Final_Pre-Proposal_Conference_Presentation.pdf

Blanket Purchase Agreements Infrastructure Consulting Services:

MCC-15-RFQ-0045 – Water, Sanitation and Irrigation (WSI) MCC-15-RFQ-0046 – Transportation and Vertical Structures (TVS)

MCC-15-RFQ-0047 – Energy

February 24, 2015

Pre-Proposal Conference Agenda

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

875 15th Street NW Ste 200 I. Introduction II. Schedule III. Who are we?

IV. BPA Objective V. SOW Overview VI. Review of Special BPA Requirements VII. Quote Submission VIII. Evaluation Criteria & Methodology IX. Questions and Answers

Disclaimer

• This presentation is to facilitate Q&A on the RFQs released on Feb 12, 2015

• Participants are advised to review the RFQ document

• In case of any discrepancy between this presentation and the RFQ document, the requirements specified in the RFQ shall prevail

• Any amendments to the RFQ will be issued on www.fbo.gov

Schedule

• RFQ Released: February 12, 2015

• Information Session: February 24, 2015

• Questions Deadline: February 19, 2015 / 2 PM EST

• Quotes Due: March 19, 2015/ 2 PM EST

Who are we?

MCC is an innovative and independent U.S. foreign assistance agency that is helping to lead the fight against global poverty

How MCC is different …

• Competitive Selection

• Country-led Solutions

• Country-led Implementation

• Focus on Results

Where are we?

Compact and Threshold Signing for FY 2015 Liberia, Benin II, Morocco II, Tanzania II, Sierra Leone, and Guatemala

Compacts and Threshold Programs

Compacts are multi-year agreements between MCC and a country to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth

Threshold Programs are smaller-scale grants awarded to countries that may not qualify for compact funding but are firmly committed to improving policy performance

BPA Objectives

• Establishment of multiple BPAs will provide MCC with fast and efficient way to procure Infrastructure Consulting Services

• FFP and/or Time-and-Material Call Orders will be issued for specific requirements

• Each BPA holder awarded a BPA in WSI shall be afforded a fair opportunity to be considered for each Call Order, there will be no more than 4 BPA awards

• Each BPA holder awarded a BPA in TVS shall be afforded a fair opportunity to be considered for each Call Order, there will be no more than 4 BPA awards

• Each BPA holder awarded a BPA in Energy shall be afforded a fair opportunity to be considered for each Call Order, there will be no more than 4 BPA awards 9

SOW Overview –Water, Sanitation and Irrigation (WSI)

Typical assistance in:

• Water resources management

• Water supply and distribution

• Wastewater collection systems

• Sanitation

• Wastewater treatment

• Utility management and improvement

• Irrigation development and management

SOW Overview –Water, Sanitation and Irrigation (WSI)

Services required in:

• Advising MCC during identification and development of projects

• Assisting MCC in conducting due diligence

• Advising MCC on viability, suitability, sustainability and risks

• Assessing implementability of the projects

• Supporting MCC in supervising and overseeing project implementation

• Supporting MCC in compact and contract close-out and DNP

• Conducting sector studies and assisting MCC in other sector work

• Keeping MCC informed about technological development

• Assisting MCC in WSI practice leadership

SOW Overview – Transportation and Vertical Structures (TVS)

• Transportation: Limited access freeways, multilane highways, primary, secondary, rural, agricultural and urban roads, bridges, urban transport, seaports/maritime, airports and railroads, waterways, intermodal, logistics and trade facilitation.

• Vertical Structures and Institutional Facilities: Schools, technical and vocational training centers, higher educational facilities, laboratories, hospitals, health centers, housing, animal care facilities, offices, visitor centers, courts, power houses, small sanitation facilities, as well as industrial parks, agricultural processing facilities and zones.

