Vertical Transport Equipment

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, Streamlined Procedures as supplemented with FAR 13.1 and 13.5 and 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 is Request for Proposal numbered FA2823-15-R-6009 for Vertical Transportation Equipment Services (VTE) at Eglin AFB, FL. This is a 100% Total Small Business Set-Aside only acquisition. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 238290, with small business size standard of $15M. Please identify your business size in your response based upon this standard. Prospective offerors must be registered on the System for Award Management (SAM) website at www.sam.gov to be eligible. Please provide DUNS and/or Cage Code and description of your company's delivery terms and any charges for shipping on the response to this Request for Proposal. Offerors are advised to include a completed copy of provision 52.212-3, Offer Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items and provision 252.209-7999, Representation by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under and Federal Law, with their offer. Evaluation will be based on Trade-Off Procedures. In accordance with the FAR Subpart 13.106-1(a)(2) offerors are notified that the award will be made to the offer that provides the best value to the Government after consideration of technical, price, and delivery aspects of the offer. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 1 October 2015 through 30 September 2016 for the base period and three (3) one-year options from 1 October 2016 through 30 September 2019. CLIN STRUCTURE: See Attachment 2 - Bid Schedule Questions and requests for clarifications regarding this Request for Proposal are due no later than 3:00 PM CST on 2 June 2015. Responses to questions and requests for clarifications will be posted as an amendment to this solicitation no later than 3:00 PM CST on 4 June 2015. Responses to the Request for Proposal must be received no later than 3:00 PM CST on 19 June 2015. Respondents shall include a Point of Contact (POC) in include name, position, telephone number, and email address. Please forward any questions and responses to Anquanette Figueroa at 850-882-9120 or anquanette.figueroa@us.af.mil. Email is preferred. Faxes are not accepted. Mailing Address is: AFTC/PZIOC (OL-EGLIN) 308 West D Ave., Bldg. 260, Ste. 130 Eglin AFB, FL 32542-5418 Each person requesting a base pass must provide a completed Attachment 3 - Request for Base Access Memo and Attachment 4 - Affidavit to this office (AFTC/PZIOC) no later than 4 business days prior to the date that base access is needed. Criminal background checks will be conducted from the information given on the Affidavit. The Request for Base Access Memo and Affidavit are Attachments 3 and 4 of this Request for Quotation. Completed documents shall be sent to anquanette.figueroa@us.af.mil or cynthia.smith.19@us.af.mil, for request of base passes. When reporting to the Ease Gate (Valparaiso) Visitor's Center, the authorized contractor individual(s) should provide a valid driver's license, current vehicle registration, valid vehicle insurance certificate and social security card to obtain a vehicle pass. Wage Determination 2005-3033, Revision 15, dated 30 December 2014 will be incorporated in the contract. All contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov in order to be eligible for contract award. Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items. a. PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS 1. To assure timely and equitable evaluation of proposals, Offerors must follow the instructions contained herein. Offerors are required to meet the Request for Proposal (RFP) requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and requirements as defined in the Performance Work Statement. Failure to meet a requirement may result in an offer being ineligible for award. Offerors must clearly identify any exception to the RFP terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale. The response shall consist of three (3) separate parts; Volume I - Price Proposal, Volume II - Past Performance Information, and Volume III - Past Performance References and accompanying completed Past Performance Questionnaires. For all volumes you must submit an original and two (2) hard paper copies and also place all volumes on a Compact Disc (CD). Offerors are cautioned to follow the detailed instructions fully and carefully, as the Government intends to make an award based on the initial offers received, without discussion of such offers. In proposal volumes, follow the quantity and page limits as follows: Volume Copies Page Limits Volume I - Price Proposal Original + (2) copies No page limit Volume II - Past Performance Information Original + (2) copies 10 pages Volume III - Past Performance References Original + (2) copies No page limit (Attachment 5) Completed Past Performance Original + (2) copies No page limit Questionnaires (Attachment 6) NOTE 1. Provide the form at Attachment 5 of not more than five (5) references of the most relevant contracts performed for federal agencies and commercial customers within the last three (3) years as part of Volume III. If the Offeror is a Joint Venture, in addition to the five (5) references for the prime, the