RFP-90-016 SECTIONL INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES L. 1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (ED 311-1) (MARCH 1986) The Government contemplates award of a Cost Plus Fixed Fee type contract from this solicitation. (A) Sufficient funds are not presently available to cover the total cost of the complete project described in this solicitation. However, it is the Government's intention to negotiate and award a contract using the incremental funding concepts described in the clause entitled "Limitation of Funds" in FAR 52.232-22. Under that clause, which will be included in the resultant contract, initial funds will be obligated under the contract to cover an estimated base performance period. Additional funds are intended to be allotted to the contract by contract modification, up to and including the full estimated cost of the entire period of performance. This intent notwithstanding, the Government will not be obligated to reimburse the contractor for costs incurred in excess of the periodic allotments, nor will the contractor be obligated to perform in excess of the amount allotted. (B) The Limitation of Funds clause in FAR 52. 232-20 shall supersede the Limitation of Funds clause in the event the contract becomes fully funded. L. 3 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS (ALTERNATE 1) (ED 311-2A) (MARCH 1986) The following instructions establish the acceptable minimum requirements for the format and content of proposals: Your special attention is directed to the requirements for technical and business proposals to be submitted in accordance with these instructions. Any resultant contract shall include the general provisions applicable to the selected offeror's organization and type of contract awarded. Copies of general provisions may be obtained by contacting the Contracting Officer. Any additional clauses required by public law, executive order, or acquisition regulations, in effect at the time of execution of the proposed contract, will be included. The proposal must be prepared in two parts: A "Technical Proposal" RFP-90-016 and a "Business Proposal. " Each of the parts shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of evaluation of the other. The technical proposal must not contain reference to cost; however, resource information, such as data concerning labor hours and categories, materials, subcontracts, etc., must be contained in the technical proposal so that your understanding of the scope of the work may be evaluated. It must disclose your technical approach in sufficient detail to provide a clear and concise presentation that includes, but is not limited to, the requirements of the technical proposal instructions. The proposal must be signed by an official authorized to bind your organization. You must submit an original and 8 copies of your technical proposal and an original and 4 copies of your business proposal to: U. S. Department of Education GSA Building, Room 3633 (Mail Stop 4725) You may, at your discretion, submit alternate proposals, or proposals which deviate from the requirements; PROVIDED, that you also submit a proposal for performance of the work, as specified in the statement of work. These proposals may be considered if overall performance would be improved or not compromised and if they are in the best interest of the Government. Alternate proposals, or deviations from any requirements of this RFP, must be clearly identified. The Government will evaluate proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in Section M of this request for proposals. It is understood that your proposal will become part of the official contract file. The RFP does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal. In addition, the Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this proposed acquisition. To assist you in the preparation of your proposal, the Government estimates the effort to perform this contract to be as stated below. These numbers are furnished for the offeror's information only and are not considered restrictive for proposal purposes. RFP-90-016 L. 4 TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS (ED 311-3) (MARCH 1986) Proposals which merely offer to conduct a program in accordance with the requirements of the Government's scope of work will not be eligible for award. You must submit an explanation of the proposed technical approach in conjunction with the tasks to be performed in achieving the project objectives. A detailed work plan must be submitted indicating how each aspect of the statement of work is to be accomplished. Your technical approach should be in as much detail as you consider necessary to fully explain your proposed technical approach or method. The technical proposal should reflect a clear understanding of the nature of the work being undertaken. The technical proposal must include information on how the projcet is to be organized, staffed, and managed. Information should be provided which will demonstrate your understanding and management of important events or tasks. You must explain how the management and coordination of consultant and/or subcontractor efforts will be accomplished. The technical proposal must include a list of names and proposed duties of the professional personnel, consultants, and key subcontractor employees assigned to the project. Their resumes should be included and should contain information on education, background, recent experience, and specific requirement related or technical accomplishments. The approximate percentage of time each individual will be available for this project must be included. The proposed staff hours for each of the above individuals should be allocated against each task or subtask for the project. The technical proposal must provide the general background, experience, and qualifications of the organization. Similar or related contracts, subcontracts, or grants should be included and contain the name of the customer, contract or grant number, dollar amount, time of performance, and the names and telephone numbers of the contracting officer's technical representative or project officer and contracting/grants officer. The technical proposal must contain a discussion of present or proposed facilities and equipment which will be used in the performance of the contract. The technical proposal must be prepared and submitted in the following format: (See pages 42 - 44). RFP-90-016 III. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS A. Authorship of the proposal. Indicate for each section. Credit for a well-written proposal depends on authors having a significant role to play in the performance of the contract. B. C. Cost-related assumptions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Bulletins to the field. Assume 3,200 copies of each bulletin, individually addressed and mailed except for copies to be delivered to the COTR. Compensation and travel for members of advisory group. Consulting fees shall not exceed $250 per day, and shall not be payable to State or Federal government salaried employees. Assume travel for six of the eight members: five two-day trips to Washington, D.C. (plus a sixth trip for attendance at the national conference under the option). Compensation for reporting, interviewing, and recordkeeping burden of selected projects. Total compensation shall not exceed $450,000, and shall be apportioned on the basis of actual burden and performance in behalf of the study. This is exclusive of travel and per diem for special training of project personnel. Travel and per diem for local project trainees. Assume a Commissioned papers and National conference (Optional Departures from the cost assumptions of the RFP Offerors are encouraged to exercise independent judgment with respect to the best methods of attaining the objectives of this study. Where this entails departures from cost-related assumptions contained in this RFP, the relative merits and costs of proposed alternatives should be clearly indicated. Proposals to adopt more costly methods in some areas of the study must be linked to proposals for achieving offsetting savings in other D. RFP-90-016 Importance of responding to the unique challenges of this The success of this study is critically dependent on the quality of the data the contractor is able to obtain over a 30-month period from a national sample of 150 local service providers. The risks of this type of study are numerous and encouraging precedents are hard to find. Accordingly, the government is seeking original proposals that take these challenges and risks explicitly into account and offer imaginative but practical approaches to meeting the challenges and achieving the objectives of the study. This Statement of Work encourages such proposals First, wherever possible, tasks are defined (This is in three ways. generically at a rather high level of generality. especially true of the critical Phase Four tasks.) Second, offerors are expressly urged to avoid wholly routine task narratives. (See the next section on Organization of Proposals.) Finally, the evaluation criteria place a heavy emphasis on problem-oriented proposals. (See Factors 1-3, which account for 60 out of 100 rating points.) E. Organization of technical proposals All proposals shall provide a detailed table of contents, with authorship indicated, and the following major sections: 1. Overview of approach. 2. Approach to problems of management, scheduling, and 3. 4. 5. 6. Approach to problems of quality control. Approach to problems of analysis. Proposed staff (their qualifications, experience, and assignments relative to the three types of problems, with time loadings by task and measures of overall commitment to the contract during the period of performance.) Additional commentary on specific tasks. (No discussion is required for tasks judged to be purely routine in their performance.) 7. 8. Staff resumes. Summary of ADP requirements. (Summarize the ADP requirements separately discussed in sections 2, 3, 4, or 6. Where use of the government's mainframe computer facility is contemplated, provide sufficient information to support estimates of the government's costs--eg: CPU time, required turnaround, etc.) |