Instructions to Bidders - 36C24124B0041 - Building 78 Roof.pdf

INFORMATION REGARDING BIDDING MATERIAL, BID GUARANTEE AND

BONDS

BIDDING MATERIAL:

Bidding materials consisting of drawings, specifications, and contract forms are included and/or attached as part of this Invitation for Bid. The VA will not provide printed copies of drawings or specifications. It is the responsibility of the bidder to obtain the bid materials in a time and manner sufficient to respond to this solicitation by the specified due date.

BID GUARANTEE:

A Bid Guarantee, SF 24, is required. The amount shall be adequate to protect the Government from loss should the successful bidder fail to execute further contractual documents and bonds as required. The bid guarantee amount shall be at least 20 percent of the bid price but shall not exceed $3 million. Failure to furnish the required bid guarantee in the proper form and amount, by the time set for opening of bids, may require rejection of the bid in all cases except those listed in FAR 28.101-4. Copies of the SF 24 may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP.

PAYMENT & PERFORMANCE BONDS:

The bidder to whom award is made will be required to furnish two bonds, a Payment Bond, SF 25A, and a Performance Bond, SF 25, each in the penal sum of 100 percent of the original contract price. Copies of SFs 25 and 25A may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

Refer to the Statement of Work and other attachments listed in the solicitation.

WAGE DETERMINATION:

Wages for all contractors and subcontractors must comply with Wage Rate Requirement (formerly Davis Bacon Act). The current determination is General Decision MA20240001 revised 02-09-2024. Be advised the determination that is current at the time of the contract award is the determination that will apply for the project. Current determinations are always available at: https://sam.gov/content/wage-determinations.

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO BIDDERS

AVAILABILITY OF SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS:

All solicitation related documents will be published to Contract Opportunities at https://sam.gov/content/opportunities.

INVITATION FOR BID:

This solicitation is being issued as an Invitation for Bid (IFB) in accordance with FAR Part 14.

SDVOSB SET-ASIDE:

This procurement is 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concerns. Bids received from other than Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concerns will not be considered. All Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses must be listed as “verified” by the SBA’s VetCert at Veteran Small Business

Certification (sba.gov) Bidders must be verified by VetCert and visible in the database at TIME OF SUBMISSION OF BIDS AND TIME OF AWARD. Failure to be BOTH visible and verified at the time of bid submission will result in the bidder’s bid ineligible for award.

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:

Questions of a technical nature must be provided in writing and shall be submitted by the prospective bidders to Sary Nhet. Questions shall be submitted only via e-mail to:

sary.nhet@va.gov. The subject line must read: 518-21-118 Building 78 Roof Replacement Construction - Technical Questions. Oral questions of a technical nature are not acceptable due to the possibility of misunderstanding or misinterpretation. THE CUT- OFF DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF QUESTIONS IS MARCH 27, 2024 at 4:00

PM (EST).

AMENDMENTS:

Amendments to this solicitation will be posted at https://sam.gov/content/opportunities.

Paper copies of the amendments will NOT be individually mailed. No other notification of amendments will be provided. Potential bidders are advised that they are responsible for obtaining and acknowledging any amendments to the solicitation. Failure to acknowledge an amendment may result in your bid being considered non-responsive.

PRE-BID SITE VISIT:

A formal site visit has been scheduled for this project for MARCH 19, 2024, at 10:00AM (EST). Meeting Place will be outside of Building 2 Main Entrance. This will be the only opportunity for potential bidders to visit the site. See FAR Clause 52.236-27 of this solicitation for further information.

All potential bidders, subcontractors and suppliers are strongly encouraged to attend this site visit.

PREPARATION OF BIDS:

The Government will not pay for any costs incurred in preparation and submission of bids.

BID SUBMISSION:

GENERAL:

Bids are due by 11:00 AM EST, APRIL 16, 2024.

The statement in block 13a. on page 1 of the SF1442 does not apply to this IFB. Bidders shall submit their bids via email to: sary.nhet@va.gov. Only electronic bids will be accepted. No original or hard copies will be accepted.

Only one (1) electronic bid shall be submitted. Zero (0) copies shall be submitted.

