04A7117_Addendum_1_CM_GenAI_and_SOQ.pdf

“Provide a safe and reliable transportation network that serves all people and respects the environment.”

STATE OF CALIFORNIA------- CALIFORNIA STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCY GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

DIVISION OF PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS

1727 30TH STREET – MS 65

SACRAMENTO, CA 95816

PHONE (916) 227-6000

TTY 711

www.dot.ca.gov

Making Conservation a California Way of Life.

October 3, 2024 Division

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) NOTICE NUMBER 04A7117

ADDENDUM NO. 1

A&E On-Call Water Quality Studies Services for District 4

The purpose of this Addendum is for the Department to provide responses and/or clarification for the following concerns:

1. Consultant Contract Manager experience requirements

2. Vendor clarification for SOQ Instructions (dated 10/07/2020), Section II. Definitions, Item O

3. Executive Order (EO) N-12-12 as it relates to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

1. Consultant Contract Manager experience requirements

Question:

It has been noted that firms are being deemed non-responsive due to the Consultant Contract Managers not meeting the minimum five (5) years of Consultant Contract Manager experience for similar services requirement. How is Caltrans determining what meets the five (5) years’ experience?

Department Response:

Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) Submittal Instructions and General Contract Process Information, II. DEFINITIONS, Item P has been added to clarify the minimum five (5) years of responsible experience performing the duties as a Consultant Contract Manager.

P. The Consultant Contract Manager shall have minimum five (5) years of responsible experience performing the duties as a Consultant contract manager leading a team of A&E firms for similar A&E Services as identified in the RFQ for A&E Water Quality Studies Services contracts, and minimum ten (10) years of documented demonstrated experience acceptable to Caltrans in delivering A&E Water Quality Studies Services. The Consultant Contract Manager shall be an employee of the Prime Consultant firm.

For each cumulative set of competence, the minimum five (5) years of Consultant Contract Manager experience and 10 years minimum project delivery experience as per the RFQ, each gained from multiple projects at various times, shall be in serial (not in parallel order), with the total time not accounting for double counting or any overlapping within each set of the two types of competence.

This specific Consultant contract management experience shall be detailed for each relevant project listed in the resumes section, of the Statement of Qualifications (Section E of the

RFQ 04A7117 - Addendum No. 1

“Provide a safe and reliable transportation network that serves all people and respects the environment.”

Standard Form 330) with a brief project description however provide significant details of previous role that best demonstrates the person's capability and experience relevant to his/her proposed role in this contract and consistent with the RFQ.

Specifically for the five years of responsible experience performing the duties as a Consultant Contract Manager, the other Project Manager, Design Manager, Lead Designer, and other lead role position experiences will not qualify for the Consultant Contract Manager experience as outlined in the RFQ for Personnel Requirements under Consultant Contract Manager.

See RFQ for additional description of the minimum of five (5) years of responsible experience performing the duties as a Consultant Contract Manager.

See RFQ for additional description of the minimum of five (10) years of responsible experience in delivering A&E Water Quality Studies Services work.

2. Vendor clarification for SOQ Instructions (dated 10/07/2020), Section II. Definitions, Item O

Question:

Page 3, item O of the SOQ Submittal Instructions states that “Vendor services will require a minimum of three bids to be submitted to the Caltrans Contract Manager at the time these services are required at the Task Order level.” This is in conflict with information shared at multiple outreaches throughout the past year and via addenda to similar contracts. Can you please confirm if three bids will indeed be required?

Department Response:

SOQ Instructions (dated 10/07/2020), Section II. Definitions, Item O, first and second paragraph is amended to read as follows: “O. Vendor Services are Trade services incidental to the core A&E services. Firms providing Trade services will be required to submit their rate sheets (in lieu of bids) listing each item with its corresponding unit cost, inclusive of all direct and indirect costs used for all clients. Vendor rate sheets shall not include individual personnel labor rates. The Department will scrutinize the vendor Rate Sheets and Prime’s supporting documentations for fair and reasonableness of vendor rate sheets during cost negotiation phase.

Vendor name and description of services shall be clearly identified in the Prime’s transmittal letter and other sections of the SOQ as noted.

Note: All Vendors and the associated service descriptions shall be listed in the SOQ. DBE and Non- DBE vendor names should be identified in the SOQ and include their respective Transmittal Letter accompanied with the A&E Conflict of Interest forms.

3. Executive Order (EO) N-12-12 as it relates to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

RFQ 04A7117 - Addendum No. 1

“Provide a safe and reliable transportation network that serves all people and respects the environment.”

A. GenAI is an acronym for Generative Artificial Intelligence that consists of the class of AI models that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in order to generate derived synthetic content. This can include images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content.

1. AI models may incorporate machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.

2. AI systems use machine and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference to formulate options for information or consequential decisions and actions.

3. GenAI models may have an algorithm with a clearly specified mathematical process for computation; a set of rules that, if followed, will give a prescribed result.

Effective April 30, 2024, all Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) must have the GENAI Disclosure & Factsheet STD1000 included. Failure to disclose GenAI to the State and submit the detailed description may result in disqualification and may void any resulting contract.

The GENAI Disclosure & Factsheet can be found on the internet at: GenAI Disclosure & Factsheet Statement of Qualifications submittal Instructions are as follows:

1. Prime consultant (including subconsultant and vendors) shall use and attach a completed STD 1000 - “GenAI Disclosure & Factsheet”, inserted after their Transmittal letter. Firms asserting void of such GenAI tools shall include a note in their transmittal letter accordingly.

2. Failure to disclose GenAI to the State and not providing the GenAI Disclosure & Factsheet and not including a note in their transmittal letter asserting void of such GenAI tools may be deemed nonresponsive and rejected from further consideration in the solicitation process.

3. The State reserves its right to seek any and all relief it may be entitled to as a result of such non-disclosure.

4. Upon receipt of the consultant GenAI Disclosure & Factsheet, the state reserves the right to incorporate GenAI related Special Provisions into the final contract provisions or reject SOQ offers that present an unacceptable level of risk to the state.

All other terms and conditions of the original RFQ Notice dated October 3, 2024, are unchanged.

Please contact Lisa Pallesen at Lisa.Pallesen@dot.ca.gov for questions concerning this addendum.

https://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dgs/fmc/pdf/std1000.pdf https://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dgs/fmc/pdf/std1000.pdf mailto:%20Lisa.Pallesen@dot.ca.gov

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION