403_25 Addendum No_ 1.pdf

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Kimberly Dove, President Kristin McCabe, Vice President

Sara Gillespie • Katie Gregory •Michelle Morancie, Ph.D.

Lillie Pozatek • Franchesca Warren

Mike Looney, Ed.D., Superintendent

Capital Program Contracts • 6201 Powers Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30339 • 470-254-8974 • www.fcscpcontracts.org

DATE: January 10, 2025

TO: All Contractors

FROM: Angela R. Young Executive Director FCS Capital Program Contracts

RE: RFP 403-25, Architectural Services

Please find Addendum No. 1 to the subject solicitation attached.

Capital Program Contracts • 6201 Powers Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30339 • 470-254-8974 • www.fcspurchasingdept.org

ADDENDUM NO. 1

RFQ 403-25

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES

A. The following change has been made to the above referenced solicitation

Delete: Pages 1, 3, 23, 27 Add: REVISED 1/10/2025 Pages 1, 3, 23, and 27

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Kimberly Dove, President

Kristin McCabe, Vice President Sara Gillespie • Katie Gregory • Michelle Morancie, Ph.D.

Lillie Pozatek • Franchesca Warren

Mike Looney, Ed.D., Superintendent

RFE NO. 403-25

REVISED 1/10/25 PAGE 1

DATE: December 12, 2024

TO: All Offerors

FROM: Angela R. Young Executive Director of Contracting

RE: Request for Qualifications No. 403-25, Architectural Services

Fulton County Schools (FCS) invites you to submit qualifications for furnishing any or all professional consulting services, design, labor, and materials to provide Architectural Services for various Fulton County School (FCS) projects.

A Pre-Submittal Conference will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. EST at FCS Administration Center, 6201 Powers Ferry Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30339.

Sealed Qualifications will be received subject to the attached terms specified in “Instructions & Conditions”, to the attention of Capital Program Contracts, FCS Administration Center, 6201 Powers Ferry Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30339. Qualifications will be received up to 2:30 p.m. local time (as per the Capital Program Contracts’ time clock) on Thursday Tuesday , January 16 28, 2025.

Questions regarding the submittal process should be directed in writing to Angela R. Young, Executive Director, Fulton County Schools Capital Program Contracts, via facsimile at (470) 254-1248. Only questions received prior to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 2, 2025 (as per the Capital Program Contracts’ time clock) will be considered.

Qualifications are subject to rejection if the signature page is not completed and returned on or before the qualification receipt deadline time.

QUALIFICATIONS SHALL BE SUBMITTED IN A SEALED ENVELOPE, ONE SUBMITTAL PER

ENVELOPE, PLAINLY MARKED “REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION NO. “403-25” ON THE

OUTSIDE OF THE ENVELOPE, AS WELL AS THE DATE OF SUBMISSION. IF NOT SUBMITTING

A SUBMITTAL THEN “NO BID” MUST BE INDICATED AS SUCH ALONG WITH THE RFQ

NUMBER ON OUTSIDE OF ENVELOPE. FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES THE FIRM’S NAME

AND COMPLETE ADDRESS SHALL BE CLEARLY PRINTED OR TYPED ON THE OUTSIDE OF

THE ENVELOPE. FAXED RESPONSES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.fcscpcontracts.org http://www.fcscpcontracts.org/

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION

CAPITAL PROGRAM CONTRACTS

6201 Powers Ferry Road, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30339 • 470-254-8974 • www.fcscpcontracts.org 23 of 100

RFQ NO. 403-25

REVISED 1/10/25 PAGE 23

A. THE SUBMITTAL

1. Offeror’s Responsibility:

It shall be the responsibility of the selected firm(s) to meet all specifications and guidelines set forth herein. No submittal will be considered that does not provide a serious and reasonable response to the solicitation. Each submittal will be evaluated in its entirety.

2. Evaluation Factors: Submittals will be evaluated on the following factors:

Business Stability: 10% Technical Capability: 50% Problem Solving Skills, Innovative Solutions, & Quality Control Creativity: 30% Exceptions & Modifications: 10%

3. Submission of Submittal:

Submittals shall be submitted in six (6) five (5) sections: (I) executive summary, (II) general information, (III), technical capability (IV) quality control plan problem solving skills, innovative solutions & quality control (V) business stability and (VI) a table of proposed compensation rates.

One (1) original and four (4) copies of the submittal shall be provided in a loose-leaf, three-ring binder, and a flash drive. The offeror’s submittal shall be limited to twenty-five (25) pages, with page type not being smaller than 10 points. Double sided pages will be counted as two (2) pages.

Financial statements, resumes and the compensation tables will not count towards the maximum limit.

