NSCOD AE IDIQ_Pre-sub Mtg Notes and QnA_10-16-23.pdf

GSA, PBS, Acquisition Management Division

Pre-submission Meeting Notes RFP 47PF0023R0009: Northern Service Center Operations Division, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract(s) for Architecture and Engineering (A/E) Services

Location: AE IDIQ Pre-Submission Presentation

Monday, October 16 ꞏ 10:00 – 11:00am Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rzj-edwr-wsp Or dial: 5268-231-(US) +1 567 PIN: 254 184 808#

Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 @ 10AM Central Time

1. INTRODUCTIONS & ROLES (Mariah)

- Mariah McGunigle, Regional Chief Architect | Great Lakes Region

- Daniel Nitu, Contracting Officer

- Rebecca Schultz, Contract Specialist

- Tom Monawek, Project Manager (Michigan)

- George Katsekes, Project Manager (MN/WI)

- Doug Sandford, Project Manager (Michigan)

- Mark Traeger, Project Manager/Team Lead (MN/WI)

2. All clients’ present challenges and the GSA is no different; however, our challenges may be slightly different than those of your private sector clients.

3. GSA GOALS (Mariah)

a. Thank you for coming - we understand that it takes time for your firm to go after any project;

we appreciate your interest and your efforts in this solicitation.

b. All clients’ present challenges and the GSA is no different; however, our challenges may be slightly different than those of your private sector clients.

c. The goal of this meeting is to discuss some of what makes the GSA unique, to brief you on some of our policies and procedures and to provide a quick look at what you can expect from the GSA as a client.

d. We want to establish a successful working relationship with our contractors and we hope that by providing some fundamental knowledge we can set these contracts up for success.

4. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM GSA (Tom)

a. Repair and Alterations Projects - limited scope engineering and architectural services

i. 80% of projects are anticipated to have an Estimated Cost of Construction of

$250,000 or less with performance periods of 120 calendar days or less

b. Some task orders may require a full range of engineering and architectural services with extended budgets and/or performance periods; however, project ECC over the current prospectus project threshold ($3.3M) are not anticipated.

5. GSA’S EXPECTATIONS OF A/E OR E/A TEAMS (George)

a. The Government may award to teams led by Architectural and/or Engineering firms (AE/EA).

b. Well-rounded teams – flexibility to deal with unpredictable issuance of Task Orders

i. Clear and consistent point of contact for the start of all task orders

ii. Relevant areas of expertise

iii. Depths of experience levels

c. Clear and efficient management, communication plan and team structure

i. especially when dealing with team members from other firms

d. Quality control

6. CONTRACT STRUCTURE (Doug)

a. Multiple Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)

i. Base Contract Period of 1 year w/ Four – 1 year Options

b. Zone 1 – Minnesota and Wisconsin

c. Zone 2 – Michigan

d. Zones 1 and 2 will be required to cover Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

e. AE/EA’s may submit for both zones, however, within 30 days of awards – teams must have an active production office within the zone to minimize direct travel costs.

f. Task Orders Process

i. A team will be selected based on qualifications

ii. GSA Project Manager and/or Contracting Officer will send a scope of work with submissions requirements and the projected schedule – request a proposal

iii. GSA Forms 2630 and 2631

1. FAR 15.404-4(c) – 6% Fee Limitation Pricing for the production and delivery of designs, plans, drawings, and specifications shall not exceed 6% of the estimated cost of construction at award, including fees.

iv. Task Orders shall be overseen or performed by individuals licensed in the relevant discipline, with a current registration in the state in which the project’s construction will occur.

7. SELECTION PROCESS (Daniel)

a. Submission packages are due on November 6th, any questions regarding this step in the solicitation, should be emailed to the Contracting Officer

b. GSA’s selection for A/E contracts is a two-step process. First step is qualifications based.

The current notice is a Request for Qualifications ONLY.

c. Procurement is a partial set aside for small business concerns. Zones 1 and 2 are open to all business concerns.

d. Must be registered at SAM.gov under the following NAICS codes:

i. 541310 – Architectural Services

e. Cover letter should indicate which zone(s) a team would like to be considered for

f. Submissions for each zone will be evaluated independently by a Source Selection Board

g. From the qualifications submission – GSA will shortlist the most highly qualified firms

i. Short-listed firms may be asked to participate in an interview

h. During the second step of the process – shortlisted teams will be required to submit documents and negotiate salary, overhead and profit rates – which will be used to negotiate and award task orders.

i. All Questions must be submitted to Daniel in writing by October 19th, 3pm EST

Mariah’s Additional Comment: if you aren’t familiar with GSA, do some research on us… typically dealing with existing buildings, including historic buildings. If you’ve worked with us before don’t assume the Source Selection Board knows you, so include in your package work you’ve done with GSA. We can only use the info included in the submission when making the selection

8. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Good morning! Thank you for the opportunity to learn about this exciting work and the opportunity to ask questions. Below are a few preliminary questions:

1. Do we have to include all disciplines listed in the RFQ to be considered as a complete response?

Don’t need ALL of them, but definitely ones that you think you’ll use on a more regular basis.

