HSTS01-12-Q-BMS050_CONTRACTOR QUESTIONS AND TSA RESPONSE.pdf

HSTS01-12-Q-BMS050

CONTRACTOR QUESTIONS AND TSA RESPONSE

Q1) I forgot to ask in my previous email (below) about the incumbent contractor/contract number for Geotechnical and Civil Engineering Report for a TSA building/site located at the Reagan Washington National Airport.

A1) No, there is no incumbent contractor for this requirement.

Q2) In reviewing the solicitation for the above mentioned solicitation, it stated the NAICS code for this acquisition is 541360 “Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services;” however the scope of work described does not fall under this NAICS code. This code is for primarily gathering, interpreting and mapping geophysical data.

A2) In Amendment 00001 to HSTS01-12-Q-BMS050 that was issued 08/03/2012, the NAICS code was changed from 541360 (Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services) to 541330 (Engineering Services).

Q3) We are a Small Business Geotechnical Consulting Firm, so I am wondering if we can team up with another engineering company that provides the Civil Engineering services (i.e. site plans, grade plans…etc. )? If so, should this Civil Engineering company be a small business firm as well?

A3) It is not a requirement that proposed subcontractors be small businesses. Please note compliance with Clause 52.219-14 LIMITATION ON SUBCONTRACTING is required.

Q4) Are there any proposed plans/documents for the building expansion yet? If yes, how can we get them?

A4) Yes, plans were provided for review at the mandatory site visit.

Q5) Can you let me know the approximate size of the renovation/expansion of the TSIF?

A5) 680 square feet and 21’6” from the existing building by 31’8” wide.

Q6) We have been asked by a small business to provide geotechnical engineering services and be part of their team since we have vast experience at this project site. We are not a small business so I wanted to check in and see if it is okay for us to participate in a subcontractor role to a small business.

A6) Refer to A3.

Q7) Are there any site plans that show the proposed TSIF addition? Please let me know.

A7) Refer to A4.

Q8) Will the sign-in sheet from the pre-proposal meeting be available?

A8) No.

Q9) Can you distribute the sign-up sheets?

A9) Refer to A8.

Q10) Are there current as-built surveys of the topography and utilities or surveys performed for the original conversion or post office facility within the area of disturbance for the project available for our use?

A10) Upon award, the original USPS 1995 topography and utilities survey plans will be available for review.

Q11) What if any construction services and/or Bid support will be needed? Are they part of this solicitation?

A 11) No.

Q12) Are resumes of key staff part of the 15 page limit?

A12) Resumes are not required nor is the designation of “key personnel.” However, if a contractor chooses to include resumes, yes, those resumes are included in the 15-page limit for the Volume 1:

Technical Quotation.

Q13) Will MWAA review and approve the plans and issue a permit?

A13) Yes.

Q14) Who are the utility providers for this building? Water, sanitary sewer, stormwater, electric, gas, telecom, etc.?

A14) MWAA is the provider for water, sanitary, sewer, storm water and electric. Washington Gas is the supplier of gas but all work will need to be coordinated with MWAA.

Q15) We request that the list of attendees at the mandatory site visit be distributed to all meeting attendees.

A15) Refer to A8.

Q16) Section II – Statement of Work, Scope, Geotechnical Engineer, 1,b,i states that the geotechnical engineer is to “Review and confirm the applicability of a deep foundation system of steel driven piles to determine if it is the best system suited for project and location”. The drawings distributed during the site visit indicated a pile length of 67 feet.

QUESTION: The recommendation of a specific pile length indicates that the results of a previous geotechnical exploration program have been consulted. Will TSA distribute/make available any previous geotechnical reports to the bidders?

A16) Refer to A4.

Q17) If the geotechnical engineer does not recommend steel driven piles will TSA consider all alternate foundation types, whether deep or shallow foundations are recommended?

A17) TSA will review and consider all recommendations.

Q18) Will field exploration working hours be restricted with respect to time of day, day of week?

A18) Yes, in addition to approval from MWAA, TSA will review and approve the time of day, and days of week, provided in schedule submittal of the successful contractor.

Q19) Will an area be designated so that drills and other exploration equipment can be left on site during non-work hours?

A19) Upon award of contract, TSA will work with the contractor and MWAA on off hour parking.

Q20) Is a water source available on site?

A20) Yes, the building has an outside domestic water connection.

Q21) Can field personnel utilize restroom facilities inside the TSA offices or is a portable toilet required?

A21) All field personnel will be escort to TSA restroom facilities per arranged schedule.

Q22) Can the entrance to 3701 Post office Road be blocked, if needed, during field exploration activities?

A22) Only the visitor parking area of 3701 Post Office Road can be blocked; all other roadway blocking will require permitting from MWAA.

Q23) What is the foundation system of the existing building (pile types, lengths, capacities)?

A23) Upon award of the contract, the original USPS 1995 building plans and pile specifications will be available for review as necessary.

Q24) Is the geotechnical report for the existing facility available?

A24) Upon award of contract, the original USPS 1995 existing geotechnical report will be available for review.

Q25) Will a professional liability limitation of $1 million be used? If not, what amount will be used?

A25) The successful contractor must comply with MWAA’s permit and insurance requirements, and must provide proof of professional liability of at least $1 million in Volume II of their quotation responses.

Q26) Which volume should the signed Addendum 1 be included in?

A26) Amendment A00001 to the RFQ requires the contractor to “please review and sign the attached SF 30 RFQ Amendment and include it as part of your quotation response package.” Please include the signed SF 30 in the Volume II.

Q27) Will topographic and planimetric survey information be provided or will we need to survey?

A27) Upon award of contract, the original hard copy USPS 1995 design drawings will be available for review.

Q28) Will as-built utility information be provided or will we need to survey and designate?

A28) Upon award of contract, confirmation of the exiting as-build utility information is required.

Q29) What is the approximate size of the area of work in sq ft or acres?

A29) Refer to A5.

Q30) Will the building/expansion require separate utilities i.e. water , sanitary , storm roof drains?

A30) There will be no new sanitary services but the canopy roof drain will day light in the existing location.

Q31) Will the building/expansion require separate /independent ADA accessibility?

A31) The proposed design meets ADA 2010.

Q32) Are there any associated parking or loading spaces associated with the building/expansion?.

A32) The existing parking space will be reduced by 2 parking spaces.

Q33) The RFP mentions the work is to be completed in 50 days. Are those business or calendar days?

A33) 50 business days.

Q34) We assume the 50 days does not include any external reviews and or regulatory approvals. Please confirm.

A34) The 50 days are to include all reviews and regulatory approvals.

Q35) We assume the Airport has an overall stormwater management plan in place and that this project will not require individual storm water quality or quantity control storage systems. Please confirm.

A35) You will need to confirm this with MWAA upon award of contract, the existing canopy roof drain day lights in the existing location.

Q36) Will the submittal of the geotechnical and site civil engineering work be required to be 100% complete upon the initial submission or are interim milestone submissions anticipated?

A36) All submission are to be provided to the government at 100% complete, but submissions will be reviewed for approval prior to acceptance.

Q37) We understand per FAR Clause 52.219-14 (c) that at least 50% of the cost of contract must expended for employees of the prime small business contractor in order to qualify as total-small business. However, our team is constructed of two small business concerns, a civil and a geotechnical firm. If the entire team is small business: a) does it matter who is the prime contractor? b) can the geotech be the lead/prime contractor and have less than 50% of the fee?

A 37) Per Clause 52.219-14 LIMITATION ON SUBCONTRACTING, at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel must be expended for the prime contractor. Regardless of whether they are the geotechnical contractor or not, the prime contractor must incur the majority of the price.

Q 38) Will the Civil Portion of the Project be designed to MWAA ‘Design Manual’ standards and if so what edition of the Standards will be used?

A38) You will be required to designed to 2010 MWAA Design Manual;

http://www.mwaa.com/534.htm

Q39) Will the Project be submitted and Reviewed by MWAA?

A39) Yes.

Q40) Are there existing MWAA ‘Lease Lines’ that have to be honored?

A40) Yes.

Q41) Is there an ‘Architect’ selected for the Project and if so what coordination roll will they play?

A41) Yes.

Q42) Will Storm Water Management be included in the ‘Civil Design Package’?

A42) Coordination with MWAA is required.

Q43) If SWM is required can a waiver of that requirement be addressed?

A43) You will need to coordinate with MWAA. Refer to A30 and 35.

http://www.mwaa.com/534.htm�

Q44) Will the entire TSA site be subjected to SWM requirements?

A44) You will need to coordinate with MWAA. Refer to A30 and 35.

Q45) Will ‘Maintenance of Traffic’ plans be required for the construction area?

A45) Any proposed interruptions of the existing traffic flow will need to be coordinated with MWAA.

Q46) Is there an ADA requirement for ‘Accessible Access’? If so, will the handicap accessible ramp be part of this project or will it be covered by the civil drawings?

A46) Refer to A31.

Q47) During the site visit/plan review it was noticed the reference to civil drawings but they were not provided for viewing. Will the civil drawings be available for viewing?

A47) Refer to A10, A23, A24, and A27.

Q48) During the site walk-thru numerous utilities were observed in the area of the expansion of the building, i.e. sanitary cleanout, canopy drain, electrical manhole, etc.; will the relocation of those utilities be part of the scope of this project or they will be covered in the civil drawings?

A48) The relocation of any utilities necessary for the expansion will be part of the Civil Design Package.

Q49) Will the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans be a requirement of the scope of this project or will they be covered by the civil drawings?

A49) Any Storm water requirements will be part of the Civil Design Package in this scope of work.

