MODIFICATION
R -- Verbatim Reporting Services - Form 187
- Notice Date
- 6/5/2009
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 561492
— Court Reporting and Stenotype Services
- Contracting Office
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Administration, Division of Contracts, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, Maryland, 20852-2738, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20852-2738
- Solicitation Number
- RS-ASL-09-312
- Archive Date
- 6/30/2009
- Point of Contact
- Michael A. Turner, Phone: (301) 492-3632
- E-Mail Address
-
michael.turner@nrc.gov
(michael.turner@nrc.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- Form 187 The purpose of this amendment is to respond to questions received from potential offerors as follows: QUESTIONS: Q ANSWERS: A Q1. Will UPS/FedEx/commercial courier agents be permitted to pass through building security and make deliveries anywhere internally within the NRC headquarters complex? A1. No; NRC facilities are controlled-accessed. Q2. Will UPS/FedEx/commercial courier be required to deliver only to the mail room? A2. Yes; the NRC mail room is the designated point of delivery Q3. If a UPS/FedEx/other commercial courier is used for delivering material, what provision is there for reimbursement to the contractor for waiting time incurred by driver/delivery person due to building security delays, absence of receiving personnel, etc.? A3. There is no provision to pay for the time it takes for delivery. Q4. Will the delivery person have to go through building security each day and then wait for an escort up to the specified internal delivery point in order to complete timely delivery by 8:30am? A4. No; delivery to the NRC mail room is sufficient. The 8:30 delivery will only be required for daily delivery. All other delivery times will be 10:30. Q5. Will NRC have someone waiting in the lobby at 8:30am to accept packages or will the delivery person have to pass through building security in order to complete deliveries? A5. See A4. Q6. Will NRC require hand delivery by the contractor or by a commercial courier or other “hand delivery” means? A6. No; hand delivery can be delivery by a contractor employee, or someone such as a commercial courier that the contractor uses to make the delivery. Q7. Will delivery to the mailroom by 8:30am constitute compliance with timely delivery? A7. Yes. See A4. Q8. Given the nature of the level of security at NRC headquarters, is it customary for the reporter to be escorted at all times within any building? A8. Yes. Q9. When reporters arrive at NRC headquarters complex (and other NRC facilities), how much time should be allowed for passing through building security and being escorted to the appropriate meeting room? A9. Approximately 15 – 30 minutes. Q10. Since NRC has indicated its intent herewith to post electronic versions of transcribed proceedings on its website for free public access, will participants and other interested persons not have to pay the contractor for official transcripts? A10. They won’t have to, but if they want to buy one, they certainly can. In some cases the participants may still want to purchase transcripts directly from the contractor for expedience. Q11. On the pricing schedule, provision is made for transcription of video/cassettes/CDs; are sales permitted to the public or other third parties for this category of services? A11. As long as they are marked “authorized for sale” on the NRC work order request. Q12. Are there any prohibitions on sales to parties for work performed under the unclassified category of work? If so, please specify. A12. See A11. Q13. Will NRC provide at no cost to the contractor all software and IT operating programs required to be utilized for encryption/un-encryption of audio and text files or are these expenses to be incurred by the contractor? A13. Offerors should propose all costs that it deems are necessary in meeting the requirements of this solicitation. Q14. When encryption/un-encryption is required for electronic transfer of audio and text files between NRC user offices and the contractor, what provision is made for compensation for staff/personnel training and operating time, software ownership/updates, etc. and other contractor incurred expenses both at current volume of services performed and at expected future expanded volumes of required services? A14. See A.13. Q.15 Will NRC provide at no cost to the contractor the software and training to comply with the time-coded ascii requirements as specified in this contract? A15. See A.13. Q16. If not, what provision is made to compensate the contractor for personnel time spent in preparation and training for the unique and special aspects of time-coded ascii as required by NRC? A16. See A13. Q17. Further, is the contractor to be compensated in any way for ongoing costs associated with both present levels and future expected expanded levels of time-coded ascii transcripts? A17. See A13. Q18. What provision is made for compensation to the contractor for new technologies adopted by NRC and required to be utilized by the contractor? A18. Within scope changes to the resultant contract would be handled pursuant with the Changes clause. Q19. On the pricing schedule, deliveries are indicated 10 day, 7 day, 3 day, etc., does this use of the word “day” refer to business days or calendar days? A19. Business days. Q20. Do any users of the contract have the authority to require or request any special binding materials for the transcript deliverables? A20. Yes, it will be as indicated on the work order request. (Specifically, there is an occasional request for spiral binding on a minuscript copy.) Q21. What provision is made for compensating the contractor for providing Spanish speaking court reporters and/or transcribers? A21. There is no extra compensation for this; it is a rare occurrence, happening on average twice per year. Q22. What locations, in addition to Puerto Rico, does NRC contemplate requiring Spanish speaking court reporters and/or transcribers? A22. The NRC does not anticipate the need in other locations although, we can not rule others out completely. Q23. Will the resulting official verbatim record be required to be transcribed in Spanish, Spanish and English, English only? A23. English only. Q24. Are the Spanish speaking court reporters/transcribers (Section 4.3) required