36E77620R0012-095.docx

36E77620R0012

1. SOLICITATION NUMBER

2. TYPE OF SOLICITATION

3. DATE ISSUED

PAGE OF PAGES

4. CONTRACT NUMBER

5.

REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQUEST NUMBER

6. PROJECT NUMBER

7. ISSUED BY

CODE

8. ADDRESS OFFER TO

a. NAME

b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code) (NO COLLECT CALLS)

10. THE GOVERNMENT REQUIRES PERFORMANCE OF THE WORK DESCRIBED IN THESE

DOCUMENTS (Title, identifying number, date) 12a. THE CONTRACTOR MUST FURNISH ANY REQUIRED PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT BONDS?

(If "YES," indicate within how many calendar days after award in Item 12B.)

12b. CALENDAR DAYS

13. ADDITIONAL

SOLICITATION REQUIREMENTS:

STANDARD FORM 1442 (REV. 8/2014)

STANDARD FORM 1442

Prescribed by GSA-FAR (48 CFR) 52.236-1(d)

SOLICITATION, OFFER,

AND AWARD

(Construction, Alteration, or Repair)

SOLICITATION

SOLICITATION

IMPORTANT - The "offer" section on the reverse must be fully completed by offeror.

9. FOR INFORMATION

CALL:

NOTE: In sealed bid solicitations "offer" and "offeror" mean "bid" and "bidder".

SEALED BID (IFB)

NEGOTIATED (RFP)

1. The Contractor shall begin performance within ____________ calendar days and complete it within calendar days after receiving award, notice to proceed. This performance period is mandatory negotiable. (See

YES

NO

a.

Sealed offers in original and ___________________copies to perform the work required are due at the place specified in Item 8 by _____________ (hour) local time _____________________ (date). If this is a sealed bid solicitation, offers must be publicly opened at that time. Sealed envelopes containing offers shall be marked to show the offeror's name and address, the solicitation number, the date and time offers are due.

b.

An offer guarantee is, is not required.

c.

All offers are subject to the (1) work requirements, and (2) other provisions and clauses incorporated in the solicitation in full text or by reference.

d.

Offers providing less than ____ ___________________ calendar days for Government acceptance after the date offers are due will not be considered and will be rejected.

of 36E77620R0012 X 12-27-2019 405-15-101

PCAC

Department of Veterans Affairs Program Contracting Activity Central 6150 Oak Tree Blvd, Suite 300 Independence OH 44131 Department of Veterans Affairs Program Contracting Activity Central 6150 Oak Tree Blvd, Suite 300 Independence OH 44131 Samantha Mihaila 216-447-8300 X49568

In accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 8127 (Public Law 109-461), this solicitation will be issued as a tiered evaluation for SDVOSB Concerns, or in the alternate, a tiered evaluation for VOSB concerns, or in the alternate, a tiered evaluation for HUBZone small business concerns or 8(a) participants, or i n the alternate a tiered evaluation for other small Business Concerns.

The contractor shall provide a proposal on all means and methods in order to provide the VA with a complete "Replace Underground Utilities " Construction project, in accordance with the solicitation and attached specifications, drawings and other documents.

This Project is Located at" White River Junction VAMC 163 Veterans Drive White River Junction, VT 05009

Period of Performance: 545 Days VAAR Magnitude of Construction: $5,000,000 to $10,000,000

10 (TEN)

52.211-10 X

10 (TEN)

0 (ZERO)

2:00 PM ET

01-27-2020 X 90 (Ninety)

14. NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR

15. TELEPHONE NUMBER

16. REMITTANCE ADDRESS

CODE

FACILITY CODE

17. The offeror agrees to perform the work required at the prices specified below in strict accordance with the terms of the solicitation, if this offer is accepted by the Government in writing within __________ calendar days after the date offers are due.

AMOUNTS

18. The offeror agrees to furnish any required performance and payment bonds.

19. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT

NUMBER

DATE.

