R606--VISN Wide Court Reporter & Stenography Services

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Court Reporting (Stenography Services)

1. GENERAL GUIDANCE

The Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center has a current need for Court reporting (Stenography) services to include, but not expressly limited to: Administrative Investigation Boards (AIB), Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), and Labor disputes. It is the intent of the VA Medical Center to establish one 5-year BPA with the dates of performance of April 15, 2024 April 14, 2029.

TITLE OF PROJECT: Court Reporter Stenography Services

2. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide all labor, expertise and equipment needed either remotely or at the requested in-person location sufficient to record sworn testimony for Administrative Investigative Boards (AIB), Administrative Hearings, EEO Mediation, Human Resource Hearings, etc., and deliver electronic transcripts for legal purposes.

The Contractor shall furnish the necessary personnel, materials, and services, and otherwise do all things necessary for the incidental to the verbatim reporting and transcription of proceedings or hearings and delivery of electronic transcripts for legal purposes.

If testimony must be retaken because of mechanical breakdown of the stenographic equipment or as a result of negligence by the Contractor, the Contractor shall provide the services necessary to retake the testimony, at no additional charge to the Department of Veterans Affairs or to any party to the litigation. In addition, the Contractor shall bear all transportation and subsistence costs, to be computed in accordance with travel regulations governing employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, incurred by the parties and their witnesses and attorneys in attending or testifying at such retaking of testimony.

The Contractor agrees that the assigned reporter shall perform all work in a business-like manner and according to the best standards of the reporting profession; and the Contractor, at all times, shall provide promptly at the time, date, and place designated, as many competent reporters and stenographers and maintain such staff and equipment at such times as may be necessary for the prompt recording of proceeding and the furnishing of satisfactory transcripts which shall conform to the requirements of this contract.

To the maximum extent practical, when requested by the government, the Contractor shall assign the same reporter to a proceeding lasting more than one (1) day or, in the case of a lengthy proceeding, the same group of reporters. The Contractor agrees that the assigned reporter shall:

For telephonic investigation, the Contractor shall make telephone contact to the presiding official at least fifteen (15) minutes prior to the start time. Telephonic investigations can include use of Microsoft Teams, Webex, Zoom, etc., in addition to normal telephone land lines. For cases that require in-person services, the Contractor shall present him or herself to the presiding official at least fifteen (15) minutes prior to the time at the place of designated hearings, or in no case later than the time required to set up all required equipment and be able to begin verbatim reporting at the designated time.

At all times be governed by the instructions of the presiding official in matters affecting the composition of the record, adjournment to other times or places, the hours of hearing, and matters of like character.

Report everything spoken while a hearing is in session unless the presiding official directs an off-the-record discussion.

Not omit from the record any part of a proceeding for which notes have been taken as required unless the presiding official so directs.

Mark and number letter exhibits and arrange them in numerical or alphabetical order if directed to do so by the presiding official. Exhibit and attachment pages will not be considered in the page count for the transcript and will not be subject to any fee per page cost. The contractor shall not charge for transcript pages that are less than 13 lines in length, all longer pages will be paid for as full pages.

All offerors must provide in detail their internal processes, equipment and software used to meet all requirements in the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

All work is to be performed by the Contractor as requested either remotely or at the requested in-person site.

That each reporter is fully aware of the assigned work situation, including the occasional need for extending a hearing session beyond the normal workday.

That each reporter is aware of the additional compensation available to him or her when required to work beyond the normal workday.

That the additional compensation is received by the Contractor s reporters.

The Contractor shall furnish complete transcripts, which accurately reflect the full and complete verbatim record of the proceedings. When the presiding official determines that there are errors in the transcript, at the request of the presiding official the Contractor shall correct the errors and furnish the corrected transcript within five (5) calendar days after receipt of notification and without additional cost to the Government.

The Contractor shall furnish transcripts that are legible. In the event the presiding official finds one or more copies of transcripts to be illegible, the Contractor shall correct and replace the same with acceptable copies within one (1) business day after receipt of notification from the presiding official and without additional cost to the Government.

The Contractor shall follow the below format requirements:

Transcripts shall be prepared in accordance with National Court Reporting Association guidelines. Pagination of the transcript shall be in a single series of consecutive numbers regardless of the number of days of the proceeding. Pagination of the transcript of a continuation of the proceeding shall follow consecutively the paging of the previous session in the same proceeding unless otherwise directed by the presiding official. Page numbers are to be placed at the bottom center of each page. There will be no additional cost per page for transcripts regardless of the method they are recorded (court reporter services, ie. in-person or telephonic).

