Inactive

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announce... This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-06. THIS RFQ IS SUBJECT TO AGENCY DETERMINATION TO FUND THIS REQUIREMENT. ALL SUBMISSIONS SHALL INDICATE THAT PRICING IS VALID THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2020. The required services are described in the attached Statement of Work (SOW). Services shall be provided on a Firm-Fixed-Price basis. CPSC requires services for window covering market research. Delivery and acceptance shall be to the CPSC point of contact included in the SOW and in accordance with Local Clause 1A for the delivery of any items to CPSC. The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. In addition to the requirements of FAR 52.212-1, the quote must prominently display the offeror’s Taxpayer Identification number, CAGE code and DUNS number, as well as contact information for the offeror’s point of contact for the quote. SAM.gov registration is required to be considered for award. The quote shall be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist at sjohnson@cpsc.gov with two separate attachments, one for the technical response and one for price. No pricing information shall be included in the technical submission. The provision at 52.212-2, Evaluation—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition, and the evaluation criteria to be included in paragraph (a) of that provision are as follows: Understanding of the SOW and research to include creation of sales estimates by defined categories and sub categories, qualifications and experience of personnel, organizational experience providing the services in the SOW, past performance, and price. Technical Capability is significantly more important than Past Performance and Price, Past Performance is more important than Price, and Price is considered to be less important than Technical and Past Performance. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items, if the annual SAM registration has not been completed. If the SAM registration has been completed, Offerors shall only submit paragraph (b) if there are applicable exceptions to the current registration. The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following additional FAR clauses cited in FAR 52.212-5 are applicable to this acquisition: (4) 52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Oct 2018); (8) 52.209-6, Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment. (Oct 2015); (22) 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Representation (Mar 2020); (27) 52.222-3, Convict Labor (June 2003); (29) 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Apr 2015); (30) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Sep 2016); (32) 52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (Jul 2014); (35)(i) 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (Jan 2019); (44) 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (Aug 2011); (51) 52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (June 2008); (57) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—System for Award Management (Oct 2018). The following FAR clause also apply to this requirement: 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. (Nov 1999) The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 3 days of expiration. (End of clause) The following local clauses are also applicable to this requirement: LC1A CONTRACTOR’S NOTE Deliveries and/or shipments shall not be left at the Loading Dock. All deliveries shall be considered “inside deliveries” to the appropriate room at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and in accordance with the instructions below. When scheduling deliveries the purchase order number shall always be referenced and all packages shall clearly display the Purchase Order Number on the outside of the cartons and/or packages, to include the packing slip. ATTENTION GOVERNMENT VENDOR A. DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS: 1. DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS FOR LARGE OR HEAVY ITEMS: If the shipment or item being delivered requires use of a loading dock, advance notification is required. The contractor shall contact the Shipping and Receiving Coordinator at 301-892-0586 or Constantia Demas (301) 504-7544 forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the date the items are to arrive to schedule use of the loading dock. LOADING DOCK HOURS OF OPERATION: 9:00 am to 11:00 am or 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday (except holidays) Please notify contact person if there is a change in the delivery date. For changes, delays, or assistance please contact CPSC as follows: Facilities Management Support Services (301) 504-7091 and The COR – TBD Upon arrival, the driver should contact the CPSC Guard, 301-504-7721, at the loading dock to obtain assistance in using freight elevators and to gain access to CPSC security areas. 2. DELIVERY INSTRUCTION FOR SMALL ITEMS When delivering or shipping small items, the contractor and/or carrier service shall report to the 4th floor lobby, North Tower, 4330 East West Highway, to sign in with the CPSC guard. Upon completion of signing in, the contractor shall deliver all shipments to the Mail Room, Room 410. After delivery, delivery personnel shall promptly depart the building. MAIL ROOM HOURS OF OPERATION: Monday through Friday (except holidays) – 7:30 am to 5:00 pm B. BILLING INSTRUCTIONS Pursuant to the Prompt Payment Act (P.L. 97-177) and the Prompt Payment Act Amendments of 1988 (P.L. 100-496) all Federal agencies are required to pay their bills on time, pay interest penalties when payments are made late, and to take discounts only when payments are made within the discount period. To assure compliance with the Act, vouchers and/or invoices shall be submitted through the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). At a minimum, each invoice document submitted through IPP shall include the documentation required in the contract. ELECTRONIC INVOICING AND PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) is a secure web-based electronic invoicing and payment information service available to all Federal agencies and their supplier by the U.S. Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service. IPP allows Federal agencies and their suppliers to exchange electronic purchase orders, blanket POs, invoices, and payment information in one easy to access web portal. This service is free of charge to government agencies and their suppliers, including services and support. (a) Definitions. As used in this clause- (1)”Payment request” means a bill, voucher, invoice, or request for contract financing payment with associated supporting documentation. The payment request must comply with the requirements identified in FAR 32.905(b), “Payment documentation and process” and the applicable Payment clause included in this contract. (b) The Contractor shall submit payment requests electronically using the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). Information regarding IPP is available on the Internet at www.ipp.gov. Assistance with enrollment can be obtained by contacting the IPP Production Helpdesk via email ippgroup@stls.frb.org or phone (866)973-3131. PAYMENT AND INVOICE QUESTIONS For payment and invoice questions, contact the Accounts Payable Branch at (304) 480-8000 option 7 or via email at AccountsPayable@fiscal.treasury.gov. Customer Service inquiries may be directed to Adriane Clark at AClark@cpsc.gov. OVERPAYMENTS Accounts Receivable Conversion of Check Payments to EFT: If the Contractor sends the Government a check to remedy duplicate contract financing or an overpayment by the government, it will be converted into an electronic funds transfer (EFT). This means the Government will copy the check and use the account information on it to electronically debit the Contractor’s account for the amount of the check. The debit from the Contractor’s account will usually occur within 24 hours and will be shown on the regular account statement. The Contractor will not receive the original check back. The Government will destroy the Contractor’s original check, but will keep a copy of it. If the EFT cannot be processed for technical reasons, the Contractor authorizes the Government to process the copy in place of the original check. C. INSPECTION & ACCEPTANCE PERIOD Unless otherwise stated in the Statement of Work or Description, the Commission will ordinarily inspect all materials/services within seven (7) business days after the date of receipt. The CPSC representative responsible for inspecting the materials/services will transmit disapproval, if appropriate, to the contractor and the Contracting Officer. If other inspection information is provided in the Statement of Work or Description, it is controlling. LC 9 Key Personnel a. The following individuals, listed by name and title, have been identified as key personnel for performance under this contract: [ ] b. The personnel specified above and/or in the schedule of the contract are considered to be essential to the work being performed hereunder. If these individuals are unavailable for assignment for work under the contract, or it is anticipated that their level of involvement will be significantly different from the negotiated level, the Contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer and shall submit justifications (including proposed substitutions) in sufficient detail to permit evaluation of the impact on the program. The Contracting Officer shall review, and may ratify in writing, such substitutions. Prior to substitution of key personnel, the Contractor shall obtain the written consent of the Contracting Officer. LC 10 Background Security Checks performed by the Contractor a. All Contractor employees proposed and/or presently in service under this contract and any new Contractor employees to be utilized for performance of this contract may be subjected to background checks. Information regarding background and security checks to be performed on personnel shall be included with the proposal and contract award. These checks shall be performed at Contractor expense. The results of such checks shall be provided to the Government. b. Identical background and security checks shall also be performed on new or substitution personnel prior to entering into service under this contract. c. By execution of this contract, the Contractor certifies none of the employees working under this contract have been convicted of a felony, a crime of violence, or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, such as a conviction of larceny within the last five (5) years. d. The Government reserves the right to remove from service any Contractor employee for any of the following: (1) Conviction of a felony, a crime of violence, or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, such as a conviction of larceny within the last five (5) years. (2) Falsification of information entered on security screening forms or other documents submitted to the Government. (3) Improper conduct once performing on the contract, including criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct or other conduct prejudicial to the Government regardless of whether the conduct is directly related to the contract. (4) Any behavior judged to pose a threat to personnel or property. e. Failure by the contractor to comply with the terms of this clause may result in termination of the contract. LC 21A Disclosure of Information - Limits on Publication a. The Contractor shall submit to the Commission any report, manuscript or other document containing the results of work performed under this contract, before such document is published or otherwise disclosed to the public, to assure compliance with Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. Section 2055(b)), Commission regulations (16 C.F.R. Part 1101), and a Commission directive (Order 1450.2). These provisions restrict disclosure by Commission Contractors of information that (1) permits the public to identify particular consumer products or (2) reflects on the safety of a class of consumer products. Prior submission allows the Commission staff to review the Contractor's information and comply with the applicable restrictions. CPSC should be advised of the Contractor's desire to submit or publish an abstract or a report as soon as practical. b. Any publication of, or publicity pertaining to, the Contractor's document shall include the following statement: "This project has been funded with federal funds from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission under contract number CPSC-[_______ ]. