8.1 CONTRACT MANAGER
8.1.2 COORDINATION WITH THE STATE CONTRACT MANAGER
Any contract user that is unable to resolve disputes with a contractor shall refer those disputes to the State Contract Manager for resolution. Any questions related to performance of the work of the contract by contract users shall be directed to the State Contract Manager. The contractor may contact the State Contract Manager if the contractor can not resolve a dispute with contract users.
October 31, 2006
To:
All Interested Bidders
RE: SOLICITATION #07-X-39075
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) SERVICES
Bid
Due
Date: 12/1/06 (2:00 PM Eastern Time)
ADDENDUM #01
The following constitutes Addendum #01 to the above-referenced solicitation.
Please be advised that this RFP is open to all bidders, Small Business Enterprises and
non-Small Business Enterprises. This RFP is a “Partial” Set-Aside. Therefore, if a firm is
not a Small Business, it can submit a response to this RFP. Please refer to Section
4.4.2.2 and Section 7.2 of the RFP Text for information regarding the Set-Aside
compliance and Final Contract Award of this RFP.
It is the bidder’s responsibility to ensure that all changes are incorporated into the original
RFP.
November 22, 2006
To: All Interested Bidders
RE: SOLICITATION # #07-X-39075
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) SERVICES
Bid Due Date: December 6, 2006 (2:00 PM Eastern Time)
ADDENDUM #2
The following constitutes Addendum #2 to the above-referenced solicitation.
Please be advised that the Bid Open Date has been changed. The new Bid Open Date is December 6, 2006.
It is the bidder’s responsibility to ensure that all changes are incorporated into the original RFP. All other instructions, terms and conditions of the RFP shall remain the same.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Services Solicitation Number 2007-X-39075
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
Note: Some of the questions have been paraphrased in the interest of readability and clarity. Each question is referenced by the appropriate RFP page number(s) and section where applicable.
# Page RFP Section Reference Question Answer 15 and Cover Sheet 4.4.2.2
The cover sheet and section RFP 4.4.2.2. (page 15)state that this is a “partial” Set-Aside Contract for Small Businesses. However, section 4.4.2.2 further states that (presumably all) bidders should provide evidence of small business registration. In addition, the Web site states, “This Advertising Bid Proposal is a Small Business/Subcontracting Set-Aside Procurement, which means that only those firms registered with the New Jersey Commerce and Economic Growth Commission (Commerce) on the date the bid proposal is received and opened will be eligible to receive a contract resulting from this procurement.” Can you clarify whether large businesses can respond to this RFP?
Please refer to Addendum 1.
2. 21
4.4.5.8
Can you clarify the subcontractor utilization rules for this contract? Specifically, are all bidders required to utilize subcontractors? If a bidder chooses not to utilize any subcontractors at all, is it necessary for the bidder to provide any sort of good faith effort documentation? If a bidder does include subcontractors on its team, is the bidder required to include subcontractors from all three small business categories?
Bidders are not required to use subcontractors. Please refer to the language in the
Subcontractor Set Aside Form for information regarding the “Good Faith Effort.” Bidders are required to complete the Notice of Intent to Subcontract whether or not it intends to utilize subcontractors. If it does use subcontractors, it is not required to include subcontractors from all three small business categories. It must however, indicate if the subcontractor is a Small Business and if so, which category of Small
Business is applicable. 3.
17
-
GIS Data Conversion Services
Is the number of years required 7 or 10? The words say 10 but the numbers state 7.
Seven (7)
4. -
This Contract is supposed to be a Small
Business Set-Aside contract, however there is a requirement that the respondents includes 25 references including 5 state government agencies and have a minimum of ten (7) corporate years of consulting experience. Is it possible to revise this section so that more
This is not a Small Business Set Aside contract. It is a partial Set- Aside contract. No, the requirement is the same for all bidders.
# Page RFP Section Reference Question Answer
legitimate NJ Small Businesses can qualify and/or compete?
5.
- Most if not all State Government work since October of 2003 has been done on state contract, so how are small businesses that are not currently on the state contract supposed to show NJ State work experience?
Experience can be from any State and/or local government. Not solely the State of New Jersey.
6.
12 - The link to the State’s Parcel Mapping Standard does not work. Can a copy of that standard be provided?
