Lynn Ferry_Commercial Specification 2020-01-27.docx

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAIL & TRANSIT DIVISION 10 PARK PLAZA BOSTON, MA 02116 REQUEST FOR RESPONSE (RFR) DOCUMENT TITLE: LYNN FERRY COMMERCIAL SPECIFICATIONS COMMBUYS NUMBER: BD-20-1030-0T100-0T281-46069 RFR RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 19, 2019

RFP No. MDOTFEDFERRY

Page F-25

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

Overview The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Rail and Transit Division (hereinafter also called MassDOT, Party, Owner, or Recipient of Vessel) invites proposals as set forth herein on a competitive negotiated basis for the Design, Build, Delivery and Warranty of One (1) High Speed Passenger-Only Vessel (hereinafter also referred to as “Ferry,” “Vessel”, or “Vehicle”) with Capital Spares, Manuals and Drawings, Operator Training, and Maintenance Training, including all materials, services, and costs for freight and insurance to a marine facility within the Boston/Lynn region as designated by the Owner.

The Owner’s Procurement Department will be the sole contact for the prospective Offerors during the proposal process. It will coordinate and direct all managerial, administrative, and technical processes and decisions. The contact person is Monica Auguste, Procurement Officer, Email: monica.auguste@dot.state.ma.us.

Contract Documents and other pertinent information may be obtained at www.COMMBUYS.com. See Sections A1.19 and A1.20 for additional information regarding the use of COMMBUYS.

Offerors are required to obtain copies of the Contract Documents, and to become familiar with the Contract Documents, and all conditions therein, before submitting a proposal.

Each prospective Offeror shall designate one individual or organization to function as a contact with the Owner during the pre-proposal period. The contact shall be for the purpose of communications between the Offeror and the Owner and for receipt of Contract Documents and Addenda.

The Technical Specification does not purport to be a complete description of work conditions. The Contractor is required to advise the Owner of work conditions noted but not herein defined.

Contract Documents The Contract Documents for this Contract consist of the following components:

RFP Contractual Provisions and Forms, which include, if issued:

Proposal Modification Clarification Guidelines (PMCGs) Addendum(a) Technical Specification Contractor's Proposal Performance Bond Power of Attorney Certificate Buy America Non-collusion Affidavit Certificate Regarding Debarment (Ineligible Contractor Form) Lobbying Certificate DBE Participation Certificate Other pertinent documents as required per State entity Any change order that is subsequently executed shall make reference to and become part of the Contract.

The executed Contract includes the Contractor's Proposal in conformance with the components cited in this Section A1.02A.

Estimated Procurement Calendar The estimated procurement calendar is as shown below:

MassDOT Rail and Transit Division, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116-3793

MassDOT Rail and Transit Division, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116-3793

Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as displayed on the COMMBUYS system clock displayed to Bidders after logging in. If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Calendar and dates in the Bid’s Header, the dates in the Bid’s Header on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bid record, including Bid Q&A, on COMMBUYS for Procurement Calendar updates.

Pre-Proposal Conference The Bidders’ Conference is the conference conducted by MassDOT for the purpose of informing prospective Bidders about general Bid information and answering questions from prospective Bidders, and may be in person or via webinar or phone. Attendance is optional. Please refer to the COMMBUYS website for any updated information, including the location, time and date of the Bidders’ Conference.

Interpretation, Contract/Technical Questions, Issues and/or Clarification of Contract Document Requests Written questions via the Bid Q&A on COMMBUYS The “Bid Q&A” provides the opportunity for Bidders to ask written questions and receive written answers from the Owner regarding this Bid. All Bidders’ questions must be submitted through the Bid Q&A found on COMMBUYS (see below for instructions). Questions may be asked only on or before the Deadline for Submission of Questions through COMMBUYS “Bid Q&A” stated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar. The issuing department reserves the right not to respond to questions submitted after this date. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to verify receipt of questions.

