MODIFICATION
R -- Sign Language Interpreter Services
- Notice Date
- 3/13/2007
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 541930
— Translation and Interpretation Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Acquisition Management, HAAM, Room 4410 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC, 20590, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- DTFH61-07-Q-00037
- Response Due
- 3/26/2007
- Archive Date
- 4/10/2007
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- I. PRICING INFORMATION Item Schedule of Supplies/Services Hours of Support Contract Period (Insert Hourly Rates) Base Year Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 I Core Hours: 1st Interpreter 2080 II Core Hours: 2nd Interpreter 1040 III Continuing Service Hours: One-hour session 1.00 IV Continuing Service Hours: Half-hour session .50 V On Call Service 50 II. STATEMENT OF WORK 1. The contractor shall provide two sign language interpreters to deaf employees of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The interpreters must possess national certification or be certified by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. (RID). The following skills and abilities are required of all sign language interpreters under this contract: a) The interpreters shall have: (1) the ability to keep pace with normal conversation in conferences, meetings, seminars, training courses, interviews, and public speaking events; (2) the ability to voice interpret; (3) the ability to imitate nuances, tone information, inflection and the spirit of the speaker?s voice to enable the deaf or hard of hearing person to fully receive messages; (4) skills to cover special events; (5) the ability to interpret personal sessions of a sensitive nature; (6) a comprehensive knowledge of the use of the English vocabulary including the ability to read signs well and articulate clearly; (7) the ability to interpret phone calls, use the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), Instant Messenger, and other forms of specialized or computerized communications; (8) the ability to select, highlight and abstract with context when dealing with complicated concepts, idioms, etc. b) The interpreters must have a minimum of three years professional experience in interpreting job(s) and must be proficient in sign-to-voice and voice-to sign transliteration. Interpreters must have substantive experience transliterating American Sign Language (ASL) and Pidgin Sign English (PSE). The interpreters must also have knowledge of the deaf community and deaf culture in order to be aware of the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community. All interpreters shall possess an intimate knowledge of, and strictly adhere to NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct. The interpreting assignments may be technical or non-technical and could involve computers, finance, science, engineering, legal matters, meetings, training, and other job-related functions. c) Conducts themselves professionally in dress, manner, demeanor, and behavior; always being cognizant of the perceived association with FHWA and the Federal Government. d) Under no circumstances shall the interpreter represent FHWA or act as an official spokesperson on behalf of FHWA, its employees, or its contractors. 2. The two interpreters will normally work on site at the FHWA Headquarters. While we are currently located at 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC, we will be moving this spring to 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE [between the Washington Navy Yard and the new baseball stadium]. One primary interpreter shall serve full-time 40 hours a week Monday through Friday and the secondary interpreter will work up to 20 hours per week, Tuesday through Thursday. Exceptions include Federal holidays, official closings by the Government due to inclement weather, OPM or Executive Order, etc. and when the Government determines that service is not needed for a particular day. The core hours of services are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday for the primary interpreter and 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM for the secondary interpreter Tuesday through Thursday. The secondary interpreter?s hours may be changed as needed to provide supplemental support for FHWA employees. In the event services are being provided by an interpreter on duty during a core hour period and the activity supported extends beyond the core hour period, it is desired that services continue uninterrupted if the interpreter is able to do so. Billings for such ?continuing services? shall be in half-hour increments. The actual number of hours the interpreter is available per week is understood to be dynamic. It is understood that there may be some days where an earlier start or later finish is necessary. The Government wishes to minimize costs by avoiding the necessity of having more than one interpreter on-station during the core periods on those occasions when the ordering calendar indicates a requirement for continuous support in excess of 1.5 hours. Therefore, in these circumstances the Government will structure its activities to provide for a 10-15 minute break approximately 60 minutes into the activity and a second 10-15 minute break approximately 120 minutes into the activity. Interpreter services will be conducted in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, with travel away from the