B5_Exhibit_4-5.Pre-AwardGuide.WRRGuide.pdf

EXHIBIT 4

PRE-AWARD PHASE GUIDE

Overview

The Pre-Award Phase is carried out prior to the signing of the contract. The FEMA’s objective is to have the project completed on time, without any cost increases, and with high customer satisfaction. At the end of the project, the FEMA will evaluate the performance of the Contractor based on these factors, so it is very important that the Contractor preplans the project to ensure there are no surprises.

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure it understands the FEMA’s subjective expectations. It is not the FEMA’s responsibility to ensure that the Contractor understands what their expectations are. The Contractor is at risk, and part of the risk is understanding the FEMA’s expectations.

The Pre-Award Phase provides the Contractor with a final opportunity to protect itself, by allowing the Contractor to carefully pre-plan the project before an award is made. The pre-planning should include all coordination and identification of all risks that cannot be controlled by the Contractor.

In some cases, one of the Contractor’s biggest risks (in terms of delivering on-time and with no change orders) is the FEMA. Therefore, it is in the Contractor’s best interest to identify any issues or concerns ahead of time during the pre-award phase. The Contractor should minimize their risk by creating documentation that puts them in control and eliminates any outside interference that could hinder them from performing.

Pre Planning and Coordination

Once you are notified that you are the potential best-valued contractor, you will receive the following documents:

1. A list of all risks identified by the other Contractors that proposed

2. A copy of your interview statements (if applicable)

3. A list of any FEMA issues or concerns (if applicable)

The FEMA requires that the Contractor attend a Kick Off Meeting to discuss the objectives of the Pre-Award Phase.

It is strongly suggested that you perform the following functions:

1. Coordinate with all parties that will be involved with the project. Identify what concerns they have and determine solutions to resolve their concerns. This may include consultants, subcontractors, and material suppliers (to ensure that there are no inconsistencies with the requirements or delivery schedules.)

2. Identify where the risk lies on the project and make sure that all identified risks can be minimized.

3. Identify any actions required by the FEMA or FEMA’s representatives.

The Pre Award Document

The objective of the Contractor’s Pre Award Document is to identify risk that the Contractor does not control or risk that is impacted by factors that the Contractor does not control. The Contractor must also identify how they will attempt to minimize the risk. If the Contractor does not identify the risk that they do not control, then the Contractor is stating the risk (stated or not stated) is under their control and a part of their contract to meet the intent of the

FEMA.

If there is anything wrong with the drawings/specifications/requirements, it is the responsibility of the Contractor to identify if they cannot meet or understand the requirement. Any issues must be put in writing. If it is not identified, it is the Contractor’s responsibility to meet the intent of the FEMA.

Risks from all the other Contractors are provided to the potential best value contractor to ensure that they are identifying all the risks that they do not control. This forces the Contractor to do what a best value contractor would do, to think in the best interest of the FEMA.

The Pre Award Document should address the concerns of the FEMA. The identification of these concerns is a clarification of the understanding of the FEMA’s intent. It in no way changes the technical scope or amount of work of the Contractor, but merely confirms that the Contractor has understood the intent of the FEMA.

The Pre Award Document must include the following items as a minimum:

1. A Project Financial Summary - Identifying the total cost of the project. This must include:

a. The Contractors Original Project Cost

b. A list of agreed/accepted Value Added Options (with impact to cost)

c. A list of agreed upon Scope Changes or Additional Work (if applicable) (with impact to cost)

2. A Complete Project Schedule. This must include:

a. The Contractors Original Project Duration

b. A list of agreed/accepted Value Added Options (with impact to schedule)

c. A list of agreed upon Scope Changes or Additional Work (if applicable) (with impact to schedule)

d. A detailed breakdown of all project activities (including time to obtain the contract, permits, long lead items, substantial completion, punch lists, final walk through, and final payment).

e. All significant activities that require actions by suppliers and subcontractors.

f. All significant activities that require actions by the FEMA or FEMA’s representatives.

3. Risk Mitigation - A complete list of all pre-identified risks (identified in the Risk Assessment and Value

Added Plan, risks identified by other vendors, risk identified by the FEMA) along with solutions to mitigate the risks.

4. Uncontrollable Risks - A complete list of risks/activities/action/decision which are outside the control of the Contractor. This should include the following:

a. Identify what the action or risk is

b. Identify who is responsible for mitigating the risk

c. Identify what the Contractor has done, or will do, or proposes to do, to minimize the risk

d. Identify the impact to the project (cost, schedule) if the risk still occurs and is not resolved

e. Identify what actions the FEMA should take to minimize the risk

5. Interview Statements – A complete list of interview statements made by the Contractor (if applicable)

6. A List of Major Assumptions – A list of major assumptions made in developing your bid proposal, prioritized based on the impact of the assumption being wrong (largest negative impact listed first).

a. Identify the assumption

b. Identify the impact if the assumption is wrong

c. Identify your plan for mitigating the impact if the assumption is wrong (i.e. Plan B, Plan C, etc.)

