Award Notice- JA_26-005.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING AND EXPEDITIONARY WARFARE CENTER

1000 23RD AVENUE

PORT HUENEME CA 93043-4301

IN REPLY REFER TO:

JA-26-0005

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity

The acquiring activity is Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC), Port Hueneme, Shore Innovation Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Branch SH03. The contracting activity is the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC).

2. Description of Action Being Approved:

Approval is sought to obtain authority to use other than full and open competition to issue a contract on a sole source citing basis for RDT&E in support of the Planning, Design & Construction, and Industrialization Construction (IC) efforts to support the construction efficiencies in compliance with the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Department of War (DoW) initiative.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

The requirement is to adapt and integrate the concept of Industrialized Construction (IC) into NAVFAC MILCON projects to reduce time and cost in construction. Following directives from Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in late 2025 to find actionable ways to reduce Military Construction (MILCON) project costs and schedules, NAVFAC identified IC as a viable and innovative solution that has the potential to substantially reduce the cost and time of Military Construction projects.

IC optimizes delivery by integrating factory-based automation and lean methodologies, transforming construction into a manufacturing-like process. By shifting production off-site to create precision-engineered components, IC significantly reduces time and cost for repeatable facility designs. Formalizing these concepts within NAVFAC competencies is critical to driving construction efficiencies that directly support CNO and DoW strategic objectives.

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) is a congressionally authorized non-profit that aligns federal criteria with industry building science capabilities. NIBS will support NAVFAC by coordinating across diverse government and industry stakeholders to develop a strategic Industrialized Construction (IC) roadmap. Furthermore, NIBS will engineer digital implementation tools and drive the organizational change and training required to embed IC and Alternative Construction Methods (ACM) as fundamental NAVFAC competencies.

The contract type will be awarded as a Firm Fixed Price (FFP), for a period of performance of 24 months, with an estimated contract value of

J&A No: JA-26-0005

3) Tetra Tech, Inc. (UEID: LMRMKLL3LG5)

An analysis of the interested parties reveals significant differences in their capabilities to meet the requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS). Begini Howard Private Equity (BHPE) did not provide any information, to demonstrate they had experience in developing a high-level IC roadmap, creating digital tools for IC implementation, or leading organizational change management and training programs necessary to implement IC as a core NAVFAC competency, the lack of information provided left the ability to perform the work unproven.

Prairie Brand Construction, Inc. (PBC), demonstrated strong experience in traditional Department of War (DOW) construction and renovation as defined by Federal Acquisition Regulation Construction means construction, alteration, or repair (including dredging, excavating, and painting) of buildings, structures, or other real property. However, their submission showed a distinct lack of experience in the major components of the NAVFAC PWS, including IC, ACM, building sciences research, digital tool development, and organizational change management. Crucially, they provided no evidence of experience in facilitating large, diverse councils to create and approve new industry-wide standards. Therefore, while PBC is a capable contractor for traditional projects, they are not positioned to lead the broad, consensus-based process required to establish IC and ACM as a core NAVFAC competency.

Finally, Tetra Tech, Inc., showed extensive experience in architecture, engineering, and project management for both the DoW and the private sector, including hands-on work with IC principles and authoring standards. However, like PBC, their submission lacked evidence of experience in developing a high-level IC roadmap, creating digital tools, or leading organizational change management. Their response focused on their ability to implement innovative construction methods rather than their capability to lead the industry-wide consensus process required to establish IC and ACM as a new standard for NAVFAC.

In conclusion, the market research indicates that while the commercial respondents possess foundational expertise in DoW construction, they currently lack the highly specialized, integrated experience required to lead a broad, consensus-based industry transformation.

Developing these capabilities specifically in high-level roadmap development, digital tool engineering, and organizational change management would require significant time and capability maturation. This demonstrated gap in the commercial market validates the necessity of leveraging the unique, congressionally authorized capabilities of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), whose statutory mandate is specifically designed to bridge federal agencies with industry-available building science capabilities to fulfill exactly these types of requirements.

The approved J&A will be posted on SAM.gov within 14 days of contract award pursuant to FAR 6.305(a).

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost:

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR Part 15 procedures.

J&A No: JA-26-0005

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition:

This contract acts as a catalyst for future competition. By using NIBS to establish a foundational Industrialized Construction (IC) roadmap and formal standards, NAVFAC provides the commercial market with the clear criteria needed to bid on future execution contracts.

Furthermore, sharing these outputs through targeted industry education and deploying standardized digital tools will significantly lower barriers to entry. Moving forward, NAVFAC will continuously monitor industry maturation to ensure that subsequent IC implementation phases can successfully transition to full and open competition.