Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

AMENDMENT NO. ONE (1): The purpose of this amendment is to release answers to questions received by industry entities. Therefore, attached is a document that provides answers to questions that were su... AMENDMENT NO. ONE (1): The purpose of this amendment is to release answers to questions received by industry entities. Therefore, attached is a document that provides answers to questions that were submitted in response to this RFQ. All other terms and provisions remain unchanged. END OF AMENDMENT (i) 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; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) The solicitation number is AMDTCRQ2300756, and the solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ) with a Small Business set-aside restriction applicable. This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures and FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items. A Labor Hour type of Purchase Order contract is contemplated for any resulting contract entered into as a result of this solicitation. (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number/Effective Date: 2023-02 / 03-16-2023. (iv) The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541930 – Translation and Interpretation Services with the small business size standard of $22.5 Million. This requirement is released on a Total Set-Aside basis to Small Business. (v) Statement of Work: Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the work statement. See the attached Statement of Work for additional detail. (vi) The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The quoter is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the quoter and submitted with its quotation. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the quoter may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/?q=browsefar http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48cfrv5_02.tpl (End of provision) The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: • FAR 52.203-18, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements-Representation • FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management • FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting • FAR 52.204-17, Ownership or Control of Offeror • FAR 52.204-20, Predecessor of Offeror • FAR 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment • FAR 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation • FAR 52.209-2, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations-Representation • FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items • FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items • FAR 52.225-25, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Sanctioned Activities Relating to Iran The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference, applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48cfrv5_02.tpl (End of clause) Instructions to Quoters. Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the quoter’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The technical quotation must clearly demonstrate that each of the Government’s minimum requirements detailed in the Statement of Work have been met. Technical quotations shall not exceed 20 pages using font 11- or 12-point size. Price quotations shall be submitted on a labor hour basis in accordance with the contract line-item numbering structure and associated instructions identified in this solicitation. Note that the Government has pre-determined the total ceiling price of each CLIN, as shown in the section below. Quotations shall be valid for 90 days after solicitation close. To assist the Government in evaluating price quotations, the quoter shall complete and provide the highlighted cells in the attached “Quoter Pricing Worksheet.” The per-word rates proposed in the Quoter Pricing Worksheet will be incorporated into the resultant purchase order and adhered to throughout performance. Quoters must complete the yellow highlighted cells of the attached Quoter Pricing Worksheet, in accordance with the instructions given below. CONTRACT LINE-ITEM STRUCTURE: Responsible Quoters shall provide pricing for each of the CLINs detailed below: CLIN 0001: Labor Hour Task 1 in accordance with the attached Statement of Work (SOW). Includes completion of all deliverables under task 1 in the SOW. The ceiling price is $20,000.00. Contractor to bill the Government at the per-word rates proposed in the Quoter Pricing Worksheet and agreed upon by the Government. Quoters shall NOT propose a total ceiling price, as the ceiling price of this CLIN is pre-determined at $20,000.00. CLIN 0002: Labor Hour Task 2 in accordance with the attached Statement of Work (SOW). Includes completion of all deliverables under task 2 in the SOW. The ceiling price is $25,000.00. Contractor to bill the Government at the per-word rates proposed in the Quoter Pricing Worksheet and agreed upon by the Government. Quoters shall NOT propose a total ceiling price, as the ceiling price of this CLIN is pre-determined at $25,000.00. Quoters submitting a response must complete and provide the attached “Quoter Pricing Worksheet” with its quotation submission, in order to be evaluated and considered for award. As the instructions state in the attached Quoter Pricing Worksheet, quoters must complete, or fill in, only the yellow highlighted cells of both the “Task 1 (CLIN 0001)” sheet/tab and the “Task 2 (CLIN 0002)” sheet/tab. The ceiling price for each CLIN is pre-defined as shown in the CLIN structure above. The only pricing information to be submitted by quoters are the per-word rates for each language contained in the attached Quoter Pricing Worksheet. As shown in the worksheet, quoters shall propose per-word rates for documents of up to 1,000 words, and per-word rates for documents of between 1,0001 and 15,000 words. If a given quoter fails to complete the yellow highlighted cells on both sheets/tabs of the Quoter Pricing Worksheet and submit the Excel workbook with its quotation submission, the quoter will not be considered for award. The pricing quotation shall be separate from any other portion of the quotation. See the following sections for details on how the Price factor will be evaluated by the Government. (vii) (viii) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following is an addendum to 52.212-2. Responses received to this RFQ will be evaluated on a Trade-Off Basis. The award will be made on a competitive best value basis, using “tradeoff” among price-cost and non-price-cost factors. The Government may elect to award to other than the lowest priced quoter, or other than the quoter with the highest rated non-price-cost quotation. In either case, a tradeoff will be conducted. The government reserves such right of flexibility in conducting the evaluation as necessary to assure an award with the contractor providing the best value to the government. All evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are more important than cost or price. However, cost or price may become a critical