INSTRUCTIONS CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO BIDDERS OFFERORS.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO

BIDDERS/OFFERORS

INSTRUCTIONS

Offerors shall follow the instructions contained herein. These instructions prescribe the proposal format and describe the approach for development and presentation of the proposal.

These instructions are designed to ensure the submission of necessary information. Offerors are required to meet all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, representations and certifications. Failure to submit all required information or otherwise comply with the solicitation instructions may result in an offer being rejected.

Interested offerors shall be solely responsible for all costs associated with this solicitation including but not limited to the preparation of proposals.

The Government plans to make an award without discussions. Therefore, each initial offer shall contain the offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if it is determined to be necessary. The Contracting

Officer has determined there is a high probability of adequate competition in this acquisition.

Proposal shall be (1) submitted on the forms furnished by the Government or on copies of those forms; and (2) manually (wet signature) or electronically signed. The person signing the proposal shall initial each erasure or change appearing on any proposal form. Alternate proposals will NOT be considered. Faxed submissions will not be accepted. There will be no public bid opening.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The Offeror’s proposal shall be submitted electronically (including the bid bond) via email to michael.walls2@va.gov and robert.moffett@va.gov by the date and time indicated in the solicitation/solicitation amendments in the files set forth below.

mailto:michael.walls2@va.gov mailto:robert.moffett@va.gov

The Offeror’s proposal shall consist of two (2) volumes:

Volume I - Past Performance Volume II – Price, Solicitation, Offer &

Award Documents

1. PROPOSAL FILES. Offeror’s responses shall be submitted in accordance with the following:

2. Format. The submission shall be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume’s cover page shall include company name, date, and solicitation number only. Any other information included on the cover page will not be evaluated. All pages of

Volume I shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date and solicitation number in the header and/or footer. Proposal page limitations are applicable to this procurement. The Table below indicates the maximum page count for each volume of the Offeror’s proposal. All proprietary information shall be clearly and properly marked. If the Offeror submits appendices, documentation, attachments or the like, not specifically required by this solicitation, such will count against the Offeror’s page limitations unless otherwise indicated that such documents will not count against the page limitations in the specific Volume instructions below. Pages that violate the page limitations will not be evaluated. The page count will be determined by counting the pages in the order they are assembled by the offeror, minus the cover page.

3. Offeror may only submit one (1) email for their proposal submission. Email size limitation is 10MB. Volumes I and II shall be included in the one single email permitted. Each Volume shall be a single, separate attachment. Offer documents must not be submitted by hyperlink or drop box email shall only include two attachments, and those attachments must be titled as such:

Company Name - Volume I Past Performance Company Name –

Volume II Price - Solicitation - Offer - Award Documents

a. Content Requirements. All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The Offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal and provide an adequate basis for evaluation. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details, in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. The page limits and font size requirements for each volume are:

Volume Number Factor Page Limitations Font Size/Paper

Size/Margins

Volume I Past Performance 20 pages + cover page

12pt/8.5”x11”/1”

Volume II Price - Solicitation -

Offer - Award

Documents

None N/A

BASIS FOR CONTRACT AWARD:

This is a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP). The Government intends to award one contract to the Offeror that presents the best value to the

Government. The Government will utilize a Past Performance – Price Tradeoff

(PPT) pursuant to FAR Part 15.101-1 to evaluate proposals. Past Performance is significantly more important than price. The Offeror who presents the best value to the Government when Past Performance and Price are considered will be selected as the apparent awardee. The Government reserves the right to accept other than the lowest priced offer or to reject all Offers. The

Government shall not award a contract to an Offeror whose proposal contains a deficiency, as defined in FAR 15.001. If there is a lower priced, conforming offer then the SSA will decide on whether the added value of a more expensive proposal justifies award of that Offeror.

