Combined Solicitation Amendment 0001.docx

1333ND24QNB730505

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

AMENDMENT 0001:

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED; AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT (I.E. STANDARD FORM) WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THIS SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF FAR PART 13.5 FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-05 effective 05/22/2024.

The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the requirement is 541690- Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. The small business size standard is $16.5M.

This acquisition shall be procured subject to Full and Open Competition. Simplified acquisition procedures will be utilized.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) is conducting research to identify methods and practices to incorporate climate projections and data into codes and standards and to support the continued resilience of buildings, infrastructure, and communities. Human-induced global warming has already caused multiple observed changes in the climate system, including increases in land and ocean temperatures, more frequent and prolonged heat waves over continental regions, increased frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation, severe convective storms and tropical cyclones, and increased risk of droughts in some areas. Increased variability and extreme events stress the built environment beyond the current planning and design requirements and cause greater risk for damage, injury, and loss of life.

There is an urgent demand to advance design practice so that climate hazard projections can be incorporated into codes and standards and be of benefit to designers, planners, and communities. Currently, this challenge is being addressed in an ad-hoc manner using available knowledge and resulting in significant variability across building and infrastructure projects and communities. Design criteria that address future hazard conditions requires an understanding of the impacts of climate change on the design hazards and on the performance of construction materials and structural systems used in new and existing buildings and infrastructure.

Contemporary national model codes and standards require revision to improve designs for future hazard events (e.g., wind, storm surge, flooding, precipitation, wildland urban interface (WUI) fires) and their impacts on current planning, design, and assessment criteria. The accommodation of future climate hazard projections will reduce impacts and enhance performance during hazard events and will also improve post-event recovery. In addition, processes should be developed to support the integration of these considerations into Community Resilience (CR) tools and the Functional Recovery (FR) Framework.

NIST plans to issue a contract to qualified individual(s) or organization(s) to hold four workshops in the calendar year 2025 to address this need. The workshops should address the following broad subject areas, with consideration of the overarching themes for each workshop of climate-affected hazards (e.g., sea level rise, temperature, rain, snow, ice, wind, flood) and social impacts/consequences:

• Climate projections for design (confidence/uncertainty in climate projections, downscaling, converting climate hazard projections to engineering design criteria for hazards currently considered in codes and standards)

• Engineering design guidance and criteria for climate projections (reliability, service life, design scenarios)

• Climate effects on the built environment (changes in hazard demand relative to historical basis, changes in assumed structural capacity due to changes in climate in material properties and performance)

• Adaptation and resilience for buildings and infrastructure systems, material durability, carbon mitigation of building materials

APPLICABLE ATTACHMENTS

· Attachment 1 – Applicable Provisions and Clauses

1352.215-73 INQUIRES (APR 2010):

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing electronically to Marvin Jean at marvin.jean@nist.gov. Questions must be received no later than August 29, 2024, 12:00 p.m. EST after solicitation issuance. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. (End of Provision).

DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS

All quotations must be submitted via e-mail to marvin.jean@nist.gov.

As a result of Amendment 0001, quotations must be received no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time September 10, 2024.

CONTRACT LINE-ITEM STRUCTURE

Offerors shall provide firm-fixed pricing for the following contract line-item number (CLIN):

The contractor shall provide support services for the Climate Science For Use In Codes And Standards For Buildings And Infrastructure Systems Workshop as detailed in the incorporated Statement of Work.

See Attachment 1 for specified task and requirements One (1)

LOT

One (1)

LOT

NTE

Specific amount to be provided at time of award

One (1)

LOT

NTE

Specific amount to be provided at time of award

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BASIS FOR AWARD

Evaluation Factors for Award

The Government intends to use a tradeoff process to award firm fixed-price purchase order to the responsible Offeror whose quotation represents the best value to the Government, evaluated cost/price and other factors considered. The Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the lowest-cost/priced Offeror or to the Offeror with the highest technical rating if the Contracting Officer determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government.

Upon receipt of quotations, the Contracting Officer will review them to determine if each Offeror followed all of the quotation preparation/submission instructions in this solicitation. A quotation that did not follow the quotation submission instructions may be deemed unacceptable and may not be further evaluated.

