Phase_I_Response_to_RFIs.docx

Solicitation F17PS00661 - Design and Construction of a Headquarters/ Visitor Center and Shop for Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerque, NM Phase I Response to RFIs

1. Question: If we are not able to get our formal license by the submittal date, will evidence of Reciprocal License Application be acceptable for Proof of Licensing?

Answer: No, will be considered unacceptable.

2. Question: Will there be a pre-proposal meeting for solicitation no. F17PS00661, Valle de Oro NWR Headquarters/Visitor Center & Shop Design-Build in Bernalillo County, NM? If so, when and where?

Answer: No

3. Question: One the requirements for selection is proof of licensing in the state of New Mexico as a Prime Contractor. Is this requirement referring to the GB-98 General Building License or some other type of licensing?

Answer: GB-98 General Building License

4. Question: Section L – Proposal Submission states Prime Contractor must provide proof of licensing in the state of New Mexico. Please provide the FAR clause that allows a federal project to require a state license to conduct work in the state the project is in.

Answer: Specific FAR clause is not applicable to this requirement. The federal government can require a contractor to have a state license. The solicitation makes it clear that a state license is required; therefore, the contractor must obtain the necessary license. See GAO case, B-246577, Mar 19, 1992, 71 Comp.Gen. 314 (http://www.gao.gov/products/456289#mt=e-report). Case held that "Agencies may require, through appropriate solicitation provisions, that a contractor performing work for the government have specific state licenses even though such licenses are not legally required to perform the work called for in the solicitation."

5. Question: Is the project federally funded?

Answer: Yes

6. Question: Section L paragraph 2 Phase One Proposal Submission Requirement outlines the items to be e-mailed to the contract specialist. Are these items to be included in our proposal or are they to be sent to the contract specialist and not included in the proposal? Proposal Files section, paragraph iii.1 states that Volume 1 Technical Proposal Format requires design drawings, design features and materials only. Please clarify what is to be included in the technical proposal.

Are proposals to be hard copied or e-mailed? The two sections discussed in 1 above conflict each other.

Answer: The Service is seeking proposals for Phase I only. Submit as instructed in section L item 2.

2. PHASE ONE PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS.

Phase One: Submit electronically via email to contract specialist Rachel_Williams@fws.gov. Submit three separate attachments as listed below:

a. Prime Contractor Recent Relevant Experience: narrative of at least two (2) recent and relevant projects to include photos, design features, materials used and total price.

Design Contractor Recent Relevant Experience: Designs of at least two (2) recent and relevant projects.

Proof of licensing in the state of New Mexico for Prime Contractor and Design Contractor.

b. Four (4) completed past performance surveys [(Prime Contractor two (2) & Design Contractor two (2)]

c. Documentation from the firm’s bonding company showing current single and aggregate performance and payment bond limits. Magnitude of this request is between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000.

7. Question: Please advise if a New Mexico general contractor’s license is required prior to award.

Answer: Yes

8. Question: Page 38 of 46 regarding Phase One and Phase Two Submission Requirements: Approximately when will Phase 2 submittal be due? Or how much time will be allowed to assemble the Phase 2 submittal?

Answer: 30 Calendar days will be allowed to assemble Phase 2

9. Question: Page 42 of 46, second paragraph. If more than 5 Design-Build Teams are deemed to be “acceptable” in the Phase 1 evaluation, how will the Fish and Wildlife Service evaluate to come up with a “maximum of 5 acceptable offerors”?

Answer: Section M starting on page 43 has been revised. See attachment “ REVISED Sol_F17PS00661 Provisions and Clauses”.

10. Question: Page 42 of 46, B. Factors to be Evaluated, “Recent Relevant Experience: Contractors (Prime and Design) shall demonstrate experience with design and construction of public use facility new builds, equal to or similar(i.e., museums, libraries, schools, medical facilities) to visitor center new builds.” However, on page 44 of 46, it is stated, “To be considered similar in scope, each project shall have been for a new administrative office or multipurpose facility.” Based on these two statements, can we assume that the relevant experience will be deemed “acceptable” if the projects are museums, libraries, schools or medical facilities that include new administrative office or multipurpose facilities or must they be stand-alone administrative office or multipurpose facilities?

Answer: To be considered similar in scope, each project shall have been for a new administrative office or multipurpose facility. A multipurpose facility / public use facility such as new administrative offices, museums, libraries, schools, and medical facilities are acceptable.

11. Question: For the Phase One submission, does “proof of licensing in the state of New Mexico for the design contractor” mean that we are to supply a copy of the firm’s New Mexico business license or copies of the professional licenses for the firm’s architects? If professional licenses are desired, how many are required? Is it sufficient to include proof of licensing for the architect who will be lead on this project? Or do you need proof of licensing for everyone in the firm who is licensed in NM?

Answer: Per SOW 2.6 “STATE REGISTRATION OF DESIGN ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS: The Architects and Engineers responsible for the design of this facility shall have a current license to practice their profession in the State of New Mexico. In addition, the DB team, including individual professionals, as well as architectural, engineering and construction firms, shall be experienced in the design of structures and infrastructure in the southwest United States, and specifically the climate, soil conditions, architectural styles, building codes, urban and environmental conditions of the Albuquerque area. All final drawings and specifications prepared by the DB shall bear the signatures and professional seals of the architect or engineer under whose direct supervision the documents were produced and who is licensed to practice that profession in the State of New Mexico.

