Questions and Responses_Solicitation W91CRB-21-R-0010.pdf

W91CRB‐21‐R‐0010_PM Support for Treaty, Surety, CWMD ‐ Questions & Responses

# Section Question Response

1 Section L

Factor 1 Page 79: Since letters of commitment and/or contingent letters of acceptance are excluded from the page count, will the Government consider excluding resumes from Factor 1 page count?

The Government concurs that resumes may be excluded from the page count for Factor 1.

2 Section L Item 9

Page 79: Please confirm if Lists of Tables and List of Figures are also excluded from page count.

The Government concurs that List of Tables and List of Figures may be excluded from the page count.

3 Section L Page 82: Are resumes required in the Past Performance section or as a part of Factor 1, the Combined Technical / Risk Approach?

Include resumes in Factor 1, Combined Technical / Risk Approach.

Do NOT include them in Factor 2, Past Performance.

4 Attach J.5 Page 83‐84: The format for the SBPCD in Section L is inconsistent the format in Attachment J.5. Which format should the Offeror use ‐ the format from Section L or from Attachment J.5?

The Government has updated Section L and Attachment J.5 SBPCD.

5 Section L Factor 4 Price Item

Page 86: Discussion: The RFP states: "For any proposed employees not currently working for the Offeror, the Offeror shall include other verifying data, such as recognized national and regional compensation surveys and studies of professional, public and private organizations, letters of intent, etc. "How would the Government prefer the Offeror provide verifying data for proposed subcontractors?

The offeror can provide the verifying data via PDF, Microsoft Word document, or Excel Spreadsheet.

6 Section L Factor 4 Price Item

Page 86: The RFP states: “Offerors shall also submit supporting verification information/documentation as attachments to the plan to include actual payroll and fringe benefit/rate data for any proposed employees currently working for the Offeror." Will the Government accept a payroll verification form with the name, job title; direct labor rate with a signed certification by an authorized representative of the company that the information contained in the form is current and correct?

Yes, the Government will accept a signed payroll verification report.

7 Section L Factor 4 Price Item

Page 86: The RFP states: "Offerors shall include a copy of their published price list or market pricing along with their price proposal." Will the Government elaborate on which published price list or market pricing is desired, and if no published price list or market pricing is available will the offeror be considered non‐responsive?

No, the offeror will not be considered non‐ responsive if no published pricing is not available.

8 J.1 Cost Model Indirect Rate Backup & 3 Years of Actuals

Will the government accept alternative supporting cost data from Small Business Subcontractors that do not have an indirect rate cost structure with which to populate the government's Cost Model for a sealed package, nor do they have 3 years of Actual indirect cost data? If so, please provide a list of alternative acceptable supporting cost data. If not, will the Government waive this requirement for Small Business Subcontractors if a detailed Basis of Estimate and Cost Narrative are provided including actual 2019 indirect costs, and projected indirect cost percentages for 2020?

Yes, the Government will waive this requirement for Small Business Subcontractors if a detailed Basis of Estimate and Cost Narrative are provided including actual 2019 indirect costs, and projected indirect cost percentages for 2020.

9 J.1 Cost

Model Indirect Rate Backup

Attachment J.1 Cost Model, Section 8‐Indirect Rate Summary Worksheet states, “This information is necessary for evaluation purposes and must be supplied for the offeror, other divisions, and subcontractors for the offeror's proposal to be considered complete and adequate”. Given that the award is expected to be a FFP contract with FFP Labor CLNS, respectfully request the logic behind the requirement that offerors provide this detailed level of indirect rate backup.

Offerors that do not complete the Section 8‐Indirect Rate Summary worksheet in Attachment J.1 Cost Model will not be considered non‐responsive.

10 PWS QCP Page 37: PWS 4.6.1.3 states “The Contractor shall submit its QCP to the KO and COR for Government review with the proposal.” However, Section L does not mention a QCP. Please clarify. If a QCP is required in Factor 1, will it be outside the page count?

The Government confirms that the QCP is part of the Proposal, and it will be excluded from page count.

11 Section L There are no formatting instructions. Please provide.

Formatting instructions added.

12 Section L Acronyms

Page 78: Please clarify which volume(s) require(s) a Master Acronym List. Please confirm that the list will not be counted against the page limit for each volume.

One Master Acronym List should be sufficient, as long as it spells out all abbreviations/acronyms in Proposal. The Master Acronym List is excluded from page count.

13 Section L Factor I

LOC &

Contingent Offers

Page 80: The solicitation states "The Offeror shall provide letters of commitment and/or contingent letters of offer and acceptance counter‐signed by the employer and the prospective employee for the Program Manager, Alternate Program Manager, and all Key Personnel designated in the PWS Appendix A, Personnel Requirements." a) Please confirm that a signed letter of commitment is sufficient for prospective employees. b) Are letters of commitment also required for current employees?

A signed letter of commitment is sufficient for prospective employees as well as current employees.

14 Section L Factor 1

Page 80: The solicitation states "Letters shall include a fully burdened labor rate."

Does this apply to all letters or only contingent offer letters?

The request applies to all letters.

15 Section L Factor 1

Page 80: The solicitation states "an Officer of the offering company shall certify the accuracy of all submitted resumes and the validity of any contingent employment agreements". Will one signed blanket statement of certification be sufficient?

One signed blanket statement of certification is acceptable.

16 Section L Factor 1

Page 81: Are the Phase In Plan (PIP) and Phase Out Plan (POP) outside the page count?

