The NIHCATS IV contracts may be used by the entire NIH community, but may also be used by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other Federal agencies.
The geographic scope of the NIHCATS IV includes the Continental United States and abroad.
Yes, they are posted on the Vendors Page.
The NIH Conference Administrative and Travel Services Contracts are considered to be part of the Department’s strategic sourcing efforts to leverage HHS-wide spend, reduce contract duplication, increase purchasing efficiencies, and reduce the total cost of conferences hosted by HHS. Since the NIHCATS IV contracts are a Small Business set-aside, use of the NIHCATS IV contracts may help NIH, HHS, and other Federal agencies meet small business contracting goals.
The NIHCATS IV contracting program is a flexible means for NIH
and other Federal agencies to obtain conference, administrative,
and travel associated support.
Benefits of using NIHCATS IV include:
• Is available to the NIH and other Federal agencies for service performed in the Continental United States and abroad.
• Relieves the customer of the burden of executing a full contract.
• Relieves the customer from completing a Small Business Review For (ex. HHS 653).
• Offers competition among a pre-screened group of qualified vendors.
• Promotes small business goals.
• Lessens the burden on the customer by making debriefings optional.
• Reduces the risk of protest.
Detailed instructions on how to place a task order on the
NIHCATS IV contracts are provided in Section 3 of the
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
Task Order Guidelines are subject to change; please
refer to the latest version of the Standard
Operating Procedures (SOP).
The TORP will include (1) a completed TORP form, (2) a Statement of Work (SOW), (3) the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) (not released to contractors), (4) all required conference/meeting approval request forms and waivers (if applicable) with approvals*, (5) a Determination & Findings (D&F) (if applicable), and either a (6) funding memo if the total value (base value plus option years) is less than $250,000, or an (7) Acquisition Plan if the total value is greater than $250,000,
For external customers, your TORP submission should also include the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the assessment. For more details on the MOU, please see FAQs under the Assessments section.
*NOTE:
For NIH ICs: All required conference/meeting forms and waivers based upon NIH’s most recent policy guidance must be approved and submitted prior to TORP award. If the customer does not have the required conference/meeting form to submit initially with the TORP, it must be submitted with the Selection Recommendation Document.
For Federal Agencies (other than NIH): All required conference/meeting forms and waivers based upon the Agency/OPDIV’s most recent policy guidance must be approved and submitted to the NIHCATS IV Office. The forms must be submitted prior to solicitation or award, per the Agency/OPDIV’s most recent policy guidance. If an HHS OPDIV does not have a specific policy, then the HHS Policy will be followed, which requires conference/meeting approval forms prior to TORP award. If the customer does not have the required conference/meeting form to submit initially with the TORP, it will be submitted with the Selection Recommendation Document.
Additional information can be found in Section 3 of the SOP.
The period of performance is from date of task order award to completion of all conference-related services (e.g., the last date that all deliverables will be completed under the task order).
A "No Response" statement must be submitted if a contractor is unable or otherwise cannot perform a requirement. This shall be submitted via email to the NIHCATS IV Contracting Officer prior to the proposal deadline.
For more information refer to Section 3.9.2 of the SOP.
Yes, all contractors will receive each TORP request in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(1), Fair Opportunity, unless an exception to fair opportunity has been approved.
All task orders are competitive. All contractors will receive all requirements unless an exception to the Fair Opportunity applies and has been approved by the NIHCATS IV CO.
Task order timelines are largely dependent on the specific requirement. The timeline for the NIHCATS IV Program Support Team to review and release the TORP to contractors is targeted to be approximately five (5) business days. Task orders with special or complex requirements may take longer. This processing time begins once a complete, acceptable TORP is received by the NIHCATS IV CO. Incomplete or unacceptable TORPs will require additional time for the NIHCATS IV CO to advise the Task Order CO on minimum acceptable requirements.
The Task Order CO will establish a TORP response time that will afford contractors a reasonable opportunity to respond to the requirement. When establishing the TORP response time, the Task Order CO shall consider the circumstances of the individual acquisition and account for factors such as the complexity, availability, and value of the requirement.
Overall, it should take no longer than 45 days from the time a complete TORP package is submitted for review until award.
If you have any questions regarding the status of the task order, please contact your Task Order CO.
After the task order award is signed and submitted by the Task Order CO, the NIHCATS IV support team will announce the task order award by releasing an award notice to all contractors.
Contractors are instructed not to begin work until they have officially received the task order award and award letter from the NIHCATS IV support team. You may contact the contractor once the NIHCATS IV support team sends out the award.
