RFQ 6913G625Q300045 Contractor Clarification Questions and Responses 8-1-25.pdf

RFQ #6913G625Q300045

Contractor Clarification Questions and Responses

Question #1:To do this job comprehensively, we need a lift for the roof sampling and for the elevated areas in Buildings 1 and 2. Even if we use the sampling and identification of asbestos pipe insulation in the 2021 Asbestos Survey at the site, we still need to get close to the ceiling deck to confirm and quantify some things that are suspect. Do we need to include the cost of providing a lift in our bid or will that lift be provided by the owner?

Response #1: A lift will not be provided by the owner.

Question #2: There are a number of drums on site. Are we responsible for opening these drums and testing them as part of the HAZMAT survey? Will the drums be removed by others prior to the HAZMAT survey?

Response #2: Drums may still be present during the survey but they do NOT need to be opened. They may simply be included in the inventory as an “unlabeled drum” if their contents are not clearly marked.

Question #3: Do you want PCB source sampling conducted (paint, caulk, glazing, roofing) or just and inventory list of suspect materials observed by building?

Response #3: Sampling of potential PCB materials should be conducted as described in Section 3.5 of the Statement of Work.

Question #4: Do you want Lead TCLP sampling of all buildings?

Response #4: NO

Question #5: Do you want RCRA 8 TCLP sampling of all buildings?

Response #5: NO

Question #6: Do you want professional roof patching for all roof sample locations, or will temp patching be acceptable?

Response #6: Professional patching is not required. Please see Section 3.3 of the Statement of Work.

Question #7: Will there be an onsite lift and lift operator available to access high sections of the buildings? Or will we need to provide our own lift and operator?

Response #7: A lift will not be provided by the owner.

Question #8: Will you require a separate report for each building or just 1 report broken out by building?

Response #8: A single report shall be prepared as described in Section 3.7 of the Statement of Work.

Question #9: Is machinery to be evaluated and sampled for asbestos, lead, and PCB paint? Or are we to focus only on the NESHAP required building materials?

Response #9: Machinery and systems that are “fixed” to the building should be evaluated.

Mobile or temporary equipment may be excluded from sampling but can be inventoried.

Question #10: Is machinery oil and floor staining to be evaluated for PCB?

Response #10: NO

Question #11: Is the wood block floor to be evaluated for Creosote?

Response #11: YES

Question #12: Is the foundry dust on the floor to be evaluated for anything other than asbestos, lead, or PCB?

Response #12: NO

Question #13: Are there any known safety concerns we should be aware of in or around the buildings, such as structural issues, excavations, hazardous contaminations, biological, etc.?

Response #13: The site owner is not aware of any such concerns.

Question #14: Is sludge, oil, or water in pits or tanks to be evaluated?

Response #14: NO

Question #15: Would it be ok to include the resumes and licenses as an attachment and not count towards the 3 page submittal?

Response #15: YES

Question #16: Will electrical transformers need to be evaluated and if so, will they be decommissioned and locked out/tagged out for inspection or can we itemize, and list as presumed?

Response #16: Itemizing and listing as presumed is acceptable.

Question #17: Please confirm if the DOT requires Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) to completed by the client, and if so, can you provide the blank PPQ. Or will project descriptions and references by acceptable.

Response #17: Project descriptions and references are acceptable.

Questions #18: Are PPQs and resumes included in the 3-page submission limit?

Response #18: NO.

Question #19: Will DOT open up access to all areas; if not can we force entry?

Response #19: The property owner/manager will provide access to all buildings. In the event that an area cannot be accessed, entry may be forced by the contractor with the approval of U.S. DOT Volpe in coordination with the property owner.

Questions #20: Is there roof access on any building? Is the contractor responsible for repairing roofs?

Response #20: The contractor should be prepared to access roofs and ceilings with their own equipment. Please see Section 3.3 of the Statement of Work for patching and repair requirements.

Question #21: Is there a maximum sample number that you would like the contractor to adhere to?

Response #21: NO. A sufficient number of samples should be collected to meet applicable regulatory requirements for building demolition.

Question #22: The Statement of Work indicates hazardous building materials “including but not limited to asbestos containing materials (ACM), lead-based paint (LBP), and polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), will be conducted…..”, and later indicates that “the purpose of this survey is to identify presence, locations, and quantities of hazardous building materials, primarily ACM, LBP, and PCBs…..”. We realize that the identification of all hazardous building materials in and on the buildings to be demolished has been requested, but can at least the additional types of hazardous building materials to be identified be clarified? During the 7/29/25 site walk through visit, there were MANY miscellaneous wastes/items/equipment/ materials/unidentifiable objects/etc. located in and on many of the buildings toured. In order to allow all bids to be true apples to apples comparison, please list all such wastes/items/ equipment/materials/unidentifiable objects to be surveyed.

