Attachment 0002 - PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND EVALUATION INFORMATION_Rev1 521-21-106.pdf

36C24725R0020

2.3 PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND EVALUATION INFORMATION

I. Proposal Submission

This is a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) that represents the best value to the Government conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 15.1 using the tradeoff process and evaluated in accordance with FAR Subpart 15.3, Source Selection. This section describes the method for evaluating and selecting offers for this procurement.

A. Proposal Submission:

1. Submit one (1) Electronic Proposal to the email addresses indicated on page 1, block 8 of the Standard Form 1442. The Subject Line of the email should include “Company Name, RFP number, Project Title.”

2. The size of your file shall not exceed 10 MB. If you have multiple documents, please submit them as separate emails. Emails larger than this may be rejected by the network servers and will be considered non-responsive.

3. Interested firms are responsible for ensuring electronic submission delivery by the time and the date specified. It is highly recommended that interested firms confirm that the Contracting Officer has received electronic submissions. Failure to provide a proposal in its entirety before the deadline will render the proposal non-compliant.

B. Proposal Preparation and Format Instructions:

Offerors must provide all requested information for each factor. Proposals must separately address each element of each factor as applicable to be considered responsive to this RFP.

Factor headings should be highlighted in yellow or typed in bold text for identification. It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure the submitted proposal is in the proper format and that the provided information is clearly understood and free of ambiguities.

Offerors proposals should consist of past performance and price proposals, as described below.

1. TAB A: General Information:

(1) Cover Page with Solicitation Number, Project Title

(2) Table of Contents

(3) Signed offer/Acknowledgement of Amendments (SF1442)

(4) Copy of current VetCert SDVOSB certification

(5) SAM UEI Number

(6) Offer Guarantee Bond (DO NOT SEND HARD COPY) Electronic copy acceptable and should be emailed to Point of Contact(s) listed on page 1, block 8.

(7) Safety or Environmental Violations and Experience Modification (EMR) Rate

* Submit information regarding current experience modification rate form (See Attachment 1). An EMR of greater than 1.0 may disqualify the bidder/offeror.

(8) 852.219-75 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting—Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction (Jan 2023) (Deviation), (See Attachment 2).

file:///C:/Users/VHAATGGoodmE/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/5W1DJMQ7/veterans.certify.sba.gov

(9) Provide evidence of VETS-4212 Reporting (if applicable)

2. TAB B: Past Performance

(1) Offeror must submit a minimum of one (1) but no more than three (3) references utilizing page one of Attachment 3 for projects similar in scope, size, and complexity within the past five (5) years from the date of the posting of this solicitation to SAM.gov.

Completed PPQs must be received directly from the client/customer for which the construction project was performed. If a CPARS is available for any of the projects submitted, they should also be submitted.

a. Further note: If utilizing past performance of a subcontractor, subcontractors identified in the proposal must remain on the contract for its duration unless there is a compelling reason to replace them. The prime contractor will need to obtain approval from the contracting officer before making changes to key subcontractors.

(2) The Government reserves the right to contact references for verification or additional information. The Government’s inability to contact any of the offeror’s references or the references unwillingness to provide the information requested may affect the Government’s evaluation of this factor.

(3) PPQs should be emailed to the construction contract administrator of the entity (Government or civilian) for which the construction was completed and emailed to Gregory Snyder, at email gregory.snyder@va.gov and CC: Margaret.yeaton@va.gov.

3. TAB C: Price Proposal

(1) Complete the price offer schedule in section A.3.

(2) Price shall be addressed using the attached price breakdown worksheet, which is included in Attachment 4.

(3) Provide supporting documentation showing quotes/price breakdowns for both prime and subcontractors.

NOTE: Price breakdown shall be indicative of showing at least 15 percent of the cost of the contract performance incurred for personnel will be spent on the concern's employees or the employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns in accordance with VAAR 852.219-73(d)(3).