All drawings shall be stamped by engineers and architects licensed in New Mexico. If others contribute to the designs, they don't have to be licensed in New Mexico, only those stamping the drawings, who will be responsible and designers-of-record. Provide/show licensing for those who will be stamping the drawings.

12. Question: When do you anticipate that Phase Two of the proposal submission will occur? How long will our team have to prepare our Phase Two proposal once we have been notified that we are one of the teams selected during Phase One?

Answer: Estimate invites for Phase II to be issued January 2018.

30 Calendar days to prepare Phase II proposal

13. Question: For the “Design Contractor Recent Relevant Experience” portion for Phase One of the proposal, would it be acceptable to include relevant projects for both the architect and the mechanical/engineering firm? Could we include two projects from the architectural firm and one or two projects from the M/E firm?

Answer: Would be acceptable if the architect and the mechanical/engineering firm worked as a team on the projects.

14. Question: Are the Past Performance Surveys (Attachment 2) supposed to be filled out by the Prime Contractor and Design Contractor, or are they supposed to be given to clients of past projects to fill out? If clients are supposed to fill them out, are the completed surveys supposed to be returned to the submitting firms or directly to FWS?

Answer: To be completed by the Prime Contractor and Design Contractor

15. Question: Typically for Past Performance sections of proposals, we are asked to provide detailed project cost information (i.e., cost estimate, bid award, initial contract amount, change orders, final/actual contract amount). Is this kind of cost information something we need to provide for the Past Performance portion of Phase One, or is answering what’s asked on the Past Performance Survey (Attachment 2) sufficient?

Answer: Completing the requested information on the Past Performance Survey is sufficient

16. Question: Regarding the Past and Present Performance Survey. The Phase One Proposal Submission Requirements call for 4 completed past performance surveys – two for the Prime Contractor and two for the Design Architect).

Page 2 of the Survey form provides for information from “a. First Contract” and “b. Second Contract”. There is no space provided for the Reference to provide feedback on performance. Therefore, we presume that the purpose of items “a” and “b” is to provide contact information for the two contracts and that USFWS will contact the references directly for input on contractor performance. Please confirm our assumption or provide clarification/direction.

Answer: Assumption is Correct

17. Question: Will there be a stipend for those proceeding to Phase II? If so, has the value of that stipend been established?

Answer: No

18. Question: Who will form the Phase II selection committee? Will you supply us with their background and expertise?

Answer: Technical Evaluation team will consist of approximately seven technical and program experts from the Service. Background information will not be provided.

19. Question: Is there flexibility in the placement of the building and entry drive within the “visitor center core area”?

Answer: The entrance drive location is set and is not part of this contract. It is being designed and constructed by Federal Highways per SOW 5.6.2. Regarding placement of buildings, there is some flexibility in this as stated in SOW 5.1, but the concept plan provided is generally where we want the buildings and facilities placed.

20. Question: Do you have a budget for the exhibit/interpretive design scope and does the DB contract include construction of the exhibits? (the RFP states that the DB contract includes exhibit design)

Answer: No. DB contract includes design, construction and install of exhibits.

21. Question: Attachment 2_Past Performance Survey. Please clarify the evaluation factors for each reference provided, there does not appear to be any performance criteria questions for a client reference to answer. Or is this form used to confirm completion or progress status only?

Answer: References may be contacted by the Service to determine if Contractors have performed well on past and recent projects. Rating of either acceptable or unacceptable.

22. Question: Please confirm all pages of the Past and Present Performance Survey have been included, #2 on page 1 of 3 instructs to complete page 2-4 however there is no page 4.

Answer: Confirm there is no page 4.

23. Question: What is the definition of ‘Prime Contractor’- will the FWS consider an entity Prime on past experience based on over 50% of project self-performed though entity was not the direct contract holder with the owner?

Answer: Prime Contractor is the direct contract holder not a subcontractor

24. Question: For phase one submissions, is there a form the FWS would like completed for Factor 1 – Recent Relevant Experience?

Answer: No

25. Question: For phase one submissions, Can the Prime Contractor and the Design Contractor list the same project for factor 1 and/or factor 2 (teamed previously)? If yes, will the experience count as one project for both the prime contractor and the design contractor?

Answer: Yes, can submit the same project. Experience will count as one project for the Prime and one project for the design contractor.

26. Question: Is there a page lime for the phase one submission?

Answer: No

27. Question: Do the contracts included in the Past Performance Survey have to match the Prime Contractor and Design Contractor Recent Relevant Experience presented in section 2.a or can they be different?

Answer: They can be different

28. Question: Please verify if State of New Mexico Prime Contractor License will be required at the time of proposal, or simply required prior to project award. Our firm is in the process of acquiring a State of New Mexico Prime Contractor License and we want to verify that this is acceptable.

Answer: Required at time of proposal