Arc Flash Contractor Questions.docx

Arc Flash Contractor Questions

1. Can you confirm that the government has electrical system as-built drawings for all applicable buildings?

Answer – Yes, the government will provide as-built drawings and the contractor will need to verify their accuracy thru field verification.

2. Will it be possible to get a list of equipment prior to proposal submittal?

Answer – An equipment list will not be provide prior to proposal submittal. All equipment in use will have to be field verified after award.

3. What is the limit of the study?

Answer – The limit of the study will be down to every 3 phase 50 AMP circuit and higher back to the transformer feeding the building.

4. Please confirm section C starts on page 7 of 47 of the RFP and the heading is the only thing missing. No additional scope has been omitted.

Answer – Confirmed now scope has been omitted.

5. Do you have an example of the end deliverables that you are intending to implement?

Answer – If you are referring to the submittals, the government does not have any examples that can be shared because the submittals we have are from other contractors.

6. Is there a priority order for the studies for sensitive buildings we need to be made aware of in any of the 16 buildings to provide an assessment?

Answer – No specific priority order but more of an order based on geographical location of the building. Example: Do the buildings closest to each other instead of jumping from one side of the base to other every building.

7. Please confirm each building will be its own stand-alone model for Arc Flash analysis or if the project is wanting all buildings modeled in one model from the utility POI?

Answer – Each building needs to have its own stand-alone analysis model.

8. Whose responsibility is it to obtain the Utility Fault Data feeding the POI for each building, or the main service POI and fault duty and one lines how they feed the building?

Answer – The contractor will be responsible for providing one-line diagrams from the transformer feeding the building assuming infinite fault current pass the transformer.

9. Does each building have its own transformer feeding it and we are to assume infinite fault current available to feed the transformers feeding the buildings?

Answer – Each building is fed from at least one transformer and yes, assume infinite fault current upstream from the transformer.

10. If awarded the work, will a government employee / electrician be available during the site assessments to open equipment and support the verification effort?

Answer – Yes, a government employee will be available for site access and panel access.

11. Why is the funding coming from UNICOR, Federal Prison Industries 3301 Leestown Road Lexington KY, 40511?

Answer – UNICOR is the contract execution avenue that Crane is utilizing to get this work on contract.

12. How current are the existing electrical drawings?

Answer – Each buildings electrical drawings have been updated at different time intervals. Awarded contractor must verify existing conditions to confirm accuracy.

13. Is the client willing to include a complete and accurate set of one-line drawings as part of this study?

Answer – Yes, accurate one-line drawings are needed as a part of this study.

14. When will the Statement of Work be available?

Answer – The Statement of Work is included in the RFP posting.

15. What are the supply voltage levels and the internal voltage levels in the system?

Answer – Contractor must field verify all voltage levels in the system as a part of this study.

16. What software is acceptable for this study to the customer?

Answer – Contractor preferred software is acceptable upon government review.

17. Is this a small business set aside?

Answer – Yes

18. Is this an all or nothing deal? Will different buildings be awarded to different contractors?

Answer – One contractor will be awarded all of the posted work. Award will, at a minimum, be the base bid buildings listed with the possibility of all three bid option buildings.

19. Is the end of 3 phase the lowest voltage to consider?

Answer – Yes

20. In section 4.4 of the RFP it mentions “contractor must have on record a corporate safety plan and shall provide a copy to the COR”. How detailed? What format? Can we just reference compliance with 70E etc.?

Answer – The detail and format of the corporate safety plan is up to the contractor. NSWC Crane safety will be reviewing and approving the plan submitted. They will comment and accept or reject the plan based on their confidence level of the company’s safe working habits.

21. Are these new buildings or old?

Answer – All buildings are existing and have been for a minimum of 5 years.

22. Are there any requirements to recommend flash hazard mitigations or improvements to existing protective device coordination?

Answer – If the contractor runs across any flash hazard mitigations or improvements, they should be listed in the risk assessment. The actual work to mitigate the risk is not included in this scope.

23. Will we have direct access to power system people?

Answer – Yes, NAVFAC personnel will be available based on the need.

24. How long does the government need for submittal reviews and acceptance?

Answer – Varies based on the submittal but as written, the government typically has 10 days for review and approval but may be less time.

25. It states that the contractor shall provide a stamped set of as-builts, would that make the contractor the new engineer of record?

Answer – Stamped as-builts are not needed but a accurate one-line diagram is needed for each building. The as-built provided are for reference only to assist in writing your proposal.

26. Page 11, Section 4.3.2 of the RFQ contains inspection benchmarks. Can you confirm if these are relevant since this is an Arc Flash study?

Answer – The inspection benchmarks for each building would happen on completion of a building to confirm Arc Flash stickers are in place with the appropriate information on them. What is referred to as an inspection may be a drawing review and not onsite.

27. Page 45, Key Personnel, says that key personnel are required to have worked on construction projects. Can you please confirm that this requirement is necessary since this is an Arc Flash study?

Answer – Key personnel are required to be experts in their field, in this case, electrical and Arc Flash.

28. Can the government provide the number of busses and/or electrical services per building?

Answer – Contractor must field verify all busses and services feeding the building.

29. Page 1 of the RFP says work has to be completed 180 days from award. Page 4 says project must be completed by 9/30/24. Please confirm which is correct.

Answer – 9/30/24 is the contract closeout date, 180 days from award is the period of performance in which substantial completion of the work must be achieved. Closeout documentation and closeout submittals are not included in the 180 days.

30. Per this RFP, the AutoCAD files produced will only include 3-phase equipment as a part of this study correct?

Answer – That is correct. Nothing smaller than 3-phase will be included.

31. This project should only produce deliverables in an AutoCad format for data included on electrical equipment from the results of the Arc Flash assessment correct?

Answer – That is correct. No equipment outside of the Arc Flash study scope shall be included in the assessment.

32. Can you provide a timeframe to release pictures taken by government personnel or a contractor with a camera permit?

Answer – Pictures taken by government personnel typical release timeframe – 1 week. Pictures taken by contractor personnel typical release timeframe – up to 2 weeks.

33. Can you provide a general description of each buildings usage (past and present) as it is relevant to this project?

Answer – The only description that the government can provide is the square footage breakdown of office and lab space that was part of the RFP.

34. Can you provide the number of transformers and size feeding each separate building?

Answer – This information must be gathered via awarded contractor field verification.

35. Does the facilities allow power shutdown in cases where it is necessary for data collection?

Answer – Yes, a power shutdown is feasible but will require a request to be submitted for planning purposes. If it is needed, we will just have to coordinate the outage.

36. Do we need to include 70E training for incumbent personnel?

Answer – EM385 safety manual referenced in the applicable documents of the RFP must be followed while onsite doing field verification.

37. Are there any PPE requirements?

Answer – There are no “base access PPE requirements” but the appropriate PPE needs to be worn when accessing energized equipment and panels.

38. Have there been any previous studies done in the past? If so, will those reports be made available?

Answer – There have been some Arc Flash studies done in the past on base but not necessarily on the buildings included in this scope. Past reports can be provided to the awarded contractor.

39. Are there any union issues/concerns that need to be dealt with in the performance of this contract?

Answer – No union issues.

40. Will each building be required to be included in the selected power system program file, or can each utility input have a unique dedicated program file?

Answer – Each building will need a stand-alone assessment and will not be tied to each other from a report standpoint.