142010-26-0111_SOW__for_RFQ_for_Grounds_Maintenance_05282026.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

PERFORMANCE BASED SERVICE CONTRACT—LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE

This solicitation contains a work statement for a performance-based service. This means that the Government has described WHAT is to be accomplished, not HOW to accomplish it, and states a basis for determining whether finished work meets the Government quality requirements. It does not state detailed procedures for accomplishing the requirement unless there are safety, security or communication requirements.

It is the responsibility of the Contractor to ensure that they build into their bid/proposal price the necessary hours that it will take to meet the performance standards specified.

1. SCOPE OF WORK

A. Place of performance will be as follows: National Weather Service Forecast Office, 5777 S. Aviation Ave, Charleston, SC. 29406. The project site consists of approximately 5 acres, parts of which are occupied by buildings, walks, and other paved surfaces.

B. All work performed under this contract is required to meet the quality and performance standards as identified. The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and services necessary to perform landscape maintenance on a weekly basis from March 1 through October 31 and once a month (or more often if needed) from November 1 through February 28. Work shall be in a manner that will maintain healthy grass, shrubs, and plants, and present a neat and professional appearance.

C. If services cannot be performed due to inclement weather, the Contractor shall perform any and all scheduled services the next duty day with no degradation to existing scheduled services.

D. All work should be performed Monday through Friday between the hours of 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

2. SUPPLIES, MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT AND UTILITIES

A. Government Furnished:

Electrical power shall be provided at existing exterior receptacles for the Contractor to operate their equipment, as necessary, in the performance of this contract.

B. Contractor Furnished:

(1) The Contractor shall furnish all supplies, materials, and employee training necessary to achieve the quality performance standards of the work in this contract, unless otherwise specified herein.

(a) Training shall include all applicable OSHA and other related standards. The Contractor shall submit all Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for any materials used under this contract containing “dangerous” or “warning” labels to the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) within 10 days after contract award date.

(2) The Contractor shall furnish all equipment necessary to accomplish the work under this contract. All equipment must meet all applicable OSHA standards. The Contractor shall not use any unsafe equipment or any equipment in need of repair.

.3. CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

A. Within five days of the contract start date, the Contractor shall submit, in writing, the name of the Site Manager. The Contractor shall supply telephone, cell phone, and/or pager numbers to the TPOC for use in contacting the Site Manager. The Site Manager shall conduct overall management coordination and shall be the central point of contact with the Government for performance of all work under this contract. The Site Manager shall be authorized to receive any notices of deficiency in contract performance. The notices may include, but not be limited to, the following: non-performance of work, deficiencies in work performed and notices of proposed payment deductions due to the above. The Site Manager shall be available weekdays, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., within 30 minutes to meet at the facility to discuss problem areas.

B. All personnel employed by the Contractor shall be experienced in the type of work involved and familiar with the specifications of this contract.

C. The Contractor is required to provide necessary and on-going tenant relations or customer service training for their employees.

D. Contractor personnel shall conduct all operations in such a manner as to minimize any inconvenience in the use of the facilities to the occupants.

4. SCHEDULING WORK AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Within five work days of the contract starting date, and annually thereafter for renewal periods, the Contractor shall submit to the TPOC schedules and plans to accomplish required services throughout the year. If changes need to be made to reduce conflicts with Government operations, special events, or other occurrences, the Contractor shall meet with the TPOC and revise the schedule as necessary. The TPOC may request changes to the monthly work schedule so spacing of services is distributed to meet the needs of the Government. The Contractor shall not deviate from this schedule without prior approval from the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative.

5. QUALITY CONTROL PROGRAM

A. The Contractor shall establish a complete, written, Quality Control Program (QCP) to ensure that the requirements of the contract are provided as specified. The written QCP shall be submitted to the TPOC within 5 days of the start date of work.

B. The QCP’s purpose is to provide a plan for meeting all requirements of this contract. The QCP should include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. An inspection of the grounds which covers all services stated in “Performance Standards and Guideline Requirements” of this contract.

2. A system to ensure that the Contractor’s employees, or subcontractor’s employees, are notified of all deficiencies in their area of responsibility. A system and plan to retrain employees to ensure that deficiencies do not reoccur.

3. A plan for monitoring and correcting customer complaints. A record of customer complaints and the corrective action taken must be kept on file at this site and available for review by the Contracting Officer or his/her representative, at any time.

4. A plan for the immediate forwarding of customer complaints that are not the responsibility of the Contractor, to the TPOC or their designated representative.