• Planning, and institutional/sector policy and reform, technical assistance, training, operations and maintenance, for both the transportation and vertical structures sectors 12

SOW Overview – Transportation and Vertical Structures (TVS)

- General Technical Advisory Program/Project Management Support including project control, cost tracking and risk assessment

- Sector and Institutional Reforms Regulatory, legal, policy and political economy analysis of the transport and general public/commercial facility sectors Evaluate program risks such as commitments to road maintenance funding and best practices

- Review concepts, Pre-Feasibility/Feasibility and Designs Traffic/travel projections, route selections/ROWs, geometric designs standards, specifications, estimates, geotechnical, structural and seismic assessments including Operations and Maintenance aspects

Economic analysis using tools such as HDM4/RED models for a transport network, corridors and/or projects

- Assistance during pre-construction procurement, permitting and start-up stage Evaluate cost/budget, constructability reviews, project delivery systems, including advice on feasibility of

PPP for toll roads, port and airport concessions

- Support during construction Monitoring Project control, schedule, QA/QC, contract management/FIDIC & compliance with environment, H&S Support during turnover and completion stage Inspection of completion projects during DNP, assess results risks, 13

SOW Overview – Energy

The SOW requires services in three distinct areas covering development and implementation of threshold and compact programs:

1. Energy sector analysis

a) Sector policy, legal, regulatory and institutional assessment

b) Power market restructuring

c) Utility turnaround – finance, operations, governance

2. Infrastructure

a) Pre-feasibility and feasibility evaluation of infrastructure projects

b) Oversight of infrastructure project implementation

3. Energy Practice Group

a) Sector benchmarking, best-practice analysis, financial analysis

b) Other as necessary

Special BPA Requirements

• Federal Acquisition Regulation

– BPAs will be awarded in accordance with FAR Part 13 – Simplified Acquisition Procedures

• Period of Performance

– Effective from date of establishment for a period of 5 years

– Services on issued Call Orders may extend beyond effective period of the BPA

• Place of Performance

– Consulting services will be required overseas, on an as-needed basis, in support of specific programs in any MCC-eligible country

• Anticipated award date of BPA is no later than 150 days from quote submission

• There will be no established ceiling amount under the BPA, Call Orders will be awarded with a not-to-exceed ceiling of $6.5 million as stated under FAR Part 13.5.

• Onramp/Offramp (open season provision)

– Program will be reviewed one year after BPA establishment, then annually thereafter, to determine whether to “reissue” an RFQ to establish additional BPA holders

Conflict of Interest – In accordance with the principles of FAR Subpart 9.5 and MCC policy, the Contractor shall be ineligible to furnish, as a prime or subcontractor or otherwise, implementation services which result in response(s) to findings, proposals, or recommendations written by the Contractor, unless this provision is expressly waived by MCC.

Quote Format Requirements

• 8.5 x 11 inch paper, with the exception of charts (such as MS-Project) that can be presented on folded 11 x 17 pages, if needed

• Single-spaced typed lines, including figures glossaries

• 1 inch margins

• 12-point (Times New Roman font) in the text and

• 10-point (Times New Roman font) for all tables

• In Microsoft Word and Excel software

• All quote pages must be numbered

Quote Submission

• Quote must:

– Reach MCCs office by March 19, 2015 at 2 PM EST

– Include a Cover Letter signed by individual authorized to commit the company to the quote.

– Include 3 volumes: Technical Capability (V.I), Past Performance (V.II) and Price (V.III) - price must be separate

– Include one (1) original and three (3) hard copies

Quote Submission, continued

Volume I - Technical Capability, must include:

Factor 1 – Technical Capability

• Subfactor 1 - Firm’s Overall Capability and

Sector Experience

• Subfactor 2 - Management/Team Structure

• Sub factor 3 - Key Personnel Qualifications

• Volume II – Past Performance, must include:

The Quoter shall provide five (5) examples of relevant contracts or task/ call orders similar in size, scope, and complexity to the Statement of Work, performed as a prime contractor or subcontractor within the past three years of the date of this solicitation. If proposing a contractor teaming arrangement (CTA) or subcontractor, at least one of the past performance projects performed by the proposed Team Lead or subcontractor must provide evidence of coordinating and managing multiple team members.

• Volume III – Price must include (at minimum):

The Price Quote (Microsoft Excel format - no page limitation) shall include at a minimum, the following:

• a) Fully loaded hourly rates (wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit.)

• b) Proposed BPA discount(s) (If proposing a CTA or subcontractor, include proposed BPA discount(s))

• c) Net BPA rates after discount

• d) Documentation of Approved or Provisional G&A Rate

Due to the potential volume of this requirement, the Quoter is strongly encouraged to offer substantial discounts. Because the goal of the BPA Contracting Officer is to establish BPAs without further communications with the Quoters, there may be no additional opportunity for Contractors to revise BPA pricing submissions or offer further discounts prior to BPA establishment. If proposing a CTA, individual team members may quote different discount percentages from its other team members. 22

Evaluation Factors

In terms of relative weights, Technical Capability is more important than Past Performance and Price individually but of less importance than those two factors combined. Past Performance and Price are listed in descending order of importance.

