J&A_HHS_OMHA_ECH_Design_&_CA_Services_final_combined.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A)

Exception to Fair Opportunity Under the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contracts

(FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C))

Agencies: The Requiring Activities are the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), located at 5201 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041, and the United States General Services Administration, Public Building Service, Northwest/Arctic Region (R10), Design & Construction Division, Project Management Branch, located at 400 15th Street SW, Auburn, WA 98001.

The Contracting Activity is the United States General Services Administration, Public Building Service, Northwest/Arctic Region (R10), Design and Construction Division, Construction Acquisition Branch, located at 400 15th Street SW, Auburn, WA 98001.

1. Nature and/or description of the action being approved: The proposed action is to modify an existing task order GS-P-10-16-LT-7068 under Contract GS-10P-14-LT-D-0072, with ECH Architecture PS to include bridging design services and subsequent Construction Administration services throughout the pre-construction and construction phases of the tenant improvement project for the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Medical Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) at the United States District Courthouse, located at 700 Stewart Street, Seattle, WA.

Bridging design services, with follow-on construction administration assistance services, are needed as soon as possible to get the project back on track, as attempts have failed to gain a qualified design-builder to design and construct the tenant build-out through full and open competition. With a mandate for HHS/OMHA to be up and operational in their new space by September 31, 2018, it is critical to keep the project moving forward with an experienced and knowledgeable A-E firm that is intimately familiar with the courthouse, the background of the project, and HHS/OMHA’s downscaled project requirements.

The work being added falls within the scope of the competitively awarded GSA/PBS/R10, small business set-aside professional Architectural/Engineering (A/E) services Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (MATOCs). Four contracts were awarded on September 24, 2014, for areas in the Northwestern contiguous United States including Washington State. Each of the contracts has exercised options with periods of performance that are through the timeframe needed to complete the HHS/OMHA tenant build-out project.

Firm Contract ECH Architecture PS GS-10P-14-LT-D-0072 Hennebery Eddy Architects, Inc. GS-10P-14-LT-D-0075 Hummel Architects, PLLC GS-10P-14-LT-D-0069 OH Planning+Design, Architecture GS-10P-14-LT-D-0073

2. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is codified under 48 C.F.R. 31. FAR Subsection 16.505 (b)(2)(i)(C)) allows the Government to award work on a sole-source basis to an existing contractor in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order. For the sake of efficiency, the additional services will be added to existing task order rather than to award a second follow-on task order for the required services.

ECH Architecture PS (hereafter called ECH) was competitively awarded an A-E task order GS-P- 10-16-LT-7068 on September 26, 2016, to develop a comprehensive Project Development Study (PDS) in support of the HHS OMHA 6th and 11th Floor Tenant Improvement, to be used as a

J&A Exception to Fair Opportunity HHS OMHA Tenant Improvement bridging document for a Design-Build Contractor to design and build the required tenant build-out.

Said procurement was competed and awarded under the existing Small Business set-aside GSA/PBS/R10 A/E IDIQ MATOCs identified in Section 2 above. All of those A/E IDIQ MATOC holders were given fair opportunity to be considered for award of the original task order, and the work that is to be added falls within the existing overall scope of said A/E IDIQ MATOCs.

It is the GSA’s position that incorporating further development of the requirements package under ECH’s existing task order GS-P-10-16-LT-7068 will result in economies of scale, with both cost and time reductions that will provide greater assurance that the project will be delivered by the mandated occupancy date of September 30, 2018. The bridging design services are considered a logical follow-on/extension of the original Project Development Study, as the study provided clear parameters that must be used during all stages of the design – from concept, design development, and even the handoff to the design-builder to complete to construction drawings and build the project. It is noted that the ECH’s team has gained unique knowledge of the current configuration of U.S. District Courthouse and the HHS/OMHA program of requirements for the tenant buildout due to its research, investigation, and development of the PDS. As such, ECH is able to quickly take that knowledge and experience and apply it right away to a design. It is noted that ECH was found to be the most qualified firm for the original PDS work awarded, having assembled a team of professional engineers, architects, and estimators that have the specialized experience needed.

The work will be able to be performed as an extension to the existing task order period of performance, with ECH being able to utilize their current A-E team to perform the new work, thus preventing loss of efficiency and economy. Use of another company would lead to unacceptable delays due to A-E procurement time (estimated at one to two months), duplication of effort and greater costs as a design team would need to be brought onboard, obtain security clearances (estimated at two weeks to one month), review of GSA and HHS/OMHA requirements (estimated at two to three weeks), and perform site investigations, as well as costs if the work is being subcontracted by a different A-E IDIQ MATOC holder. In considering the fastidious nature of client agency regarding design intent, graphics, and other features that it requires, as well as the need for continuity of the design, it was found to be prudent to obtain Construction Administration (CA) services with Commissioning services (Cx) from ECH instead of obtaining Construction Management assistance (Cma) with Cx services via separate procurement. CA services provide for review and enforcement of design intent compliance in addition to scope and schedule enforcement that Cma providers typically provide.

