Amendment 2 Attachment 2 - SF-1442 pages 6 through 14.docx

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO BIDDERS/OFFERORS

The following items are required to be submitted with the proposal for the proposal to be determined compliant. It is the responsibility of each offeror to ensure that its proposal reaches the designated point of submission in a timely manner. Proposals received that are not compliant may be removed from further substantive evaluation at the discretion of the Government.

For submission requirements designated as “shall” or “must,” failure to provide the requested information may be considered a deficiency. For submission requirements designated as “should,” failure to provide the requested information may result in a lower rating for the specified factor.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION

These instructions prescribe the format and other essential information for preparation/development and presentation of proposal data to ensure the submission of necessary information for the understanding and comprehensive evaluation of proposals. Carefully review this section prior to commencing proposal preparation. In order for proposals to receive full consideration for award, offerors should ensure that the information furnished in support of the proposal is factual, accurate, and complete.

Proposal shall be submitted in three (3) separate Volumes:

Volume I – Technical Proposal

Volume 2 – Past Performance

Volume 3 – Price/Cost Proposal with strict adherence to the format, data, and other requirements of this Solicitation.

Written proposals shall be prepared on standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper (charts may be landscaped but must be on 8.5 x 11-inch paper), text lines shall be single-spaced, and shall have a font size no smaller than Microsoft Word Times New Roman 11-point font. Type that is smaller will be considered illegible. All pages of each proposal shall be appropriately numbered and identified with the Request For Proposal (RFP) number. For ease of reviews, consecutive page numbering is required.

Indexing: Each Volume shall contain a “Table of Contents” for that volume. The “Table of Contents” shall identify major areas, paragraphs and subparagraphs by number and title as well as by page number and volume locations.

Offerors responding to this Solicitation with a proposal/offer to provide the work set forth in Solicitation documents should limit submissions to data essential for evaluation of proposals, so that a minimum amount of time and monies will have been expended in preparing information required herein. However, failure to include all information requested may adversely affect the evaluation. A proposal that merely reiterates or promises to accomplish the requirements of the RFP may be considered unacceptable.

Offerors are reminded of their responsibility to submit a proposal that is orderly and sufficiently documented that will enable the Government to easily understand and perform a thorough and fair evaluation. All commitments made in the proposal may become a part of the resultant contract. The data submitted with each proposal should be complete and concise, but not overly elaborate. Excessive reliance on promotional brochures is discouraged. In order to be effectively and equitably evaluated, the proposals must include information sufficiently detailed to clearly address all of the evaluation criteria factors described in the Solicitation. The Veterans Administration (VA) may have difficulty receiving emails over 15MB in size. Offerors shall break down submissions into multiple emails, if needed, and confirm that the VA received all information.

No deviations to the terms and conditions, Statement of Work (SOW), Schedule of Items, Specifications, Drawings, or any other document within this solicitation is authorized. Requests for deviations may be requested through email no later than the date questions are due. Deviations submitted with the offer without prior written request may be deemed unresponsive.

**ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL, NO HARD COPY OR FACSIMILE PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED**

Proposals may be submitted to:

Kelly Updegraff, Contract Specialist (CS): Kelly.updegraff@va.gov Sandra Snediker, CS: Sandra.Snediker@va.gov Stephen Slaby, CO: stephen.slaby@va.gov

Volume 1 Technical Experience Submission Requirements

See Evaluation Section below for Technical Experience submission requirements.

The narrative shall describe construction that involved fuel tank replacements that your organization has completed successfully for at least two (2) projects, and no more than four (4) projects, with Government agencies or private firms, where you recently (within the last 5 years) completed or substantially eighty percent (80%) of a construction project, similar in scope and magnitude to this project at time of solicitation closing date. The narrative shall also describe the work performed, and successful completion in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with the established schedule, including experience required for this project with relation to removal and replacement of underground and above fuel tanks per the SOW, Specifications, and/or Drawings.

Submission must not exceed fifteen (15) pages.

Each narrative shall include the following information:

Project title and location.

Original contract award amount.

Original contract finish date.

Role of offeror on the project, including a clear designation of whether the Offeror was the prime contractor.

Project statistics including start and completion dates (original vs actual) and project cost (original vs actual). If original vs actual completion dates and project costs differ, please provide an explanation as to why they differ.

Problems encountered on identified contracts, if applicable, and the offeror's corrective actions.

References. A primary Point of Contract (POC) and one alternate POC for past performance projects as described above will be required. See Attachment 5, Past Performance Reference Form, for submittal information. The use of the attached form is not required; however, the information on the Past Performance Reference Form is required. If another form is used, it must be labeled as Past Performance References, if attached as a separate attachment, or must be clearly identified as a section of a document. The POCs referred to shall be familiar with the construction project and have no direct affiliation with the contractor (i.e. current or former employee, relative). Examples of reference POCs include, but are not limited to, Contract Officer (CO), CS, Contracting Officer Representative, or Engineer. The Government reserves the right to use other resources to research background information such as a System for Award Management (SAM) searches, public and private website searches, and other sources the CO deems reputable.

