D03 MVS_COVID ACF Ph2 JA Tartan.pdf

MVSJA-20-002

After-the-Fact JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Project: Alternate Care Facilities at Florissant, MO Control NO: MVSJA-20-002

AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. 2304 (C) (2) AMOUNT: $ 1,000,000.00

PREPARED BY:

SUPERVISORY CONTRACT SPECIALIST

NAME: Jacob Prebianca

PHONE: (314) 422-8954

DATE: April 16, 2020

CONTRACTING OFFICER

NAME: Christopher Barnett

PHONE: (601) 918-6467

TECHNICAL

NAME: Matthew R. Vielhaber

PHONE: (314) 440-0925

REQUIREMENTS

NAME: Michael Rodgers

PHONE: (314) 779-6342

SIGNATURES ARE REQUIRED BELOW:

I have reviewed this J&A and find the justification adequate to support other than full and open competition.

DISTRICT SMALL BUSINESS SPECIALIST

SIGNATURE:

NAME: Christine Davis

DATE:

PHONE: (651) 290-5723

PROJECT MANAGER

NAME: Matthew R. Vielhaber

PHONE: (314) 440-0925

DISTRICT COUNSEL

NAME: William P. Levins

PHONE: (314) 331-8196

DISTRICT CONTRACTING CHIEF

NAME: Patricia B. Voss

PHONE: (314) 331-8500

COUNSEL TO SCO-ATLANTA SIGNATURE:

NAME: Tristan S. Brown

PHONE: (202) 761-8541

SCO-ATLANTA/ALTERNATE

COMMAND ADVOCATE FOR

COMPETITION

SIGNATURE:

NAME: Laura Eichhorn

PHONE: (404) 562-5051

S0CT9LJE

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SEE APPROVAL BLOCK

After-the-Fact Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Louis District (CEMVS), Contracting Division, St. Louis, MO

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: In support of Presidential National Emergency Declaration Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak, dated 13 March 2020, after-the-fact approval is requested for a Justification and Approval (J&A) for a two-phase design-build construction, firm fixed price (FFP) Letter Contract awarded to Tarlton, 5500 W Park Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110-1853 on an other than full and open competition/sole-source basis under circumstances of Unusual and Compelling Urgency. The action was awarded as an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) and was ultimately definitized as a FFP “C-type” contract.

The type of funds utilized are Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Disaster Relief funds. There were no options identified for the contract.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: The purpose of this contract was to provide design-build construction services in accordance with the Presidential National Emergency Declaration. Work effort consisted of the design and construction required to convert a hotel located at 55 Dunn Rd, Florissant, MO 63031 to a non-acute infectious COVID-19 patient care site based on the requirements of NFPA 99 Space Category 3 (Basic Care). Patient rooms are considered to be NFPA 99 Category 3, which is defined as patient care “activities in which the failure of equipment or a system is not likely to cause injury to patients, staff, or visitors but can cause discomfort” The hotel consists of 128 rooms, of which 122 rooms were converted to functioning patient rooms and 4 nurses stations. 2 rooms were deemed unusable due to pre-existing conditions. This work is providing an ACF meeting basic healthcare functions with an emphasis on patient isolation, infection control, fire protection, and life safety. This Justification is for Alternate Care Facilities at Florissant, MO. The estimated total value of the contract to be awarded under this J&A is $1,000,000.00, based on the not-to-exceed (NTE) amount for the awarded UCA. The total definitized contract amount is $924,657.00. The period of performance for the design-build contract was 4 days in total and performance began immediately upon award of the UCA in order to meet this aggressive schedule.

4. AUTHORITY CITED: 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(2), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED: Consistent with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) 206.302- 2(b), “use of this [unusual and compelling urgency] authority may be appropriate . . . [for] construction needed at once because of fire, flood, explosion, or other disaster.” In support of the Presidential National Emergency Declaration, the agency’s need for this construction was of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the Government would have been seriously injured unless the agency was permitted to sole-source a contract to the single firm selected from the group of firms that were down-selected after Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition.