3. Description of the Services: Provide professional architectural and engineering services required to complete bridging design documents through 65% Design Development Stage for the HHS/OMHA tenant improvement project on the 11th floor of the United States District Courthouse, as well as design review/construction administration assistance service during final design, demolition, construction, and commissioning/testing phases of said project. The work includes review of the final design, specifications, construction submittals for compliance with the technical requirements identified in the design-build contract, reviews of Requests For Information (RFI), analysis of technical and cost/pricing data associated with proposed modifications, change orders, and requests for equitable adjustment, inspection of the work and other deliverables during demolition, construction, and closeout, labor law compliance reviews, and other associated services.

Location of Work Summary Description of Work Estimated Cost U.S. District Courthouse, 700 Stewart Street, Seattle WA 98101

Provide all the bridging design services to the 65% level (Design Development Stage), with handoff to the designated design-builder for continuation, completion and execution.

$168,689.60

U.S. District Courthouse, 700 Stewart Street, Seattle WA 98101

Provide Design Review and Construction Administration Assistance services.

$79,219.54

Total Estimated Cost of added services

$247,909.14

4. Fair and Reasonable Pricing: The Contracting Officer will take such necessary steps to ensure that the Government receives a fair and reasonable price for the modification, including use of the appropriate proposal analysis techniques as identified in FAR Subsection 15.404-1 and Subpart 36, and negotiate a fair and reasonable price which will be documented in a decision memorandum for the contract file as required by both FAR and GSAM, as well as address the statuary 6% design fee limitation pursuant to 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

The decision memorandum will capture the pricing environment, information relied upon, price/cost analysis conducted, findings and basis for such determination and document whether or not the quote is the best value in meeting the Government’s needs.

5. Any other facts supporting the justification: It is noted that the unsuccessful and cancelled design-build procurement GS-10-P-17-LT-R-0003 has created the need for adding the above additional A-E services to ECH’s existing task order. The original strategy for this multi-phase, multi-contract, tenant improvement project was for a design-build contractor to develop a full design from the ECH developed PDS and complete demolition and construction for the same.

Unfortunately, current market conditions in the downtown Seattle area yielded pricing for that procurement that was significantly above the Independent Government Estimate and the funded amounts available. Because of the market conditions, major changes were made to the scope and sizes of the project by HHS/OMHA in order to reduce costs to within funding constraints.

This HHS/OMHA project began in 2015 with Phase I of the tenant improvement project involving a temporary buildout by GSA on the 11th floor and half of the 6th floor of the U.S. District Courthouse.

Phase I allowed HHS/OMHA to mark their presence in this region with a minimal staff of administrative judges and legal support. In 2016, Phase II of the project was implemented by GSA, with certain agencies being vacated from the 11th floor and moved to other floors in order to allow for sufficient room for the HHS/OMHA 11th floor buildout. Phase III was partially implemented in 2016, with the award of PDS development of an approximate 26,000 square feet floor plan. The second part of Phase III was for the complete rebuild of the western half of the 6th floor and a majority the 11th floor. All existing walls and ceilings, rooms and spaces were to be demolished.

The scope has been reduced so that the work is primarily with the 11th floor.

6. Statement of the actions to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made:

The GSA will continue to plan out acquisitions as far out as possible, conduct market research and interact with industry to be more aware of current conditions that are driving the market. The situation that occurred regarding the unsuccessful design-build procurement is unusual, especially with full and open competition; advance draft procurement documents, several site visits, and sufficient time for interested parties submit proposals. The downtown Seattle commercial construction market is a builder’s market, with workers in high demand. As such, additional precautions will be taken in the future to ensure that the “pulse” of the market is accurately taken when estimates are created and funding obtained.

7. I certify that that the supporting data for requirements, the rationale for the exception to fair opportunity which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

2/9/2018

X Shawn Duffee, Project Manager

Signed by: General Services Administration

8. Contracting Officer’s Certification: I certify that that the supporting data for requirements, the rationale for the exception to fair opportunity which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

X Keith Ryan Goodsell, Contracting Officer

9. Determination: I hereby determine that this exemption to the fair opportunity is in accordance with FAR Subsection 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)), as it is in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is logical follow-on work for task order GS-P-10-16-LT-7068 awarded under Contract GS-P-10-

16-LT-7068.

Approved by

Dawn Ashton, Senior Contracting Officer Superviory Contract Specialist

Shawn Duffee, Project Manager

8. Contracting Officer’s Certification: I certify that that the supporting data for requirements, the rationale for the exception to fair opportunity which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

2/12/2018

X Keith Ryan Goodsell, Contracting Officer

Signed by: KEITH GOODSELL

9. Determination: I hereby determine that this exemption to the fair opportunity is in accordance with FAR Subsection 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)), as it is in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is logical follow-on work for task order GS-P-10-16-LT-7068 awarded under Contract GS-P-10-

16-LT-7068.

Approved by

Dawn Ashton, Senior Contracting Officer Superviory Contract Specialist Signed by: DAWN ASHTON