Q50) Will there be any interim submittals of the project, (50%; 100% etc.)

Q50) Refer to A36.

Q51) Is existing Geotechnical Data of adjacent structures available? If so, can the data be made available to enable reduction of field testing?

A51) MWAA may have this information however TSA does not have access to adjacent building documentation. All requests for this information must be routed through MWAA.

Q52) The Scope talks of Deep Foundation System (H-piles) for the proposed one story structure. Is a different foundation system (deep, shallow or intermediate) acceptable to TSA?

A52) TSA will consider alternative foundation designs however the successful contractor will be asked to consider the feasibility of the proposed foundation design and will be accountable for their recommendations.

Q53) Has TSA considered that driven piles may be detrimental to existing structure?

A53) Any recommendations related to this concern should be included in the final study report.

Q54) The Scope requires determination of bearing capacity of piles. Load information is required in order to size the pile and determine tip elevation. Will TSA / Structural Engineer provide loading information?

A54) Yes, the Structural Engineer will provide this information upon award of contract.

Q55) If TSA will not provide loading information, should consultant assume a range of loads typical to a one-story structures and provide corresponding tip elevations for a given size pile?

A55) Loading information will be provided upon award of contract.

Q56) Is it correct that it is required to ‘determine anticipated settlement of foundation system of the existing TSIF building’?

A56) Any concerns or findings with regard to building settlement should be included in the final report.

Q57) Is it OK to assume the existing structure is not settling?

A57) Any conclusions about settlement of the existing building should be based upon the contractor’s findings at the site.

Q58) Are there any distresses observed on the existing structure to suggest it is settling?

A58) TSA is not aware of any visible distress however this should be verified in the field

Q59) We can imagine the requirement to determine the settlement of the planned addition and suggest ways to minimize that settlement?

A59) That is not within the scope of this requirement.

Q60) What is the weight of each of the evaluating factors: 1 (Technical Approach), 2 (Past Performance), and 3 (Price)? (Reference page 28) A60) There is no numerical weight assigned to the evaluation factors; each of the evaluation factors is weighted in terms of importance relative to the other evaluation factors (i.e. ‘order of importance’). The non-price factors, the Technical Approach and Past performance, are ranked in descending order of importance above Price. The Technical Approach is more important than Past Performance, and both the Technical Approach and Past Performance are individually more important than Price. However, in instances where the quotes become more equal in their non-price factors (i.e. the quotes are more equivalent to each other in terms of their Technical Approaches and Past Performances), the Price will become more equal in importance to the non-price factors. Refer to page 27 of the RFQ.

Q61) The Survey trucks will, of necessity, have to be granted free access to the site at all times, is this a problem?

A61) Access to the public way for vehicles is not restricted. Any obstructions to the public way will need to be coordinated with MWAA. Access to the TSIF parking lot is controlled by TSA. Access to any restricted MWAA areas should not be required for the performance of the scope of work.

Q62) If it is your intent that our personnel work at your facility on your computer hardware, is parking supplied for employees or will they have to pay for it?

A62) The non-site specific work may take place in the offices or other facilities of the successful contractor. There is limited visitor parking onsite available on a first come, first serve basis. Paid parking is available in the nearby economy lot.

Q63) Are you supplying Structural specifications for the piles?

A63) The successful contractor is asked to make a recommendation for the optimal pile design should that approach be recommended. In addition, the scope includes an analysis of the proposed pile design for which structural specifications will be provided

Q64) Will you supply the winning team with the specifications for civil technical work?

A 64) It is anticipated that some utility relocation will be required. Upon award of contract all civil information included in the 1995 as built hard copy set will be provided to the successful contractor.

Q65) What will be the level required for flood elevation data? Will there be a need for a Flood Elevation Certificate?

A65) Coordinate requirements with the MWAA 2010 Design Manual.

Q66) Would the successful firm receive a digital Civil 3D file of the Project to use at our office? Or, is it your intent that our personnel work at your facility on your computer hardware; if so, will you provide the necessary Civil Engineering and Surveying programs?

A66) The successful contractor will perform all non-site specific work in their own facilities. Editable electronic files will be provided by the Architect for coordination purposes. Neither TSA nor the Architect is in possession of a “digital Civil 3D file” for this project.

Q67) Is it acceptable for a small business firm to be a prime and a sub-contractor with different teams on this project?

A67) As long as the firm complies with the government responses provided in this document regarding subcontracting and the clauses, terms, and conditions of the solicitation, TSA has no aversion to a firm submitting a quotation as a prime contractor and also being included on another quotation as a subcontractor.

Q68) Does the SMALL BUSINESS needs to be registered as small business in District of Columbia? Or as long as it meets the SBA Standards?

A68) In order to confirm that your company is a Small Business eligible for award, your company must be registered as a Small Business under NAICS code 541330 in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessible at www.sam.gov.

http://www.sam.gov/