Attachment_2_Deluge_Section_L_and_M.DOCX

Section L - Instructions for the Submission of the Proposal L-1.1 General Requirements The Offeror shall submit documentation illustrating their approach for satisfying the requirements of this solicitation. The NAICS code is 238220 (Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors), and the FSC is J042 (Maintenance/Rebuild of Equipment - Fire Fighting/Prevention). The resultant contract is expected to include Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contract Line Items (CLINs) to inspect and test the Deluge Systems to ensure 100% operational readiness and Time and Materials (T&M) CLINs for the emergency on-call repair services, as outlined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). All maintenance and repair will be performed on Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD. Proposals must be clear, coherent, and prepared in sufficient detail for effective evaluation of the Offeror’s technical ability to perform the requirements of the solicitation. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond those sufficient to present a complete effective response to the solicitation are not desired.

The proposal, subject to FAR 52.212-1, Instruction to Offerors – Commercial Items, shall be submitted with the minimum information required (reference Section L.3.1). All information necessary for the review and evaluation of a proposal must be contained in the proposal volumes set forth below. Section M of the RFP sets forth the evaluation criteria and delineates the Factors to be evaluated. The Offeror’s proposal, as required by this section, shall be evaluated as set forth in Section M of this RFP. As stated in FAR 52.212-1(g), the Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with Offerors. Therefore, the Offeror’s initial offer should contain the Offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint.

Every Offeror must submit a written proposal before the date and time specified in Block 9 of the Request for Proposal (RFP).

The proposal shall remain valid for a minimum of one hundred twenty (120) days and shall not contain classified data/information.

L-2 Proposal Submission L-2.1 Method of Submission The Offeror’s proposal shall be submitted by Electronic Mail. Proposal submissions must clearly identify the RFP number and the date specified for receipt of offers on the subject line.

Offerors are responsible for submitting proposals in a manner to be received by the appropriate Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. Any proposal that is received after the appointed date and time is “late” and may not be considered for award.

L-2.2 Submission Address Proposals shall be submitted to the following address with a return email confirming receipt:

Electronic Mail: roxanne.barbaris.civ@mail.mil L-2.3 All or None Offers in response to this RFP must be submitted for all of the requirements identified in the RFP. Offers submitted for less than all of the requirements called for by this RFP will not be considered for award.

L-2.4 Alternate Proposals The Government will not consider Alternate Proposals. The proposal must meet the requirements of the Performance Work Statement.

L-3 Proposal Volume Requirements L-3.1 The proposal shall be accompanied by a cover letter (letter of transmittal) prepared on the company’s letterhead stationery. The cover letter (letter of transmittal) shall identify all enclosures being transmitted and shall be used only to transmit the proposal and shall include no other information.

The first page of the proposal must contain the information described in FAR 52.212-1(b):

(1) The solicitation number;

(2) The time specified in the solicitation for receipt of offers;

(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the Offeror;

(4) A technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may include product literature, or other documents, if necessary;

(5) Terms of any express warranty;

(6) Price and any discount terms;

(7) “Remit to” address, if different than mailing address;

(8) A completed copy of the representations and certifications at FAR 52.212-3 (see FAR 52.212-3(b) for those representations and certifications that the Offeror shall complete electronically);

(9) Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments;

(10) Past performance information, when included as an evaluation factor, to include recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar items and other references (including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers and other relevant information); and

(11) If the offer is not submitted on the SF 1449, include a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. Offers that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration.

Additionally, the Offeror’s CAGE code must be included on the first page of the proposal. The information listed below shall be provided in separate sections with the proposal.

(not to exceed)

L-3.2 Page Limitations The cover letter, title page, table of contents, table of figures, list of tables and glossary of abbreviations & acronyms do not count against page count limitations. Proposal contents that exceed the stated page limitations will be removed from the proposal by the Contracting Officer or designated representative(s), and will not be considered for award.