Offeror may provide up to five (5) additional references for the Joint Venture. In addition, the Offeror is responsible for providing the Government the completed Attachment 6 questionnaires provided back to the Offeror by their references as part of Volume III. NOTE 2. Joint venture - Concerns submitting offers on a particular acquisition as joint ventures are considered as affiliated and controlling or having the power to control each other with regard to performance of the contract. i.e. Joint profit, for which purpose they combine their efforts, property, money, skill, or knowledge, but not on a continuing or permanent basis for conducting business generally. Joint Ventures are characterized as two or more business entities that have been merged to create one business entity with equal responsibility during the course of the contract. Will have a single Cage Code identified by SBA-joining the two companies. 2. Proposal Organization: The paper files will be checked to determine the number of pages and compliance with proposal instructions. Those pages in excess of the limit of Volume II will be removed from the back and returned by the PCO to ensure they are not evaluated. The Government will not keep any pages in excess of the limit. If Evaluation Notices (EN's) are required, page limits may be placed on any responses. Any page limits for responses to ENs will be identified in the letter forwarding the ENs to you. Excess pages submitted in response to EN's will be removed in the same manner as above by the PCO. 3. Format for all proposal Volumes shall be as follows: a. Proposals shall be neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and assembled in an orderly manner. b. Page Set-Up/Font Size/Lines on Page: Only 8 - x 11 inch, portrait format pages are acceptable for text-oriented material. Landscape (8 - x 11 inch) pages are permitted for charts or graphs. Foldout pages are limited to 11 x 17 inch and may be portrait or landscape (limit 5). Text shall be written in full text. Text font shall be Times New Roman (No "narrow" font versions acceptable). Font size shall be 12 point with proportional spacing permitted. Type size for figures and tables must be no smaller than 8-point with proportional spacing permitted. Text may be wrapped around figures and tables. Margins on all four (4) edges of each page shall be at least 1 inch. Include: RFP number, Volume and/or subdirectory title and page number in the margin on the upper right of all pages. Single spacing may be used for figures and tables. Company name and proprietary information notices shall be placed on top and/or bottom margins. Use single column formatting only; multi-column formatting is not allowed. Graphics are allowed in either color or black and white with an 8-point minimum on embedded text except where data is only being used as a sample and readability is not intended. Proposals shall not be supplemented by a package or supplemented by reference documents. Elaborate formats, bindings or color presentations are not desired or required. c. Page Definition: A page is defined as one face of a sheet of paper containing information. d Page Numbering: Pages in each volume must be numbered sequentially and consecutively. The cover page, table of contents, list(s) of tables and drawings, and blank pages are excluded from the page count. e. Text and graphics portions of the electronic copies shall be in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Word 2003 or higher or Adobe PDF. Data submitted in spreadsheet format shall be readable by MS Excel 2003 or higher. In case of conflict between the paper copy and the electronic copy of the proposals submitted, the paper copy shall take precedence. Offerors are cautioned to follow the detailed instructions fully and carefully, as the Government intends to make an award based on the initial offers received, without discussion of such offers. f. It is preferred that the volumes are not submitted in hard cover binders or spiral bound. 4. Specific Instructions for Volume I - PRICE PROPOSAL a. Insert proposed prices on the bid schedule (Attachment 2) for the base period, option periods one (1), two (2), three (3), and a price for an optional six (6) month extension with a combined total price of the base period, three (3) option periods, and optional six (6) month extension. A breakout of the real property locations for the Vertical Transport Equipment (VTE) can be found in Appendix B of the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Attachment 1). b. The Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) has determined there is a high probability of adequate price competition in this acquisition. Upon examination of the initial offers, the Contracting Officer will review this determination and if, in the Contracting Officer's opinion, adequate price competition exists no additional cost information will be requested and certification under FAR 15.406-2 will not be required. However, if at any time during this competition the PCO determines that adequate price competition no longer exists, offerors may be required to submit information to the extent necessary for the PCO to determine the reasonableness and affordability of the Price. In accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b) and 