Standard transcripts will include one original and three copies. In the original and each copy of the transcript, the title page showing name, docket number, place and date of proceeding, appearances, location, etc., shall be preceded by a page or pages of distinctive color, indexing the witnesses and exhibits to the testimony. Each transcript shall include one complete cumulative index of witnesses and exhibits. The index shall indicate the page devoted to the testimony of each witness and shall identify the exhibits by number or letter (as marked) and show which party introduced each exhibit; give a brief description of the nature of the exhibit; and state the page on which the exhibit was marked for identification and the page on which the exhibit was admitted into evidence, rejected, or withdrawn. Exhibits and attachments will not be considered in the page count of the transcript. This cost per page will include the paper copies and shipping of materials.

Electronic transcripts will be provided in the Adobe PDF format and be emailed to the Program Point of Contact (POC) or designee that is identified at the time-of-service order. Electronic transcripts will adhere to all formatting requirements listed above. There will be no per page cost for additional requested electronic copies. The electronic copy will be considered property of the VISN 4 Department of Veteran Affairs.

TYPE OF RECORDING

Recordings shall be designated as Confidential. When a recording or any portion thereof is designated Confidential, the Contractor shall hold inviolate and in the strictest confidence any or all information which he/she may gain in the performance of his/her duties under this contract. The Contractor shall not divulge, sell, or distribute any or all information gained at a confidential recording unless directed in writing by the presiding official.

DELIVERY SCHEDULE

An electronic PDF transcript of each sworn testimony shall be recorded within five (5) business days of the date of the last sworn testimony and be emailed to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and designated recipient during regular business hours (8:00am through 4:30pm EST, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays).

Expedited delivery of electronic transcripts, at the rates shown in the pricing schedule may be requested at the time-of-service request, provided that justification is provided by the requester, such as statutory time limits requiring expedited delivery for hearing completion.

If required by the presiding judge, hearing officer, statute, or regulation, mailing of hard copy transcripts

requested for an additional fee as noted in the pricing schedule. This is the only time we will pay a per page cost for additional copies with the exhibits and attachments not being included in this cost.

The Contractor will determine within a reasonable time, normally within 24 hours of the time the request for services was made, whether, or not a reporter will be available. If this determination is not received, the Department of Veterans Affairs reserves the right to obtain the service from another source and to charge the Contractor with any excess cost which may result there from. The Department of Veterans Affairs will be the sole judge in determining when to order services from another source.

PLACES OF PERFORMANCE: Hearings, boards, or testimony recordings will be transcribed through conference call with the Court Reporter online. In rare cases, when required by the judge, hearing officer or as required by statute, they may be required to take place at the following sites or designated location (justification must be included in the request for in-person court reporter):

Altoona VA Medical Center

2907 Pleasant Valley Blvd Altoona, PA 1660

Lebanon VA Medical Center

1700 South Lincoln Avenue Lebanon, PA 17042

VA Butler Healthcare 353 N. Duffy Rd. Butler, PA 16001

Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center

3900 Woodland Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19104

Coatesville VA Medical Center 1400 Blackhorse Hill Road Coatesville, PA 19320

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive

Pittsburgh, PA 15240

Erie VA Medical Center 135 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16504

VA Hospital HJ Heinz Campus

1010 Delafield Rd.

Pittsburgh, PA 15215

Wilmington VA Medical Center 1601 Kirkwood Hwy Wilmington, DE

Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center

1111 East End Blvd.

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711

HOURS OF OPERATION: The Contractor shall be available on an as needed basis during Medical Center operating hours of 8:00am to 4:30pm EST, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. If there is a need for work to be done after hours, the Government will make arrangements for the Contractor to have access. The Contractor will accommodate delivery of services during these after hours.

FEDERAL HOLIDAYS:

a. The following legal holidays will be observed: New Year s Day, Martin Luther King s Birthday, President s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day and any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday.

When one of the above designated legal holidays falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be observed as a legal holiday. When a legal holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed as a holiday by U.S. Government agencies.

2.6 TRAVEL EXPENSES: All travel expenses related to the provision of in- person stenography services will be the responsibility of the contractor.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

This is an on-demand, multi-service contract. When requested by the Requestion Official with the POC being copied, the Contractor shall provide one Certified Court Reporter for entirety of each Administrative Investigation Boards (AIB), Administrative hearings, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) mediation, Human Resource hearings, etc. Contractor will receive at least five (5) calendar days notice for scheduling. Contractor will provide a Certified Court Reporter with in the five (5) calendar days. Requests for services submitted less than 5 calendar days prior to scheduled date, may be honored at the contractor s discretion as resources may permit.

The requesting official will serve as the POC designee as the contractor s POC for each administrative hearing, investigative board or proceeding. The Transcriptionist will take direction from the POC designee regarding who will provide testimony and when testimony has ended.

