Architect-Engineer (A-E) Cost Engineering IDIQ
1. Contract Information:
Architect-Engineer (A-E) Cost Engineering: These contracts are being procured in accordance with the Brooks Act as implemented in FAR Subpart 36.6. Firms will be selected for negotiation based on a demonstrated competence and qualifications for the required work, as specified in this announcement.
The resulting contract will be Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDC) that will form a Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (MATOC) for Cost Engineering Services. This synopsis will facilitate the award of three (3) IDCs for $23 million to be shared by all contracts in the MATOC. Each IDC duration will be up to five years starting from the award date (3 year base year with 2 one-year options). North American Industrial Classification System Code (NAICS) is 541330. This announcement is SET ASIDE for small business firms. The small business size standard for this NAICS is $16.5 million or less in average annual receipts over the last 3 years. Only small business AE firms may submit a response to this notice; provided the AE meets the requirements of a "firm" as defined in the Brooks Act.
The wages and benefits of listed services employees (see FAR 22.10) performing under this contract must be at least equal to those determined by the Department of Labor under the Service Contract Act under http://www.wdol.gov, as determined relative to the employee's office location (not the location of the work). To be eligible for contract award, a firm must be registered in the Department of Defense (DOD) System for Award Management (SAM). Register via the SAM Internet Site at https://www.sam.gov or by contacting the Service Desk at 1-866-606-8220.
The contracts awarded under this announcement will be administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District. The Walla Walla District may elect to transfer capacity to any other USACE District in the continental United States (CONUS) and outside the continental United States (OCONUS) for civil works, military construction work and support for other Governmental agencies as needed. The OCONUS anticipated countries include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, United Arab Emiratis, and Japan. However performance may be required in other countries not identified at this time. All compliance requirements for unidentified countries will be addressed at the task order level to identify and document applicable treaties, internal agreements, and laws specific to the county where site visits will take place. Please refer to paragraph D below for logistical and technical support requirements.
2. Project Information:
These cost engineering services are anticipated to be used primarily in support of Department of Defense (civil works and military projects). Other agencies, customers or projects can also include such federal interests within the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), General Services Administration (GSA), Soil Conservation Service (SCS), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), US Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), US Agency for International Development (USAID), among others not specifically mentioned.
The major objective and major products are to satisfy cost engineering product development, review, project controls and earned value management. These contracts are intended to satisfy and support cost-related engineering services and needs across the Federal Government, both for standard cost efforts and requirements as well as non-standard, such as emergency recovery and response (CONUS and OCONUS). However, all task orders against these contracts shall be processed directly by US Army Corps of Engineers Contracting Officers. To award task orders, a Task Order Requirement Notice (TORN) will be issued to each firm in the MATOC as required to select the most highly qualified firm. Firms will provide a proposal based on the questions asked in the TORN and a Selection Board will review the proposals to determine the most highly qualified firm. That firm will then be issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) and a task order will be negotiated and awarded.
Cost Engineering services under these contracts include, but are not limited to, the following: project cost estimates, scheduling, risk analysis and project controls project review, quantity development, cost engineering, cost estimating (budget to bidding), project scheduling, risk analyses, critical analysis and earned value management processes (cost, schedule and risk performance measurement) analysis, change control (contract modifications, claims, negotiation and testimony support), preliminary designs and design review in support of project budget review and development, value engineering, program and project management in support of the cost engineering requirements and other cost engineering functions not specifically mentioned.
A. Types of A-E Disciplines required:
Cost Engineering and Estimating: The area of engineering practice that combines the application of scientific principles and methods with economic and financial analysis in order to establish estimated costs, pricing, scheduling and risks while achieving established objectives and requirements. This includes methods and techniques such as cost engineering studies and assumptions, budget and bid estimates, value engineering, constructability analysis, critical analysis and life-cycle cost analysis. Cost estimating provides the basis for program, project planning, budget preparation, and cost, schedule and risk control. Costs are determined by utilizing technical experience and available information to calculate and forecast the future cost of required resources, methods, and management within a scheduled time frame. The estimating is comprised of a studied or defined scope supported by design and assumptions, quantity development, costs comprised of labor, equipment, materials, crews, productivities, necessary taxes, contractor assignments and markups, direct and indirect costs. A complete estimate also includes schedule duration (cost of time) and risk assessment (contingencies).
Project Scheduling and Risk Analyses: Other key cost engineering professional components that serve as part of a total project cost include scheduling (time and escalation) and risks (contingencies). Such products are supported by the cost estimates. Project schedulers and risk analysts are a key part of developing estimating products and defining total project costs.
