Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION Post-Accident Toxicological Testing (PATT) Oversight Services This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format found ... COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION Post-Accident Toxicological Testing (PATT) Oversight Services This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format found in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 and under the authority of FAR Part 13, 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 Request for Quotation (RFQ) is issued under RFQ No. FRA23PATTOversight and includes incorporated provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-01. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this procurement is 541611 – “Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services,” Product and Service Code (PSC) is R408 – “Support – Professional: Program Management/Support.” This RFQ is a set aside for small businesses. The current contract number is 693JJ620C000015 with Cahill Swift, LLC. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is soliciting quotations for technical and scientific oversight specializing in forensic toxicology, laboratory testing procedures and protocols, and inspections of the designated FRA post-accident laboratory. Eligible Offerors should ensure that the personnel designated to work on this contract are qualified to fulfill all duties outlined in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS) and Performance Requirements Summary (PRS). Qualification will be defined as holding a credential as a: Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (F-ABFT), Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (DABFT-FT, DABFT- FA, or DABFT-FD), or Another equivalent credential acceptable to the FRA Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Team members shall have a strong working knowledge and/or experience in all ranges of blood and urine screening and confirmation methodologies (including EIA, ELISA, GC/MS, and LC/MS/MS). At least one team member shall have demonstrated experience in post-mortem toxicology. Additionally, the technical experts shall have demonstrated experience and expertise in 49 CFR Part 40 and/or Part 219 regulations, guidance, and regulatory interpretations. The Contractor should also have working knowledge and experience working with all the other DOT agency regulations (including FMCSA’ 49 CFR Part 382). Please provide a quote in accordance with the PWS and PRS. The period of performance for this order should be 12 months from the date of award, plus two (2) 12-months option periods. The following FAR subpart 12.3 provisions and clauses apply to the solicitation: Solicitation Provisions: •52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Mar 2023). Each offeror is required to submit their quotation in accordance with FAR provision 52.212-1 and the PWS and PRS. •52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021) •52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Dec 2022) •52.216-31 Time-and-Materials/Labor-Hour Proposal Requirements—Commercial Acquisition (Nov 2021) (a) The Government contemplates award of a Time-and-Materials or Labor-Hour type of contract resulting from this solicitation. (b) The offeror must specify fixed hourly rates in its offer that include wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit. The offeror must specify whether the fixed hourly rate for each labor category applies to labor performed by- (1) The offeror; (2) Subcontractors; and/or (3) Divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of the offeror under a common control. Clauses: •52.204-27 Prohibition on a ByteDance Covered Application (Jun 2023) •52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items, by reference, Alternate I (Nov 2021) •52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Items •52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (Nov 1999) •52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000) •52.203-98 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements •52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2022) •52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Oct 2022) Alternate II (Nov 2016) •52.219-16 Liquidated Damages - Subcontracting Plan (Sep 2021) •52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (Jun 2020) •52.244-2 Subcontracts (Jun 2020) •52.246-6 Inspection-Time-and-Material and Labor-Hour (May 2001) Interested Offerors are reminded that award can only be made to a Contractor who is registered in accordance with FAR 52.204-7, Alternate I System for Award Management. Offerors must submit a subcontracting plan in response to this solicitation. Quote Submission: Offerors are encouraged to direct any questions by email to the Contract Specialist, Christie Ong at christie.ong@dot.gov. Questions regarding this combined synopsis/solicitation shall be submitted to the email address above no later than Tuesday, August 15th, 2023, at 9:00 am ET. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible, best-suited, qualifying offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price, and other factors considered. Offerors are strongly encouraged to submit their best technical solutions and price. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1.Technical approach - Offerors shall clearly demonstrate their understanding, knowledge, and approach towards accomplishing the Government requirements. Reference the PWS and PRS accordingly. Offerors are strongly encouraged to share innovation and enhancements for efficiency where possible. 2.Price - Offerors shall propose price/cost for line items in accordance with the PWS and PRS. Include detailed supporting documentation that results in the estimated price for each line item. Travel expenses must be in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations and FAR 31.205-46 Travel Costs. Proposed amounts will be reviewed for consideration. Travel CLINs will be established as not-to-exceed amounts. Refer to the attached spreadsheet titled, “PATT Oversight Pricing Reference” as a guidance when proposing price/cost. If the Offeror has a different labor categories and level of efforts, please provide as much necessary detail for review and consideration. Provide total amounts, which includes the base period and all option periods. •List all the line-item number(s) and items, quantities, and units of measures, including option(s). •Provide description of requirements for the items to be acquired. •Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance and FOB point (as applicable). •Provide total amounts, which includes the base period and all option periods. Explanation narrative. Please include any relevant information to the price quotation. The Offeror is not required to include information on the following below. See following comments to clarify as to what these elements are referencing or why an Offeror may want to include a statement that provides: •Clarifications and Assumptions •Exclusions. The Offeror may state that pricing does not include A, B, C… anything that the Offeror does not want FRA to infer that is in the Offeror pricing that customarily may be included in such services. •Rationale for pricing, rates, and/or labor categories used, etc. For example, suppose an Offeror has an incredibly low price on a particular service area. Here is where the Offeror could explain the extremely lower-than-market pricing, allowing FRA to be aware of Offeror’s intention. •Mention any additional discounts provided. 3.Past Performance – The Offeror shall provide three recent past performance records from the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). If the Offeror does not have any CPARS records, please provide a narrative. Describe the company’s experience providing similar services over the last 36 months; refer to three past relevant projects as it relates to the PWS. Relevant experience means projects/acquisitions of similar nature in size, scope, complexity, technical difficulty, and dollar value in a manner that ensures maximum accuracy throughout the period of performance, cost effectiveness and overall client satisfaction to the effort required in the PWS. Projects where the Offeror served as the Prime Contractor are preferred. Quotations which merely state the Offeror’s relevant past projects without explanation will not be eligible for award. The Offeror must clearly demonstrate providing similar services to the requirement in the PWS. Relevant project experience demonstrates the relevancy of what the Offeror has done as it relates to the PWS. The Government reserves the right to consider information provided by the Offeror in its submission, as well as any other past performance information available to the Government, including but not limited to CPARS. Technical and past performance, when combined are significantly more important than cost or price. Once the Government determines the Offeror that is best-suited (i.e., apparent successful quoter), the Government reserves the right to communicate with only that quoter to address any remaining issues, if necessary, and finalize a task order with that quoter. These issues may include technical and price. If the parties cannot successfully address any remaining issues, as determined pertinent at the sole discretion of the Government, the Government reserves the right to communicate with the next best-suited quoter based on the original analysis and address any remaining issues. Once the Government has begun communications with the next best-suited quoter, no further communications with the previous quoter will be entertained until after the task order has been awarded. This process shall continue until an agreement is successfully reached and a task order is awarded. Quotations are due no later than Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023, at 9:00 am ET and should be submitted via e-mail to Christie Ong at christie.ong@dot.gov. No late responses will be accepted. No telephone inquiries will be accepted.