Copy of RFI__Response_NIHOF2011367_11-22-2011.pdf

Market Tier 2

Number Question Answer

1 Are there incumbents for Market Tier 2 for this procurement, and if so, who are they? No, this is a new requirement.

2 Is there a general contractor bidders list available? No, there is no list available.

3 Will there be a pre-proposal meeting? If yes, what are the location and time?

Market Tier 2 and 3 will have a combined pre-proposal conference at 9:30 AM on Thursday November 10, 2011 in the Building 10 Lipsett Auditorium located on the Bethesda, Maryland NIH Campus

Will the winning general contractors be responsible for hiring the construction materials testing/inspection services?

The winning General Contractor (GC) may be required to provide commissioning services, however, the GC will not be responsible for commissioning their own construction work.

5 Is there a prebid meeting scheduled for this solicitation?

Market Tier 2 and 3 will have a combined pre-proposal conference at 9:30 AM on Thursday November 10, 2011 in the Building 10 Lipsett Auditorium located on the Bethesda, Maryland NIH Campus

6 When/where is the Pre-proposal conference schedule?

Market Tier 2 and 3 will have a combined pre-proposal conference on Thursday November 10, 2011. The time and place are to be determined.

7 If GC is a small business bidding under Market Tier 2, does the A/E have to be a small business also?

For 8(a) and small businesses, as long as the Concern performs 15% of the work, the A/E could be a large business.

Bonding (See Page 90), Small Business Set-Aside:

Bond requirement for Market Tier 2 is requesting single bonding capacity of not less than 10 million and an aggregate with bonding capacity of not less than 20 million; since Market Tier 2 is limited to $3.5 – 10 million. Please clarified?

The aggregate bonding amount remains $20 million. The Contractors must show that they have the ability to bond for more than one task order at a time as there are times when multiple requirements are issued at the same time to an individual MAC awardee.

2nd Paragraph; “Offerors whose team, (Contractor and Contractor's A/E(s)), collectively demonstrates experience in all types of spaces, as defined in Section C.1.3 - Task Orders, shall be rated more favorably.” Where might offeror locate Section C.1.3 – Task Orders?

The types of spaces are located under Article C.4.b.

Once awarded a contract, will 8(a) and Small Business awardees be able to pursue task orders from the “large” pool ($10m - $25M) or will they be restricted to the task order ranges within their respective Market Tier?

Awardees will be restricted to submitting proposals against Task Order Request for Proposals (RFP) submitted to their market tier. The Contracting Officer may submit a RFP to a Market Tier that is outside of the established Market Tier dollar ranges.

Can a business submit on more than one Market Tier (e.g., Submit for Market Tier 1 and then Market Tier 2)?

A company may submit a proposal in different market tiers.

12 If yes, will they be eligible for award in both market tiers?

Yes the company would be eligible for award in both market tiers provided that they can meet the mandatory requirements established in for each proposal submitted.

Due to the late date (yet to be set) of the Pre- Proposal Conference; would the government consider an extension in the Due date of the Market Tier 1 submissions?

No the Market Tier 1, 2 & 3 proposal due dates will not be extended. The pre-proposal conference is to review the proposal requirements that are already established in the solicitation attachment. The information has already been provided.

Since this is a multi-tier project, can we as an 8A go as prime for the 8A set aside Tier 3 and small business Tier 2 but also a sub on other large teams for Tier 2 and Tier 1 levels?

Offerors may qualify for more than one tier of this multiple award contract. (An 8(a) and Small Business Concern may qualify for the next market tier provided that the offeror meets the all mandatory and technical qualifications.) Offerors may not be awarded more than one contract in the same Market Tier.

Our company repairs, restores and patches terrazzo flooring.

1. Is there a need for this expertise? 1. There may be a need for that expertise.

2. If yes, do you know how much crack repair or patching is needed?

2. Work requirements are determined on a task by task basis. There is no way to estimate the amount of specific work required for one expertise.

On p. 96 of the solicitation, Subfactor B.2 states that the Offeror shall submit no more than three A/E firms who may be utilized as the design agent for task orders.

Many Architectural firms who handle projects of the size for Tier 2 and 3 do not handle all disciplines of engineering in-house, and thus, utilize engineering consultants (such as MEP, structural, civil, etc) to form their complete "A/E firm" team.

The proposal states to submit no more than three "A/E firms". Can we submit each "A/E firm" as the Architect along with any of the Architect's Engineering subconsultants, if they do not do perform all disciplines in-house? If not, we may be limited to only submitting those firms who have all disciplines in-house.

It is up to the Offeror to determine the best suited "Contractor's A/E", an architectural design or engineering firm, to be the first-tier subcontractor for design/build services to be evaluated under this solicitation. For the solicitation, the Government will only evaluate the first-tier architectural or engineering firm(s).

The intent is that each task order will identify the specific requirements of the A/E design team. The Prime Contractor with the first tier subcontractor (Contractor's A/E) will select the best suited design team to meet the requirements of the task order. At this time the Contractor's A/E can submit the subconsultants.

Therefore, the Offeror may submit an Architecture firm, a MEP firm, a full-service design firm or any variation as his "Contractor's A/E". The limit is three proposed A/E firms.

On p. 96 of the solicitation, Subfactor B.1 e) states that the Offeror shall state the address and proximity to the work( (i.e. a 70 mile driving distance to NIH Campus, Bethesda, MD)

Is the 70 mile distance a requirement, or only an example? If it is a requirement, can the contractor arrange a satellite office to be set up within the required distance once they have been selected for the MATOC?

The 70-mile distance is an example for responding to the criteria.

. . . my firm has not previously sought an IDIQ type award but has done numerous Design-build projects for various Federal Agencies (VA. DOD, COE) where might we find the proper guide to submitting for your IDIQ opportunities?