Headquarters Office location reimbursed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations as published by the GSA. Travel will be primarily local. Travel arrangements for the interpreter(s) for job-related functions beyond the Washington metropolitan area will be arranged by the Contracting Officer?s Technical Representative (COTR) and the contractor. The primary on-site interpreter shall be designated by the contractor as the on-site manager for Government communication and technical direction to the secondary interpreter. The Contracting Officer and the COTR are the main points of contact through which all contractor/Government communications and technical direction shall flow to the on-site manager. The COTR is the primary Government point of contact for technical matters. The Contracting Officer should be contacted for contractual and business matters. The on-site manager shall collaborate with the COTR and perform all administrative support tasks needed to fulfill the contract. Those administrative tasks include, but are not limited to, the following: ? Maintaining an appointment log, taking all incoming requests for interpreter services. ? Determining how these appointments will be covered; including the coordination of DOT?s Disability Resource Center service for FHWA deaf employees. ? Scheduling appointments. ? Responding to all incoming requests within the same day or the next business day. ? Resolving scheduling conflicts for interpreting services. (Standard procedures will be provided to the primary interpreter explaining what actions to be taken for most routine situations.) Referring irresolvable or non-standard conflicts to the COTR 3. Ensuring the calendar is available for view to all deaf employees and the COTR with blocks of scheduled appointments. This calendar will not show the details of the appointments, which are kept in the appointment log notebook. This calendar will also be used by the COTR to verify hours worked against all invoices submitted. 4. Overtime (e.g., more than 8.5-hour day, Saturday/Sunday, and Federal Holidays) is rarely required. Overtime must be approved by the CO in advance unless there are extenuating circumstances. II.1 ADDITIONAL ON CALL INTERPRETING SERVICES In addition to the scheduled supplemental interpreting service referred to above, there is also periodic need for additional on-call interpreters to assist at training, conferences, or meetings, where two or more interpreters are needed to provide adequate support. We estimate this requirement to represent about 50 hours of interpreting service annually. II.2 VIDEO INTERPRETING SERVICE In order to be prepared for future possible needs, offerors are requested to propose an option to provide the use of remote video interpreting services should the on-site interpreters not be available. Availability or unavailability of this service will not affect the evaluation of interpreting service proposals. II.3 ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES Each business day, when a request for interpreter services comes in, the interpreter(s) are expected to respond to the request within the same day if possible, or the next business day. A request form shall be filled out for each request. If a cancellation occurs, the request form as well as the appointment log shall be annotated. The request forms shall be filed in the FHWA Interpreter Services program office. The interpreter shall schedule requests for appointments within the scheduled core hours, making every reasonable attempt to accommodate the customer. In the event of a scheduling conflict, the interpreter shall first contact DOT?s Disability Resources Center?s interpreting service for availability. In a case of conflict, the interpreter may make recommendations for alternate times, or, with the customer?s approval, reschedule previously arranged appointments. All requests that cannot be scheduled or requests that pose scheduling conflicts shall be referred to the COTR to determine the need for additional interpreters. The interpreter, upon receipt of a work authorization by the COTR, will make every effort to provide the additional interpreter(s) when needed. The interpreter shall notify the COTR if unable to resolve the assignments, if authorized coverage is going to be insufficient, or of any other issues related to scheduling the appointments. If the interpreter shows up more than 15 minutes late to the assignment, the pay may be decreased by one hour. When this occurs, the COTR will review the circumstances related to the late arrival and determine whether the lateness was the responsibility of the individual interpreter or circumstances beyond the individual interpreter's control. Lateness due to circumstances beyond the individual interpreter's control will be excused. Lateness due to any other reason, including those attributable to the interpreters or any other contractor staff members, contractors, or subcontractors will not be excused. II.4 STAFFING As noted above, one individual the primary interpreter shall be designated as the on-site manager. It is strongly preferred that a core team of two individuals provide the vast majority of interpreting service to our employees. This will ensure continuity and consistency of service for the employees receiving the interpreting services. If additional interpreting services are required beyond the services provided by the on-site/on-call secondary interpreter, the request will be placed with