RFQ 19GT5024Q0041 - Building Autmation System Maintenance - Questions and Answers.pdf

Request for Quotation No. 19GT5024Q0041 Questions & Answers

1. Section B.3.3 states that the contractor shall be paid a fixed price per month but RFQ pricing in section B.4.1 indicates pricing per visit. How will contract be invoiced/paid?

Please refer to B.4 for a pricing schedule. We will edit B.3.3 to clarify that we will pay a firm fixed price based on the pricing schedule of B.4.

2. Section B.3.4 and B.3.5 is for additional work but does not reference that additional M&IE cost will be incurred and charged should our techs be required to stay additional time. Nor does it mention travel costs if this work requires an additional visit. When traveling or out of country at Post on a weekend, we charge labor for those days as well whether we are allowed to be on Post working or not. We include this time in our firm fixed price proposals.

How will it be handled for extra work?

Unscheduled services and emergency services will be quoted separately, and a separate purchase order will be issued for those services.

Each year of prices under Section B.4 includes the hourly rates per unscheduled or emergency services, that we will review to have the estimated cost of a visit under this category will cost.

Any additional fees (travel and M&IE) will have to be included in the quote, when requested/required.

3. Section B.3.6.b references Exhibit D. I do not see that an Exhibit D is included in the package

Please refer to page 53, Sample Task Order. We will provide a request for quote, when needed, to issue an independent order for unscheduled or emergency services.

4. Section C.1.1 “The BAS PM work required shall include but is not limited to: Preventative

Maintenance; Investigation & Troubleshooting; Adjustments; Trend & Alarm configuration;

etc.” Investigation, troubleshooting, adjustments, trend & alarm configuration are not by definition a “PM” service. How can we be expected to estimate a firm fixed cost contract when we have no idea how much of the non-PM items will be required at each visit? Should we base our proposal on a certain number of hours for each visit to accomplish the non-PM work? If yes, please identify number of hours.

Please refer to the third paragraph under Section C.1.1. “BAS PM Services shall result in all systems serviced under this solicitation and resultant contract being in good operational condition when the work is completed.” Additionally, review Section C.1.5.1.2 BAS Preventative maintenance (PM) services.

5. Section C.1.1 “BAS PM Services shall result in all systems serviced under this solicitation and resultant contract being in good operational condition when the work is completed.”

During PM service, we may identify components that are not functioning and need to be replaced. Given that we cannot identify these situations in advance, how can we include sufficient time to replace components during our PM visit when we don’t know what we will find until after arrival on site. Additionally, it may require components that Post does not have in stock and we will not be traveling with parts for just in case scenarios. This may affect the “good operational condition” of the system. We believe this statement should be modified in the contract.

The work is completed after the 5-year period. This means that after the 5 years, the expectation is that the BAS is in “good operational condition”.

6. Section C.1.1 “The Contractor shall provide the services of qualified, trained, manufacturer certified technicians to perform the required BAS PM services.” System is indicated as Tridium Niagara 4 but also shows Schneider I/A MNB controllers which utilize Schneider Workplace Tech software. Is it required to have a technician who is manufactured certified in both Niagara 4 and Schneider Workplace Tech? If yes, should we submit certificate with proposal to validate qualification?

Yes, that is correct. You must submit the required documentation to comply with the requirements on certifications.

7. Section C.1.3 under Emergency Services definition, “Contractor required to respond to call within 8 hours and take action to minimize emergency.” Given that we are a US based company and it will not be possible to get someone to site within 8 hours and I don’t believe there is currently any remote connection to BAS, we will be limited in actions that we can perform and any action will have to be given verbal and/or written directions for Post staff to perform. Is this acceptable?

Yes. It is expected the contractor to respond within 8- hours during an emergency, giving verbal instructions (remote- support) to the post’s personnel.

8. Section C.1.5.1.2.1 Provide the necessary investigative services to ensure BAS controls are working as designed and in accordance with documented operating sequences. Should I plan to review every operating sequence for all 600 plus controllers on each trip to see if anyone has changed anything?

Please refer to section C.1.5.1.2.2 under “scheduling” subsection B it states: “The schedule shall cover a five (5) year period so that the schedule can properly address tasks that are to be spread out over this time frame”. Please plan accordingly.

9. C1.5.1.2.2 – States we are to provide a BAS PM Service Activity Schedule within 10 business days. Is it acceptable to provide a generic list given that we are not provided specifics on controller identification numbers or equipment numbers that would allow us to distinguish them in the schedule?

Yes, a generic list can be provided for the first visit. After this, with the information gathered at post, the generic list must be updated to a customized list, oriented to post system necessities.

10. Section C.1.5.1.2.2.C – Does the owner have a procedure or directions on what means and methods are acceptable for activities such as end to end point check out and sensor calibration? Those procedures can be interpreted in many ways and owner providing expectations will ensure that everyone is bidding the same scope? For instance, point to point could mean checking every wiring termination or you could determine that wiring is correct from the front end. If checking wiring is required for terminal unit controllers, it will be very invasive to staff offices as those are located above ceiling.

Please suggest the most effective method to complete this task. We have a methodology and we want to compare against yours. The conditions for everyone bidding are the same, we are allowing the offerors to provide a solution to the task. Your approach will be evaluated against the competition.

11. Section C.1.5.1.2.5 – Items c, d, and e are impossible to estimate as ACI will not know how many problems exists in the system as we would only be there every 6 months. Same as item 4 above.

