Redacted_-_Justification_and_Approval_for_Other_than_Full_and_Open_Competition_-_Montana_Bridge_Facilities_Maintenance_Services.pdf

U.S. General Services Administration

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

FAR 6.303-2

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document.

This justification by the General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service (PBS), Region 8, Mountain Plains Service Center Acquisition Division (here on identified as GSA), is for the contract award using other than full and open competition, or sole source, unusual and compefling urgency basis.

2. The Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The action being approved is for an award by GSA on October 31, 2017, on a sole source basis to Quality Control International, LLC (QCI), which is a small business, for a full facilities maintenance services contract covering nine federal facilities in Montana (Federal Buildings) beginning November 1, 2017, in accordance with FAR 6.302·2 (Sole Source Contract) because, as discussed in more detail in section 5 below, no contract was in place to provide after October 31, 2017, the essential services being performed under the contract expiring on October 31, 2017. These facilities maintenance services are necessary to maintain services and equipment, such as air conditioning, heating, water, electricity, snow removal, pest control, trash removal, etc., to safeguard and preserve the Federal Buildings so that they are able to function as intended for the tenants and visitors at the Federal Buildings. The services are described in more detail in section 3 below.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the total estimated value).

Full Facilities Maintenance services for the following Federal Buildings located throughout Montana:

Battin U.S. Courthouse (CH) 2601 - 2nd Avenue North Billings, MT 59101

Bozeman Federal Building/U.S. Post Office (FB/PO) 10 East Babcock Street Bozeman, MT 59715

Mansfield Federal Building/U.S. Courthouse (FB/CH) 400 North Main Butte, MT 59701

Missoula Federal BuildingfU.S. Post Office (FB/PO) 200 East Broadway Missoula, MT 59802

Raymond U.S. Land Port of Entry (LPOE) Highway 16 North @Canadian Border Raymond, Montana 59256

Roosville U.S. Land Port of Entry (LPOE) 8395 Highway 93 North Roosville located near Eureka, Montana 59917

Piegan U.S. Land Port of Entry (LPOE) Highway 89 @ Canadian Border Piegan located near Babb, Montana 59411

Chief Mountain U.S. Land Port of Entry (LPOE} Highway 17 North @ Canadian Border Chief Mountain located near Babb, Montana 59411

Havre Border Patrol Sector Headquarters (BPSHQ) 2605 - 5th Avenue SE Havre, Montana 59501

The requirement is to provide facilities maintenance services to these Federal Buildings dispersed throughout the state. The value of these services is approximately $2. 7 million (if all options are exercised) or approximately $150,000 monthly. Facilities maintenance services performed under this Sole Source Contract are categorized under the following functional areas; operations and maintenance, custodial, pest control, snow removal and grounds maintenance for nine federal facilities. Specifically, services include HVAC systems maintenance and repairs, plumbing maintenance and repairs, electrical maintenance and repairs, mechanical maintenance and repairs, waste removal and general cleaning maintenance, eradication of insects and other destructive pests, snow and ice removal, and grounds maintenance. The Sole Source Contract covers routine facilities maintenance services, which is defined as covering standard upkeep of the building and equipment, including such efforts as preventative maintenance and inspections on electrical generation and distribution equipment, waste water treatment plant, water treatment and distribution, removal of waste, removal of snow and ice, removal of interior and exterior pests and rodents, and exterior grounds maintenance. The services needed are for all labor, supervision, supplies, materials, tools, equipment, spare parts, inventory control, transportation and other items necessary to perform these facilities maintenance services. · ,

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full an open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) as implemented by

FAR 6.302-2.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the action require use of the authority cited.

The GSA had already awarded two full facilities maintenance contracts (Contract No. 47PJ0018D0003 for the Montana Federal Office Buildings, Courthouses, and Post Offices, and Contract No. 47PJ001800002 for the Montana Land Ports of Entry) the work described in section 3 above. Work under the aforementioned contracts was to begin on November 1, 2017 as the incumbent contracts were scheduled to end on October 31, 2017, except that the contract for the services performed at the Piegan LPOE and the Chief Mountain LPOE is scheduled to end on February 28, 2018.

