5.1.1_EFO Template JA Exceeding_SAT_Attachment_D2_FAR_Part_16.5 DR 4563 AL 15000 increase DC23Dec20_.pdf

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO)

Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

JEFO No.: 21-021

Date: December 23, 2020 PR Number: AN00342Y2021T

1. Agency and Contracting Activity. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for an

Exception to Fair Opportunity.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the Chief Procurement

Officer (OCPO), prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. FEMA has an urgent need to procure additional Housing Inspection Services (HIS) in the amount of 15,000 housing inspections in response to the Governor’s request for Public Assistance (PA) and Individual Assistance (IA) in the state of Alabama.

A Major Disaster Declaration was declared December 10, 2020 due to widespread and severe damage as a result of Hurricane Zeta’s impact in the State of Alabama. FEMA competed the initial task order for housing inspections in response to the Major

Disaster Declaration resulting in Vanguard Inspection Services (VIS) receiving task order #70FBR421F00000014 for 5,000 inspections on 12/16/2020 in the amount of

$539,956.00.

Due to the high influx of survivors requesting housing inspection assistance, FEMA had an urgent need to procure an additional 15,000 inspections

On 12/17/2020, the HIS program office requested that FEMA procure an additional

15,000 housing inspections for the State of Alabama to respond to Hurricane Zeta caused damage based on the same premise of a higher than expected influx of survivors requesting housing inspection assistance. Due to the increase in the amount of inspections being completed as of 12/17/20, the contractor is projected to run out of inspections on the existing order by mid-week next week. OCPO intends to execute a logical follow-on modification to increase the total number of housing inspections on task order

#70FBR421F000000014 from 5,000 inspections by 15,000 inspections to 20,000 inspections. The modification will increase the obligated amount from $536,539.00 by

$1,631,816.00 to $2,168,355.00, without considering other awardees under contract number #70FBR421F000000014 pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B). The total task order value will increase from $539,956.00 by $1,631,816.00 to $2,171,772.00.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need (including the estimated value). The HIS program office needs 15,000 additional housing inspections of applicant homes in response to damage caused by Hurricane Zeta in Alabama in accordance with the Major Disaster Declaration DR-4573-AL. The estimated value of these inspections is $1,631,816.00, which include 15,000 inspections at a rate of $91.54, and an estimated $258,716.00 for cost reimbursable CLINs 0003AE and 0003AF.

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. [If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value)]. The exception to fair opportunity that is applicable to this modification is:

X FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The modification must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

This modification is a logical follow on to order 70FBR421F000000014 issued under contract 70FB8020D00000003. All awardees were given fair opportunity to be considered for order 70FBR421F000000014. The demand for additional housing inspections is urgent, and a modification is required in a timely manner. The modification will not increase the period of performance for Task Order 70FBR421F000000014. The work to be completed under the modification is the same work that the contractor is currently completing under the task order, in response to the same disaster, in the same location.

The Governor State of Alabama requested that the president of the United States declare a state of emergency in response to Hurricane Zeta, which affected several counties in

Alabama. Since the declaration and award of the task order, there still is a need to provide aid to the state, and an additional 15,000 housing inspections are of great need for support of DR4573-AL.

If this requirement for these inspections was competed amongst the HIS IDIQ contract holders, FEMA would be charged for the TOPR responses from both contractors under the recurring operations task orders as the TOPR requires the submission of multiple documents that are created by contractor staff not assigned to a specific disaster. In contrast, an increase via modification would only require one vendor to submit revised pricing for additional inspections. Additionally, as there is a contractor currently conducting inspections, the price to add additional inspections would be lower because the contractor already has inspectors with the appropriate equipment and additional costs to ship equipment would not be proposed.