Please note that any questions submitted to the Owner using any other medium (including those that are sent by mail, fax, email or voicemail, etc.) will not be answered. To reduce the number of redundant or duplicate questions, Bidders are asked to review all questions previously submitted to determine whether the Bidder’s question has already been posted.

Bidders are responsible for entering content suitable for public viewing, since all of the questions are accessible to the public. Bidders must not include any information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The Owner reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that are not in the best interest of the Commonwealth or this Bid.

All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated.

It is the responsibility of the prospective Bidder and awarded Contractor to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s contact person and prospective contract manager, if awarded a contract, and to monitor that email inbox for communications from the Purchasing Department, including requests for clarification. The Owner, the Owners Purchasing Department and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the prospective Bidder/Awarded contractor and the Purchasing Department to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

Locating Bid Q&A Log into COMMBUYS, locate the Bid, acknowledge receipt of the Bid, and scroll down to the bottom of the Bid Header page. The “Bid Q&A” button allows Bidders access to the Bid Q&A page.

Amendments The Owner reserves the right to make amendments to the Bid after initial publication. It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and any Bid Q&A records related to this Bid. The Owner and the Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a Quote based on an out-of-date Bid or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

Approved Equals The Owner, in its continuing effort to provide maximum availability of equipment, has standardized numerous items of equipment and components. Equipment and components specified herein by manufacturer, name or part number without the qualifying phrase "or equal" reflect this standardization policy.

NOTE: Requests for approved equal qualifications must be fully supported with technical data, test results, or other pertinent information as evidence that the substitute offered is equal to or better than that required by the Specification and/or Addendum(a) as evidence that a request should be upheld.

If not addressed during the pre-proposal phase of the procurement, approved equal status will be reviewed during preliminary design stages of the procurement.

The decision by the Owner regarding the acceptance or rejection of the Offerors “equals qualifications” proposal is final.

Proposal Postponement Procedure General: The Owner may reserve the right to postpone for its own convenience the date of proposal submittal; but if Offerors have already submitted proposals to the Owner when the date of proposal submittal is postponed, the Owner shall afford those Offerors the opportunity to revise or withdraw their proposals.

Addenda: The Owner may issue addenda to its Proposal Solicitation Documents. Any addenda issued prior to the date of proposal submittal shall, if necessary, contain a provision postponing the date of proposal submittal to a date that shall provide Offerors adequate time to respond to the addenda. Addenda shall be numbered sequentially.

Postponement Should the Owner postpone the date of proposal submittal owing to an appeal, the Owner shall notify all parties who are on record as having obtained a copy of the proposal solicitation documents that an appeal has been filed and that the date of proposal submittal shall be postponed until the Owner has issued its final decision.

The Owner shall issue appropriate addendum(a) postponing and rescheduling the date of proposal submittal.

Preparation of Proposals Proposals will be submitted in two separate parts as follows: PART A, Pricing Information; and PART B, Product/Technical Information.

PART A shall be marked "PART A - Price Proposal". PART A of the Proposal must be clearly and accurately completed and must be properly signed by the authorized representative of the Offeror.

PART B shall be marked "PART B - Product/Technical Information".

All blank spaces in the Proposal must be filled in and no changes shall be made in the wording.

The proposal documents (PART A and PART B) must be submitted as an entire package containing separate files for Part A and Part B. All file names shall contain the RFP number and the subject of “New Passenger Ferry.” The RFP number and the Offeror’s official name of its company shall be marked on the pages of each file in the Proposal Submittal.

Proposal Part A – Pricing Information and DBE Participation Information The Offeror shall submit its Proposal upon the forms furnished by the Owner.

The Offeror shall specify a unit price, in both words and figures in United States dollars (no cents), for each item for which a quantity is given, and shall show the products of the respective unit prices and quantities, written in figures in the column provided for that purpose, and the total amount of the Proposal obtained by adding the amounts of the several items.