Volume 2 Past Performance Submission Requirements

See Evaluation Section below for Past Performance submission requirements.

Past Performance Submission Requirements. For all projects listed under Factor 1 that have Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) data available, the offeror shall provide a printout of the final CPARS for each project. Page limitation of 20 pages.

Past Performance References – Mandatory – For all projects listed under Factor 1 regardless if CPARS data is available, is required. The offeror shall submit Past Performance Reference Forms (Attachment 5) described above with their offer no later than the proposal due date. If the offeror has any other past performance evaluation/questionnaire available that is not CPARS, they may provide that in addition to Attachment 5 for consideration at the Government’s discretion.

Past performance evaluation results in an assessment of the offeror’s probability of meeting the solicitation requirements. It considers each offerors’ demonstrated recent and relevant record of performance in supplying products, and services that met the contract requirements. One performance confidence assessment rating is assigned for each offeror after evaluating the offeror's recent past performance, focusing on performance that is relevant to the contract requirements. [See Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul (RFO) Part 15 at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul].

The Government may utilize one or any combination of the following methods to evaluate an Offeror’s past performance in addition to the references submitted including:

· Reporting data gathered from the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS).

· Reporting data gathered from the SAM Exclusions in accordance with RFO 9.404.

If the Offeror has no past performance, it shall be stated in the proposal. Offerors with no past performance will be rated as neutral.

Volume 3 Price/Cost Submission Requirements

Standard Form (SF) 1442 Solicitation, Offer, and Award: The Offeror must complete and sign the “OFFER” section of the SF 1442. Please include your company’s Unique Entity Identifier associated with SAM.gov in block 14. Note: Contractor’s signature shall be in accordance with RFO Part 4.207 (e.g., proper signature and format of person who is able to bind an individual, partnership, corporation, etc.).

Acknowledgement of All Amendments: All Solicitation amendments must be acknowledged in accordance with RFO Clause 52.215-1(b). Acknowledgement of Amendments: In the event amendment(s) are issued, amendments shall be acknowledged by the offeror in one of the three ways listed on the amendment.

Wage Determination: At the time of solicitation, the most current wage determination will be included in the solicitation, however determinations are updated regularly and could affect the price proposals, please check Wage Determinations at SAM.gov at https://www.sam.gov, for the most current rate. At least 10 days prior to the closing date of the solicitation, the Government will check the determination to verify if there is a change and issue an amendment accordingly.

Price Schedule: Shall be fully completed in accordance with instructions to be determined compliant.

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 RFO 28.101-4. The SF 24 may be obtained from https://www.gsa.gov/reference/forms/bid-bond or https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/2024-02/SF24-23a.pdf.

Note: The contractor to whom the 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.

Representations & Certifications: As the provision at RFO 52.204-7 is included in the solicitation. The Offeror is required to complete the annual representations and certifications electronically at https://sam.gov/.

Information Regarding Responsibility Matters: The Offeror must provide their response to RFO 52.209-7(b).

Violation of Arms Control Treaties or Agreements: The Offeror must provide their response to RFO 52.209-13(b) Certification.

Post-Award Small Business Program Representation: The Offeror must provide their response to RFO 52.219-28(g), if applicable.

VAAR 852.219-75, VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting – Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction (JAN 2023) (DEVIATION) that is incorporated into this solicitation. No other language, or version will be accepted. Offeror completed certification/fill-in is require. The Government will not evaluate offers for award from offerors that do not provide the certification, and all such responses will be deemed ineligible for evaluation and award.

Past Performance Reference Form: The reference form should be submitted with the proposal. The Past Performance Reference Form can be found at Attachment 5 of the solicitation. These Past Performance Reference Forms do not count page limitations for the prime contractor.

Joint Venture Certification Information: 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:

Joint Venture Certification

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.

Name of Signee:

Title of Signee:

Signature

Date

Company Name and Address:

EVALUATION SECTION

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The Government intends to award without discussions. In the event discussions with offerors are required, a competitive range may be established, and discussions conducted with all offerors in the competitive range.

2. BASIS FOR AWARD

The Government will evaluate offers submitted in response to this solicitation in accordance with the evaluation factors set forth below. If an award is made, the Government intends to make award to the responsible offeror whose proposal represents the overall best value to the Government, and an award may be made to an offeror other than the lowest-priced offeror. Method of Award: The Government intends to use the “Best Value” tradeoff approach in accordance with RFO Part 15. A firm-fixed price award will be made to the responsible offeror whose offer/proposal is determined to be the best value to the Government based on all factors outlined in this Solicitation (36C26026R0076). The Government reserves the right to accept other than the lowest priced offer or to reject all offers. This solicitation is set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) firms that comply with regulations to meet our goals that will fulfill the VA’s mission to meet socioeconomic goals. See the evaluation section for importance of factors.