20a. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SIGN OFFER 20b. SIGNATURE 20c. OFFER DATE

21. ITEMS ACCEPTED:

22.

AMOUNT

23. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

24. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN

ITEM

25. OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION PURSUANT TO

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)( 41 U.S.C. 3304(a) ( 26.

ADMINISTERED BY

27. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY

PHONE:

FAX:

28. NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT

29. AWARD

Your Contractor agrees offer on this solicitation is hereby accepted as to the items listed. This to furnish and deliver all items or perform all work requirements identified award consummates the contract, which consists of (a) the Government on this form and any continuation sheets for the consideration stated in solicitation and your offer, and (b) this contract award. No fu rther cont-this contract. The rights and obligations of the parties to this contract ractual document is necessary.

shall be governed by (a) this contract award, (b) the solicitation, and (c) the clauses, representations, certifications, and specifications incorporated by reference in or attached to this contract.

30a. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTOR OR PERSON AUTHORIZED 31a. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

TO SIGN

30b. SIGNATURE 30c. DATE 31b. UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA

31c. AWARD DATE

BY

OFFER

AWARD

STANDARD FORM 1442 (REV. 8/2014) BACK

(Include ZIP Code) (Include area code) (Include only if different than Item 14.)

(Insert any number equal to or greater than the minimum requirement stated in Item 13d. Failure to insert any number means the offeror accepts the minimum in Item 13d.)

(The offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the solicitation -- give number and date of each) (Type or print) (4 copie s unless otherwise specified) (Type or print) (Type or print) (Contractor is required to sign this document and return _______ copies to issuing office.)

(Contractor is not required to sign this document.)

(Must be fully completed by offeror) (To be completed by Government)

CONTRACTING OFFICER WILL COMPLETE ITEM 28 OR 29 AS APPLICABLE

PCAC

Department of Veterans Affairs Program Contracting Activity Central 6150 Oak Tree Blvd, Suite 300 Independence OH 44131

VAFSC

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center Invoices to be Submitted Electronically www.ob10.com/us/en/veterans-affairs/ e-Invoice Setup Info Phone 877-489-6135 877-353-9791 512-460-5429 Megan Dohm Contracting Officer

Table of Contents

A.3 Price Schedule See Attachment 7 for Price Schedule

INFORMATION REGARDING BIDDING MATERIAL, BID GUARANTEE, AND BONDS

1.1 PROPOSAL MATERIAL:

Proposal materials consisting of drawings, specifications, and contract forms are included and/or attached as part of this Request For Proposal. The VA will not provide printed copies of drawings or specifications. It is the responsibility of the offeror to obtain the proposal materials in a time and manner sufficient to respond to this solicitation by the specified due date.

1.2 BID GUARANTEE:

A Bid Guarantee, SF 24, is required in an amount not less than 20 percent of the proposal price but shall not exceed $3,000,000. Failure to furnish the required bid (proposal) guarantee in the proper form and amount, by the time set for receipt of proposals, may result in the rejection of the proposal. Copies of the SF 24 may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP.

1.3 PAYMENT & PERFORMANCE BONDS:

The offeror 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 as noted in the General Conditions of the Solicitation. Copies of SFs 25 and 25A may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP.

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO BIDDERS/OFFERORS

2.1 AVAILABILITY OF SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS:

All solicitation related documents will be published to Contract Opportunities at https://beta.sam.gov//.

2.2 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL:

This is a Request for Proposal (RFP) in accordance with FAR Part 15. Award will be made to the offeror whose proposal represents the “best value” to the Government utilizing the Lowest Priced-Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection process. Evaluation Factors include past performance, draft project schedule, and key personnel experience contained in Volume I (Non-Price Factors) and price contained Volume II (Price). In order to be eligible for award, a rating of acceptable must be achieved for all non-price factors. A 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.

