Instructions to Offerors.docx

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO BIDDERS/OFFERORS

PART I - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

PART I/SECTION A – REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

I.1A JOINT VENTURES

If submitting an offer as a joint venture as defined by P.L. 109-461 AND Department of Veterans Affairs I.L. 049-06-4. Certified SDVOSB/VOSB listed in the SBA certification database at https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/ (see 13 CFR 128). A joint venture may be considered eligible if it meets the requirements in 13 CFR part 128, and the managing joint venture partner makes the representations under VAAR 819.7003 paragraph (b). An offeror must provide a copy of the joint venture agreement specific to the project that is consistent with the percentage of required work and net proceed. Additionally, the offeror must provide a breakdown or labor of which is to be performed by the SDVOSB firm and that which is performed by the small business joint venture firm and that which is sub-contracted. All Joint Ventures will be required to be registered and verified as an entity in VETCERT.

I.2A SELECTION PROCEDURES

This acquisition will be a competitive acquisition utilizing FAR Part 15 source selection employing tradeoff source selection procedures. By submission of its offer, the offeror accedes to all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, representations, and certifications. All such offers shall be treated equally except for their prices and performance records. Failure to meet a requirement may result in an offer being determined non-compliant. 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.

I.3A PRE-PROPOSAL SITE VISIT

See SF 1442, Block 10 Site Visit of this solicitation for date and location of the site visit.

I.4A SELECTION CRITERIA

This acquisition will utilize the tradeoff process in accordance with FAR 15.101-1. This process permits tradeoffs between non-cost factors and cost/price and allows the Government to accept other than the lowest priced proposal or other than the highest rated proposal to achieve a best value contract award based on established evaluation criteria. Inherent in this process is the necessity to make tradeoffs considering the non-cost strengths and weaknesses, risks, and the cost (or price) offered in each proposal.

The source selection process will be conducted utilizing FAR part 15.101-1 Trade-off Process Source Selection Procedures. Offers will be evaluated using the following evaluation factors:

Factor 1 – Past Performance Factor 2 – Compliance Requirements Factor 3 – Price

Past performance will be evaluated on a basis of significantly more important than, cost or price.

Past Performance Evaluation For Factor 1, 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:

Note: In the case of an offeror without a record of 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. Therefore, the offeror shall receive an unknown confidence (neutral) performance confidence rating.

(a) Aspects of Past Performance Evaluation. The past performance evaluation is an assessment 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.

Adverse past performance is defined as past performance information that supports a less than satisfactory rating on any evaluation element or any unfavorable comments received from sources without a formal rating system.

For Factor 2, offerors will be rated as either meets or does not meet the requirements.

Factor 1-Past Performance

(a) Solicitation Submittal Requirements:

Offerors shall provide a maximum of five (5) recent and relevant projects (as defined below) to demonstrate their ability to perform the proposed work identified within the Specifications, drawings, and Statement of Work. If a completed Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) evaluation is available, it shall be submitted. The Government will evaluate past performance based upon sources available to the contracting officer that may include Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) and Electronic Subcontract Reporting System (eSRS). IF THERE IS NOT A PAST PERFORMANCE EVALUATION IN PPIRS or FAPPIIS, then the offeror shall submit Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQ) for each project. Offerors shall not incorporate by reference into their proposal PPQs previously submitted for other RFPs. However, this does not preclude the Government from utilizing previously submitted PPQ information in the past performance evaluation. If the offeror is unable to obtain a completed PPQ from a client for a project(s) before proposal closing date, 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 client noted for that project(s) to obtain the PPQ information. However, offerors should follow-up with clients/references to help ensure timely submittal of questionnaires. If the client requests, questionnaires may be submitted directly to the Government’s point of contact, Elia Laritza Ruiz Manzo, Elia-Laritza.Ruiz-Manzo@va.gov.

Recency – a recent project is defined as being completed within five years of the due date of this solicitation.

Relevant – includes performance of efforts in a project of renovation or remodeling that include general construction in an active medical facility that are similar or greater in scope, magnitude, and complexity than the effort described in this solicitation.

Offerors are cautioned to submit enough information in the format specified in the solicitation. Offerors may be asked to clarify certain aspects of their proposal (for example, the relevance of past performance information) or respond to adverse past performance information to which the offeror has not previously had an opportunity to respond. Adverse past performance is defined as past performance information that supports a less than satisfactory rating on any evaluation element or any unfavorable comments received from sources without a formal rating system. Communication conducted to resolve minor or clerical errors will not constitute discussions and the contracting officer reserves the right to award a contract without the opportunity for proposal revision.

(b) – Basis of Evaluation:

The contracting officer shall review recent and relevant performance information on each offeror based on past efforts provided by the offeror and may obtain data independently from other government and commercial sources. 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. Offerors with no past 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 Government will consider the currency and relevance of the information, the source of the information, context of the data, and general trends in the Contractor’s performance. This evaluation is separate and distinct from the Contracting Officer’s responsibility determination. The assessment of the offeror’s past performance will be used as a means of evaluating the offeror’s probability to successfully meet the requirements of the RFP.

