Attachment 8 - Technical Question Responses.docx

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS

AND RESPONSE TRACKING SHEET

Boiler Safety Testing and Training

RFQ 36E77620Q0079

PROJECT TITLE

SOLICITATION #

QUESTION ANSWERED

DATE

Please see “Attachment 9 – Standard ES – 2018 -001” of amendment 0001, which provides a copy of the standards.

• At least 10 years of teaching and training on boiler plant equipment (Boilers size of 10,000 Lbs. of steam per hour or larger) and systems to plant personnel.

• At least 10 years of troubleshooting and analyzing problems related to boiler plant systems (Boilers size of 10,000 Lbs. of steam per hour or larger).

• At least 10 years of experience in writing and interpreting boiler and boiler plant safety device testing procedures specific to VA boiler systems.

• At least 10 years of experience in safety device testing specific to the VA’s Boiler systems.

• Auditing and reporting on boiler plant equipment and safety.

• At least one of the on-site personnel shall have Master of Science (MS) in Mechanical Engineering degree with boiler course work from an accredited university and 5 years of experience in the field.

• Perform Statistical Analysis on VA data for annual reports and individual site reports that are being evaluated to determine what areas of improvement are need VA wide.

• Show proof of Professional Engineers License (P.E.) – Preferred for Boiler Construction Design Reviews Task and updating the VHA Safety Device Testing Manual.

• Show how consultant can meet and understand the VA Safety device testing criteria."

Can you please advise if equivalent (or perhaps significantly more rigorous) experience in pressure vessel systems in chemical plants including steam generators (saturated, super-heated and super-critical) as well as high pressure and high temperature chemical reactors, separation and energy conversion equipment is acceptable for your qualifications? Our people have decades of substantial hands on training, operating, testing, auditing, and analytical experience in much higher pressure systems including integrated steam-power co-generation plants compared to the systems currently used to service the facilities of the VA.

The requirements are “At least” or “larger”. Would prefer to see some experience with our size of boilers, etc. If experience is not specifically with VA boiler systems, a clear description of the boiler system’s characteristics should be provided to demonstrate such experience is equivalent to or more complex than VA boiler systems.

8/13/2020

1. In the statement of work section B. Boiler Safety Device Training (CLIN 0002), part r. states

r. During the site visit, the consultant shall review any existing standard operating procedure (SOP) for “On-Going Training” and “Safety Device Testing” for the site. In the absence of an existing SOP, the consultant shall develop such document. The attachment 2- Directive 1810 shall be the basis for both the revised or new SOP. Once a draft is developed the consultant will send the final draft SOP with the Training Site Specific Written Report.

Are the “Ongoing Training” and “Safety Device Testing” SOPs referenced the policy documents governing those two items?

Directive 1810 (Attachment 3) is the reference for these policies.

8/13/2020

In the statement of work section C. Safety Device Testing (CLIN 0003), part a. states a. Consultant shall perform Boiler test sessions at an estimated total of 45 facilities during the duration of the contract. Specific locations will be identified at the task order level. Each session shall be 3 consecutive 8 hour days at locations throughout the continental United States and Puerto Rico. Testing will be onsite for 22 hours. Testing shall include all Boiler Safety Devices and be tested in accordance with the VA Safety Device Testing Manual Version 5/or current version. The Contractor shall provide a report and Tracking Sheet (see Attachment 3).

Please clarify if all safety devices on all boilers are to be tested or all the safety devices on one boiler are to be tested.

All Plant and boiler safety devices are to be tested.

8/13/2020

In the statement of work section C. Safety Device Testing (CLIN 0003), the number of engineers is not specified. Is this task considered “production work” where the objective is purely to produce test results or should it be interpreted more broadly to include some training/troubleshooting/repair?

Primarlily testing (95% or more). Testing requires 2 Engineers.

8/13/2020

In Attachment 5 (Price Schedule), CLIN 0006 is listed as “Travel (to be priced on a fixed-price basis at the task order level)” with columns for Unit, Estimated Annual Quantity, $/Unit, and Total Estimated Annual Value blacked out for CLIN 0006.

Does this mean that travel expenses should be included in the quotes for the other CLINs that require travel (i.e. CLINs 0001, 0002, and 0003)?

The contractor that is awarded the contract will provide pricing for travel at the task order level, since it isn’t known at this point where and when the travel will be taking place. Therefore, no travel costs should be bid at this time.

image1.jpeg