15.403-3(a), data other than cost or pricing data may be required to support price reasonableness. Data shall be provided in accordance with FAR 15.403-5. If, after receipt of proposals, the PCO determines that there is insufficient information available to determine price reasonableness and none of the exceptions in FAR 15.403-1 apply, the Offeror shall be required to submit certified cost or pricing data. 5. Specific Instructions for Volume II - PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION Only information for recent contracts that meet the definitions of Somewhat Relevant, Relevant or Very Relevant in Table 1 below are desired. Provide any information available (i.e. descriptive language, letters, metrics, customer surveys, independent surveys, etc.) which demonstrates customer satisfaction with overall job performance and quality of completed projects for same or similar type contracts completed within the last three years as well as current projects nearing completion. In addition, explain corrective actions taken in the past, if any, for substandard performance and any current performance problems such as missed refuse pickups. Provide comments regarding any known performance deemed unacceptable to the customer or not in accordance with the contract terms and conditions. If applicable, provide a letter from all subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement, consenting to the release of their Past Performance information to the prime Offeror. For the purpose of this RFP, the following definitions apply: a. Recent contracts are ongoing contracts with a performance history and contracts completed within three (3) years from the issue date of this RFP. b. Relevancy definitions are provided in Table 1.0 below: Table 1.0 Past Performance Relevancy Definitions Very Relevant Present/Past Performance effort involved essentially the same scope and magnitude (efforts with Total Contract Value greater than or equal to $1M) of effort and complexities this solicitation requires. Relevant Present/Past Performance effort involved similar scope and magnitude (efforts with Total Contract Value greater than $500K and less than $1M) of effort and complexities this solicitation requires. Somewhat Relevant Present/Past Performance effort involved some of the scope and magnitude (efforts with Total Contract Value greater than $250K and less than $500K) of effort and complexities this solicitation requires. Not Relevant Present/Past Performance effort involved little or none of the scope and magnitude (efforts with Total Contract Value less than $250K) of effort and complexities this solicitation requires. 6. Specific Instructions for Volume III - PAST PERFORMANCE REFERENCES a. Only references for same or similar type contracts are desired. b. The Government will evaluate the quality and extent of Offeror's performance deemed recent and relevant to the requirements of this RFP. The Government will use information submitted by the Offeror on the Attachment 5 and Attachment 6 forms, the Past Performance Proposal, and other sources such as other Federal Government offices and commercial sources, to assess performance. The Government may also use other information available that is determined relevant to this effort, such as, but not limited to, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). c. Joint Venture: If the Offeror intends to fulfill the requirements of this RFP in a teaming arrangement or joint venture, the Offeror must provide complete information as to the arrangement, including a list of any relevant and recent past/present performance information on previous joint ventures with the same joint venture partner (NOTE: Arrangement is not counted as part of the page count). If this is a first-time joint effort, each party to the arrangement must provide a list of past and present contracts. 7. Additional Instructions a. Deviations. Deviations from these instructions will be reviewed by the Contracting Officer to ensure that no Offeror receives a competitive advantage. Deviations resulting in a competitive advantage for an Offeror will result in the proposal being determined noncompliant with the RFP requirements. Offerors unconditionally assume the risk that a clear quantitative deviation will be deemed qualitatively advantageous to the Offeror and determined noncompliant with the RFP. b. Disposition of Unsuccessful Proposals. The Government will retain one copy of all unsuccessful proposals. Unless the Offeror requires otherwise, the Government will destroy extra copies of unsuccessful proposals. c. Proposal Delivery. Anticipate a three (3) to five (5) day lead time for Security Forces to process the documents and conduct the required background check. To get base access in time to submit proposal by due date of 1 June 2015 base access forms MUST be submitted no later than 12:00 PM CST on 25 May 2015. For base access see para 7d. Offerors are advised that delays can be experienced entering the installation when proposals are hand carried to the base. See below instructions for specific requirements to access the installation. In addition to the specific instructions below; vehicle registration, proof of insurance and proper identification are required to enter the installation. Proposals must be either hand