The contracting officer intends to award without discussions. However, discussions may be initiated by the contracting officer if necessary. Each quotation will be evaluated against the factors described below. An Offeror’s failure to address any factor may be considered indicative of the Offeror’s lack of understanding of the Government’s requirements and may result in the quotation being determined unacceptable.

Evaluation Factors for Award:

FACTOR A - TECHNICAL APPROACH

FACTOR B – PAST PERFORMANCE

FACTOR C - PRICE

Factors A and B are listed in descending order of importance. In determining best value, non-price factors, when combined, shall be considered more important to price.

FACTOR A – TECHNICAL APPROACH

The Government will evaluate the soundness and feasibility of the offeror’s proposed step-by-step approach to completing the requirements of the Statement of Work and the offeror’s understanding of the requirement.

FACTOR B - PAST PERFORMANCE

The evaluation of past performance information will consider the extent to which the Offeror’s past performance demonstrates the capability and capacity to provide high quality services within the scope of the Statement of Work. The Government will evaluate any past performance information that are submitted, and any additional information the Government obtains from outside sources. The Government will consider the relevance of the Offeror’s previous contracts to the subject requirement, and the Offeror’s performance on the previous contracts. The Government will only consider past performance of the Offeror’s projects that were completed or substantially completed within the past three years. Offerors without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on Past Performance, and will be assigned a Neutral rating.

FACTOR C – PRICE

The Government will evaluate whether the proposed pricing information is fair and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements and consistent with the Offeror’s proposed Technical Approach.

OVERALL ARRANGEMENT OF QUOTATIONS

VOLUME I – TECHNICAL VOLUME

There shall be no pricing information included in the Technical Volume. The Offeror shall submit the following as parts of Volume I:

A. Technical Approach– The Offeror shall submit a detailed technical approach for this requirement that demonstrates a sound and feasible approach to completing the tasks detailed in the Statement of Work, as well as a sufficient understanding of the tasks and deliverables required by the Statement of Work. The technical approach should describe the Offeror’s step-by-step approach to completing this work through a technical discussion, and should not be a description of the Offeror’s previous experience. This section is limited to ten (10) pages in length, excluding diagrams, tables and graphics. The Government will not evaluate any pages after the tenth page.

B. Past Performance - The Offeror shall submit past performance information for the prime contractor and any first-tier subcontractors as part of their Technical Volume. The Offeror shall submit past performance information for contracts/orders under which the Offeror has performed as a prime contractor or as a first-tier subcontractor on similarly scoped contracts/orders in the past three years by governmental or non-governmental entities. For each past performance, Offerors must provide: a) Contract/Order number, b) Agency/Organization work performed for and a POC at the organization/agency, c) Dollar value of contract/order, d) Period of performance, and e) Description of the work performed under the contract/order and how it is relevant to the subject requirement. If an Offeror does not have any relevant past performance at all, the Offeror shall clearly state so in their quotation.

VOLUME II – PRICING VOLUME

The Offeror shall submit the following as part of Volume II:

The Offeror shall provide a total firm fixed price for the requirement detailed in the Statement of Work. As supporting information to the total firm fixed price proposed, the pricing volume must also show the following:

a. Total firm fixed price per specific task as detailed in the Statement of Work.

b. Breakdown of how the firm fixed price for each task was derived.

VOLUME III – BUSINESS/COMPLIANCE VOLUME

The Offeror shall submit the following as part of Volume III:

A. Small Business Subcontracting Plan – For Offerors that are not small businesses, submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan that complies with the requirements of FAR 52.219-9. This plan should outline how the Offeror will ensure small businesses have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in the performance of the contract.

B. Compliance and Certifications – Include all necessary compliance documents and certifications required by the solicitation, such as representations and certifications, evidence of business size and status, and any other required legal or regulatory documents.

C. Financial Capability and Stability – Provide information demonstrating the Offeror’s financial stability and capability to perform the contract, including recent financial statements or evidence of adequate financial resources.

PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES:

The clauses and provisions applicable to this solicitation can be found under Attachment 1: Applicable Clauses & Provisions. The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at www.acquisition.gov/far. The full text of a CAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at http://www.osec.doc.gov/oam/acquistion_management/policy/ .