Draft - Thayer Hall Request for Qualifications.pdf

DRAFT DOCUMENT – USE FINAL VERSION FOR QUALIFICATION PREPARATION

Draft Request for Qualifications Excerpt

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) intends to award a Construction Manager at Risk (CM@Risk) agreement for work at Thayer Hall, U.S Military Academy at West Point, New York. Interested parties are invited to submit qualifications in accordance with this Request for Qualifications. Please Note – This acquisition is being performed under an “Other Transactional Authority” (10 U.S.C. § 2808a), not under FAR regulations nor standard source selection procedures.

Please see Attachment ## for instructions on submissions through the Army’s electronic file sharing service, Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) (https://piee.eb.mil/).

Construction Manager at Risk (CM@Risk) Approach: CM@Risk implemented through the other transaction authority allows for a collaborative delivery approach that involves the general contractor during the design phase to provide feedback and input to the designer of record and the government. CM@Risk allows the project to capitalize on preconstruction services from the awardee to include early constructability, operability, cost, and value engineering feedback on the design being developed.

Additionally, this approach benefits the project by gaining awardee cost estimating inputs during the design phase. The government has entered a separate contract for design services. The awardee of this agreement will not be the designer of record and will not be requested to perform architect-engineer services.

Agreement Award: USACE will award the agreement to a firm that strongly demonstrates the following:

• Thorough understanding of the CM@Risk delivery process,

• Excellent management of cost risks, schedule risks, and performance risks,

• Capabilities and resources required for successful completion of the project,

• Fair and reasonable pricing.

A. Project Description

Thayer Hall is an academic building at West Point that currently houses approximately 350,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories, assembly spaces, and academic offices. However, it is inadequately sized and configured to meet modern Army requirements. The building will be partially demolished and reconstructed. The reconstructed Thayer Hall will support a student load of 2,880 students in 495,459 square feet. USACE has selected an Architect-Engineer firm (STV HDR Joint Venture)

This document is incomplete and will change prior to formal release. Not all referenced attachments will be provided. Do not use this draft to prepare your qualifications package.

to provide the building’s design and serve as the designer of record. However, during the design phase, pre-construction services such as early constructability, operability, cost, and value engineering feedback on the design being developed will be provided by the awardee of this agreement. The Government also intends that demolition and construction services will be performed by the awardee of the contemplated agreement.

B. Acquisition Process

Step 1 – Request for Qualifications:

Interested parties will submit their qualifications in accordance with Section C.

Incomplete submissions may be disqualified from further consideration at the Agreements Officer’s discretion.

Step 2 – Invitation for Pitch Meeting:

The Agreements Officer will determine which firms demonstrated the highest potential to successfully perform all three aspects of the contemplated agreement (pre-construction services; demolition services, and construction services). Approximately 3 of the most qualified firms will be invited to individual, confidential Pitch Meetings. (The actual number of invites may be higher or lower based on the number and quality of qualifications packages received.) These meetings will be held approximately two weeks after deadline established for receipt of qualifications.

Invitees will be required to submit completed preliminary pricing on pre-construction services no later than four business days following the Pitch Meeting.

Step 3 – Pitch Meetings:

Pitch Meetings are expected to last a maximum of 3.5 hours. Firms will have 60 minutes to deliver an oral presentation about why they believe they are the best qualified to deliver the project. After 60 minutes, a panel of government reviewers will use the remaining time to ask questions about the qualifications package, presentation, and the firm’s capabilities. The discussion is not limited to the contents of the package. The firm may be asked to respond to hypothetical scenarios. The Pitch Meetings are intended to be conversational, rather than a strict Q&A session. Nothing discussed during the Pitch Meeting will be legally binding on either party unless incorporated into the final agreement.

The Pitch Meetings will serve as the final competitive evaluation step. Using information gained in response to the Request for Qualifications and Pitch Meetings, the Agreements Officer will select one firm to proceed to negotiations. All other firms will be notified that they were not the most qualified. However, non-selected firms may be asked to return for negotiations if the negotiations with the selected firm are unsuccessful.

Step 4 – Negotiations with the Selected Firm:

USACE and the selected firm will negotiate and finalize the terms of the agreement.

Negotiations may include the agreement articles, pre-construction services pricing, and other considerations. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, USACE reserves the right to discontinue negotiations and take any action determined to be in the government’s best interest, including entering negotiations with another firm, revising the acquisition approach, or canceling the Request for Qualifications.

Step 5 – Award & Agreement:

If negotiations are successful, the Agreements Officer will award the Pre-Construction Phase to the awardee at a firm-fixed price. Demolition services may or may not be awarded simultaneously with the pre-construction services; however, demolition services will be separately priced.

During the course of design development, when the parties mutually agree that the design is sufficiently complete to permit negotiations, the awardee will provide USACE an open-book price proposal and the parties will negotiate a firm-fixed price for the construction of the replacement Thayer Hall. Execution of a bilateral agreement will formally transition the Project into the Construction Phase at the established firm-fixed price. Alternatively, USACE may decide not to proceed into the Construction Phase with the awardee (“off-ramp”) if continuing is no longer in the government’s best interest or if negotiations were unsuccessful. USACE will retain the rights to all work products developed by the awardee under the agreement.

