SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Reporting and Transcription Services for Committees and Subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Notice Date
- 4/28/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 921120
— Legislative Bodies
- Contracting Office
- United States House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk, Office of the Clerk, H-154, The Capitol, Washington, DC, 20515
- ZIP Code
- 20515
- Solicitation Number
- CLK05000181
- Response Due
- 6/23/2005
- Archive Date
- 7/8/2005
- Description
- The Reporting and Transcription Services required by the U.S. House of Representatives as described in the Statement of Work (Section C of the RFP) requires the services of trained and experienced specialty Contractors with the resources to carry out the contractual requirements in an accurate, professional and timely manner. Contracts may be issued to one or more vendors to cover all or part of the estimated requirements contained herein. In responding to this RFP, the bidder offers and agrees to furnish to the U.S. House of Representatives (hereinafter the ?House?), in Washington, D.C., reporting and transcription services for House Committees and Subcommittees at the prices set in Section B.2 Price Quotation Schedule, as may be ordered by the Clerk of the House (hereinafter known as the Contracting Officer (CO)). Scheduling of Reporting and Transcription services will be arranged by the Office of Official Reporters (OOR), on an as-needed basis during the period beginning not earlier than October 1, 2005, and ending September 30, 2007, with three (3) one-year option periods which can be exercised at the sole discretion of the House. Committee and Subcommittee volume and delivery data for FY04 are estimates only (see Section J Appendix B for estimates) and there is no commitment that any particular quantity of services will be needed or ordered. The selection of Primary Vendors and Rotating Pool Vendors will be based on corporate capabilities, management approach, past performance and cost as described in the submission. Hearing assignments will be made consistent with the procedure outlined in Section C.4 Bid and Committee Assignments Process. The House reserves the right to reject any bid for noncompliance with the RFP. Sample transcripts with electronic coding data may be requested prior to the award of a contract. TERMS OF CONTRACT This contract is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), fixed-price type contract. The contract will be for a base period of two (2) years, beginning not earlier than October 1, 2005, and ending September 30, 2007, with three (3) option periods of one (1) year each for exercising thereafter at the sole discretion of the House. SPECIFICATIONS A. General Specifications ? Vendors shall demonstrate the ability to perform consistent with Section C.5 Responsibilities of the Vendor. ? Hearing assignments will be made according to the procedures outlined in Section C.4 Bid and Committee Assignment Process. ? Regular Notice of hearing assignments shall be made telephonically by the Office of Official Reporters (OOR) by 3:00 p.m. EST, the business day prior to the scheduled hearing. Notification after that time shall be regarded as Late Notification. No sanction or penalty shall be assessed to any Vendor who refuses an assignment based on Late Notification. ? For each hearing covered, the Vendor shall provide an electronic transcript of the proceedings in the format compatible with the specifications contained in Section J Appendix D ?Electronic Data Specifications.? This electronic transcript shall be submitted as an e-mail attachment, free of viruses, addressed to the following e-mail address: transcripts@mail.house.gov , and must be received within the requested delivery time frame. Timely delivery as defined by this contract will be determined by the receipt of the electronic version of the transcript. ? In addition, one (1) original printed transcript, with all Laid-In inserts and committee submissions, in accordance with Section J Appendix C ?General Transcript Format Guidelines,? must be delivered to Room 1718, Longworth House Office Building, by a Vendor employee possessing a valid House ID card within three (3) business days following the transcript due date. ? Vendors will be paid the contracted rate based on the number of transcript pages and delivery category for each hearing covered. Vendors are responsible for the preparation and submission of billing as a condition to payment and shall follow billing procedures as stated in Section G.2 Invoices. ? Vendors are not allowed to make copy sales of any transcript produced pursuant to this contract. B. Delivery Specifications The vendor will submit a bid for each delivery type outlined below. Page rates will apply to any Committee to which the vendor is assigned. One Primary Vendor will be selected for each Committee and Subcommittee listed in Section B.4.A Committee List. ? Ordinary (5-day): Electronic delivery received by 10:00 a.m. EST on fifth business day following hearing. ? Expedited (2-day): Electronic delivery received by 10:00 a.m. EST on second business day following hearing. ? Daily (1-day): Electronic delivery received by 10:00 a.m. EST on next business day following hearing. C. Rates and Penalties ? Late Delivery Penalty: The CO may impose a late delivery penalty of 25% per page for the first business day a transcript is late, 50% per page delivery penalty for the second day, and a 75% per page delivery penalty for the third and succeeding day(s), when the electronic version of the transcript is not delivered on time. ? Additional transcript copies, if requested by Contracting Officer: $0.50 per page ? Condensed transcript copies, if requested by Contracting Officer: $0.50 per page ? Minimum Billing: Vendors will be entitled to a minimum amount of $250.00 per convened hearing to which they are assigned, provided that the vendor has not covered a separate hearing of the same full committee or subcommittee on that same day, in which case normal page rates will be applicable. ? Late Cancellation: Vendors will be entitled to a payment of $250.00 in the event that notification for a canceled hearing is provided to the vendor after 6:00 p.m. EST on the business day before the hearing. ? Working Hours: The normal business hours for this contract are defined as 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST. The normal business week is defined as Monday through Friday. ? After hours/weekends: An additional payment of $2.00 may be added to the normal page rates for any work performed before or after normal business hours, on weekends, or on Federal holidays. BID AND COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS Primary Vendor: One Primary Vendor award shall be made for each committee, to include all subcommittees of that committee. The only exception will be the Committee on Appropriations, where Primary Vendors will be assigned for each individual subcommittee. When necessary to supplement hearing coverage by the Office of Official Reporters, assignments of hearings of a committee, or its subcommittees, will be made to the Primary Vendor of that committee. The Primary Vendor must: Accept assignments of its designated committees and/or subcommittees up to its Stated Capacity, as described in Section B.5 Stated Capacity. The Primary Vendor may: Accept assignments in excess of its Stated Capacity. Refuse any assignment, without penalty, in excess of its Stated Capacity. Refuse any assignment, without penalty, when given Late Notification. Rotating Pool: The Office of Official Reporters (OOR) shall maintain a Rotating Pool list, which shall consist of all qualified vendors who have opted to participate in the Rotating Pool. If the Primary Vendor refuses an assignment, the OOR shall assign the hearing to another vendor in the Rotating Pool. Subsequent hearing assignments not covered by the Primary Vendors shall be offered to successive eligible Rotating Pool Vendor participants. Rotating Pool Vendors will be offered their Primary Vendor assignments before being offered Rotating Pool assignments. Participation in the Rotating Pool is optional. Intent to participate must be indicated in Section B.3. Otherwise the House will assume you do not wish to participate as a Rotating Pool Vendor. A Rotating Pool Vendor must: Accept Rotating Pool assignments up to its Stated Capacity. Bill Rotating Pool transcripts at the contracted bid rate. A Rotating Pool Vendor may: Accept assignments in excess of its Stated Capacity. Refuse any assignment, without penalty, in excess of Stated Capacity. Refuse any assignment, without penalty, when given Late Notification. Participation in the Rotating Pool is not automatic nor mandatory. Only those bidders who respond ?Yes? to the query in Section B.3 will be included. The Rotating Pool Vendor will bill at its own contracted page rates, as indicated in Section B.2, not at the rate of the Primary Vendor of the committee. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VENDOR ? The Vendor shall employ suitably and sufficiently trained and skilled personnel to perform all aspects of the reporting and transcribing functions outlined to ensure an accurate transcript of the hearing. ? The Vendor's personnel shall be in the hearing room, set up, and prepared to record the proceedings a minimum of 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the hearing. ? The Vendor shall notify the Office of Official Reporters by phone a minimum of 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the hearing in the event that the Vendor's reporter will not satisfy the above-referenced arrival and preparation deadline. Vendor's business practice should include methods of communication with assigned personnel to facilitate this notification. ? The Vendor shall run concurrent backup recording devices through the duration of the hearing to ensure, at minimum, a duplicate backup recording in the event of a failure of the primary recording device. If the Vendor is employing stenographic reporters, a backup recording is also required. Primary and backup recordings shall be retained by the Vendor for a minimum period of six (6) months after the date of the hearing. Recordings may be taped or digital. ? Generally accepted business attire is required of the Vendor, its employees, and/or subcontractors when providing reporting and transcription services on site. ? Failures to record, gaps in recording, sound system failures, equipment failures, and/or any other occurrence which may result in a deficiency in providing a timely or an accurate transcript shall be reported to the Office of Official Reporters on the date of the hearing, so that the maximum time possible is available to remedy the deficiency. Transcripts with parentheticals indicating ?Missing testimony? or ?Sound difficulties? or ?Equipment failure? should not be delivered to the House, without first reporting the problem to the Office of Official Reporters. ? If given written statements, inserts, and/or added documents for inclusion in the transcript by authorized House committee staff, the Vendor's personnel shall ensure that such materials are properly included in the hard copy transcript delivered to the House. Failure to comply with any of the above may result in progressive steps to ensure satisfactory contract compliance - Section G.7. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS The Offeror shall provide one (1) electronic version in MS Word format of their proposal response to this RFP by June 23, 2005, 2:00 p.m. EST, by e-mail attachment addressed to V.Anne.Tugbang@mail.house.gov or by fax to 202-225-5888. The following schedule applies to submission of quotes for this requirement: Pre-proposal Conference: ?????????????? ????????????? ? June 1, 2005 Final Date for Submission of Questions: ????? June 9, 2005 Request for Proposal (RFP) Submission: ????? June 23, 2005 Estimated Contract Award Date: ?????????????????? September 30, 2005 Question and Answer Schedule. The Offeror may submit questions in writing via email to the Contract Administrator identified above by 12:00 noon EST, Thursday, June 9, 2005. Pre-proposal Conference. The House will host a Pre-proposal Conference at 10:00AM EST on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 in room B106 of the Cannon House Office Building. The House will