All words and figures shall be in black ink or be typewritten. In case of a discrepancy between the unit prices written in words and unit prices written in figures, the written words shall govern.

The prices for any item, proposed and contracted for, unless otherwise noted or specified, shall include full compensation for all materials, equipment tools, labor, and incidental work necessary to complete the items to the satisfaction of the Owner.

The prices, without exception, shall be net, not subject to discount, and shall include all royalties and costs arising from patents, trademarks, and copyrights involved in any way with the work.

The Proposal price shall include the cost of all applicable taxes, customs, duties, freight/transportation, and insurance for delivery of the vessel and parts.

NOTE: The Offeror's submittal should be prepared as if it is a best and final offer (BAFO). The Owner, if it so determines that it has received the best achievable and technically acceptable proposal in accordance with the Contract Documents and evaluation criteria as stated in Part A1.14, may award this Contract without negotiation.

Detailed Cost Proposal:

All Offerors are required to prepare a detailed cost breakdown of their Proposal, including Options, on the Form provided (See Section F1.01 - Attachment I: Detailed Cost Proposal). However, Offerors shall not submit the detailed cost breakdown with their proposal, but shall retain this information in their possession until such time as they may be requested by the Owner to submit the detailed cost breakdown. All Offerors must certify that they are prepared to submit the detailed cost breakdown within four (4) working days of request to do so by the Owner.

The Owner reserves the right to conduct a cost/price analysis and evaluation and/or perform an audit of the cost proposal in order to determine if the price is fair and reasonable.

The designated awardee, in accordance with the Competitive Negotiation process (Section A1.13 and Section F1.04) if requested, will be required to submit to the Owner the detailed cost breakdown (Section F1.01)

8. DBE Participation information as required in Section C9.22, shall be submitted under Proposal/Part A (Refer to PART B2.00 Proposal Part A Forms).

Proposal Part B – Product Evaluation and Contractual/Technical Proposal Information Proposal Part B The Offeror shall submit its proposal upon forms furnished by the Owner (see PART B3.00).

The Offeror must utilize the proposal forms that are included in this Request for Proposal and must meet all the requirements of the Contract Documents, including the Product Evaluation Data and the Contractual/Technical Information which are the minimum requirements of this Contract.

The Offeror may, however, exceed the minimum requirements and may submit additional information describing its Proposal.

Delivery information, as required in Section A1.17, shall be submitted under Proposal Part B.

Signatures All Proposals, Part A and B, shall each be signed correctly with ink in the proper place provided, as follows: Comment by Polcari, Jerry (DOT): WE SHOULD USE THE “CONTRACTOR AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY LISTING” FORM If the Proposal is made by an individual, his or her name and post office address shall be stated.

If the Proposal is made by a firm, partnership or corporation, it shall be signed by a person having such legal Owner from the firm, partnership or corporation and the person so signing the Proposal shall give his or her own name and title (if any) in addition to the name and address of the firm, partnership, or corporation.

If the Proposal is made by a firm or partnership, the names and addresses of the individual members shall be given.

If a Proposal is made by a corporation, the name of the State under the laws of which the corporation was chartered and the names and titles of the President, Treasurer, and Secretary-Clerk of the corporation shall be given.

If a Proposal is made by two or more individuals, partnerships, or corporations, or any combination of these operating for the purpose of this proposal as a Joint Venture, each party joining to make the Proposal shall submit, attached to and made part of the Proposal, information and signatures in compliance with the foregoing provisions applicable to an individual, firm, partnership or corporation.

In addition, if any of the Joint Venture is a corporation, an attested copy of the vote of the corporation authorizing such Joint Venture shall be attached to the Proposal.

A certified copy of resolution, by-law, or Power-of-Attorney, authorizing an Officer of Agent to sign, must accompany the Proposal and any Contract which may ensue.