However, a protest was filed October 24, 2017 against one of the new contract awards and another protest was filed on October 27, 2017, against the other new contract award. In response to each protest, GSA determined on October 31, 2017, that corrective action was appropriate in connection with each of the two protests and to take the following corrective action:

1. GSA would conduct a new procurement;

2. GSA would review its needs as reflected in the solicitation and, based on that review, anticipates that it will be issuing a revised solicitation for the new procurement; and

3. GSA would terminate for the convenience of the Government the awarded contract (GSA had already suspended performance of the awarded contract on October 26, 2017, for one of the awarded contracts and on October 30, 2017, for the other one).

On October 31, 2017, the GSA terminated each of the two newly awarded contracts for the convenience of the Government. The suspension of performance and subsequent termination· of each of the two newly awarded contracts left the Federal Buildings without facilities maintenance services. Therefore, there was an unusual and compelling urgency for the Government to immediately procure facilities maintenance services at the Federal Buildings to avoid damage to federal property, injury to workers and visitors at the Federal Buildings, and disruption to Government operations at the Federal Buildings.

The Sole Source Contract is for a one year base period (the Piegan LPOE and Chief Mountain LPOE would be for an 8-month base period beginning March 1, 2018) and includes six {6) one month optional periods which may be exercised if additional time is needed by GSA to review its requirements, to allow adequate time to properly procure the facilities maintenance services for the Federal Buildings on a longer term basis, and to allow for another contractor, if applicable, to properly transition into the performance of the work on a longer term basis. The one year base period at a minimum is needed by GSA for these reasons, and because it was expected to encourage lower pricing.

This Sole Source Contract award was made in accordance with FAR 6.302-2. The nature of the facts as described in this justification and the nature of the Sole Source Contract require use of FAR 6.302-2 for the following reasons:

The facilities maintenance services required under the Sole Source Contract are necessary to maintain the safety, security and working conditions of the building systems and tenants using the Federal Buildings as well as the safety and security of visitors to the Federal Buildings during the time it takes to allow for the proper re solicitation of the requirements. They are essential to prevent damage to Federal property, injury to workers and visitors at the Federal Buildings, and disruption to Government operations at the Federal Buildings.

Additionally, there are fire, life, and safety risks to the Federal Buildings and its users because the facility maintenance services are responsible for, among other things, ensuring the fire systems are properly and fully functional.

These facility maintenance services are necessary to support use by multiple federal agencies as well as the general public, which needs services from, for example, a post office, various federal court judges, the Land Ports of Entry, etc. Without these facility maintenance services, the Federal Buildings cannot safely be accessed, occupied, or used because of the risk of catastrophic events such as fires, explosions; flooding, unsafe access {ice or snow), invasive pests, etc. that could result from the lack of proper facilities maintenance services at the Federal Buildings. ·

Even a brief suspension of the facilities maintenance services could trigger severe mission consequences at any moment not only for the GSA, but the federal agencies using the Federal Buildings. Also, a lack of any of these services for utility and infrastructure systems {electrical, water, l'jeat, and sewer) provided to the Federal Buildings can cause them to fall into disrepair. Without these facilities maintenance services, the basic facility and facility operating systems would be degrad~d and the buildings would no longer be able to be used for their designated functional purpose. Such degradation would cause damage to the Federal Buildings and would restrict the ability of GSA and all agencies using the Federal Buildings to meet their missions.

Any new contractor providing facilities maintenance services at the Federal Buildings must provide within at least 30 days of transition startup services prior to the contract start date to assist transitioning between contractors (the incumberit contractor and the new contractor). Given the time constraints described above, no contractor was capable of providing such transition startup services for all of the Federal Buildings and only for QCI were such transition startup services not needed or not problematic.

The unusual and compelling urgency of the need as described in this justification and QCl's position as the incumbent contractor, for seven of the nine Federal Buildings, give QCI the unique capability to perform these facility maintenance services. QCI is familiar with the GSA personnel in Montana and the services needed to perform the work in the Federal Buildings. Before its contract expired on October 31, 2017, QC! satisfactorily performed these services for all of the Federal Buildings tinder its contract. QCI maintained the staff to perform the facility maintenance services and was mobilized to perform these services without disruption at the seven Federal Buildings where it was already performing these services, and well positioned to perform such services at the Piegan LPOE and the Chief Mountain LPOE when needed. Any alternate contractor would have been unable to commence contract performance on November 1, 2017, as needed and would have required at least 30 days for hiring, training and transition, especially as many of the Federal Buildings are in locations that are remote. The costs and difficulty for another contractor to hire personnel and arrange subcontractors for such a short period of time would be cumbersome. An alternate contractor would face extraordinary and virtually unachievable obstacles in ramping up teams and hiring key personnel and subcontractors to perform the services by November 1, 2017. If the Sole Source Contract had not been awarded to QCI, there is a very high risk that not only would GSA not have been able to meet its mission, but the agencies using the Federal Buildings might have failed in their missions as well.

