The purpose of this Pre-Solicitation Amendment 4 is to clarify the FAR 15.202 Advisory Multi-Step Process as it relates to the resultant acquisition. The original Pre-Solicitation Notice is being restated with additional guidance to emphasize the process being used and the requirements for participation in the acquisition/solicitation. This Pre-Solicitation Notice is issued under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 15.202, Advisory Multi-Step Process. The Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), on behalf of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Financial Services Center (VA-FSC), is seeking qualified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses to provide a full range of non-personal on-site support services of both Administrative and Professional to the VA-FSC primarily at their location in Austin, Texas with some services in Waco, Texas. This acquisition is 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses in accordance with FAR 19.14. In addition, the Government has determined that some of the Administrative Support Services may be fulfilled through a teaming arrangement/partnership with AbilityOne and the Government highly encourages offerors to partner with AbilityOne in accordance with FAR 8.7 and will be evaluated in accordance with Section M of the Request for Proposal (RFP). The Administrative Support Services include such activities as accounting which includes medical claims data entry, medical voucher examination bulk claims processing and submission, payment processing, payment resolution, permanent change station travel claims preparation and processing, customer support, help desk, VA-wide Temporary Duty and local travel processing. In addition to accounting, Administrative Support Services also include such activities as supporting the travel help desk, travel system administration, travel system acceptance testing, VA station and vendor help desk, permanent change station counseling, mail receipt and sorting, document scanning, secretarial functions, analyzing and establishing vendor records, vendor file cleansing, and warehouse services. The Professional Support Services include such activities as writing and editing technical documents, performing financial statement audits, and conducting grant and/or contract audits. The Acquisition Services Directorate may award multiple Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract(s) which will be for Task Orders on a Labor-Hour or Firm-Fixed-Price basis. The anticipated contract award(s) will be for a base year with four (4) one-year options. A minimum of $3,000.00 is guaranteed over the life of each contract. The aggregate maximum amount of this requirement including the base and all option years of all contracts awarded shall not exceed $350,000,000.00. In addition to the potential award of multiple IDIQ contract(s), this competitive acquisition is also anticipated to include the award of three (3) initial Task Orders. The three (3) initial Task Orders are for Administrative Support Services and are anticipated to be awarded at the time of award of the IDIQ contracts. Also, included in the competition for evaluation purposes in accordance with Section M of the RFP will be a sample task order for Professional Support Services. This acquisition is a Performance-Based, Commercial Item Acquisition conducted under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Items, FAR Part 15 - Contracting by Negotiation, FAR Subpart 16.5 - Indefinite-Delivery Contracts, and FAR Subpart 19.14 - Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement Program. The NAICS code for this requirement is 561110, Office Administrative Services with a Size Standard of $7.0 million. The primary location for the majority of support services will be in Austin, Texas and a second location will be in Waco, Texas. Travel is not authorized by contractor personnel in the normal performance of the majority of the services provided under the IDIQ contract(s). Hence, the Government requires contractor personnel to be within the local areas of both Austin and Waco, Texas to be readily available to fulfill an immediate requirement of the VA-FSC. Only if the Government requires travel to a location over fifty miles one-way from these normal places of performance of the on-site services, then allowable travel charges will be reimbursed in accordance with current Federal Travel Regulations. In addition, travel may be allowable if over fifty miles one-way under the extenuating circumstances which are necessitated if the COOP plan is implemented. G&A or profit will not be allowed on travel costs. Response Overview: As stated, the Government intends to use FAR 15.202 Advisory Multi-Step Process as a means of advising offerors about their potential to be viable competitors. In order to participate in the acquisition/solicitation, potential prime contractors MUST submit quality capability statements demonstrating: 1) Ability to provide these types of services under an IDIQ contract of this magnitude, breadth, and depth;2) Established procedures and resources for providing additional personnel when there are increased immediate needs for Administrative and Professional Support Services, and 3) Ability to provide local personnel in both Austin and Waco, Texas for all Task Orders under the IDIQ. The required information submitted shall be typed, single-spaced, with one inch margins, using Times New Roman or Arial (or equivalent) in 11 font size, and unreduced in size on 8-1/2" by 11" pages, not exceeding eight (8) single sided pages. Any content in excess of eight (8) pages will not be considered. The required information shall be submitted via email with D11PS19003 Advisory Multi-Step Process in the subject line to
[email protected] and
[email protected] no later than 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday, October 3, 2011. Potential prime contractors who already submitted capability statements prior to this amendment DO NOT need to resubmit their capability statement, as the Government has already begun to assess the capability statements received. Once the Government has reviewed the information, offerors may be contacted for clarifying information, and once the clarifying information is provided, the Government will issue a written opinion advising offerors about their potential to be a viable competitor. Response Evaluation: The required information submitted will be assessed using the following criteria: 1) Demonstrated capability of providing services of the IDIQ magnitude, breadth, and depth;2) Demonstrated procedures established for providing additional personnel when needed; and3) Ability to provide local personnel in Austin and Waco, Texas for the services required under the IDIQ and Task Orders, as the Government will not be reimbursing for travel to these normal places of performance. The intent of the Government is to provide feedback to potential offerors to help make an informed decision about whether to participate in the acquisition. However, notwithstanding the advice provided by the Government in response to their submissions, offerors may participate in the resultant acquisition. The required capability statement is the initial step in the Advisory Multi-Step Process and only potential prime contractors who submit a capability statement will be eligible to receive a copy of the resultant RFP. The RFP will NOT be posted to FedBizOpps. Questions related to this Pre-Solicitation Notice and Amendments must be submitted by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Friday, September 23, 2011 via email to
[email protected] with D11PS19003 Questions in the subject line. Only questions not already answered in the Amendment posted on September 2, 2011 will be accepted or answered. Questions submitted after the deadline or telephoned questions will NOT be accepted or answered.