C. The QCP must be kept current, reflecting the pertinent contract modifications and requisite changes or conditions. The Contractor shall review the plan with his onsite personnel to ensure complete understanding. A copy of the most current QCP must be kept on file at the worksite where the tasks are being accomplished.

If the Contractor is not meeting performance or quality measures, the Government retains the right to review the QCP and related documents. Upon review of the plan and related documents, the Government will take appropriate action to ensure that all quality and performance measures are met as specified in this contract.

6. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINE REQUIREMENTS

NOTE: All services provided under this contract are required to meet the quality and performance standards described herein.

A. The Contractor shall provide all labor, equipment, materials, supplies, and supervision to perform grounds maintenance and landscape services as identified in the Statement of Work.

1. The following guidelines describe what is considered to be the normal industry quality and performance standards for intended services under this type of contract.

2. The Contractor, through innovation, technology or other means, shall perform the required services in order to meet the quality and performance standards.

B. The following guidelines are for reference only and final results will be the determining factor for the success or failure of this contract. Performance will be based on the Contractor’s effort in the meeting the performance and quality standards, not the frequency or method of performance.

1. Mowing and Trimming Operations:

a. The Contractor shall be responsible for monitoring the growth of the grass and scheduling cutting/mowing operations, but in general mowing and trimming operations should occur weather permitting on a weekly basis from March 1 through October 31.

b. The Contractor shall maintain a grass height between 2” and 2 ½” in order to prevent scalping. Uneven mowing and rutting by equipment during contractor operations must be avoided.

c. The Government is not responsible for damage to contractor’s equipment due to trash, debris, or uneven terrain.

d. Contractor shall maintain all open drainage systems; open culverts under driveways and roads free of debris, trash, limbs, leaves and grass clippings.

e. Grass and weeds shall be trimmed around trees, shrubs, buildings, fences, poles, posts, fire hydrants, parking lot bumper blocks and other fixed obstacles concurrent with mowing height to give a well-manicured look at all times.

f. Grass clippings shall be removed to provide a uniform appearance after mowing.

g. The contractor must exhibit care around/near parked vehicles during mowing and trimming operations so to not cause damage. It is the responsibility of the contractor to repair any vehicle damage that occurred at a result of negligence during mowing and trimming operations.

2. Grounds Maintenance.

a. All turf areas will be fertilized four times annually with a balanced lawn food to ensure a thick healthy lawn.

b. All flowers, plants, shrubs, and trees will be fertilized as needed to maintain a healthy condition.

c. Fertilizers shall be standard commercial grade of organic or inorganic fertilizer of the kind and quality specified per results of soil testing by the Contractor and appropriate to industry standards. The Contractor shall notify the TPOC prior to the beginning of each fertilizer application and post flags indicating the application. The Contractor shall apply fertilizer in compliance with instruction and conditions contained on labels and required by the Environmental Protection Agency, state and local regulations. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) will be available at all times.

d. The use of compatible sod or a grass seed mixture should be used to fill in damaged grass areas or areas without grass

3. Edging.

a. Grass shall be cut back from all edges 0.5” to 1.5” and not cut deeper than 1.5” to 2”.

b. Edging shall include removal of vegetation from sidewalks (including cracks and expansion joints), driveways, concrete curbs, planting beds and mounds, and rock beds. Grass shall not extend over the edge of any of the above areas.

4. Weed and Insect Control.

a. Lawns shall be maintained in a manner to minimize annual and perennial weeds, including all clover and coarse grass species.

b. Apply herbicides and/or pesticides to lawns at least twice a year and more often than that if needed to control weeds, clover and course grasses consistent with industry standards.

c. Flower beds shall be kept weed free by pulling weeds or applying herbicides and/or pesticides. Weeding is a year-long requirement.

d. Parking lots, walkways, rock beds, fences, and all building perimeters shall be kept free of weeds, grasses, and leaves all year long.

e. Apply herbicides and/or pesticides to turf, shrubs, trees and ground cover twice a year and more often than that if needed to control insect infestation.

f. The Contractor shall notify the TPOC prior to the beginning of each weed or insect control application and post flags indicating the application. The Contractor shall apply pesticides and/or herbicides in compliance with instruction and conditions contained on labels and required by the Environmental Protection Agency, state and local regulations. For any product that has a Material Safety Data Sheet, the MSDS will be provided by the contractor to the TPOC prior to use. The Contractor shall insure pesticides and herbicides used will not injure the lawn, shrubs, trees, or any other plantings. The Contractor shall notify the TPOC prior to the beginning of each fertilizer application and post flags indicating the application.