The link has been changed to match the RFP. The link should now be working. A copy of the Standard will not be provided.
7.
N/A - Can out-of-state firms submit a response to the RFP? If so, are there additional requirements for out of state firms to register in the State of New Jersey? Will in-state firms receive a preference in the review process?
Yes. No there are not additional requirements other than what is stated in the RFP. Only in cases of a tie bid would an in-state firm receive preference. 8.
N/A - Is there a listing of prime vendors who are potentially bidding on this requirement so we can make ourselves visible to them?
No there is not a list of vendors. All RFPs are posted to the web for download by any firm.
9.
6 1.2 RFP Section 1.2; Page 6. The current State Contract includes GPS services which this solicitation does not. Is the State planning on issuing a separate RFP for those services or is it letting that scope of services expire on January 16, 2007 where there will be no State Contract vehicle to obtain those services?
The State is not planning on issuing a separate RFP for GPS Services. The State has determined that it does not require GPS Services through a
contract mechanism at this time.
10.
15 4.4.2.2 The RFP identifies all three small business categories for the set-aside. Do we need to include all firms from all three categories or any one of the three on our team?
No. Any one category of a Small Business is
acceptable if a firm chooses to subcontract and utilize a Small Business firm.
11.
16 4.4.2.2 We meet the small business set aside, and we are submitting as the prime contractor. We want to include a subcontractor on our team for a specialized task. Do we need to seek a NJ small business entity as a subcontractor first or does the fact that we are a small business negate the need?
If you choose to
subcontract, you need to make a good faith effort to subcontract with a Small Business entity.
12.
24 5.8 Please confirm that the term "bid proposal" referenced in the first sentence of the second paragraph refers to the specific RFQ or mini RFP distributed by the using agency to the pool of selected contractor specific to the work performed and not the submittal due 12/1.
The term “bid proposal” refers to the bid proposal submitted in response to this RFP.
13.
26 5.19 Please confirm that prevailing wage does not apply to the services required under this contract.
Prevailing wage applies to all public contracts. Please refer to the
# Page RFP Section Reference Question Answer
website regarding this information at
http://www.nj.gov/labor/lss e/wagerate.htm
14.
28 5.22.3 Does the State want an insurance certificate included with the bid? If so, does the State have a specific form it requires?
Yes. The certificate must be from the Insurer.
15.
34 7.1.2.2 Does the sentence "The Director shall determine whether sufficient justification has been provided by the bidder to form the basis of his certification that the services cannot be performed in the United States." refer to the bidder's specific capability and in-house resources only? I ask because we firmly believe that all of the
requested services can be performed within the United States.
No, the sentence does not refer to the bidder's specific capabilities but to the service industry as a whole.
16.
13 3.1 The RFP states "Up to four (4) awards for each category/line item of GIS Services will be made, two (2) of which will be a Small Business Set- Aside, if possible." We assume this means that for each line item, one half of the awards will go to SBEs where possible. Is this assumption correct?
Yes.
17.
14 4.4 Are subcontractors required to submit any of the forms/certificates/certifications listed in Section 4.4? If so, can you please specify which of the forms they need to submit?
No. Regarding
subcontractors, the bidder is only required to submit the requested sub contractor information according to Section 4.4.1. and the Notice of Intent to subcontract form.
18.
17 4.4.4 Is there a time limit on the age of the project reference?
Project references should be within the last ten years.
19.
17 4.4.4 Can federal agencies, i.e. National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, United States Geological Survey, etc., also be used as project references to fulfill the requirement of 25 data conversion projects?
Yes. Federal agencies can be used as project references for GIS Planning, GIS Data Conversion, GIS
Enterprise and Application Development, and Mobile GIS Application
Development projects
20.
17 4.4.4 The RFP states that at least 5 references must be from state government agencies within the United States. How does the NJ define a state agency for the purposes of this RFP? For example, do metropolitan planning organizations where the charter/mandate comes from state legislation qualify as a state agency?
Any agency that is directly administered by a State official or appointee.
21.