Item c” is “BAS Investigation and troubleshooting” Item “d” is “BAS trend and alarm configuration” Item “e” is “BAS OWS graphics” Post’s BAS technician will provide regular updates on the items mentioned above to keep them in check. Please provide an estimate based on your experience. We can adjust the number or hours dedicated to these tasks depending on the system’s necessities.

12. Section C.1.5.1.2.6 b same as item 8 above?

Section C1.5.1.2.6 makes reference to “Exhibit A 4.6 Annual PM Activities” the exhibit in turn says “It is the intention of this statement of work that tasks noted here which cannot be realistically completed during a single site visit, shall be broken up to occur over multiple site visits” please propose a way to move forward to complete these tasks. Your approach will be evaluated.

13. Section C.2 – Given that this is a US Embassy, is a bilingual supervisor/technician required?

Our lead technician will function as the supervisor. Is that acceptable?

The Contractor shall employ a competent On-Site Supervisor, satisfactory to the Government, to work at all times with the authority to act for the Contractor. See Exhibit A, 12.4.1, Page 37 of 52.

A bilingual supervisor is desirable, but main language for the administration of this contract is English.

14. Section F.3 states that a maintenance schedule is required to be updated the first Monday of each month. Given that we will only be performing work every 180 days, is monthly necessary?

Yes. BAS technician can provide information for the schedule monthly update.

15. Section F.3 references H.1.2.3 as Bios on personnel but it appears this is not what is identified in those sections.

Please note that the correct Reference is H.12.2.

16. Section F.3 identifies that a Safety Plan is required. We have never had to provide a safety plan for PM work. Is this required? If yes, can owner provide example of what is expected for this type of work?

Please refer to section 12.2.4 and please take in consideration that once awarded the following clause is required:

https://www.acquisition.gov/dosar/652.236-70-additional-safety-measures.

An example of guidelines to create the safety accident prevention plan are in section 1 of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Safety and Health manual EM 385–1–1

17. Section F.3 identifies that a Waste disposal report is required the last day of each month.

Given that this is not a construction project, is this required? The PM portion of this contract will not generate any waste. If parts are required to be replaced as part of some follow on work, we would plan to let Post staff dispose of the waste through appropriate means.

As detailed in H.7.1 (page 26) and 12.6.2 (page 92) H.7.1, you are required to address the terms of waste. Explain as required or indicate that there will be no waste generated under this contract.

https://www.acquisition.gov/dosar/652.236-70-additional-safety-measures

18. Section H.12.2 states that contractor must submit name of personnel performing work within 10 days of contract award then owner has up to 30 days to approve them. Once approved, we have to submit a CCR 15 business days prior to contractor departure for Post.

With all of these time frames, it is very doubtful that personnel can arrive at site 60 days after contract award. Are we understanding this timing correctly and is the 60 days absolutely required?

Timeframes are estimates, but once contract is awarded, we will be working with the Contractor and our Regional Security Office for compliance with security requirements.

19. Exhibit A Section 3.1.1 – Is there not a BAS #2 and BAS #3? Does items listed under BAS #1 include controllers for BAS #2 and BAS #3?

Since BAS # 2 is located in CAA the local staff does not possess drawings or data on what has been installed. BAS # 3 is set B and the situation is the same.

20. Exhibit A Section 3.2 – Item 3.2.1.5&6 indicate a total of 20 terminal units. However, Section 3.1 indicates 426 MNB V2-2 controllers which is for terminal units. Which is correct?

There are two types of terminal boxes installed within the compound. Both use the same MNB V2-2 controller. The difference is that there are:

Electric Reheat Terminal Boxes Cooling Only Terminal Boxes

This means that within the 426 MNB V2-2 controllers both types of terminal boxes are included.

21. Exhibit A Section 3.2.1.7 indicates 34 Fan Coil Units but section 3.1 does not show controllers that I think would be used to control fan coils. What controllers are used on fan coil units?

A Low voltage fan coil controller and zone controller is used to command the 2-Way control valve are used for this task.

22. Exhibit A Section 4.5.10.1 – Section called for contractor to scan hard copy of drawings if no electronic copies are available. Will contractor be allowed to use Post scanner onsite since we will not travel with scanner.

The contractor may use scanners on site but needs a local staff to unlock the units as they are part of the network to which the contractor has no access code.

23. Exhibit A Section 4.5.11 – Please identify how many controllers have UPS batteries installed.

None on the general work area (GWA). Local staff has no data on the CAA or set B areas. This can be dealt with detail after the first visit.

24. Exhibit A Section 4.7.2 – Please provide a quantity of hardware points to base our proposal for point to point. We realize that it is subject to verification but we have to have a base so that we can provide a firm fixed price that might have to be adjusted.

Please refer to section 4.7.1 that states: ” It is the intention of this statement of work that tasks noted here shall be broken up evenly to occur over multiple site visits, over the duration of five (5) years”

25. Exhibit A Section 4.7.3 – Please provide quantity of sensors/end devices by type that must be calibrated/validated. For instance, how many temperature sensors, air DP sensors, wet DP sensors, etc. We realize that it is subject to verification but we have to have a base so that we can provide a firm fixed price that might have to be adjusted.

Please refer to section 4.7.1 that states: ” It is the intention of this statement of work that tasks noted here shall be broken up evenly to occur over multiple site visits, over the duration of five (5) years”

26. Exhibit A Section 11.1 – It is our understanding that Classified material (if there is any) can only be stored for as long as there is an active DD254 in effect. This may or may not be 15 years. Please confirm that we understand this correctly.

Work will take place in classified areas however; the contractor will not be required to process or maintain any classified material.

End of Questions and Answers.