Local Guard Services at U.S. Embassy Panama City

SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE OVERVIEW: The Department of State is conducting market research to determine the degree of interest and capability of American small businesses only in providing local guard services to U.S. Embassy Panama City, Panama. The Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security plays an essential role in ensuring that foreign policy missions are accomplished in a safe and secure environment. The primary mission of the local guard services is to provide protection for U.S. personnel, facilities and equipment from damage or loss due to violent attack and theft. The local guards act as an early warning signal to the American Consulate and the RSO. The contractor shall be required to control access to the facilities; protect human life; maintain order, and resist criminal attacks against mission personnel, visitors, and family dependents. The Contractor shall be responsible for responding to intruder alerts by notifying the RSO and following the procedures identified in the General Post Orders and individual Post Orders. The Contractor shall maintain a sufficient number of trained and qualified personnel in order to meet the required hours of operation for each post The contractor may be required to provide Additional or Emergency Services (A&E) that may stem from such things as a Very Important Person (VIP) visitor, information indicating a possible terrorist attack, or change in threat environment. These changes form the basis for on-going analysis and review of the structure and location of posts as well as the level of security in effect. Surveillance Detection Operations are discreet and are not to be considered as a replacement for on going efforts by others such as members of the Local Guard Force; they will only supplement activities already in place. Surveillance detection operations are intended to be an early warning mechanism to detect rather than protect. Since coordination and cooperation with host country police and/or security forces will be required, it will be essential for the Contractor to recognize any political sensitivity that may arise in the performance of these operations. The Contractor shall be able to adapt the program to accomplish its objectives while easing any concerns by either the Mission or the host country. The major duties of a Surveillance Detection Specialist include identifying and immediately reporting suspected surveillance of personnel and facilities, providing protective surveillance of U.S. personnel as directed by the Regional Security Officer (RSO) in his/her capacity as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), and assisting the RSO in route planning and analysis. The U.S. Government will provide the initial Surveillance Detection Training to SD personnel. Thereafter, the Contractor is responsible for providing initial training to new employees as well as conducting SD annual refresher training. PLANNED ACQUISITION: The Government will solicit this requirement using acquisition procedures outlined in FAR Part 15. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code for this procurement is 561612, Security Guards and Patrol Services, and the small business size standard is $18,500,000 in average annual receipts. The Government plans to award one for these services. The anticipated period of performance is a base year consisting of 12 months of full performance and four one-year options, which shall be exercised at the sole discretion of the Government. The estimated number of annual hours of Local Guard Services and Surveillance Detection (SD) operations to be conducted as follows: Labor Category - Hours Supervisory - 8,760 Senior Guard - 17,520 Guard - 114,596 Guard/Driver - 35,040 SD Supervisor - 4,160 SD Specialist - 6,240 Total - 186,316 Under the Surveillance Detection the Contractor will be required to provide all necessary equipment and supplies (i.e., vehicle, cell phones, desks, file cabinets, computer(s), printer(s), digital cameras, binoculars, log books, file folders, administrative supplies, etc.) as well as a SD Command Center located within country. No subcontracting is allowed under this prospective contract. All Contractor personnel, regardless of nationality, will be required to pass a background investigation conducted by the Contractor, including checks on employment history, criminal record, residence, and credit. Additionally for employees who will operate vehicles in performance of these services, the individual's driving record will also be reviewed. The U.S. Government will certify suitability of all Contractor personnel for employment under this contract. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING RESPONSE TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE: Responses to this Sources Sought Notice must clearly demonstrate capabilities through examples of previous and/or current guard security service contracts or experience closely related thereto. All interested parties shall submit their response to this Sources Sought Notice to include a completed Contractor/Vendor Information Sheet (see attachment) via e-mail by 4:00 pm EST, April 1, 2011. The response should not exceed 25 pages in length including charts, graphs, pictures, etc., and the submission shall be in no less than a 12 font; Times New Roman; and 1 inch margins on all sides. All documentation covers shall clearly identify the name of country (Panama), Contractor's name, email address, mailing address, Point of Contact and both telephone and cell number. If you have any questions or comments about the Sources Sought Notice, you may contact Bonnie Allen at allenbj@state.gov. The preferred method for asking question(s) or submitting comments is by written correspondence via e-mail Please reference this Sources Sought Notice when emailing correspondence to the U.S. Department of State. Contractor's responses to this Sources Sought Notice shall be in the format shown below: Cover Letter Brief Introduction Company Overview Responses Required (see numbered sections below) 1) Knowledge and Abilities Required of Contractor 2) Past Performance and Experience 3) Company Resources Summary Remarks The failure of the Contractor to provide the required information and/or the failure of the Contractor to submit the required information in required format could possibly result in the U.S. Government not reviewing and evaluating the information submitted. 1) KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES REQUIRED OF CONTRACTOR: Please discuss the following: Knowledge of and compliance with host country labor law which may require bonuses, specific minimum wage levels, premium pay for holidays, payments for social security, pensions, severance pay, sick or health benefits, childcare or any other benefit. Knowledge of and compliance with all host country tax laws. Ability to obtain all pertinent permits, licenses, and work authorizations in compliance with host country law required for the execution of work. Ability to provide all types of insurance coverage required by host country in performance of services, such as automobile liability, comprehensive general liability, worker's compensation, employer's liability, etc. 2) PAST PERFORMANCE AND EXPERIENCE: The Contractor shall provide a list of all contracts and subcontracts which the Contractor has held over the past three years for the same or similar work. If Contractor has performed on more than five (5) contracts for the same or similar work during past three years, the Contractor shall provide all the information shown below for the 5 largest dollar value or most similar contracts and only the information required below by items 1, 2 and 3 for all remaining contracts. If the Contractor has no performance history or relevant experience, the Contractor shall provide a list of references where the key personnel and management worked on similar contracts. Specific information required for each contract and subcontract: (1) Customer's name, address, and telephone numbers of customer's lead contract and technical personnel; (2) Contract number and type; (3) Date of the contract, place(s) of performance, and delivery dates or period of performance; (4) Contract size (number of personnel employed by contract year per labor category) and dollar value; (5) Brief description of the work, including responsibilities; (6) Comparability to the work required under this solicitation; (7) Brief discussion of any technical problems and their resolutions; (8) Brief discussion of any terminations (partial or complete) and the type (convenience or default) as well as any deficiencies notices, show cause notices or cure notices (provide explanatory details); and (9) Listing of deductions taken under any listed contracts, with explanatory details and resolution. 3) COMPANY RESOURCES: Please discuss how your firm would plan to expand operations and how financial resources would be utilized to include this proposed effort. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES: This notice does not obligate the U.S. Department of State to award a contract nor does it bind the U.S. Department of State to any agreement with the responders, be it explicit or implied. The Government reserves the right to use the information provided by the respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any Contractor responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine that the Contractor has a firm understanding of the basic requirements as well as the capability to perform the required services. Respondents are furthermore advised that the U.S. Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to the information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in FedBizOpps. It should also be noted that a response to this notice will not be considered an adequate or acceptable response to a solicitation for surveillance detection services in Panama City, Panama. Prior to the solicitation being issued, the U.S. Government may elect to hold discussions with one or more of the Contractors submitting a response to this Sources Sought Notice. GENERAL INFORMATION ON GUARD SOLICITATIONS AND CONTRACTS: Thank you for your interest in providing Local Guard Services to the U.S. Department of State. The below information is provided about the local guard contracts for your reference. Please contact the Contract Specialist (stated above in the Sources Sought Notice) with any questions about the local guard program. All local guard solicitations are posted on FedBizOpps (www.fbo.gov). You are encouraged to review other recently posted local guard solicitations to familiarize yourself with the contract format, terms, and conditions. Some