personnel column is Engineer/Analyst. Cybersecurity Engineer is in the Home Office Personnel column, but not in Section 8. Can you please explain?

Government Response: An updated Section B has been provided.

Bidder Inquiry 024: The solicitation says questions are due 10-calendar days prior to the due date of proposals. The Updated Date Offers Due is January 13, 2023, at 2:00 pm CST.

Government Response: Proposal response date has been extended to 20 January. Based on this extension, questions will be accepted thru close of business, 10 January.

Bidder Inquiry 025: Page 46 of the solicitation, Part B Evaluation Factors, Factor 1 – Technical

Approach. The government states “The Government will assess the Offeror’s ability to identify unique methods of resolving problems identified in the PWS, and awareness of the need for timely accomplishment of objectives with minimal risk to program achievement, schedule and cost.” Question: The government has not provided a PWS but rather a list of task order requirements associated with different technical domains. The statement refers to objectives, but no stated objective appears to be associated with task along with other elements like schedule and cost. Can the government please provide clarification on an offerors approach as it relates to evaluation elements given there is no specific objective/requirement stated?

Government Response: This has been amended to read, “The Government will assess the

Offeror’s ability to provide capabilities for unique methods of resolving tasks identified in the

PWS, and awareness of the need for timely accomplishment of objectives with minimal risk to program achievement, schedule and cost”.

Bidder Inquiry 026: Page 44 of the solicitation, Part A Evaluation Factors, Factor 1 – Technical

Approach. The government states “The Government will assess the Offeror’s understanding of critical areas of the solicitation and proposed methods of accomplishing the requirements. This includes such areas as physical model testing and evaluation methodologies, planning, design and fixture fabrication; data collection methodologies and techniques; hydraulic and hydrodynamic numerical modeling; statistical analysis methods and various evaluation

Page 6 of 9 As of January 10, 2023 techniques; remote sensing and spatiotemporal analysis; technical writing; project scheduling and management and preparation of results, product development, evaluation and conclusion demonstrating that the Offeror has the capabilities and documented expertise to successfully perform the total requirements of the solicitation. Question: While we recognize there’s a correlation/direct mapping of the various elements listed to the task requirements some of the elements listed could overlap multiple areas. Given the 10-page limit and the offerors desire to address stated evaluation factors for specific task requirements, will the government provide a clear mapping to each stated requirement so responses can be concise and evaluation elements associated with each requirement made clear to offerors?

Government Response: No additional mapping will be provided. Section L identifies focused areas to be proposed.

Bidder Inquiry 027: Page 45 Factor 3 – The government states, “The Government will assess resumes submitted by the Offeror demonstrating the ability to provide applicable qualifications/experience of personnel intended to be utilized under the contract.” Question: Is the government looking for additional resumes beyond the required Project Manager key personnel resume? If so, are offerors required to provide the information as indicated in 4.4 for the one key? Are these additional resumes counted toward page count? Is there a limit to the number of additional resumes?

Government Response: Resume(s) only needed for the project manager(s).

Bidder Inquiry 028: Amendment 2 –23.1.9 Contractor Company Facility Clearance and

Individual Clearance was removed from the solicitation, but 4.4 Key Personnel still list a bullet to identify the current security clearance and status of the Project Manager. Question: Given

23.1.9 was removed is this bullet still required and if so, are offerors to assume that the PM must at eligible for a clearance?

Government Response: This will been changed to remove the clearance requirement for the

Project Manager.

Bidder Inquiry 029: On page 6, Section 6.1.1 the solicitation states ‘The physical models will be temporary structures and removed at the completion of the model study.’ Is the expectation for the contractor to fabricate and construct the physical models in ERDC/CHL facilities and/or supervise ERDC staff building the needed models?

Government Response: The Contractor will be required to fabricate and construct the physical models in ERDC/CHL facilities in accordance with our methods to be defined in a Task Order

PWS.

Bidder Inquiry 030: If the expectation is to fabricate and construct the physical models, please provide additional clarification on OHSA safety requirements, facility access, labor union rate negotiations, available on-site equipment and materials for construction/removal, insurance requirements on federal land.

Page 7 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

Government Response: The expectation is for the contractor to construct the models.

Information related to OHSA safety requirements, facility access, labor union rate negotiations, available on-site equipment and materials for construction/removal, and insurance requirements on federal land will be provided at the task order level.

Bidder Inquiry 031: On page 13, Section 9 the solicitation states ‘Contractor personnel will primarily perform at the ERDC in Vicksburg, Mississippi.’ Is it expected the contractor’s team will be located on ERDC for the duration of the contract?

Government Response: The contractor can perform many duties from their office location (or sub locations) or space they have procured in Vicksburg. This contract will not provide the contractor with space to physically maintain a presence on the ERDC campus during the performance of the contract. They contractor will provide their own facilities.

Bidder Inquiry 032: On page 41, Section 4.4 the solicitation states, ‘The Offeror shall provide a resume for the Project Manager position identified as Key Personnel in PWS Section 7.5’ The solicitation does not include a section 7.5 in the PWS. Could you clarify what key personnel are required?

Government Response: Section 7.5 has been updated to PWS Section 8.5. A PM is the only

Key Personnel required.

Bidder Inquiry 033: On page 43, Section 2.a the solicitation states ‘The Offeror is required to submit labor rates for labor categories identified in solicitation Section B (attachment 4).’ Many of the labor categories listed have nothing to do with a research contract. Is this the correct list of Labor Categories?

Government Response: Section B has been updated.