21 4.4.5.8 Subcontractors -
The RFP states that if the bidder wants to use a subcontractor they must make a good faith effort
One SBE from any category is sufficient, however, if utilizing, every
# Page RFP Section Reference Question Answer
to meet the set-aside subcontracting targets of 5% for Cat 1, Cat 2, and Cat 3 respectively. Does this mean the bidder needs to try and
subcontract 3 separate SBEs; 1 from each category? Or is one SBE from any category sufficient?
effort should be made to subcontract 25% of the contract award.
22.
21 4.4.5.8 What does the state consider as documentation in support of a good faith effort to find a SBE subcontractor? Phone logs? Copies of email correspondence? What number of SBE contacts is considered sufficient to qualify as a good faith effort?
Written discussion of efforts made to contact and/or partner with SBEs is sufficient.
23.
Is the subcontractor references/project experience information count as part of the required 25 references specified under GIS Data Conversion Services (page 17, paragraph 2)? Or is the subcontractor reference/project information submitted separately from the bidders? If so how many references are required? The proposal does not specify the number of references and project experience for the subcontractor. We're assuming the subs do not need to provide the 25 references as required of the bidder. Is this assumption correct?
Yes. The subcontractor’s references/project experience may count as part of the required 25. However, if during the term of the contract the subcontractor is removed, the contractor will be required to engage another subcontractor that can meet the requirements of the references/ project experience. This
information must be provided in the letter to State requesting the addition of a new subcontractor.
24.
21 4.4.5.8 Can you clarify the 25% subcontractor
breakdown? I.e., does the 25% refer to 25 of the total contract, 25 of the subcontracting total, or 25 of all vendor awards%.
25% of the value of the specific contractor’s contract.
25.
Please confirm that a bidder need not respond to all four GIS Service categories/line items to be considered compliant with the RFP.
No. Bidders can respond to one, two, three or all four categories/line items.
26.
26 5.19 This section provides for price increases for activities covered by prevailing wage rates. Will the contract provide for annual price increases for activities not covered by prevailing wages? If so, how will those increases be determined?
No.
27.
3.1 Will this term contract be utilized for any time and materials contracts?
No. Section 3.1 Method of Operation states that 'Contractors are not permitted to submit time and material quotes'. 28.
Regarding the Mobile GIS Application
Development Services, will the State consider project experiences utilizing non-ArcPad software acceptable?
No. The State will not accept references for projects utilizing non- ArcPad software.
# Page RFP Section Reference Question Answer 29.
6 1.3.2 Submission of Bid Proposal - Is there an address to which to send an overnight courier as we are unable to send overnight couriers to PO Boxes?
The address is as follows: State of NJ-Purchase Bureau-33 West State Street-9th floor, Trenton, NJ 08625
30.
16-18 4.4.4 Technical Proposal - Could you please clarify whether references should be presented in the submitted proposal under Section 2 - Technical Proposal or in Section 3 - Organizational Support and Experience? Is contact information required for the references requested in this section as well as those requested on page 20, Section 4.4.5.6 Experience of Bidder on Contracts of Similar Size and Scope?
References should be submitted under Section 3. Yes, contact information is required for both
references and Experience of Bidder on Contracts of Similar Size and Scope.
31.
17-18 4.4.4 Technical Proposal - Can we use the same reference across multiple bid categories and RFP sections?
Yes.
32.
20 4.4.5.7 Financial Capability of the Bidder. We are a closely held, private corporation. Our audited financial statements are proprietary
information/trade secrets, the release of which would cause substantial harm to our competitive position. If the State requires audited financial statements would the State execute a non- disclosure agreement prohibiting disclosure to a third party unless required to do so through the operation of law, provided the State first contacts us in a reasonable period to allow us an
opportunity to defend against the disclosure?
No. The State will not sign a non-disclosure
agreement. The bidder should mark its financials “confidential”.
33.
28 5.22.3 Insurance - Professional Liability Insurance. We believe the State's intent regarding the last sentence of Section 5.22.3 is that retroactive coverage would begin no later than the effective date of the agreement. Can the state confirm this is the intent?
The contractor shall be required to obtain retroactive insurance coverage effective from the date that the contractor first received work under this contract.
34.
N/A - Do you have to have your business located in the State of New Jersey in order to respond to this RFP?
If you are not bidding as a Small Business, you do not need to be located in the State of NJ.