A0002_Att_2_140R4024R0020_Contracting_Questions_and_Answers_0002.pdf

SOLICITATION NO. 140R4024R0020

HYRUM DAM SPILLWAY REPLACEMENT

CONTRACTING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTIONS FROM THE SITE VISIT HELD ON 10/9/2024, 1300 HOURS (MDT) AND

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED IN WRITING TO THE CONTRACTING OFFICER BY 10/16/2024, 1400 HOURS (MDT)

1. Can we fly drones around the project site?

i. You are free to fly a drone over the site as long as you take off and land outside of

Reclamation property and obey FAA regulations.

2. Solicitation Section L, WBR 1452.215-81 Proposal Instructions: Referenced solicitation section allows for 50-page limit excluding Cover Page, Table of Contents, Tabs, and Glossaries. Factor 3 Experience and Management Subfactor 3C: Is department willing to exclude the Schedule Section from the total page count?

i. Subfactor 3C is the Key Personnel subfactor, not the Schedule Section, which is Factor 1.

Factor 1: Construction Schedule WILL count towards the 50-page limit.

ii. The following are excluded from the 50-page limit:

1. Cover Page, Table of Contents, Tabs, Glossaries, Major Subcontractor Letters of

Commitment, Primary and Alternate Key Personnel Statements of Assurance, and Small Business Participation Plan.

iii. Language on Solicitation Pages 62, 63, and 66 have been revised and shown in bold and italics. These changes resulted in Pages 62 through 67 changing due to spacing. As such, updated Solicitation Pages 62 through 67 have been included as an attachment to this amendment.

3. Was the Site Visit Mandatory?

i. No, it was not mandatory.

4. Please confirm that the P6 schedule required in PDF Gantt Chart and XER for Factor 1 does not count towards the overall 50-page limit.

i. Yes, the PDF Gantt Chart will count towards the 50-page limit. You may use 11” x 17” paper size.

ii. Only the PDF Gantt Chart is required in your proposal submission. The requirement for an .XER schedule data file and a .PLF schedule layout file have been removed from Factor 1 and found on updated solicitation page 63 bold and italicized. Updated Solicitation pages 62 through 67 have been included as an attachment to this amendment.

5. Please confirm that Letter(s) of Commitment for subcontractors in Subfactor 3B do not count towards to overall 50-page limit.

i. Please see Question 2.

6. Solicitation, Offer, and Award Box No. 11 states that time for completion is within 1422 calendar days after award. However, Section F Clause 52.211-10 states that Contractor shall complete the entire work for use not later than January 26, 2029. Which statement controls?

i. The anticipated award date is March 7, 2025. If you add 1422 calendar days, the end date is January 26, 2029. So, both are correct.

7. We respectfully ask for an extension of bid due date of 4 weeks. This will provide ALL proposers the additional time needed.

i. At this time, we will not be extending the proposal due date by 4-weeks. However, the proposal due date has been extended as follows:

From: November 8, 2024, 1400 Hours (MST) To: November 13, 2024, 1400 Hours (MST)

8. Section L, Proposal Instructions, Volume II – Technical Proposal, a. Table of contents states, “The Table of

Contents shall list all sections of the technical proposal. Any future amendments, additions and/or revisions to the proposal shall be included in an updated Table of Contents”. Please clarify if amendments need to be acknowledged in the technical proposal table of contents or if there should be a separate table of contents included in Volume I.

i. At proposal submission, you just need to acknowledge any amendments.

9. Solicitation Section L WBR 1452.215-81 Proposal Instructions: Referenced solicitation section allows for 50-page limit excluding Cover Page, Table of Contents, Tabs, and Glossaries. Factor 3 Experience and Management Subfactor 3C: Key Personnel requests detailed and complete resumes for all key personnel and their proposed alternate. The resume section could consume around 50% of allowable proposal pages unless additionally excluded. Is department willing to exclude the resume section from page count?

i. The resume section will count toward the 50-page limit.

10. Please clarify if CAS does or does not apply to the contract. If CAS does apply is it subject to full CAS coverage (all nineteen standards), modified CAS coverage (CAS 401, 402, 405 and 406) or only CAS 401 and 402?

i. Yes, this project is subject to Full Coverage CAS as outlined in CFR Title 48 Chapter 99, Part 9904 Cost Accounting Standards. All associated provisions and clauses are included in the solicitation.

11. On page 61 of the RFP, under proposal instructions, Volume II Technical Proposal allows for 1 document in

PDF format, however, on page 63 of the RFP under Factor 1: Construction Schedule, the paragraph states, “Include copies of the .PDF Ghantt Chart, The .XER schedule date file, and the .PLDF schedule layout file.”

Please confirm that the contractor is to submit 1 PDF document for the Technical Proposal including the .PDF Gantt Chart as well as separate .XER and .PLDF files.

i. Please see Question 4.

12. On page 62 of the RFP Under Proposal Instructions, paragraph (d). e. Contains a page limitation of 50 pages. Do resumes, schedule PDF, Small Business Participation Plan, project references and letters of commitment count towards the page limit?

i. Please see Questions 2 and 9.

13. Please confirm that 11x17 pages contained within the proposal only count toward 1 page.

i. The proposal shall consist of 8 ½” x 11” pages, other than the Construction Schedule where

11” x 17” pages will be accepted and count as 1-page. Please see Factor 1: Construction Schedule for additional information.

14. On page 64 of the RFP, Factor 2: Work Plans is missing key scopes of the project, please consider adding narrative sections for the following: Excavation for new spillway, Demolition and backfill of existing spillway, and Cut-off wall construction or indicate where these scopes of work should be addressed.

i. Factor 2 remains as written. You may address the items stated in your question within the Factor 2: Work Plans section.