the contractor at least 48 hours in advance, and will be billed to the agency at the ?on-call? rate. III. ACCESS TO SENSITIVE INFORMATION Work under this contract may involve access to sensitive information*, which shall not be disclosed by the contractor unless authorized by the CO. To protect sensitive information, the contractor shall provide training to any contractor employee authorized access to sensitive information and, upon request of the Government, provide information as to an individual's suitability to have such authorization. Contractor employees found by the Government to be unsuitable or whose employment is deemed contrary to the public interest or inconsistent with the best interest of national security may be prevented from performing work under the particular contract when requested by the CO. The contractor shall ensure that contractor employees are: (1) citizens of the United States of America or an alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence or employment (indicated by immigration status) as evidenced by Immigration and Naturalization Service documentation; and (2) have background investigations in accordance with DOT Order 1632.2B, Personnel Security Management. The contractor shall include the above requirements in any subcontract awarded involving access to Government facilities, sensitive information, and/or resources. *Sensitive information is proprietary data or other information that, if subject to unauthorized access, modification, loss, or misuse could adversely affect national interest, conduct of Federal programs, or privacy of individuals specified in the Privacy Act, but has not been specifically authorized to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy under an Executive Order or Act of Congress. IV. USE OF GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED FACILITIES The Government will provide suitable facilities and equipment necessary for the contractor staff to conduct the required on-site work including office space and furniture, a telephone (including a pager if needed) and computer workstation with standard Microsoft Office software for official contract business use only. V. PERSONNEL IDENTIFICATION BADGES All contractors who have access to DOT facilities, sensitive information, and/or resources must complete Standard Form 85-P, ?Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions?. Contractor personnel who work on-site at FHWA, or who require frequent access to FHWA facilities in performance of contracted work, must submit the SF-85P in order to obtain a DOT identification badge. The SF-85P process has been automated. All contractors who are required to complete an SF 85P will now do so on-line through the Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QUIP) system. They must call the DOT Office of Security for system access. The points of contact for the system are Tracey Foy (202-366-0346), David Pernell (202-366-8083), and Christopher Fernandez (202-366-8091). New contractor employees should call for system access prior to entrance on duty. Once the new contractor employee has completed the on-line form successfully, the system will allow them to print three signature pages. Please have them attach these pages to the DOT 1681, Identification Card/Credential Application, in order to complete the background investigation process. Copies of this form will be provided to the contractor at award. The forms must be submitted to the Contracting Officer and to the FHWA Office of Human Resources for review and signature before submission to the DOT Office of Security. The DOT Office of Security will issue the ID badge. Fingerprinting will be required as part of this process, and may take several days. VI. RELEVANT GUIDELINES In addition to applicable Federal procurement laws, regulations, policies, guidelines and requirements, this contract shall be guided by the NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct, relevant regulations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and relevant sections of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and FHWA information technology usage and security. VII. INVOICE REQUIREMENTS (a) Invoices shall be submitted monthly in the form of an itemized invoice covering all services furnished during the month. The invoice shall be supported by the appointment log. Invoices are to be submitted within 15 calendar days after the close of the preceding accounting month. The contractor shall submit one invoice and two copies monthly to the following: Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Office of Acquisition Management 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 Attention: Bob Prior (b) In addition to the items required in FAR clause 52.232-25, Prompt Payment, at (a)(3)(i) through (viii), a proper invoice must also include the following minimum additional information and/or attached documentation: (1) Separate, distinct invoice number (2) Contract number (purchase, delivery, or task order) (3) Total/cumulative charges for the billing period (4) Dates upon which goods or services were delivered (5) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC, , 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington,DC
- Zip Code: 20590
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 20590
- Record
- SN01249599-W 20070315/070313220441 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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