L-3.3 Format Text shall be single-spaced, on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper (except as specifically noted), with minimum 0.5” margins. Pages shall be numbered consecutively. Text shall be 12-point Times New Roman font style. Bolding, underlining, and italics may be used to identify topic demarcations or points of emphasis. Graphic presentations, including tables, may use a reduced font style not less than 8 point and shall have spacing and text that is easily readable.

Each volume in the proposal shall include a copy of the cover letter (letter of transmittal), title page and table of contents. The table of contents shall list sections, subsections and page numbers. Each volume shall contain a glossary of all abbreviations and acronyms used. Each acronym used shall be spelled out in the text the first time it appears in each proposal volume.

Electronic proposal submittals shall be in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Word 2007, MS Excel 2007, or Adobe Acrobat X Pro.

L-3.4 Cross Referencing Each volume, other than the Price volume, shall be written to the greatest extent possible on a stand-alone basis so that its content may be evaluated with a minimum of cross-referencing to other volumes of the proposal. Cross-referencing within a proposal volume is permitted where its use would conserve space without impairing clarity. Information required for proposal evaluation, which is not found in its designated volume or cross-referenced, is assumed omitted from the proposal.

L-4 Volume Content Requirements L-4.1 Executive Summary (Volume I) The Executive Summary shall include a brief summary of the Offeror’s capability and approach to accomplish the requirements of the contract.

L-4.1.1 Include a signed copy of the RFP cover page and any amendments to the RFP.

L-4.1.2 Include a fully completed “Small Business Program Representations” as found in section K of the solicitation and FAR 52.219-1, if applicable.

L-4.1.3 Include a statement specifying agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the RFP or any exceptions. Any exceptions taken to the attachments, exhibits, enclosures, or other RFP terms, conditions, or documents must be fully explained; however, any such exceptions may be grounds for the Contracting Officer to reject the proposal from further consideration in the source selection process, before initial evaluation.

L-4.2 FACTOR 1 Technical Proposal (Volume II) The Technical Proposal shall contain information on the following subFactors. The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information which is not identified in the Proposal.

L-4.2.1 The Technical Proposal shall contain adequate information so that the Government can determine whether the Offeror is capable of meeting the requirements of the Performance Work Statement. Specifically, the technical proposal shall consist of the following three (3) SubFactors:

Subfactor 1. Testing Methodology:

This sub factor shall contain the offeror’s methodology for providing 100% Deluge System Operational Readiness as specified in paragraph 3.2 of the PWS. The offeror’s methodology shall include a description of the tools and equipment that will be used to perform testing.

SubFactor 2: Experience:

This subfactor shall contain information regarding the offeror’s experience. The offeror shall demonstrate that that they have a minimum of five (5) years of experience, from the date of this solicitation, in performing the work outlined in section 3.2 of the PWS.

SubFactor 3: Training/Qualifications:

This subfactor shall contain information regarding the offeror’s training or qualifications, in accordance with PWS Paragraph 4.0 Training/Qualifications. Tasks shall be performed by craftpersons trained or qualified in the maintenance and repair of the specific fire protection system or subsystem, as detailed in Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) 3-601-02. Evidence of qualifications for all personnel that will be conducting maintenance and repair on the resulting contract shall be provided as part of this portion of the Technical Proposal.

L-4.3 FACTOR 2 Past Performance (Volume III) As a minimum, Offerors shall address the following:

4.3.1. Offerors and major subcontractors shall submit three (3) examples of recent and relevant past performance. For the purposes of the evaluation, the term “Offeror” refers to the Offeror and all major subcontractors. Major subcontractors are defined as members of an Offeror’s overall team who are expected to perform ten (10) percent (%) or more of the proposed cost for this effort. Recent information is described as contractual efforts undertaken within five years prior to this solicitation. Due to the commerciality of the effort, contractual efforts may include information submitted from private entities as well as information submitted from the Government based on prior Government Contracts. Relevant information is described as tasking similar in size, scope, and complexity of the Statement of Work for this effort.