Initially offers shall be ranked according to price, including any option prices if applicable. The lowest price offer’s past performance shall be evaluated to determine its performance confidence rating.

If the lowest priced evaluated offer is judged to have a Substantial Confidence performance assessment, that offer represents the best value for the government and the evaluation process stops at this point. Award shall be made to that offeror without further consideration of any other offers.

If the lowest price offer does not receive a Substantial Confidence performance confidence rating, the past performance evaluation continues until an offeror’s past performance is judged to have a Substantial Confidence performance rating. The Government reserves the right to award a contract to other than the lowest priced offeror if the lowest priced offeror is judged to have a performance confidence assessment of "Satisfactory Confidence" or lower. In that event, the Source Selection Authority shall make an integrated assessment best value award decision.

Factor 2 – Compliance Requirements:

The Government will evaluate compliance factors:

· OSHA or EPA Violation(s): Offerors shall provide Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, 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.

· Experience Modification Rate (EMR): Offerors shall provide documentation to show that the offeror has an Experience Modification Rate (EMR) of equal to or less than 1.0. If an offeror’s EMR is above 1.0, the offeror must submit a written explanation of the EMR from its insurance carrier 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.

· Adherence to clause 852.219-75: Offerors must provide documentation demonstrating compliance with clause 852.219-75 Failure to provide the required documentation for these factors may deem the offeror ineligible for award.

Factor 3 – Price:

(a) Solicitation Submittal Requirements:

· Standard Form 1442, Solicitation Offer and Award

· All pages of the SF1442 Continuation Sheet Basis of Evaluation: The Government will evaluate price based on the total price. Total price consists of the basic requirements. Analysis will be performed by one or more of the following techniques to ensure a fair and reasonable price:

· Comparison of prices received in response to the RFP

· Comparison of prices with the IGCE.

· Comparison of prices with available historical information.

The Government will evaluate compliance factors:

· OSHA or EPA Violation(s): Offerors shall provide Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, 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.

· Experience Modification Rate (EMR): Offerors shall provide documentation to show that the offeror has an Experience Modification Rate (EMR) of equal to or less than 1.0. If an offeror’s EMR is above 1.0, the offeror must submit a written explanation of the EMR from its insurance carrier 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.

· Adherence to clause 852.219-75: Offerors must provide documentation demonstrating compliance with clause 852.219-75 Failure to provide the required documentation for these factors may deem the offeror ineligible for award.

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 in accordance with the factors above.

PART I/SECTION B - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

I.1B COST RANGE: Between $250,000.00 and $500,000.00

I.2B GENDER: Wherever the masculine gender is used in this solicitation and contract documents, it shall be considered to include both masculine and feminine.

I.3B METRIC PRODUCTS:

Products manufactured to metric dimensions will be considered on an equal basis with those manufactured using inch-pound units, providing they fall within the tolerance specified using conversion tables contained in the latest revision of Federal Standard No. 376, and all other requirements of this document are met.

If a product is manufactured to metric dimensions and those dimensions exceed the tolerance specified in the inch-pound units, a request should be made to the Contracting Officer to determine if the product is acceptable. The Contracting Officer, in concert with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), will accept or reject the product.

I.4B REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION:

All requests for information must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer for action no later than the date shown in Block 10 of the Standard Form 1442, Solicitation, Offer and Award.

I.5B PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

General – Both past performance information and price proposal shall be submitted in response to this solicitation. Proposals shall be submitted via email Elia-Laritza,Ruiz-Manzo@va.gov. Emails are limited to 15 MB. The proposal, in its entirety, shall be one email (one attachment for price proposal, one attachment for LOS certification, and one attachment for past performance information) not to exceed 15MB. Failure to submit in the format required and clearly address those factors may result in rejection of the offer. A digital bid bond with wet signature, in the amount of twenty (20%) percent (but not to exceed $3,000,000) of the bid price shall be included with the proposal and be received no later than the closing date and time. Failure to furnish the required bid guarantee in the proper form and amount, by the time set for due date, will require rejection of the proposal in all cases except those listed in FAR 28.101-4, and may be cause for rejection even then. SEE FAR Provision 52.228-1, Bid Guarantee, of this Solicitation. Electronic copies of the proposals will be time/date stamped by Microsoft Outlook upon receipt of email. Further details on electronic submission are outlined below.

Proposals shall be received by 10:00 A.M. Mountain Time on January 30, 2026. There will be no public opening of the proposals. Submit proposals to: Elia-Laritza.Ruiz-Manzo@va.gov.

Past performance information and price sections of the offeror’s proposal will be evaluated independently. Offerors shall include all required Representations and Certifications and complete their registration in System for Award Management (SAM). See FAR 52.204-7 and 52.204-8, of this solicitation.

