FBO Solicitation Questions and Answers.docx

Solicitation No.: AG-43ZP-S-11-0009 Solicitation Questions and Answers Project: Architectural and Engineering Services

QUESTION: On page 41 of the Solicitation, I am not sure what is meant by "D." "D. SF 330 - Qualifications Data." Part C of this section includes the information that the SF 330 will be required. However, is "D" simply a reiteration of this, or does the phrase "Qualifications Data" denote something different?

RESPONSE: Amendment 1 to the solicitation removed "D".

QUESTION: Did the A/E Firms Business Opportunity Conference still occur on February 9, 2011? If so, will any presentations from the conference be provided? Also, will a list of attendees to the conference be provided?

RESPONSE: Yes, the conference occurred on February 9, and the materials from the conference are available from GTPAC (wwww.gtpac.org).

QUESTION: On page 40 of the solicitation under L.1.II.A.1, it states that questions must be submitted no later than 28 February 2011 at 2:00EST. L.1.II.A.3 states that responses to questions will be posted to FBO.gov not later than 23 February 2011. The response to questions dates occurs before the question submission due date. Can you please confirm dates?

RESPONSE: Amendment 1 to the solicitation revised dates.

QUESTION: We were wondering if it is possible to submit as a joint venture and also as a prime? This would mean that we would be submitting more than once in various categories.

RESPONSE: This is the contractor's choice.

QUESTION: I am trying to understand some more info on the solicitation for Architectural Services. I have downloaded the solicitation and the latest change to it. I don’t see anywhere in there about the due date and the type of information you are requesting in the proposal.

RESPONSE: See Section L of the amended solicitation.

QUESTION: Our firm is planning on submitting in all four categories, the solicitation indicates a maximum of 175 sheets, single sided. Does this mean you want our proposal printed only on one side or are you saying we have up to 175 sheets in which to print on? We usually prepare our proposals to be double sided printed which would mean we could only have 87 ½ sheets.

RESPONSE: Section L states single page. This is correct, if you print double sided you may only submit 87-1/2 pages.

QUESTION: Does the cover and back count in the 175 sheets? If so do you consider the front and back sides as sheets?

RESPONSE: The front and back covers are not counted in the sheet limitation provided one side is blank.

QUESTION: Will the allowed page count included Part 2, or would pages for Part 2 be counted separately?

RESPONSE: All content is subject to the sheet limitation covered in Section L.

QUESTION: Would pages used as “tabs” within the submittal be counted as pages?

RESPONSE: Tab dividers without content will not be counted toward the sheet limitation. Tab dividers with content will be counted toward the sheet limitation.

QUESTION: The RFP states in E.1 Location that the contractor’s office or main point of contact shall be within a 60 mile radius of Atlanta. As the prime offeror, does that mean we are not eligible to submit for the project since we are in Jacksonville, FL?

RESPONSE: This criterion will not be rated on a pass/fail scale and firms outside the sixty mile radius will not be excluded from the competition. This applies to the office location of the principal of the firm responsible for managing the contract.

QUESTION: The amendment to the original solicitation re-defines the project as a “partial” Small Business Set-Aside. FAR 52.219-7 says that the portion of the work that is “set-aside” is described elsewhere in the solicitation. We are unable to find any description of the set-aside portion anywhere in the revised solicitation. Please provide it. Depending upon the substance of the description provided, it could cause offerors to have to substantially re-organize and re-form their teams, and require them to re-write substantial portions of their responses within the short period of time between your response to the question (3/4/2011) and the due date of 3/11/2011.

RESPONSE: At least one contract in each category may be awarded to a small business.

