MHU_Forensic_CAAS_SOO_-_UPDATED_7.22.15.pdf

Advisory and Assistance Services

Sprinkler System Quality assurance and Forensic Monitoring

Statement of Objectives (SOO)

FEMA is seeking the Advisory and Assistance Services of a contractor to support its Manufactured

Housing Unit (MHU) Program through the investigation and forensic analysis of MHU failures and general performance. The MHU Program supports FEMA with disaster survivors housing as well as legal missions under the economy act and other legal mission. For disaster survivors this is accomplished by placing them in temporary housing until the survivor is able to transition back to a long term or permanent housing solution.

Part 1: Overview

This contract will support the MHU Sprinkler System Program by providing the following services:

1. Conduct forensic analysis and investigations of potential defects to determine the root cause;

2. Provide potential repairs and/or review a vendor’s proposed repairs of analyzed defects;

3. Conduct environmental, health and safety reviews and/or investigations of MHUs to determine if there are any issues that could impact health or safety;

4. Conduct environmental assessments of units if there is damage (e.g., water intrusion, microbial growth);

5. Conduct post event analysis in the case of a fire in an MHU to determine cause;

6. Conduct post event analysis of the effectiveness of the residential fire sprinkler system;

7. Conduct post event analysis of the residential fire sprinkler system’s compliance with

FEMA’s contract requirements including HUD Standards, FEMA Rugged Based

Requirements and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 501, NFPA 501A and NFPA

13D;

8. Provide recommendations if there are issues resulting from manufacturing; storage;

transportation; installation; or, maintenance; and,

9. Investigate Root causes of incidents within MHU’s such as fires, leaks, and all other potential failures within MHU’s.

The contractor shall develop a Performance Work Statement (PWS) which will describe how the contractor will perform the required services. The contractor’s efforts shall be independent of all other parties involved in FEMA’s MHU program.

Part 2: Purpose

PURPOSE: FEMA is seeking contractors to provide Advisory and Assistance Technical Support to the

Agency to investigate, analyze and recommend changes when issues are discovered in FEMA’s

Manufactured Housing Unit (MHU) program. The FEMA MHU program oversees the entire lifecycle of the MHUs from the development of requirements, through purchasing the MHU, storing them, transporting the MHUs, installing and maintaining the MHUs when in use to deactivation and disposal.

The MHUs that FEMA purchases are required to be in compliance with HUD standards; FEMA contract requirements; the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) and NFPA standards.

This task includes discovering the root cause of a wide variety of issues that are discovered during the

MHU life cycle. The Agency’s desire is having these services will lead to a better end product.

Part 3: Scope and Mission

This contract will encompass the following phases of the MHU life cycle: storage and use. During any of these phases, the contractor may be called upon to review designs or MHUs to ensure that the MHUs does not have any health safety or environmental issues as well as determine causes of fires and review performance of residential fire sprinkler systems. The contractor shall provide all labor, materials, tools, and equipment (unless specified as government provided property).

Part 4: Place and Period of Performance

The place of performance shall be at one of the following locations: the contractor’s facility; MHU manufacturing facilities; FEMA’s Manufactured Housing Storage Site (MHSS); or FEMA’s

Manufactured Housing Staging Area (MHSA); or other locations within the continental United States.

FEMA may require the contractor to perform some or all of these tasks simultaneously at multiple locations.

The Period of Performance shall be for one Base Period of 12 months and two (2) 12-month Option

Periods.

Part 5: Background

FEMA provides MHUs under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (Stafford Act) and related authorities as well as through the Economy Act and other legal authorities. The primary use of MHUs is under the Stafford Act. The Stafford Act authorizes FEMA to provide MHUs acquired by purchase or lease, directly to individuals or households who, because a lack of available housing would be unable to make use of financial assistance.

FEMA agency policy requires (except in the case of a catastrophic disaster) that MHUs used by FEMA are built to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards as set forth in 24 CFR

3280 (Manufactured Home Construction Safety Standards, et. seq.).

Additionally, FEMA is required by law to ensure that there are MHUs that meet the Uniform Federal

Access Standards (UFAS) which are the Federal government’s implementation to meet the Architectural

Barriers Act, as amended, (ABA), 42 U.S.C. 4151-4157 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of

1973, (Rehab Act) as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794). The ABA requires that facilities designed, built, altered, or leased with funds supplied by the United States Federal Government are accessible to people with disabilities. The Rehab Act mandates equal access to federal programs and services for people with disabilities. UFAS must be applied during the design, construction, and alteration of buildings and facilities so that Federal and federally-funded facilities are accessible to people with disabilities to the extent required by the ABA. As UFAS is a key requirement for FEMA MHU production the contractor must have an understanding of the UFAS requirements that as implemented in FEMA MHUs.