C. Qualifications Package:

Firms must provide the following in their qualifications package:

1. Qualifications Narrative

2. Constructability Report & Risk Register

3. Proposed Organizational Chart

4. Proof of Bonding Capability

Unless otherwise stated, all materials should be provided as PDF files with an 8.5” x 11” page size and standard 1” margins. Use font size of 12pts or higher. Do not use condensed character spacing or a scale below 100%. Arial or Times New Roman fonts are strongly recommended. Qualifications shall not contain classified data. The use of hyperlinks and QR codes is prohibited.

Qualifications Narrative:

Provide a narrative explaining why your firm’s qualifications make it the most likely to successfully perform the project. USACE recommends that the narrative includes the following:

1. Discussion of all three primary functions of the project: (1) Pre-Construction Services, (2) Demolition, (3) Construction;

2. In depth discussion of a maximum of 4 prior projects that best demonstrate the firm’s qualifications as they relate to the current acquisition. USACE strongly encourages using a Project Experience Form (Attachment ##) to provide basic information about the prior project.

Prior Projects: Prior projects do not need to be complete. USACE does not recommend selecting projects that were completed more than 10 years ago, nor projects too incomplete to provide meaningful information. If a project is non-federal and/or does not have a CPARS evaluation, firms are strongly recommended to provide a PPQ Form (Attachment ##). See Attachment ## for additional PPQ instructions.

File Organization & Page Limits

Qualifications Narrative

PDF File 01 15 pages

Project Experience Forms (non-mandatory)

PDF File 01 4 pages (4 projects maximum)

Constructability Report

PDF File 02 5 pages (11”x17” size permitted)

Risk Register

PDF File 02 5 pages (11”x17” size permitted)

Organizational Chart

PDF File 02 1 page (11”x17” size permitted)

PPQ Forms (non-mandatory)

PDF File 03 N/A

Proof of Bonding Capability

PDF File 03 N/A

At the Agreements Officer’s discretion, pages that exceed the above noted page limitations may be removed, not read, and not be evaluated by the Government. Every page within the proposal will be included in the page calculation unless specifically excluded in the table above. Examples of pages that will be counted include but are not limited to: Cover letters, cover pages, dividers, blank pages, Table of Contents pages, tables, illustrations, and appendices.

Constructability Report & Risk Register:

USACE has provided the 15% Schematic Design for Thayer Hall (Attachment ##). Firms shall review this design and submit a Constructability Report and a Risk Register. Use these documents to demonstrate the quality of work products that will be produced during performance of the agreement. For both the Report and Register, firms should list the names of the individuals that prepared the documents and what proposed role they will have on the upcoming project.

Constructability Report - The Constructability Report may be submitted in a narrative report format, a tabular matrix/chart, or a combination of both. For efficiency, firms are highly encouraged to utilize a tabular register/matrix format (e.g., columns for Item #, Drawing/Spec Reference, Identified Conflict, Proposed Solution, and Cost/Schedule Impact). The report should identify specific constructability issues, design conflicts, or omissions. For each item, the firm should provide a brief technical description of the conflict, a proposed solution, and an estimated cost impact magnitude.

Risk Register – This register should list any currently identifiable risks based on the 15% design (e.g. hidden utilities, material lead times, etc.). The register should address estimated cost/schedule impacts and possible mitigation strategies.

What USACE is looking for:

• Thorough understanding of the upcoming project and its associated risks.

• Evidence of the firm’s qualifications and capability to perform the work.

• Experience with delivery methods such as IDaC, CM@Risk, or similar.

• Demonstrated experience performing projects similar to the current acquisition (scale, cost, nature of work, schedule, and other features).

• The firm’s ability to provide meaningful, actionable input on the design.

• Strong understanding of the CM@Risk delivery method and the upcoming project.

• How the firm will actively collaborate with USACE, the Designer of Record, and West Point stakeholders to control costs and mitigate risks.

• High-quality work products.

Please Note: If your firm proceeds to the Pitch Meeting, you will be expected to defend these documents.

Organizational Chart:

Provide an expanded organizational chart showing the firm’s overall structure and management of the project team from the firm’s Headquarters to the firm’s site office(s).

The chart should indicate any information that is tentative or to-be-determined.

USACE recommends including the following:

1. Identify all offices expected to be involved in this agreement.

2. Show the lines of authority for all job positions involved in executing the project.

3. Include all proposed team members, such as JV partners, proposed key subcontractors, and consultants. Include the lines of authority and the team members’ technical areas of responsibility under the future agreement.

4. For all job positions, the chart should:

a. Identify the employer associated with the job position

b. State the physical location of the position

c. State whether the position is dedicated to the project or a shared resource

(if shared, percentage dedicated to the project must be stated)

d. Do not include specific personnel names or resumes. Identify job positions by title only.

Proof Of Bonding Capability:

Firms must provide a letter or other documentation from a surety appearing on the Department of Treasury Circular 570 (list of approved sureties), stating that the firm is able to obtain performance and payment bonds of at least $1,000,000,000 ($1 billion).

• An organization structure capable of flexibility, rapid progress, and cost efficiency.

• Evidence that the firm has the resources to successfully perform the project.

This is a threshold requirement. Proposals that do not include proof of bonding capability of at least $1 billion will be rejected without further review.