factor in source selection in the event two or more quotations are determined to be essentially equal following the evaluation of all factors other than cost or price. Each quotation will be evaluated in strict conformity with the evaluation factors, utilizing written critiques. The evaluation will be based upon the demonstrated capabilities of the prospective contractor in relation to the needs of the project as set forth in the RFQ and will use adjectival evaluation ratings. The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotations. (1) Technical Capability: Quotations will be evaluated for demonstrated ability of the Quoter to understand the SOW and requirements, adequately describe the proposed approach, identify problems and potential challenges, and demonstrate how all contract requirements will be met. Quoters shall provide evidence of sufficient planning to show that the work will be accomplished and how it will be accomplished within time and other constraints specified in the SOW or as applicable. (2) Corporate Experience: Quoters shall submit with their quotation a list of at least two (2) contracts completed or substantially completed during the past five (5) years and / or contracts awarded currently in process that are similar in nature to the Statement of Work to demonstrate Corporate Experience. An evaluation of Corporate Experience will be based on evaluation of contract requirements completed or currently in process and extent of the relevance of that experience to the work described in the attached Statement of Work. The Government will evaluate quotations based on prior contracts or purchase orders for similarity in size, scope, and complexity to the requirements contained in this solicitation. Contracts listed may include those entered into by the Federal Government, agencies of state and local governments and commercial concerns. Preference will be assigned to contractors that document corporate experience in translating technical documents for Federal government agencies. For each contract, subcontract, or reference, include: 1. Name of Contracting Organization/Customer 2. Contract Number (for subcontracts, provide prime contract number and subcontract number) 3. Total Contract Value 4. Description of Requirement 5. Period of Performance or Delivery Timeframe Price. The Government will evaluate quotes for award purposes by making a price reasonableness determination. For a price to be reasonable, it must represent a price to the government that a prudent person would pay when consideration is given to prices in the market. The Government will use the per-word rates quoted in the quoter’s submitted “Quoter Pricing Worksheet”. The Government will apply those per-word rates to an estimated number of words for each language to arrive at a total evaluated price for each CLIN, for each quoter. The Government will apply the same estimated number of words for each language in the Quoter Pricing Worksheet, for each quoter. Note that when an award is made, the actual ceiling price of each CLIN will be as defined in the CLIN structure above. The resultant contract award will then include the awardee’s proposed per-word rates per language, for each CLIN, and the contractor shall then adhere to those per-word rates when billing the Government throughout contract performance. Upon receipt of quotations, the Contracting Officer will review them to determine if each Quoter followed all of the quotation preparation/submission instructions in this solicitation. A quotation that did not follow the quotation submission instructions to an extent that the Government cannot properly evaluate the quotation in accordance with the stated evaluation factors may be deemed unacceptable and may not be further evaluated. Quotations that are unrealistic in terms of technical or schedule commitments, or unrealistically high or low in terms of price, may be deemed to be reflective of an inherent lack of technical competence, or indicative of a failure to comprehend the complexity and risks of the proposed work and may be grounds for rejection of the quotation as being technically unacceptable. (ix) The Quoters are to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its quotation. This requirement may be fulfilled by current completion of this provision in www.SAM.gov. (x) The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, and its Alternate I, apply to this acquisition. (xv) The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is incorporated by reference. The following provisions of FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Items (NOV 2020) are applicable to this solicitation: 52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment 52.219-28, Post-Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation 52.222-3 Convict Labor 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation With Authorities and Remedies 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity 52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers With Disabilities 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons 52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving 52.225-13, Restrictions on certain foreign purchases 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-- System for Award Management 52.239-1 Privacy or Security Safeguards The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated as an attachment, and MUST be completed and submitted with any response to this RFQ: • FAR 52.204-20 Predecessor of Offeror • FAR 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment • FAR 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation • FAR 52.209-5 Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters • FAR 52.209-11, Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: • FAR 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements • FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance • FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance • FAR 52-204-19, Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications • FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items • FAR 52.232-7, Payments under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts • FAR 52.232-39, Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations • FAR 52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors [DOC Deviation April 2020] (xi) The provision at CAR 1352.233-70 AGENCY PROTESTS (APR 2010) applies to this acquisition and incorporated in full text: An agency protest may be filed with either (1) the Contracting Officer, or (2) at a level above the Contracting Officer, with the agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 Fed. Reg. 16,651 (April 6, 1999). Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following mailing address and email address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION ATTN: KEITH ROLLER, CONTRACTING OFFICER 100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 Email: Keith.Bubar@nist.gov Agency protests filed with the Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO) 100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 A complete copy of all agency protest, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority. Service upon the Contract law Division shall be made as follows: U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230 FAX: (202) 482-5858 (End of Provision) (xii) The provision at CAR 1352.233-71 GAO AND COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS PROTESTS (APR 2010) is applicable to this solicitation and incorporated in full text. (a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed. (b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims. (c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows: U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230. FAX: (202) 482-5858 (End of Provision) (xiii) The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference. All CAR clauses may be viewed at http://www.ecfr.gov 1352.201-70 – Contracting Officers Authority 1352.201-72 – Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) 1352.209-73 – Compliance with the Laws (APR 2010) 1352.209-74 – Organizational Conflict of Interest 1352.237-71 – Security Processing Requirements – Low Risk Contracts 1352.237-75 – Key Personnel 1352.246-70 – Place of Acceptance (a) The Contracting Officer or the duly authorized representative will accept supplies and services to be provided under this contract. (b) The place of acceptance will be: 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD. 20899 NIST LOCAL 54 – BILLING INSTRUCTIONS NIST requires that Invoice/Voucher submissions are sent electronically via email to INVOICE@NIST.GOV. Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following: (1) Contract number; (2) Contractor name and address; (3) Unique entity identifier (see www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers); (4) Date of invoice; (5) Invoice number; (6) Amount of invoice and cumulative amount invoiced to-date; (7) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN); (8) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price, and extended price of supplies/services delivered; (9) Prompt payment discount terms, if offered; and (10) Any other information or documentation required by the contract. (End of Clause) NIST LOCAL 53 – CONTRACT PERFORMANCE DURING CHANGES IN NIST OPERATING STATUS Unless otherwise stated in the contract terms and conditions, normal days of business operation are Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays. However, throughout the contract period of performance, there may be circumstances beyond the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that will impact normal days of business operation, such as inclement weather, power outages, etc. In circumstances such as these, the Contractor must call the appropriate NIST campus status line to verify the operating status: Gaithersburg Campus Operating Status Line: (301) 975-8000 (800) 437-4385 x8000 (toll free) Boulder Campus Operating Status Line: (303) 497-4000 During a lapse in appropriation, access to Government facilities and resources, including equipment and systems, will be limited to excepted personnel for both Federal employees and Contractor personnel. If performance of the contract is onsite and/or requires Government interaction, unless you have been, or are notified that you are to work under an excepted status, you will automatically enter a temporary work stoppage. The work stoppage shall remain in effect until the lapse is resolved and notification is provided via the NIST website at https://www.nist.gov/ and/or the NIST operating status lines. Additionally, Contractors are encouraged to monitor public broadcasts or the Office of Personnel Management’s website at www.opm.gov for the Federal Government operating status. NIST will provide notification to all contractors that are determined to have excepted status. All excepted contractors are required to continue performance and communicate with the appointed Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for further guidance, or NIST Contracting Officer if a COR is not appointed. Contractors with supply or service contracts that are fully funded at the time of contract award and do not require access to Government facilities, resources, or active administration by Government personnel in a manner that would cause the government to incur additional obligations during the lapse in appropriation may continue performance. (End of Clause) NIST LOCAL-56 Invoicing Processing Platform-Alternate I Upon written notice from the contracting officer the following supersedes all other instructions for the submission of payment requests. Accordingly, following written notice payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP). "Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the Contractor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in the applicable payment request or invoicing instructions, Prompt Payment clause included in the contract, or the clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items included in commercial item contracts. The IPP website address is https://www.ipp.gov. Under this contract, the following documents are required to be submitted as an attachment to the IPP invoice: The Contractor must use the IPP website to register, access, and use IPP for submitting payment requests. If not already enrolled, the Contractor Government Business Point of Contact (as listed in SAM) will receive enrollment instructions via email within three to five business days of the addition of the contract award to IPP. Contractor assistance with enrollment can be obtained by contacting the IPP Production Helpdesk via email: IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov or phone (866) 973-3131. If the Contractor is unable to comply with the requirement to use IPP for submitting payment requests, the Contractor must submit a waiver request in writing to the Contracting Officer with its proposal or quotation. Contact the contracting officer for more information on submitting a waiver request. (End of Clause) (xiv) The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the contracting officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. (xv) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. (xvi) The Universal Entity Identification (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All quoters must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. (xvii) Quoters must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to hunter.tjugum@nist.gov. Questions should be received no later than five (5) calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. (xviii) All responses must be received no later than the date specified in this announcement. Late responses will not be accepted. All responses must reference the subject solicitation number. Responses must be submitted electronically to hunter.tjugum@nist.gov. Facsimile responses will not be accepted. For information regarding this solicitation, contact Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist, by email at hunter.tjugum@nist.gov or by phone at 303-497-3663.