Affidavits The Offeror shall certify on the affidavit forms included with the Proposal (Section B) that:

To the best of its knowledge, the Offeror has not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any agreement, participated in any collusion, or otherwise taken any action in restraint of a freely competitive proposal in connection with this Contract.

To the best of its knowledge, the Offeror is not included on the U.S. Comptroller General's Consolidated List of Persons or Firms Currently Debarred for Violations of Various Public Contracts Incorporating Labor Standard Provisions.

Federal Identification Numbers: The Offeror shall furnish to the Owner its Federal Identification Number and Social Security Number.

Delivery of Proposals: The Offeror shall submit prior to the time set for the Proposal submittal of Parts A and B, its Proposal in accordance COMMBUYS requirements (see Sections A1.19 and A1.20). The Offeror bears full responsibility for ensuring the proper delivery of the documents.

Submission of Proposals Proposals for the design/build of one (1) Ferry with Capital Spares, Manuals and Drawings, Operator Training, and Maintenance Training, including all materials, and services as described herein, will be on a competitive negotiated basis.

Proposals shall be submitted in accordance with the Owner's Guidelines for Competitive Negotiations via COMMBUYS and shall be received no later than the Deadline for Quotes/Bid Responses indicated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar (see Section A1.03).

NOTE: Under Competitive Negotiation procedures, there is no public proposal opening. Proposals shall be opened in accordance with the Owner's Guidelines for Competitive Negotiation. Strict confidentiality as to the nature and cost of each proposal shall be maintained throughout the negotiation process. Only after the award of the Contract shall the successful firm and the terms and conditions of the proposal(s) be made public.

The Owner reserves the right to award without negotiation if it is determined that the most advantageous and technically acceptable proposal has been offered in conformance with the Contract Documents and it is the most advantageous to the Owner, price/cost and other factors considered.

If negotiations are allowed, an Offeror within the competitive range may modify its proposal accordingly and submit its best and final sealed offers at an appointed time and place for the Owner's evaluation. Determination to award is then decided.

Proposal prices shall be quoted in United States dollars.

Prices shall be inclusive of all applicable taxes, duties and transportation charges.

The proposal shall be valid for eight (8) months from date of proposal submittal, including any Best and Final Offer (BAFO) if the Owner provides an opportunity for a BAFO – in accordance with the estimated procurement calendar for this RFP.

If the Owner requires additional time for its review, the Owner reserves the right to extend the validity of the proposal in thirty (30) day increments.

Prices submitted remain in effect as originally submitted.

The Owner reserves the right to postpone the proposal submittal date for its own convenience and to reject any or all proposals.

Rejection of Proposals Any Proposal not in conformity with the Owner’s requirements as described in these documents, may be rejected. Bidders are advised that the Owner’s present intention is to fund the Contract with Federal funds. Bidders are therefore expected to comply with all Federal terms and conditions, including but not limited to Buy America requirements.

Proposals which fail to meet the requirements of these Contract documents, or which are incomplete, conditional, obscure, or which contain additions not called for, erasures, alterations and irregularities of any kind in which errors occur, which contain abnormally high or abnormally low prices for any class or item or work, may be rejected as invalid.

More than one Proposal from the same Offeror, whether the same or different names appear on the signature page, shall not be considered.

Any or all Proposals shall be rejected if there is reason for believing that collusion exists among the Offerors.

Proposals may be rejected from any Offeror who does not meet and/or conform to the requirements defined in these Contract Documents.

The Owner reserves the right to waive minor irregularities in the Proposal.

Offeror's Material Qualification It is the responsibility of the Contractor to furnish complete End Products, materials and specialties of the type, design, and performance which will result in an integrated, operating End Product units and/or systems in accordance with the Technical Specifications.

The Contractor shall be fully responsible for the satisfactory delivery and operation of all equipment and materials covered by the Contract Document whether manufactured by the Contractor, or manufactured by a Subcontractor.