4. Oral Interview:

FCS may require qualified Offerors to participate in a detailed oral interview to fully discuss their submittal and to answer questions posed by FCS Representatives. A final selection may be based upon the evaluation of both the written and oral responses of each Offeror.

B. PREPARING THE SUBMITTAL

Begin each section on a separate page. Number the pages in each section consecutively. If any confidential and/or proprietary information is included, then each page containing such information must be stamped “proprietary.” It is not acceptable to label the entire submittal as confidential and proprietary.

Submittals shall contain the following minimum information and be organized in the format indicated below:

Provide cover sheet as follows:

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION

CAPITAL PROGRAM CONTRACTS

6201 Powers Ferry Road, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30339 • 470-254-8974 • www.fcscpcontracts.org 27 of 100

RFQ NO. 403-25

REVISED 1/10/25 PAGE 27

same personnel you submitted in this document. After contract award, the district requires you promptly notify the district if key staff leaves the firm and who their replacement will

be. The resumes shall include the individual’s educational background, professional category (including certifications, licenses, etc.) and relevant work experience, including similar project participation. Resumes should note whether relevant experience was with the Offeror’s firm, or whether the experience was acquired with another firm.

c. Demonstrate the Offeror’s ability to administer the program operation locally and to assign the necessary support staff.

d. Show ability to guarantee cost effectiveness as evidenced by the results of successful projects with comparable school districts. Describe your firm's experience in providing cost effective, low maintenance, energy efficient, durable and flexible design solutions for school facilities of comparable programs.

e. Describe your firm's experience in securing local and state permits for school construction or similar programs. Include details regarding the securing of building permits, drawing approvals, and any other permits related to school construction or similar projects in Fulton County.

f. Demonstrate your firm’s commitment to construction administration. In APPENDIX III and IV, the last page of each Letter Agreement are CA Processes and Procedures. Explain your firms ability to meet all of those requirements. Explain overall procedures such as communication, document control, shop drawing review etc., and describe how these procedures are unique to your firm. Provide a list of all construction administration personnel and describe your firm’s protocol on how multiple projects are handled simultaneously.

g. Describe your firm’s closeout procedure. Describe the time frame and process involved for the following: training manuals, as-built drawings, walk through with owner, warranties, etc.

SECTION IV – PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS, AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS, & QUALITY

CONTROL

a. Provide a minimum of three (3) examples of how your firm provided innovative solutions to design issues and/or construction problems involving complex or challenging projects, preferably in the K-12 environment.

b. Describe in detail why FCS should enter into an Agreement with your firm. What strengths would cause an owner to select your firm over others?

c. Describe in detail your quality control plan.

RFQ NO. 403-25

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES

B. The following are questions received and Fulton County Schools (FCS) responses for the above referenced solicitation.

1. Request for Qualifications Introduction, Scope of Work Section B.2 (page 21 of 100) states, “Firms will be evaluated annually using a data-driven assessment that evaluates Design and CA performance, as well as overall customer service.” Can you share a sample evaluation or the evaluation criteria for these assessments?

We don’t include the evaluation process details as part of the RFQ, since it subject to change.

After a firm has been selected and if or when we decide to evaluate, the firms will be notified and all the details of the current evaluation process will be included at that time. Each firm is given the opportunity to comment on our initial evaluations and meet with us to discuss before the evaluations are finalized.

2. Is it intentional to have duplicated information requested for the Cover sheet (on page 24 of 100) and Section II – General Information (on page 25 of 100)?

Yes.

3. Do required forms count against the page limit?

No-Page limit does not apply to required forms. The page limit requirement only applies to Sections I-V on pages 25-29.

4. Section III.2.a. asks for a minimum of three Appendix VII Relevant Project Forms, totaling six pages.

This will account for almost 25% of our allowed pages. Do these forms count against the overall page limit?

No, the appendix does not apply to page limit.

5. If we include a cover and section tabs, will they count against the page limit?

No, the cover page does not count.

6. On page 23 of 100, under paragraph A. The Submittal, subparagraph 3. Submission of Submittal;

Section (IV) is referred to as "Quality Control Plan." On page 27 of 100, Section (IV) is referred to as "Problem Solving Skill and Innovative Solutions." Please clarify which heading is to be used.

This has been corrected, please refer to the addendum for updates.

7. On page 26 of 100, under Methodologies, please clarify the term, "field procedures." This could mean to describe how we operate on a school site in communicating with school administrators and staff while on site, including security check-in, etc. Or it could be asking how we gather information on-site concerning existing facility and site conditions. Please clarify/confirm what the intent.

The field procedures are intended to cover your Construction Administration Process (this is also listed separately), which is everything from submittal processing, to quality control, to closeout and all the processes and procedures in-between associated with the architects portion of managing construction projects.