15. On page 65/66 of the RFP, Subfactor 3C: Key Personnel requires a minimum of six years relevant experience. Please clarify if both the PKP and AKP are required to be allocated to the project. If both are required to be allocated to the project do the AKP fall under these requirements as well.

i. Yes, both Primary Key Personnel and Alternate Key Personnel are required to be allocated to this project. The requirements are applicable to both the Primary and Alternate Key Personnel.

16. Can you clarify that there are no proposal requirements incumbent on the Offeror for the selection panel to evaluate CPARS scores for Factor 4: Past Performance?

i. Information contained within Factor 4: Past Performance has been revised and updated on solicitation page 66 shown in bold and italics. Updated Solicitation Pages 62 through 67 have been included as an attachment to this amendment.

17. In the PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS section (c): Volume I - Representations, Certifications, SF24 Bid Bond Form, and Other Statements of Offeror. Include item (5) Make-or-Buy program (if applicable.) Please clarify if a Make-or-Buy Program is required and, if required, please clarify the level of detail necessary for evaluation?

i. Make-or-buy program plans are not applicable to this requirement.

18. In the PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS section (d): Volume II - Technical Proposal, Item e, States: PAGE LIMITATION. Technical proposals shall not exceed 50 Pages. The 50-page limit does not include the following: Cover Page, Table of Contents, Tabs, and Glossaries. We request that the Bureau of Reclamation add any Letter of Commitment with Major Subcontractors to be excluded from the page limit.

19. Does the Bureau of Reclamation have a definition of Major Subcontractor? 48 C.F.R. § 209.571-1 states "Major subcontractor" means a subcontractor that is awarded a subcontract that equals or exceeds- (i) Both the certified cost or pricing data threshold and 10 percent of the value of the contract under which the subcontract is awarded; or (ii) $55 million. Should the 48 C.F.R. § 209.571-1 definition of major subcontractor be used?

i. Yes.

20. Please confirm that the BOR Small Business Subcontract Goal of 42% is inclusive of the subgroups of SDB of 10%, WOSB of 5%, SDVOSB of 5%, HUBZone 3%, and ISBEE of 3%. The total goal is 42% not 68%.

i. The 42% is inclusive of the subgroups.

21. We have had discussions with small business contractors for the project and they have suggested that BOR might find it acceptable for the small businesses to carry second tier non-small business subcontractors in order to meet the small business goal. Would this be acceptable?

i. The government only has privity of contract with the prime contractor, not subcontractors.

As such, the government does not dictate what subcontractors do.

22. In Section L, Proposal Instructions, Volume II- Technical Proposal, Factor 3: Experience and Management, Subfactor 3A: Experience, states, "The Offeror shall submit a written narrative for a minimum of three (3) projects completed within the last ten (10) years that are relevant and commensurate in scope, complexity, and magnitude to the work required by the solicitation." Can the contractor submit ongoing projects that are relevant in scope, complexity and magnitude required by the solicitation?

i. Yes.

23. The RFP makes no reference to FAR 22.501-22.505 and does not otherwise reference a requirement for a Project Labor Agreement (“PLA”). This bidder understands that this project will be considered a “Large- Scale Construction Project” which is defined as a construction contract with the Federal Government valued at $35 million or more (FAR 22.502). Given the foregoing, as part of this RFP, will BOR require the use of a PLA for this project?

i. The PLA requirement has been waived for this project.

24. Section L, Proposal Instructions, Volume II – Technical Proposal, Factor 4: Past Performance states, “The Government will rely on the Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) located at http://www.cpars.gov for reviewing and evaluating projects similar in size, scope, and complexity to the current project”. Does the government want the offeror to provide the CPARS, or will the government get them from http://www.cpars.gov themselves? Please clarify what the offeror is to provide for this section.

i. The language on Factor 4: Past Performance has been revised. Please see updated solicitation page 66 with changes shown in bold and italics. Updated solicitation pages 62 through 67 are included as an attachment to this amendment.

25. Some questions asked during the initial Q/A period may have additional follow up questions, depending on the answer. Would the Government consider extending the Q/A period to accommodate these questions?

i. Not at this time.

26. The Wage Determination that came in the project documents package, General Decision Number:

UT20230090 dated 08/09/2024, does not appear to be a complete wage determination. Wage Determination is lacking information particularly for the wages for the different classifications for operating engineers. Please clarify the wages to be used for this project.

i. Attachment 5 within Section J of the Solicitation is General Decision Number: UT20240090 08/09/2024, which is the current Department of Labor Construction Wage Determination for Cache County, Utah where the work will take place.

27. Please confirm that the required Statement of Assurance in Subfactor 3C, which required signatures from the Offeror, the Primary Key Personnel and the Alternate Key Personnel (total of 8 letters) do not count towards the overall 50-page limitation.

28. Please confirm that the contents of Factor 4: Past Performance do not count towards the overall 50-page limitation.

i. Contents included under Factor 4: Past Performance will count towards the 50-page limit.

29. Was the PLA requirement removed?

i. Please see Question 23.

30. What are the phase II evaluation criteria? Is the phase II focused mostly on price?

i. Please see information contained under Stage Two within WBR 1452.215-81 Proposal Instructions Bureau of Reclamation.

31. Is a JV license required at the time of bid submission on 11/8/24, or at time of award?

i. The JV must be registered in the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM) at the time of proposal submission. The JV must have its own name, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code.