McAllen_-_Pre_Proposal_Conference_Agenda_with_Q A.pdf

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE AGENDA

Multiple Award IDIQ Construction & Repair/Alterations

For Border McAllen Border Zone GSA, PBS, Greater Southwest Region 7

Solicitation GS-07P-13-HH-D-0040 Thursday – January 23, 2014, 1:30 PM CST, Call in number: (817)978-7277

Minutes of the meeting are in red by the corresponding agenda item:

1. Greetings and Introductions: The main purpose of the meeting is to offer you all an opportunity to ask questions or request clarifications. I will go over the main points on the solicitation package, give some pointers on how to prepare your proposals. There will still be an opportunity to submit questions in writing, but this is another chance to clarify any questions on the solicitation package. This is a set-aside for Small Business; there are instructions on partnering agreements, if required.

A. No oral statements made shall change the solicitation – all changes will be documented in a written amendment posted to FBO.

B. Sign in

1) In person attendees must sign the sign-in sheet. See end of this document for copies of the sign-in sheets in McAllen, TX and Fort Worth, TX.

2) Other attendees must email their contact info. (name, organization, phone number, solicitation number, and email) to ISAAC.KARTO@GSA.GOV

C. Minutes and questions & answers will be issued in an amendment to the solicitation.

D. Submit all questions in writing to the Contract Specialist (Isaac Karto).

E. Facilitators: Isaac Karto, Zach Rich, and Santos Castillo

2. Solicitation Package Review

A. POP and deadlines for questions / proposals (cover page). This is a multiple award

Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract for general construction, repair and alterations, with one base year and four (1) year options. So if all options are exercised this will be a five (5) year contract. The deadline for questions is January 30, 2014, please send your questions to Isaac Karto; and the deadline for proposals is February 20, 2014.

There are a lot of detail instructions on the solicitation on how to submit your proposals, please read those carefully, but we’ll be going over those today as well. Proposals should be submitted as hard copies, the only thing that we need submitted electronically is the

Line Item pricing, which needs to be submitted as an Excel spreadsheet on a flash drive.

B. Initial for amendments (SF 1442 pg. 2) Make sure you initial and date acknowledgment of amendments for this solicitation on the second page of the SF 1442.

Also need to sign the front page of the SF 1442 and send it back with the proposal.

C. Line Items and OTNWH factor (Pricing Form). The Line items prices should be fully loaded prices. The only thing that should not be included in those prices is bonding.

Bonding will be a separate line item price that you will include at the task order level. The line item prices should include profit, overheard, and any other fees you will incur. The line items are for work to be performed during normal working hours. The last line item price is a factor for other than normal working hours (not overtime but shift). The factor is for instances when we ask you to do work outside the normal working hours; what factor do we need to apply to the line items for that work so that you’re covered for any additional costs? Make sure you fill that out (as a percentage factor). Please make sure the prices you submit are clear, there are no typos, added zeros, and that the hard copy you give us matches the Excel spreadsheet you submit.

D. Description of services to be provided. This is a construction IDIQ, Santos will talk about what work is typically included. Santos: the majority of what the contract will cover is R&A (repairs and alterations), build out, gypsum, electrical, a little bit of mechanical

(not a whole lot), the majority of the items are things that when you walk into a room, if you see it, touch it, then it’s what will be involved. There is a small portion of case work.

That is what is on the line items.

E. MOL and base year minimum guarantee (I.A.). The maximum order limitation (MOL) will be $2 Million per each contract per year, we anticipate making up to 5 awards, but we reserve the right to make fewer than that, but our optimum would be 3, but we could go up to 5. Task order limitation is $500,000. Minimum guarantee is $2,000 for the base year only. So if during the base year you don’t receive a task order, you are guaranteed the $2,000. We are hoping to use all our IDIQ contractors.

F. List of documents included with solicitation (I.B.). There is a list of documents that were included in the solicitation, for representations and certifications (reps and certs) that you need to fill out. The Standard Form (SF) 1442 that’s the one we discussed earlier regarding signatures. The Agreement and the solicitation package will become your contract. The hypothetical statement of work will be discussed in detail later, but you are required to give us a quote for this hypothetical project. The technical specifications is a separate attachment in FedBizOpps, it gives more details about the line items. The line items and the pricing form, we already went over. The list of counties in the zone as well as the wage determinations for these counties; and there is also a map of the zone, more details to come.

G. Proposal Contents (II.A.). The section on proposal contents gives you a lot of details on what we are looking for in your proposal. Proposals should be in two volumes: price proposal and technical proposal. Price proposal will be your SF 1442, the line item prices, your pricing for the hypothetical project, reps and certs; and if you are going to be proposing as joint venture, all the information that needs to be submitted is described in this section. Again, two volumes in hard copy and the line item pricing in Excel on a flash drive.

H. Technical Proposal / non-price Evaluation Factors (II.D.). The technical proposal factors and what you need to address: management plan, experience, past performance, quality and accuracy of hypothetical proposal, qualifications and experience of key personnel and evidence of local office. These are listed in order of importance.

