JA HIS Field Services Contract - FAR Part 6 - Final 03-26-2025_Redacted.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

Office of the Chief Procurement Officer

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

FAR 6.302-2 Unusual and Compelling Urgency 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2)

J&A Control No.: 25-131

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

a) Agency and Contracting Activity. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the Component Chief Component Procurement Office (OCCPO), proposes to modify the two (2) incumbent Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts to extend the Ordering Period for FEMA’s Housing Inspection Service (HIS) Contract for 150 additional days based on other than full and open competition through this J&A.

b) Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved. FEMA has a critical requirement for a continued performance under the existing Housing Inspections Services (HIS) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts 70FB8020D00000002 and 70FB8020D00000003 beyond their ordering period expiration dates of March 31, 2025. The extension is necessary and will allow continuous support of critical mission requirement until the competitive follow-on contracts are established and transition-in activities with the successor contractors are completed. The current period of performance ends March 31, 2025. This modification will extend the ordering period through August 28, 2025.

c) FEMA intends to modify on a sole source basis a dual award IDIQ to extend the ordering period for 150 additional days from 04/01/2025 through 08/28/2025 in accordance with FAR 6.302-2 “Unusual and Compelling Urgency”.

(a) Name and address of the contractor.

IDIQ Contract 70FB8020D00000002 Vendor: WSP USA Services, Inc. (WSP) Address: 13530 Dulles Technology Dr Ste 300, Herndon, VA 20171-6148 Unique Entity ID (UEI): WJYVS592Z7557

IDIQ Contract 70FB8020D00000003 Vendor: Vanguard Inspection Services (VIS) Address: 4030 W Boy Scout Blvd Ste 700, Tampa, FL 33607-5713 Unique Entity ID (UEI): F8LJV44WQY78

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition expedited manner. This includes financial assistance for the repair of survivors' dwellings, personal property loss, rental assistance if the dwelling is uninhabitable, and direct housing assistance when rental resources are not available. These types of FEMA assistance cannot be paid out without these inspections. As a result, these inspections are urgently needed to assist survivors immediately after a disaster.

f) Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(2) implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency facilitating response and recovery from potential natural disaster.

g) Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute

Not applicable.

h) Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. FEMA requires continued HIS contract performance to maintain inspection services, ensuring disaster impacted individuals and families have uninterrupted access to the full range of FEMA programs. To provide sufficient time to re-award these contracts following the GAO protest and to ensure there is no interruption in providing these essential services to survivors, FEMA intends to extend the ordering period of the current IDIQ contracts.

The provision of the inspection services necessitates a team of trained and badged inspectors who have completed a background investigation conducted by FEMA’s Personnel Security Division (PSD). The processes of training, badging, and conducting thorough investigations may take several months. The incumbent contractors maintain a year-round cadre of approximately 2,500 inspectors each, totaling over 5,000 inspectors across both vendors.

This ensures inspectors are ready to deploy within 24 hours of a contract award.

FEMA considered utilizing its current in-house cadre of inspectors to complete inspections until the follow-on acquisition protests are resolved. However, FEMA’s in-house cadre is not sufficient to meet the needs of disaster survivors in the event of a large disaster, such as a hurricane landfall or flooding in a major metropolitan area. FEMA may not receive adequate warning of a disaster or the extent of the disaster in time to perform contracting actions and respond in a timely fashion.

There are no other known contractors currently doing business with FEMA with the necessary technical proficiency, relevant experience, qualified staff who have completed FEMA’s PSD background investigation, and capacity that can fulfill this requirement.

Additionally, the contractor must be able to ramp up their operations quickly, with the ability to scale resources as needed in response to fluctuating demands during a disaster. Use of pre-

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition for personnel pay. The existing contracts are structured with cost reimbursement contract line-item numbers so CLINs for items such as other direct cost for travel will be reimbursed only for reasonable, allowable, and allocable costs. These measures will provide FEMA confidence that cost will not substantially increase for this action and will be used to establish that the price is fair and reasonable.

k) Description of Market Research. Market research was conducted prior to the award of the current contract in 2019 and was conducted in June 2024 and September 2024 for the follow-on contract. The market research showed the FEMA dual award IDIQ contract continues to be the most efficient contracting vehicle for providing HIS. The ramp-up requirements make it impossible for other potential sources to immediately perform the work required under the HIS contract, creating an urgent need for continuity in services without delay. It is currently not feasible to finalize the awarding of a new contract within approximately 15 days before the expiration of the existing contract. No additional market research was conducted for this 150-day extension.

Based on the capability statements submitted, the historical performance demonstrated by contractors, and the competitive market demand, the industry has the capacity to deliver. The competitively procured follow-on IA-IHP Field Services contract is expected to be awarded soon.

Given the circumstances, it is impossible to award a new contract within approximately 15 days before the incumbent contract lapses. The complexity and scope of the procurement process, combined with the time required for the necessary evaluation, review, and protest resolution procedures, make it impractical to complete the competitive bidding and award process within the designated timeframe. An extension of the existing contract is necessary and justified to avoid a gap in critical services and to ensure the continuation of essential operations.

l) Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Individual Tak Orders under would be competed amongst the IDIQ holders.

m) A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition. Not Applicable

n) A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required. FEMA is currently working on positioning the new and competitively awarded contracts to ensure future needs are met by taking corrective action to reevaluate and re-award the contracts. This J&A will allow the HIS contract to temporarily remain in place to prevent any disruption in services during this process, until a competitively awarded contract is in place.