Background/Selection of Sole Source Contractor: As discussed in Paragraph 8, Market Research, CEMVS conducted this procurement in accordance with the Two-Phase Design-Build

Selection Procedures in FAR 36.3. To that end, CEMVS issued a limited competition Phase I design-build request for proposals to a total of seven firms (supported by a J&A approved by the Senior Procurement Executive, Control No. CENAN 20-003, 26 March 2020), and adequate competition was obtained in Phase I. The Government conducted its Phase I evaluation and down-selected to six firms that were determined to be the most highly qualified firms. CEMVS continued sole-source negotiations as part of Phase II of the design-build acquisition only with Tarlton for the particular requirements of Alternate Care Facilities at Florissant, MO.

Tarlton was determined to be the highest qualified firm for the Alternate Care Facilities at Florissant, MO because of their demonstrated ability to complete similar work on time or early, and their very relevant experience. This project is a midsized effort and Tarlton’s past performance in 19 hospital projects demonstrate they can execute the work. The staff they provided has extensive experience completing similar medical construction projects and all have 17 years or more of construction experience. Tarlton has 200 tradesmen and 100 staff located in the St. Louis region. This readiness of resources coupled with their ability to start design/build efforts make them the right contractor for execution of this work. The completion of this first H2HC conversion must occur within four (4) days, 12 April 2020. Given Tarlton's ability to mobilize so quickly and that they are among the most highly rated offerors it is in the best interest to award to Tarlton for the first Corps of Engineers conversion of H2HC. Tarlton has the past performance, the bonding capacity, the design/build experience to delivery this project and to provide a qualifying proposal to support a timely definitization schedule and to meet the needs of this nation in support of COVID-19.

Tarlton submitted projects of which 19 were considered very relevant to this requirement.

Specifically, Tarlton demonstrated successful past performance and 17 years of experience with very relevant projects. The substantial confidence past performance rating was based on strengths that resulted in a high expectation that the Offeror will successfully perform the required effort. Further, Tarlton identified that they have key subcontractors located in the area which allow for technical representatives to respond in less than 48 hours for scoping efforts.

Tarlton also identified that many of their team members and subcontractors have previously performed medical facility projects. Tarlton also demonstrated local experience on construction projects where the firm has an existing infrastructure that could service the immediate project.

Tarlton’s hospital experience, emergency COVID-19 testing facility experience and ability to respond immediately indicates why they are the best suited for Alternate Care Facilities at Florissant, MO.

Justification: The President declared a national emergency on 13 March 2020. FEMA assigned USACE to support Emergency Support Function (ESF) #3 “Public Works and Engineering.” On April 6, 2020, FEMA assigned the CEMVS a mission assignment that included the above referenced ACF work. The nature of this work was of such an unusual and compelling urgency that work had to commence immediately. As described by the President, “[t]he spread of COVID-19 within our Nation’s communities threatens to strain our Nation’s healthcare systems. As of March 12, 2020, 1,645 people from 47 States have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It is incumbent on hospitals and medical facilities throughout the country to assess their preparedness posture and be prepared to surge capacity and capability.”

USACE has been requested to provide design and construction support to increase the capacity of our Nation’s healthcare system and needed to undertake design and construction as quickly as possible, to provide the necessary surge capacity.

Without limiting the number of sources from which the Government solicited a Phase II proposal to a single firm, the Government would have been unable to undertake construction quickly enough to meet the immediate need for additional ACF capacity in this area and would not have met the necessary delivery schedule to provide additional capacity as close to the projected surge date as possible. A traditional design-build project acquired in accordance with the requirement for full and open competition under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) could take upwards of 6-9 months to award based upon historical averages of contracts of this dollar amount.

The time savings achieved through use of other than full and open competition was 6-9 months, as this entire two phase process took little more than three days. This time savings was critical in order for construction to begin as quickly as possible, supporting the unusual and compelling nature of the urgency of this procurement and the national emergency.

Alternatives: CEMVS examined several alternatives for fulfilling these requirements, but no other alternative would have allowed for performance to begin immediately. The only viable alternative was to select a single firm from the group of firms that were down-selected after Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition with whom the Government negotiated, in conjunction with utilizing a UCA or letter contract to allow the contractor to begin performance immediately and definitize the contract at a later date. A Determination and Findings to award an UCA that will ultimately be definitized as a FFP “C-type” contract was approved by the Senior Contracting Official on April 7, 2020.