II. EVALUATION CRITERIA/OVERVIEW

The evaluation is subjective based on the information provided in response to the information requested in the evaluation factors. The two (2) factors to be evaluated include past performance and price. Offerors proposal shall address the following:

A. FACTOR 1 - PAST PERFORMANCE:

Past Performance will be evaluated to assess recency and relevancy, resulting in a performance confidence assessment rating. For evaluation purposes, past performance will be significantly more important than price.

mailto:gregory.snyder@va.gov mailto:Margaret.yeaton@va.gov

1. Past Performance: The basis of the evaluation will be the degree to which past performance evaluations and all other past performance information reviewed by the Government reflect a trend of satisfactory performance considering 1) compliance with the contract requirements, 2) effectiveness of the Offeror's on-site management; 3) use of appropriate personnel for contract requirements); 4) timeliness in the submission of schedules, reports, and submittals; 5) adherence to the construction schedule; 6) coordination and control of subcontractors; 7) ability to effectively deal with the customer and other Government personnel; 8) cooperativeness in solving problems and negotiating changes; 9) response to warranty notifications, and other pertinent information obtained from past performance evaluations that have affected the overall performance of previous or ongoing projects.

2. The Government reserves the right to obtain information for use in the evaluation of past performance from any and all sources, including sources outside of the Government. Other sources may include but are not limited to past performance information retrieved through the (CPARS), for Contractors who are part of a partnership or joint venture identified in the offeror’s proposal, inquiries of owner representative(s), and any other known sources not provided by the offeror.

3. In evaluating past performance, the government reserves the right to give greater consideration to information on those contracts deemed most relevant to the effort described in this solicitation. Common aspects of relevancy include similarity of service/support, complexity, dollar value, contract type, and degree of subcontract/teaming.

4. Relevant work is defined as performance similar or greater in scope, magnitude, and complexity than the effort described in this solicitations scope of work, to include correction of critical medical gas system deficiencies by replacing/upgrading aging equipment and controls. This relevant work can be a portion of a larger requirement, which was issued by the VA, Federal, State, Local Government agencies, and/or commercial facilities.

5. Recent is defined as performance within the last five (5) years, to include ongoing projects.

Table 1. Past Performance Relevancy Ratings

Rating Definition

Very Relevant Present/past performance effort involved essentially the same scope and magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires.

Relevant Present/past performance effort involved similar scope and magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires.

Somewhat Relevant

Present/past performance effort involved some of the scope and magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires

Not Relevant Present/past performance effort involved little or none of the scope and magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires.

6. Past performance evaluation will allow the government to assess the offeror’s ability to perform the effort described in this solicitation based on the offeror’s demonstrated present and past performance. The assessment process will result in an overall performance confidence assessment of Substantial Confidence, Satisfactory Confidence, Limited Confidence, No Confidence or Neutral/Unknown Confidence.

Table 2. Performance Confidence Assessments

Rating Description

Substantial Confidence

Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a high expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

Satisfactory Confidence

Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

Limited Confidence Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a low expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort.

No Confidence Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has no expectation that the offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort.

Neutral/Unknown Confidence

No recent/relevant performance record is available or the offeror’s performance record is so sparse that no meaningful confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned.

7. Respondents with no previous past performance shall state this when addressing the selection criteria. Where there is no record of past performance, the proposal will be evaluated neither favorably nor unfavorably. Superior performance ratings on relevant projects may be considered more favorably in the evaluation.

B. FACTOR 2 - PRICE PROPOSAL:

The government may use various price analysis techniques and procedures to determine price reasonableness. Price will be evaluated for Price Reasonableness. The Government reserves the right to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions (except clarifications as described in FAR 15.306(a)). Therefore, the offeror’s initial proposal should contain the offeror’s best terms from a performance and price standpoint. The Government will evaluate price based on the total price.

III. EVALUATION AND BASIS FOR AWARD:

A. FAR 15.101-1 shall apply to the government’s evaluation of proposals. The factors that shall be used to evaluate offers are Past Performance and Price. Past Performance is significantly more important than Price.

B. Discussions: The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with offerors (except clarifications as described in FAR 15.306(a)). Offerors should not automatically assume that they will have an opportunity to participate in discussions or be asked to submit a revised offer. Communications conducted to resolve minor or clerical errors would not constitute discussions. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them necessary.

C. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, past performance, and price considered. The proposals must conform to the RFP's requirements and evaluated to represent the Best Value to the Government. The Best Value is the most advantageous offer, consistent with the Government's stated importance of evaluation criteria.