provide a detailed walk through of the RFP and will host a question and answer session. Due to security requirements, the Offeror will only be permitted three (3) attendees for the Pre-proposal Conference. Attendees must be registered with the Contract Administrator in the Office of the Clerk by 12:00 noon EST, Tuesday, May 31, 2005. Register via phone at (202) 225-7000 or by email: V.Anne.Tugbang@mail.house.gov. Offerors responding to this RFP shall be evaluated on and therefore shall provide the following, along with their GSA Schedule (if applicable). The Offeror's Proposal shall include: *Section A - Cost Proposal *Section B - Proposed Management Approach to the Statement of Work Requirements *Section C - Corporate Capabilities and Past Experience Offeror's proposal must map responses directly to the requirements in Section B and Section C. Specifically, the Offeror must indicate (by number) the response to each of the requirements listed in Section B and Section C. Offerors are to sign and date Item 17 of the Request for Proposal form along with their proposal. Section A - Cost Proposals. The Offeror's cost proposals shall be provided in this section. Prices are to be quoted as a fixed page price in the format prescribed in Section B.2 for each delivery type. Section B - Proposed Management Approach to the Statement of Work (SOW) Requirements The description of the Offeror's plan to provide reporting and transcription services to the House of Representatives shall include: 1. Method of reporting or recording (i.e. stenography, tape or digital recording, voice writing, mask reporting) 2. Method of transcription (i.e. CAT software, voice recognition software, tape or digital transcription via word processing software) 3. Number of reporters designated for House assignments 4. Number of transcribers designated for House assignments 5. Total number of full-time work force who are considered independent contractors 6. Method for developing and managing preparation and review of deliverables, including process for assuring the timely delivery, quality, and accuracy of transcripts. The Offeror shall include a proposed staffing approach that addresses the management and timing of staffing decisions for assigning people to the House reporting and transcription assignments. The staffing approach must be definitive enough to provide the House with a clear understanding of how the Offeror intends to staff this contract (with Key and non-Key Personnel) to successfully meet all requirements of the statement of work. Section C - Corporate Capabilities and Past Performance This section shall contain the Offeror's corporate capabilities and past experience in performing similar services. The Contractor shall provide a general description of the company and its structure, including overall corporate capabilities and service offerings. The Contractor shall provide applicable support experience performing similar services as described in Section C. Descriptions shall be no more than one (1) page in length, and shall address each of the following areas: 1. Name and address of company. 2. Company history, to include: Original founding date. Original ownership or partners. Original component organizations, if formed as a result of merger. Date organization began operating under present name. Number of years organization has offered reporting and transcription services. 3. If a corporation, provide: Date of incorporation. Place of incorporation. Name, address and phone contacts of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. 4. If a sole proprietorship, provide: Date of organization. Name, address and phone contacts for all partners or owners. 5. List legislative, judicial or executive branch entities for which your company has provided reporting or transcription services in the preceding five (5) years. Provide: Name of entity. Nature, frequency, and annual dollar volume of work performed. Dates service began and ended. Agency representative contact who would be familiar with your performance record, with phone contact. If previous experience with the House, list committees served. 6. Has your firm ever failed to complete any contract awarded If so, provide when, where, and give an explanation. 7. Has your firm's owner, partner, or officer ever been the owner, partner or officer of a company that has ever contracted to perform reporting or transcription services for the House of Representatives? If so, provide name of person and company. 8. Has your firm ever received a Letter of Warning or other written admonition regarding performance governed by any House of Representatives contract, any Federal, State, or any District contract, due to: Failure to appear. Late delivery. Refusal of assignments. Customer complaints. Nonconforming deliverables. 9. Has any owner, partner, or officer of your firm ever been the owner, partner, or officer of another company that has failed to complete a contract? If so, please state the circumstances. 10. The Offeror shall submit Personnel Resumes (2 page per person maximum) for Key Personnel who shall be performing work under this contract. 11. The Offeror shall provide the name of the employee who will be designated Point of Contact for this contract, and who will be authorized to accept hearing assignments. It is important that the proposal be organized as specified, since the score sheet used during the evaluation will parallel the order specified in the solicitation. Each part, properly identified, will be in the order specified above. Offerors are reminded to avoid excessively lengthy or overly extravagant proposals. Proposals that do not address all of the elements and requirements, in the order contained herein, shall be disqualified from further consideration. For a complete copy of the RFP see http://clerk.house.gov/clerk/solicitations.html
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. House Office Buildings and U.S. Capitol Building, unless otherwise authorized by the CO. <br>, Washington, D.C.
- Zip Code: 20515
- Country: USA
- Zip Code: 20515
- Record
- SN00797748-W 20050430/050428212437 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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