4.3.2. Offerors with no past performance shall state as much.

4.3.3. The Offerors submission of past performance must contain the following:

a. Section 1 — Offeror Past Performance;

(1) Contractor/Subcontractor place of performance, CAGE Code and DUNS number

(2) Government contracting activity/Commercial Point of Contact, address, telephone and FAX numbers

(3) POCs name, telephone and fax numbers

(4) Government's technical representative/COR or Commercial POCs telephone and fax numbers

(5) If applicable, Government contract administration activity and the ACO’s name, telephone and fax numbers

(6) Contract Number

(7) Contract Type

(8) Awarded price/cost

(9) Final or projected final price/cost

(10) Original delivery schedule

(11) Final or projected final delivery schedule

(12) Narrative - Offerors shall provide a specific narrative explanation of each contract listed describing the objectives achieved and detailing how the effort is similar to the requirements of this solicitation. For any contracts that did not/do not meet original cost, schedule or technical performance requirements provide a brief explanation of the reason(s) for the shortcomings and any corrective actions taken to avoid recurrence. The Offeror shall list each time the delivery schedule was revised and provide an explanation of why the revision was necessary. The Offeror shall also provide a copy of any cure notices or show because notices received on each contract listed and a description of any corrective action taken. The Offeror shall indicate if any of the contracts listed were terminated and the type and reasons for the termination. The Offeror shall also specify to what extent subcontractors were involved in gaining related experience, and their level of involvement with respect to the scope of work, objectives achieved, and personnel resources utilized, and how previous contracts relate to this effort. The Government will give greater weight to prime contractor experience than subcontractor experience.

b. Section 2 — New Corporate Entities - New corporate entities may submit data on prior contracts involving its officers and employees. The Offeror shall discuss in detail the role performed by such persons in the prior contracts cited. If not applicable, the Offeror shall so state.

L-4.4 FACTOR 3 Price Proposal (Volume IV) Information requested below for inclusion in the Price Proposal is not intended to be restrictive or all-inclusive. Offeror cost/price proposals will be evaluated based on the applicable criteria in FAR 15.404-1 based on competition and other factors. Offerors are encouraged to submit any other price or financial information that may be helpful in the understanding and evaluation of the Price Proposal; however, superfluous or elaborate documents are discouraged. Pricing information shall be addressed ONLY in the Price Proposal (Volume III) and shall be separated from any technical information being provided.

L-4.4.1 The Government intends to make award to the Offeror whose proposal is technically acceptable with the lowest evaluated price (LPTA).

L-4.4.2 The Price Volume shall clearly identify the proposed unit prices by CLIN as follows: 1) Firm Fixed Price Labor for CLINs 0001, 0005 & 0009, 2) Firm Fixed Price Other Direct Costs (ODCs) for CLINs 0002, 0006 & 0010, and 3) Time and Material (T&M) anticipated Labor cost for CLINs 003, 0007, and 0011. For proposal purposes, an “estimated” normalized amount for ODC costs for CLINs 0004, 0008, and 0012 shall be provided by the Government. Each Offer shall include these estimated normalized amounts in their proposal. Any material handling and/or G&A may be applied to ODCs as appropriate. Since ODCs are estimated amounts that may or may not occur, NO PROFIT shall be proposed on any ODC CLIN amounts. Offerors shall complete the Cost Model at attachment 3.

The unit prices and total price shall be provided in the same format as the Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) in Section B of the solicitation. The Total Evaluated Price will be the sum of all total prices provided in Section B, inclusive of all Options.

For time and material CLINs, the estimated hours and estimated materials are based on historical information. The information is being provided to aid in the development of an offeror's proposal. The chart below shall be completed for the base year as well as all option years:

TOTAL_$________

Total is the total amount being submitted for the respective CLINs.

L-4.4.3 Assumptions used in determining the proposed Firm-Fixed Prices must be clearly stated in the Offeror’s proposal.

L-4.4.4 All submissions shall be made in U.S. dollars.