QUESTION: Re: Solicitation, Part II, B, items 3 & 4 Non-Design Services are defined to include various types of surveys as well as geotechnical investigations. Is it your intention that we include survey and geotechnical engineering firms as components of our design teams? To do so would seem to be contrary to the government’s interests since the projects will have a potential geographic spread that exceeds the range in which most such firms operate (especially those that are small businesses). If we do include survey and Geotech consultants on our teams, the government will be faced with the potential of incurring substantial expenses for the transport of equipment and personnel from the Atlanta area to the potentially remote location of the project. Typical practice providing for survey and Geotech needs is to allow you’re A-E to procure the needed service on an as-needed basis from among qualified firms local to the project. This would assure the government of a higher likelihood of obtaining the services at lower overall cost and also assure a much higher likelihood of utilizing small business vendors. In summary, may we propose a team that does not include survey and Geotech engineering components with the expectation that those capabilities will be procured by the A-E from among qualified local resources that are acceptable to the government?

RESPONSE: These services would be incidental to any task order awarded and are not being considered under this solicitation.

QUESTION: Re: Solicitation, page 15, SECTION H, AGAR 452.237-74: This provision says, in effect, that ALL personnel listed in the accepted technical proposal shall be permanently assigned to the project unless the CO gives specific written approval. Keeping in mind that each person for whom a resume is presented has a designated role in the project, the provision seems to be inconsistent with the “indefinite” nature of the projects. If we provide resumes that give you a representative overview of the range of capabilities and experience of the personnel we offer, we cannot assure you that each of them will work on your projects, (or that only those people would work on your projects) whenever and wherever they might occur, in those designated roles. We can, of course, make the commitment that our Project Manager, and the various discipline leaders will personally direct the work of their respective disciplines for your projects and will draw upon the available resources we have at the time the projects are initiated. Therefore, may we proceed and submit with the understanding that we will propose a Project Manager and discipline leaders who are permanently (but not exclusively) committed to work on your projects and present a range of other employees whose capabilities and experience are representative of the quality of personnel we offer, and will work on your projects as availability and circumstances allow?

RESPONSE: Key personnel provided must be approved under this contract

QUESTION: Re: Solicitation, page 41, SECTION L, C.1 a): You are asking for completed Parts I and II of the SF330 for all contractors, Sub-contractors and consultants that are part of the team. This requirement is highly unusual for Federal solicitations for multi-firm design teams. Typically the prime contractor provides a complete Part I and Part II, and sub-contractors and consultants provide Section E resumes to be included with the prime’s Section E resumes, occasionally Section F project sheets (also included with the Prime’s Section F projects), and a completed Part II. Subs and consultants are never asked to complete Sections G or H since the information provided there is meaningful only in the context of the whole team and is covered by the Prime in their Sections G and H. May we, Consistent with typical practice for Federal and other solicitations that utilize SF330’s, Provide complete Parts I and II for the prime contractor and for sub-contractors and consultants, Section E resumes, Section F project sheets, and completed Part II’s only?

RESPONSE: Respondents are submitting one SF330. Use as many copies of each section needed within the sheet limitations as needed to describe your team.

QUESTION: Pg 4 of 43 ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SERVICES, GENERAL B. Contract Categories: 3. Category C: Facility Engineering Services, Structural Engineering A.3 Category C: Facility Engineering Services, Structural Engineering will not receive a separate award. Category C will be awarded in conjunction only with one or more of the other categories. With this statement, Is category C available and viable to pursue? Should we obtain confirmation?

RESPONSE: Yes.

QUESTION: On page 15 of 43, under H.1, Item 3, Letter a – it states that electronic drawing files will need to be submitted in Revit Architecture. Will it be acceptable to submit electronic drawings is AutoCad DWG in lieu of Revit?

RESPONSE: Offerors will be evaluated on their ability to submit designs in the BIM formats listed in H1.1.3 in the time frames listed. A CO may wave on an individual task order basis only the requirement for BIM submittals.

QUESTION: In reference to Page 9, E.1 Location: A. Main Contact, It states, "The contractor's office must be within a 60 mile radius of the USDA Forest Service's Regional Office in Atlanta, GA". Does contractor refer to the firm that is issued the contract? Are we excluded from pursuing this opportunity because we are not within the 60 mile radius of Atlanta, GA?

RESPONSE: Packages will be evaluated based on the distance of the prime contractor's project manager or principal responsible for the contract. Prime contractors outside the 60 mile radius will not be excluded from competition.