In addition, awarding the Sole Source Contract to QCI for the Federal Buildings avoided the burden and disruption to the Government that would have resulted if GSA had awarded two separate sole source contracts to two different entities or one sole source contract to an entity besides QCI. Awarding and administering two contracts to two different entities would have especially meant a duplication of GSA's efforts. Awarding the Sole Source Contract to QCI means that for the seven Federal Buildings where QCI was already performing the facilities maintenance services GSA at most at the expiration of the Sole Source Contract would have to change to a new contractor twice, i.e., from QCI to the new contractors for the two newly awarded contracts. If an entity besides QCI were awarded the Sole Source Contract, then for the seven Federal Buildings GSA at most at the expiration of the Sole Source Contract would have to change contractors three times, i.e., from QCI to the contractor for the Sole Source Contract and then to the new contractors for the two newly awarded contracts.

The disruption to the Government would be even greater if two separate Sole Source Contracts had been awarded instead of one.

6. A description of efforts to ensure that offers were solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

A Sole Source Contract was awarded to QCI on a sole source basis because of the unusual and compelling urgency of the facts as described above and because, as the incumbent contractor, QCI was mobilized and employed the required staff to perform the facilities maintenance services beginning on November 1, 2017.

GSA solicited no other offerers besides QCI for this Sole Source Contract because, as recognized and permitted under FAR 5.202(a)(2), of the risk of serious damage or injury to GSA and the other Government agencies and visitors using the Federal Buildings (and additionally the risk of disruption to Government operations at the Federal Buildings) if GSA had complied with the time periods required under FAR 5.203.

It was not possible for GSA to solicit any potential competitors for the procurement of these facilities maintenance services, evaluate offers and make contract award, familiarize the new contractor with the equipment, systems and facilities of the applicable Federal Buildings and then wait for that new contractor to obtain the necessary security clearances, to properly staff the applicable Federal Buildings with qualified workers, to obtain the tools and equipment necessary for this kind of work, and to timely perform.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost {including the cost of options) to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Approximately $2.7 million (if all options are exercised), or approximately $150,000 monthly, is the anticipated cost (and actual cost) of the Sole Source Contract. To ensure that this cost of approximately $150,000 per month to the Government would be fair and reasonable, I reviewed

The Sole Source Contract pricing is als In addition, the cost of the. Sole Source

Contract is Therefore, the cost of the Sole Source Contract is fair and reasonable.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

As discussed above in section 6, no market research was conducted and no potential competitors were solicited due to the unusual and compelling urgency of the need for these facilities maintenance services.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

None.

10. A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

No other sources have expressed a written interest in this acquisition.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition, before any subsequent acquisition for the services are required.

As mentioned above, GSA plans to conduct two new procurements for the facilities maintenance services. GSA awarded a Sole Source Contract for a one year period with six one-month options to ensure there would not be a lapse in the performance of facilities maintenance services while the GSA conducts these two new procurements.

The subsequent acquisition (at the end of the Sole Source Contract) for these facility maintenance services will be in compliance with the competitive requirements that are legally required.

CERTIFICATION

Contracting Officer:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Digitally signed by RHONDA WIDICK

· ON: c=US, Q;11:U.S. Government. oo=General RH Q ND A WI D l(K 5ervlce<Admfnistr.11lon, cn=RHONDAWIDICK.

0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=47001000121079 Dale:2017.l l.2916'.39·32-06'00'

Rhonda Widick Contracting Officer

11/29/2017

Date

REVIEWS AND APPROVALS

Legally Sµfficiency:

I have reviewed the foregoing justification, and it is legally sufficient.

Robert W. Schlattman Deputy Regional Counsel

Competition Advocate:

I I !./L 10/7

I have reviewed this justification, which is for a contract exceeding $700,000, but not exceeding $13.5 mlllion, and, based on all of the foregoing in the justification, I approve this justification.

(/ /36/ 2a1( G.W. Emge Li.

Competition Adv~ate

Date