Final Request for Proposal for JSC Grounds Maintenance and Pest Control Services III

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Amendment 1

The purpose of this Amendment is to release the Questions and Answers received at the Site Visit that was held on November 8, 2022 along with any questions that were sent to the following email addresses [email protected] and [email protected].

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You are invited to submit a proposal in response to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center’s (LaRC’s) Johnson Space Center (JSC) Grounds Maintenance and Pest Control Services III (GMAPS III) solicitation.  The principal purpose of this requirement is to provide basic grounds maintenance and pest control support services for facilities located at JSC, Ellington Field (EFD), the Sonny Carter Training Facility (SCTF), and the JSC Barge Dock Facility in Houston, Texas. The proposed services will include grounds maintenance (grass mowing, edging and tree and shrub pruning), pest control services (pest identification and control, pesticide and herbicide handling and chemical usage reports) and IDIQ task orders (hurricane cleanup, mosquito control and plant new trees). LaRC will serve as the buying office for this procurement while JSC will serve as the admin office.

NASA will conduct this acquisition as an 8(a) set-aside competition.  The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 561730 and the small business size standard is $8.5M.  

This competitive acquisition will result in a Firm-Fixed Price with Firm-Fixed Price Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Task Orders. The contract will have up to a 5-year period of performance (2-year base period, one 2-year option period, and one 1-year option period). 

The anticipated contract award date is April 1, 2023, with a June 1, 2023, contract performance start date. A 30-day phase-in period will be conducted. The contract will be performed at JSC, Ellington Field (EFD), the Sonny Carter Training Facility (SCTF), and the JSC Barge Dock Facility in Houston, Texas.

Offerors will be required to identify Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) as part of their proposal submission. If an OCI is identified, then the offeror will be required to submit an OCI plan. This plan will be evaluated by the Contracting Officer (CO) as part of the responsibility determination.

Potential offerors should pay close attention to all solicitation instructions; however, the following requirements list is summarized to assist in proposal development.  Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and the solicitation terms and conditions and provisions in sections L and M take precedence:

1. This procurement will be conducted using Price Performance Trade-off (PPTO) approach, meaning the source selection          evaluation and selection will be based on the Past Performance and Price factors and their relative importance as detailed in Section M.

2.  A site visit will be held on November 8, 2022, at NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston TX 77058-3696.  Further instructions can be found in the RFP Section L, FAR 52.237-1 Site Visit and NFS 1852.215-77 Preproposal/Pre-bid Conference.

3.  The Price Proposal – Volume III is detailed in Section L.19. When completing the pricing templates confirm that the computations are accurate and complete. Be aware that on the Summary Pricing Template you should not have to enter any data. The IDIQ Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) total value of $110,000 has been pre-populated in cell G.9.

4.  Exhibit B Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is currently being negotiated as it expires November 30, 2022.  If negotiations are completed prior to the proposal due date an amendment will be issued on SAM.gov to the RFP to provide the updated CBA to industry. Section L.19 the Price Proposal – Volume III provides additional detail on the CBA. Also be aware as stated in Section I.10 that you can contact the Business Representative from the represented CBA for additional information related to the CBA.

5.  Joint Venture Agreements: Joint Ventures (JV) are allowable on competitive 8(a) set-asides; however, the JV Agreement package or email notification of bid submittal by the JV must be received by the Small Business Administration (SBA) prior to proposal due date and the JV Agreement must be approved before award of any resulting contract. If you are contemplating a JV on this project, you must advise your assigned SBA Business Opportunity Specialist as soon as possible. It is also recommended that the agreement be submitted as soon as practical to ensure compliance with established regulations. For additional information, see 13 CFR § 124.513.

6.  Determination of Responsibility will be made prior to award in accordance with FAR 9.1. Prospective offerors and/or offerors’ shall have:

(a) Adequate financial resources or ability to obtain them.

(b) Comply with proposed performance schedule.

(c) Satisfactory performance record: (We define satisfactory performance as the following: Performance that meet contractual requirement. The contractual performance of the sub-elements contains some minor problems for which corrective action taken by the contractor appear or were satisfactory.).

(d) Satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics.

(e) Organization, experience, accounting, operations controls, technical skills, or ability to obtain them.

(f) Otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.

7.  The following guidance is provided for the labor relations provisions of the RFP:

Wage Determination (WD) 2015-5233, Revision 23 is applicable to the RFP and resultant contract and applies to all non-exempt labor categories that are not covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  This WD sets forth the minimum labor rates, health and welfare benefits, vacation/holiday leave, and sick leave for these labor categories.  Because this WD ends in an odd number (5233), each non-exempt employee (not covered by the CBA) is entitled to the minimum Health and Welfare benefit of $4.41 per hour. 

Current contract employees in the following labor categories are represented by the Southwest Laborer’s District Council:  Grounds Maintenance Labor, Grounds Maintenance Laborer II, Tractor Operator, Small Engine Mechanic, and Pest Controller.  The CBA is attached to this RFP.  The contractor is required to work with the union as long as the union is representative of the covered employees.  Offerors are refered to FAR 22.1002-3(a), Wage determinations based on collective bargaining agreements: “Successor contractors performing on contracts in excess of $2,500 for substantially the same services performed in the same locality must pay wages and fringe benefits (including accrued wages and benefits and prospective increases) at least equal to those contained in any bona fide collective bargaining agreement entered into under the predecessor contract.”

Offeror responsibilities include proposing exempt and non-exempt labor categories, based upon their own unique staffing approach.  29 CFR 541 defines exempt and non-exempt employees.  For service non-exempt employees, offerors must propose at least the minimum labor rates and fringe benefits for the mapped categories as stated in the WD or CBA.  If a labor category is covered by both the WD and CBA, then the wages and fringe benefits are set forth by the CBA.

This contract includes FAR 52.222-62, “Paid Sick Leave Under Executive Order 13706” (January 2022).    All exempt and non-exempt employee that are engaged in performing work on or in connection with this contract are entitled to Sick leave benefits.  Offerors are encouraged to review this clause in depth to ensure their proposals are responsive to this requirement for paid sick leave.

Questions regarding labor relations may be directed to the JSC Contractor Industrial Relations Officer,  Chrystal Wiseman at [email protected], or to the Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division at:  WHD | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)/ (1-866-487-2365).  

Offerors are encouraged to refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.212-1, INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS-COMMERCIAL ITEMS, in particular paragraph (g), which states that the Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors.

Documents related to this acquisition, including this letter, the solicitation, attachments, exhibits, any amendments and links to online reference/technical/bidders library will be attainable electronically from the World Wide Web through the Government-wide point of entry website at www.SAM.gov. Potential Offerors are requested to periodically monitor the websites for updates.

NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) clause 1852.215-84, OMBUDSMAN, is applicable.  The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html.

This RFP does not commit NASA LaRC or JSC to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA LaRC or JSC to procure or contract for these services.  This request is not an authorization to proceed and does not authorize payment for any charges incurred by the offeror for performing any of the work called for in this solicitation.

Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall be due no later than December 16, 2022 at 2:00 PM CST.

In accordance with NFS 1815.201(f), a “Blackout Notice” has been issued to NASA personnel.  All inquiries/communications pertaining to this acquisition shall be directed only to the Contracting Officer listed below.

All questions regarding this RFP should be submitted in writing, electronically to Natasha King at [email protected] and cc: [email protected] no later than 3:00 PM EST on November 30, 2022.  Offerors are encouraged to submit questions as soon as possible for consideration. 

Thank you for your support.  We look forward to receiving your proposals.