QUESTION: In reference to Page 15, H.1, 2c and 3, it states that specific specification software must be used. Must we use BSD Speclink-E? Are the Revit files to act as As-Built files at the end of the project, or do we need to provide working/editable Revit files? Our office uses BIM modeling and electronic specification software, but not these specific softwares; does this exclude us from pursuing this opportunity?

RESPONSE: BIM files will be used by the Government during construction and for the facility management purposes. BIM files provided shall be editable by the Government. As part of it's design guidance, the Forest Service will provide the Division 01 and several technical sections to be incorporated with minimal edits into the Project Manual for a design project. The Forest Service provided sections will be based on the BSD Speclink-E master specification text.

QUESTION: Should teams submitting in Category A include Commissioning Services in their team’s capabilities?

RESPONSE: At this time, the Forest Service does not anticipate acquiring building commissioning services under this solicitation.

QUESTION: Should teams submitting in Category A include Exhibit Design in their team’s capabilities?

RESPONSE: At this time, the Forest Service does not anticipate acquiring Exhibit Design services under this solicitation.

QUESTION: Should teams submitting in Category A include Interpretive Planning in their team’s capabilities?

RESPONSE: At this time, the Forest Service does not anticipate acquiring Interpretive Planning services under this solicitation.

QUESTION: Is there a limit on the number of projects we can include in the submittal? For the SF330 the limit is usually ten but if we are submitting for multiple categories can we submit up to ten for each category?

RESPONSE: Offerors may submit as many or as few projects they deem necessary to adequately represent their team within the length limitations of Section L.

QUESTION: How many (or what percentage) of the contracts are you planning to restrict to small businesses?

RESPONSE: The Government may award at least one or more contract(s) in each category to a small business.

QUESTION: I was wondering who the incumbent is for the Architectural Services solicitation # AG-43ZP-S-11-0009? Would you mind providing the vendors name as well as the contract number is it’s not too much trouble?

RESPONSE: Contracts awarded in 1997: AG-43ZP-C-07-0001 - MOMA; AG-43ZP-C-07-0002 - Pond, Inc.; AG-43ZP-C-07-0003 – URS Group; AG-43ZP-C-07-0004 – Merrick; and AG-43ZP-C-07-0005 – Mactec.

QUESTION: We have both Architecture and Landscape Architecture, we plan to submit on Parts A and D. For Part A should we team up with other sub consultants such as an MEP, Structural and Civil for a complete team? Or will the client take TSW's pure architecture credentials and pair that up with the other disciplines and consultant companies listed under Parts B and C? The team approach emphasis makes me believe the former.

RESPONSE: Category "A" requires a full team.

QUESTION: As a Landscape Architecture firm must we also have a civil on our team in order to fully qualify for Part D. Similar to question 1 above.

RESPONSE: Category "D" requires a full team.

QUESTION: Can we submit as the lead with a Civil as our sub AND submit as a sub to that same Civil if they lead?

RESPONSE: You must be able to provide a team.

QUESTION: Will Section M be entirely answered within the SF 330 or should we submit other pages under H?

RESPONSE: Section "M" contains specific items that must be addressed in the SF330.

QUESTION: If a firm does not have a performance record in the government system, are non federal government references and contact information acceptable within the solicitation response.

RESPONSE: Complete the SF330.

QUESTION: If a firm has supporting services (i.e. surveying) internally is it acceptable to list those in the organizational chart.

RESPONSE: Submit your organization as required on the SF330.

QUESTION: There is one more question for you: Denise has asked that we sign and return the amended Order to be considered for selection. Should we return the a signed copy of Amendment 1 now, or may it be included with the submitted package?

RESPONSE: Acknowledgement of Amendment one must be submitted with the qualifications package.

QUESTION: I am new to the process on Federal projects and this will be my first submittal. So that I don't miss something, is there somewhere I could view a sample submittal to make sure I have everything you are looking for ?

RESPONSE: You must complete and submit the SF330.