As the amount of awarded inspections available for assignment to the contractor is expected to be depleted by 12/24/20, a modification must be completed by this date to prevent a delay in assigning additional inspections. If this requirement for these inspections was competed amongst the HIS IDIQ contract holders, FEMA would need at least 3-4 days to solicit, evaluate, and review all documents. If another contractor were to start conducting inspections for the same disaster, there could be 4 to 7 days in delays in starting the inspections due to the amount of time it could take to demobilize contractors from one contract and mobilize contractors from the other contractor. Additionally, FEMA would have to manually stop the flow of inspections to shift inspections between contractors, which could further delay the start of inspections by 3-5 days. A modification can be completed within 1-2 days and reduce the risk that assignment of inspections would be delayed.

VIS is capable of providing an additional 15,000 housing inspection services. VIS has currently completed 4,065 housing inspections satisfactorily on Task Order

70FBR421F0000000014. VIS technical proposal demonstrates that it has the resources to complete the additional 15,000 housing inspections, and FEMA’s technical evaluators found that proposal to be acceptable.

Based on the evidence and research available to FEMA, we conclude that VIS, the current

IDIQ contract holder providing the services as the initial awardee of the Task order is capable of providing the additional 15,000 housing inspection services that the requiring program office needs. FEMA intends to award the modification to VIS in order to avoid any delays of providing the additional Housing Inspection services under the Housing

Inspection Services (HIS) IDIQ Multiple award contract. Therefore, it would be in the

Government’s best interest for FEMA to award to VIS, as VIS is already providing these services in the place of performance and can support the entirety of the requested quantity of these inspections based on their successful performance of current inspections and the amount of reserve inspectors available. The only way to meet this immediate need in the required timeframe is to directly procure these services from the IDIQ contract holder currently performing the service in the state of Alabama. VIS was competitively awarded the initial award and is capable and is determined responsible to continue providing these services. Therefore, FEMA intends to execute this Task Order modification that will supply the additional 15,000 quantity to meet the urgent need for the duration of the period of performance for this contract until June 14, 2021.

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. VIS proposed a total amount of $1,631,816.00 for an additional

15,000 inspections. For inspections contract line item number, the inspector rate remains the same as initially awarded on the base task order, which totals $539,956.00 for 5,000 inspections. The inspection rate was determined to be fair and reasonable at time of initial task order award. Moreover, the additional $176,460.00 increase in existing cost reimbursable line items which is considered realistic reasonable based on the number of additional inspections being added. The price is determined to be fair and reasonable in accordance with the previously accepted rates.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification. An award is already in place, and it would cost the government more to recompete a new task order. Additionally, a competition would cause an unreasonable delay in performing the additional inspections, as there is an urgent need to provide additional inspections in Alabama. The additional housing inspections are urgent because FEMA cannot assist disaster survivors with returning to and repairing their homes until after the inspections are complete. Less than 935 inspections remain available on the current task order, and those inspections are expected to be completed by 12/24/2020 if the rate of completion continues at the current pace. If

FEMA cannot continue to issue inspections to the contractor due to depletion of existing funds, it will delay FEMA’s ability to provide the needed support to complete the additional inspections needed for survivors under this disaster declaration.

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made. The HIS program office has difficulty predicting the number of required inspections at time of initial award because initial readiness is often required prior to the completion of preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) provided by the Region. As additional information is obtained, the number of inspections required may increase. If additional inspections are required for this task order, FEMA will consider whether competing a new task order will cause impermissible delays or whether another justification for exception to fair opportunity will be completed in the interest of economy and efficiency or due to FEMA’s urgent need. FEMA may utilize the Option to

Increase Quantity Clause or other option clauses in future TOPRs to permit the two contract holders to compete potential inspection increases at the time of initial TOPR and to lessen the potential need to add additional inspections to task orders through an exception to fair opportunity.

8. DHS intends to post this requirement on www.beta.SAM.gov pursuant to FAR

16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).

9. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(9), I certify that this requirement meets the

Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

Technical Representative/COR

___12/23/20

10. Contracting Officer Certification and Approval

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(8), I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and hereby determine that the circumstances for an exception to fair opportunity exist:

Contracting Officer

___12/23/20 http://www.beta.sam.gov/