Important Notice: Apparent successful offerors must apply for and receive verification from the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the SBA certification database via 13 CFR Part 128, VAAR 819.7011, and VAAR 819.7003 by submission of documentation of Veteran status, ownership and control enough to establish appropriate status. Offerors must be both VISIBLE and VERIFIED by the SBA certification database at the time of offer submission. Failure to be both VERIFIED by SBA and VISIBLE on the SBA certification database at the time of offer submission and contract award will result in the offeror’s proposal being deemed non-compliant. All offerors are urged to contact the SBA and submit the required documents to obtain verification of their SDVOSB status if they have not already done so.

Or

Meet Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) class deviation regarding certification of Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business concerns as per CAAC Letter 2024-02, effective January 1, 2024, until SAM.gov is updated to reflect the SBA’s certification or otherwise rescinded.

System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations, including 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals – Representation, and paragraph (t) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Examples include 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance, and paragraph (d) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Contracting officers will not consider these representations when making award decisions or enforce requirements. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM.

I.6B PROPOSAL REVISIONS

If it is determined to be necessary, proposal revisions will be requested from the offers received. The Contracting Officer may identify those offerors, whose proposals are within the competitive range based upon the selection criteria identified in this solicitation. Negotiations may be conducted with those firms falling within the competitive range, after which proposal revisions may be requested. Offerors submitting proposal revisions will not be required to re-submit any documents which are unchanged from their proposals. They should provide necessary changes to individual paragraphs, as briefly as possible, together with the Table of Contents that clarifies where within the initial proposal the additional information and/or changed document would be placed. A new bid bond shall be submitted only if the final cost proposal revisions are greater than its initial cost proposal.

1.7B REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF OFFER

Unless paper offers are specifically authorized in an individual solicitation, all responses to solicitations must be submitted electronically as described below. Responses submitted in a paper form are unacceptable. Failure to comply with this requirement may jeopardize the possibility of receiving an award for the contract due to noncompliance with the terms of the solicitation. You must submit your electronic offer, and any supplemental information (such as spreadsheets, backup data, technical information), using any of the electronic formats and media described below.

In addition, contractors are notified of the award via an electronic Notice of Award e-mail. The award document will be attached to the Notice of Award e-mail.

Acceptable Electronic Formats (Software) for Submission of Offers

1. Files readable using the current Microsoft© Office version Products: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access. Please see security note below for caution regarding use of macros. When submitting construction drawings contractors are required to submit one set in AutoCAD and one set in Adobe PDF. (purpose: contracting can open the PDF version and engineering can open AutoCAD files).

2. Files in Adobe© PDF (Portable Document Format) Files: When scanning documents scanner resolution should be set to 200 dots per inch, or greater.

3. Another electronic format. If you wish to submit an offer using another format other than described in these instructions, e-mail the Contracting Officer who issued the solicitation. Please submit your request at least ten (10) calendar days before the scheduled closing date of the solicitation. Request a decision as to the format acceptability and make sure you receive approval of the alternate format before using it to send your offer.

4. Please note that we can no longer accept .zip files due to increasing security concerns.

E-mail Submission Procedures: For simplicity in this guidance, all submissions in response to a solicitation will be referred to as offers.

a. Subject Line: Include the solicitation number, name of company, and closing date of solicitation. Use only one of the terms Quotation, Offer, Proposal, or Bid depending on the solicitation type.

b. Size: Maximum size of the e-mail message shall not exceed five (5) megabytes. Only one email is permitted unless otherwise stated in this solicitation or in writing by the Contract Officer submitting the solicitation.

c. Unless approved by the contracting officer: DO NOT submit a link to your PDF documents. Please submit your request in an email for other electronic format at least ten (10) calendar days before the scheduled closing date of the solicitation. Request a decision as to the format acceptability and ensure you receive approval of the alternate format before using it to send your offer.

Each electronic offer must also include a signed and scanned SF-1442, Solicitation, Offer, and Award (Construction, Alteration, or Repair)

The Microsoft Outlook © Email time/date stamp will be used to date and time stamp offers for the official record of receipt for the submission. The date and time stamp in recipient’s “inbox” is the official record of receipt.

Security Issues, Late Bids, Unreadable Offers

1. Late submission of offers is outlined at FAR 52.215-1(c)(3)(i). Particular attention is warranted to the portion of the provision that relates to the timing of submission.

2. The virus scanning software used by our e-mail systems cannot always distinguish a macro from a virus. Therefore, sending a macro embedded in an e-mail message or an e-mail attachment may cause the e-mail offer to be quarantined. You may send both the spreadsheet and the spreadsheet saved in PDF format to ensure that your proposal is readable.

3. Password protecting your offer is not permitted. The Contracting Officer will file the offer electronically which will allow access only by designated individuals.