36E77619R0073-0005001.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO

BIDDERS/OFFERORS

2.1 AVAILABILITY OF SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS:

All solicitation related documents will be published to http://www.fedbizopps.gov.

2.2 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (BASIS OF AWARD):

This is a Request For Proposal (RFP) in accordance with FAR Part 15. In accordance with FAR

Part 15, the Government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose proposal represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the factors in the solicitation. Responsibility determination will be made in accordance with

FAR 9.1 “Responsible Prospective Contractors.”

All proposals shall be subject to evaluation by a team of Government personnel. The Government reserves the right to award without discussions based upon the initial evaluation of the proposals.

The proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the content provided in the solicitation. Using the tradeoff process under best value, it may be in the Government’s best interest to consider award to other than the lowest price Offeror or other than highest Non-Price rated Offeror. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined are approximately equal to price.

Evaluations will be based on the following evaluation factors:

1. AHU Submittal Data (Non-Price)

2. Project Work Plan (Non-Price)

3. Proposed Project Team (Non-Price)

4. Project Schedule (Non-Price)

2.3 SDVOSB SET-ASIDE:

This procurement is100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concerns. Offers 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 VA’s Center for Veterans Enterprises (CVE) (http://www.vetbiz.gov).

Offerors must be verified by CVE and visible in the Vendor Information Portal (VIP) database at

TIME OF SUBMISSION OF OFFERS AND ALSO TIME OF AWARD. Failure to be BOTH visible and verified at the time of proposal submission will result in the offeror’s proposal being deemed unacceptable and ineligible for award.

2.4 TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:

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

Brent.Barnum@va.gov. The subject line must read: Minneapolis VAMC Pharmacy Upgrade 18

– Technical Questions. Phone calls will not be accepted.

http://www.fedbizopps.gov/ http://www.vetbiz.gov/ mailto:Brent.Barnum@va.gov

THE CUT-OFF DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF QUESTIONS IS JULY 15, 2019

AT 2:00 PM ET.

2.5 AMENDMENTS:

Amendments to this solicitation will be posted at http://www.fedbizopps.gov. Paper copies of the amendments will NOT be individually mailed. No other notification of amendments will be provided. Potential Offerors are advised that they are responsible for obtaining and acknowledging any amendments to the solicitation. Failure to acknowledge an amendment may result in your proposal being considered unacceptable.

2.6 PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS:

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

2.7 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS:

A. General:

a. Proposals shall be based on solicitation document issued for RFP number

36E77619R0073. Proposals will be in the format stipulated in this document.

b. Proposals shall be received on or before the date and time specified in Block 13 of the SF 1442. There will be no public opening of the proposals.

c. Submit proposals via email to:

1. Brent.Barnum@va.gov

2. Emails are limited to five (5) MB.

d. Submit the original of the Bid Guarantee by mail to:

1. US Postal Service Deliveries:

Brent Barnum

Veterans Health Administration

Program Contracting Activity Central (VHA-PCAC)

6150 Oaktree Blvd., Suite 300

Independence, OH 44131

2. Commercial Delivery Services / Hand Carry (Monday- Friday, 8:00 AM to

4:30 PM (EDT))

Brent.Barnum@va.gov

Veterans Health Administration

Program Contracting Activity Central (VHA-PCAC)

6150 Oaktree Blvd., Suite 300

Independence, OH 44131

3. Failure to furnish the required bid guarantee in the proper form and amount, by the time specified in Block 13 of SF 1442, may result in rejection of the proposal. SEE FAR Provision 52.228-1, Bid Guarantee, of this Solicitation.

B. Proposal Format:

a. Technical, Price and Administrative sections of the Offerors proposals will be evaluated independently; therefore, the Offeror shall submit the proposal in three

(3) Volumes: Volume I Technical, Volume II Price and Volume III http://www.fedbizopps.gov/ mailto:Brent.Barnum@va.gov

Administrative. In order that the Volume I Technical may be evaluated strictly on the merit of the material submitted, the contractor shall include NO price information in Volume I. Offeror shall separate Volumes I, II and III. Each volume must be labeled with the Offeror's organization, business address, and

VA Solicitation Number. The volumes shall be submitted in electronic format as searchable PDF documents. The proposal, in its entirety, shall not exceed three

(3) emails (one email for each volume) of 5MB each. Include page numbers and the company name in the header or footer of each page.

b. Volume I Technical: Offerors shall format the Volume I Technical proposal as listed below. The specific evaluation criteria and methodology for Volume I is contained in Sections D and F.

1. The offer, including title page, detailed table of contents, preface, for

Volume I Technical shall not exceed a total of THIRTY-FIVE (35) pages in Microsoft Arial size 12 font. This page limit includes the Past

Performance Questionnaires that are submitted directly to the

Contracting Officer. Use graphic presentations where such use will contribute to the compactness and clarity of the proposal.

2. A page is defined as each face of an 8.5 X 11-inch sheet of paper containing information. Note, submission of the draft project schedule only, can be submitted by utilizing larger paper (11 X 17 inch). All information (except for document numbers, page numbers, etc.) shall be provided in an image area of 7 X 9 inches. Note, this does not apply for the submission of the draft project schedule. The background color of each page of the submission shall be white or ivory stock only.

Excess pages will not be evaluated. Text lines will be single-spaced. A smaller font size for any graphics presented in a proposal is permitted as long as the information is legible to the human eye. Fonts other than

Arial are permissible in the presentation of graphic material only.

3. The Offeror’s responses shall clearly address each evaluation factor listed in this solicitation. Failure to submit in the format required and clearly address those factors may result in this offer being rated unacceptable.

c. Volume II Price: Offerors shall format the Volume II Price proposal as listed below. The specific evaluation criteria and methodology for Volume II is contained in Sections E and F

1. Volume II Price shall not exceed a total of TEN (10) pages in Arial size 12 font.

d. Volume III Administrative Information: Offerors shall include the following in

Volume III. All of the below information must be provided. An Offeror may be considered unacceptable if these items are not provided in the proposal. *There is

NO page limitation for Volume III.

1. Offerors shall ensure the Signed Standard Form (SF) 1442 is provided.

The Offeror’s signature on the SF 1442 must be a hand signature and not an electronic signature.

2. Offerors shall acknowledge receiving amendments by filling out section 19 of the SF 1442 and returning a signed copy of the amendment(s) that are acknowledged in section 19 of the SF 1442.

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

Certifications.

4. Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-7 (b) Information

Regarding Responsibility Matters.

5. Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-13 (b) (1) or (2)

Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements.

6. Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.219-28 (g) Post-Award

Small Business Program Representations.

7. Offeror shall include the Safety or Environmental Violations and

Experience Modification Rating Information, including filling out

ATTACHMENT 8.

1. All Offerors shall submit information pertaining to their past Safety and Environmental record. The information must contain a certification that the 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, an Offeror 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.

2. All Offerors shall submit information regarding their current

Experience Modification Rate (EMR). This information shall be obtained from the Offeror’s insurance carrier and be furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead. If an Offeror’s EMR is above 1.0, 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 elevated EMR and the anticipated date the EMR may be reduced to 1.0 or below.

3. 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.

4. If the NCCI cannot issue an EMR because the Offeror lacks insurance history, 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 Offeror a

Unity Rating of 1.0.

5. 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.

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

*If the EMR rating for the subcontracting tiers cannot be provided at time of proposal submission, the prime contractor shall acknowledge this and provide as a submittal with the insurance and bonding requirements.

7. Failure to provide the ATTACHMENT 8 containing the above information, may result in a determination that an Offeror is not responsible and therefore ineligible for award.

C. Final Proposal Revisions

a. If determined to be necessary, proposal revisions will be requested from the proposals received. The CO will identify those Offerors, whose proposals are within the competitive range, considering the selection criteria identified in this section. Discussions may be conducted with those Offerors falling within the competitive range, after which proposal revisions will be requested. Sealed proposal revisions will be submitted as per Section 2.8(A), above, except as noted below and will be due at a time and place to be determined.

b. Offerors submitting proposal revisions will not be requested to re-submit any documents which are unchanged from their initial proposals. They should provide necessary changes to individual paragraphs, as briefly as possible, together with a table of contents, which clarifies where within the initial proposal the additional information or changed documents would be placed. Proposal revisions shall include a completed SF 1442 that acknowledges receiving all amendments, by number. A new bid bond shall be submitted only if the final proposal revisions Offeror’s price proposal is greater than its initial price proposal.

*Note this section 2.7(C) only applies if discussions are conducted.

D. Non-Price Proposal Requirements (Volume I)

The proposal shall address the following Technical evaluation factors.

1. Volume I, Factor 1, AHU Submittal Data (Non-Price):

Based on the solicitation documents and site visit, provide a detailed submittal data of ONE AHU package with appropriate pricing details for the AHU package provided. Minimum information to be included within preliminary submittal is as follows;

• Acknowledgement of full break-down delivery of unit on pallets and description of factory testing performed prior to shipping.

• Inclusion of a minimum 1-week of on-site supervision from factory representative. Name and title of representative shall be provided, local sales reps will not be approved for providing this technical supervision.

• All related warranty information for each AHU component.

