B08-W912PF26QA0660001_20260903_QA.pdf

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Q1. Are these services performed today under an existing contract? If so, could you share the contractor, contract number and current value? If they are performed by Government or local national employees, please confirm.

R1: This is a consolidated re-compete of three prior stand-alone requirements. Predecessor contracts are: 1. ACS Lending Closet (W912PF21P0026; Value: $100,099.80); 2. ACS Front Desk Services (W912PF21P0009; current value: $159,378.93); 3. ACS Bilingual Support Services (W912PF22P0019; current value: $163,689.00). ACS Bilingual Support and Front Desk services are currently performed by contractor personnel; Lending Closet services are temporarily covered by direct-hire Government employees.

Q2. Can a U.S. company registered in SAM quote as prime on this one?

R2: Yes, a U.S. company registered in SAM may submit a quote as prime; However, the successful quoter shall comply with all applicable Italian legal, tax, and labor frameworks, as well as the US-Italy Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), to perform work on-site in Italy.

Q3. If so, may we employ the three staff through an Italian subcontractor or an authorized staffing agency (Agenzia per il Lavoro)? Or must the prime itself hold Italian INPS and INAIL employer registration when it quotes? This is the question that most affects how we structure our quote.

R3: Yes. A U.S. prime contractor may utilize an authorized Italian subcontractor under a legitimate service contract, or obtain personnel through a licensed Italian staffing agency (Agenzia per il Lavoro). If the prime directly employs personnel in Italy, it must secure INPS and INAIL registrations prior to contract performance. Quoters shall detail their employment structure in their technical volume (Staffing Plan).

Q4. Which CCNL and which level does the Government consider right for these three positions?

R4: The Government does not mandate a specific National Collective Labor Agreement (Contratto Collettivo Nazionale di Lavoro - CCNL) or staff classification levels. To maintain the non-personal nature of this contract and avoid co-employment liabilities, it is the sole responsibility of the contractor to determine the appropriate CCNL, job levels, and salary rates that ensure compliance with Italian labor laws while meeting the performance standards of the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

Q5. Two paragraphs disagree on the Relocation position. The 52.212-1 addendum calls it "Lending Closet" and makes Italian preferred. The 52.212-2 addendum calls it "Relocation Administrative Services" and asks for mandatory Level 4 in both English and Italian, then adds that Italian is preferred but not required. Which one applies?

R5: Addendum to 52.212-1 and Addendum to 52.212-2 have been amended to resolve this discrepancy. The unified requirement for the 'Relocation/Lending Closet Support' position requires English language proficiency (Level 4), while Italian language proficiency is preferred but not mandatory. Please refer to the updated solicitation documents.

Q6. Do the named staff need to be hired and already hold an Ederle pass at the time we quote, or are signed commitment letters enough, with hiring and IACS processing after award?

R6: Contractor’s personnel do not need to hold active installation passes or have completed Installation Access Control System (IACS) processing at the time of quote submission.

Resumes and signed letters of commitment are sufficient for evaluation. Full background vetting and IACS pass processing will initiate immediately post-award. The successful awardee shall ensure all personnel can successfully obtain base access prior to the start of performance

Q7.

Q7a) How many alternates do you want named ?

Q7b) and do they need resumes and commitment letters too?

Q7c) Can one alternate back up more than one desk?

R7 a) It is the contractor's responsibility to determine the appropriate number of backup personnel required to ensure seamless, uninterrupted coverage of all services in accordance with PWS paragraph 1.7.4.

R7b) Resumes for backup personnel are not required with the quote and will be submitted post-award for review (see amended PWS 1.7.4 and Deliverable 0013).

R7c) An alternate may back up multiple desks, provided they meet the specific qualifications and language requirements for each position.

Q8. Do resumes, language certificates and commitment letters count against the 20 pages for Volume II?

R8: Yes, resumes, language certificates and signed commitment letters shall be included within the page limitations of Volume II (Technical/Management). To accommodate these documents, the Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 has been amended to increase the maximum page limit for Volume II from 20 to 30 pages.

Q9. Could you share last year's workload numbers — CTS contacts, lending closet transactions, welcome packets, and translation requests by page bracket? It would help us price this accurately.

R9: The Government does not maintain historical workload metrics in the specific format requested. Offerors should base their proposal pricing on the workload levels and standards of performance outlined in the solicitation.

Q10. Section B of the SF 1449 has no fields for unit price or amount. Will an amendment issue a fillable pricing sheet, or should we rebuild the table in Volume IV?

R10: No, a fillable pricing sheet cannot be issued. Quoters may either manually enter the prices directly into the SF 1449 or recreate the pricing table in Volume IV.

Q11. All the labor costs here are in euro and run to 2031, but the addendum says a U.S.

company would be awarded in dollars. Would the Government consider a euro award, or an economic price adjustment clause, in that case?

R11: The Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 (Volume IV – Price), paragraph 3, has been amended.

