Description
The purpose of this amendment is to post answers to questions received, and to remove the local set-aside restriction. The Service reserves the right to award one or more BPA as result of this solicitation. Below are the questions and answers: Q: Which A/E or Interior Design firm is the incumbent? A: Yes, Esoarc Studio, Inc. Q: Is the threshold of up to $500,000 for each year or over the full five years?A: The $500,000 ceiling is for all five years. Q: Our Company is a women-owned business and would be the prime.Does this solicitation also require that the mechanical, electrical, plumbing consulting firm be women-owned?A: We mandate that 51% of the work must be accomplished by the prime, women-owned contractor; the remainder can be sub-contracted to other firms that do not have to meet those restrictions. Q: The description says: This is a local set-aside restricted to the Washington, DC and locations within 50 miles of Washington, DC. Can the prime women owned business have a joint-venture or subcontractor women-owned business outside the restriction area?Q: Are only qualified local Washington, DC and companies within 50 miles of Washington, DC allowed to submit? A: Above, under Amendment 1 this set aside has been removed to encourage maximum competition. Offerors however are informed that no per-diem nor travel funds will be made available under this solicitation. Q: I'm assuming we do not have to have a team of engineers for design build projects? This is strictly for architecture and interior services?A: No the qualified contractor does not have to have a design build team available. The Service anticipates there may be a need for design build throughout the life of the BPA however the main focus is on the quality of interior design services, customer service, and ability to apply greening requirements. Q: The solicitation states that the Government will not provide any equipment or property under this agreement. Can you please clarify if that means that all meetings will be done on-site but the majority of the actual "work" (i.e. creating drawings) can be done at an off-site location (i.e. our office)? A: That is correct; the majority of work is expected to occur at the contractor's facility. The contractor will be called upon to attend meetings at the Government facilities and walk the project site. The contractor also must be available sometimes on short notice to appear at the project site and/or meet with customers. Note that the Service does not have funds available to reimburse for travel to the site if the site is in the Washington, DC Metro area. Q: We are a small, woman owned business that performs all of the services required under this solicitation, except for generating construction documents. Can we sub-contract for that task? A: Yes if 51% of the work can still be performed by the prime. Q: Because the solicitation states that sub-contracting is acceptable with prior Government approval, will we need to reference the sub-contractor in a separate form 330, Part II at this time? A: Yes, you must list using the SF330 the firms you will be doing business with. Q: Does our sub-contractor need to be small business, woman owned as well?A: No Q: Can you please clarify if the contractor will perform design/build projects or manage them? Or both?A: It is up to the prime how the work will be distributed as long as 51% is performed by the prime contractor. Q: It states that interested firms must submit two paper copies of SF330, Part I and II. The solicitation then states that it must be submitted as one file, using MS Word or Adobe Acrobat. Can you please clarify if we need to submit both two (2) hard copies to you and an electronic file, or just one or the other?A: Companies may choose their method of submission: e-mail in one file or mail two paper copies.