Inactive

AMENDMENT NO. TWO (2): The purpose of this amendment is to release an answer to the following question: Question: Will international vendors (non-domestic US companies) be allowed to perform this work... AMENDMENT NO. TWO (2): The purpose of this amendment is to release an answer to the following question: Question: Will international vendors (non-domestic US companies) be allowed to perform this work, or will it be restricted to domestic US companies only Answer: No regional restrictions are anticipated to be included, should a solicitation for this potential requirement be released. All companies with an active SAM registration shall be allowed to submit a response. All other terms and provisions remain unchanged. AMENDMENT NO. ONE (1): The purpose of this amendment is to release answers to questions (Q&A) and to extend the closing date for accepting responses to this Sources Sought Notice. Therefore, the Q&A is attached as a separate document and the closing date for accepting responses is extended until 10/20/2023 at 10:00AM, ET. All responses having been submitted to this Sources Sought Notice prior to the original closing date will be reviewed unless a given respondent submits a revised response. All other information remains unchanged. INTRODUCTION This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified small business sources. This notice is strictly for market research and information purposes only. Your responses will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible small business concerns. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services), as those domestic sources having annual revenue of $19 million or less. Background: On February 21, 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director approved the investigation of the impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico under the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act. Three additional projects on Hurricane Maria are being conducted as part of a research study under the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP). The NCST investigation and the NWIRP research study of Hurricane Maria also include consideration of aspects of Hurricane Fiona. On June 30, 2021, the NIST Director approved the investigation of the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, FL under the NCST Act. An NWIRP research study on Hurricane Ian was also launched in 2023. NIST will be producing multiple technical reports to document the findings of the Hurricane Maria NCST investigation and NWIRP study, including aspects of Hurricane Fiona, the Champlain Towers South NCST investigation, and the Hurricane Ian NWIRP study. NIST will require support for scientific and engineering technical report preparation, technical content editing, layout, and graphics to publish professional reports and documents with a logical flow and a consistent, professional layout. Scope of Requirement: The purpose of this requirement is to provide the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST with contractor technical writing support services, including scientific and engineering content editing, engineering graphic visualization, report layout assistance, and proofreading and editing support in both English and Spanish for the Hurricane Maria NCST investigation and NWIRP study, including aspects of Hurricane Fiona. NIST will provide content and the contractor shall perform services including editing the content for technical consistency as well as uniform overall voice. NIST does not require substantial development or changes to content but does require detailed content editing support. The contractor shall assist NIST in creating professional grade reports and other materials documenting the studies, findings, and recommendations, as described below. Requirements similar to the tasks associated with the Hurricane Maria NCST investigation and the NWIRP study will be included as optional requirements, which may or may not be exercised, for the Champlain Towers South NCST investigation and the Hurricane Ian NWIRP study. The contractor shall provide a combined total of up to 2900 report pages in English and up to 2900 report pages in Spanish for the Hurricane Maria NCST investigation and NWIRP research study, with the exact breakdown of pages between the NCST investigation and the NWIRP research study to be determined as part of the project management. Optional tasks for the Hurricane Maria reports provide for up to 2100 additional report pages in both English and Spanish. Key Requirement Tasks: The required work includes the following key task areas: 1. Technical Report Template Preparation Services: This task area requires development of an overall report template that shall be used for all technical documents to be prepared under this requirement. The template shall be developed using the NIST Technical Series Publications Manuscript Template (which will be provided as Government Furnished Property) as the starting point, and modified to accommodate multiple volumes and chapters. The template shall be capable of displaying scientific and engineering visualized data (graphics) such as photographs, maps, charts, renderings, and tables with a clear and professional appearance, and must have the ability to be physically printed. The template shall also be capable of displaying equations, and citations and reference lists. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring the template provided is compatible with all text and visualizations of data (graphics) that are to be used and that the information provided by NIST inserted into the template is properly formatted and consistent with Government Publishing Office (GPO) and NIST publication standards, which include Section 508 compliance (www.section508.gov). 2. Technical Content Proofreading and Editing: This task area requires scientific and engineering technical content proofreading and editing services. The Contractor shall be responsible for proofreading documents and providing feedback regarding the grammatical correctness, uniformity of overall document voice, technical consistency, technical clarity, conciseness, cohesiveness, and technical completeness of each document, which shall be submitted to NIST as tracked-changes electronic Microsoft Word files. The Contractor shall ensure conformity with Government Printing Office (GPO) and NIST technical document requirements. 3. Scientific and Engineering Data Visualization: This task area requires transformation of NIST-provided draft images, raw data, or hand-drawn images into professional grade technical graphics that effectively communicate meaning and appeal to the audience, and which shall be incorporated into documents. The Contractor shall also use specialized formatting, for example by including tables and graphic elements or other techniques as needed, to maintain a clear, legible, and professional layout, while accurately communicating the technical graphical data. The Contractor shall ensure graphics conform with GPO and NIST technical document requirements. 4. Required Expertise. The tasks associated with this potential procurement require specific key personnel credentials due to the nature of the effort and its public impact. The contractor shall be able to provide up to three (3) different lead technical writers and three (3) different graphic designers as key personnel, in addition to one (1) Project Manager overseeing all requirement efforts, including the base and all optional tasks. Different key personnel are required for support on different study areas as work will require full attention with simultaneous performance. The key personnel shall meet the minimum requirements identified below. For the purposes of this sources sought notice, respondents are NOT required to identify proposed individuals or to provide resumes. However, the contractor shall provide information about its ability to make appropriate personnel available. • Project Manager o Bachelor's degree in Business, English, Science, or other related fields o 10 years of general project management experience, of which at least five is managing similar work to that described for this requirement. • Lead Technical Writer o Bachelor’s degree in Engineering o Written and Oral Fluency in both English and Spanish o 7 years of experience editing technical documents o Experience producing published technical reports made up of individual reports of at least 400 pages, including multiple chapters or sections, and a total page count of at least 1,500 pages for a set of reports. • Graphics Designer o Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design or related field o 5 years of experience in graphic design o Experience producing graphics for published technical reports made up of individual reports of at least 400 pages, including multiple chapters or sections, and a total page count of at least 1,500 pages for a set of reports. QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE Questions regarding this sources sought notice may be submitted via email to Mr. Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist, at Hunter.Tjugum@nist.gov. Questions are due by or before 11:00 AM ET on 10/10/2023. Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline. RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS All responsible small business sources able to provide the services described above are asked to email a response to Mr. Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist, at Hunter.Tjugum@nist.gov by or before 11:00 AM ET on 10/12/2023. Please include the following information in the response: 1. Name of company authorized to provide services, along with their address and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, and email address). 2. The company’s primary NAICS, size classification, and socio-economic status (i.e., Small Business, Woman Owned Small Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, 8(a), etc.). 3. Brief description of capabilities in relation to the key task areas identified in this sources sought notice. 4. Information on any GSA Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) or other Government-wide contracts through which the company offers these services, if applicable. 5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider. Responses are limited to a maximum total of ten (10) pages in MS Word or searchable PDF format. IMPORTANT NOTES This notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response; however, NIST will recognize as restricted or proprietary data which is clearly marked such.