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the Commission.” LC 22 Handling of Confidential Information a. If the Contractor obtains confidential business information about any company in connection with performance of this contract, either from the CPSC, the other company itself, or any other source, the Contractor agrees that it will hold the information in confidence and not disclose it either to anyone outside the CPSC or to any Contractor employee not involved in performance of this contract. b. At the completion of performance of this contract, the Contractor shall return any confidential information, obtained as described above, either to its owner or to the CPSC. No such information shall be retained by the Contractor. Furthermore, the Contractor agrees not to use any such confidential business information for any purpose other than performance of this contract. During contract performance, the Contractor shall maintain confidential business information obtained as described in this article in a safe or locked file cabinet to which only employees performing work under this contract shall have access. A log shall be maintained to reflect each entry to the safe or cabinet. The Contractor shall provide to the COR, and keep current, a list of all employees with such access. The Contractor shall require each such employee to execute an affidavit as set forth in the attached “Affidavit of Disclosure” and the original and one copy of each affidavit shall be sent to the COR. c. A site inspection of the Contractor's security measures for confidential information may be performed by the CPSC COR prior to contract award and at any time during contract performance as deemed necessary by the COR. Approval of the security measures may be a prerequisite to contract award and continued performance. d. Failure by the contractor to comply with the terms of this clause may be treated as a default pursuant to the terms of this contract. LC 24 NONDISCLOSURE OF ANY DATA DEVELOPED UNDER THIS CONTRACT a. The Contractor agrees that it and its employees will not disclose any data obtained or developed under this contract to third parties without the consent of the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Contracting Officer. b. The Contractor shall obtain an agreement of non-disclosure from each employee who will work on this contract or have access to data obtained or developed under this contract. (End of clause) LC 31 Restrictions on Use of Information a. If the Contractor, in the performance of this contract, obtains access to information such as CPSC plans, reports, studies, data protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), or personal identifying information (PII) which has not been released or otherwise made public, the Contractor agrees that without prior written approval of the Contracting Officer it shall not: (a) release or disclose such information, (b) discuss or use such information for any private purpose, (c) share this information with any other party, or (d) submit an unsolicited proposal based on such information. These restrictions will remain in place unless such information is made available to the public by the Government. b. In addition, the Contractor agrees that to the extent it collects data on behalf of CPSC, or is given access to, proprietary data, data protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, or other confidential or privileged technical, business, financial, or personal identifying information during performance of this contract, that it shall not disclose such data. The Contractor shall keep the information secure, protect such data to prevent loss or dissemination, and treat such information in accordance with any restrictions imposed on such information. Questions about this requirement are due via email to sjohson@cpsc.gov no later than August 1, 2018 at 4 pm eastern time. Please contact the Contract Specialist, Sheryl Johnson, with any inquiries at csjohnson@cpsc.gov. LC 32 Standards of Conduct 1. Government contractors must conduct themselves with the highest degree of integrity and honesty. Contractors shall have standards of conduct and internal control systems that: a. Are suitable to the size of the company and the extent of their involvement in Government contracting, b. Promote such standards, c. Facilitate timely discovery and disclosure of improper conduct in connection with Government contracts, and d. Ensure corrective measures are promptly instituted and carried out. 2. By submitting a proposal in response to this solicitation and under award of any resultant contract, the Contractor agrees to employ standards of conduct and internal control systems, which shall include, but are not necessarily limited to the following. The Contractor shall provide, for all employees: a. A written code of business ethics and conduct and an ethics training program b. Periodic reviews of company business practices, procedures, policies, and internal controls for compliance with standards of conduct and the special requirements of Government contracting; c. A mechanism, such as a hotline, by which employees may report suspected instances of improper conduct, and instructions that encourage employees to make such reports; d. Internal and/or external audits, as appropriate; e. Disciplinary action for improper conduct; f. Timely reporting to appropriate Government officials of any suspected or possible violation of law in connection with Government contracts or any other irregularities in connection with such contracts; and g. Full cooperation with any Government agencies responsible for either investigation or corrective actions. h. A copy of the written code of ethics and information regarding the above shall be made available to the Government upon request. LC 33 Contractor Personnel A clear distinction is made between Government and Contractor personnel. No employer-employee relationship will occur between government employees and contractor employees. Contractor employees must report directly to their company (employer) and shall not report to Government personnel. (End of clause) Offers are due via email to sjohnson@cpsc.gov no later than June 23, 2020 at 2:00pm ET. Please contact the Contract Specialist, Sheryl Johnson, with any inquiries at 301-504-7802 or sjohnson@cpsc.gov.