delivered or mailed to arrive at the following address by the required dates: AFTC/PZIOC ATTN: ANQUANETTE FIGUEROA 308 WEST D AVENUE, BUILDING 260, SUITE 130 EGLIN AFB FL 32542 Hand carried proposals must be submitted to Building 260, Room 130, Eglin AFB, FL. Please call the Contract Specialist or Contracting Officer to notify once your delivery is made. All Offerors' proposals must then be date/time stamped listed on the proposal envelope/package by the Contract Specialist or Contracting Officer. Outside the front door of the Contracting Office, Suite 130 is a table that contains all of the telephone numbers of personnel in Operational Contracting. The envelope used in submitting your proposal must be plainly marked with the RFP number, and the date and local time set for proposal closing. NOTE) It is imperative that an Offeror intending to deliver their proposal by commercial carrier, e.g. Federal Express, DHL, UPS, etc., insure that the outer envelope of the commercial carrier's package identifies the contents as a proposal. This outer package must clearly show the RFP number and the date and local time set for proposal closing. d. BASE ACCESS FOR SITE VISIT AND PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: If requesting base access, the Offeror must submit a completed Eglin AFB Form 90 (Attachment 4) and a written request, i.e. Memorandum (Template-Attachment 3) on company letterhead to the Contract Specialist (anquanette.figueroa@us.af.mil) and the Contracting Officer (cynthia.smith.19@us.af.mil) listing the following: the RFP number FA2823-15-R-6009, date of entrance, complete name and SSN/Date of Birth /Driver's License #/State of employee needing access to the base. Please note that anybody modifications or tattoos must be described on the affidavit, along with the location of the body modification or tattoo. The written request must specify the individual authorized to sign for a request for base identification credentials or temporary pass. The Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist will endorse the pass request memorandum and then send it with the affidavit to Security Forces for processing. To gain base access in time for the site visit the Offeror must submit base access forms no later than 12:00 PM Central Standard Time (CST) to this office (AFTC/PZIOC) no later than seven (7) business days prior to the date base access is needed for Security Forces to process the documents and conduct the required background checks. Criminal background checks will be conducted from the information given on the Affidavit. Access on both forms should only be for Eglin AFB North Gate on 27 May 2015 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Please do not alter the location or the date/time on the Memorandum Template (Attachment D) for base access in order to attend the site visit; access will be limited to the aforementioned times only. *Please make sure that the above location and date/time are on the affidavit(s) submitted. When reporting to the visitor's center to pick up the pass, the authorized individual(s) should provide a valid photo ID in order to obtain the temporary pass. Offerors are notified that they should not expect to get on base with a retired military or dependent ID card; Security Forces does not allow the use of these cards when contractors are doing business on the base. e. Site Visit: The site visit will be held on Wednesday, 27 May 2015 at 8:00 AM. Offerors will go to the Eglin AFB East Gate Visitor's Center (Valparaiso) at least a half hour before to pick up base access passes. Offerors will meet at the Eglin North Gate at 7:30 AM CST. Offerors will pick up passes at the East Gate Visitor's Center (Valparaiso) and drive through the base to get to the North Gate, see Attachment E for driving directions. f. Electronic Reference Documents. All referenced documents for this RFP are available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website at http://www.fedbizopps.gov. Potential Offerors are encouraged to subscribe for real-time email notifications when information has been posted to the website for this RFP. g. Formal Communications: Offerors shall submit formal communications such as questions, requests for clarifications, and/or information concerning this RFP, in writing (email is considered the recommended method) to the following address NO LATER THAN TEN (10) CALENDAR DAYS PRIOR TO THE PROPOSAL DUE DATE to allow processing an amendment to the RFP with the Offeror's questions and answers. ATTN: ANQUANETTE FIGUEROA 308 WEST D AVENUE, BUILDING 260, SUITE 130 EGLIN AFB FL 32542 Email: anquanette.figueroa@us.af.mil 8. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAR 52.212-1 - INSTRUCTIONS / ADDENDUM AND EVALUATION - COMMERCIAL ITEMS Your attention is directed to the functional relationship between FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offeror - Commercial Items and its Addendum above and Evaluation - Commercial Items below of this RFP. FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offeror - Commercial Items and its Addendum provides information for the purpose of organizing the proposal and is not intended to be all-inclusive. Evaluation - Commercial Items describes evaluation factors for award, to include the evaluation procedures for responsiveness to the RFP, ranking of the Price proposal, and the assessment of Past Performance information. PROPOSALS THAT DO NOT CONTAIN THE INFORMATION REQUESTED BY FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFEROR - COMMERCIAL ITEMS AND ITS ADDENDUM MAY BE REJECTED. Since there is a functional relationship between FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offeror - Commercial Items and its Addendum and Evaluation - Commercial Items the proposals must address all areas identified for both sections. EVALUATION - COMMERCIAL ITEMS a. BASIS FOR CONTRACT AWARD: 1. This is a competitive best value acquisition utilizing the tradeoff process in accordance with FAR 15.3, Contracting by Negotiation, as supplemented by DoD Source Selection Procedures, AFFARS 5315.3, MP5315.3, and the evaluation process and criteria set forth in this Request for Proposal (RFP). This procurement will be conducted as a 100% total small business set-aside. The Government will award a contract resulting from the RFP to the acceptable, responsible Offeror whose proposal, conforming to this RFP, offers the best-value to the Government. The evaluation factors are: Factor 1: Price and Factor 2: Past Performance. Past Performance is approximately equal to Price. Evaluation criteria are the same for all competing offerors. 2. Offerors shall assure that proposals are submitted in accordance with the instructions provided in clause FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items and its Addendum of this RFP. By submission of its offer, the offeror accedes to all RFP requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certifications, exhibits, attachments, drawings, and specifications. 3. Offerors shall propose prices for all CLINs. Any offer that fails to cite a price for each item, or fails to make an entry, may be rejected as nonconforming to this RFP. 4. Offerors must clearly identify any exception to the RFP terms and conditions and provide complete accompanying rationale. Failure to meet a requirement risks rejection. 5. Only Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) offers will be evaluated for FFP Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs). An offer using a sliding price scale, or subject to escalation based on any contingency for FFP designated CLINs, will not be accepted. Only one contract will be awarded for this requirement. b. EVALUATION PROCESS: 1. Price Evaluation: Initially, offers will be ranked according to their Total Evaluated Prices (TEPs). The Offeror's proposed CLIN prices will be determined by multiplying the "Unit Price" by the Government provided "Quantity" identified to determine the "Amount" for each CLIN. As part of the Price evaluation, all CLIN "Amounts" will be added together (summed) to establish an Offeror's overall TEP for the acquisition. Price will be evaluated for reasonableness based on prices submitted from competitive proposals, current market conditions, and comparison to the Government estimate. The Offeror's Price proposal will be evaluated, using one or more of the techniques defined in FAR 15.404, in order to determine if it is reasonable. Once the Contracting Officer has determined that adequate price competition exists within this source selection price fair and reasonableness will be evaluated, at a minimum, based on the comparison of the offeror's overall TEP with all other competitive offerors' overall TEPs received in response to the solicitation. After the proposals are ranked by Price, the Past Performance evaluation will proceed as defined in Section B. 2. Past Performance Evaluation: Using the information provided in Volume II, Past Performance Proposal and Volume III, Past Performance References (Attachment 5) and completed Past Performance Questionnaires (Attachment 6) and other available information, the Contracting Officer will evaluate past performance information based on (1) the past and present efforts provided by the offeror and (2) data independently obtained from other Government, commercial and other sources. For each effort provided by the offeror, the Contracting Officer will evaluate whether the effort is recent, as that term recent is defined in paragraph (a)(5) above. If an effort is determined to be recent, then the Contracting Officer will assign the effort one of the four relevancy ratings in Table 1.0 in paragraph (a)(5) above. After evaluating each effort for recency and relevancy, the Contracting Officer will assign the offeror one of the following Performance Confidence Assessment Ratings: Table 2.0 - Performance Confidence Assessments Performance Confidence Assessment Ratings Substantial Confidence Based on the Offeror's recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a high expectation that the Offeror will successfully perform the required effort. Satisfactory Confidence Based on the Offeror's recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the Offeror will successfully perform the required effort. Limited Confidence Based on the Offeror's recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a low expectation that the Offeror will successfully perform the required effort. No Confidence Based on the Offeror's recent/relevant performance record, the Government has no expectation that the Offeror will successfully