Program and Project Management: Many cost engineering task orders will involve virtual teams with both USACE and A/E contractor personnel. Some task orders may also require combined efforts and the performance of and coordination with other A/E contractors/subcontractor personnel. The contractor must have the skills to organize and work within a diverse team structure. This requires the utilization of skills and knowledge in coordinating the organizing, planning, budgeting, scheduling, directing, controlling, monitoring, and evaluating of prescribed activities to ensure that established objectives are achieved in a timely, cost-effective manner that assures quality and complies with all applicable regulatory requirements. These methods may include but are not limited to traditional business and project management techniques such as strategic planning, team development and management, quality management, materials and resource management as well as more sophisticated techniques; all in support of the cost engineering goals and task orders.
B. Cost Engineering Service Requirements:
All USACE estimates are to be prepared using USACE micro computer aided cost estimating system (MCACES) computer software (latest/current version) MII estimating program. Other programs will include the USACE Parametric Cost Engineering System (PACES). Other required software programs can include those related to scheduling and risk analyses as prescribed by the specific task orders. Other estimating software could be required by other federal agencies. Cost estimate processes can include, but are not limited to the following:
Review of technical designs and estimate products for completeness, quantity development, biddability, and constructability;
Development of cost products: quantities, estimates, schedules and risk analyses;
Development and review of labor rates for specific geographic areas;
Development and review of construction crews (labor and equipment) and durations with productivity analyses required to construct various features of work or service;
Development of material and unit prices and use of quotations where appropriate;
Construction activities of engineered projects, including HTRW-related projects;
Cost development related to services and supplies;
Project scheduling and network analyses;
Risk analysis techniques to identify risks and establish project contingencies;
Project controls and earned value management of ongoing projects;
Life cycle cost and schedule analyses;
Develop special or specific cost data as directed in specific task orders;
Perform special cost studies or analysis as directed in specific task orders;
Develop cost models, parametrics or templates as directed in specific task orders;
Develop and/or review estimate products within the continental United States (CONUS) and outside the continental United States (OCONUS);
Develop site specific labor, crew, and unit price data bases;
Develop cost estimates for value engineering including scope and cost analysis;
Provide independent cost product assessments and validations;
Provide cost engineering assistance to the contracting officer in preparation of technical analyses and negotiation advisement on cost and schedule proposals or contracts of others;
Provide assistance in market conditions research, construction equipment, materials and labor costs;
Develop or revise estimating software, programming and adjustments;
Provide training in the use and application of cost engineering techniques, processes, software usage and application;
Provide assistance in designing cost engineering related web page programming.
2. Cost and Schedule Performance Measurement and Change Control: This requires the systematic application of methods and procedures to monitor performance against plan; to control cost, schedule and risks as well as changes to scope, configuration, and functional/operational requirements; and, to measure and determine the cause of variance from established baselines so that effective action can be taken in a timely manner to achieve minimum costs and duration in meeting predetermined objectives.
C. Applicable Cost Engineering Federal Regulations: Efforts under this MATOC must adhere to the appropriate or designated federal regulations and/or those defined within the specific task orders. For USACE products, the contractor shall adhere to the most current regulations and criteria, which include but are not limited to, the following:
ER 1110-1-1300 Cost Engineering Policy and General Requirements
ER 1110-2-1302 Civil Works Cost Engineering
ETL 1110-2-573 Engineering Technical Letter for Civil Works Cost Engineering Manual or future replacement EM 1110-2-6058
ER 1110-3-1300 Military Programs Cost Engineering
UFC 3-730-01 Programming Cost Estimates for Military Construction
UFC 3-740-05 Handbook: Construction Cost Estimating (DOD)
ER 1110-2-1156 Safety of Dams
ER 1110-3-1301 Hazardous Toxic and Radioactive Waste (HTRW) Cost Engineering
ER 1110-1-12 Quality Management
EP 1110-1-8 Construction Equipment Ownership and Operating Expense Schedule (equipment pamphlet)
ER 1110-2-1304 Civil Works Construction Cost Index System (escalation/inflation)
ER 11-1-321 Army Programs Value Engineering
Civil Works Processes for Cost and Schedule Risk Analysis
D. Logistical and Technical Support Requirements: Work performed under these contracts will require a variety of logistical and technical support on the part of the AE contractor. This support may include, but is not limited to, the following:
Site visits (travel) and on-site efforts for CONUS
Site visits (travel) for OCONUS but NOT on-site efforts
Providing conference or meeting facilities
Providing portable office (telephones, copiers, computers, software, office supplies, etc.)
Access to consultants with expertise in technical areas having direct bearing on costs (for example decontamination and decommissioning consultants having experience with projection rates, technologies, and crew make up for contaminated shielding removal).
Protected storage of confidential cost data.