The is no guide to submitting for IDIQ opportunities. Submit your proposal in accordance with Section L - Instructions to Offerors. Each Government solicitation is unique in its requirements.

19 Have the dates & locations of the Pre-Proposal conferences been set?

As stated in Section L, the Market Tiers 2 and 3 pre-proposal conference will be held on Thursday November 10, 2011 from 9:30 - 11:30 AM in the Lipsett Auditorium (Building 10, NIH Bethesda Campus, Bethesda, MD).

Reference G.3 Multiple Award Task Order Procedures: Given that selected awardees have demonstrated corporate experience, as verified through past performance references, will the evaluation of Task Orders focus solely on the approach and associated costs to performing the requested work?

Task Orders will be evaluated on both technical and cost criteria. For any multiple award contract on NIH campus, you must submit a technical and business proposal.

The technical proposal has no price information included and that's the only proposal the Project Officer sees when performing the evaluation and making a recommendation for who gets the award. It is definitely not always a lowest cost basis; it depends on the complexity of the requirement. And, the Government does reserve the right to award based on lowest price.

Reference C) Phase 1-Factor B-Offeror’s Corporate Experience, 1. Subfactor B.2: Would the Government please confirm that the expressed page limit of (3) pages applies to a single corporate experience reference?

The Government is requesting up to four (4) Similar Projects to demonstrate the Contractor's Corporate Experience and no more than three (3) projects for the Contractor's A/E experience.

Each Similar Project shall be submitted using the Similar Project Template.

The template allows for three (3) pages per single project.

What amount of time will be given to the contractors deemed Phase I most technically qualified to provide the Phase II information?

Ultimately the review of Phase I is dependent upon the number of proposals submitted to the NIH; it is anticipated that NIH will require at least 4 weeks to review Phase I. Upon notification, Phase II Offerors will be given a minimum of 30 days to submit their Phase II proposal.

Is Section K – Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offerors to be included as part of the Phase I proposal or as part of the Phase II business proposal

Section K – Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements are to be included in the Phase II Cost Proposal. Do not submit under Phase I susbmission.

In section L, page 94 of the revised solicitation dated 10/14/2011, c) Phase I- Factor B, Sub Factor B.1. We are requested to submit up to 4 completed projects.

We have several projects that are relevant and within the dollar range, but are awaiting close out.

Would we be able to submit projects that are considered to be substantially complete?

The Offeror, i.e the Contractor, may submit on-going construction projects; however, on-going projects may effect the evaluation of the projects. Additionally, it is acceptable to submit similar projects for the Contractors A/E that are design/build projects that are 100% DESIGN complete and not necessarily construction complete.

We did not see the requirement to submit a 1442 and representations and certifications for the Phase I proposal. Should we submit these items within the phase I proposal in order to acknowledge any amendments and provide adequate proof of small/ large/SDVOSB business status?

The Phase I cover page shall contain business status information. As instructed under Section L - Authorized Official Submission of Proposal, the cover page shall contain identification of Market-Tier (Full & Open, Small or 8(a) Business Concern).

SF 1442 and Section K – Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements are to be included in the Phase II Cost Proposal. Do not submit under Phase I susbmission.

“Mandatory Criteria 2: Ability to Perform Asbestos/Hazardous Material Removal” for your response:

Solicitation states, “Offeror shall submit evidence from an Insurer indicating that the Offeror has the ability to provide Asbestos/Hazardous Material Removal services on any Task Order through self-performance or subcontracts.”

We perform this service on many of our projects through the use of subcontractors. Our Insurer cannot attest to this, since they do not provide coverage for our self-performance. How shall we respond to this item when we our Insurer cannot provide evidence as stated above?

The intent of this requirement is to ensure that for task orders where asbestos/hazardous material removal is required, all awardees will be able to bid.

Therefore, the Government is requesting evidence from the Prime's Insurer, that the Prime will not be precluded from entering into a contract where asbestos/hazardous material removal will be accomplished thru subcontractors with their own insurance.

27 Please confirm that no bid bond is required with Phase I proposals.

There is no bid-bond requirement for Phase I or Phase II proposals. The only bonding requirement is listed under:

Mandatory Qualification Criteria 1: Bonding Evidence from a corporate surety or an individual surety indicating a single and aggregate bonding capacity of the Offeror. (For corporate surety listing see website at http://www.fms.treas.gov/c570/index.html) . FAR 28.202 (Acceptability of corporate sureties) and FAR 28.203 (Acceptability of individual sureties) provide additional information regarding corporate and individual sureties. Also, see FAR 52.228-15 Performance and Payment Bond - Construction (b) (1), (2) for penal amounts.

It is our understanding that offerors who are invited to participate in Phase II will have an opportunity to submit questions specific to Phase II after receiving notification of Phase II participation. Please confirm that this is correct.

The closing date for all questions regarding Phase I and Phase II proposals is November 18, 2011. Phase II criteria has been established and posted on FEDBIZOPS with Phase I; no further changes are anticipated. No additional information will be provided to those firms invited to participate in the Phase II proposal submission.

Based on previous experience with similar procurements, we anticipate that follow-up questions may be necessary after offerors review the Government’s responses to all Phase I questions submitted by the deadline of November 18. Will you please indicate a timeline for the submission of and response to follow-up Phase I questions?

The closing date for all questions regarding Phase I and Phase II proposals is November 18, 2011.

Responses to RFIs recieved by this date, as well as responses to pre-proposal conference questions, will be provided in a timely manner, allowing the offerors adequate time to incorporate responses into their proposals by the RFP closing date.

We do not anticipate allowing time for additional questions.

Market Tier 2