Q_A Custodial_DPW Ready.docx

Vendor questions to W91QF024Q1000

DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

1. Paragraph 1.7.1 provides information that the work will be performed at 49 Government Facilities on Carlisle Barracks. The TE-A (excel spreadsheet) has only 36 buildings listed. Which is correct?

a. There are approximately 49 major facilities on post, not 49 facilities to be in the contract.

2. Would the Government please confirm that contractors are to bid the minimum rate of $17.20 for any labor classification affected by EO 14026?

a. This is correct- the updated Wage determination is attached.

3. Would the Government please clarify whether the sections marked in buildings 118 and 119 as having Ceramic Tile flooring are restrooms?

a. Tile floors.

4. Would the Government please clarify whether all restrooms to be cleaned under the requirements of the contract are identified in the Custodial Floor Plans, and if not, would the Government please provide the necessary information regarding additional restrooms to be cleaned?

a. Yes, they are identified by each facility and it’s floor plan. TE-B’s and TE-C have to be consulted in order to understand the scope and magnitude of the facilities contained on Carlisle Barracks.

5. Would the Government please either identify the spaces for Kitchens/Breakrooms or list the number of Kitchens/Breakrooms by building?

a. The breakrooms and/ or kitchens are identified in two areas, by the TE-B Custodial floor plans, and the TE-C Custodial Task and Frequency Charts.

6. Would the Government please provide the square footage of interior glass, Lucite, plastic, or any other transparent material requiring cleaning per building?

a. The government does not possess the total amount of square footage of glass for all 37 facilities, all floors and all manufactured types of glass material. It is incumbent upon the contractor to approximate in the bid calculation.

7. Will there be an official SF1449 be released with this solicitation?

a. No. Solicitations using the Combined Synopsis are not allowed to use the official SF1449.

8. Will the Government please provide the list of site visit attendees.

a. This is considered Personally Identifiable Information and will not be released to the public.

9. Is there a page limitation for the technical proposal?

a. There is no limit, however, if your email server doesn’t deliver your email due to attachment size, this is not considered a valid reason to accept untimely quotes.

10. Can the government please provide information if the employees are working with the Union, or if they are non-unionized.

a. They are non-unionized.

11. Can the Government please confirm that there is no page count for the Technical or Past Performance sections.

a. See 9.

12. Is there an official excel price sheet to fill out or does the government just want the SF1449 continuation sheet filled in?

a. A spreadsheet has been added to the solicitation. Vendors may choose to use it or fill in the SF1449 continuation sheets.

13. Are the use of golf carts allowed for moving personnel from building to building to complete work?

a. This is allowable. Traditionally, employees have used their own vehicles (with a magnet or something on the side to identify them as being contractors). Given that there are many golf carts on post, most of them owned by the Government, labelling contractor-owned carts is highly advised. Regardless of transportation solution used, it is at contractor’s expense.

14. Is the current work subject to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)? If yes, please provide a copy of the current CBA.

a. See 10.

15. What is the approximate distance between buildings to be serviced?

a. This varies from building to building. Please see Exhibit D.

16. In Technical Exhibit C, buildings, tasks, and frequencies are listed. The document is 54 pages in length. On page 41 of 54 (C-013) it references Root Hall – Army War College with approximately 201,000 square feet. On page 43 of 54(C-016) it references Root Hall – Army War College with approximately 201,000 square feet. Does worksheet C-013 and C-016 reference the same building with different requirements or is one worksheet in error?

a. C-013 and C-016 are both to the same building. The items listed on C-013 are the frequencies that are being paid for by the Army Installation Command (IMCOM) as the standard of service. The frequencies on C-016 are additional frequencies that are being paid for by the local command under CLIN X002.

b. Example: C-013 has 1 regular dusting per year. C-016 has 11 per year. Combined, they mean that Root Hall should have regular dusting 12 times a year (monthly).

17. Reference is made to Excel worksheet PWS TE-A Buildings by floor type and square footage. Please provide a legend that explains what the colors by row represent. There are yellow, blue. green, red, and white rows. Please explain the significance of the colors.

a. The colors in column A represent what that building is classified by IMCOM as for their task frequencies. This information was built into TE-C.

18. Asking the government to comment on any additional or changes to the prior 8(a) contract which ended in October of 2023.

a. The contract was extended. No further changes are projected.

19. What is the current contract # and monthly amount?

a. The current contract is listed in the solicitation posting to SAM.gov.

b. Pricing breakout is not something that is releasable to the public.

20. Asking the government to comment on the timeframe of the award and transition of the new contract. Current schedule has a proposal due date of 1/16/24 and a start date of 2/1/24. Given past experience, it is very difficult to successfully transition a contract with less than 30 days to transition.

a. Normally, the difficulty in transitioning is in finding individuals. As the employees in place are able to transition from vendor to vendor, we do not anticipate as much of an issue.

21. Reference is made to Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Custodial Services at the Carlisle Barracks, PA. The document is 99 pages in length. Starting on page 3 of 99 and ending on page 50 of 99 are the CLIN pricing structure. For CLINs X001 through X004 are described as baseline services and above baseline services. Please clarify that CLIN X001 is for baseline services for all of TE-C with the exception of C-016, C-058, C-060, C-062 and C-040.

a. If a TE-is tied to a specific CLIN, it is listed in that CLIN description (exception: we noted that we omitted C-035 from being added to X005, that will be fixed at award). If it is not specifically listed, then it belongs to X001. This eliminates not just the ones listed above, but also C-035 and C-041 - C-048.