• Technical Capability

• Past Performance

• Price

Evaluation Methodology

• BPAs will be established with the responsible Quoters whose quotes conform to the requirements outlined in the RFQ and are most advantageous to the Government based on the best value determination.

The Government will perform a comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each quote as related to the Evaluation Factors.

• Potential risk to the Government will also be evaluated. Technical and performance risk, based upon the Quoter’s evaluated technical capability and past performance, will be considered during the evaluation as well as any possible pricing risk. Subjective judgment on the part of the Government evaluators is implicit in the entire process. Throughout the evaluation the Government will consider “correction potential” when a deficiency is identified.

Questions?

Most Asked Questions?

Q1. Is this set aside for small businesses?

R1. FAR Part 19 – Small Business Programs only applies in the United States and its outlying areas and this requirement is for services in MCC eligible countries which are overseas.

Q2. How will MCC procure Brooks Act requirements?

R2. MCC will procure services under the Brook Act via Full and Open Competition on www.fbo.gov or utilize various Interagency Agreements with other US Government Agencies with Brooks Act compliant contracting vehicles.

Q3. What is a Blanket Purchase Agreement?

R3. A basic ordering agreement is a written instrument of understanding, negotiated between an agency, contracting activity, or contracting office and a contractor, that contains (1) terms and clauses applying to future contracts (orders) between the parties during its term, (2) a description, as specific as practicable, of supplies or services to be provided, and (3) methods for pricing, issuing, and delivering future orders under the basic ordering agreement. A basic ordering agreement is not a contract. A basic ordering agreement shall not state or imply any agreement by the Government to place future contracts or orders with the contractor or be used in any manner to restrict competition.

http://www.fbo.gov/

Q4. Would MCC be willing to structure Call Orders to accommodate more than one BPA awardee that, collectively, would meet the Call Order scope? It is not uncommon on transportation projects to engage technical and financial advisory firms separately on a project.

R4. No, MCC is seeking firms that can achieve the entire statement of work under the Blanket Purchase Agreement; specific call order statements of work will not divided among BPA awardees. MCCs expectation is that quoters team with other firms.

Q5. For the cost, MCC has requested a G&A rate. As a commercial items vendor, we do not have G&A. In lieu of G&A, can we provide fully loaded rates?

R5. Section B.3 - MCC hereby deletes the request for General and Administrative Rate for the Base Period through Option Period Four and inserts the Quoter shall submit fixed fully loaded hourly rates in its quote that includes wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit. The quoter should provide an annex to B.3 that provides the breakdown of the fully loaded rates. L.3.4 PRICE QUOTE (NO PAGE LIMIT) – VOLUME III MCC hereby deletes d) proposed General and Administrative (G&A) Rate

Q6. Are we required to provide rates for every LCAT in the table?

R6. Yes

Q7. “Call Orders will be awarded as Firm Fixed Price and Time & Material with a Not-to-Exceed (NTE) ceiling of $6.5 million as stated under FAR Part 13.5.” Is the $6.5M ceiling applicable to each BPA (i.e., a contract capacity), or is that the maximum call order amount? Is there a maximum ceiling for all the call orders placed under the BPA each year, or over the life of the BPA?

R7. FAR 13.303-2 Establishment of BPAs do not require a ceiling to be established. FAR 13.500 authorizes use of simplified procedures for the acquisition of supplies and services in amounts greater than the simplified acquisition threshold but not exceeding $6.5 million ($12 million for acquisitions as described in 13.500(e)), including options, if the contracting officer reasonably expects, based on the nature of the supplies or services sought, and on market research, that offers will include only commercial items. Therefore, call orders will not exceed $6.5 million.

Q8. How will the Government determine that an offeror’s proposed rates are “reasonable and complete”?

R8. MCC will perform a rate analysis using historical information eg., Federal Supply Schedules, its internal IDIQ task orders awarded for similar labor categories etc.

Completeness: Does quote provide all the pricing data that is necessary to adequately evaluate the quote? Does the quote include sufficient supporting documentation to substantiate the proposed rates? Reasonableness: Does quote’s structure reflect the firm’s actual methods of cost accounting? Does the method of applying subcontractor and prime contractor markups and fee reflect normal industry practice?