The Contractor shall furnish evidence, if required by the Owner, that equipment of comparable rating (or higher) to that which the Contractor proposed to furnish, has been in satisfactory operation in similar applications. This provision shall not apply to materials supplied by the Owner.

Single Proposal If a single conforming proposal is received, a price and/or cost analysis of the proposal shall be made by the Owner.

A price analysis is the process of examining and evaluating a prospective price without evaluation of the separate cost elements.

It should be recognized that a price analysis through comparison to other similar contracts shall be based on an established or competitive price of the elements used in the comparison.

The comparison shall be made to the purchase of similar quantity and involving similar specifications.

A cost analysis includes the appropriate verification of cost data, the evaluation of specific elements of cost, and the projection of the data to determine the effect on price. (See Section A1.08B.)

General Overview of the Competitive Negotiation Process The basic steps of the Competitive Negotiation process are generally described as follows:

The Owner prepares a Request for Proposal (RFP), which includes the technical specifications defining the actual minimum needs and identifies all significant evaluating factors, listed in its respective order of importance. For internal reference only, a confidential memorandum to the file or Evaluation Methodology document is prepared for each procurement which establishes and documents the evaluating factors and its respective weights.

Evaluation Committee membership is determined by the Contracting Officer and the user department and will consist of representatives from the Owner’s Procurement Department and members of various other departments as required. If subcommittees are deemed necessary, Subcommittee Chairperson(s) will be appointed by the Contracting Officer.

The RFP is posted on COMMBUYS and available to Offerors and advertised, if necessary.

By an established deadline date for bid responses, Offerors submit proposals in two separate files. The first (PART A) Pricing Submission includes, but is not limited to, the quoted price, cost data, and DBE Participation details while the second submission (PART B) includes, but is not limited to, the Technical and Contractual (T/C) proposal. All information, including the number and name of the Offerors, is kept confidential until after the award is made.

The Contracting Officer opens the T/C proposals (PART B) and refers them to the Evaluation Committee for review. The cost proposal (PART A) remains unopened until the Evaluation Committee completes its review of PART B.

PART B proposals are reviewed by the Committee to determine if they are compliant to the Contract Documents.

Proposals which are found to be compliant are evaluated by the Committee based on the pre-established criteria.

Evaluation Committee makes its recommendation to the Procurement Officer based on the criteria established in Step No. 1.

Contracting Officer opens PART A in the presence of the General Counsel or designee and other witnesses as determined by the Contracting Officer.

Decision is made: to award immediately; to negotiate with Offerors found to be within the competitive range and with compliant proposals; or to reject proposals in the best interest of the Owner. The competitive range includes all proposals which have a reasonable chance of being selected for award. It is important to note that the Owner may elect to award a Contract without negotiation.

If negotiation is used, each Offeror is formally notified in writing either that its proposal is compliant and within the competitive range and when negotiations with that Offeror will commence, or that its proposal is not compliant or not within the competitive range and is not under further consideration. The Contracting Officer will determine whether negotiations will be conducted by written correspondence or by oral discussion. All meetings will be held individually under the direction of the Contracting Officer. Following negotiations, Offerors within the competitive range may modify original proposal and submit "best and final offer" by a common due date.

If negotiation is used, repeat Steps 4 through 9, as required.

Recommendation for Award is made to MassDOT Rail and Transit Administrator as appropriate for the type/size of procurement and their final approval. If required, the Recommendation for Award is forwarded to the Secretary of Transportation & CEO of MassDOT. Only after MassDOT concurrence, if necessary and/or award, will procurement documentation be available for public information. Proprietary information will be respected within legal constraints.

Refer to Section F1.04 Attachment V: Guidelines for Competitive Negotiation, for full details.