The Government reserves the right to limit, for purposes of efficiency, the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that shall permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals

(10 U.S.C.2305(b)(4) and 41 U.S.C. 253b(d)). If the SSA decides that an offeror’s proposal should no longer be included in the competitive range, the proposal shall be eliminated from consideration for award and written notice of the decision shall be provided to the unsuccessful offeror in accordance with FAR

15.503.

VOLUME I - PAST PERFORMANCE Submission Requirements:

Offerors shall submit up to three (3) recent and relevant projects where the offeror performed elevator installation and repair construction projects as defined below. If a completed

Construction Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) evaluation is available, it should be submitted for each project. If an offeror does not have a completed

CPARS for past performance on either construction projects or A&E projects, then the offeror should submit Past Performance Questionnaires (Attachment) for each project for both

Construction Experience and Design Experience. The offeror should provide completed Past

Performance Questionnaires (PPQ) in the proposal. If the offeror is unable to obtain a completed PPQ from a client for a project(s) before the proposal closing date, then the offeror shall complete and submit with the proposal the first page of the PPQ, which will provide contract and client information for the respective project(s). The Government may make reasonable attempts to contact the reference noted for that project(s) to obtain the PPQ information. However, offerors should follow-up with references to help ensure timely submittal of questionnaires. If the reference requests, questionnaires may be submitted directly to the Government’s point of contact, Michael Walls, michel.walls2@va.gov

Offerors may provide any information on problems encountered and the corrective actions taken on projects submitted. Offerors may also address any adverse past performance issues.

Explanations shall not exceed two (2) double-sided pages (or four (4) single-sided pages) in total.

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 reference’s unwillingness to provide the information requested may affect the Government’s evaluation of this factor.

mailto:michel.walls2@va.gov

Offerors are invited to submit information relating to three recent projects (3) projects in which it has served as the prime contractor to allow the Government to conduct the performance risk assessment. The Government requests the following be included within a detailed summary of the projects submitted for consideration:

1. Name of the Government Agency or Company that awarded the contract

2. Name, title, telephone number, and email address of a

Government Agency or Company representative who can be contacted regarding the Offeror’s performance of the project

3. Contract number

4. Location, including physical address of the project

5. Project name

6. Project description, including details of construction requirements, challenges faced, and solutions implemented to address those challenges

7. Project cost and any cost control measures implemented to limit costs. This information should include, to the extent applicable, the original and final contract costs, contract modifications, cost containment measures, and value engineering.

8. Key project dates, including the award date, period of performance planned start date, actual start date, initial planned project performance completion date, and actual performance completion date. Any delays should be disclosed and discussed. Any challenges faced or actions taken to reduce the period of performance should also be explained. Projects that are still in progress may be submitted for consideration, but the less complete a project, the less relevant it is for evaluation purposes.

9. Subcontractor information including names, rolls, responsibilities, the percent of work performed by the subcontractor, and a description of how effectively subcontractors were utilized throughout the project.

10. A narrative that describes the complexity, magnitude, challenges faced, and degree of success obtained for each project. Offerors are encouraged to include supporting documents such as photographs that support the narrative.

An Offeror’s past performance will be more favorably considered to the extent an Offeror demonstrates successful performance as a prime contractor of an elevator installation that is similar in scope to the project being solicited, which will take place in an occupied hospital environment at the Audie L. Murphy

Memorial VA Hospital (ALMM).

Since the Government may not necessarily interview all of the sources provided by the Offerors, it is incumbent upon Offerors to explain the relevance of the data provided. Offerors are reminded that the burden of proving low performance risk rests with the Offerors.

Offerors are cautioned that the Government may review available past performance data available in the Contractors Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). The Government may also consider past performance information from any available source and may contact customers other than those identified by the Offeror when evaluating past performance.

Per FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iv), “[i]n the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance.”

Volume II Price - Solicitation - Offer - Award Documents Submission

Requirements:

1. To be eligible for award, Offerors are required to be SDVOSB certified by SBA at the time offers are due through the time of award.