FEMA also has an internal policy that requires MHUs to include Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems.

FEMA has chosen to implement the Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems by implementing the following

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards:

NFPA 501 – Standard on Manufactured Housing;

NFPA 501A – Standard for Fire Safety Criteria for Manufactured Home Installations, Sites, and

Communities; and, NFPA 13D – Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family

Dwellings and Manufactured Homes.

In addition, FEMA has developed performance requirements to meet FEMA’s operational needs. The operations requirements are found in contracts awarded to manufacture MHUs which include FEMA’s

Rugged Based Requirements.

To effectively execute FEMA’s missions, FEMA seeks to have high quality MHUs ready for deployment when an event occurs. Oversight of the design and production processes will help to ensure FEMA receives high quality MHUs.

Vendors may be required to consult with manufactured home vendors, HUD, HUD approved IPIAs and

DAPIAs, State agencies and other private third party agencies that inspect a manufactured home at various stages of production, FEMA storage sites and FEMA installation contractors. Information regarding the DAPIAs can be found at 24 CFR 3282.361 and IPIAs can be found at 24 CFR 3282.

FEMA installs MHUs for disaster survivors at: private sites, sites located on private land either the disaster survivors or someone known by the survivor typically a single MHU being installed;

commercial sites, existing manufactured home parks operating as a commercial business; and, group sites, FEMA purpose built manufactured home parks for disaster survivors.

Part 6: Performance Objectives, Goals and Outcomes

Overall Objectives:

Personnel - The contractor shall provide qualified personnel with the proper skill mix and experience, and the required number of personnel to accomplish the performance objectives.

Materials – The contractor shall provide all necessary supplies, spares, tools, and test equipment, consumables, hardware, software, automatic data processing equipment, documentation, and other applicable properties (Unless otherwise directed by FEMA).

Facilities – No facilities are required in this solicitation.

Organizational processes - The contractor shall provide internal controls, management oversight, and supply support.

Contract Objectives:

The Government is seeking services to:

1. Perform reviews of MHU designs submitted by manufacturers as the designs relate to issues being investigated by the contractor;

2. Review FEMA requirements as the designs relate to issues being investigated by the contractor;

3. Conduct forensic analysis and investigations of potential defects or other issues in manufactured homes;

4. Conduct environmental, health and safety reviews of manufactured homes;

5. Conduct environmental assessments of units if there is damage (e.g., water intrusion);

6. Conduct forensic analysis of MHUs and associated safety systems to determine if there are any issues regarding compliance with FEMA, UFAS, HUD and NFPA requirements;

7. Conduct post damage environmental, health and safety reviews of MHUs;

8. Investigate fire events in manufactured homes during use;

9. Conduct analysis of the performance of the Residential Fire Sprinkler System to ensure that the Residential Fire Sprinkler System performed as designed and installed;

10. Investigate Root causes of incidents such as fires and leaks, as well as all other potential failures within MHU’s; and,

11. Review MHU and associated systems performance.

As part of their proposal the contractor shall provide a Performance Work Statement (PWS) which shall propose how they will perform the reviews, analysis and investigations for the following:

A) Forensic analysis (Root Cause Analysis) and investigations

Conduct forensic analysis and investigations of potential defects and provide potential repairs or review a vendor’s proposed repairs and assure that MHUs include HUD compliance, NFPA 13D compliance and compliance with FEMA requirements.

The contractor PWS shall propose advisory and assistance services to perform investigations during the period of performance. The contractor PWS shall propose advisory and assistance services to perform forensic analysis (root cause analysis) and investigations during the period of performance.

At a minimum, the contractor shall:

Perform root cause problem analysis investigations for issues that may arise before, during and post production;

Conduct post production audits;

Conduct post production follow up audits/consumer sites;

Establish procedures for preventive action and thresholds for corrective action;

Find and propose a solution/alternative to issues/problems;

Maintain records of issues including but not limited to the cause, manufacturer, resolution and mitigation strategy for future contracts;

Perform inspections in support of forensic analysis of the factory to ensure the manufacturers have adequate quality control;

Maintain records of important conversations/meetings;

Provide technical expertise to assist the government when non-compliance occurs;

Propose recommendations for solutions for non-compliance or other issues by the manufacturer and provide feedback to the government representative;

Work with the government representative to carry out inspections and other investigations

Analyze new technical issues;

Coordinate with the government representative and manufacturer in order to facilitate satisfactory resolution of any issues that may occur;

Conduct design and construction review to evaluate and make recommendations on forensic analysis request;

Identify issues that may require an alternate construction review and approval and report findings to FEMA representative;

Assist with all follow-up monitoring and assessment activities, including site investigation, records reviews, and telephone discussions;

Work with the government representative to carry out inspections and other investigations;

Provide technical support (SMEs, etc.); According to the US Government Office of

Personnel Management – “A subject matter expert, or SME, is a "person with bona fide expert knowledge about what it takes to do a particular job.”