Evaluation Criteria The Evaluation Criteria in order of priority are:

1. Proposal Part B - Product Evaluation (See Section A1.16 for additional detail)

2. Proposal Part A - Total Proposal Price (See Section A1.15 for additional detail) Award will be made to the Offeror who furnishes the proposal, which in the opinion of the Owner, offers a fair and reasonable price and which offers equipment best suited for the Owner's requirements from a Contractual and Technical standpoint.

3. Evaluation criteria will be weighted as follows:

Proposal Part A Evaluation The review of PART A, conducted by the Contracting Officer, or Designee, occurs upon completion of the Product Evaluation. For items that are quantifiable, the following method will be applied:

Using a 100-point tabulation method, with one hundred (100) points being the highest (best), the best proposal submitted within the competitive Range will receive the maximum 100 points.

All other proposals in the Competitive Range will be pro-rated based upon its relationship to (variance from) the best offer submitted.

Refer to Section F1.04 Guidelines for Competitive Negotiations for further details.

Proposal Part B: Evaluation In the Evaluation Criteria (Part B) review, a 100-point tabulation will be established for each criterion with zero (0) designating the lowest (worst) and one hundred (100) designating the highest (best). The Committee Members will judge and rate each proposal in accordance with the prioritized Evaluation Criteria. Product Evaluation criteria is defined on the following pages.

The Evaluation Committee submits the Part B scores in its recommendation to the Contracting Officer.

Refer to Section F1.04 Guidelines for Competitive Negotiation for further details.

Product Evaluation Criteria Overview The Contract Documents, including the Contract Provisions, the Specifications, and any Addenda thereto, set forth the minimum requirements of the vessels, parts, services, and other deliverables the Owner requires through this procurement.

As part of their Proposal, each Offeror must furnish all of the information requested in Part B. For the information of Offerors, the Evaluation Committee shall consider several factors in evaluating the Offeror's technical proposal and deliverables in accordance with the following:

In order of priority, the Technical Evaluation Criteria and Subcriteria are as follows:

Qualifications and Financial Capacity Technical Approach Manufacturing Plan Past Performance Quality Assurance Plan Product Evaluation Criteria Descriptions Qualifications and Financial Capacity – This criterion considers the capabilities of the designated management and technical team to perform the necessary duties associated with their respective roles within a project of similar scope as evidenced by work on past successful projects of similar scope. It also assesses the Offeror’s financial capacity to undertake the scope of work.

Technical Approach – This criterion considers the Offeror’s approach toward the design of the vessel under this Contract, including organization, staffing, sequence, interface among the various design disciplines and subcontractors, analytic techniques and testing. It considers, in particular, the Offeror’s approach with regard to system integration, industrial design and reliability. In addition, it includes a review of the Offeror’s conceptual design of certain vessel features and engineering and manufacturing capabilities as an indication of the Offeror’s general understanding of the requirements of the technical specifications.

Manufacturing Plan – Manufacturing plan addresses the manufacturing capacity and logistics for the production of the proposed vessels. Considerations include the overall approach to manufacturing and assembly of vessel components, the approach to final assembly, the available plant capacity, personnel and other resources to perform the work, the methods of transportation between the various work locations as well as to the Owner, and the Offeror’s plans or local coordination with, and support to, the Owner. The Owner may elect to perform site inspections as part of the evaluation process to confirm some of this information.

Past Performance – Past performance considers the Offeror’s and major subcontractor’s performance in previous vessel procurement contracts, preferably for this type of vessel or for vessels of a similar type. It addresses contractual issues, technical capability, quality of work, on-time delivery, vehicle performance, and follow-on support services. The Owner may contact previous customers and offerors and major subcontractors to collect this information.

Quality Assurance Plan – This criterion addresses the Offeror’s commitment to, and execution of, a thorough, effective quality assurance program for this Contract. It considers the existence and role of quality assurance in the overall organization, procedures established to monitor and remedy the quality of materials and workmanship in-house and by subcontractors, and provisions for appropriate documentation with the foregoing.

Delivery Conditions Delivery of Vessel to the Owner.