Quotes may be submitted, and award may be made, in either U.S. Dollars (USD) or Euros (EUR). The final contract will be awarded in the currency proposed by the successful quoter.

The Government will not include an Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) clause for exchange rate fluctuations, as the option to propose and receive award in EUR effectively mitigates currency risk.

Q12: Is there any incumbent/recompete or this is a brand-new project? If yes, could you please provide us with their award number or even if the customer bought similar services in the past.

R12: See R1 above.

Q13: Is there an incumbent for this position? If so, can the Government share the contract number?

R13: See R1 above

Q14: If there is an incumbent, is there an incumbent contractor employee whom the awardee should consider for “right of first refusal” (i.e. Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts)?

R14: The awardee may elect to hire the incumbent’s contractor employees, in accordance with Article 29, Paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree No. 276/2003.

Q15: Quality Control Plan. Does the Government want a management structure physically located in Europe?

R15: No. A physical management presence located in Europe is not required, provided that the quoter demonstrates in their proposal the capability to fully manage the contract, maintain quality control, and comply with all terms and conditions of the solicitation and the PWS.

Q16: Backfill/Absences: What is the policy for backfill coverage during illness, vacation times, or other reasons in which the key personnel may be absent?

R16: This is a performance-based requirement where the Government requires continuous, uninterrupted support for the USAG Italy military community. Consequently, it is the quoter’s responsibility to establish and provide a backfill coverage plan in their technical proposal as required by the PWS and the solicitation.

Q17: If quoting in Euros, what is the exchange rate the Government will use?

R17: See Addendum to 52.212-1, Volume IV, Price, paragraph 3.

Q18: Is the employee expected to attend trainings, conferences, or meetings off-site? If so, where will such events take place and what is the expected duration?

R18: No, the employee is not expected to attend any trainings, conferences nor meetings off-site.

Q19: PWS §1.7.2 specifies the Front Desk schedule as 0800–1700 Monday–Wednesday and Friday, and 1300–1700 Thursday, for 36 hours per week. However, the evaluation criteria in Section M Factor I reference “PWS paragraph 1.7.4” for the staffing plan standard. Can the Government confirm that the correct authoritative reference for evaluating the Front Desk staffing plan is PWS §1.7.2 (service availability windows) read together with PWS §1.7.4 (workforce continuity), and that no additional hours beyond those specified in §1.7.2 are contemplated?

R19 : Yes. PWS paragraphs 1.7.2 and 1.7.4 are the authoritative references for the service availability windows. As per paragraph 1.7.2: “These positions are not authorized for overtime;

all duties shall be performed within regular duty hours. The Contracting Officer reserves the right to adjust service availability windows via a formal, bilateral contract modification or written administrative change, in accordance with the contract’s Changes Clause FAR 52.212-4(d)”. No additional hours beyond those specified are currently contemplated.

Q20: PWS §1.7.3 authorizes cross-utilization of the Bilingual Support Assistant and Relocation/Lending Closet personnel, provided combined hours do not exceed 40 hours per week. Can the Government confirm:

a. the 40-hour weekly cap applies to the combined total of both part-time positions and not to either individual?

b. the Government does not require separate individuals for Bilingual Support and Relocation/Lending Closet duties as long as all core service windows defined in §1.7.2 arefully covered?

R20a): yes, confirmed

R20b): yes, as long as services are fully covered and personnel is qualified in accordance with the PWS requirements.

Q21: PWS §1.7.4 requires back-up personnel to be “in place and performing duties within two

(2) hours of the start of the service window.” Does the two-hour clock begin at the scheduled start of the service window (e.g., 0800 for Front Desk) or at the moment of absence notification to the contractor?

R21: The two-hour clock begins at the scheduled start of the service window (e.g., 0800) if the absence is known prior to the shift. For unscheduled absences occurring during the duty day, the backfill personnel must be in place and performing duties within two (2) hours from the moment the absence occurs or from the moment the contractor is notified of the absence, whichever occurs first. The objective is to maintain seamless, continuous service to the USAG Italy military community.

Q22: The solicitation establishes a requirement for zero unexcused/uncovered desk vacancies exceeding one hour per month, with a $150 USD/€139.54 price deduction for each hour of vacancy and the potential for a CPARS deficiency. Given the inherent challenges of guaranteeing continuous desk coverage and the possibility of circumstances outside the Contractor’s reasonable control, can the Government please remove these provisions from the solicitation?

R22: The Government requires continuous, uninterrupted support for the USAG Italy military community. The evaluation of the staffing plan and the associated price deductions and potential CPARS impacts are critical risk-mitigation measures to ensure service availability.

Consequently, these provisions are essential to the Government's requirement and will not be removed.

Q23: Volume II, Factor I, requires a resume for each of the three positions. The page limit for Volume II is 20 pages. Are resumes counted against the 20-page limit, or are they excluded (similar to the cover page and table of contents exclusion stated in the solicitation)?