to be bi-lingual in English as well? A24. It may not be necessary, as long as the final transcript is in English. Q25. Will all official verbatim proceedings which involve a Spanish speaking court reporter require the record to be translated in to English, into Spanish or both? A25. Translated into English. Q26. What provision is made for additional compensation to the contractor for reporting and transcribing the extremely technical content of the numerous and frequent NRC proceedings in which the discussion is conducted in heavily accented English and spoken by people for whom English is not their primary language? A26. No additional compensation. Q27. Has NRC, consistent with similar patterns elsewhere, adopted the practice of having witnesses submit direct testimony in writing for inclusion in to the official record of hearings, which is referred to as Pre-filed Testimony? A27. It may be writing or, some other format as on a CD, however it is submitted, it is to be included in the transcript when so directed. Pre-filed testimony is submitted ahead of the hearing, but sometimes there are changes made to the actual testimony when it is accepted into the record on the day of the hearing(s). Q28. Does this result in shorter hearing duration “on-the-record”? A28. It could result in a shorter hearing duration. Q29. Despite having shorter “on-the-record” proceedings is the contractor required to include these witnesses’ pre-filed testimony in the official transcript instead of being paid for the pages of verbatim court reporting to capture this testimony? A.29. If it is “read” into the record, it has the normal compensation. If it is added to the record “after the fact” in paper or, some other form, and copies are made, the copies are paid at the page rate as designated (in the contract) for copies. Q30. Will additional time be allowed to the contractor for delivery of transcripts of proceedings (or portions thereof) that occur during non-regular hours? A30. If a proceeding lasts past 6:00 pm local time, an additional day will be allowed for the delivery of the portion that occurs after 6:00 pm. An exception would be in the case of an onsite hearing, etc., requiring next day delivery. Q31. Will the NRC reimburse the contractor for travel expenses for the frequently remote locations requiring a court reporter? A31. See A13. Q32. How long does it take, from the time of application, for the NRC Security Office to issue clearances required for classified proceedings? A32. Building access/safeguards – approximately 4 weeks. L and Q 6 weeks if all goes smoothly and no follow-up questions or additional information is required. Usually, that is not the case, and it takes longer. If Security asks questions, it is incumbent upon the contractor to reply promptly so that the process proceeds as quickly as possible. Q33. How will NRC handle classified assignments while waiting for the security office to process contractor personnel? A33. That is an internal NRC issue. The contractor is responsible for submitting applications promptly, as well as following up if there are questions. See A32. Q34. Are these copies for Internal NRC use or are they distributed to other government agencies or to third parties? A34. The copies that are indicated on the work order request are for internal NRC use and are not distributed to other parties of the meetings/proceedings. However, we do reserve the right to post transcripts on the NRC website where third parties could download them. Q35. We do not see where Form 187 is attached to Solicitation No. RS-ASL-09-312. Could you please point me in the right direction for this? A35. See attachment to this amendment. Q36. Section 4.3 indicates that “the contractor shall provide a Spanish speaking reporter/transcriber when necessary in place such as Puerto Rico.” If a Spanish speaking reporter/transcriber is required, will the proceedings be conducted entirely in Spanish or will an interpreter be present? In the past 12 months, how many times has there been a request for a Spanish speaking reporter? A36. There may or may not be an interpreter present usually, there is not. The interview (it is not a proceeding as such; it is an investigator asking questions of someone who replies in Spanish) is not conducted entirely in Spanish. There have only been one or two times in the past year that Spanish speaking has been requested. Q37. What percentage of the work will be classified? A37. That is an unknown, but in the past it has not exceeded 2%. Q.38. What percentage of classified proceedings is expected to be held outside of the DC area? When a classified proceeding takes place outside of DC, will the reporter need to have a notary public license for the state in which the proceeding takes place? A38. A very small percent, if any. There has been no classified work outside of DC in the past 8 years. This may change with the High Level Waste Proceeding which will be held in part, in Las Vegas. The plan is, if there are any classified portions to try and hold them in DC. The only classified we have had in the past year, were pre-recorded (by NRC employees) CD's or tapes that were mailed directly to the reporting company for transcription. Yes, sometimes notaries are required. Q39. If a reporter is required to travel for classified work, will the NRC pay for the cost of travel? A39. See A13 Q40. Will the NRC consider price/cost schedules in a format other than the one provided? A40. See A13 Q41 Could you please clarify what is meant by “multiple, simultaneous reporting” as referenced in Section 1.0 of the Statement of Work? A41. This means there could be meetings, hearings etc. being conducted on the same day(s) in different locations or, at the same time at the same location. For example, different offices at Headquarters, in Rockville could be holding meetings at the same time on the same day thus, requiring more than one reporter.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/NRC/OA/DCPM/RS-ASL-09-312/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Administration, Division of Contracts, Mailstop: TWB-01B10M, Washington, District of Columbia, 20555, United States
- Zip Code: 20555
- Zip Code: 20555
- Record
- SN01837005-W 20090607/090605234614-ac13bb1ae172ca086c70f6d3889e5749 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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