Amdt_2_AZ_DC_NY_Front_Royal_Va_and_Edgewater_Md.pdf

Smithsonian Institution Last updated January 26, 2015

Office of Facilities, Engineering and Operations

PROJECT: Construction IDIQ Contracts in Arizona; Washington, DC; New York; Front Royal, VA and Edgewater, MD.

RFQ # F15SOL10011, -12, -13, -14 and -15

SI RFI

Number Date Company

Request for Information SI Response

Set 17 1/13/2015 CFM 1 We are currently on a Small Business IDIQ for SI which expires in 2019. Is this new solicitation just for you to add firms to the existing pool? Or, is it for a new contract that will extend beyond 2019?

This is a new pool of contractors for the areas listed in RFQs

F15SOL10011, -12, -13, -14 and -15.

Set 18 1/13/2015 Equa Solutions 1 Part IV - Capabilities requires that we provide our most recent financial statements which "must be AUDITED by an independent, licenses CPA or CPQ firm for the offeror's previous two (2) fiscal years." As the cost of a full financial audit is a substantial one, especially for a small business, and given that this RFQ is set aside for small businesses, would you accept reviewed or compiled financial statements in lieu of audited financial statements?

Financial statements reviewed by licensed CPAs or CPA firms are acceptable.

Set 19 1/13/2015 WMS 1 Section 1, 2nd paragraph states this procurement is

“Small Business Set Aside”. If an Offeror is created as a combination of more than one firm/entity, confirm that all firms/entities must be considered Small Business in order to propose on this project. For example, please confirm that SBA Mentor- Protégé agreements between a Small and a Large firm are not eligible to compete on this procurement.

Mentor-protégé agreements between a Small and a Large firm are not eligible to complete on this procurement.

2 Section 1, 3rd paragraph states that the Smithsonian

Institution will select multiple firms for this IDIQ. Is the quantity of firms already determined? If so, how many will be selected for each of the IDIQ’s? If not, is there a range or approximation that is anticipated?

The quantity of firms to be selected will vary for each locale and has not been predetermined.

3 PART III – Experience / Performance – Comparable

Experience and Non-Comparable Experience - states to

“attach more sheets as needed”. Is there a limit to how many pages per project may be submitted?

No, but please be mindful of the 50 page limit.

4 Part III – Experience / Performance – Non-Comparable

Experience – States to submit projects that demonstrate experience in “construction and modernization of historic structures”. Is this appropriate for the Front Royal and Edgewater IDIQ submissions? If not, then what should this similar project characteristic be revised to for each of these

IDIQ’s?

Both Front Royal and Edgewater locales include historic structures.

5 Part III, Experience / Performance – Comparable

Experience – the form does not include a place to enter the client reference information. Should we modify it to include this information?

Yes, please.

6 Part IV Capabilities - states to list key management personnel with resumes. What positions are considered by SI to be “Key”? Project managers, Project executives and Superintendents only? What about safety personnel? Quality control personnel?

This should be at the offerors discretion. At a miniumum primary point of contact, primary project manager and project superintendent.

7 Part IV Capabilities – A - 11th bullet point states to provide ”Provide an employment profile for the construction company showing: total employees, total permanent employees, and total professionals in each major category. Brief resumes of these individuals shall be attached.” The 7th bullet point of this section requests “Resumes of Key Personnel”. Which individuals are the resumes to be submitted for under the 11th bullet point? Are any resumes required besides Key Personnel?

Please see answer above. Key personnel only.

8 For the Washington DC, Edgewater MD and Front

Royal, VA IDIQ RFP’s - Part IV Capabilities – C – Backlog is listed as “pass/fail”. What criteria is being used to determine what will pass and what will fail?

Pass/fail evaluations are premised on the requirements of

FAR 9.104, to establish the responsibility of prospective contractors to perform the contract.

Set 20 1/15/2015 ABI 1 To what location and to whose attention should the

Qualification Statement be sent?