R23: see R8 above

Q24: Volume II requires Letters of Commitment signed by both the quoter and the proposed personnel. Are Letters of Commitment counted against the 20-page limit for Volume II, or are they treated as supporting attachments outside the page count?

R24: see R8 above

Q25: Volume III (Past Performance) has a 10-page limit. Are the Past Performance Questionnaire forms (Attachment 2) included in the 10-page limit for Volume III, or are they submitted separately by the references directly to the Government and therefore not counted against the quoter’s page limit?

R25: For VOLUME III (Past Performance) the limit is 10 pages. Past Performance Questionnaire forms (Attachment 2) are included in the 10-page limit.

Q26: Section M, Factor I, references the Relocation Administrative Services position as “Relocation Administrative Services” with Level 4 English AND “preferred but not required Italian fluency,” while the Volume II instructions in Section L reference the same position as “Lending Closet” and describe its language requirement as Level 4 English with “preferred but not required” Italian. Can the Government confirm there is only one position covering both Relocation Administrative Services and Lending Closet duties, that one resume satisfies the requirement for both, and that the language standard is Level 4 English (mandatory) with Italian preferred but not required?

R26: Yes, the Government confirms there is only one position covering both 'Relocation Administrative Services' and 'Lending Closet Support' duties, and one resume satisfies this requirement. Addendum to 52.212-1 and Addendum to 52.212-2 have been amended to resolve this discrepancy. The unified requirement for the 'Relocation/Lending Closet Support' position requires English language proficiency (Level 4), while Italian language proficiency is preferred but not mandatory. Please refer to the updated solicitation documents.

Q27: Please provide the previous 12 months of workload data for each functional area, including the number of customer contacts, walk-in and telephone contacts, translation/interpretation requests, number of pages translated, relocation customers assisted, relocation briefings supported, welcome packets prepared, Lending Closet transactions and overdue accounts, and recurring reports generated. If available, please provide the data by month.

R27: see R9 above

Q28. Please provide the average and peak monthly volume of written translation requests and total pages translated during the previous 12 months. Additionally, please clarify how the Government defines a "routine" translation versus a complex or non-routine translation for purposes of the required turnaround times.

R28: see R9 above.

For turnaround times, the Government defines these as:

1. Routine: Documents under 3 pages (approx. 1,000 words) using general vocabulary.

2. Complex: Technical, or military documents, or those exceeding 3 pages.

Q29. Clarify whether all written translation work is expected to be performed within the designated 1300 1700 Bilingual Support service window, or whether translation assignments may be completed outside the service window as long as the required turnaround times are met.

R29: On-site bilingual assistance and real-time telephone interpretation shall be provided during the designated service window (1300–1700, Monday through Friday) . Written translation assignments may be performed either during this window (when no walk-ins are present) or outside these hours, provided turnaround times are met and weekly hour limits are not exceeded.

Q30. Please clarify how the Contractor is expected to handle simultaneous requirements, such as a walk-in customer requiring bilingual assistance while the employee is handling a telephone interpretation request or completing a time-sensitive written translation. Is the Contractor expected to provide additional bilingual personnel during periods of concurrent demand?

R30: The contractor is not expected to provide additional personnel beyond the contracted staffing levels during peak times. The contractor shall prioritize real-time customer needs (walk-in and telephone interpretation) over written translation tasks, which may be paused during peak demand without penalty.

Q31. If the Government determines that a required service or service window is not needed on a particular day or during a scheduled service period, and the contractor has appropriately staffed and scheduled personnel to meet the PWS requirements, will the contractor still be compensated for the scheduled hours? In such circumstances, will the Government's decision not to require the service be considered Government-directed non-performance rather than a reduction in the contractor's billable hours?

R31: The Government will award a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract. This means that the contractor is paid based on the amounts listed in the contract. In the event of occasional schedule reductions determined by the Government and previously agreed with COR/KO, the contractor shall be paid as indicated in the contract. However, should a permanent reduction in working hours become necessary, the Government will issue a bilateral contract modification.

Q32. Please clarify whether the Contractor is required to maintain a dedicated backup employee for each functional area, or whether one qualified, background-checked, installation-access-approved and cross-trained backup employee may provide coverage for all three functional areas as needed.

R32: The contractor is not required to maintain a separate, dedicated backup employee for each of the three functional areas. A single, qualified backup employee may provide coverage for multiple functional areas, provided they meet all PWS qualifications and language requirements for each position they back up and they can guarantee uninterrupted services and coverage on all three services.

Q33: The PWS establishes a requirement for backup personnel to be performing duties within two hours of an employee absence, while the PRS identifies uncovered service desk vacancies exceeding one hour as a performance issue. Please clarify how these two requirements will be applied when backup personnel arrive between one and two hours after the scheduled service start.

R33: The discrepancy between PWS paragraph 1.7.4 and PRS has been fixed.