RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ON THE DEEPWATER OMNIBUS PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SOLICITATION The following information is provided in response to questions received against the Deepwater Omnibus Professional Engineering Services solicitation. Response to Questions. 1. Where is it indicated that this is small business set-aside and what are the business size limitations? Response: The synopsis stated that the procurement is 100% set-aside for small business participation. The business size limitations are specified in clause K.6 on page 60. The SIC is 8711 and the small standard is $20.0 million annual receipts for an offeror's preceding 3 fiscal years. 2. Are resumes required for Key Personnel and Personnel Data Forms (PDFs) required for non-key personnel? Are resumes/PDFs required for all personnel? Response: Resumes are not required. The Personnel Data Form (PDF) replaces the requirement for resumes. Therefore, when reference to a resume is cited, it is considered synonymous with the PDF. PDFs are required for all proposed personnel. 3. Section B.2. This section states that orders willreflect rates in effect on the day of the order. For multi-year orders or orders issued near the end of a contract year, this could be unreasonable for the contractor. Request that this provision be modified to permit orders to contain multiple year labor rates for performance periods that cross contract years. Response: DELETE the following wording: The pricing of individual task orders will be governed by those rates in effect on the day of issuance of the order and those rates will govern until the end of performance under that order. The fully burdened labor rates shall apply for the periods specified. ADD: The pricing of individual task orders will be governed by the fully burdened labor rates for each listed labor category in the pricing table. An offeror shall propose its prices by filling in the respective fully burdened labor rate and shall propose a fully burdened hourly rate for each position. The fully burdened labor rates shall apply for the periods specified. The specific skill mix, levelof effort and location where work is to be performed shall be specified in individual task orders and technical directives. 4. Section B.2. This section provides a table of CLINs, rates, and hours for the first contract year only. How should the offeror show rates and CLINs, etc., for contract years 2 through 4? Response: One pricing table shall be submitted for each 12-month period. An offeror shall propose its prices by filling in the respective fully burdened labor rate and shall propose a fully burdened hourly rate for each position. The pricing table section labeled Other Direct Costs (ODCs) identifies the only ODCs allowable under the resulting contract. The offeror shall include in the price proposal any indirect rates to be applied. The indirect rates proposed are the only allowable costs to be added to the actual ODCs. The following ODCs are permitted in the resulting contract: Travel and Transportation: Allowable travel, as defined in the Joint Travel Regulations, is travel other than that required in commuting to and from the employee's place of employment. Other than local travel can only be claimed when specifically authorized in advance, in writing, by the Contracting Officer or Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), and only up to the amount specified. The Contractor shall be reimbursed for actual transportation costs and travel allowances in accordance with FAR 31.205-46. The USCG will not pay profit on travel expenses. All anticipated travel expenses shall be calculated in conformance with the Joint Travel Regulation current at the time of travel. Material Cost: Items necessary to the performance of the work such as binders, software, presentation materials and the like. Office supplies are considered material for purposes of this RFP provided they are purchased in bulk at a cost greater than $25.00 per month for all items inclusive. The fully burdened labor rates and ODCs shall apply for the periods specified. A table for each contract period is attached. The hours in the pricing tableare used for evaluation purposes only and in no way bind the Government to a specific number of hours. 5. Section B.2. May an offeror propose sub labor categories (within the specified CLINs) with different rates for either (a) subcontractor labor, or (b) specialties within a labor category? Response: No 6. Section B.1 Scope indicates that the life of the contract is four (4) years from the date of award. Section B.2 Pricing of Delivery Orders indicates that the period of performance is Date of Award through September 30, 2004. This contract end date is reflected elsewhere in the solicitation document. Our interpretation is that the fixed date (September 30, 2004) is the intended end date for the contract. Is this a reasonable interpretation of the requirement? Response: Yes 7. Ref. B.2 For labor category positions and CLINs where the estimated man-hours exceed a man-year's equivalent, are all positions in the particular labor category considered to be key or just one position? Response: Yes, all labor categories identified in Section I.12 are considered key personnel. 8. Does the G&A rate proposed in Section B.2, CLIN 0017A cap the G&A for the period of the contract? Response: Yes 9. Section C, paragraph 1.1 references the Deepwater Capabilities Replacement Analysis Project. Is this a subset of the Deepwater Project referenced in Section B.1? Response: They are one and the same. 10. In Section C, Technical Appendix 1: Labor Categories for Professional Engineering Services for the Deepwater Capability Replacement Analysis Project. Is there an option to replace experience for personnel without a degree of any kind? For example, could a labor category that requires a Bachelor's degree and 5 years experience be fulfilled with a person without a degree and 13 years experience in the appropriate fields? Could you please provide some clarification on this? Response: In accordance with the guidelines outlined in Section C, Technical Appendix 1, experience may be substituted for minimum education requirements and education may be substituted for minimum years of experience, unless otherwise noted. Specific field experience is credited as follows: Every one-year of specific field experience equates to one-half year of degree qualifications. Therefore, if a Bachelor's degree were the minimum requirement for a particular labor category, 13 years experience could meet the minimum education and experience requirement, given that all criteria are met. You would have to have 8 years of specific field experience to meet the education requirement and the remaining 5 years would apply to experience. 