• Submittals of all OEM proposed components and details.

• Wall and floor construction details including any upgraded options being proposed for inclusion.

• Overall AHU layout drawing with all dimensions clearly shown.

• Currently anticipated delivery lead-time based on contractor’s schedule.

AHU Package Selections (offeror need only supply one package)

• AHU Package #1: Ventrol with FanWall Technology

• AHU Package #2: Haakon with AcoustiFlo Fans

• AHU Package #3: Ingenia with Fan Array

2. Volume I, Factor 2, Project Work Plan (Non-Price):

Based on the solicitation documents, site visit, provide a detailed narrative (page limitation: ten pages for detailed work plan) describing the Offeror’s technical approach to the project to achieve construction objectives as described in the solicitation. If the page limits are exceeded, the pages in excess of the limit will not be read or considered.

Offerors must write a detailed narrative explanation of their project work plan (step-by-step, detailed description of the contractor’s plan from beginning to end). Simply restating the requirements (copying and pasting from the solicitation) is not considered to be a demonstration of understanding of the project.

The proposed project work plan should be inclusive of a

• quality control plan

• a noise and vibration control plan

• a safety plan

• an infection control plan

• mechanical narrative w/ mechanical phasing plan

• other pertinent information as detailed in the paragraph below

Offerors must show that they have analyzed the requirements and demonstrate the extent to which they understand the requirements across the body of the proposal. As part of their understanding, Offerors, shall also identity the challenges for this project in regard to both working in an environment where there are multiple phases and staff traffic as well as working on a project with some very tight deadlines. The plan shall include how to minimize the disruption of pharmacy operations to the greatest extent possible. Additionally, the work plan shall demonstrate how the offeror plans to employ sound business practices, in particular, the proposed method for proactively identifying and preventing service quality issues within healthcare environments.

3. Volume I, Factor 3, Proposed Project Team (Non-Price):

Offerors shall clearly describe their proposed project team and explain why the proposed team (including individual team members) is relevant to this specific project. Proposal should include:

• Organization chart that shows all identified team members, job titles and reporting relationships

• Specific duties that will be performed

• Resumes of key staff to be on site for duration of construction to include the project manager, quality control manager, job superintendent, designated

Competent Person (as defined by OSHA) and subcontractor foremen. (It is recognized that not all subcontractors may be identified by the time of proposal submission.) The resumes shall include the following mandatory elements:

1) Name of Individual, Company and role for this project;

2) Relevant Experience (i.e. – experience with the VA and/or in active hospital/patient care settings)

3) Current Certifications (specialized training, education, etc.)

The project team will be evaluated on relevant and recent experience with contracts of comparable size, complexity and scope within the last five (5) years. Experience performing pharmacy and/or cleanroom construction is highly recommended to be detailed within this factor.

Project team documents submitted as part of the Contractor’s proposal shall become part of the contract following award. The Contractor shall maintain the integrity of the proposed team to the greatest extent possible. Team member substitutions shall be requested in writing and require approval by the Contracting Officer.

4. Volume I, Factor 4, Project Schedule (Non-Price):

Offerors shall prepare and submit a practicable construction schedule showing all necessary work elements to complete the project identified under this solicitation for.

This schedule must be in the form of a GANNT/bar chart that shows all planned tasks and dependencies as detailed below.

Each Offeror's construction schedule must address the following at a minimum:

1) Notice to Proceed

2) Submittals

3) Procurement of equipment including lead times

4) Mobilization

5) Basement Pharmacy Phasing – At a minimum, include the following:

a. Phase 1A and 1B: provide detailed schedules for Phase 1A and Phase 1B to include demolition, framing, doors/windows, finishes, plumbing, HVAC, low voltage, electrical, testing/final inspection.

b. Remaining Phases: provide schedules for remaining phases that include estimated starting and completion dates. Include appropriate time between phases, identify any critical elements of work that could impact the schedule.

6) 3F Pharmacy Phasing – At a minimum, include the following:

a. Detailed schedules for all work to include demolition, framing, doors/windows, finishes, plumbing, HVAC, low voltage, electrical, testing/final inspection.

7) Penthouse Phasing:

a. Detailed schedules for all work to include demolition, plumbing, HVAC, low voltage, electrical, testing/final inspection. The schedule shall show approximate timeframe for delivery of AHU equipment. The schedule shall clearly detail the amount of time required for AHU-37 replacement and amount of time required for the retrofit of HVPN-4 prior to the AHU-37 demolition.