2.3 TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:

Questions of a technical nature must be provided in writing and shall be submitted by the prospective offerors to Samantha Mihaila. Questions shall be submitted only via e-mail to: Samantha.Mihaila@va.gov The subject line must read: WRJ Replace Underground Utilities – Technical Questions. Oral questions of a technical nature are not acceptable. THE CUT-OFF DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF QUESTIONS IS January 15, 2020 at 2:00 PM (ET).

2.4 AMENDMENTS:

Amendments to this solicitation will be posted at Contract Opportunities at https://beta.sam.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.

2.5 PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS:

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

2.6 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS:

A. General:

1. Proposals shall be based on solicitation document issued for RFP number 36E77619R0100. Proposals will be in the format stipulated in this document.

2. 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.

3. Submit proposals via email to:

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

a. US Postal Service Deliveries:

Samantha Mihaila Veterans Health Administration Program Contracting Activity Central (VHA-PCAC) 6150 tree Blvd., Suite 300 Independence, OH 44131

b. Commercial Delivery Services / Hand Carry (Monday- Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (ET)) Samantha Mihaila Veterans Health Administration Program Contracting Activity Central (VHA-PCAC) 6150 Oaktree Blvd., Suite 300 Independence, OH 44131

c. 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:

1. All sections of the Offerors proposals will be evaluated independently; therefore, the Offeror shall submit the proposal in three (3) Volumes: Volume I Non-Price Factors, Volume II Price and Volume III Administrative. In order that the Volume I Non-Price Factors 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.

2. Volume I Non-Price Factors: Offerors shall format the Volume I Non-Price Factors as listed below. The specific evaluation criteria and methodology for Volume I is contained in Sections D and E.

a) The offer, including title page, detailed table of contents, preface, for Volume I Non-Price Factors shall not exceed a total of TWENTY (20) pages in Microsoft Arial size 12 font. Use graphic presentations where such use will contribute to the compactness and clarity of the proposal.

b) 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.

c) 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.

3. Volume II Price: Offerors shall format the Volume II Price proposal as listed below.

a) Offerors shall submit attachment 7 – price schedule.

b) Offerors shall ensure the Signed Standard Form (SF) 1442 is provided. Offerors shall acknowledge receiving amendments by filling out section 19 of the SF 1442.

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

d) Amendments are not included in the page count.

4. 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.

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

b) Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-7 (b) Information Regarding Responsibility Matters.

c) Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-13 (b) (1) or (2) Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements.

d) Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.219-28 (g) Post-Award Small Business Program Representations.

e) Offeror shall include the Safety or Environmental Violations and Experience Modification Rating Information, including filling out ATTACHMENT 5.

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 5 containing the above information, may result in a determination that an Offeror is not responsible and therefore ineligible for award.

C. Final Proposal Revisions

1. If determined to be necessary, proposal revisions will be requested. The CO will identify those Offerors, whose proposals are within the competitive range, considering the selection criteria identified in this section. Discussions will be conducted with those Offerors falling within the competitive range, after which proposal revisions will be requested. Proposal revisions will be submitted as per Section 2.7(A), above, except as noted below and will be due at a time and place to be determined.

2. 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 only applies if discussions are conducted.

D. Evaluation Factors Evaluation Factors include Past Performance, Draft Project Schedule, Key Personnel Experience and Price.

Volume I – Non-Price Factors: Offerors will be required to submit their information on Past Performance Draft Project Schedule, and Key Personnel Experience. 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. Information submitted will be reviewed to determine if the offeror’s technical rating is ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE. RFP submission criteria for the Evaluation Factors are provided below.

Factor 1 Past Performance

Submit a minimum of three (3) with a maximum of five (5) construction projects for the Offeror that best demonstrates your experience on relevant projects that are similar in size, scope, and complexity to the RFP. The projects must demonstrate an offeror’s Past Performance as a prime construction contractor directly responsible to the owner and managing multiple subcontractors. For purposes of this evaluation, a relevant project is further defined as “a site alteration that features as its primary goal the installation, repair or replacement of underground utilities and restoration at an operating medical center or other site with 24-hour critical operations that are commonly accessed by the public.” Project(s) shall have a minimum value of $5,000,000 and can be in-progress or completed. If completed, projects submitted for the Offeror shall be completed within the past five (5) years of the date of issuance of this RFP.

A project is defined as a construction project performed under a single task order or contract. For multiple award and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity type contracts, the contract as a whole shall not be submitted as a project; rather Offerors shall submit the work performed under a task order as a project.

Offeror’s submission shall include at a minimum:

• Provide the Project Title and Description, Project Location (Physical Address); Contract Type (Example: Design Build, Design Bid Build).

• Provide the project owner name and telephone number of the owner’s contact person.

• Provide a description of the scope of work. Indicate whether or not your company was the prime contractor and what work was performed by the prime contractor.

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

If the Offeror is a Joint Venture (JV), relevant project experience should be submitted for projects completed by the Joint Venture entity. If the Joint Venture does not have shared experience, projects shall be submitted for each Joint Venture partner. Offerors who fail to submit experience for all Joint Venture partners may be rated lower.

If a completed past performance evaluation is available in PPIRS, it shall be submitted with the proposal for each project identified. If there is not a completed past performance evaluation available in PPIRS, then the Offeror shall submit Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQ) (reference ATTACHMENT 6) for each project. The Offeror shall notify their client that their PPQ shall be submitted via email to the Government’s point of contact Samantha.Mihaila@va.gov. 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). Offerors should follow-up with clients/references to help ensure timely submittal of questionnaires.

The Government reserves the right to contact references for verification or additional information.

Prepare and submit a practicable construction schedule showing all necessary work elements to complete the project identified under this solicitation. The schedule must be in the form of a progress chart of suitable scale to indicate appropriately the percentage of work scheduled for completion by any given date during the performance period. The submitted schedule must be developed using project scheduling software such as MS Project, Primavera, or any other comparable form.

Each Offeror's construction schedule shall address the following:

• Order of work elements to include project phasing

• Number of days for each work element

• Identification of long lead time materials

• Identification of separate work elements

• Identification of number of days estimated for weather delays 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’s Period of Performance will start at the issuance of the Notice to Proceed. For scheduling purposes, assume an estimated award date of February 10, 2020, and that the Notice to Proceed will be issued ten (10) calendar days after the award date. (Note that there is no guarantee the award will be made or 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 ten (10) business 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.

Provide Narrative for Project Challenges:

Describe in a written narrative how to minimize the disruption of patient care to the greatest extent possible by describing phasing and pedestrian/vehicular traffic management, as well as typical weather disruption of a northern New England winter. Describe anticipated schedule duration, detailing at a minimum mobilization, submittals, different phases or sub-projects, testing phases, plan for restoration, and clearly show predecessors and Critical Path.

Volume II, Factor I – Price:

The Offeror shall submit their price information on the price schedule provided in Attachment 7 of the Solicitation. The Offer shall submit price information in accordance with the price schedule. To receive consideration for award, the division breakdown must be filled out and included. The Offeror shall submit a bid guarantee as stipulated in the solicitation. The prices shall be Firm Fixed Price. The Offeror shall take care not to include remarks that take exception to the Government's SOW/Specifications, pricing requirements, or otherwise preclude the Government from evaluating the offer or render the offer as non-responsive or un-acceptable.

E. Evaluation Methodology Tiered Evaluation Offerors are advised that proposals will be grouped by the socioeconomic category based on the business size of the offeror that submits the proposal and that each proposal will only be evaluated once. Evaluation will take place in the highest tier for which the requirement is met. For example, a VOSB concern will only be evaluated in tier 2 and likewise, a HUBZone small business concern will only be evaluated in tier 3.

