Amendment 1 Questions and Answers.pdf

REFERENCES VENDOR QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT

RESPONSES

1 Under Selection Criteria on Page 4, Relevant Projects are defined as completed within 6 years. On Page 5, subfactor B2 specifies projects within 5 years.

Given the impact of COVID many clients put their projects on hold. Would GSA consider at a minimum clarifying the 6 year timeframe or even extending it to 10 years?

Both criteria are revised to 6 years. It would not be in the Government's best interest to extend the timeframe to 10 years because the team composition may have changed in that extended length of time.

2 The large and small solicitations contain the statement that a legal entity can only apply to one of the two solicitations, and only to one of the four zones.

If one large business is also a mentor in an SBA approved Mentor-Protege JV, and that separate legal small business entity applies as prime for one zone in the small business solicitation, using references and resources that include the large business as part of that submission, is the large business prohibited from submitting a proposal as prime in the other (open) solicitation?

There must be one prime A/E-Lead Architect, Lead Engineer per zone, per solicitation. The firm may also have subconsultants in other areas of expertise. However, the firm can only apply for one zone in either Small Business Set aside, or the Unrestricted.

Subconsultants may only apply as subconsultants in one zone for both procurements.

3 Under Section F on Page 8, the solicitation states “If an Offeror chooses to submit more than three (3) projects the following minimum requirements must be met: at least three (3) projects must have construction completed and must be directly attributable to the Lead Designer.”

Can this be interpreted as referring to the Lead Architectural Designer OR the Lead Engineering Designer?

Given the impact of COVID over the past year+, many projects have been put on hold that would normally have been completed. Limiting the work to only projects that have completed construction precludes some of our most sustainable and relevant projects. Might GSA consider changing the requirement to allow for both a 10 year window and a minimum of 3 completed projects out of the 5 projects total?

The solicitation is revised to read "If an Offeror chooses to submit more than 3 projects the following minimum requirements must be met: at least 3 projects must have construction completed and must be directly attributable to either the Lead Architectural Designer or Lead Engineering Designer. The timeframe is revised to six years.

4 On Page 3, Key Personnel are defined as “Lead Architectural Designer, Lead Engineering Designer” only. Page 7 states Key Personnel “includes the Lead Architectural Designer, Lead Engineering Designer and the Primary Point of Contact”.

Page 8 refers to “Engineering Lead Designer(s) (1 page for each engineering discipline)”.

Can you please clarify all Key Personnel positions that are to be addressed in Sections E and H including which engineering disciplines are to be included – Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing Engineering, Interior Design, Sustainability, other? Also, please clarify required information for each position under each section of the SF330.

Either the Lead Architectural Designer or Lead Engineering Designer must be designated as the Primary Point of Contact.

Include resumes for each discipline identified in Section E of the SF 330.

Key personnel positions are expanded to include the following: Lead Design Architect, Lead Design Engineer, Lead Project Manager, Senior Architect, Senior Civil Engineer, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Senior Electrical Engineer, Senior Structural Engineer, Senior Fire Protection Engineer. If any of these disciplines are being provided by sub consultants, please identify also.

5 Under Task Order Statements of Work on page 3 the notice lists numerous project types including Feasibility Studies, Building Evaluation Reports, Program of Requirements, Project Development Studies, etc. that do not produce or provide documents for construction or result in construction in the near term.

Will GSA accept and evaluate as equal large studies and programming documents where construction was not a direct result of the project?

Although there may be some POR work from time to time. This is not design. Thus, the same weight will not be given to this as design factors.

That's why it is not an evaluation factor.

6 The solicitation states that if five (5) project pages are submitted, three (3) of them must demonstrate construction complete. This does not appear to capture the full volume or nature of the work that GSA tends to request on these IDIQ contracts.

Would GSA consider either increasing the number of project pages to ten (10) or reduce the requirement for construction complete to one (1) or two (2) projects?

No

7 Given the current global pandemic and its effect on supply chains, especially with respect to construction materials and labor shortages, many projects are facing delays…

Would GSA consider reducing the project completion requirement from 100% complete to 75% complete?

No

8 In lieu of providing the GSA PPQ form, would GSA accept a printout of the CPARS evaluation or other governmental agency PPQ already completed by the customer project representative?

No. The GSA PPQ form gives us a completed questionnaire to compare to our factors. We can pull CPARS if necessary.

Please utilize the GSA PPQ form.

9 On the solicitation notice at the bottom of page 7, the document indicates to provide a resume for the “Primary Point of Contact that would be responsible for managing the contract and assigning task orders…”. Under Section Criteria on the top of page 4, item #2 indicates that “Key Personnel for evaluation purposes include the following: Lead Architectural Designer, Lead Engineering Designer.”

How does GSA intend to evaluate the Primary Point of Contact Resume?

Offerors will designate the primary point of contact.

It should be either the Lead Design Architect or the Lead Design Engineer.

The Lead Design Architect and Lead Design Engineer will be evaluated in accordance with the solicitation. There are no evaluation criteria specific to the primary point of contact. The terms Lead Design Architect and Lead Architectural Designer are interchangeable and refer to the same position. The terms Lead Design Engineer and Lead Engineering Designer are interchangeable and refer to the same position.