11. Section C, Appendix 1, describes a Coordinator position. No hours are assigned to this position in Section B. Response: Delete all reference to Coordinator position. There is no requirement for a Coordinator position. 12. Section C, p.14, where can we obtain copies of these references? Response: Copies can be found on the Deepwater homepage and the Department of Transportation homepage. Copies of specifications, standards, and data item descriptions cited may be obtained from the ASSIST database via the internet at http://assist.daps.mil or by submitting a request to the Department of Defense Single Stock Point (DoDSSP), Building 4, Section D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094, Telephone (215) 697-2667/2179, Facsimile (215) 697-1462. 13. Section C, paragraph 1.3.7. Will the US Coast Guard allow submission of contractor personnel who are in terminal leave status (retiring from the Department of Defense approximately 60 days prior to the official date of retirement)? Response: No. 14. Will it be acceptable for employees to have a secret clearance when a task order stipulates it, rather than requiring all employees to have a secret clearance on the contract? Response: Yes. 15. Is there only one Contracting Officer at the address indicated; if not, would you please provide the name of the Contracting Officer for this contract? Response: The Contracting Officer is Ms Ava Morgan. 16. Section H.2. The caption of this section includes implies that it is applicable to key personnel. However, the text applies to both key and non-key personnel for whom PDFs are submitted. Please clarify whether the contract will require all proposed personnel to be assigned to the contract, or just proposed key personnel. Response: Personnel Data Forms (PDFs) are required for all personnel, key and non-key personnel. 17. Section I.7. Employee class "Production Control Clerk" is not a solicitation labor category. Please clarify. Response: Delete reference to Production Control Clerk. It is not a solicitation labor category. 18. Section I.14 invokes the Service Contract act and specifies that Wage Determination No. 94-2103, Revision 19 applies. a. Please provide a copy of this wage determination, as it is essential for pricing and not directly accessible by contractors. b. Please provide a cross-reference as to which solicitation labor categories map to which wage determined categories. Response: 1. Wage determinations are available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Technology Administration, Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161 Phone: (703) 605-6000 or website www.ntis.gov or http://servicecontract.fedworld.gov 2. All categories identified in the Employee Class map to the solicitation labor categories noted, except Production Control Clerk. The Production Control Clerk covers employees falling under Technical Information Specialist; Technical Information Editor; Electronic Graphics/Text Specialist. 19. Section L.3 states that fixed price, time and materials, and labor hour tasks may be issued. However, neither Sections B, H nor Section I provide any information or procedures for issuing fixed price orders. Please clarify. Response: Specific tasks shall be negotiated by individual task orders. The successful contractor shall be requested to submit a proposal(s) based on individual task. The particular contract type shall be identified in the request for proposal. All proposed prices shall be basedon the established labor categories and respective fully burdened hourly rates. 20. Section L.7. Please clarify which materials are or are not included in the 50-page limit for the Volume I Technical Proposal. That is, does the page limit include (a) table of contents? (b) tables, figures, charts, foldouts? (c) PDFs? Note that if the limit includes PDFs, there would be virtually no room left for the rest of the proposal. Response: The total page limitation for the Volume I Technical Proposal is 50 pages. Foldouts are considered part of the page limitation. Offerors are encouraged to present their proposals in as succinct a manner as possible. The Offerors may use foldout pages to present illustrations, diagrams, and matrices. All diagrams should be readable, understandable, and should not require excessive narration in the body of the proposal. The use of foldout pages is limited to, a maximum of 3, of the total number of pages in the proposal submission. The ability of the Offeror to communicate information effectively and concisely is a component of the evaluation. The following items are excluded from the 50-page limitation, but several of these items have individual page limitations:  Personnel Data Forms (Not To Exceed 2 pages each)  All pricing spreadsheets and supporting narrative  Past Performance Reference Information (Not To Exceed 1 page each)  Proposal cover letter(s), title page(s), tables of contents, dividers, acronym lists, and organization charts  The glossary and index (if any are included)  Appendices (if any are included) Note: USCG will NOT evaluate items contained in appendices, if the Offeror includes any. 21. Will Past Performance and Corporate Experience be evaluated for the entire team as a whole or will only the Prime's past performance be considered? Response: The team's past performance and corporate experience will be evaluated. However, the offeror is reminded that it is responsible for and must be judged capable of performing the majority of the work (51%) during the term of the contract. 