2. The 2-page SF1442 must be completed and signed by the signatory authority. The signature shall be signed (electronically or wet). The person signing the proposal shall initial each erasure or change appearing on any proposal form. and then the document may be scanned and submitted electronically. Microsoft Word “signatures” in different fonts, digital signatures, and scanned jpeg signatures are not allowed. All blocks under section “OFFER” on page 2 of SF1442 (Item 14 thru 20C) shall be completed.

3. SF1442 Continuation Price Sheet and Price breakout form shall be submitted.

4. Representations, Certifications, and any provisions/clauses that require an offeror’s response shall be submitted.

5. Each offer must acknowledge ALL solicitation amendments.

6. Each offer must include proof VETS 100 has been filed for 2023.

7. Experience Modification Rate (EMR) of equal to or less than 1.0.

8. OSHA or EPA Violation(s): affirming that the Offeror has no more than three serious, or one repeat, or one willful OSHA or EPA violation(s) in the past 3 years.

9. In accordance with (IAW) FAR 28.101-1, a bid-bond is required;

therefore, performance and payment bonds are required. Offerors must use form SF24 Bid Bond. Bid bonds that are found noncompliant with bid guarantee requirements will result in rejection of the proposal.

See clause 52.228-1 Bid Guarantee for additional information on the compliance with bid guarantee requirements. This requirement shall be emailed to: michael.walls2@va.gov and robert.moffett@va.gov

Offerors shall provide a breakdown of their base bid line item on the price breakdown form provided as a solicitation attachment. Offerors shall provide pricing on each line item on the SF1442 continuation price sheet. The

Government will evaluate price to determine whether proposals are fair and reasonable. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes based on

CLINS or any alternate deduct items as determined by the Government based on the availability of funding.

Proposal Evaluation:

This acquisition will be a competitive acquisition utilizing FAR Part 15 source selection employing tradeoff source selection procedures. Proposals will be evaluated to determine the most highly qualified offerors. Factor 1 is more important than Factor 2 when selecting the most highly qualified offerors. Proposals will be evaluated, and award will be made based on both past performance and price considerations most advantageous to the Government per

FAR Part 15.101(a), Tradeoff Process. The combined non-cost/price factors are significantly more important than price. The Government may consider award to other than the lowest priced offeror or other than the highest past performance rated offeror if it is in the best interest of the Government. It is the intent of the Government to award without discussions;

however, the Government will reserve the right to have discussions if such are needed.

mailto:michael.walls2@va.gov

Factor 1 – Past Performance

Factor 2 – Price

Past Performance Evaluation:

ADJECTIVAL RATINGS/DESCRIPTIONS

The assessment process for past performance will result in an overall performance confidence assessment of Substantial Confidence, Satisfactory Confidence, Limited Confidence, No

Confidence, or Unknown Confidence.

Past Performance shall be evaluated in accordance with FAR 15.305(2). Past Performance, based on the evaluation of all recent and relevant past performance for an offeror, an overall performance confidence rating shall be assigned. The performance confidence ratings are defined below:

ASSESSMENT 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 little expectation that the offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort.

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

Unknown Confidence (Neutral) 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.

Note: In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available or so sparse that no meaningful past performance rating can be reasonably assigned, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance (see FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iv)). Therefore, the offeror shall be determined to have unknown past performance.

(a) Basis of Evaluation:

The contracting officer shall review relevant performance information on each offeror based on

(1) the past and present efforts provided by the offeror and (2) data independently obtained from other government and commercial sources. Relevant performance includes performance of efforts involving Elevator Installation that are similar or greater in scope, magnitude and complexity than the effort described in this solicitation. The purpose of the past performance evaluation is to allow the government to assess the offeror’s ability to perform the effort described in this RFP, based on the offeror’s demonstrated present and past performance. Past performance regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or sub-contractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement will not be considered as highly as past performance information for the principal offeror. Elevator

Installation Projects will be rated more favorably. Offerors with no relevant past or present performance history or the offeror’s performance record is so limited that no confidence assessment rating can be reasonably assigned shall receive the rating "Unknown Confidence," meaning the rating is treated neither favorably nor unfavorably.

