FINAL Justification and Approval GF2B Re-Procurement 20201020.pdf

Justification and Approval - Ground Floor Phase 2B Re-Procurement at the VA Manhattan Medica I

Center, NY

Department o f Veterans Affairs Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

FAR 6.302-5 Authorized or required by statue

1. Identification of the Contracting Activity and the Requiring Agency: Office of Facilities Acquisition, Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) - Eastern Region, Washington, DC.

2. Nature/Description of Action: A new Firm-Fixed Price contract award to Veterans Contracting Group, Inc. (VCG) in accordance with FAR 6.302-5, Authorized or required by statue urgency. VCG is registered and certified in the VetBiz.gov database as a Service- Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) under an approved North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of 236220, Commercial and Institutional Building Construction with the size standard of $39.5 million average annual gross.

3. Description of Supplies and Services: Ground Floor Phase 2B Re-Procurement that is part of the Hurricane Sandy Recovery Major Construction Program at the VA Manhattan Medical Center, NY.

This project includes completion of the remaining statement of work (SOW) of the General Construction contract with Caicedo Construction Corp. which was Terminated for Default on May 7, 2020. The remaining scope includes completion of critical Ground Floor Life-Safety work including design and installation of a fully code-compliant wet pipe Fire Suppression System and Fire Alarm System, corrective work to numerous non-compliant Fire-rated openings, and completion of the Fire Pump Room. Additionally, the completion of the General Construction contract SOW including Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing work and Architectural finishes located in Buildings 1, 2, 5 and 6 on the VAMC campus. The incomplete Life-Safety work has left the fully functioning hospital's staff and patients at fire risk and requires immediate remediation. The estimated price of this award is $2,600,000. The period of performance is 180 calendar days.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority for this action is FAR 6.302-5 Authorized or required by statute. The VA is authorized to sole source this acquisition under FAR 6.302-5(b)(6), Sole Source awards under the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, specifically 38 U.S.C. 8127(c).

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The VA is authorized to sole source to Service Disable Veteran Owned Small Business per 38 U.S.C. 8127(c). VCG is a verified SDVOSB contractor. A sole source is in the best interest of the VA due to the urgency of this requirement. The Ground Floor 2B contract included remediation of Joint Commission (JHACO) and Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) identified Life-Safety deficiencies including non-compliant Fire Suppression System, Fire Alarm System and Egress violations. The Termination for Default was largely based on the GC not sufficiently correcting these systems, thereby leaving the VAMC at even higher risk than before work began. Many Fire-rated openings remain non-compliant and significant areas are completely devoid of fire sprinklers. With a pending Joint Commission accreditation audit, within the next 3 months and the existing high-risk life-safety deficiencies, there is no time to wait for the settlement of the termination. The unresolved existing Life-Safety risk conditions meet the threshold requirements and applicability of urgency.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Due to the urgency of this requirement, the Government determined that competing this effort would be detrimental due to existing life-safety deficiencies. While there are other contractors that may be able to complete this urgent work