This may result in award being made to a high-rated, higher-priced offeror where the Contracting Officer determines that it is worth the price premium to do so.

D. Offerors must provide all requested information for each factor. Proposals must separately address each of the factors as applicable to be considered responsive to this RFP. It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure the submitted proposal is in the proper format the provided information is clearly understood and free of ambiguities (Reference Proposal Preparation and Format Instruction).

E. In order to determine which proposal represents the best overall value, the Government will conduct a tradeoff analysis, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the competing proposals to determine which proposal represents the best value to the Government and thus shall receive contract award.

F. The Government reserves the right to accept other than the lowest priced offer. The right is also reserved to reject any and all offers. The basis of award will be a conforming offer, the price or cost of which may or may not be the lowest. If other than the lowest offer, it must be sufficiently more advantageous than the lowest offer to justify the payment of additional amounts.

G. Award will result in a firm-fixed-price contract. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure the submitted price proposal includes all costs for total project requirements and completion in accordance with the specifications and drawings herein. The Offeror assumes all risk for omissions in prime and/or subcontractor proposals.

H. The Government evaluation team will consider all information provided in the proposal individually. Once these individual analyses are completed, the team will meet and determine a rating by consensus decision.

I. Exceptions to the contractual terms and conditions of the solicitation (e.g., standard company terms and conditions) may result in a determination to reject a proposal.

J. Failure to submit all the data in the format indicated in this section may be cause for determining a proposal incomplete and, therefore, not considered for evaluation and for subsequent award.

K. A Determination of Responsibility will be accomplished for the apparent awardee prior to processing the award. Information obtained from government and commercial systems, will be used to determine responsibility. Any information received by the Government that would be cause for an adverse Determination of Responsibility will make the offeror ineligible for award.

Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Verification: The Government will review SBA certification database (veterans.certify.sba.gov/) to confirm SDVOSB status certification for the submitted proposals. Evaluations will be performed on proposals submitted by verified SDVOSBs only. Subsequent confirmation of SDVOSB certification status will be performed for the apparent award. For a Joint Venture to be considered eligible as an SDVOSB if the joint venture 13 CFR 128.402 and the managing joint venture partner makes the representations under paragraph (c) of this clause. A joint venture agrees that, in the performance of the contract, the applicable percentage specified in paragraph 852.219-73(d) of the clause will be performed by the aggregate of the joint venture participants. Failure of a prospective SDVOSB to meet these certification requirements by the SBA shall result in elimination from consideration. Joint Venture -- Any offeror submitting a proposal as a joint venture must provide a certification from each SDVOSB joint partner, signed by an authorized official of each partner to the joint venture, stating that the parties to the joint venture:

1) have entered into a joint venture agreement that fully complies with paragraph (c) of 13 CFR § 128.402; and

2) will perform the contract in compliance with the joint venture agreement. Failure to submit the certification with the offeror’s proposal will render the offeror ineligible for award.

L. Limitations on Subcontracting Certificate. VAAR 852.219-75 - VA Notice of Limitations on

Subcontracting—Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction: The formal certification required by VAAR 852.219-75 must be completed, signed, and returned with the offeror’s proposal. The Government will not consider offers for award from offerors that do not provide the certification, and all such responses will be deemed ineligible for evaluation and award. Thus, offerors must properly complete and return all pages of Attachment 2 to the

Solicitation.

M. To be eligible for an award, if applicable, offerors must have submitted the required Federal

Contractor Veterans’ Employment Report (VETS-4212 Report) with respect to the preceding fiscal year if the contractor was subject to the reporting requirements in accordance with 52.222-37.

N. Safety or Environmental Violations and Experience Modification Rate (EMR):

1. Offerors shall submit information pertaining to their past Safety and Environmental record. The information must contain a certification that the bidder/offeror 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/Offeror shall explain why and submit as much information as possible regarding the circumstances of its past https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/ 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.

2. Offerors shall submit information regarding their current Experience Modification Rate

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

3. Self-insured contractors or other contractors who cannot provide their EMR rating on insurance letterhead must obtain a rating from the National Council on Compensation.

4. 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.

5. If the NCCI cannot issue an EMR because the Bidder/Offeror lacks insurance history, the

Offeror 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/Offeror a Unity Rating of 1.0.

6. 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.

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