EXPERIENCE: Provide samples of five projects successfully completed in the past five years, and within this zone, or within a 50-mile radius of this zone.

PAST PERFORMANCE: List five (5) construction projects that your firm has successfully completed over the last 5 years from the date of issuance of this solicitation, and within this zone, or within a 50-mile radius of this zone. All 5 projects must, at a minimum, contain these items listed.

I. Minimum and Maximum order limitations. Minimum order you may receive is $2,000.

There may be jobs below that which will be sent to you, you may or may not accept those;

however, we need to be notified of refusal in a timely manner. Most of the task orders will be between $2,000 and $500,000.

J. TO Procedures. Anything over $150,000 will have to be competed among the awardees in the zone. If task order is below $150,000 and at least 85% line item work, we will look at your line item prices for those included in the order, and the order will be awarded to whoever has the lowest line item price for the 85% of the work. Anything below $150,000 and less than 85% line item work will be competed among the awardees for the zone.

K. Carpet only TOs. The Services Contract Act was included in this solicitation to have the ability to issue task orders for carpet only. These orders will be competed among the awardees of the zone regardless of the dollar value. These rarely happen, but we wanted to have the ability to issue these orders if the need arises. These are not line items so you don’t have to quote those out front. Question: when you say carpet only, is that furnish and install? Yes, it is furnish and install and probably removing the old, it will be a turnkey type of project. These will be by competition only. A request for quote will be sent to all the IDIQ holders in the zone. What we did here was to include the Service Contract Act because it’s technically a service if you are doing carpet only task orders. In the past, we have been precluded from using our construction IDIQs because we didn’t have the

Service Contract Act included in those contracts. When we send you the RFQ, you have the option not to quote on these task orders.

L. Security Requirements. We are expecting the awardees’ key personnel appointed to these contracts to obtain and retain security clearances for the duration of the contract. If employees leave contractor’s employment, the CO should be notified immediately and security badges for those employees need to be returned to the CO.

M. Method of Award – Discussions. This section breaks down the importance of the technical factors for evaluation purposes. The non price factors when combined are significantly more important than price. We intend to evaluate proposals and make awards without discussions, so make sure you give us your best prices and technical proposals up front; but we do reserve the right, as always, to negotiate if we decide we need to; and go back to those firms highly rated to negotiate and discuss.

N. Unbalanced Pricing. We are going to evaluate the overall, total price; but we are also going to look at your prices. If they are unbalanced we can’t make an award; so make sure you are not trying to price some things higher and/or lower in order to make your overall price a set number. Your prices need to be balanced, they need to make sense, and they need to be reasonable.

O. Hypothetical SOW – will be evaluated for both price and technical. Make sure you review the hypothetical statement of work; this is a template of what a RFQ, if you’re an awardee, might look like. So we are going to use this as part of the technical and part of the pricing evaluations to see how you would do in that case. So if you have any questions or need any clarification, please don’t hesitate to ask. We are looking for your ability to read the scope and give us a quote; so if there is anything that we need to clarify by all means let us know. See the Bid Summary for how the quote has to be submitted (by divisions).

P. Waste Diversion (on Bid Summary for Hypothetical SOW). An estimate for the waste diversion factor (last line on the bid summary for the hypothetical) needs to be submitted. As part of GSA’s Sustainability initiative, GSA wants to partner with our contractors to combine our efforts to recycle, divert and re-use as much as possible.

This requirement to track materials that have been recycled, diverted and re-used will be included in the base IDIQs as well as at the task order level (whether line item or lump sum). This should be a neutral type cost for both the contractor and GSA. In the hypothetical, based on your experience, estimate what can be recycled, diverted or re-used; and how you would go about doing this.

Q. Historical workload distribution map. The map is for informational purposes only.

This is from historical data, the darker the green; the more dollars were spent in that area. Another reason we supplied this is because we are not going to allow a charge or fee for mobilization; so if you get a line item task order anywhere within the zone, we expect you to perform for the line item prices. Outside the line items and over

$150,000, you will be providing a quote, so you could in fact add your costs as you normally would.

R. List of Counties included in this zone.

S. Biobased Products (52.223-2). Green requirements are getting bigger and more important, so please be sure you are aware of this one.

3. Tips for preparing a proposal

A. Read the entire solicitation and amendments.

B. Do not hesitate to ask questions. Deadline for questions: January 30, 2014.

C. Ensure your proposal contains all items requested in the solicitation, and fully addresses the submittal requirements for each evaluation factor.

D. Never assume we know about your company or your performance. Your company will be evaluated based on the proposal submitted.

QUESTIONS RECEIVED BY THE DEADLINE.

1. Please help me with the Cost Estimate for Project # GS-07P-13-HH-D-0040?

The Maximum Order Limitation (MOL) for this contract is $2 million a year, per contractor. The contract will be for 1 base year and four (1) year option periods.

2. How many contracts will be awarded in this region?

We anticipate awarding between 3 and 5 contracts for this zone. But we reserve the right to make any other number of awards.

3. Are there any additional line items anticipated?

No, the line items provided are those that you should submit prices for.