22. Reference is made to CLIN X005. The unit of measure requested is week. However, multiple events can occur each week. TE-C states 3x per week. Is this the number of events that offerors should use as an estimate of events per week?

a. Unlike the events that take place in 650 (which can be a few days or several weeks), the events that take place under X005 are always either 1 or 2 weeks long. As such, these were set up differently. The frequencies that are listed on C-035 are in addition to the frequencies that are already done under C-034, which results in most items going from 1-2x a week to daily for that week.

23. Reference PWS Part 5 Specific Tasks; 5.3.9 Interior Glass: Is the contractor responsible for cleaning all stairwell and corridor interior glass lining the hallways in B651?

a. Yes, that is correct.

24. Reference PWS Part 5 Specific Tasks; 5.3.9 Interior Glass: What is the maximum height the contractor is expected to clean interior glass?

a. To a height of 14 feet and below, nothing greater than 14’ is within this scope.

25. Reference PWS Part 5 Specific Tasks; 5.3.10 Exterior Glass: What is the maximum height the contractor is expected to clean exterior glass?

a. IAW the PWS, the only exterior glass to be cleaned is around the doors, (and the doors themselves, if glass). See question 24.

26. Reference PWS Part 5 Specific Tasks; 5.3.2 Carpeted Floors: This paragraph states "The Contractor shall not move chairs, trash receptacles, or other easily movable items, that weigh 20 pounds or less, or can be moved by one person to maintain floors underneath these items." Is this paragraph correct in stating that the contractor is NOT responsible for moving any items to maintain floor underneath these items?

a. Yes, that is a correct statement. There are thousands of pieces of furniture and office accessories, the contractor is not responsible for moving all of these items concurrent with the performance of their duties.

27. Is there a minimum period offers are required to be valid for?

a. The Period of Performance is set for 1 Feb 2024, so 30 days is more than sufficient.

28. Other than acknowledgement of the RFQ and the Representations and Certifications, what other minimum documentation is required to be in compliance with submission instructions?

a. Please ensure that your 8(a) status is valid, we will be checking with the SBA prior to award.

29. Is there a page limit for Volume 1?

a. See 9.

30. Quote Submission indicates there are 3 Volumes: Vol. 1: Business?, Vol. 2: Technical/Past Performance, and Vol. 3 Price Quote. But the Evaluation Criteria indicate that there are 3 Factors: Factor 1: Technical, Factor 2: Past Performance, and Factor 3: Price. There appears to be a conflict in the 2 Sections regarding the naming of the submission Factors. Please clarify if the Quote Submission Section and Evaluation Criteria Section should sync and align as the naming format.

a. The purpose of each volume is distinct. Volume 1 is for legal matters, such as your representations and certifications. Volume 2 has two parts: Technical and Past Performance. Volume 3 is Price.

31. Is there a page limit for Volume 2? If so, please clarify page limit for total volume, Technical portion, and Past Performance portion.

a. See 9

32. Are there any margin, header/footer, font or type restrictions/requirements? If so, please specify.

a. The only restriction is that Volume 3 CANNOT be combined with the file(s) for volume 1 and/or 2. Volume 1 and 2 may be combined. The Government reserves the right to disqualify offers that include ANY PRICING INFORMATION (not past performance data) in the files for Volume 2.

33. Technical should discuss how the contractor proposes to satisfy the task requirements of the PWS in sufficient detail to evaluate the contractor’s understanding of the requirement. Please clarify task requirements offerors are required to address are all tasks outlined in Section 5.0 Specific Tasks for General Cleaning.

a. The offeror should state their general understanding of the requirements, enough so that the Requiring Activity is confident in the offeror’s ability to perform the contract.

34. The Technical volume should also contain any other required evidence for meeting the contractor qualifications. Please specify required evidence for meeting the contractors qualifications.

a. This would normally be in place for things like security clearances, certifications, and other items. It’s an as-applicable item that doesn’t apply here.

35. Is there a specific format the Government would prefer to receive Past Performance information in? Are offerors allowed to submit CPARS in lieu of the Past Performance requirement?

a. CPARS are acceptable- we do recommend that it be made clear the size of the project. Experience doing a 1-month requirement, no matter how well rated, is vastly different from a 5-year six-figure contract. CPARS is not always clear (the dollar figure sometimes likes to hide) and expecting the Activity to hunt for the information has cost offerors in the past.

36. Who is the incumbent contractor and what is the current contract amount?

a. See the solicitation posting on SAM.gov

37. Please provide the applicable wage rates for this project.

a. See the Wage Determination.

38. Please clarify what TE-C numbers are related with the Price List Item 0001, 0005, 0014 & 0015

a. X005 is C-035. Everything else is 0001. 0014 and 0015 are as-needed items that is anyone’s guess as to what they will entail. This is why the price is by the hour. If supplies are anticipated (e.g., additional cleaning of restrooms due to events in areas NOT already set in the CLIN structure) these are negotiated prior to service.

39. Please advise if the current cleaning personnel is unionized and please provide the applicable CBA.

a. See 10 & 14.

40. In the bid specifications it is stated that we can utilize the current employees if we are awarded the contract. Please provide us with a list of the current employees and a contact number for each of them so we can be able to contact them in advance.

a. These will be provided at notice of award, which should be NLT 19 Jan 2024 @ 1230 EST.

41. Is there any possibility of extension of the due date for submission of the proposal?

a. None past what was done on the 11th.

42. Building 313 states that the chandeliers are to be cleaned. How many are there, and how often?

a. There are two sizes. The three ‘grand’ chandeliers and 5 ‘lesser’ chandeliers. All are within easy reach of ladders- standard ceiling height. This shall be done annually. C-022 has been updated to reflect the frequency.