5. Mole Control.

a. Action will be taken through whatever means necessary to minimize the moles and the damage they do to the turf and flowerbed areas.

b. The Contractor shall be in compliance with instruction and conditions contained on labels and required by the Environmental Protection Agency, state and local regulations. If chemicals are utilized, For any product that has a Material Safety Data Sheet, the MSDS will be provided by the contractor to the TPOC prior to use. The Contractor shall insure what is done to control moles will not injure the lawn, shrubs, trees, or any other plantings. If applicable, the Contractor shall notify the TPOC prior to the beginning of each application of chemicals and post flags indicating the application.

6. Ant Control.

a. Action will be taken on a routine basis by necessary means to minimize the ant mounds in order to minimize the damage that they do to the turn and flowerbed areas.

b. Annual applications of preferred treatment (lasts 1 year from date of application) will be applied at the end of winter for optimum control in the most active months during spring/summer. Cost of the product, delivery, and labor will be included in the contract.

c. The Contractor shall be in compliance with instruction and conditions contained on labels and required by the Environmental Protection Agency, state and local regulations. If chemicals are utilized, For any product that has a Material Safety Data Sheet, the MSDS will be provided by the contractor to the TPOC prior to use. The Contractor shall insure what is done to control ants will not injure the lawn, shrubs, trees, or any other plantings. If applicable, the Contractor shall notify the TPOC prior to the beginning of each application of chemicals and post flags indicating the application.

7. Cleanup.

a. All grass clippings, weeds, and pruning shall be removed from the property every time services are provided, and disposed of offsite properly..

b. Walks and driveways shall be kept free of equipment and debris.

c. Exterior walls of building shall be kept free of soil.

d. All trash, debris and leaves shall be removed from the property, including the vehicle parking lots, walkways, flowerbeds, and lawn areas.

8. Mulch Replenishment.

a. Beds will be edged and cleaned of all debris and weeds before adding mulch

b. Pine Straw Mulch will be replenished in all planting beds, and around all shrubs, trees and walkways twice a year. Quantities supplied must be sufficient to maintain planting bed areas with a minimum mulch depth of four (4) inches, and tree mounds with a minimum depth of six (6) inches. A sample of mulch shall be submitted to the TPOC prior to application.

9. Erosion Control. The Contractor shall repair and fill all rivulets, soil slides, and washouts when necessary.

10. Pruning.

a. Prune all shrubs to existing form twice during the growing season or as needed. Trees shall be pruned from ground level to up to 12’ to improve form and remove dead wood and spent blossoms as needed.

b. Tree and shrub suckers and excess shoot growth shall be removed when they are small/emerging. Contractor will consult with TPOC if limbs should potentially be removed. TPOC may also bring to the attention of the contractor limbs that should be left or ones that should be removed. Plantings such as ground cover, perennials, and bulbs, shall be cut back as appropriate for the species.

c. Shrub like trees/bush should be shaped and not to exceed 12’ high. Example: Holly Shrub/Bush, Arborvitae, etc.

11. Flowers Replacement. Replace flowers four times annually (March/April, June/July, September/October and November/December) so that when the flowers reach maturity, each of the 4 beds in the front of the building are well covered.

12. Damage. If the Government determines that the damage to sprinkler heads was caused by the Contractor, the Contractor shall repair/replace them at no additional cost to the Government.

13. Sprinkler System. Landscape contractor will check the sprinkler system beginning of season, once during the season and at the end of mowing season.

a. If issues are noticed, contractor must submit a quote for repair. No repair work can be done until approval is received.

b. At the end of the watering season, the landscape contractor will winterize the system. Blowout the sprinkler line to prepare for winter. This will normally be around November or December.

14. Final Work. During the last two weeks of the contract, the Contractor shall leave all planting beds, tree mounds, and rock beds in a weed free condition. Grass shall be mowed, weather conditions permitting, regardless of height.

15. Itemized Services Requirement Sheet The following are services INCLUDED under this performance-based solicitation. The following are major service items and therefore, some minor or sub item services may not be listed.

A. Edging B. Erosion Control C. Fertilizing D. Insect/Mole Control E. Grass Mowing F. Leaf Removal G. Mulching H. Pruning I. Trimming J. Weeding K. Bed Preparation and Maintenance L. Lawn Maintenance M. Sprinkler System Testing System Winterize

7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Base Year: Date of Award to May 31, 2027 Option Year 1: June 1, 2027 to May 31, 2028 Option Year 2: June 1, 2028 to May 31, 2029 Option Year 3: June 1, 2029 to May 31, 2030 Option Year 4: June 1, 2030 to May 31, 2031

8. TECHNICAL POINTS OF CONTACT

Primary:

PROVIDED UPON AWARD

Backup:

PROVIDED UPON AWARD