The Government reserves the right to use any of the techniques outlined in FAR 15.404-1 to ensure award at a fair and reasonable price.

In accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 8127(i), the Contracting Officer will evaluate proposals received in response to this solicitation in the following order of priority:

(1) Offers, if any, submitted by SDVOSB concerns. If no offers were submitted by SDVOSB concerns, or if no offers are found to be technically acceptable, the Contracting Officer will withdraw the SDVOSB set-aside, and proceed to the next tier set-aside for VOSB concerns.

The lowest price technically acceptable offer will be analyzed to determine price reasonableness. If none of the offers would result in award at a fair and reasonable price that offers the best value to the United States, the Contracting Officer will withdraw the SDVOSB set-aside and proceed to the next tier set-aside for VOSB concerns.

(2) Offers, if any, submitted by VOSB concerns. If no offers were submitted by VOSB concerns, or if no offers are found to be technically acceptable, the Contracting Officer will withdraw the VOSB set-aside, and proceed to the next tier set-aside for 8(a) participants and HUBZone small business concerns.

The lowest price technically acceptable offer will be analyzed to determine price reasonableness. If none of the offers would result in award at a fair and reasonable price that offers the best value to the United States, the Contracting Officer will withdraw the VOSB set-aside and proceed to the next tier set-aside for 8(a) participants and HUBZone small business concerns.

(3) Offers, if any, submitted by 8(a) participants and HUBZone small business concerns. If no offers were submitted by 8(a) participants or HUBZone small business concerns, or if no offers are found to be technically acceptable, the Contracting Officer will withdraw the 8(a) and HUBZone small business set-aside and proceed to the next tier set-aside for other small business concerns.

The lowest price technically acceptable offer will be analyzed to determine price reasonableness. If none of the offers would result in award at a fair and reasonable price that offers the best value to the United States, the Contracting Officer will withdraw the 8(a) and HUBZone small business set-aside and proceed to the next tier set-aside for other small business concerns.

(4) Offers, if any, submitted by other small business concerns If no offers were submitted by other small business concerns, or if no offers are found to be technically acceptable, the Contracting Officer will cancel the solicitation.

The lowest price technically acceptable offer will be analyzed to determine price reasonableness. If none of the offers would result in award at a fair and reasonable price that offers the best value to the United States, the Contracting Officer will cancel the solicitation.

FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED

Volume I, Factor 1 Past Performance Offerors will be required to submit the information on Past Performance. Information submitted will be reviewed to determine if the offeror’s technical rating is ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE. Acceptable is defined as based on the Offeror’s performance record, the Government has a reasonable expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort, or the offeror’s performance record is unknown. Unacceptable is defined as based on the offeror’s performance record, the Government does not have a reasonable expectation that the offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort. Minimum requirements are defined as the offeror submitted projects demonstrating recent and relevant experience with satisfactory or better performance ratings.

Volume I, Factor 2 Draft Project Schedule Offerors will be required to submit a Draft Project Schedule. The draft project schedule submitted will be reviewed to determine if the offeror’s schedule is ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE. Acceptable is defined as the Offeror demonstrated the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Unacceptable is defined as the Offeror failed to demonstrate the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Minimum requirements are defined as the offeror submitted a realistic and complete project schedule, and included all elements outlined in volume I non-price factors, factor 2 draft project schedule, to include the narrative for project challenges.

Volume I, Factor 3 Key Personnel Experience Offerors will be required to submit their Key Personnel Experience. Information submitted will be reviewed to determine if the offeror’s Key Personnel Experience is ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE. Acceptable is defined as the Offeror demonstrated the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Unacceptable is defined as the Offeror failed to demonstrate the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Minimum requirements are defined as the offeror submitted resumes for the required personnel that satisfied the requirements of the solicitation.

