R--Court Reporting Services

In accordance with the 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1614.110, the Memphis VA Medical Center (VAMC) must provide court reporting services for each Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Disciplinary Appeals Board (DAB), grievance and arbitration hearing. Each session of the hearing shall be recorded verbatim by shorthand, mechanical means, electronic sound recording, or any other method, subject to the discretion and approval of the judge. The Memphis VAMC is seeking a contractor to perform court reporting services. The Contractor s will provide these services, as needed, as part of the hearing procedure. The Memphis VAMC estimates 20 hearings will occur each year. These are estimates only and do not obligate the Government to place orders for the amounts shown. The estimate for contract court reporting service subject to this contact is three (3) full reporting days and six (6) overtime hours, per hearing. These are estimates only and do not obligate the Government to place orders for the amounts shown. The contractor shall provide reporters who perform reporting services and transcription services in accordance with 29 CFR 1614.110 and the terms of this contract. The Memphis VAMC estimates that a minimum of one (1) contract reporter may be required. The contractor and all reporters working under the contract shall observe, comply with, and be bound by the contracting officer s instructions in matters affecting the composition of their record, the public or private nature of the proceedings, the adjournment of the proceedings to other times or places, the appropriate demeanor of the reporters, and other matters of like character. REQUIREMENTS The contractor shall maintain adequate staffing of reporters who hold the following qualifications: - Each reporter shall possess a minimum qualification of at least four years of prime court reporting experience; and - Each reporter shall be qualified by testing under the registry of professional reports of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) or have passed an equivalent qualifying examination. The proposed reporter may qualify without NCRA testing if they possess an equivalent certification. The Court Reporter shall hold the certification as a National Court Reports Association (NCRA) Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), or equivalent (determination of equivalency at the discretion of VAMC). Appropriate credentials shall be provided within one (1) week upon request. Court reporter must possess the ability to record and transcribe 180 words per minute for literary matter, 200 words per minute for each hearing and 225 words per minute for testimony, at 95% accuracy within 3.5 hours. - Each court reporter assigned to a hearing shall complete VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Training VA10176 and Privacy and HIPAA Training VA10203 prior to arriving for court reporter duties and shall provide to the COR a copy of the training certificates upon arrival and the training shall be accomplished annually thereafter. REFERENCES - 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1614.110 Final Action by Agencies The VA is contemplating a base year with 1 option year. Services will begin on October 1, 2018. The anticipated contract type will be a firm fixed-price, Blanket Purchase Agreement. The solicitation will be posted to FedBizOpp website on or about August 24, 2018. This date is subject to change. All contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management database (www.SAM.gov) when proposals are received and for the awardee at time of award to be eligible for award of a contract. All contractors must have an active Vendor Information Pages account (https://www.vip.vetbiz.gov/) reflecting they are currently registered as an SDVOSB. No further information will be provided prior to posting of the RFQ. The point of contact for this pre-solicitation notice is David Milner, Contract Specialist, at [email protected].