L-4.4.5 Each Offeror’s cost/price proposal shall contain sufficient quantitative and narrative documentation necessary to adequately support and explain the reasonableness of the proposed cost/price proposed in proposal Section B. A Microsoft Excel workbook titled "Cost Model" has been provided as an attachment to this solicitation. Instructions for completing Solicitation Attachment 3 (Cost Model.xls) are contained in that file. Offerors are permitted to alter the format of the spreadsheet (e.g., add and subtract rows, columns, and formulas as necessary, etc.) in order to conform to the nuances of the Offeror’s accounting and estimating systems. However, it is requested that the general format be maintained as much as possible for Government evaluation purposes. Offerors are required to fill in rates for all labor categories included in Solicitation Attachment 3 (Cost Model.xls), regardless of whether or not projected Level of Effort (LOE) hours are associated with the labor category. However, only those labor categories with projected LOE hours will be used in calculating each Offeror’s total evaluated cost/price. Offerors must not deviate from the stated LOE hours provided in Solicitation Attachment 3 (Cost Model.xls).

L-4.5 Unbalanced Pricing An Offeror may be rejected if the prices proposed are materially unbalanced between line items and this lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk to the Government (see FAR 15.404-1 Proposal Analysis Techniques). Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more contract line items is significantly over or understated as indicated by the application of cost or price analysis techniques. The Government reserves the right to request whatever cost and pricing data is necessary for analysis when unbalanced pricing is suspected.

Section M - Evaluation Factors for Award

CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY FULL TEXT

52.212-2 EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

Award will be made on the basis of lowest priced technically acceptable (LPTA).

FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED:

Factor 1 - Technical

Factor 2 - Past Performance Factor 3 - Price

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, e-mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End of provision)

EVALUATION & BASIS OF AWARD

M-1 Basis for Award The Government intends to award one Firm-Fixed Price contract to the lowest priced, technically acceptable proposal, in accordance with FAR 15.101-2. To receive consideration for award, a rating of “Acceptable” must be achieved for both Factors 1 and 2, Technical and Past Performance. A rating of acceptable must be achieved for all technical subfactors in order to achieve an acceptable rating for technical.

M-2 Rejection of Offers In accordance with FAR 52.212-1(g) The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

a) Offers that provide only a statement indicating its capability to comply with the RFP terms without support and elaboration as specified in Section L of this RFP; or

b) Offers that reflect an inherent lack of technical competence or a failure to comprehend the complexity and risks required to perform the requirements. This may include submission of a proposal which is abnormally high or low in Price or unattainable in terms of technical or schedule commitments; or

c) Offers that do not meet all the stated material requirements of the RFP; or

d) Offers that propose exceptions to the attachments, exhibits, enclosures, or other RFP terms and conditions.

M-3 Evaluation and Source Selection Process M-3.1 Selection Selection of the successful Offeror shall be made following an assessment of each proposal, based on the response to the requirements of this solicitation. Proposals will be evaluated as specified in Section M.

M-3.2 Evaluation The evaluation of proposals submitted in response to this RFP shall be conducted in accordance with a Lowest Price, Technically Acceptable (LPTA) competition.

M-3.3 Award Without Discussions In accordance with FAR 52.212-1(g) , the Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with Offerors (except clarifications as described in FAR 15.306(a)). Therefore, the Offeror’s initial proposal shall contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary. If the Contracting Officer determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Contracting Officer may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

M-3.4 Determination of Responsibility In accordance with FAR 9.103, contracts will be placed only with Contractors that the Contracting Officer determines to be responsible. Prospective Offerors, in order to qualify as sources for this acquisition, must be able to demonstrate that they meet standards of responsibility set forth in FAR 9.104. The Government reserves the right to conduct a Pre-Award Survey on any or all Offerors to aid in the evaluation of each Offeror’s proposal and ensure that a selected Contractor is responsible. No award can be made to an Offeror who has been determined non-responsible by the Contracting Officer.