Response: #22: One of the objectives of the survey is for the contractor to inventory these materials as the type and quantity is not known. Unknown or unlabeled materials may simply be listed as “unknown” in the inventory. The contractor shall use professional judgement and experience to determine which materials encountered at the property are relevant to include in the inventory list.

Question #23: In both the Frog Shop (Bldg 2) and the Foundry (Bldg 1) there were numerous areas of stained soil/flooring materials, dust, grit, sand, non-descript materials on the floors and on much of the equipment. Is such dust, grit, sand, non-descript materials exempt from the building material survey? There were at least 100+ areas of stained ground/flooring surfaces in the buildings. Are all of these to be sampled and tested for PCBs?

Response #23: Stained surfaces and dust such as those described in the question do NOT need to be sampled; only listed/inventoried in the report. For widespread staining, a simple description such as “staining was observed throughout the floor of Building X” is sufficient.

Question #24: Can we assume that only above ground portions of the buildings are to be inspected and not such things as foundations, footers, subsurface piping, vaults, trenches, sumps, etc.?

Response #24: Portions of the building or connected systems that are entirely below ground do not need to be included in the survey.

Question #25: There are many environmentally regulated materials that are not necessarily hazardous (i.e. not necessarily toxic, reactive, ignitable, or corrosive or not necessarily listed hazardous wastes. Are bidders to assume that if building materials are environmentally regulated but not hazardous, they are to ignore quantifying and inventorying such materials?

Response #25: YES except for those materials specifically listed in Section 3.6 of the Statement of Work. The contractor shall use professional judgement and experience to determine which materials encountered at the property are relevant to include in the inventory list.

Question #26: The solicitation refers to this work as hazardous building materials survey, which refers to building components (walls, floors, ceilings, roofing, exterior materials [siding, soffit, fascia] and mechanical systems) but does not refer to equipment (lathes, saws, welders, presses, paint booths, dip tanks, process piping, furnaces, cranes, etc., etc., etc.). Can we assume that the survey work scope is to NOT include equipment that was present at the site during the walk through? If not, please identify all of the equipment in the buildings that are to be surveyed.

Response #26: Machinery and equipment that are “fixed” to the building should be evaluated.

Mobile or temporary equipment may be excluded from sampling but can be inventoried.

Question #27: Regarding all buildings to be inspected, but especially the office (Bldg 3), please confirm that the selected contractor can perform invasive inspection and destructive sampling techniques in order to efficiently and accurately located all materials suspected of being coated with lead (and PCB?) paint, PCBs, and asbestos. Please also confirm that any and all damage created by inspection and sampling efforts will NOT need to be repaired in any fashion.

Response #27: Invasive and destructive samples should be collected where needed. Please see Section 3.3 of the Statement of Work for repair/patching requirements.

Question #28: Has any of the dust on the floor and much of the internal portions of the foundry been sampled and tested for hazardous components? If yes, what were the results of such testing?

Response #28: NO. These materials will be sampled during a later investigation and should NOT be sampled as a part of this survey.

Question #29: Regarding the May 2021 asbestos survey by Cumberland Analytical, the SOW indicates contractors may use the results of the survey to reduce the need for resampling if the Contractor has determined that the condition of previously sample materials has not change and such that all regulatory requirements are mt to allow for demolition activities. Will it be held against a bidding contractor if we only accept the positive asbestos results for determining (reducing) the number of different ACMs to sample and analyze, but not accept the negative results (in which case we would resample and analyze the materials that the May 2021 report showed to be negative)? Please note that much of said report lacks enough detail for bidding Contractors to be able to identify which materials were actually sampled. For example “Drywall Compound (Foundry)” is really quite vague.

Response #29: The contractor shall use their professional judgement and experience to determine which previously analyzed materials may require resampling.

Question #30: Regarding the Lead-Based Paint Survey, the SOW indicates the Contractor will evaluate paint surfaces including walls, doors, windows, piping, and equipment. Does this mean that these are the only painted surfaces to be evaluated for the presence of lead in paint? If “equipment” is to have their surfaces tested for lead paint, please clarify what constitutes “equipment”.

Response #30: Machinery and equipment that are “fixed” to the building should be evaluated.

Mobile or temporary equipment may be excluded from sampling but can be inventoried.

Question #31: Regarding PCBs Survey, the way this section is written, we are to NOT sample liquids suspected of containing PCBs nor perform wipe sampling of stained surfaces for subsequent analysis for PCBs. Is this an accurate understanding? If not, please elaborate.

Response #31: This is correct.