The Contractor bears full responsibility for all related costs for the transport of the Ferry, Spares, Manuals, and related equipment as specified to the Owner’s F.O.B. destination.

The Offeror shall submit with the proposal, under its Technical Proposal (Proposal Part B), a detailed schedule for the design, manufacture, testing and delivery of the Vessel in the form of a milestone type bar chart. The chart shall indicate anticipated dates for starting and completing all major aspects of the program including, but not limited to, First Article Inspection and completion of major hardware components; the delivery of the Vessel; as well as spares, manuals, and training. Quantity to be delivered shall be clearly noted.

The Vessel shall be shipped during Hours/Days that have been approved in advance by the Owner.

The Vessel shall be delivered in accordance with the delivery schedule upon certification by the Owner’s authorized representative that all testing and trials specified in the Technical Specification have been completed.

Delivery of the Vessel to the Owner shall be no later than 18 Months from Notice to Proceed.

Failure to meet the delivery schedule Vessel will result in Liquidated Damages as specified in Section C8.03 of these Documents.

After shipment, the complete Vessel shall be received in a ready-to-test condition at a marine facility designated by the Owner in the Boston/Lynn, MA region. The Vessel shall then be examined jointly by representatives of the Owner and the Contractor. The Owner shall then issue a "Receiving Notice" to the Contractor which shall acknowledge receipt of the Vessel and furnish appropriate notation as to its apparent "as received" condition. The "Receiving Notice" shall describe any missing parts or damage that may have occurred during shipment. The "Receiving Notice" shall be signed by the Owner's representative and the Contractor's representative to attest to the stated condition of the Vessel.

NOTE: The Contractor must advise the Owner five (5) days prior to anticipated delivery of the Vessel to the designated location.

Each Vessel shall be tested as required by the Technical Specification.

During Conditional Acceptance testing and the warranty periods, the Contractor shall maintain the ability to provide in-person technical and warranty support response within 24 hours of notice. Contractor’s representative(s) shall be responsible for identifying and resolving all deficiencies identified by the Owner during these periods, including provision of all necessary materials and tools. The Owner shall reserve the right of acceptance of all support personnel.

The Contractor shall assume the cost of all repairs and defective component replacement (including labor) until the Vessels are accepted by the Owner at the Owner's acceptance site or at a location designated by the Owner.

Oral Presentations/Product Demonstrations Selected Bidders who are asked to participate in Oral Presentations will be expected to prioritize this in their schedules. The SST will make every effort to find a mutually convenient time for the Bidder and the SST. However, failure to appear at the scheduled time of the presentation/demonstration may result in disqualification, reduction of points or other action that the SST deems appropriate.

COMMBUYS Instructions How to Submit a Quote All Bidders may begin creating and compiling Quote materials as soon as the Bid with all attachments is in the Sent document status. Bidders are instructed not to submit Quotes before the Bid Amendment Deadline has been reached (see Estimated Procurement Calendar).

Quote Submission Method Online Quote Submission via COMMBUYS is required.

All Bidders must submit Quotes online using tools available only to Sellers registered in COMMBUYS. COMMBUYS provides Seller registration functionality at no charge. To register, go to www.COMMBUYS.com and click on the “Register” link on the front page. All Bidders who are awarded a contract resulting from this Bid, if any, will be required to maintain an active account during the duration of the Contract, by reviewing their registration information regularly and maintaining its accuracy.

COMMBUYS Quote Submission Training and Instructions The following resources are provided to assist Bidders in submitting Quotes:

Section A1.20 Instructions for Vendors Responding to Bids Electronically through COMMBUYS, which is part of this document;

Training sessions focused on online Quote submission, if offered, are noted in the Estimated Procurement Calendar;

An online job aid on How to Create a Quote;

Webcast video on How to Find Bids (Solicitations) and Submit Quotes (Responses) through COMMBUYS.