2. How many small business awards and how many large business awards will there be?

Not determined.

3. Can you provide a list of incumbents (Incumbents = firms who are currently holding this contract or those who’ve held it in the past.)?

The old contracts were posted on FBO.gov. FBO.gov retired and its functionalities were migrated to SAM.gov. It may be possible to find them searching on the site.

4. Will the awarded firms have to compete for task orders, or will they be negotiated with the GSA?

Task orders are issued by the qualifications of the firms and which AE fits the bill for that task order.

5. Would you consider firms that have offices outside the zones but within 500 miles of the Zones?

According to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) notice the lead firm must have an existing active production office within the planned geographic zone. Furthermore, if a firm is planning to submit qualifications for both zones, they must have a production office in each zone and meet the business size standard identified for that zone.

5. How many IDIQ awards are anticipated to be given to large businesses?

Not determined.

6. Are tabs, cover letter and the TOC counted in page counts?

No, but please refer to RFQ notice for specific page limitations.

7. What is the maximum page count?

Refer to the RFQ notice for specific page limitations.

8. Does not having an office in the zone disqualify any firm to bid in this zone?

Yes, not having a production office located within the zone would disqualify the firm to bid.

9. Where would you find the inventory of buildings and their locations?

GSA.gov

10. Will this document be viewable after this meeting?

Yes, it will be posted on Sam.gov under Solicitation No. 47PF0023R0099.

11. Is there an estimated number of projects by zone?

5 - 20 per option year (estimated)

12. Are there MAFBE requirements?

No

13. Does every sub-consultant under the prime need to be in the Zone even if the Prime has a production office in the Zone?

No, but highly utilized subs that are close by offer a better value to the government.

14. Of the many sub disciplines, which would be the ones you expect to see in the initial submission RFQ? This will depend on the team you want to present.

As discussed, GSA focuses on building related projects, so the team should include a team with diverse expertise, for instance Historic, Fire/Life Safety, Hazardous Materials, MEP, etc

15. Are the potential projects just buildings? Are there any transportation related (bridges, railways, etc.) components? or landscapes (parks, watersheds, etc.)?

NSCOD is part of the Public Building Service portion of GSA, we own and operate all the federal office building, courthouse, land ports of entry, and others, generally we do not own bridges or railways. Landscaping may be required, but only as it pertains to the land around our buildings.

16. Asbestos was mentioned earlier. Will environmental analysis be a requirement?

Yes, the AEs will be expected to hire a consultant who can do testing, spec/design, third party monitoring etc for projects. This is not the construction/abatement of the hazardous materials, but the identification and oversight of the remediation.

17. Since you mentioned the implementation of EV chargers, will a complete electrical studies be required using SKM software?

We have done several electrical studies recently that have not used it, but it does not preclude the use of such software if it is required.

18. Will you be summarizing the responses to these questions and posting on SAM?

Yes.

Questions that came in after the meeting:

1. Will this contract only include work in Federally owned buildings (in this list: www.gsa.gov/mifb) or will it also include federal offices in other buildings as well? (We are personally just looking at Zone 2:

Michigan).

Most of the work will be in Federally owned buildings but on occasion the AE may be asked to provide services in a GSA Leased space (occupied by another Federal Agency).

2. "The maximum order limitation is $3,613,000 for each one-year period. The minimum guarantee for this contract is $2,000 for the base year only." Assuming a 6% fee, does this mean that our firm will receive anywhere from $120 to $216,780 for the year?

The maximum order limitation is based on the total AE fee, not the construction cost, so the total AE fees for the base year may be anywhere between $2k and $3.613M total.

3. Once a firm is on the IDIQ list, what is the process for receiving projects to work on?

The project teams for each project will choose an AE based on the strengths of the available IDIQ AEs for the needs of that project.

4. The document states that there are 2 zones (zone 1 is Minnesota and Wisconsin and zone 2 is Michigan) and it indicates the following: “The lead firm must have an existing active production office within the planned geographic zone previously defined so as to minimize direct travel costs on resulting task orders.” Will our firm, with a single office in Chicago, be ineligible based on this geographic constraint?

Correct, not having a production office located within the zone would disqualify the firm to bid.

5. (and if the answer to the previous question does not make us ineligible) Should consultant team qualifications be included as part of the IDIQ?

The AE should include consultant qualifications per the direction in the Request for Qualifications (RFQ).