recently posted solicitations are: - SAQMMA09R0282, Kampala, Uganda (AF) - SAQMMA10R0221, Luxembourg, Luxembourg (EUR) - SAQMMA09R0042, Gaborone, Botswana (AF) - SAQMMA10R0214, Kingston, Jamaica The following sections of the solicitation are particularly important for familiarization: o Section C - Performance Work Statement (provides purpose, objectives, mission, specific tasks) o Section H - Special Contract Requirements (includes approval and acceptance of Contractor Employees, training requirements, key personnel requirements, licensing and insurance requirements) o Exhibit A - Guard Posts and Schedule of Guard Coverage (provides number of guards and schedule required by contract, as well as labor category designation) o Exhibit C - Quality Assurance and Surveillance Plan (shows how Government will monitor Contractor performance and how deductions are taken for unacceptable performance) o Exhibit D - Contractor Furnished Property (displays list of property to be furnished by Contractor) STANDARD ACQUISITION TIME LINE: The Government plans to issue a solicitation for this requirement within the next 90 days, and the solicitation will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website (i.e., https://www.fbo.gov). No paper copies of the solicitation will be mailed to prospective offerors, and all announcements and amendments made to this solicitation will be posted to FedBizOpps. The synopsis will be posted for approximately fifteen (15) days. Then the solicitation will be posted and the Question and Answer (Q&A) period begins. The solicitation will be open for sixty (60) days and proposals must be received by close of the sixty (60) day submission period with award to be made approximately forty-five (45) to sixty (60) days after proposal submission. All dates are subject to change. A site visit at the U.S. Embassy is tentatively scheduled to take place approximately thirty (30) days after the solicitation opens and a firm date will be announced at the time the solicitation is posted. Offerors are responsible for all travel arrangements, local transportation, and accommodations. Due to space limitations, only two representatives from each firm will be allowed to attend the site visit. CONTRACT TYPE AND GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION: Type of Contract: The type of contract will be a Time-and-Materials (T&M) contract as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.601. The contract will also include firm-fixed price and cost-reimbursement components. Hourly Rates: Fixed Hourly Rates - The fixed hourly rates for Standard Services as well as Additional or Emergency Services are fully burdened rates and shall include all wages (local labor law compliance if applicable and any premiums relating to overtime, holidays, or night shifts), overhead, fringe benefits, severance costs, general and administrative expenses and profit for each category of labor. Since the prices are fixed at the time of award for the period of the contract (i.e., base year plus option periods), they will only be adjusted in accordance with DOSAR 652.216-71 Price Adjustment (AUG 1999) which states the following: The contract price may be increased or decreased in actual costs of direct service labor. The changes result from laws enacted and effective during the term of this contract by the host Government. Direct service labor costs include only the costs of wages and direct benefits (such as social security, health insurance, unemployment compensation insurance) paid to or incurred for the direct benefit of personnel performing services under one of the categories listed in Section B (Supplies or Services and Prices) of the contract. Price adjustments will include only changes in direct service labor costs incurred in order to comply with the requirements of law. No adjustment will be made under this clause with respect to labor costs of personnel not performing direct service labor under the categories of Section B, or for overhead, profit, general and administrative (G&A) costs, taxes or any other costs whatsoever. Information about 22USC4864(c) (3) as it pertains to the award of local guard contracts: In accordance with 22USC4864(c)(3), the State Department is required to award guard service contracts to the technically acceptable firm offering the lowest evaluated price, except that proposals of United States persons and qualified United States joint venture persons (as defined in subsection (d) of this section) shall be evaluated by reducing the bid price by 10 percent. Section 136 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, Public Law 101-246 (22 U.S.C. 4864), as amended, provides that a "United States person" or a "qualified United States joint venture" must meet certain requirements, listed in the Act, to be eligible for the statutory preference. Therefore, any solicitation released for guard services is subject to Section 136 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 4864). Each solicitation and contract for guard services includes DOSAR 652.237-73 Statement of Qualifications For Preference As A U.S. Person (APR 2004) as well as a requirement for the Contractor to complete a certification (Statement Of Qualifications For Purposes Of Obtaining Preference As A U.S. Person (22 U.S.C. 4864) if the Contractor is requesting eligibility for the statutory preference. (See Attachment)