Bidder Inquiry 034: On page 45, Factor 2 – Past Performance states ‘Recent performance is considered to have been ongoing or completed within the three (3) years prior to the date of the solicitation.’ Since this includes the beginning of the Covid pandemic, can the time frame be extended to 5 years prior to the date of the solicitation?

Government Response: The three-year requirement will remain in the specifications.

Bidder Inquiry 035: We received notice on December 21 that our mentor/protégé was approved by the SBA in October. Our JV agreement, articles of incorporation, EIN, are in process to register the JV with SAM. The SAM registration may be pending at the time of submission. Does a mentor/protégé JV need SAM registration at the time of submission or at the time of award?

Government Response: JV SAM registration will be required to be completed prior to award. If the apparent successful offerors SAM registration is not completed when the Government is ready to award, the Government will move onto the next apparent successful offeror.

Page 8 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

Bidder Inquiry 036: The RFP requires expertise in multiple disciplines (Part 6) and as a small business we can offer our services in only specific areas. Should we respond to only specific areas or form a team and respond to all areas listed in part 6?

Government Response: Since this will be a single award IDIQ, the selected contractor must be able to fulfill all tasks.

Bidder Inquiry 037: Are resumes required for each of the key personnel levels highlighted on pages 6-9 of Amendment 0002 (e.g., offerors need to submit four resumes for a technician, which includes one resume for each level [I, II, III, and IV])?

Government Response: Correct

Bidder Inquiry 038: Are resumes for additional positions allowed to be submitted?

Government Response: Resumes for personnel not identified as key personnel in the

Solicitation may be submitted but may have no impact on the award decision in accordance with the proposal evaluation criteria.

Bidder Inquiry 039: We are still unclear about the resumes. 1) Submit an overall project manager resume. 2) Submit up to 8 (and no more than 8) other resumes to show technical expertise in the 9 subject areas. Is this correct?

Government Response: Resumes are only required for those persons filling a project manager role and are a requirement under Factor 3, Management. Under Factor 1, Technical Proposal, a written narrative demonstrating a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the 9 subject areas is required. A resume alone may not provide the level of detail needed to demonstrate a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the subject areas.

Bidder Inquiry 040: Section L, 5.0.1 Labor Rates – The offeror shall propose the hourly unburdened and burdened labor rates for each contract term for all of the labor disciplines identified in Attachment 4. In the excel file, Attachment 4 is titled “Attachment 14 – Fully

Burdened Labor Rates”

Please clarify Attachment 14 is Attachment 4 and where, if required, are the unburdened labor rates to be provided in Attachment 4.

Government Response: Section L, Paragraph 5.1 (5.0.1) revised to remove submission of unburdened rates.

Bidder Inquiry 041: Can the Government please clarify how Factor 4 – Cost/Price #1, the total evaluated cost, will be determined? Attachment 4 currently has a Quantity of 1 for each labor category. Does the Quantity of 1 represent 1 hour? Will each period have 1 hour applied to each labor category rate and the sum of all labor categories for all periods equal the evaluated price? Will the option to extend services for 6 months be included in the evaluated price using the same quantity of 1 = 1 hour?

Page 9 of 9 As of January 10, 2023

Government Response: The quantity of 1 indicates 1 hour of labor. The sum of all labor rates to include the optional periods will be used as the total evaluated price.

Bidder Inquiry 042: Factor 4 – Cost/Price – please confirm on a competitive FFP contract that the Government plans to negotiate fee at the task order level?

Government Response: Proposed labor rates are fully burdened that already includes fee/profit. Solicitation updated to remove language related to separate submission of profit/fee.

Bidder Inquiry 043: Section L, 5.1 SATOC Cost Proposal 2.d. – References NTE amounts provided by the Government in Section B for ODC CLINs (Attachment 4). There are currently no NTE amounts included in Attachment 4. Please advise if they will be added.

Government Response: Attachment 4 updated to include the NTE amounts for travel.

Bidder Inquiry 044: Factor 4 – Cost/Price – There are no formulas in Attachment 4 which is

Section B. Q&A stated the escalation would be revised in a future amendment. Please confirm that a future amendment will be issued that will clarify the escalation and referenced formulas.

As quantities are unknown at time of award, evaluation of cost for purposes of exercising options in accordance with either FAR 52.217-8 or 52.217-9 will be as follows: The contract allows for an increase in labor category rates limited by the formula in Section B. For evaluation purposes only, initial evaluation of the labor rates for option periods shall assume an escalation of 3% per year above the year 3 labor rates. This does not affect the actual prices calculated by the formula identified in Section B, for inclusion in the option periods.

Government Response: Paragraph revised to read: “As quantities are unknown at time of award, evaluation of cost for purposes of exercising options in accordance with either FAR

52.217-8 or 52.217-9 will be as follows: The contract allows for an increase in labor rates for each year of performance”.

Bidder Inquiry 045: For Section L, Paragraph 3.3, please confirm that the PPQs DO NOT count towards the 15-page limit and only Section 3.1 Summaries and Section 3.2 Assessment

Record Listing will be limited to 15 pages.

Government Response: In accordance with Section L, Paragraph L.3, PPQs do not count towards the page limit.

Bidder Inquiry 046: Will the government please clarify if acronym and cross reference tables are required with each volume or if they are optional? If they are required will the government, please provide the information it wishes to see in the cross-reference table?

Government Response: Figure Listing(s), Table Listing(s), Acronym Listing(s), and Cross-

Reference Table(s) shall be submitted with each volume. Attachment 5 provides an example of a cross-reference table.