The NIHCATS IV are indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) type contracts utilizing Fixed Price (FP) and/or Time & Materials (T&M) type task orders. The task order will provide detail of the specific services that will be required. T&M task orders should be used only if FP type task orders are not suitable. Use of a T&M task order requires a Determination and Findings (D&F) approval from the Task Order CO for the IC or agency. T&M task orders beyond three years will require the approval of the Head of Contracting Activity (HCA).
1. Travel Support
2. Meeting and Conference Support
3. Documentation Support
4. Administrative Support
5. Website Design, Development, and Maintenance Support
All areas must be affiliated with a conference or a meeting.
Yes, but you must have a signed conference approval form and approved funds for each conference requested. As long as the meetings are within the master contract period of performance you can procure additional meetings ahead of time through the use of options. It is important that you identify in your SOW your intentions for options.
When NIH or a Federal agency determines a need exists for a conference, meeting, or travel services, a Task Order (TO) Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) must be identified. The Task Order COR must be FAC-COR certified and is responsible for all technical aspects of the task order.
The Task Order COR will typically be the individual requiring the services offered under the NIHCATS IV contracts or may be a designee within the IC or Federal agency requiring the service. The Task Order COR will develop the requirement and will represent the Government as the main interface between his/her Institute and Center (IC)/Federal agency and the contractor during the task order period of performance. The Task Order COR will draft the TORP in eGOS, prepare the Selection Recommendation Document (SRD), provide technical direction to the contractor's management staff to facilitate task order performance, and monitor performance over the period of performance of the task order.
Additional information can be found in Section 2.2.2 of the SOP.
The Task Order CO has the authority to act as an agent of the Government under a particular task order. For NIH customers, the Task Order CO is a warranted CO from their respective Consolidated Operations and Acquisitions Center (COAC). For customers at Federal agencies outside of NIH, the Task Order CO is a warranted CO from their respective procurement office. Additional responsibilities of the Task Order CO include approving and submitting the TORP in eGOS, overseeing the evaluation of proposals, approving the Selection Recommendation Document (SRD), and creating and awarding a task order. The Task Order CO is responsible for all task order post-award administration and closeout activities
Additional information can be found in Section 2.2.1 of the SOP.
NIHCATS IV is a 3-way match with receiving coordinated by the Task Order COR. Global receivers can do receiving as well.
The NIHCATS IV Program Support Team ([email protected]) is available to assist users in understanding and using the NIHCATS IV contract. Customers may request a training by completing the Training Request Form located on the Resources tab of the NIHCATS IV Website. In addition, materials such as sample documents, the standard operating procedures document, and a fact sheet are available here.
The Task Order CO and Task Order COR are responsible for all task order activities including initiating, awarding, administering, modifying and closing-out task orders. The NIHCATS IV CO and COR will provide support, as needed.
Not unless they have completed the FAC-COR training and are certified.
Yes, the Task Order CO and COR may develop their own task order evaluation criteria.
No. If the task order total value (base year plus option years) is greater than $250,000 an Acquisition Plan will be required. Otherwise, only a funding memo confirming that funds are available is required.
No. There is no pricing data available. However, we are able to provide average loaded rates for all the NIHCATS IV labor categories upon request.
For external customers to use the NIHCATS IV Contracts there will be a 3% assessment to cover the use of the vehicle and for NIH OLAO to serve as your acquisition office. This is a percentage of the estimated dollar amount of award.
The assessment is collected via an Interagency Agreement (IAA) between your agency and the NIH.
Our office requests the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Interagency Agreement (IAA) in order to begin the task order process. This is to be provided to the NIHCATS IV office with the submission of the Task Order Request for Proposal (TORP) Package. Your TORP will be released to the contractors once a complete package is received. This will not delay the start of the TORP process. The Interagency Agreement (IAA) will need to be completed, with all documents signed and CAN numbers received, prior to the award of the task order.
The NIHCATS IV contracts have been reserved as a total Small Business set-aside.
The customer will get the credit.
The customer should submit a memo through the Task Order CO that explains why the approval form is not needed.
Yes.
For NIH ICs: All required conference/meeting forms and waivers based upon NIH’s most recent policy guidance must be approved and submitted prior to TORP award. If the customer does not have the required conference/meeting form to submit initially with the TORP, it must be submitted with the Selection Recommendation Document.
For Federal Agencies (other than NIH): All required conference/meeting forms and waivers based upon the Agency/OPDIV’s most recent policy guidance must be approved and submitted to the NIHCATS IV Office. The forms must be submitted prior to solicitation or award, per the Agency/OPDIV’s most recent policy guidance. If an HHS OPDIV does not have a specific policy, then the HHS Policy will be followed, which requires conference/meeting approval forms prior to TORP award. If the customer does not have the required conference/meeting form to submit initially with the TORP, it will be submitted with the Selection Recommendation Document.
It is a memo stating that funds are available. It is generally signed by the EO or budget officer or any authorized personnel from your IC or agency.