Volume II, Factor 1 Price The Government will evaluate offers in accordance with the process identified in the solicitation. The offer shall submit their price information and division breakdown in accordance with the template provided in Attachment 7 - price schedule. To receive consideration for award, the division breakdown must be filled out and included. The total evaluated price will be determined by the Offeror's price for CLIN 0001 and the NTE CLIN 0002 of $45,000.00. Below is the process for evaluating price proposals:

The VA will add CLIN 0001 (Base Bid) and CLIN 0002 for the total evaluated price. The VA will award to the lowest price technically acceptable offeror.

The VA reserves the right to enter into discussions with those offerors who are determined to be within the competitive range. If following the initial Non-Price and Price evaluations and/or receipt of Final Proposal Revisions resulting from discussion, an offeror’s total evaluated price still exceeds the VA's funding limitation, the VA will no longer consider the offeror to be eligible for award.

2.7 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.

2.8 VETS 4212:

This section is only applicable to VOSB and SDVOSB tiers. 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.

2.9 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.

2.10 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.

2.11 REVIEW REQUIRED REGISTRATION WITH CONTRACTOR 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 Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) database, which is available to all Federal agencies. CPARS is the system used to collect and retrieve performance assessment reports used in source selection determinations and completed CPARS report cards transferred to CPARS.

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.

2.12 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).”

2.13 TIERED EVALUATION CLAUSES

Please note that clauses for all socioeconomic tiers are included in this solicitation, but only small business clauses pertaining to the offerors socioeconomic tier are applicable.

2.14 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

The Government contemplates award of a Firm-Fixed-Price contract resulting from this solicitation.

(End of Provision)

2.15 52.222-5 CONSTRUCTION WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS—SECONDARY SITE OF THE WORK (MAY 2014) (a)(1) The offeror shall notify the Government if the offeror intends to perform work at any secondary site of the work, as defined in paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of the FAR clause at 52.222-6, Construction Wage Rate Requirements, of this solicitation.

(2) If the offeror is unsure if a planned work site satisfies the criteria for a secondary site of the work, the offeror shall request a determination from the Contracting Officer.

(b)(1) If the wage determination provided by the Government for work at the primary site of the work is not applicable to the secondary site of the work, the offeror shall request a wage determination from the Contracting Officer.

(2) The due date for receipt of offers will not be extended as a result of an offeror's request for a wage determination for a secondary site of the work.

(End of Provision)

2.16 52.222-23 NOTICE OF REQUIREMENT FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO ENSURE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR CONSTRUCTION (FEB 1999)

(a) The offeror's attention is called to the Equal Opportunity clause and the Affirmative Action Compliance Requirements for Construction clause of this solicitation.

(b) The goals for minority and female participation, expressed in percentage terms for the Contractor's aggregate workforce in each trade on all construction work in the covered area, are as follows:

These goals are applicable to all the Contractor's construction work performed in the covered area. If the Contractor performs construction work in a geographical area located outside of the covered area, the Contractor shall apply the goals established for the geographical area where the work is actually performed. Goals are published periodically in the Federal Register in notice form, and these notices may be obtained from any Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs office.

(c) The Contractor's compliance with Executive Order 11246, as amended, and the regulations in 41 CFR 60-4 shall be based on (1) its implementation of the Equal Opportunity clause, (2) specific affirmative action obligations required by the clause entitled "Affirmative Action Compliance Requirements for Construction," and (3) its efforts to meet the goals. The hours of minority and female employment and training must be substantially uniform throughout the length of the contract, and in each trade. The Contractor shall make a good faith effort to employ minorities and women evenly on each of its projects. The transfer of minority or female employees or trainees from Contractor to Contractor, or from project to project, for the sole purpose of meeting the Contractor's goals shall be a violation of the contract, Executive Order 11246, as amended, and the regulations in 41 CFR 60-4. Compliance with the goals will be measured against the total work hours performed.