E. Government-furnished Data: The contractor shall be responsible for obtaining necessary software licensing and data support to perform the cost engineering work. The government will furnish necessary data for information relating to the particular task order work. All data must remain secured as sensitive and proprietary information.
F. Confidentiality: Cost and pricing data, findings and products, must be protected and secured by the contractor in order to protect the Government’s interests related to contracts, fair bidding practices, and contract negotiations. The contractor must ensure process integrity and protection against potential conflicts of interest: pre-bid and post-bid of contracts of contract award.
G. Meetings and Conferences: The AE contractor shall attend meetings and conferences as specified in each task order, as it relates to individual task order scopes of work. Preparation for, attendance at and cost of meetings and conferences will be specified and negotiated in each firm fixed-priced task order.
H. Quality Control and Responsibility for Correct Documents: The contractor shall formally document review of all work and cost products before submission to the Government. Corrections and clarifications shall be made by the contractor during Government review, as identified by the Contracting Officer and/or COR, according to the individual task order scope of work.
3. Selection Criteria:
A-E selections will be conducted in accordance with the following selection criteria, and in compliance with FAR Subpart 36.6, its supplements and Engineer Pamphlet 715-1-7. Evaluation criteria is based on specialized experience and technical competence. Each firm will be evaluated with respect to in-house capabilities in cost-schedule-risk estimates, cost-schedule-risk management (project controls), quality of work, and compliance with cost and schedule performance measures.
The selection criteria are listed below. Each offer will be evaluated relative to the following Selection Criteria, listed in descending order of importance (first by major criterion and then by each sub-criterion). Criteria A thru E are primary evaluation criteria. Criteria F and G are secondary evaluation criteria and will only be used as a tie-breaker among technically equal firms.
A. Professional Qualifications: The selected prime firm must have sufficient in-house cost engineering resources to support multiple task orders concurrently, CONUS and/or OCONUS. The selected prime contractor and subcontractors must be supported by a representative number of cost engineering personnel with industry recognized professional registrations where applicable in the fields such as project management, cost estimating, scheduling, risk analyses, value engineering and project controls. The combined cost engineering staff must include the following disciplines:
Architect;
Structural;
Civil
Mechanical;
Electrical;
Value Engineering;
Scheduling;
Risk Analyst; and
Project Controls.
The evaluation will consider education, registration, technical certification, training, and longevity of relevant experience.
B. Specialized Experience and Technical Competence in cost engineering tasks for projects primarily supporting vertical (buildings) and horizontal (civil works) construction:
Preparing estimates, schedules and risk analyses in various design phases using standard USACE estimating tools, programs and software (MCACES MII, PACES, Microsoft Project and Primavera, Crystal Ball): conceptual and budgetary, performance specifications (Design-Build), incomplete designs, bid estimates, change order estimates;
Preparing and reviewing quantity and cost estimates related to construction, supply, services and environmental projects for USACE and other Federal Agencies, utilizing estimating experience in the standard engineering design fields such as architectural, structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, special utility systems:
Development and review of products related to earned value management systems or processes: contractor progress, resource-loaded schedules, risks, inefficiencies, trends, modifications and claims, invoice payments, etc.;
Preparation and estimating Value Engineering Studies;
Senior personnel capable of managing an established quality control plan and process that documents product quality reviews, responses, and resolution for internal and external reviewers. Consideration will be made on current plan(s) in place as well as representative examples of the process in action.
C. Capacity to Accomplish the Cost Engineering Work:
Business plan that enables Federal cost engineering work with minimal potential for conflict of interest while supporting private contractors that may compete for the Federal projects under cost development;
The capacity to accomplish $150K in work per month;
The ability to accomplish multiple, distinct task orders in separate geographical regions;
The ability to respond quickly to task order requests for proposals (5-7 days) and mobilize sufficient and qualified full staffing quickly (1-2 weeks) upon task order award;
D. Past Performance: Past performance on Department of Defense (DOD), DOE and other contracts with respect to quality of work, cost control and compliance with performance schedules. Evaluations will be pulled from Department of Defense (DoD) Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) based on the DUNS number for the prime and any subcontractors.
E. Knowledge of Locality: Demonstrated capability of performing cost engineering services for projects located on Government sites, on rural and heavily metropolitan sites, both horizontal and vertical construction. Demonstrated capability of performing cost engineering products for projects in foreign countries where labor, equipment, material, work crew productivity and contractor structure differ from standard US market and practices.
F. Small Business and SDB Participation: Extent of participation of small businesses (SB) and small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) in the proposed contract team, measured as a percentage of the total estimated effort will be evaluated and considered as a secondary criteria in the award decision. Offerors are not required to submit a formal subcontract plan with their SF330 submission. However, since small business participation is a secondary selection criteria, offerors should consider the extent of small business participation when proposing their contract team, measured as a percentage of the total anticipated contract effort.