7. Project Action Item Checklists. A separate checklist should be created for: the FEMA, the Contractor, Critical Subcontractors or Suppliers. Each checklist must include:

a. A list of all actions

b. A due date of when action must be made

c. A point of contact (that is responsible for making the decision)

d. A proposed decision or best option

8. A Project and Emergency Contact List – List of critical individuals on this project (FEMA, Contractor, Subcontractors, Suppliers, etc) with email and phone numbers.

Pre-Award Meeting

If the FEMA is satisfied with the Pre Award Document, they will require the contractor to have a final Pre Award Meeting. The Pre-Award Meeting is held at the end of the pre-award phase and is used to present a summary of what was developed and agreed upon during the pre-award phase. The pre-award meeting is not a question and answer session. The Contractor must not wait for the meeting to ask questions. All coordination and planning with the FEMA should be done prior to the meeting.

The Contractor should give a presentation, which walks the FEMA through the entire project and summarizes all of the coordination/planning done during the pre-award period. The Contractor should bring their team and their Pre Award Document. The Contractor should come with documents explaining what the FEMA is responsible for in this project and should identify exactly what they want from the FEMA with due dates. The Contractor must convince the FEMA that they have minimized all risks and will not be surprised once the project begins. The Quality Control Plan will become part of the contract.

REMEMBER: The Pre-Award Phase provides the Contractor with a final opportunity to protect itself, by allowing the Contractor to carefully pre-plan the project before an award is made. If the Contractor does not identify a risk or risks that they do not control, then the Contractor is stating the risk (stated or not stated) is under their control and a part of their contract to meet the intent of the FEMA.

EXHIBIT 5

WEEKLY RISK REPORTING SYSTEM GUIDE

Overview

The Weekly Risk Reporting System (WRRS) is a companion to the Pre Award Document that is created by the best value Contractor during the Pre-Award Phase. The report serves as a tool for the FEMA in analyzing the performance of each project based on risk. The WRRS is expected to take minimal effort (approximately 5 minutes per week). The WRRS does not substitute or eliminate weekly progress reports or any other traditional reporting system (that the Contractor may do).

The purpose of the WRRS is to allow the Contractor to manage and document all risks that occur throughout a project. Risk is defined as anything that impacts project cost or project schedule. This includes risks that are caused by the contractor (or entities contracted by the contractor), and risks that are caused by the FEMA (scope changes, unforeseen conditions, etc). The FEMA Project Manager may also require the Contractor to document risks that may impact customer or FEMA satisfaction.

Submission

The weekly report is an excel file that must be submitted on the Friday of every week. The report is due every week once the Notice to Proceed is issued, until the project is 100% complete (and final payment is made). Please contact the FEMA Project Manager if you have not received an electronic version of the spreadsheet (once the NTP has been issued). The report must be emailed to:

FEMA Contracting Officer: Stephanie Lindner [stephanie.lindner@fema.dhs.gov]

The completed report must be saved using the date and name of the project given by the FEMA (Format:

YYMMDD_ProjectName_Project ID; For example, ‘Polk Project’ for the week ending Friday, March 1, 2005, should be labeled ’050301_PolkProject_01-123-45-6789’). Weekly Reports are to be emailed (by midnight each Friday).

The weekly report consists of scope changes or unforeseen events that are risks to the project in terms of cost, schedule, or FEMA satisfaction including any issues that could potentially develop into a risk. When a new issue is identified, it is added to the project risks, along with the following: Identification date (date the risk was identified), plan to minimize the risk, resolution due date, impact to critical path or schedule (in days), and impact to final cost (in dollars).

Prior to submitting the report, the Contractor must contact the FEMA Project Manager if there are any risks or potential risks identified. The Project Manager is required to provide a satisfaction rating based on the identified risk and the Contractors plan to mitigate the risk. The rating is based on a scale of 1-10 (10 being completely satisfied and 1 being completely dissatisfied). The Project Manager may modify their satisfaction ratings at any time throughout the project. When a risk is resolved, the actual date of resolution must be listed.

The Contractor is also required to submit a detailed project schedule (including the NTP date, Substantial completion date, and Final completion date) in the weekly report. The schedule report must contain the Contractors original schedule along with the current estimated schedule.

Note: The Weekly Reports will be analyzed for accuracy and timely submittals by the resident engineer or project manager. Upon completion of the project, the Contractor will be evaluated based on their performance on the project. This includes (but is not limited to): overall quality, on-time completion, no cost change orders, no complaints, and submission of accurate weekly reports.