3. EVALUATION

Unless otherwise specified, the following definitions apply:

· Recent - The project ended within the last five calendar years.

· Relevant – A construction or alteration project, of completed federal or other commercial location with fuel tank replacement work with similar complexity to this project.

· Experience - Whether offerors have performed similar work before.

· Performance - How well offerors perform/execute work contracted for.

· Similar in Magnitude: A project is similar in magnitude.

Volume 1, Technical Experience

The Government will evaluate the offeror’s experience and expertise to perform this project with relation to their technical experience on fuel tank replacement projects that are at a minimum similar in complexity and comparable in size and scope to this project.

Proposals shall be submitted using Attachment 5 – Past Performance Reference Form and supplemented with any additional project description/information that specifically and clearly demonstrates technical experience relative to this project. Submit a minimum of two (2) and up to four (4) fuel tank replacement projects with descriptions that best demonstrates your expertise on projects that are similar in scope, size, and complexity as related to this project.

Projects submitted shall be completed within the past five (5) years of the date of issuance of this RFP. Projects submitted must have been completed with the offeror as the prime contractor for the project.

Higher ratings will be given to firms showing demonstrated successful experience on completed fuel tank replacement projects that replace underground fuel tanks with capacity of 10,000 gal or higher with above ground fuel tanks with capacity of 10,000 gal or higher.

Volume 2, Past Performance

Past performance evaluation results in an assessment of the offeror’s probability of meeting the solicitation requirements. It considers each offeror demonstrated recent and relevant record of performance in supplying products, and services that met the contract requirements. One performance confidence assessment rating is assigned for each offeror after evaluating the offeror's recent past performance, focusing on performance that is relevant to the contract requirements. There are two aspects to the past performance evaluation:

The Government will evaluate the offeror's past performance to determine the level of confidence that the contractor will successfully perform the current requirement. The Government will rate an offeror's Past Performance for projects identified in their Offer under Factor 1, Technical Experience, offeror provided past performance meeting the requirements of this section, and other related experience the Government obtains. The Government may evaluate present and past performance information by using data independently obtained from other Government or commercial sources, including, but not limited to: Government databases; personal business experience with the offeror; and obtained from references provided utilizing the Past Performance Reference Form. One performance relevancy and one confidence assessment rating will be assigned for each offeror using Tables 2 and 3 after evaluating the offeror’s recent past performance, focusing on performance that is relevant to the requirement.

Past Performance Submission Requirements. - For all projects listed under Factor 1 that have CPARS data available, the offeror shall provide a printout of the final CPARS for each project. Past Performance References – For all projects listed under Factor 1 that do not have CPARS data available, the offeror shall send a Past Performance Reference Form, to Kelly.updegraff@va.gov and Sandra.snediker@va.gov stephen.slaby@va.gov. If the offeror has any other past performance evaluation/questionnaire available that is not CPARS, they may provide that in addition to the Past Performance Reference Form for consideration at the Governments’ discretion. Page limitation of 20 pages.

The Government will utilize one or any combination of the following methods to evaluate an Offeror’s past performance in addition to reviewing questionnaires submitted including:

· Reporting data gathered from the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS).

· Reporting data gathered from the SAM Exclusions in accordance with RFO 9.404.

If the Offeror has no past performance, it shall be stated in the proposal. Offerors with no past performance will be rated as neutral.

Volume 3, Price

Proposals will be evaluated using Price Analysis Techniques and the following criteria:

Price will be evaluated on the basis of fair and reasonableness. Offerors are required to review their proposal to ensure their price is completed and accurate prior to submitting it to the Government. If there is an assumed mistake in its price, the company will be offered to: 1. Perform at the original price, or 2. Withdraw their proposal submission.

Rating Methodologies

Factors Order of Importance: Technical is significantly more important than Past Performance and, when combined, they are significantly more important than cost/price.

The technical experience rating evaluates the quality of the offeror’s technical solution for meeting the Government’s requirements. The risk rating considers the risk associated with the technical approach in meeting the requirement.

Table 1. Technical Ratings

Past performance evaluation results in an assessment of the offeror’s probability of meeting the solicitation requirements. It considers each offeror’s demonstrated recent and relevant record of performance in supplying products and services that met the contract requirements. One performance confidence assessment rating is assigned for each offeror after evaluating the offeror's recent past performance, focusing on performance that is relevant to the contract requirements.

There are two aspects to the past performance evaluation. Relevancy of contractual work performed; and how well the contractual work was performed as a confidence assessment.

Relevancy Rating: The first is to evaluate the offeror’s past performance to determine how relevant a recent effort accomplished by the offeror is to the effort to be acquired through the source selection. To be considered relevant, the work performed must be completed within the last 5 years. There are four levels of relevancy as shown in the following Table 2.

Performance Confidence Rating: A performance confidence rating will then be assessed per the following table based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record.

Table 2. Past Performance Relevancy Ratings

Table 3. Performance Confidence Assessments

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