4. How will the line items for labor only be used?

They will mainly be used when we already have materials and just need the labor provided.

They will not be combined with other line items, as the other line items include both materials and labor.

5. Will travel time be recognized as a line item for remote locations?

No, there will be no travel costs allowed to be added on line item task orders. Please review the map for historical spend in the zone, so you can have a better idea of where the work will most likely take place. For lump sum Task Orders where we send out a Request for Quotes (RFQ) you will be able to include whatever you would like in your quote.

6. The bid summary sheet for the sample project has line items for Overhead and Profit, are these items to be bid separately, or included in the published line items?

The sample or hypothetical project is a non-line item project. In other words you should not use your line items to bid on this project. In your line item prices (not the hypothetical) overhead and profit should be included in the line item prices.

7. What bid format will be used for projects that have less than 85% line items?

Task Orders for requirements that are: bellow the SAT and less than 85% line item work, or at the SAT, or above the SAT, will be competed among all eligible IDIQ contractors for the zone.

Contractors in the secondary performance area may also be solicited, if needed, and at the discretion of the ordering contracting officer. The ordering contracting officer shall issue a lump sum Request for Quote (RFQ) to all eligible IDIQ contractors for that zone, and those in the secondary performance area (if needed), who have not reached their MOL for the year (or will not exceed their yearly MOL if awarded this TO). After receipt of quotes, and consideration of the factors stated in the RFQ, the ordering contracting officer shall issue a TO to the responsible contractor whose proposal offers the best value to the government.

8. There are no published wage rates for “Soft floor layer”, however, the Statement of Work states that carpet replacement will be part of the contract, will the contracting officer publish a wage rate to be used for the several different Davis-Bacon Acts used in the region?

Carpet is considered a Service, so the Service Contract Act, and those applicable wage rates will apply to carpet only projects.

MH Division 1-General Condition.

9. Are they figured by Tasks orders given?

These line items will be used at the Task Order level, if an when GSA has government furnished materials and needs laborers. There is a $2,000 minimum Task Order level so the contractor(s) will not be required to perform any projects under that minimum.

10. Are they figured from home base office to work site? Or Both?

These line items should be fully loaded. But again these line items will most likely be used in combination with other line items, and will be just a portion of a task order. We will not require a vendor to send out an individual for a few hours of work, again there is a $2,000 minimum task order.

11. I did not see an estimated cost for the Multiple Award IDIQ Contract for Construction, Repair & Alteration Services For GSA-Owned & Leased Facilities in the McAllen Border Zone project in the bid documents. Is there an estimated costs available?

The minimum task order will be $2,000, the maximum task order will be $500,000. In our market research and historical data search we found the majority of task orders (in the past) have been between $10,000 and $50,000.

12. Can I get a copy of the January 23rd Pre-bid sign in sheet for the IDIQ Contract for Construction, Repair & Alteration Services For GSA-Owned & Leased Facilities in the McAllen Border Zone?

A copy of the sign in sheet is attached as part of this amendment.

Requesting clarification of a bona fide office as stated in RFP, II.D. Technical Proposal

(6) Evidence of Local office.

13. Please define and list requirements for a Bona fide office under a Total Small Business restriction.

For this solicitation, a bona fide office is an office that is located in or within 50 Miles of the Zone. If you are registered in SAM with a main address within the zone, or within 50 miles little other evidence is required to support your SAM registration. However, if your main office is not within the zone you should provide evidence to support the fact that you have a bona fide office within the zone, or within a 50 mile radius of the zone (ie. Lease agreement, copies of utility or other bills, etc.).

15. Will evidence of the office need to be submitted in the bid submission or by time of award?

Yes, evidence of a local office should be submitted in the initial proposal.

16. If an item amount is greater than the RS MEANS rate needed to cover additional cost that maybe incurred due to distance from central location, will that item be disqualified due to the additional cost?

We will primarily be evaluating your overall line item price. We will only be looking at individual line items for balance and to make sure each is reasonable. So your line item should not be so much higher than our IGE or the other competitive offers that we cannot determine it's reasonable, but a slightly higher or lower line item price alone will not disqualify your proposal.

17. What will be the minimum security clearance required?

All contractors will be required to have at least a background check to do work on Federal Facility. If they are going to be doing work on a continuous basis, they need to have an HSPD- 12 clearance.

18. If construction supervisor has five year clearance and badge with his presence at the job site, can our subcontractors be vetted for the work to be performed and the supervisor be the person escorting them at the job site?

If the subcontractor will only be doing work for a few hours they could be escorted (by an individual from your company with a full clearance). If they will be doing work for a few days, or routinely they should get the background check and clearance.

19. As far a bid bond, Is a bid bond required for our price proposal or once task orders are assigned then we will be required to provide a payment and performance bond if it exceeds $150,000.00?

No bid or performance bond is required with your proposal for this solicitation. After award you will be required to get liability insurance (as stated in the solicitation). At the Task Order level bonds will be required per the FAR (over $150,000) and between $30,000 and $150,000 a bond or other type of financial security (letter of credit, etc) will be required.