Question #32: The RFP also indicates that paints are to be tested for PCBs. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of different paint coatings in and on the buildings to be inspected if all of the walls, floors, ceilings, roofing, siding, piping, duct work, cranes, pulleys, structural and other steel/metal objects are to be included in the PCB paint sampling and testing. Additionally, if painted equipment is to be sampled and tested for PCBs, there will be additional hundreds of samples collected and analyzed. If “equipment” is to have its paint sampled and tested for PCBs, please define “equipment”.

Response #32: Machinery and equipment that are “fixed” to the building should be evaluated.

Mobile or temporary equipment may be excluded from sampling but can be inventoried. The contractor may use professional experience to group similar paints that appear on multiple surfaces and to exclude minor painted surfaces and equipment that can be considered “de minimis”

Question #33: Once a determination is made regarding environmentally regulated vs hazardous, it needs to be clarified what constitutes a material being confirmed as hazardous. Sectio 3.6 indicates the Contractor will inventory other hazardous materials, but the only way to confirm if they are actually hazardous is to sample and have them analyzed for hazardous characteristics (Toxic, Reactive, Ignitable, Corrosive). We believe “confirmation” of a material being hazardous should be made based on product or material labeling, inspector experience, etc. and NOT involve sampling nor testing. Please clarify this.

Response #33: Concur. The inventory should be based on product labels and the inspector’s professional experience.

Question #34: There were hundreds if not thousands of containers of various chemicals, liquid and other products seen throughout the buildings toured on the site walk through. Are they to be included in the hazardous building materials portion of the work?

Response #34: Sampling of containers is not required. In cases where a large number of containers are present, approximations are acceptable.

Question #35: Please confirm all buildings to be included in the survey work scope. We understand that buildings 1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 18, and 24 are to be included, and that building 20 might be included as well as the silo structure outside of the foundry.

Response #35: The survey shall include buildings 1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 18, 20, and 24 and their associated structures.

Question #36: Regarding section 5.0 Schedule, it indicates the period of performance is from date of award to November 1, 2025, we assume this to mean that all site survey work and all offsite analysis and reporting work needs to be completed by November 1, 2025. Can the government provide a guaranteed project award date?

Response #37: NO. Government anticipates an award on or about 28 August 2025. This award date will depend on the number of offerors and any unanticipated intervening issues arising for this requirement.

Question #38: Due to their previous involvement at this site, are Cumberland Analytical and BL Companies both prohibited from performing any portion or being associated with the Contractor selected to perform the hazardous building materials survey?

Response #38: NO. All contractor proposals will be assessed in accordance with the RFQ cited evaluation criteria.

Question #39: We have been involved with other government hazardous building material surveys where we were not selected but the awarded contractor simply decided to assume all suspect ACMs were in fact ACMs thus severely reducing their inspection and analytical costs. It appears that per section 4.1 Asbestos of the Volpe SOP-024, the contractor will be allowed to assume suspect materials to be ACM. What will prevent a contractor from using this same cost reduction strategy for the Frog, Switch, and Manufacturing site?

Response #39: The Government/Volpe will not speculate.

Question #40: We understand that the quantities (Square Foot or Linear Foot) of all identified or assumed ACMs are to be determined and presented in the report, but please clarify if a square foot determination of painted surfaces found to be lead based paint also need quantified or just their location(s) and descriptions identified.

Response #40: Locations and descriptions should be given. Estimating an approximate area is acceptable where collecting measurements is inaccessible. Sufficient quantities should be provided to prepare a cost estimate for remediation/abatement.

Question #41: For increased efficiency and safety during building inspections, can we assume that the electricity will be turned back on to allow for internal illumination?

Response #41: The property owner/manager will turn on power and lighting as able. The contractor should be prepared with an additional light source in case power is unable to be turned on.

Question #42: Specifically, regarding mold as is mentioned in Volpe SOP 024 Section 4.4 Other Materials, line 26, if we sample the air for mold spores, we WILL FIND mold in the air. If we sample building surfaces for mold, we will VERY LIKELY FIND some degree of mold present. Since the buildings will be demolished and there are currently no regulations in

Pennsylvania governing mold, can the government state that the building surveys can forgo any efforts toward testing for or identifying mold on surfaces, in the air, etc.?

Response #42: Mold sampling is not required.

Question #43: The Statement Of Work, section 5.0 Schedule, indicates that approximate work hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Should the awarded contractor want to work extended daily hours to maximize efficiencies and reduce costs, how would such permission be received? Can the government confirm now (prior to proposal submittal) that extended hours are allowed and if so, what those extended hours will be?

Response #43: Extended hours will not be granted verbally or in writing. Contractor must bid and work within the 40-hour work week as cited in the SOW. The purchase order award will be a firm fixed price (FFP) award. All contractors understand that any and all changes to the scope and POP impacting the post-award requirement price shall be in writing via a bilateral modification signed by the CO and contractor. Otherwise, the contractor works at its own risk without a bilateral modification.