A pdf copy no larger than 15 MB must be sent to Eve

Errickson via email at Erricksone@si.edu; please send 3 hard copies to the attention of Eve Errickson at 600 Maryland

Avenue, SW, Suite 5001, Washington, DC 20024.

2 Are Comparable Projects limited to projects with a value of less than $8,000,000?

No.

Set 21 1/15/2015 Doyon 1 Under Part II – Contractor’s Background of the RFQ, Question I. asks for the total subcontracting volume awarded to various Disadvantaged Business Entities

(DBE) over the last five years. As a small business (SB), we routinely track DBE bidding status, but typically, tracking DBE awards is not a requirement for SB contracts, and SB Subcontracting Plans are not required for SBs. As such, this five-year average percentage awarded to DBEs is not available.Question: Can this reporting requirement be removed from this Small

Business RFQ? Will placing “N/A” under this question have a detrimental impact on the overall review of the

Qualifications response?

No.

Set 22 1/15/2015 Helix 1 The Request for Qualifications requires that the Offeror supply three similar projects where the Offeror was the

Prime Contractor. Part IV.B states that the Offeror who is a Joint Venture with no prior safety record should supply the safety record of the majority construction partner. In the case where the Offeror is a Joint

Venture, may the submitted projects be those in which either of the JV partners was the Prime Contractor, or must they be those of the majority construction partner?

The safety record of the responsible party must be provided for evaluation purposes. Ideally, in the case of a joint venture in which both parties are responsible, projects submitted must be those in which either of the JV partners are prime contractors.

2 The RFQ requires that the Offeror supply evidence of bonding capacity. What is the amount of bonding capacity required?

The bonding capacity should reflect only the anticipated value of task orders described in this solicitation.

3 Part III – The prescribed format for Non-Comparable

Experience includes the contact information for the

Owner’s Representative or Project Manager. It also includes a requirement to present the Challenging

Features of the project. The prescribed format for

Comparable Experience does not include either of these elements. How shall the offeror present this information for Comparable Experience?

Please feel free adding additional pages with this information, included at Tab No. 5 for Comparable

Performance.

4 Part IV – The last bullet in the list of criteria requires the submission of brief resumes – does this requirement apply to total employees, total permanent employees, or total professionals?

Please include the resumes of key personnel only.

4 Part IV – Backlog and Financial Capability – in the case of a recently formed Joint Venture, is it acceptable to submit this information for the majority construction partner, or for each partner?

Please provide backlog and financial capability information for each partner.

Set 23 1/15/2015 CEEPCO 1 If we are to bid on three different locations

(Washington DC, Front Royal VA, and Edgewater MD) can we submit the same staff for each location?

Provided the staff can meet the anticipated requirements in the solicitation, this is acceptable.

2 Will there be a seed project involved to price? No.

3 Does a comparable project have to meet all specifications listed on page 12, “checklist for each submitted comparable project”?

To be considered comparable, projects must meet all criteria listed in the RFQ.

Set 24 1/15/2015 Sustainable Facilities The Request for Qualifications requires that the Offeror supply three similar projects where the Offeror was the

Prime Contractor. In the case where the respondent is a Joint Venture, may the submitted projects be those in which either of the JV partners was the Prime

Contractor?

Yes.

Set 25 1/15/2015 Maryn Consulting What is the anticipated completion date for pre-qualifying vendors responding to this RFQ?

Please estimate 1 month from RFP closing date.

What is the anticipated time from pre-qualification to the issuance of the first/any task order under this

IDIQ?

Issuance of the first task order could be within 3 months however this timing could vary based on project readiness.

In order to be pre-qualified under this RFQ, a small business must have capacity to perform services in the

$1 million up to $8 million range (based upon the assigned project), correct?

Correct.

In the event that question 3 above is incorrect, if a offeror has a high backlog and capacity of less than $8 million but more than $1million, would this preclude them from pre-qualification if all other factors are met or exceeded?

A small business should have capacity to perform projects between $1M and $8M to prequalify under this solicitation.

End of RFIs