The Past Performance evaluation will assess an Offeror's likelihood of success in fulfilling the solicitation's requirements as demonstrated by that Offeror's record of past performance. In this context, “Offeror” refers to the proposed prime SDVOSB. The Government will conduct a performance risk assessment by considering the quality, relevancy, and recency of the Offeror's past performance as it relates to the probability of successful accomplishment of the required effort for project 671-24-200.

(a) Aspects of Past Performance Evaluation. The past performance evaluation results are an assessment of the offeror’s probability of meeting the minimum past performance solicitation requirements. This assessment is based on the offeror’s record of relevant and recent past performance information that pertain to the products and/or services outlined in the solicitation requirements. There are two aspects of the past performance evaluation.

(1) The first is to evaluate whether the offeror’s present/past performance is relevant or not relevant to the effort to be acquired. The criteria to establish what is relevant is unique to each source selection.

(2) The second aspect of the past performance evaluation is to determine how well the contractor performed on the contracts. The past performance evaluation performed in support of a current source selection does not establish, create, or change the existing record and history of the offeror’s past performance on past contracts;

rather, the past performance evaluation process gathers information from customers on how well the offeror performed those past contracts. In addition, the Government reserves the right to obtain information for use in the evaluation of past performance from all sources including sources outside of the Government.

Other sources may include, but are not limited to, past performance information retrieved through the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) using all CAGE/DUNS numbers of Contractors who are part of a partnership or joint venture identified in the Offeror’s proposal, inquiries of owner representative(s), Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), Electronic Subcontract Reporting System (eSRS), and any other known sources not provided by the Offeror.

(b) SSEB members will review past performance information to determine the quality and usefulness as it applies to the performance confidence assessment.

Price Evaluation:

Price will be evaluated for reasonableness, and to confirm the proposed price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement. Pricing shall be entered into the Bid

Schedule located within the solicitation above. Price analysis will be performed using one or more of the below techniques to ensure a fair and reasonable price:

1. Comparison of proposed prices received in response to the RFP.

2. Comparison of proposed prices with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

3. Comparison of proposed prices with available historical information.

4. Comparison of market survey results.

It is solely the responsibility of the Offerors to ensure the Government receives the proposal before or on the exact due date and time set forth in this solicitation. Offerors shall submit offers to the Contracting Officer via email to

Michael.walls2@va.gov and robert.moffett@va.gov prior to the closing date/time.

VETS-4212: Title 38, USC Section 4212(d) and Public Law 105-339, requires that federal contractors report, at least annually, the number and category of veterans who are within their workforce. This VETS-4212 report can be submitted per the instructions at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/vets4212. For assistance contact VETS4212 customer support at 1-866-237-0275 or vets4212-customersupport@dolncc.dol.gov. For procurement awards in excess of

$150,000, this report must be completed and accepted prior to any Federal contract award. Therefore, all potential contractors are encouraged to file every year.

All inquiries about this solicitation shall be directly submitted in writing via email to michael.walls2@va.gov and robert.moffett@va.gov. No phone or faxed inquiry will be accepted. Deadline for all inquiries for this solicitation is listed on the SF1442. Government’s responses to inquiries will be issued in the form of Amendment(s) to be posted on the same website where this solicitation is posted: www. SAM.gov. All interested offerors including those submitting inquiries are required to monitor the above website for any posted amendments and acknowledge them in accordance with the instructions provided in the amendments as well as in this solicitation.

mailto:Michael.walls2@va.gov http://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/vets4212 mailto:customersupport@dolncc.dol.gov mailto:michael.walls2@va.gov http://www.betasam.gov/