The bid bond shall be submitted as part of the electronic submission. An original bid bond will be requested by the VA, from the “apparent low bidder”, after the bid opening.

Failure to provide electronic bids at the date and time set for bid opening, may deem the bid Non-Responsive.

BID PACKAGE CONTENTS:

Standard Form (SF) 1442 Solicitation, Offer and Award:

o The Bidder shall complete & sign the “OFFER” section of the SF 1442.

Acknowledgement of All Amendments:

o The Bidder shall acknowledge all amendments by either 1.) Completing block 14 of the SF 1442. 2.) Returning the signed amendment form(s) with the submission.

Pricing Schedule:

o The Bidder shall complete & sign the “OFFER” section of the SF 1442. The Bidder shall submit separate prices for all items (if Applicable) indicated in Block 17.

Bid Guarantee:

o The Bidder shall furnish a bid guarantee (FAR 52.228-1).

Representations & Certifications:

o The Bidder shall provide their Representations and Certifications or their response to FAR 52.204-8 (2) (i) or (ii) Annual Representations and Certifications.

o Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance

Services or Equipment:

Bidder shall provide their response to FAR 52.204-24 (d) Representation.

o Information Regarding Responsibility Matters:

Bidder shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-7 (b) Information

Regarding Responsibility Matters.

o Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements:

Bidder shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-13 (b) (1) or (2) Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements.

o Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements-Notice and Representation:

Bidder shall provide their response to FAR 52.229-11 items (d) (1) and (d)

(2).

Experience Modification Rate:

o The Bidder shall include the Safety of Environmental Violations and Experience Modification Rating (EMR) Information, including filling out the PRE-AWARD CONTRACTOR EVALUATION FORM (see attachment S02 Pre-Award Contractor Evaluation form).

o Provide Bidder’s information pertaining to their past Safety and Environmental record. The information must contain a certification that the Bidder has no more than three (3) serious, or one (1) repeat or one (1) willful OSHA or any EPA violation(s) in the past three years. If such certification cannot be made, a Bidder shall explain why and submit as much information as possible regarding the circumstances of its past safety and environmental record, including the number of EPA violations and/or the number of serious, repeat, and/or willful OSHA violations, along with a detailed description of those violations.

o Provide Bidder’s information regarding their current EMR. This information shall be obtained from the Bidder’s insurance carrier and be furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead. If a Bidder’s EMR is above 1.0, Bidder must submit a written explanation of the EMR from its insurance carrier furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead, describing the reasons for the elevated EMR and the anticipated date the EMR may be reduced to 1.0 or below.

o Self-insured contractors or other contractors that cannot provide their EMR rating on insurance letterhead must obtain a rating from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI) by completing/submitting form ERM-6 and providing the rating on letterhead from NCCI. Note: Self-insured contractors or other contractors that cannot provide EMR rating on insurance letterhead from the states or territories of CA, DE, MI, NJ, ND, OH, PA, WA, WY, and PR shall obtain their EMR rating from their state-run worker’s compensation insurance rating bureau.

o If the NCCI cannot issue an EMR because the Bidder lacks insurance history, Bidder shall submit a letter indicating so from its insurance carrier furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead and include a letter from the NCCI indicating that is has assigned Bidder a Unity Rating of 1.0.

o The above information, along with other information obtained from Government systems, such as the OSHA and EPA online inspection history databases, will be used to make an initial Determination of Responsibility.

o This requirement is applicable to all subcontracting tiers, and prospective prime contractors are responsible for determining the responsibility of their prospective subcontractors.

o Failure to provide the above documentation, may result in a determination that an Bidder is non-responsive and therefore ineligible for award.

VAAR 852.219-77 VA NOTICE OF LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING

o The Bidder shall complete the Certificate of Compliance for Services and

Construction located in the solicitation.

BID OPENING:

Bids are due by 11:00 AM EST, APRIL 16, 2024. Meeting Place will be at Building 2

Main Entrance. Bids will be publicly read aloud and conducted in accordance with FAR Par 14.

DETERMINATION OF NON-RESPONSIVE:

Bids received pertaining to this solicitation will be reviewed for responsiveness. Failure to provide documentation as outlined in the Bid Submission section of the solicitation, at the date and time set for bid opening, may deem the bid Non-Responsive.

DETERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITY:

A Determination of Responsibility will be conducted for the apparent “low bidder/awardee” prior to award of the project. The Representations and Certifications, along with other information obtained from Government systems, as well as any other information IAW FAR 9.105-1 will be used to make the Determination of Responsibility.

NOTE: Any information received by the Government that would cause for a negative Determination of Responsibility may make the Bidder ineligible for award.

SUBCONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITY

When it is in the Government’s interest to do so, the contracting officer may directly determine a prospective subcontractor’s responsibility. In this case, the same standards used to determine a prime contractor’s responsibility shall be used by the Government to determine subcontractor responsibility.

VETS 4214:

Title 38, USC Section 4212(d), codified at 41 CFR Section 61-300, requires that federal contractors report, at least annually, the number and category of veterans who are within their workforce. Submission of the VETS-4212 reporting information can be done electronically at: http://www.dol.gov/vets/vets4212.htm. Award cannot be made unless the awardee has filed their VETS-4212 report. Therefore, all bidders are encouraged to file every year. The Contracting Officer may request a copy of the email confirmation of receipt notification, prior to awarding the project.

SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM):

Federal Acquisition Regulations require that federal contractors register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at http://www.sam.gov and enter all mandatory information into the system. Bidders are required to be registered in SAM at the time a bid is submitted in order to comply with the annual representations and certifications requirements. Awardee is required to maintain SAM registration throughout the entire length of the contract.

CONTRACT AWARD:

Award may only be made with the responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to the solicitation, will be most advantageous to the government, considering only price and the price-related factors announced in this solicitation (see FAR 52.214-19). The low price will be evaluated by the Contracting Officer prior to award to confirm that it is “a fair and reasonable price that offers the best value to the Government.”

REVIEW REQUIRED REGISTRATION WITH CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE

ASSESSMENT SYSTEM (CPARS):

As prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 42.1502(e), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluates contractor past performance on all construction contracts that exceed $750,000 and shares those evaluations with other Federal Government contract specialists and procurement officials. The FAR requires that the contractor be provided an opportunity to comment on past performance evaluations prior to each report closing. To fulfill this requirement VA uses an online database, CPARS, which is maintained by the Naval Seal Logistics Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. CPARS has connectivity with the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) database, which is available to all Federal agencies. PPIRS is the system used to collect and retrieve performance assessment reports used in source selection determinations and completed CPARS report cards transferred to PPIRS. CPARS also includes access to the federal awardee performance and integrity information system (FAPIIS). FAPIIS is a web-enabled application accessed via CPARS for contractor responsibility determination information.

Each contractor whose contract award is estimated to exceed $750,000 is required to register with CPARS database at the following web address: http://www.cpars.gov/.

Help in registering can be obtained by contacting Customer Support Desk at 207- 438- 1690. Registration should occur no later than thirty days after contract award and must be kept current should there be any change to the contractor’s registered representative.

For contracts with a period of one year or less, the contracting officer will perform a single evaluation when the contract is complete. For contracts exceeding one year, the contracting officer will evaluate the contractor’s performance annually. Interim reports will be filed each year until the last year of the contract, when the final report will be completed. The report shall be assigned in CPARS to the contractor’s designated representative for comment. The contractor representative will have thirty days to submit any comments and re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer.

Failure to have a current registration in the CPARS database, or to re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer within those thirty days, will result in the Government’s evaluation being placed on file in the database with a statement that the contractor failed to respond.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS AND SPECIAL AGREEMENT CHECKS:

All contractor employees are subject to the same level of investigation as VA employees who have access to VA Sensitive Information. The level of background investigation commensurate with the level of access needed to perform the statement of work is: Low Risk. This requirement is applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same access. As per VA Directive 0710, costs of background investigations will be borne by the contractor.

REFERENCES TO VA ENGINEER, RESIDENT ENGINEER OR PROJECT

MANAGER:

Any reference contained within the solicitation/contract specifications and/or drawings to the “VA Engineer,” “Resident Engineer,” or “Project Manager” or their abbreviations shall be replaced with “Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).”