Q9. Are resumes or biodata required to be submitted with the proposal for non-key personnel?

R9. No

Q10. What is the page limit for Past Performance – Volume II?

R10. 10 pages.

Q11. Could MCC please confirm that Offerors are to provide an illustrative matrix of key and non-key personnel that fit the qualifications of the labor categories in B.3, but are not required to provide a name for each labor category and level in B.3.

R11. Quoters should submit a personnel matrix with names that includes Key and Non-Key positions at levels II, III and IV only. Names are not required for Section B.3. Below is an illustrative example. Quoters should read each RFQ to determine if labor categories or sub sectors should be included in the matrix.

Level II

A rc hi te ct

A rc hi te ct ur al

En gi ne er

C on st ru ct io n Su pe rv iso r

C on tr ac ts

M an ag os t E st im at or

E ng in ee r

E nv iro nm en ta l As se ss m en t a nd ag em en t

F in an ce

E xp er t

F in an cia l M od el

G eo lo st eo te ch ni ca l Sp ec ia lis t

G

IS

S pe cia lis t

H ea lth a nd S af et y Sp ec ia lis t

H yd ro lo st

E ng lis h

S pa ni sh

F re nc h

Jane Doe - Prime x x x x John Doe - Prime x x x James Doe - Consultant x x x Karen Doe - Consultant x x x x x Bill Doe - Subcontractor x x x x x Joe Doe - Consultant x x x x x x

Level II

A rc hi hi te ct ur al En gin ee r

C on st ru ct io n Su pe rv iso r

C on tra ct s M an t E st im gin ee r

En vir on m en ta l As se ss m en t a nd ag em en t

Fi na nc e E xp er t

Fi na nc ial

M od ele r

G eo lo gis t

G eo te ch ni ca l Sp ec ial ist

IS

Sp ec

H ea lth an d Sa fe ty

Sp ec yd ro lo gis t

En gli ish

Fr en ch

Jane Doe - Prime x x x x John Doe - Prime x x x James Doe - Consultant x x x Karen Doe - Consultant x x x x x Bill Doe - Subcontractor x x x x x Joe Doe - Consultant x x x x x x

Level III

A rc hi hi te ct ur al En gin ee r

C on st ru ct io n Su pe rv iso r

C on tra ct s M an t E st im gin ee r

En vir on m en ta l A ss es sm en t an d

M an ag em en t S pe cia lis t

Fi na nc e E xp er t

Fi na nc ial

M od ele r

G eo lo gis t

G eo te ch ni ca l S pe cia lis t

G

IS

Sp ec ea lth an d Sa fe ty

Sp ec yd ro lo gis t

En gli ish

Fr en ch

Jane Doe - Prime x x x x John Doe - Prime x x x James Doe - Consultant x x x Karen Doe - Consultant x x x x x Bill Doe - Subcontractor x x x x x Joe Doe - Consultant x x x x x x

Q12. Page 36-38 of the RFQ states that Key Personnel are Level IV and only lists two key personnel. Under the section heading of Non-Key Personnel, only Level III, Level II, and Level I personnel are listed. Therefore, for Level IV on the cost table on page 4 are only 2 key personnel to appear? It seems that would not be the case since the other cells would have been shaded. Assuming that there are Level IV rates to be filled in for all the labor categories, what are the Level IV qualifications requirements (labeled “Senior” in the cost table column heading) and how do they differ from Level III (labeled “Sr. Specialist”)?

R12. Senior Level IV – Qualifications are - An advanced degree, in engineering or a related field. 15+ years of relevant and progressively more responsible experience in any corporation or organization. Must have excellent demonstrated experience in project and contract management, with demonstrated experience in all stages of a project cycle – from conceptual stage to construction and closeout. Must possess excellent verbal and written communications skill in English. Knowledge of additional MCC language such as Spanish or French is a plus.

Duties and Responsibilities: Responsible for day to day execution of project activities and contract requirement and deliverables. Leads and directs technical projects with overall responsibility for technical accuracy and appropriateness. Manages/ solves technically complex problems. Uses advanced techniques, theory, precepts and practices. Plans, coordinates and directs larger and more important technical and consulting projects or projects with many complex features. Must have demonstrated experience working in all stages of a project cycle – from conceptual stage to construction and closeout. Has worked well in diverse cultural settings.