10 When the SF330 provided in the solicitation is converted to word for completion, the margins default to top of .47 inch, bottom of .63 inch, left and right at .26. Are these margins acceptable or would you prefer we modify the word document to 1 inch margins on all sides as noted in the solicitation?

Please follow the requirements provided.

However, the SF 330s may be in any font. Please ensure your firm's information is listed properly.

11 Can the font in tables/graphs, etc be smaller than 12 pt?

The font may be smaller than 12 pt on the SF 330, only. Follow the requirements for the rest.

12 If margins are to be 1 inch on all sides, can key personnel resumes be 2 pages?

Please follow the requirements provided.

However, the SF 330s may be in any font. Please ensure your firm's information is listed properly.

13 While we fully appreciate GSA’s need for outstanding service and the advantage of selecting teams that understand your processes, project types and requirements, GSA’s Design Excellence program has typically tried to open the door to firms that may not necessarily completed the same type of work over the past 6 years...

Would you consider excellent work for other Federal Agencies or major public institutional clients including but not limited to the VA, NASA, CDC, etc. as well as from state or local government agencies and private commercial clients as meeting your requirements?

Projects accomplished for other federal entities will be considered. State, local and commercial projects will not be considered because they tend to have a different set of guidelines

14 RFP Submittal Requirements pages 7 & 8 state for Section F Projects: ‘One photograph, on a single page, per example project may be submitted [Page 7 Submittal Requirements]’SF330 Section F, page 8 ‘provide a brief (one page) description of the project and relevance to this contract [Page 7 Submittal Requirements]’Materials submitted for each example project must include: A chart on a single page demonstrating relevance and a single page including the description of the project and narrative on relevance. Offerors may choose to include a single photograph [Page 8, second paragraph]

Can the Government confirm that the page limit for Section F project sheets is 2 pages? If a photograph is included, should it be added to the page with the narrative v the chart?

Submit a brief description of the project on a single page and provide a chart, demonstrating relevance, on a single page. You may also provide a single photo on a single page for each project. Therefore, at least 2 pages and maximum of 3 pages per project.

15 RFP page 3, SELECTION CRITERIA 1b – ‘Completed within the past 6 years of issue date of the Request for Qualifications’RFP page 5, Subfactor B2 – Past Performance, line 2 ‘……projects within the past five years

Please clarify if the requirement is five or six years?

The requirement has been changed to six years.

16 RFP page 8, SF330 Section H:

Quality in Design. Requirements Summary from above reference. Item 1: Portfolio demonstrating the Lead architectural designers’ abilities - not to exceed 5 projects. Each example project should include no more 1 page of narrative, 1 photo (10 pages max); Item 2: For engineering or other team members submit a portfolio representative of the lead designer’s ability to provide high quality design -each example project no more than 1 page. Not to exceed 3 projects for each engineering discipline; Item 3: Design Approach Statement from Architectural Lead Designer, Engineering Lead Designers (1 page for each engineering discipline)- max 1 page from each; Item 4: Management Plan - not to exceed 1 pg; Item 5: Communications Plan - not to exceed 1 pg; Item 6: Quality Control Plan - not to exceed 1 pg

Where do we address page 6 Section D Location in and knowledge of geographic areas?

For Item 1 above please confirm if the project narrative should include [RFP reference Page 8, second paragraph]: Materials submitted for each example project must include: A chart on a single page demonstrating relevance. and a single page including the description of the project and narrative on relevance. Offerors may choose to include a single photograph. Please confirm that the Government requires for Item 2 listed above a portfolio for all engineering discipline leads eg Civil, Structural, Mechanical, and Electrical and teaming partners or can the contractor determine which engineering disciplines should be included? For Item 3 listed above, please confirm that the Government requires a design statement approach from all engineering discipline leads eg Civil, Structural, Mechanical, and Electrical or can the contractor determine which engineering disciplines should be included?

Include disciplines that GSA requests and no more beyond that. Include design approach statements from each discipline listed.

17 RFP Submittal Requirements pages 7 & 8: ‘One photograph, on a single page, per example project may be submitted [Page 7 Submittal Requirements]’

Would the Government accept multiple images if they don’t exceed a single page?

Maximum of one photo per project.

18 It is clear that offers will not be accepted for more than one zone from any firm. May a firm, however, be proposed as a consultant to offerors in more than one zone? For example, could a firm be a sub to Firm X in Zone A and also be a sub to Firm Y in Zone B?

It is clear that offers will not be accepted for more than one zone from any firm. May a firm, however, be proposed as a consultant to offerors in more than one zone? For example, could a firm be a sub to Firm X in Zone A and also be a sub to Firm Y in Zone B?

There must be one prime A/E-Lead Architect, Lead Engineer per zone, per 1 solicitation. The firm may also have subconsultants in other areas of expertise. However, the firm can only apply for one zone in either Small Business Set aside, or the Unrestricted.

Subconsultants may only apply as subconsultants in one zone for both procurements.

Can a firm that is pursuing a Large Business contract as a prime in one Zone, also be proposed as a subcontractor/consultant to a Small Business pursuing a contract as prime in the same Zone or another Zone?

Subs can only apply for one zone as a sub also and only one zone as a prime.

Does the architect need to have a professional license in each of the states in the zone that we pursue?

We recommend that your firm be licensed in at least one of the Zonal states that your firm is applying for. After award, we will give your firm 45 days to get the necessary licenses for work required in other states.