perform the required effort. Unknown Confidence (Neutral) No recent/relevant performance record is available or the Offeror's performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned. c. The Government reserves the right to seek information on higher priced offerors if none of the lower priced offerors receive a Substantial Confidence performance confidence assessment. The purpose of the Past Performance evaluation is to allow the Government to assess the offeror's ability to perform the effort described in this RFP, based on the offeror's demonstrated present and Past Performance. The Government will conduct a performance confidence assessment based upon Past Performance of the offerors as it relates to the probability of successfully performing the solicitation requirements. This evaluation will include the offeror's record of (i) conforming to the Performance Work Statement, (ii) management of the project, (iii) reasonable and cooperative behavior and performance and commitment to customer satisfaction, and (iv) quality control. This assessment represents the Government evaluation team's judgment of the probability of an offeror successfully accomplishing the proposed effort, based upon the offeror's demonstrated present and Past Performance. The rating may be determined initially or as a result of discussions. The assessment process will result in an overall performance confidence assessment rating of Substantial Confidence, Satisfactory Confidence, Limited Confidence, No Confidence, or Unknown Confidence, as defined in Table 1.0. d. Offerors submitting Past Performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel, or subcontractors, are highly encouraged to provide sufficient details regarding them to allow the Government to fully evaluate the relative value of the information. For example, but not limited to, how is the Past Performance of a predecessor company, key personnel, or subcontractor recent and relevant to the determination of this offeror's ability to perform this contract. What will the level of involvement of key personnel be on this contract effort? Provide full details of any subcontractor's involvement on this work effort. The offeror shall provide past performance from subcontractors that will perform major (25% or more of the total contract effort) aspects of the requirement and outline what percentage of the work this subcontractor will accomplish on this effort. e. In evaluating Past Performance, the Government reserves the right to give greater consideration to information on those contracts deemed most relevant to the effort described in this RFP. f. Offerors with no recent and relevant past or present performance history or the offeror's performance record is so limited that no confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned shall receive the rating "Unknown Confidence," meaning the rating is treated neither favorably nor unfavorably. Definitions for Performance Confidence Assessments and Relevancy are as defined below: c. BEST VALUE DETERMINATION: Offerors will be initially be ranked from lowest TEP to the highest TEP. Next, past performance will be evaluated and a confidence rating assigned. 1. If the proposal with the lowest TEP is determined to be reasonable and is judged to have an overall Substantial Confidence performance rating, and the offeror is determined to be responsible, that offer represents the Best Value for the Government and the evaluation process stops at this point. Award will be made to that offeror without further consideration of any other offers. 2. IF THE LOWEST TEP OFFER IS NOT JUDGED TO HAVE AN OVERALL SUBSTAINIAL CONFIDENCE PEFORMANCE RATING THE EVALUATION WILL CONTINUE AS FOLLOWS: a. If the lowest TEP offer is reasonable but does not have a confidence rating of Substantial Confidence, the next lowest TEP offer will be evaluated and the process will continue until an offeror whose Price is reasonable receives a confidence rating of Substantial Confidence overall for Past Performance. b. The Source Selection Authority shall then make an integrated assessment Best Value award decision by determining if the Best Value to the Government is to pay a higher cost for a higher Past Performance assessment rating. The Government reserves the following rights: i. To award a contract to the lowest TEP offeror who has Substantial Confidence Rating; ii. To award to higher TEP offeror who has Substantial Confidence Rating; iii. To award a contract to the lowest TEP offeror who has at least a Satisfactory Confidence Rating. 3. Offerors are cautioned to submit sufficient information and in the format specified in FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items and its Addendum of this solicitation. Offeror's may be asked to clarify certain aspects of their proposal (for example, the relevance of Past Performance information) or respond to adverse Past Performance information to which the offeror has not previously had an opportunity to respond. Adverse Past Performance is defined as Past Performance information that supports a less than satisfactory rating on any evaluation element or any unfavorable comments received from sources without a formal rating system. Communication conducted to resolve minor or clerical errors will not constitute discu...