Please see qualifications for Level III as noted in the RFQs. 32

Q13. If MCC discussions with threshold countries or compact negotiations/documentation require support provided under more than one BPA (e.g. water and energy or water and transport), will MCC procure the required services under a single BPA, or divide the work by sector?

R13. BPAs will be awarded by sector under its respective RFQ. Call order requirements will be procured under the sector specific BPAs, sector requirements will not be combined.

Q14. Will the MCC permit quoters to include additional labor categories for cooperating country nationals (CCN), including CCN – Architect/Engineer, CCN – Sector Specialist, and CCN – Administrative?

R14. Yes, if required at the Call Order Level, see RFQ Section H.10 Additional Labor Categories.

Q15. If we currently hold another BPA or multiple BPAs with MCC (e.g. Threshold Support), can we apply for these new BPAs?

R15. Yes

Q16. If a firm provides services to MCC under an IDIQ task order, can the firm provide services to MCC under a BPA call order for the same country?

R16. It depends. At the Call Order level, the Quoter would have to submit to MCC a risk mitigation plan that demonstrates that there is no conflict of interest.

Q17. MCC will issue BPAs for the Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Transportation and Vertical Structure, and Energy sectors. Will quoters be eligible for multiple awards across the three sectors?

R.17 Yes

Q18. Is there a limitation on the duration of individual Call Orders?

R18. Call Orders shall not exceed five (5) years.

Q19. Will Call Orders be negotiated or competitively procured?

R19. Call Orders will be competed amongst the sector BPA awardees.

Q20. G.1 Labor Rates. Clause G.1 identifies the labor rates as ceiling rates, whereas the Labor Rate Schedules in Section B identify rates as billing rates. Please clarify.

R20. The established maximum ceiling rates will be contained in the BPA. Billing rates will be established at the call order level.

Q21. B.2 provides Contract Line Items by billing rate period, starting with the Base, and then including periods 1-4. Are these considered option periods?

R21. No, the period of performance for the BPA is for five years. B.2 provides the period that specific rates are valid. Call orders may contain option periods.

Q22. Sect L.2.4 says “Quotes should clearly demonstrate that the Contractor understands both the technical requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW).” The word “both” implies that something else should be included in addition to “the technical requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW)”. Please clarify.

R22. “Quotes should clearly demonstrate that the Contractor understands both the technical requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW)” is hereby replaced with “Quotes should clearly demonstrate that the Contractor understands the technical requirements of the Statement of Work

(SOW).”

Q23. H.1 Principal Duties and Responsibilities. The RFQ indicates the Principal is the main point of contact for the BPA and “call orders under the BPA.” This appears to conflict with the Program Manager Duties and Responsibilities (page 37), which requires the Program Manager to be the main point of contact “for the management of the call orders under the BPA.” Also, this differs from the WSI sector RFQ, where the Principal’s duties and responsibilities are to be the main point of contact for the BPA, but not the BPA Call Orders. Would the Government clarify the Principal’s duties and responsibilities as a point of contact for the BPA Call Orders?

R23. The Principal should have overall knowledge of the services being performed at the Call Order level but not be involved in the day to day activities. Under MCC-15-RFQ-0046 Page 36 is hereby corrected from - Main point of contact for the management of the BPA and call orders under the BPA to Main point of contact for the management of the BPA.

Q24. H.2 Senior Specialist – Level III Qualifications. The qualifications state a minimum of BS degree in a relevant technical field is required. For some labor categories (e.g., Language Interpreter, Architect) a BA or BArch degree may be more likely to have been conferred. Would the Government allow any type of Bachelor’s degree to satisfy this requirement, rather than only a BS, provided the Bachelor’s degree is in a relevant technical field?

R24. For levels I, II and III MCC will allow a relevant Bachelor’s degree.

Q25. If deemed necessary due to the complexity, volume, or timing of the responses to quoter requests for clarification, will MCC consider an extension to the submittal due date to allow quoters time to incorporate the responses into their submittals?

R25. MCC hereby extends the submission of quotes to be received no later than Thursday, April

2, 2015, 2PM EST.

Q26. Will MCC allow successful BPA holders to draw upon services of firms that were not included in their original proposal, or to add firms to their teams following award of the BPA?

R26. MCC reserves the right to evaluate what is in the best interest of the agency at the call order level.

Q27. When will the responses to questions for the RFQ and Pre-proposal conference be posted?

R27. MCC will issue amendment 0001 no later than March 2, 2015, providing responses to both sets of questions.