G. Volume of DoD Contract Awards: Volume of Department of Defense (DoD) contract awards in the last 12 months, with the objective of effecting an equitable distribution of DoD AE contracts among qualified firms.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Interested firms having the capabilities to perform this work must submit two (2) hardcopies of Standard Form (SF) 330, Architect-Engineer Qualifications, Parts I and II for the prime and all subcontractors, along with an electronic copy (CD-ROM). The SF 330 should be complete and specifically address the requirements of this announcement. Address all Selection Criteria in descending order of importance, as defined in the Selection Criteria section of this announcement, in SF 330, Section H. For Section F (Example Projects Which Best Illustrate Proposed Team’s Qualifications for This Contract), 20 is the maximum number of projects that can be submitted.
Submit completed SF330 (hardcopy and CD) to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, Contracting Division, 201 North Third Street, Walla Walla WA 99362-1876, Attn: Hillary Morgan, not later than 4:00 PM Pacific Time on April 27, 2022. Solicitation packages are not provided and facsimile transmissions will not be accepted. Personal visits to discuss this project will not be scheduled. This is not a request for proposal and no other general notification will be made. Only timely SF 330s will be considered. Reference W912EF22R0004 in your submission package.
All inquiries regarding this synopsis are to be submitted via Bidder Inquiry. Telephone and email inquiries will not be accepted. Bidder Inquiry is a web-site that allows firms to post questions regarding the synopsis/solicitation and view all questions by other firms and responses by USACE. Bidder Inquiry can be accessed through ProjNet at (https://www.projnet.org)
To submit and review inquiry items, firms will need to use the Bidder Inquiry Key presented below and follow the instructions listed below the key for access. A firm who submits a comment /question will receive an acknowledgement of the comment/question via email. Another email to the same address will notify the prospective vendor once the reply is available for viewing.
TIMING OF BIDDER INQUIRIES: Firms are encouraged to submit their inquiries promptly. The Government will make every effort to answer all inquiries; however, the closer to the bid / proposal / offer due date an inquiry is received, the less likely it is that a timely response can be provided.
The Bidder Inquiry Key is: J744MF-ZHF9W7
Specific Instructions for ProjNet Bid Inquiry Access:
From the ProjNet home page linked above, click on Quick Add on the upper right side of the screen.
Identify the Agency. This should be marked as USACE.
Key. Enter the Bidder Inquiry Key listed above.
Email. Enter the email address you would like to use for communication.
Click Continue. A page will then open saying that a user account was not found and will ask you to create one using the provided form.
Enter your First Name, Last Name, Company, City, State, Phone, Email, Secret Question, Secret Answer, and Time Zone. Make sure to remember your Secret Question and Answer as they will be used from this point on to access the ProjNet system.
Click Add User. Once this is completed you are now registered within ProjNet and are currently logged into the system.
Instructions for Entering Questions:
1. After you are logged in click on the "post new inquiry", it is on the left side of the window under the Word "Submit"
a.) This is the window where you will enter your questions
b.) Comment Classification: Click on the down arrow to the right of the words “Please select from below”, select “Public”
c.) Discipline: This is where you select who this question should be directed to. Example; if the question is about cost engineering select: “Cost Engineering” from the pull down list.
d.) Sheet. N/A
e.) Detail. N/A.
f.) Specification. Enter the paragraph number and section.
g.) File. Use this if you are going to attach a pdf file.
h.) Question. Enter your question here.
Specific Instructions for Future ProjNet Bid Inquiry Access:
For future access to ProjNet, you will not be provided any type of password. You will utilize your Secret Question and Secret Answer to log in.
From the ProjNet home page linked above, click on Quick Add on the upper right side of the screen.
Identify the Agency. This should be marked as USACE.
Key. Enter the Bidder Inquiry Key listed above.
Email. Enter the email address you used to register previously in ProjNet.
Click Continue. A page will then open asking you to enter the answer to your Secret Question.
Enter your Secret Answer and click Login. Once this is completed you are now logged into the system.
For questions about the ProjNet Bidder Inquiry, please contact the Call Center help desk toll free at 1-800-428-HELP, which operates from 8AM to 5PM (Central US time zone). Bidder inquiry help questions can also be emailed to the helpdesk at staff@rcesupport.com.
NOTICE: All firms / bidders/offerors will be held to have reviewed the questions and responses in Bidder Inquiry prior to submission. Nothing is changed in the synopsis / solicitation unless an amendment is issued.
W912EF22R0004 Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District Walla Walla
3/16/22, 7:11 PM