M-4 Evaluation Factors M-4.0 FACTOR 1 Technical M-4.1 FACTOR 1 Technical Proposal (Volume II) The Technical volume of the proposal will be evaluated against the requirements described in Section L of this solicitation. To be considered for award, an offeror must be determined to be acceptable in accordance with the ratings in section M-4.1.1. The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information which is not identified in the Proposal.

M-4.1.1 Technical The ratings and descriptions that will be used for the evaluation of Factor 1 – Technical are provided below:

The offerors shall address each of the following subfactors within its technical proposal. Offerors must receive a rating of Acceptable in each subfactor to receive an Acceptable rating for this factor.

Subfactor 1- Testing Methodology: The Government will determine if testing methodology meets the requirements of the PWS.

Acceptable: Offeror meets requirements of the PWS for Testing Methodology as described in Section L.

Unacceptable: Offeror does not meets the requirements of the PWS for Training/Qualifications as described in Section L.

Subfactor 2- Experience: The Government will determine if the offeror as an entity (Prime contractor and all proposed major subcontractors) clearly meets minimum requirements of the solicitation for experience.

Acceptable: Offeror meets the minimum requirement of 5 years of experience (occurring within the past 5 years) performing of the required number of competency areas as described in Section L.

Unacceptable: Offeror does not meet the minimum requirement of 5 years of experience (occurring within the past 5 years) performing the required number of competency areas as described in Section L.

Subfactor 3- Training/Qualifications: The Government will determine if the offeror as an entity (Prime contractor and all proposed major subcontractors) clearly meets minimum requirements of the solicitation for this area.

Acceptable: Offeror meets the minimum requirement for Training/Qualifications as described in Section L.

Unacceptable: Offeror does not meets the minimum requirement for Training/Qualifications as described in Section L.

M-4.2 FACTOR 2 Past Performance (Volume III) Past performance rating will be a subjective assessment of the performance risk involved in accepting the offeror’s promise of performance. The offeror’s and subcontractors’ past performance will be evaluated. Each offeror’s proposal will receive an acceptable, unacceptable, or unknown rating. The Government may use data provided in the offeror’s proposal and data will be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, Past Performance Information Retrieval System and interviews with other Government officials.

Past Performance Evaluation Ratings

In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available or so sparse that no meaningful past performance rating can be reasonably assigned, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance (see FAR 15.305 (a)(2)(iv)). Therefore, the offeror shall be determined to have unknown (or “neutral”) past performance. In the context of acceptability/unacceptability, a neutral ratings shall be considered “acceptable.”

Years of experience are measured by elapsed time of directly applicable experience on the part of the entity and not the equivalent accumulated time of personnel on staff. Factor 1 (Technical) and Factor 2 (Past Performance) will be evaluated separately and are distinct from the other, and the information provided under the two Factors will not be considered in evaluation of the other. However, the same experience/contracts relied upon under either Factor may be cited under both Factor 1 (Technical) and Factor 2 (Past Performance).

M-4.3 FACTOR 3 Price (Volume IV) Offerors shall provide a completed Section B and Attachment 3 (Cost Model.xls), as part of the price proposal. The Government will evaluate the summed total of all Contact Line Item Numbers (CLINs) in Section B.

Adequate cost schedules and narrative shall be provided supporting the proposed CLIN cost/price elements in Section B. Offeror price proposals will be evaluated based on the applicable criteria in FAR 15.404-1 based on competition and other factors. Accordingly, the analytical techniques and procedures described in FAR 15.404-1 may be used singly or in combination with others, as determined necessary by the Contracting Officer, to ensure the costs are fair, reasonable. As this will be a Firm Fixed Price - Time and Materials-type contract, no cost-realism analysis is required per FAR 15.404-1(d). A proposal is presumed to represent the Offeror's best effort to respond to the solicitation. Any inconsistency with other sections of the Offeror's proposal (i.e. technical), whether real or apparent, between promised performance and cost shall be explained in the proposal. Any significant inconsistency, if unexplained, may raise a fundamental issue of the Offeror's understanding of the nature and scope of the work required and may be grounds for rejection of the proposal as inadequate.