An SOW/PWS/SOO scope review is available at any stage if you will be using a NITAAC vehicle for your requirement.
CIO-SP3 Small Business FAQs
All CIO-SP3 Small Business contract holder on-and off-site rates can be obtained by visiting the contract holder information page, choosing the contract holder whose rates you want to see, and clicking the link to their individual websites. Click here to go to the Contract Holder page now. Rates will also soon be available in e-GOS. Log in as you normally do when placing an order.
Yes. Modifications can be issued as long as they are within scope of the initial order. In general, if the modification does not change the nature of the work and was within the contemplation of the parties when the order was formed, the modification falls within scope of the initial order. Factors to consider that indicate in-scope changes:
• The order’s basic purpose/intent has not been changed
• The dollar magnitude of the change is proportionate to the price of the original order (disproportionate additions of work are in effect a new order)
• Competitive factors of the original solicitation are the same; hence, no additional offerors would have proposed on the original order had the change been included in the original solicitation.
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Yes. The ten (10) task areas which make up the scope of the CIO-SP3 Small Business contract is intended to be a guide only. You can select as many task areas needed to firmly define your requirement.
Yes. You can use your own questionnaire. However, NITAAC has tools and templates available.
NITAAC does not require the D&F and justification for non-DoD contracts be uploaded into the system; however, we encourage you to do so for tracking purposes. You may enter them as “other” under Attachments. You must, however, make sure these documents are included in the official Task Order file. When you select a T&M type contract, you will be prompted to check a box indicating that you ”…verify that the CO has prepared a determination and findings per FAR Subpart 16.601(d).” The Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) is a required document; however, it IS NOT visible to contractors
No. The NIH Contract Access Fee (NCAF) is not included in contract holder fully burdened rates under either the CIO-SP3 or CIO-SP3 Small Business GWACs. Therefore, the NCAF should be listed as a separate line item in contractor proposals as detailed in Article G.8 (NIH Contract Access Fee Remittance) of the CIO-SP3 or CIO-SP3 Small Business conformed contract.
No. Consistent with FAR Subpart 16.505, the contracting officer for the procuring agency has broad discretion in developing ordering procedures, including the award evaluation criteria. As such, the procuring agency contracting officer would be the best suited to determine the adequacy of an evaluation scoring sheet based on the evaluation criteria established.
You don’t. As with any other contract, the contractor is bound to the prices and rates bid for your requirement. So, it is the incumbent on the contractor to factor in anticipated wage increases for the personnel bid. There are also pre-negotiated rate schedules for a wide variety of labor categories under the CIO-SP3 Small Business contracts, and contractors have also factored in escalation to cover the same.
Use of options is covered under FAR Subpart 17.2 - Options, which governs orders under CIO-SP3 Small Business. It is fairly common to see orders with 5 year periods of performance, structured with a 1 year base plus 4 1 year options.
The processing fee is paid on each obligated amount based on the funding document. If a labor hour order is incrementally funded, the corresponding fee is based on the incremental funding and not the ceiling. The contractor includes the entire fee (based on the funding of the order) on the 1st invoice.
You can attach as many files as you like. There are no restrictions on the size or type of file.
Like any federal contract action, federal appropriation law and FAR guidelines govern funding of options. Primary considerations are contract type used, the Bona Fide Needs Rule, and whether the services are severable or non-severable.
NITAAC does not issue approval letters. Contractors can accept task orders as long as the task order award references the Prime Contractor’s NITAAC contract number (ex. HHSN2639999000###I).
Yes, when defining the order in e-GOS select the WOSB set-aside option and then manually uncheck all the companies that are not Economically Disadvantaged. Before setting aside an acquisition keep in mind The “Rule of Two” as set out in FAR 19.502-2(b). It is the Ordering Agency’s responsibility to identify the Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Businesses. When limiting competition, a Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity may be required in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii).
FAR clause 52.217-8 allows a task order to be extended for up to 6 months. A justification for an exception to fair opportunity must be prepared if the period of performance is extended beyond 6 months (refer to FAR Subpart 16.505(b)(2) for more information on exceptions to the fair opportunity process).
NITAAC does not charge an additional fee for SOW or PWS scope reviews.
NITAAC only sends your RFP package to contract holders who were awarded contracts in ALL the task areas defined in your requirement. NITAAC automatically excludes those contract holders who are not qualified to submit proposals for your requirement.
NITAAC encourages, but does not mandate, the use of Performance Based Contracting (PBC). In order to do PBC, the requirement must be defined in a manner that is able to identify clearly measureable outcomes and applying incentives and/or disincentives. There is a question in e-GOS that will ask whether or not your requirement is PBC, and you can simply checks “yes” or “no”. No justification is required.
NITAAC operates as a “Fee for Service” agency, and is required to cover its operating expenses while implementing technologies and solutions to better serve its government customers. The current Contract Access Fee (CAF) for the CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC is .75% with a cap of $150,000 for any task order base or optional period (not to exceed 12 months) with funding in excess of $20 Million. The NITAAC strategy for recalculating the CAF is described in its Annual Executive Agent Contract Activity Report submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The fees charged by NITAAC must be sufficient to recover the costs of managing the program over the long term, including initiatives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its ordering, financial management and internal control systems.
NITAAC does not have a maximum order limit. The CIO-SP3 Small Business contract as a whole has a $20 Billion ceiling.
The NITAAC team will review the SOW looking at scope, contract type, periods of performance, evaluation criteria, specificity of tasking and deliverables and the deliverable schedule. We will also note whether the SOW is performance based. Of these areas of review, scope and evaluation criteria are the only areas that could stop the requirement from going out for competition: all requirements must be in scope consistent with the CIO-SP3 Small Business task areas where the support falls, and the requirement should contain the award evaluation criteria, particularly if the anticipated value is expected to exceed $5M as outlined in FAR Subpart 16.5. NITAAC will provide suggestions for improving the SOW/PWS/SOO for all review areas as necessary, but the final decision on implementing any suggestions rests with the requiring agency.
The NITAAC Contract Access Fee (CAF) for the CIO-SP3 Small Business contract is .75% with a cap of $150,000 for any task order base or optional period (not to exceed 12 months) with funding in excess of $20 Million.
The CIO-SP3 Small Business e-Ordering System, e-GOS, is designed so that the end user and the contracting officer are both involved through the entire process. It is important to note that the contracting officer has the final selection authority for all procurements and is verified prior to any RFP or solicitation being released to the eligible contract holders.
The ordering contracting officer manages the task order after award. However, NITAAC is available to assist with any questions or issues the customer may have during the task order period of performance.
