SOLICITATION NOTICE
65 -- VISN 1 Optical IDIQ
- Notice Date
- 12/27/2024 5:46:32 AM
- Notice Type
- Solicitation
- NAICS
- 339115
— Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- 241-NETWORK CONTRACT OFFICE 01 (36C241) TOGUS ME 04330 USA
- ZIP Code
- 04330
- Solicitation Number
- 36C24124R0073
- Response Due
- 1/2/2025 7:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 02/01/2025
- Point of Contact
- Divianna N Mathurin, Contract Specialist
- E-Mail Address
-
Divianna.Mathurin@va.gov
(Divianna.Mathurin@va.gov)
- Awardee
- null
- Description
- The following is a list of requested clarifications related to� Solicitation 36C24124R0073 Amendment 0001: Can VA please explain why it has decided to use Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluation criteria for this solicitation instead of Best Value? Other recent solicitations in VISN 1 that were subsequently cancelled were to be awarded using Best Value. Can VA please change evaluation criteria to Best Value for this solicitation? After careful consideration, the criteria will not change. Will veterans be provided with the opportunity to purchase upgrades to their contract pair such as AR coatings, Transitions, etc and to make additional out-of-pocket purchases such as 2nd pairs, sunglasses, etc ? No product upgrades or commissions will be offered to Veterans for a price or for additional profit or sale of products separate from agreed upon provisions in this contract by VHA and the optical vendor; a separate agreement is required for this to begin. The Contracting Officer and COR must be informed in writing of any discussions and be kept abreast of progress with weekly updates at a minimum. In the price schedule what do CLINS 45AA to 45AE represent? Same for 48AA to 48AE and other similar CLINS for which there are no quantities listed. These are all sub-clins, so 45 is for Photogrey frames and lenses and 48 are for High Index frames and lenses. The sub-clins AA-AE represent the different types of lenses in case the vendor would like to break it down by quantities. A document called PDS VISN1 Special Data Request Sep 2024.xlsx was posted to sam.gov along with the solicitation but was inaccessible. Can VA please repost? Contracting realized this was not applicable for posting. This documentation was removed from the solicitation. Please confirm that offerors are to provide both a frame catalog and a frame sample kit. If a frame sample kit is to be provided with the offerors proposals please advise as to whom it should be sent to along with address. Yes, catalogs should be provided with the sample kit, please see section 6.2 in the SOW. This should be addressed to Pedro Lara, Bedford VA Medical Center, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA 01730, an amendment will follow. VA states in evaluation criteria that prices will only be evaluated for reasonableness . What does this mean? What data is VA using to confirm whether a price is reasonable or not? Does reasonable take into consideration whether a price may be unreasonably low or high? Contracting will be using enterprise wide date from similar procurement to confirm whether a price is reasonable or not. Are we correct to understand that VA is only evaluating an offeror s 80 frames (Technical Acceptability Standard) and price for the awarding of this contract? Will VA please consider evaluating additional criteria such as past performance in providing eyeglasses to the VA and eyeglass manufacturing experience as part of a more comprehensive review to determine the most suitable offeror for this award? No changes. Can VA please provide a checklist of all the forms that are required to be submitted with offerors proposals? The solicitation will be amended to include the following list of forms required to be submitted with offerors proposals. All Offerors shall complete the following: Completed response to 52.212-3(b) and any other sections of 52.212-3 as applicable to this procurement. Ensure that your entity has completed registration within the SAM system. Complete the certification in reference Clause 852.219-76 - VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting-Certificate of Compliance for Supplies and Products. Manufacture of eyeglasses: Please explain in detail how you will conform with either the limitations on subcontracting as a manufacturer described in 13 CFR 125.6 or with the nonmanufacturer rule described in 13 CFR 125.6 and 13 CFR 121.406. For this acquisition the CO is not aware of either an existing individual or class waiver of the non-manufacturer rule. Copy of 2023 VETS-4212 Report or Filing Verification. Copy of Sample Frame Kit packing slips and tracking numbers for each sample frame kit (labeled by site), which were detailed in section 2.4 of the Performance Work Statement in the solicitation. In addition, the offeror shall provide information about terminations or cure notices for any Federal, State, local government, military, or private contracts or service agreements for themselves or any proposed subcontractor(s) or teaming partner(s). Contracts should be of similar type, scope, size and complexity of this solicitation and within the last eight (8) years. The following information is required: a. Type of contract (services provided) b. Contract number c. Date of award d. Date of termination or Cure Notice e. Location f. Contract dollar value g. Name of contractor the contract was with h. Contractor s point of contact (name, phone number and email address) i. Detailed explanation of why the contract was terminated and/or issued a cure notice j. Resolution/corrective action (if any) If there are no contracts or services agreements fitting the criteria outlined above, the Offeror shall provide a statement indicating as such. Please confirm that 52.225-1, Buy American Supplies (OCT 2022) (41 U.S.C. chapter 83) applies to the solicitation, and should be check marked on page 76 of the solicitation? No, this