(d) The Contractor shall provide written notification to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Federal Contract Compliance, U.S. Department of Labor, within 10 working days following award of any construction subcontract in excess of $10,000 at any tier for construction work under the contract resulting from this solicitation. The notification shall list the—

(1) Name, address, and telephone number of the subcontractor;

(2) Employer's identification number of the subcontractor;

(3) Estimated dollar amount of the subcontract;

(4) Estimated starting and completion dates of the subcontract; and

(5) Geographical area in which the subcontract is to be performed.

(e) As used in this Notice, and in any contract resulting from this solicitation, the "covered area" is

(End of Provision)

2.17 52.225-10 NOTICE OF BUY AMERICAN REQUIREMENT—CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS (MAY 2014)

(a) Definitions. "Commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item," "construction material," "domestic construction material," and "foreign construction material," as used in this provision, are defined in the clause of this solicitation entitled "Buy American—Construction Materials" (Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.225-9).

(b) Requests for determinations of inapplicability. An offeror requesting a determination regarding the inapplicability of the Buy American statute should submit the request to the Contracting Officer in time to allow a determination before submission of offers. The offeror shall include the information and applicable supporting data required by paragraphs (c) and (d) of the clause at FAR 52.225-9 in the request. If an offeror has not requested a determination regarding the inapplicability of the Buy American statute before submitting its offer, or has not received a response to a previous request, the offeror shall include the information and supporting data in the offer.

(c) Evaluation of offers.

(1) The Government will evaluate an offer requesting exception to the requirements of the Buy American statute, based on claimed unreasonable cost of domestic construction material, by adding to the offered price the appropriate percentage of the cost of such foreign construction material, as specified in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of the clause at FAR 52.225-9.

(2) If evaluation results in a tie between an offeror that requested the substitution of foreign construction material based on unreasonable cost and an offeror that did not request an exception, the Contracting Officer will award to the offeror that did not request an exception based on unreasonable cost.

(d) Alternate offers.

(1) When an offer includes foreign solicitation in paragraph (b)(2) of the clause at FAR 52.225-9, the offeror also may submit an alternate offer based on use of equivalent domestic construction material.

(2) If an alternate offer is submitted, the offeror shall submit a separate Standard Form 1442 for the alternate offer, and a separate price comparison table prepared in accordance with paragraphs (c) and (d) of the clause at FAR 52.225-9 for the offer that is based on the use of any foreign construction material for which the Government has not yet determined an exception applies.

(3) If the Government determines that a particular exception requested in accordance with paragraph (c) of the clause at FAR 52.225-9 does not apply, the Government will evaluate only those offers based on use of the equivalent domestic construction material, and the offeror shall be required to furnish such domestic construction material. An offer based on use of the foreign construction material for which an exception was requested—

(i) Will be rejected as nonresponsive if this acquisition is conducted by sealed bidding; or

(ii) May be accepted if revised during negotiations.

(End of Provision)

2.18 52.228-1 BID GUARANTEE (SEP 1996)

(a) Failure to furnish a bid guarantee in the proper form and amount, by the time set for opening of bids, may be cause for rejection of the bid.

(b) The bidder shall furnish a bid guarantee in the form of a firm commitment, e.g., bid bond supported by good and sufficient surety or sureties acceptable to the Government, postal money order, certified check, cashier's check, irrevocable letter of credit, or, under Treasury Department regulations, certain bonds or notes of the United States. The Contracting Officer will return bid guarantees, other than bid bonds—

(1) To unsuccessful bidders as soon as practicable after the opening of bids; and

(2) To the successful bidder upon execution of contractual documents and bonds (including any necessary coinsurance or reinsurance agreements), as required by the bid as accepted.

(c) The amount of the bid guarantee shall be 20 percent of the bid price or $3,000,000, whichever is less.

(d) If the successful bidder, upon acceptance of its bid by the Government within the period specified for acceptance, fails to execute all contractual documents or furnish executed bond(s) within 10 days after receipt of the forms by the bidder, the Contracting Officer may terminate the contract…