8. On page 26 of 100, under Methodologies, please clarify the term, "valuation techniques." We are assuming that this is referring to the Value Engineering process? Please confirm.

Yes, it’s related to value engineering, but also includes how the architect evaluates change orders during the construction process. Our intent is to have architects evaluate the need and the cost for change order as part of their valuation process for change orders. The question is really asking: how specifically does your firm do that (evaluate the value and need for a change order).

You should also include your approach to the value engineering process.

9. Which Construction Delivery Methods will be utilized for FCS projects? Design-Bid-Build, CM at Risk, Design-Build?

We do most of our projects as Design-Bid-Build or Best Value contracting, but that is subject to change throughout the five (5 year) contract period.

10. Many companies are traditionally closed for the last week of the year 2024. Can the submittal date be extended?

Please see the updated proposal due date provided in this addendum.

11. Can we assume that the Cover Sheet, Table of Contents and dividers are not included in the 25-sheet limit? Please advise.

Yes, that is correct.

12. Page 26 of 100: Should we include the number of staff employed full time for the consulting firms?

No, just the numbers of architects/engineers in your firm.

13. Under Capabilities: Can projects “under construction and/or projects with completed Construction

Documents, but placed on hold” be included?

Yes, they can be included.

14. The Immigration and Security Form was missing from the solicitation. Is this form no longer a submittal requirement?

Per the Official Code of Georgia Annotated Titel 43 (O.C.G.A. Title 43) the scope of services for this proposal does not require Immigration and Security Forms.

15. Please confirm that the RFQ number is 403-25, and not 424-24 as noted in the Table of Contents on page 3.

The correct RFQ number is 403-25. The Table of Contents number has been corrected in this addendum.

16. Page 23, A, 3 list Section IV as “quality control plan.” On page 27, Section IV is listed as “Problem Solving Skill and Innovative Solutions.” Please confirm the correct title for Section IV.

Please refer to the updated documents provided in this addendum.

17. The General Information Page and Detail Information Sheets requested on page 24 appears to be a duplicate of the information requested in Section II on Page 25. Please confirm that this information is only needed once.

It’s intended to be listed twice. On page 24 is the information requested for the submittal and the info on page 25 is for the executive summary. We need the info in both places.

18. Page 28, Financial Status of firm requests information on the past two accounting years. As the information for 2024 will still be in production, we will be providing information for 2022 and 2023. Please confirm that this will be acceptable.

Yes, this is acceptable.

19. On page 23 of 100 of the RFP, you state in section A.3 Submission of Submittal that submittals shall be submitted in (6) sections, including Section IV Quality Control Plan. However, beginning on page 25 of 100 C Submittal Sections, only 5 sections are included, and “Quality Control Plan” is omitted. Please clarify if a Quality Control Plan is required, and if so, what information do you seek?

There are five (5) specific sections to the submittal: Executive Summary, General info, Technical Capabilities, Problem Solving Skills, Innovative Solutions and Quality Control, and Business stability. While the Quality Control Plan is not part of those 5, it should be addressed in technical capabilities in either methodologies or capabilities.

20. On page 28 of 100, Section V – Business Stability 2. Financial Status, you request financial statements for the past two years. We consider this information Confidential. May we submit one copy of these statements as a separate document with the submittal package?

Yes, please label the separate document “Confidential Information”.

21. Pages 30-32 of 100 include forms labeled “Request for Seal Submittal,” “Commitment to Perform as

Proposed,” and “Offeror Checklist.” Please indicate where these forms should be included in the proposal (i.e. beginning of document, following the Executive Summary, or at the end of the document in an Addenda section), and verify that these forms do not count toward the 25-page limit.

The Commitment to Perform and Offeror Checklist goes after G.

ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEER PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CRITERIA. None count against the 25 pages. The 25 page count starts on page 25 Under SECTION II-GENERAL INFORMATION and Concludes on page 28 after Section G. ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEER

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CRITERIA.

22. BIDDER QUESTION: In Section IV do you require consultants’ compensation rates as well as architectural?

No. Architectural rates only.

23. Do these forms in the appendix and at the end of the RFP count toward the 25 page limit?

1. Offeror’s Modifications Form

2. Offeror's Exceptions Form

3. Request for Sealed Submittal

4. Commitment to Perform as Proposed

1. Offeror’s Checklist

2. Examples of Relevant Projects

No, these do not count as part of the 25 page limit

24. Should these forms be included in our response?

Yes. They should be included even if you don’t have any exceptions or modifications. If that’s the case, simply state “N/A” on each form.

1. Offeror’s Exceptions Form

2. Offeror’s Modifications Form

C . All other items and conditions remain the same.

403-25 Addendum 1 Questionsjj.pdf