Determine facts and analyze consumption data for the purposes of improving the housing environment or addressing unexpected expenses; and

Conduct post-disaster MHU defect inspections and investigations, special engineering and technical investigations and installation inspections to determine the cause of non-conformance.

B) MHU Safety, Health, and Environmental Reviews

The contractor PWS shall propose advisory and assistance services to execute and deliver comprehensive industrial hygiene, safety, and environmental health to ensure MHUs do not adversely affect the well-being of disasters survivors.

At a minimum, the contractor shall:

Be a subject matter expert (SME) and possess experience with conducting occupational safety, safety engineering, industrial hygiene or environmental health evaluations;

Develop applicable sampling strategies. Performing area, personal, baseline, and ambient air monitoring for chemicals and other hazards as identified in sampling strategies, hazard assessments or historical background;

Perform third party quality assurance and quality control development, oversight and review of occupational safety, safety engineering, industrial hygiene or environmental health issues, projects or concerns;

Develop applicable sampling strategies. Collecting and analyzing air and surface samples for contaminants not commonly associated with baseline indoor air quality or environmental evaluations, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide and others as requested;

Conduct indoor air quality assessments, hygiene assessments, and mold/microbial growth assessments of the FEMA MHUs;

Have industry recognized certifications and capability to perform applicable studies;

Possess adequate equipment to perform industrial hygiene, safety, and environmental health evaluations of MHUs;

Develop data management systems to store and share data gathered during assessments and evaluations, including written reports, environmental readings, facility/building characteristics, and other applicable parameters;

Analyze data and provide written technical reports with data interpretation and recommended courses of action;

Evaluate MHUs for recognized hazards, including but not limited to, asbestos-containing materials, lead-based paint or radon;

Conduct fire protection assessments including, but not limited to, life safety assessments, fire suppression system evaluations, and compliance with other fire protection standards;

Conduct other safety and environmental health related activities, as assigned;

Perform inspections on MHUs to ensure they meet safety, health, and environmental applicable standards;

Provide final results and recommendation of the studies performed;

Have industry recognized certifications and capability to perform applicable studies;

Possess adequate equipment to perform industrial hygiene, safety, and environmental health evaluations of sprinkler systems;

Develop data management systems to store and share data gathered during assessments and evaluations, including written reports, environmental readings, facility/building characteristics, and other applicable parameters;

Analyze data and provide written technical reports with data interpretation and recommended courses of action;

Monitor compliance with regulations, NFPA 501-A, NFPA 13-D, HUD, and the FEMA

Rugged Based Performance Requirements

Conduct other safety and environmental health related activities, as assigned;

Perform inspections on MHU’s to ensure they meet safety and health, environmental applicable standards;

Provide recommendations for corrective actions to ensure MHUs are in compliance with applicable environmental, safety and health standards;

Conduct environmental assessments of units if there is damage (e.g., from water intrusion);

and, Perform environmental analysis.

C) Review FEMA’s MHU requirements

The contractor PWS shall propose advisory and assistance services to enhance current requirements to obtain high quality, cost-effective units.

At a minimum, the contractor shall:

Review FEMA Rugged Performance Based Requirements;

Develop recommendations for new requirements for future use consideration based on findings of monitoring and inspection activities;

Document lessons learned and propose new requirements;

Develop recommendations for new requirements based on new technology;

Review existing storage and installation methods and develop improved requirements to ensure that units will perform as designed and expected;

Monitor the storage and installation of MHUs to ensure compliance with established requirements;

Recommend areas of improvement in the requirements and develop new requirements that will lead to a better, more cost- effective solution;

Research issues, using existing information to the greatest extent possible, involving acceptance or new technologies, products, components, and designs to determine conformance to existing standards; and

Prepare and provide recommendations, draft correspondence, and position papers to improve performance requirements.

Technical objectives:

The contractor PWS shall propose services to accomplish the technical objectives of the project, which are to:

Improve the quality of the manufactured homes;

Determine causes for any defects in MHU’s

Determine that MHU’s meet all FEMA, HUD and NFPA requirements;

Enhance FEMA requirements;

Propose new requirements for future FEMA procurements;

Recommend areas of improvement;

Perform inspections;

Ensure work is performed without impacting FEMA milestones;

Develop and document procedures for managing the contract including a Quality Control

Plan;

Recommend process improvements; and

Ensure MHUS’s meet or exceed FEMA Rugged Based Requirements.