Impact: As determined by the President, the current COVID-19 outbreak presents a public health crisis and constitutes a national emergency. Because of the magnitude and gravity of the emergency, the President declared that hospitals must be prepared to surge capacity and capability, and that additional measures are needed to successfully contain and combat the virus in the United States. USACE is the only entity with the capacity to build the infrastructure needed to support response to this emergency, but could only do so if certain exceptions to full and open competition were implemented. Failure to select a single firm from the group of firms down-selected after Phase 1 of this two-phase design-build acquisition, utilize a letter contract, undertake construction immediately, and complete within 4 days, would have resulted in delays in design and construction of medical infrastructure required to adequately respond to the COVID-19 outbreak and would have had severe adverse impacts on the safety and the public health of the United States. This J&A enabled CEMVS to expedite award for urgently needed design and construction services identified above in Paragraph 3.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: CEMVS solicited from as many firms as was practicable for Phase I. A limited sources J&A approved by the Senior Procurement Executive, Control No. CENAN 20-003, 26 March 2020, supported other than full and open competition for Phase I. It was necessary to negotiate a contract with a single source selected from the group of firms down-selected after Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition. As discussed in Paragraph 5, “Alternatives,” no other alternative would have allowed performance to begin immediately. The notice required at FAR 5.201 will not be published based on the exception at FAR 5.202(a)(2), Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

7. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: CEMVS is mindful of the requirement in FAR 6.302-2 to request offers from as many potential sources as is practicable under the circumstances, and therefore did perform a limited competition for Phase I of the design-build procurement. Understanding the latitudes afforded under FAR 6.302-2, CEMVS did not want to completely divest itself of a competitive environment and issued a limited competition Phase I design-build request for proposal to seven firms. The Government conducted its Phase I evaluation and down-selected to the most highly qualified firms, and only then undertook sole-source negotiations as part of Phase II with Tarlton. It was not practicable to request an offer from more than one source under Phase II of a design-build procurement, because without issuing a UCA letter contract on a sole-source basis, CEMVS would have been unable to undertake construction immediately and would not be able to meet the delivery schedule of four days.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: Based upon the Presidential National Emergency Declaration, CEMVS determined the most expeditious tool available to fulfill this urgent and compelling COVID-19 requirement. Immediately, a review of existing contract vehicles was conducted.

CEMVS identified firms from prior experience which were known to have capacity to complete the ACF Mission. CEMVS also utilized other sources of market research, including qualifications submitted to USACE by firms volunteering to help with the COVID mission, to the extent practical within the time constraints of the emergency. Across the ACF mission, the Government attempted to maximize competition to the greatest extent practicable in accordance with FAR Part 6, and provided opportunities to locally based contractors. Market research was conducted as part of the Phase I process, and the Phase II process was limited to only consideration of those firms down-selected after Phase I.

9. INTERESTED SOURCES: In this instance, the need to undertake construction as soon as possible was of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the Government and the public would have been seriously injured unless CEMVS was able to limit the number of sources from which it solicited a Phase II proposal to one.

10. OTHER FACTS: NA

11. TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Matthew R. Vielhaber Title: Program Manager Signature: ______________________________ (date in electronic signature)

12. REQUIREMENT CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Michael T. Rodgers Title: Deputy for Program Signature: _______________________________ Management (date in electronic signature)

13. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION:

I hereby determine that the cost or price to the Government for this contract action was fair and reasonable.

This was determined by conducting a detailed cost and price analysis of the offeror’s definitization proposal, taking into consideration all pertinent information including field pricing assistance, audit reports and technical analysis, fact-finding results, independent Government cost estimates, and price histories. The contractor will be required to submit their price/cost proposal in accordance with FAR Part 15, and Certified Cost or Pricing Data will be required in accordance with FAR 15.403-4.

Name: Patricia B. Voss Title: Contracting Officer Signature: _____________________________

14. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Christopher Barnett Title: Contracting Officer Signature: ___________________

APPROVAL

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve after-the-fact this contract to provide design-build construction services in support of the Alternate Care Facilities effort for Alternate Care Facilities at Florissant, MO. on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(2), Unusual and Compelling Urgency, subject to the availability of funds, and provided the work herein described was otherwise authorized for acquisition.

Name: Laura Eichhorn, SCO-ATL Title: Senior Contracting Official Signature: _____________________________

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Typewritten Text 21 April 2020