N6247019D5013_JA_-_Redacted.pdf

J&A No. 18-09

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

The agency is the United States Navy; the contracting activity is Naval Facilities Engineering Command; the contracting office is NAVFAC Atlantic.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

This is a sole source action to be awarded as an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract to the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), 1090 Vermont Ave. NW, Suite 700, Washington D.C. The services to be performed under the subject contract are for a base year and four one-year option periods. The total contract value, including option periods, shall not exceed $25,000,000.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

Types of Architectural and Engineering Services include:

1) Technical Criteria: Research, prepare, and disseminate technical criteria and related tutorial criteria, that is commercially supported, that use acceptable standards, technical provisions, and model building codes, and that take advantage of new and useful developments in technology to improve the living environment. Provide technical, architect-engineering criteria for Planning, Design, Construction, or Maintenance requirements for publication on the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG). Work requires:

a) Certifying criteria preparation is consistent with nationally acceptable standards and appropriate for use in DoD.

b) Certifying criteria preparation is consistent with DoD criteria standards.

c) Identifying and commenting on irregularities and inconsistencies arising from its application in particular localities or when used under special local conditions. When inconsistencies exist, facilitate and resolve through a NIBS forum.

d) Using voluntary, private sector or consensus standard(s) coordination or reference, consistent with the requirements of Public Law 104-113, National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 to carry out policy objectives or activities determined by the department.

i. Section 12 of the act “Standards Conformity,” states that “…all Federal agencies and departments shall use technical standards [defined as performance-based or design-specific technical specifications and related management systems practices] that are developed and adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, using such technical standards as a means to carry out policy objectives or activities determined by the agencies and departments.”

ii. Simply stated, Tri-Service criteria shall rely to the greatest extent possible on consensus standards and commercially accepted criteria, deviating only when unique requirements exist.

e) Following technical review by Tri-Service forums and posting to the site, it will thereupon be the responsibility of NIBS to update website.

2) Innovative Technology: Evaluates, prepares, introduces, and disseminates innovative and new technology for introduction and acceptance at Federal levels. Consistent with NIBS enabling legislation, ensure prepared content is consistent with market technology, sufficiently tested and evaluated, and relevant to federal application(s).

Code CI1 Engineering and Criteria shall obligate funding for work under this J&A.

Funding is provided annually by NAVFAC HQ for the Special Interest Items (SII) Criteria Budget for corporate criteria issuance. The annual and FY 18 NAVFAC HQ SII criteria budget is approximately $1,300,000, which is used for services and consensus-based and NAVFAC-only criteria; those projects typically require 12-18 months to complete. Additional funding is provided by DoD for NAVFAC to administer and manage DoD design criteria projects and programs, including the Quality Assurance of Specifications and Unified Facilities Criteria and support of the Coordinating Panel and Engineering Senior Executive Panel for criteria. The DoD budget for Quality Assurance, criteria support, and special projects is approximately $1,100,000 each year.

Supplementary funding from AFCEC, USACE, and other offices, such as the DoD Corrosion Program Office, varies annually, and continues to increase. In FY 17, approximately $3,000,000 was obligated to the existing NIBS contract, N62470-14-D- 3006. The ceiling of the contract value ($12,500,000 for contract N6247014D3006) has historically been attained by the end of the third option year. Current value is $11,400,000 obligated with $1,100,000 planned to be executed by the end of FY18. In addition, the price of the projects has increased annually, which has led to negotiating a base amount with options. These options are funded and executed the next fiscal year as funds become available. If the limit of the contract has been reached, these options cannot be executed. Increasing the value to $25,000,000 will provide flexibility to execute funded, in-scope projects and avoid the administrative burden of soliciting a new contract years before the existing contract performance period expires due to the limit of the contract value. A new NIBS contract with a not-to-exceed value of $25,000,000 is justified by historical information, including a criteria budget supplemented by other DoD Components, of obligations placed under the existing NIBS contract, N62470-14-D- 3006.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority for this acquisition permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(5), Authorized or required by statute as implemented by FAR 6.302-5. Full and open competition need not be provided for when a statute authorizes or requires that the acquisition be made through another agency or from a specific source. Public Law 93-383, codified at 12 U.S.C., §1701j-2, provides authorization to contract with NIBS.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

NIBS was chartered by Congress in 1974 to provide advice to the public and private sectors with respect to building science, technology and regulatory issues. The legislation that enabled NIBS, Public Law 93-383 cited as the “Housing and Community Development Act of 1974”, specifically authorizes agency and departments to “…contract with and accept contracts from the institute for specific services where deemed appropriate by the responsible Federal official involved.” NIBS does not compete for competitively awarded contract. NIBS has maintained and provides access to a national Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) website of over 600,000 pages of publicly and privately produced criteria, codes and standards. A Memorandum of Agreement between NIBS and the Air Force Civil Engineer, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations Requirements and Management, dated 8 October 2003, establishes the Whole Building Design Guide, maintained by NIBS, as the sole distribution tool for DoD criteria maintained on the WBDG. Many Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are subscribers and supporters of the WBDG.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable.

The Contracting Officer need not submit the notice required by FAR 5.201 when the proposed contract action is expressly authorized or required by a statute to be made through another Government agency, or from a specific source, in accordance with FAR 5.202. In accordance with FAR 6.305(a), the justification will be posted at NECO/FedBizOpps within 14 days after contract award.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer will ensure that the anticipated cost to the Government of the services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable utilizing FAR Part 15 procedures. A thorough cost and price analysis will be performed to establish hourly rates for the base period and option years for the contract. All task orders will utilize these established rates for the appropriate option period. The contracting officer will determine the costs for future contract actions are fair and reasonable by comparing cost proposals with the established rates under the basic contract, Government Estimates, and historical expenses incurred for similar tasks.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, NAVFAC has no plans at this time to compete future contacts for the types of services covered by this document. The enabling legislation of NIBS authorizes agencies to contract with NIBS for services without seeking competition. Current efforts are ongoing for award of follow-on sole source contract to NIBS.