Program objectives:

The contractor PWS shall propose advisory and assistance services to accomplish the program objectives of the project to include:

Assisting FEMA’s goal of providing high quality manufactured homes to disaster survivors;

Assisting FEMA’s goal of ensuring that manufacturers meet the contract requirements;

Assisting FEMA with monitoring contract quality;

Determining the root causes of MHU and related system deficiencies;

Improving performance.

Part 7: Constraints

The services identified in this SOO will adhere to the rules, regulations, laws, standards and conventions identified by FEMA as well as within the Federal Government.

Due to the nature of the requirement, the contractor shall expect changes in the industry that may occur during the course of performance, such as, but not limited to:

The type and numbers of post-design or post-production problems experienced in the field;

The frequency and extent of natural disasters;

Special factory, retailer, transport, installation, or site inspection issues and;

New regulations or statutory requirements.

The contractor, as part of performance, may have to work with or interact with state, local, tribal and territorial governments and their regulatory agencies including but not limited to:

Building inspection

Planning

Zoning

Law enforcement

Fire departments

Departments of public safety

Part 8: Additional Details

Award Overview

FEMA anticipates that this solicitation will result in a single award Requirements Type Contract for the services required for Manufacturing Oversight. FEMA will issue task orders under these contracts as required to meet the needs of the Agency’s disaster response/recovery operations. There is no minimum guarantee under these contracts.

Part 9: Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans (QASP)

Offerors shall include their Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) as part of their proposal.

These plans shall focus specifically on two areas:

a. How the contractor will ensure quality of forensic investigations of MHU’s post-delivery of units/

b. How the contractor will ensure quality in the level of services they are providing.

Part 10: Organizational and Personal Conflicts of Interest (OCI / PCI) Plan

Contractors shall provide a written code of business ethics and conduct applicable to Contractor personnel working on this advisory and assistance services contract to:

Prohibit contractor personnel from participating in a government contract in which they have a personal conflict of interest;

Require contractor personnel to avoid the appearance of loss of impartiality in performing contracted duties for FEMA;

Require contractor personnel to disclose personal conflicts of interest to their employer prior to beginning work on this contract;

Require the contractor to review and address any personal conflicts of interest its employees might have before assigning them to deliver contracted services;

Prohibit contractor personnel from using non-public government information obtained while performing work under the contract for personal gain;

Prohibit contractor employees providing procurement support services from having future employment contact involving a bidder in an ongoing procurement;

Impose limits on the ability of contractor organization and their employees on accepting gifts

(defined as almost anything of monetary value, such as cash, meals, trips, or services) in connection with contracted duties; and

Prohibit misuse of FEMA contract duties to provide preferential treatment to a private interest.

Report any contractor personnel conflict of interest violations to the applicable contracting officer or contracting officer’s representative as soon they are identified.

Maintain effective oversight to verify compliance with personal conflict of interest safeguards, and have procedures in place to screen for potential conflicts of interest for all employees in a position to make or materially influence findings, recommendations, and decisions regarding FEMA contracts and other advisory and assistance functions. This screening can be done on a task-by-task basis or on an annual basis, such as a financial disclosure statement.

Part 11: Non-personal Services

a. In performance of this contract, the contractor will provide services as required by program offices to support management of their overall mission. This will be based upon the task order's performance work statement for the specific effort. Orders will be formally issued to the contract awardee as opposed to individual contractor awardee employees.

b. The services required under the contract constitute professional and management services within the definition provided by FAR 37.201. Under this contract, the Government will obtain professional services, which are essential to the Federal Emergency Management Agency mission but not otherwise available within Federal Emergency Management Agency.

c. The Government will neither supervise contract employees nor control the method by which the contractor performs the required tasks. Under no circumstances shall the Government assign tasks to, or prepare work schedules for, individual contract employees. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to manage their employees and to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services, or give the perception of personal services (See FAR 37.104). If the contractor feels that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the contractor’s further responsibility to notify the Contracting Officer immediately.

d. These services shall not be used to perform work of a policy/ decision making or management nature.

All decisions relative to programs supported by the contractor will be the sole responsibility of the

Government.

Certifications

All employees conducting system analysis and compliance assurance shall possess and maintain current professional certifications in accordance with ASTM E-541 during the execution of this contract.

All compliance assurance auditors are to be certified as quality auditors by the American Society of

Quality (ASQ) or equivalent.