clause does not apply. PWS 2.1: Recent VA eyeglasses solicitations require delivery in 7 business day, which is consistent with commercial practice. Will VA change the delivery timeframe to 7 business days? No changes. PWS 2.2: Can the reporting time frame be changed to 1 business day to avoid issues where the contractor would be required to report to VA when the VA itself is closed? Yes, this can be changed to 1 business day, an amendment will follow. PWS 5.2e: Mentions progressive lens style / layout shall be the same for all materials from ACCU Lens, Clarity Plus or equivalent. Please confirm that or equal items are acceptable for any brand name items requested in this section. Yes or equal items are acceptable. Please confirm if a physical frame kit required with the proposal. Or are a frame list and catalog sufficient to meet the response requirements. Yes, frame kits along with a catalog are required. PWS 8.1. Please clarify if the VA will be using the 4-Sight Automated Eyeglasses Ordering System to place orders on the contract. Yes, VISN 1 will utilize the 4-Sight Automated Eyeglasses Ordering System to place orders on the contract. PWS 8.7: Credit card processing for VA purchase agents with Government credit cards occurs directly in the VA and contractor computer systems. Please clarify how VA envisions the contractor providing a credit card receipt and signed acceptance receipt. Please disregard. This section 8.7 will be removed via amendment. PWS 8.7: Mentions In those instances when the eyeglasses are shipped to the facility, the Government Purchase Card shall not be charged until the eyeglass pair(s) are delivered and accepted at the facility and notified by the Prosthetic Service, CORs or purchasing agent via email or telephone contact. Will the VA change this to match the invoicing method used for shipments to veterans, Contractor may charge the Government Purchase Card after verification of shipment to veteran via mail. ? Please disregard. This section 8.7 will be removed via amendment. PWS 13.2: It is common practice on VA eyeglasses contracts for comment cards to be returned to the contractor first. Our understanding of the reason for this is so the contractor can provide the fastest possible resolution of any complaints or eyeglasses issues. Can the VA adjust this requirement for cards to go the Contractor first? All comments must still be reported to VA, in accordance with the contract. This section will be amended in accordance with your statement. Is the contractor authorized to use an online customer comment survey in conjunction with paper comment cards? Experience shows many Veterans prefer this option. Seek clarification from Legal. QASP item 3 shows two calculation methods. Can VA clarify which method is intended for use by VA? We recommend the first method, which measures the performance of the entire population of orders for the period, rather than a sample of orders which is subject to sampling error. No changes, both reports are needed to track Accuracy of Eyeglass Fabrication and Prescriptions. Will the VA adjust the denominator of QASP item 5 to total orders which is the common practice on VA contracts? Using total number of surveys received may inaccurately assess the contractor s performance based solely on how many Veterans choose to respond (a factor outside of the contractor s control), rather than actual patient satisfaction. Seek clarification from Legal. For any states in VISN 1 that do not require ABO for optician licensure or for commercial practice, would the VA consider a waiver of the ABO requirement on a case-by-case basis, as long as the optician is trained, has 2 years of experience and is performing in accordance with the contract requirements? This solution has been accepted in other VISN contracts. An amendment will be published to state For states in New England that require the licensure of opticians, the offeror will provide proof of licensure. For those states that do not require licensure, certification/registration is required . It seems that the quantities are low for some Add-on CLINS and Sub-CLINS. Please confirm the quantities listed are correct. No changes. The quantity for CLIN 0068 appears low, please confirm the quantity. Agreed, this will be amended to show 51,168 optician hours annually. Page 91 states Should more than the requested frames be submitted for evaluation, only the first thirty (30) frames each for the men s and women s category and the first twenty (20) for the unisex category will be evaluated. Does this mean the offer should have no more than the 80 total frames, or that only the first 80 will be evaluated, but the offeror can offer more frames for inclusion on the resulting contract? Only the first 80 will be evaluated, but the offeror can offer more frames for inclusion on the resulting contract. Page 91: please clarify if the deadline for submission of questions is Dec 10th or if the deadline is 3 business days prior to the due date of proposals. If the question requires a substantial change then an amendment will be posted. Regarding titanium frame requirements, please confirm if flex titanium frames are acceptable. If so, please also confirm whether flex temples for flex titanium styles will serve as an adequate replacement for spring hinges, as both are flexible to fit the patient s face, and the majority of titanium frames do not include spring hinges. Similar clarifications were made in the VISN 2 Upstate solicitation and VISN 7 solicitation, with flex titanium frames and flex hinges both being acceptable for all titanium frame requirements. Flex titanium frame with flex titanium temples are OK (without spring).
- Web Link
-
SAM.gov Permalink
(https://sam.gov/opp/33b73aca62e448fa89a3ff0db6ef94d3/view)
- Record
- SN07301888-F 20241229/241227230100 (samdaily.us)
- Source
-
SAM.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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