COMMBUYS Support Technical assistance is available during the procurement process. Every effort is made to respond to inquiries within one business day.

Website: Go to www.mass.gov/osd/commbuys and select the COMMBUYS Resource Center link offered under Key Resources.

Email: Send inquiries to the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us Telephone: Call the COMMBUYS Help Desk at 1-888-MA-STATE (1-888-627-8283). The Help Desk is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal and state holidays.

Bidders are advised that COMMBUYS will be unavailable during regularly scheduled maintenance hours of which all users will be notified.

Bid Opening Date/Time All Bids must be received by the Operational Services Division before the specified date, month, year and time displayed as the Bid Opening Date/Time in the Header Information section of the Bid in COMMBUYS. Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as applicable. All Bidders are advised to allow adequate time for submission by considering potential online submission impediments like Internet traffic, Internet connection speed, file size, and file volume. OSD is not responsible for delays encountered by Bidders or their agents, or for a Bidder’s local hardware failures, such as computers or related networks, associated with bid compilation or submission. Bids submitted via COMMBUYS are time stamped by the COMMBUYS system clock which is considered the official time of record.

Instructions for Vendors Responding to Bids Electronically through COMMBUYS Introduction COMMBUYS refers to all solicitations, including but not limited to Requests for Proposals (RFP), Invitations for Bid (IFB), Requests for Response (RFR), Requests for Quote (RFQ), as “Bids.” All responses to Bids are referred to as “Quotes.”

Steps for Bidders to Submit a Quote Launch the COMMBUYS website by entering the URL (www.COMMBUYS.com) into the browser.

Enter Bidder login credentials and click the Login button on the COMMBUYS homepage. Bidders must be registered in COMMBUYS in order to submit a Quote. Each Vendor has a COMMBUYs Seller Administrator, who is responsible for maintaining authorized user access to COMMBUYS.

Upon successful login, the Vendor home page displays with the Navigation and Header Bar as well as the Control Center. The Control Center is where documents assigned to your role are easily accessed and viewed.

Click on the Bids tab Clicking on the Bid tab opens four sections:

Request for Revision Bids/Bid Amendments Open Bids Closed Bids Click on the blue Open Bid hyperlinks to open and review an open bid A new page opens with a message requesting you acknowledge receipt of the bid. Click Yes to acknowledge receipt of the bid. Bidders should acknowledge receipt to receive any amendments/updates concerning this bid.

After acknowledgement, the bid will open.

The top left half of the page contains the following information:

Purchaser Department Contact for this bid Type of purchase Open Market Blanket Pre-Bid Conference details (if applicable) Ship-to and Bill-to addresses Any attachments to the bid, which may include essential bid terms, response forms, etc.

The top right half of the bid includes the following information:

Bid Date Required Date Bid Opening Date – date the bid closes and no further quotes will be accepted Informal Bid Flag Date goods/services are required The lower half of the page provides information about the specific goods/services the bid is requesting.

Click Create Quote to begin.

The General tab for a new quote opens. This page is populated with some information from the bid. Fields available to update include:

Delivery days Shipping terms Ship via terms Is “no” bid – select if you will not be submitting a quote for this bid Promised Date Info Contact Comments Discount Percent Freight Terms Payment Terms It is important to note that the bid documents (RFR and attachments) may specify some or all of these terms and may prohibit you from altering these terms in your response. Read the bid documents carefully and fill in only those items that are applicable to the bid to which you are responding.

Update these fields as applicable to the bid and click Save & Continue to save any changes and create a Quote Number.

The page refreshes and messages display. Any message in Red is an error and must be resolved before the quote can be submitted. Any message in Yellow is only a warning and will allow processing to continue.

The following messages are received:

Terms & Conditions is not acknowledged – to resolve this, click on the Terms & Conditions tab and accept the terms. Your quote has not been submitted – information message; no action required Click on the Terms & Conditions Tab. This tab refers to the terms and conditions that apply to this bid.