BPA, Court Reporting Services

The Government is issuing this Request for Information to determine a competitive basis for the procurement described. This is not a solicitation. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this survey.

This survey is for market research purposes only. Only contractors capable of performing this type of work should respond to this Request for Information.

Requirement

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Great Lakes and Ohio River Division (LRD), anticipates a firm fixed-price Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Court Reporting Services/Transcription to create verbatim transcripts of meetings, conferences, depositions, arbitrations, and/or administrative proceedings, including hearings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Merit Systems Protection Board.  These transcripts ensure a complete, accurate, secure, and confidential legal record of the meeting, conference, deposition, and/or administrative proceeding, and document all statements made during the meeting, conference, deposition, arbitrations, and/or administrative proceeding.

Description

The Government anticipates the following services:

1. Attend (virtually or in-person) meetings, conferences, depositions, and/or administrative proceedings that require written transcripts;
2. Capture spoken dialogue with specialized equipment, including stenography machines, video and audio recording devices, and covered microphones;
3. Never consider anything any person says to be “off the record” unless the presiding administrative judge expressly designates a portion of the proceeding as such;
4. Report speaking identification, terms, gestures, and actions;
5. Read or play back all or a portion of the proceedings upon request from the Agency Representative or Administrative Judge;
6. Ask speakers to clarify inaudible or unclear statements or testimony;
7. Review notes for names of speakers and technical terminology;
8. Prepare transcripts for the record;
9. Edit transcripts for typographical errors; and
10. Promptly produce copies of transcripts and recordings when requested by an administrative judge or by any party who has agreed to pay the fees stated in the call order.

The contractor shall provide a work force possessing the skills, knowledge, and training to satisfactorily perform the services required by this contract. Personnel performing work under this work statement shall remain employees of the contractor and will not be considered employees of the Government.  Furthermore, court reporters providing services under this BPA must possess, at a minimum, at least two (2) years of court reporting experience and be qualified and/or certified by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) or have passed an equivalent qualifying exam that evinces equivalent skills.  Minimum requirements for successful completion of an equivalent qualifying examination shall include the ability to produce a simultaneous translation and display within five (5) seconds of stenotype input for five (5) minutes of professionally audio-recorded dictation at variable speeds ranging from 180 – 200 words per minute at 96% accuracy.

The agreements will have a period of performance of five (5) years from the date the Master Agreement is established. As services are required, the Government will issue a Request for Quote (RFQ) to vendors actively holding a BPA Master Agreement. BPA holders will not be required to quote on every RFQ. Quotes will be required to be submitted electronically, via email.

The anticipated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 561492, Court Reporting and Stenotype Services with a size standard of $19.0 million.

Survey

Your response to this survey is requested by 2:00 PM Central Time, 19 August 2024. Please send by email to Contract Specialist, Jamie Lynn Barnes at Jamie.L.Barnes@usace.army.mil and Contracting Officer, Connor Struckmeyer at Connor.A.Struckmeyer@usace.army.mil. Include in the title “Sources Sought – Court Reporting Services” as the subject line in email communications. All submitted responses must be in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.

1. Name of your firm

2. CAGE:

3. Point of Contact, Phone Number, and Email address:

4. Are you a Small Business classified under NAICS code 561492?

5. Please list any Special Small Business Certifications you currently possess (e.g. Women-Owned Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, HUBzone, 8(a), etc.):

6. Please describe any recent contracts or experience within the previous 24 months that are similar to this requirement.

7. Does your firm possess the capabilities to perform the court reporting/transcription services mentioned above?

8. Does your firm possess the capabilities to perform the above-mentioned services to all District Offices within LRD (Buffalo, NY; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Detroit, MI; Huntington, WV; Louisville, KY; Nashville, TN; and Pittsburgh, PA)?

9. Please provide any additional information you feel is necessary: