Appropriations Law Training

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Question 1: What is the anticipated course length of each course offering (session)? Answer 1:The Government requires the course to be three (3) days in length. Please see revised PWS. Question 2: How do you want the proposal submitted, electronically, or if paper, what address? Answer 2:Per paragraph 2 of the synopsis, the proposals shall be submitted electronically via email to Candace.I.Johnson@nga.mil Question 3:The instructions state that the electronic proposal cannot exceed 3MB. The solicitation is 8MB and contains several provisions and clauses that the offeror must fill in (e.g., 52.212-3, 52.209-5, 252-212-7000, etc.). The instructions allow for subdividing the proposal into 2 submissions, but if the solicitation must be filled in and sent, more than 2 submissions would be necessary to comply with the 3MB limit. Please clarify how offerors should submit those sections of the RFP that must be filled in by the offerors. Answer 3:Participants are required to register in ORCA prior to award as stated in the Instructions to Offerors section of the synopsis. Once registered on ORCA, the Reps and Certs can be printed by the Government thus not requiring the offeror to submit this information in a PDF format with their proposal. Exceeding the 3MB file size restriction will cause your proposal to be refused by our email system. Late proposal will not be accepted. Question 4: Since class size can range from the minimum of 12 to the maximum of 20, to ensure that proposals are evaluated on the same basis, please indicate which number of students upon which the price should be based (e.g., up to 20). Answer 4:This contract will be a firm-fixed price contract based on the price per CLASS. It is up to the offeror to take into account the number of participants as well as the cost of required course material to formulate their best offer. Please note that the government will pay the agreed upon fixed price, without adjustment, as long as the number of participants fall within the stated range. Question 5:This paragraph requires that each student receive volumes 1-3 of GAO's Principles of Federal Appropriations Law, plus the update (1210 double sided pages). This will add approximately $150 to the per student cost. Would you consider reducing the content requirement? Answer 5:The course content, as stated in the PWS, is the requirement of the government. At this time, we will be unable to consider a reduction in the required course content. Question 6:Can the instructor bring the hard-copy materials to the training location on the day of class or is it mandatory that the materials be shipped? Answer 6:Course materials are required to be shipped in advance due to the security requirements of our facility. The instructor may NOT bring hard-copy materials to the training location on the day of class; this includes both student materials and instructor lesson plans. The course manager must have the materials on hand in plenty of time to make sure that he/she gets them to the right classroom the day before or the morning of the class. As a reminder, no removable media is allowed to be brought into the building. All PowerPoint presentations must be sent to the course/program manager, who will be able to host them on a projection system. Question 7:Most FAL courses offered today cover material presented in the GAO RedBook, Vol I and II, thru chapter 9. How much and to what degree do you want material contained in Vol III covered in the course, if at all? Answer 7:At a minimum, the offeror shall cover the content noted in section 7.0 Course Objectives. Offerors are free to include additional information in the course content to ensure the three (3) days are full of appropriate course material and the required objectives are covered. Question 8:May a CD version of the RedBooks, with applicable study guides, be substituted in lieu of hard copies of Volumes I thru III? Answer 8:No, CD versions of the RedBook are NOT able to be substituted in place of the hard-copy volumes due to security reasons. Offerors proposing CD versions will be found technically unacceptable and thus disqualified from the competition. Question 9: Is there an incumbent who has delivered this training in the past? Answer 9: You may file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for this information. Question 10: Is the development cost of the course to meet the requirements expected to be priced in the base year or spread over the base and the 4 option years and considered as price per course? Answer 10: The government is requesting a commercial off the self course thus minimizing the need for course development. Per section 3.2 of the PWS, the government is requiring at least one case study included in the course at no additional cost. It is up to the offeror to ensure their course meets the minimum requirement of the government and all associated cost included in their proposed price. Question 11: Since we are to use an estimate of somewhere between 12-20 students per course, the price associated with production of materials, shipping, and the purchase of the Red Book and the update will vary between proposals, is this cost to be a part of the price per course? To save the Government money, should there be a separate CLIN for cost reimbursable materials and other direct cost? Answer 11: per section 7, 2-Price of the Instructions for submission of Offers and Other Information, "Vendors are required to provide a unit price for each course that includes all course material as specified in the PWS as well as a total Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) price." At this time, we will be unable to consider a change in the CLIN structure or the course pricing. Question 12: Proposal cannot exceed 30 pages per volume. Section 3.3 of revised requirements states, "contractor shall submit sample course materials with the proposal to this solicitation." Is the sample course materials part of the 30 pages per volume? Answer 12: The sample course material may be an attachment that is not included in the page requirement for the technical volume. Question 13: Attachment 2 Quality Assurance Surveillance plan (QASP) in section 3.2 instructor qualifications, states, "Subject matter expertise in Appropriations Law as defined in the FAR." Can you reference the section of FAR that defines subject matter expertise in Appropriations Law? Answer 13: This was an oversight on the part of the government, please disregard this reference as it is not defined in the FAR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Instructions for the submissions of Offers and Other Information: 1. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 and 13, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-51. 2. All responsible sources may submit a proposal in response to this Request for Proposal (RFP). The closing date for receipt of proposals is July 14, 2011 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).All responses to this RFP, questions/comments shall be submitted via email to Candace I. Johnson (Candace.I.Johnson@nga.mil). No telephone responses will be accepted. LATE OFFERS: Offerors are reminded that e-mail transmissions of a proposal/offer after closing date and time will not constitute a timely submission and WILL NOT be accepted. Questions shall be submitted by July 7, 2011, 12:00 pm EST.Answers will be submitted in an amendment via the Government Point of Entry, the Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO.gov). a. Performance Work Statement: See attachment 1 3. Multiple Training Locations: NGA East Washington, DC Metropolitan area NGA West St. Louis, MO. Metropolitan area NOTE: A submission larger than 3MB cannot be received. If submissions are larger than 3MB offeror's may do so in two submissions. 4. The Government anticipates awarding a 12 month base (plus four (4) option years) Firm-Fixed-Price contract to an offeror whose proposal represents the best value to the Government. 5. Proposals. The Government will review and evaluate each proposal for best value. All proposals will be screened for compliance with RFP instructions and to ensure proposals are from a responsible source. a. The Government intends to evaluate responses and award an order without discussions. Therefore the responses to the RFP should contain the offeror's best offer. The Government reserves the right to hold discussions if the Contracting Officer determines that it's in the Government's best interest. If award will be made without discussions, offerors may be given the opportunity to clarify certain aspects of proposals or resolve minor or clerical errors. b. The offeror must meet the general standards for a responsible prospective contractor as set forth in FAR 9.104-1(General standards) in order to be considered for award. c. All offerors must be registered as a small business in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) http://www.ccr.gov and in the Online Representations and Certification Application (ORCA) https://orca.bpn.gov/ with the specified NAICS code prior to the solicitation close date to be considered a responsive offeror. 6. Instructions for the submissions of Offers. To aid in evaluation, it is desired that each proposal volume follow the same general format. All proposals shall contain a Title Page, a Table of Contents, and a cross-reference matrix of the proposal to the respective Performance Work Statement requirements and to the respective evaluation criteria. No volume shall exceed 30 pages including: illustrations, charts and title pages, table of contents, indices, and glossaries. Page size shall not exceed 8.5x11. Type shall be font size 12pt, Times New Roman. All proposal submissions shall be marked UNCLASSIFIED. 7. Proposal Requirements: All offerors competing for award are required to provide the quote information specified in this RFP, for evaluation. The proposal shall be prepared and submitted in two separate volumes as follows: 1- Technical: The technical approach shall include information/documentation regarding the items quoted in sufficient detail to clearly identify the offeror's understanding and qualifications to accomplish the required work in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). Also included in this volume is Past Performance information, including a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of ten (10) federal government references. Please include contract numbers and government points of contact, including names and current contact information. Also, include any reports from the government and/or other evidence of performance. In addition, the technical volume must include Personnel Requirements including resumes, and a narrative which demonstrates that the offeror understands the requirement and shows the offeror's overall qualifications to accomplish the required work. 2- Price In the price volume, the offeror must include a statement that it either (a) agrees to the terms and conditions of this RFP or (b) it takes exceptions to any terms and conditions of the RFP, and clearly identifies those exceptions. Objections to any of the terms and conditions of this RFP may be considered by the Government to be unacceptable. This section must contain a statement that Offeror's acceptance period is valid for 90 calendar days for the date of receipt by the Government In addition, the price volume of the proposal shall include any supporting information needed to understand the basis for pricing the offer. The Government may reject any proposal, which is materially unbalanced as to prices. An unbalanced proposal is one which is based on prices significantly less for some work and prices which are significantly overstated for other work. An offeror's proposal is presumed to represent best efforts to respond to the RFP. Any inconsistency between promised performance and price should be explained in the price volume of the proposal. Vendors are required to provide a unit price for each course that includes all course material as specified in the PWS as well as a total Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) price. 8. Basis for Award: The Government will evaluate the offeror's ability to address all aspects of the PWS, dated 18 May 2011. The Government will make award to the offeror(s) whose proposal conforms to the RFP and represents the best value to the Government based on the evaluation criteria set forth in attachment 4.