22. Section L.7 page 76 describes the submission requirements for the Oral Presentation and requires use of Microsoft PowerPoint 97. The description discusses briefing documents and slides. Our interpretation is that the briefing documents refer to the Notes pages included in PowerPoint 97 and that the hardcopy version of the requirement would be satisfied by printing Notes pages with the Slide on the top half of the page and the Notes on the bottom half. Is that a reasonable interpretation of the requirement? Response: Yes 23. Section L.7 page 76 states "Only black and white versions of the briefing are allowed for both the paper copy and slides submitted." Our interpretation is that this requirement does not preclude the use of color in the briefing slides to be presented but implies that when printed in black and white for hardcopy submission that the resulting slides must be legible with no loss of clarity and information. Is this a reasonable interpretation of the requirement? Response: Yes 24. How many hours does the US Coast Guard consider to be a full man-year? Response: Between 1800 and 1900 hours, taking into account vacations, holidays, etc. and individual accounting systems. 25. Item 10 of the PDF is titled "EXPERIENCE ELEMENT." Does "ELEMENT' refer to one or more specific categories contained elsewhere in the solicitation? Response: No. In accordance with the instructions cited in L.5, Item 10. Requires a synopsis of the employee's primary experience that is being detailed in items 11-13. 26. Is it necessary to provide the exact day of employment when listing individual's experience on PDF forms? Response: Yes. 27. Section L.7 (1) Written Component is corrected to read as follows: Written Component. Past Performance/Corporate Experience and Personnel Resources shall address only the requirements for performance of the contract and shall not contain any cost or pricing information. This includes providing information on past performance/corporate experience and personnel resources with respect to the relevance and quantity of such experience to accomplishing the requirements of the Statement of Work. Each page of each copy should contain the following legend: Source Selection Information See FAR 3.104 The experience of mentors, partners, or significant subcontractors may also be provided, but the offeror is reminded that it is responsible for and must be judged capable of performing the majority of the work (51%) during the term of the contract. 28. Section L.7(j), page 79, states "the proposal shall concisely describe the offeror's response to the requirements of the solicitation." Page 80 asks for Past Performance, Personnel Info, & Management Approach. Does the requested information on page 80 satisfy the requirements on page 79? Response: No. The instructions provided in Sections L and M, collectively, satisfy the requirements. L.7 specifies the proposal submission instructions and requirements for proposal content. Section M.2 outlines the evaluation criteria and basis for award. Past performance/corporate experience provides information on how the offeror performed on other contracts, whereas the Management Approach details how the offeror proposes to perform the requirements of this solicitation. Conforming to the requirements of Sections C, L, and M satisfy the evaluation factors identified in the solicitation. 29. Regarding the oral proposal the RFP refers in various parts to both "slides" and "viewgraphs." Confirm that overhead transparencies projected from an overhead projector are not to be used for the oral presentation. Response: Overhead transparencies may be used. 30. Section L.7 requires submission of one original paper copy and one electronic version of the oral presentation "prior to the scheduled presentation." Is this in addition to the copies required with the offeror's proposal? Response: No, this is not in addition to the submission provided with the offeror's proposal. The original paper copy and the electronic version is required with the offeror's proposal. 31. Reference L.7 (b) -- To fulfill the substitute briefer requirement for the Project Manager as stipulated in subject paragraph, it will be necessary to tab someone who is not listed as one of the seven key personnel candidates. How do we identify this person on his PDF form? Is he to be the eight key person and identified as Project Manager (Substitute Briefer)? Response: Reference L.7 (2)(b). The Offeror's presentation team shall consist of no more than six (6) people, one of whom shall be authorized to contractually obligate the company. The individual who presents the oral proposal must be an employee of the company, preferably the proposed Project Manager, not a paid briefer, and his/her PDF must also have been included with the key personnel identified in I.12. Should a last minute substitution of the briefer occur, the individual who substitutes must be at the same or higher level in the company or his/her PDF must also have been included with the key personnel. 32. Is there an incumbent contractor performing this work now? Response: No. Various contracting vehicles have been utilized to fulfill the Deepwater Project requirements interagency agreements/MIPRs and GSA orders. 33. General. What percentage of the work will be conducted on-site at the USCG facility versus the contractor site? If work is to be conducted at Government facilities, please specify (a) how many staff, and (b) in which labor categories. Their are no instructions in Section L (volume I format) or Evaluation Criteria in Section M which provides guidance and a basis for the Government to evaluate. Response: Due to limited workspace, work shall be performed at the Contractor site. 34. Offerors should make copies of the Labor Table for each period of performance. Period Of Performance: YEAR 1 (October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001) Period Of Performance: YEAR 2 (October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002) Period Of Performance: YEAR 3 (October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003) Period Of Performance: YEAR 4 (October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004) See Note 1. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contracting Officer via, amorgan@comdt.uscg.mil. Posted 07/07/00 (W-SN472615).

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