The Government confirms that the Phase In Plan and Phase Out Plan can be excluded from the page count.

17 Section L

Factor 1 Page 81: PWS 4.2.1 requires contractor to “…begin phase‐in procedures beginning 10 calendar days prior to the performance date." Section L, F‐1, pg. 81, requires the phase‐in plan to “…describe the 30 day transition period before the period of performance starts.” In addition, CLINs 0004 and 0005 require pricing for a 30 day transition period. Please clarify whether the 4.2.1 "10 calendar day" falls within the 30‐day translon period cited in Section L and Section Section F.

The Government confirms that the 10‐day period falls within the 30‐day transition period.

18 Section L Factor 2

Page 82: Please confirm that the three (3) year relevancy period is determined by the proposal due date (as opposed to the expected task order start date).

The Government concurs with three year relevancy period can be determined by the proposal due date.

19 Section L Factor 2

Page 82: The solicitation requires a "Past Performance POC Matrix." May this POC information be included with each Past Performance citation? Or must the offeror submit a separate "matrix" that lists the PPs and the POC contact information? If the latter, the instructions do not include page count instructions for this matrix.

No preference for Past Performance POC Matrix being stand‐alone, or included with each Past Performance citation.

Concur with excluding Past Performance POC Matrix from page count.

20 Section L Factor 2

Page 82: It appears the requirement for Key Personnel resumes was inadvertently included in both Factors 1 and Factor 2. Please confirm KP resumes are required only in Factor 1.

The Government has removed the resume requirement in Factor 2 Past Performance.

21 Section L Factor 2 Skills Mix

Page 82: Past Performance narratives must include "nature of the contractual effort and skills mix." Please provide additional clarification on skills mix. Is a list of technical disciplines sufficient?

The following has been deleted from Section L, Factor 2 ‐ “and skills mix.”

In describing the nature of the contractual effort, Past Performance narratives should explain how the Offeror successfully executed tasks similar to those described in PWS Section 2.1, page 16, inter alia:

“…provide strategic analysis, support to policy formulation, and program oversight … to include implementation of and compliance with arms control treaty and surety obligations, as well as resource management / Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) and Counter‐ Proliferation / CWMD activities.” The most effective Past Performance narratives will address each of the PWS Sections 3.1 through 3.10.

Past Performance narratives should highlight past performance that demonstrates ability/experience, inter alia: “Interacting with Service Staff, Joint Staff, and OSD organizations; working chemical or nuclear surety/arms control treaty/Countering WMD implementation and compliance issues at a policy or operational level; planning, directing, and managing complex projects/operations with multiple POCs” as enumerated in the sub‐bullets under Experience for Key Personnel in Appendix A, pp 52‐54.

22 Section L Factor 2

PPQ

What is the deadline (date/time) for submitting the Past Performance Questionnaires?

The deadline for the Past Performance Questionnaires is consistent with the Solicitation deadline.

23 Section L Factor 3

MQR

Page 84‐85: The MQR Small Business Participation states "the minimum quantitative requirement has been established at 25%." The SB Subcontracting Plan instructions further state objectives should consider a Small Business objective of 51%. Will the Government confirm that it must meet the minimum quantitative requirement of 25% small business participation in order to receive an acceptable rating for the Small Business Participation factor?

The 25% refers to Small Business Participation. The 51% is related to the Small Business Subcontracting Plan Objectives.

24 Section L General Page Count

Page 79: The Offeror is required to submit 6 key personnel resumes as part of the Combined Technical/Risk Approach volume. Please confirm that the resumes are not included in the 30‐page limit for that volume.

The Government confirms that resumes are excluded from page count for Factor 1, Combined Technical / Risk Approach.

25 Section L Factor 1

Page 79‐80: In the first paragraph of Factor 1, the Government directs the Offeror to "submit information on their proposed labor mix (labor categories and proposed hours) which facilitates satisfaction of all PWS deliverables by matching office organization (treaty compliance branch, surety branch, CWMD branch), i.e., one person is not simultaneously supporting multiple branches; and satisfies all education, experience, and security clearance requirements listed in PWS Appendix A, Personnel Requirements.

In the 2nd paragraph on page 81 the Government directs "The Offeror shall provide a matrix that includes the background, experience, educational level, and security clearance of the Offeror’s proposed personnel. The matrix shall map the proposed employees to the appropriate PWS tasking, the respective Branch within DAMO‐

Only one matrix is required, and it will be excluded from page count.

SSD (e.g., Treaty Compliance or Surety) or USANCA or ASA(IE&E), and the Government labor category.

The matrix must clearly identify all personnel as either “key” or “non‐key.”

Please confirm that these requirements are both the "LCAT Table" excluded from the page count in the table on page 79 and that only one matrix is required.

26 Section L OCI Risk Mitigation

Page 79‐80: The RFP states: "For any potential conflicts of interest, the Offeror shall provide a mitigation plan to be reviewed and approved by the Contracting Officer.

The mitigation plan shall provide verifiable means of eliminating any significant conflict of interest in the performance of this contract. The mitigation plan shall also describe the contractor's current policies for identifying, reporting, and preventing future organizational and personal conflicts of interest that might arise in the performance of this contract." Will the Government require an OCI mitigation plan if the offeror conducts due diligence and does not discover the existence of a current or potential conflict of interest?

An OCI mitigation plan is required to be submitted for any potential conflicts.