Acton Notes and Q As_503.pdf

Acton District Office Construction

Solicitation Number: AG-91S8-S-10-0014

US Forest Service – Angeles National Forest

Notes, Questions and Answers Following Pre-Proposal Meeting, April 29, 2010

Note 1: A lot of the site design information is incorporated in the landscaping sheets; please review the landscaping sheets for site grading and other civil design information.

Note 2: The sectional office furniture inside the office building will be provided and installed by a separate vendor, and is NOT a part of this contract. However, the selected contractor will have to coordinate with the office furniture vendor to install electrical and telecommunication lines in a manner compatible with the sectional furniture.

Note 3: Specification 01 00 00 1.22 (“Inspection and testing laboratory services”) requires the contractor to “appoint, employ, and pay for services of an independent firm acceptable to the

Owner and Contracting Officer to perform inspection and testing as indicated on Contract

Documents.” This specification includes, but is not limited to, soil compaction and other geotechnical testing during grading and site work. The Contractor shall retain and pay (without additional compensation or reimbursement from the Government) a geotechnical firm acceptable to the Contracting Officer to perform any required geotechnical tests.

Question 4: Page 6 of the Solicitation states “References in the Drawings to … Add Alt.#4

Carport shall be disregarded.” What, if any, structure or ground cover will replace the disregarded carport?

Answer 4: No other structure will replace the carport. The ground in the footprints of the carport will be left unpaved.

Question 5: Regarding the Leed designation, what is the designation you want us to provide?

There is a big difference in points between gold and silver. Which version of LEED is used?

Answer 5: You have to construct whatever is shown on the design plans and specifications, which aims for Gold. Version 3.0 is used.

Additional Answer: The following additional guidance is provided: The contractor shall implement necessary construction documentation and procedures to secure commissioning at the

Gold level. The Government will accept a commissioning at the Silver level provided the

Contractor can demonstrate that it implemented all required documentation and procedures during construction, but that the Gold level could not be achieved through no fault of the

Contractor. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to achieve a minimum Silver level.

Question 6: Is the 343 day contract time counted in calendar or work days?

Answer 6: The contract time is counted in calendar days.

Question 7: Regarding mitigation requirement #4 on page 12 of the Solicitation, is noxious weed monitoring required on a monthly or bimonthly rate; Is the monitoring to continue after completion of the contract?

Answer 7: The mitigation requires monthly monitoring during the first year and bimonthly afterwards. Since the contract is 343 days (less than one year), monthly monitoring will be required during the contract performance time. Monitoring after the completion of the contract will be performed by Forest staff and is not the responsibility of the Contractor.

Question 8: What geographic area do we use to determine the prevailing wage rates?

Answer 8: Los Angeles County.

Question 9: Does past experience within the last 3-5 years exclude past experience within the last 1-2 years?

Answer 9: No. this includes all past experience with similar projects within the last 5 years.

Question 10: Where can we get the specs and drawings?

Answer 10: Online at www.fbo.gov (search for keyword “Acton” or use solicitation # AG-91S8-

S-10-0014.

Question 11: Are there any MBE/WBE requirements?

Answer 11: No, but there will be a Small Business Subcontracting Plan that is negotiated with the successful contractor prior to award in accordance with FAR 52.219-9.

Question 12: Are the MBE/WBE goals to be submitted with the proposal or after award of contract?

Answer 12: The goals will be submitted in the form of the Small Business Subcontracting Plan, that is submitted prior to award.

Question 13: Do the people in the office count toward the MBE/WBE goal or just the people at the job site?

Answer 13: “The MBE/WBE is addressed through the Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

There is an Affirmative Action Employment Requirement to ensure Equal Employment

Opportunity on Construction projects, as per FAR 52.222-23. The goals for this project are shown on page 38 of the solicitation and are applicable to all the Contractor’s construction work performed in the covered area.”

Question 14: Is the bridge shown in the drawings a proprietary bridge?

Answer 14: Yes. The Contractor can propose an alternate bridge, but the Contractor will be responsible to have the Bridge designed by a licensed engineer and the design/ calculations/ drawings approved by the Forest Service.

Question 15: Are the bridge wing walls to be installed all the way down to level shown on the drawings and then backfilled?

Answer 15: Yes

Question 16: Do we have to consider burned hazardous material on site?

Answer 16: There is no burned or hazardous material on site.

Question 17: Will the pre-proposal sign-in sheet be posted on the www.fbo.gov website?

Answer 17: Yes

Question 18: Is this pre-proposal meeting mandatory?

Answer 18: No

Question 19: Can we submit requests for information (RFI) during the proposal stage, to determine if alternates to specified products can be used.

Answer 19: We will not answer questions about acceptability of items that are alternate to those called out in the specifications, during the solicitation stage. It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure alternate products match the requirements in the solicitation documents.

Question 20: If we have questions to the Contracting Officer, how do we submit them, and is there a cutoff date?

Answer20: Email is preferred for questions; send to kgriffin@fs.fed.us. The cutoff date for questions was 5 days prior to this pre-proposal conference, see page 41 of the Solicitation.

However, if you have a question after the pre-proposal conference, please submit it. If the

Government determines that it is important and that all prospective offerors will benefit from the answer, the Government may choose to post an answer on www.fbo.gov and may, if it determines that the question will affect the proposals, provide additional time to submit the proposals.

Question 21: How will the proposals be evaluated?

Answer 21: The Government will assess the capability of each offeror on the basis of the nonprice evaluation factors, and will also assess the acceptability of the offeror’s price.

Question 22: Whose responsibility is the LEED Commissioning Agent?

Answer 22: It will be the Government’s responsibility to provide a commissioning agent.