In the event of on-site reporting, the Contractor attending the case will be escorted. This must be coordinated with the POC before reporting to the site.

For on-site reporting, it is the responsibility of Contractor personnel to park in the appropriate designated parking areas. Parking information shall be coordinated with each facility POC designee. VA does not validate or make reimbursement for parking violations of the Contractor s personnel under any circumstance.

All certified court reporters must possess American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT) or National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) certification with 100% accuracy.

SPECIFIC MANDATORY TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall:

When called, provide the labor, expertise, and equipment onsite at the VA sufficient to record sworn testimony, unless otherwise specified by the POC that telephonic transcription is acceptable on a case-by-case basis. There will be no access to VA computers or IT Infrastructure.

Post recording of sworn testimony, the Contractor will provide an electronic transcript of each sworn testimony recorded within ten (10) business days of the date the last sworn testimony was recorded. If the ten (10) business day turnaround is not met, the transcripts will be invoiced at half price. All expedited transcripts not received within requested times shall be invoiced at the standard ten (10) business day turnaround rate.

The VA will return any corrections noted in the original file within five (5) business days.

4.4 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: The Contractor shall report as directed by the POC and will be ready to record sworn testimony as indicated in this Performance Work Statement (PWS).

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES: The Government shall be responsible for scheduling service with the Contractor during normal business hours 8:00am to 4:30pm EST. If there is a need for work to be done after hours, the Government will make arrangements for Contractor to have access. Note: There will be no access to VA computers or IT Infrastructure.

CONTRACT PERFORMANCE MONITORING

5.1 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the Contractor exceeds, meets, or does not meet these standards. The Government shall use these standards to determine Contractor performance and shall compare Contractor performance to the Quality Assurance Service Plan (QASP.)

5.2 QUALITY CONTROL

Contractor shall maintain an accuracy rate of 100%, based on errors to lines. Errors are considered to be:

Misspelled words

Omitted materials

Transposed letters or numbers

Information located in the wrong field

Entering material other than what is dictated

Punctuation if it changes the meaning of the sentence.

All offerors will supply a quality control plan as a part of their proposal to show how they will meet the below quality assurance plan requirements. The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services performed are in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor s quality control plan is a means to assure their work complies with the requirements.

Failure to maintain the required accuracy rate shall be grounds for termination of this contract.

6. Invoices

Payment will be made upon receipt of a properly prepared detailed invoice, prepared by the Contractor, validated by the Program Point of Contact (POC), All Invoices from the contractor shall be submitted electronically in accordance with VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests to:

Austin Payment Center

Department of Veterans Affairs

PO Box 149971

Austin, TX 78714-9971

A properly prepared invoice will contain:

Invoice Number and Date Services Were Provided

Contractor s Name and Address

Accurate Purchase Order Number

Supply or Service Provided

Name of the AIB Chair or Administrative Hearing POC

Date of Final Transcript

Total Amount Due

Name of the Assigned Transcriptionist

Invoices are to be provided on a case-by-case basis. Invoices missing or inaccurately depicting any of the preceding information will result in the invoice(s) being rejected and returned for correction. If the required certification per the QASP is not on file with the VISN 4 VA payment will be held until the required certification is provided.

7.0 Special Contract Requirements:

7.a Reports/Deliverables: The Contractor shall be responsible for complying with all reporting requirements established by the Contract. Contractor shall be responsible for assuring the accuracy and completeness of all reports and other documents as well as the timely submission of each. Contractor shall comply with contract requirements regarding the appropriate reporting formats, instructions, submission timetables, and technical assistance as required.

7.b The following are brief descriptions of required documents that must be submitted by Contractor: weekly; monthly; quarterly; annually, etc. identified throughout the PWS and is provided here as a guide for Contractor convenience. If an item is within the PWS and not listed here, the Contractor remains responsible for the delivery of the item.

What

Submit as noted

Submit To

Para. 3.e

Required certifications for contractor transcriptionist will be supplied annually and at the time of new hire.

Project Manager (PM)

Solicitation Number / RFQ 36C24424Q0300

Multiple Stations Court Reporting (Stenography Services)

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products or commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

This Solicitation is being issued as Request for Quote (RFQ) 36C24424Q0300. The government anticipates awarding one five-year firm-fixed price Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) resulting from this solicitation. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC)2024-02 (01/22/2024) and can be found at FAR | Acquisition.GOV

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 561492 with a small business size standard of $30 Million dollars annually (yearly). This solicitation is a 100% Service-Disabled Veteran Owen Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside.

This solicitation requires registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to award, pursuant to applicable regulations and guidelines. Registration information is at www.sam.gov. Confirmation of SAM registration will be validated prior to awarding a BPA.