The proposed schedule must include the activities which are consistent with those described within the project specifications and drawings and must not exceed the

Government's maximum allowable performance period, as noted in Block 11 of the

SF 1442. The project will start at the issuance of the Notice to Proceed. For scheduling purposes, assume the Notice to Proceed will be issued thirty (30) calendar days after the award date. (Note that there is no guarantee the Notice to Proceed will be issued within this timeframe.)

*The schedule submitted with the offer should not be construed as the agreed upon schedule as per FAR 52.236-15, the contractor shall, within five (5) days after receiving the Notice to Proceed, submit a revised schedule which will supersede the proposed schedule. The revised schedule will be subject to VA approval and must show the project being accomplished within the time frame specified on the SF 1442.

E. Price Proposal Requirements (Volume II)

a. Carefully follow “Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors”. Standard form (SF) 1442 Solicitation, Offer and Award (Construction, Alteration, or

Repair) and the pricing schedule located on PAGE 6 when submitting price offers. Submit a bid guarantee as stipulated in the solicitation.

b. In addition to the pricing schedule, Offerors shall submit a complete breakdown of the Division Pricing for CLIN 0001. The breakdown shall be in the same order as the Divisions that are listed in the specifications.

c. The prices shall be Firm Fixed Price. The Offeror shall take care not to include remarks that take exception to the Government’s Specifications/Drawings or pricing requirements or otherwise preclude the Government from evaluating the offer or render the offer as unacceptable.

d. If the Offeror communicates in its proposal any qualifications, exceptions, exclusions, or conditions to the proposed prices not provided for in the Offerors proposal documents, the Contracting Officer may reject the proposal and exclude the Offeror from further discussions.

F. Evaluation of Offers

a. The evaluation of Offerors will be conducted in accordance with section 2.7(F) of the solicitation.

1. Factor 1, AHU Submittal Data (Non-Price):

The VA will evaluate the Offeror’s AHU detailed submittal package and verification of necessary requirements as described in Element 1.

2. Factor 2, Project Work Plan (Non-Price):

The VA will evaluate and use as an aid to help determine that the Offeror understands the complexity and risks of performing all the required elements.

The Project Work Plan will be evaluated for inclusion of the technical areas listed in the criteria. The Offeror’s narrative should provide enough detail to demonstrate that the scope and complexity of the project requirements are understood and will be successfully completed.

3. Factor 3, Proposed Project Team (Non-Price):

The VA will evaluate the Offeror’s team and team’s experience provided, to determine that the team demonstrates that they will be able to successfully perform the required effort and meet the position requirements that are detailed in the contract documents. The proposed team will be evaluated on the relevant and recent experience of the projects submitted and on the quality of the Offeror’s past performance within the last five (5) years with respect to the construction projects submitted.

4. Factor 4, Project Schedule (Non-Price):

The VA will evaluate the Offeror’s schedule relative to overall coordination of the construction phases, to include ability to identify all necessary work elements of the specific project, and the Offerors ability to schedule the activities in a logical sequence and within the time required in this solicitation. The contractor shall identify critical lead time elements on the project schedule to demonstrate this understanding.

5. Price:

The total evaluated price will be determined by the Offeror's price for CLIN

0001. The Offeror who provides the lowest price will be determined to be the lowest price offeror.

2.8 USE OF ADVISORS:

Contractors are advised that VA contractor personnel may assist the Government during the

Government’s evaluation of Proposals. The persons shall be authorized access to only those portions of the proposal and discussions that are necessary to enable them to provide specific technical advice on specialized matters or on particular problems. These individuals will be required to protect the confidentiality of any specifically identified trade secrets and/or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information obtained as a result of their participation in this evaluation. They shall be expressly prohibited from scoring, ranking or recommending the selection of an Offeror.

2.9 DETERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITY:

A Determination of Responsibility will be conducted for the apparent “awardee” prior to award of the project. The required information from the proposal, along with other information obtained from Government systems, such as, but not limited to the OSHA and EPA online inspection history databases, as well as any other information the Contracting Officer has determined to be valid, will be used to make the Determination of Responsibility. Failure to affirm being within the guidelines in the proposal may result in a determination of “Non-Responsible” for the

Offeror. NOTE: Any information received by the Government that would cause for a negative

Determination of Responsibility may make the Offeror ineligible for award.

2.10 VETS 4212:

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 offerors 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.

2.11 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. Offerors are required to be registered in SAM at the time an offer is submitted in order to comply with the annual representations and certifications requirements. The Offeror shall also be registered at time of award.

2.12 REVIEW REQUIRED REGISTRATION WITH CONTRACTOR

http://www.dol.gov/vets/vets4212.htm http://www.sam.gov/

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 $700,000, 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 $700,000 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 @ DSN: 684-1690 or COMM: 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.

2.13 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.

2.14 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).”