PACES-RACER FY26 SATOC PWS_28 May 2025.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

28 May 2025

PACES AND RACER SOFTWARE

MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT

U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center Huntsville, Alabama

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 Background.

a. The Huntsville Engineering Support Center (HNC) is recognized as the Assigned Responsible Agency (ARA) who provides software applications designed to support the cost engineers throughout the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the cost engineers with additional federal stakeholders such as the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.

The HNC software applications are used in support of military, civil works, environmental restoration, and other projects worldwide. Managed by the HNC, these software applications provide a standard suite of automated tools used for the preparation of planning and budgetary estimates for analysis on budget cost data during design, Independent Government Estimates (IGEs) during bid opening or negotiations, modification estimates during construction, and captures contract costs for historical purposes. The HNC supports the Tri-Services (Army, Navy and Air Force), as well as the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Department of Energy, Defense Logistics Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Two such software applications are the Parametric Automated Cost Engineering System (PACES) and the Remedial Action Cost Engineering and Requirements

(RACER).

b. The U.S. Air Force developed PACES in order to manage the frequent criteria changes and updates to building systems. PACES is based on parametric cost estimating techniques and is used to create cost estimates early in the programming and design phase of a project. It is useful on projects where a design was never developed or is incomplete. The software code is copyrighted by AECOM under the title “PACES.” This software title is provided for use under a Government Purpose Rights.

c. The U.S. Air Force developed RACER to support a growing number of environmental sustainment, management, and remediation efforts. Like PACES, RACER is based on parametric cost estimating techniques. RACER is used to create parametric cost estimates for environmental remediation projects where the factors affecting the project vary widely from site to site. It provides a common shared platform for similar activities performed under similar circumstances. The software code is copyrighted by AECOM under the title “RACER.” This software title is provided for use under a Government Purpose Rights.

1.2 Scope

a. The purpose of this contract is to support, sustain, and enhance the PACES and RACER software titles. The Contractor shall provide all personnel, technical, and functional services and supplies, as defined in each task order, necessary to execute this work. The work will consist of a helpdesk, software development, software sustainment, maintenance of a System and Organization Controls (SOC) 1 Type II report, document development, training, and other services needed to ensure the satisfactory operation and output of PACES and RACER.

1.3 Software Management

a. The Tri-Service Cost Engineering Steering Committee (TCESC) and the Decision Working Group (DWG) are comprised of members from the Tri-Services and focuses on the development of PACES. The TCESC/DWG receives information from the Parametric Technical Working Group (TWG) for consideration in the development of PACES.

b. The Environmental Estimating Community of Practice (EECoP) is comprised of many of the same member components as the TCESC/DWG, but focuses on the development of RACER. The EECoP receives information from the RACER Technical Review Group (TRG) for consideration in the development of RACER.

c. The Parametric TWG is composed of Department of Defense (DOD) cost engineers who have the technical responsibility to perform quality assurance reviews of PACES submittals. In addition the Parametric TWG is responsible for reviewing Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) for PACES and determining their technical priority for development in future releases of PACES. The TCESC/DWG have final say on enhancement approvals.

d. The RACER TRG is composed of DOD cost engineers and other participating federal agency cost engineers who have the technical responsibility to perform quality assurance reviews of RACER submittals. In addition the TRG is responsible for reviewing Problem/Change Requests (P/CR) for RACER and determining their technical priority in being addressed in future versions of RACER. The EECoP has final say on RACER enhancement approvals.

e. PACES Hardware Requirements. The current minimum hardware and operating system requirements needed to install PACES include a Pentium 500 MHz Processor (2.8 GHz or above recommended); 1 GB RAM (1.0 GHz or above recommended); 40 GB free hard disk space ; Video Card with 3-D graphics and 64 MB of Video RAM; CD ROM Drive (if installing from CD); Microsoft® Windows® 10 Operating System; Microsoft Excel® 2016 or later; Microsoft .NET Framework (4.0 or higher)

f. RACER Hardware Requirements. The current minimum hardware and operating system requirements needed to install RACER include an Intel Core i3 (3rd generation) processor or equivalent AMD processor (Intel Core i5 (8th generation) or AMD Ryzen 5 equivalent recommended); 4 GB RAM (8 GB or above recommended); 256 GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD) (512 GB or above SSD recommended); CD ROM Drive (if the software is not downloaded); Microsoft Windows 10 or later (64-bit) Operating System (Windows 10 Pro or Windows 11 recommended); Microsoft Excel® 365; Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8. RACER is developed and maintained in the VB.NET and C# programming languages with a Microsoft Access database.

1.4 Interfaces/Compatibilities:

a. There are two primary interface methods relevant to PACES and RACER. The first is machine-to-machine. This is where another software title draws data directly from PACES or RACER without an intermediary format requiring manual upload into the receiving software title. This is defined within this PWS as “machine interface.” The second is data output where information is drawn from PACES or RACER in a specific format that can be manually imported into another software title. This is defined within this PWS as “file interface.”

b. There are no existing machine interfaces for PACES or RACER at this time. However, some data is pulled from both software titles to fit other systems. Future operations or proponents may require a direct machine interface to a defined title. Evaluation of the potential capability to support a machine interface may be requested as a part of an ongoing task order. Development of any new interface would require either a subsequent task order or modification to an existing task order.

c. A number of file interfaces exist for PACES and RACER. The Contractor shall preserve a file interface for each of the titles listed below during defect management and enhancements work effected by task order. File interfaces may require updates to meet changes in the destination software. Maintenance of the interfaces should be managed under the relevant defect management task order.

(i) PACES:

− Micro-Computer Aided Cost Estimating System Second Generation (MII)

− PC Cost

(ii) RACER

− EDR/PP Utility

2. DEFINITIONS

Agile: A software development methodology under which requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams and their customer(s)/end user(s). It advocates adaptive planning, evolutionary development, and continual improvement, and it encourages rapid and flexible response to change. Popular agile software development frameworks include the Agile Unified Process (AUP), Extreme Programming (XP), Feature-Driven Development (FDD), Lean Software Development, Kanban, Rapid Application Development (RAD), and SCRUM. Agile software development practices include Agile Testing, Backlogs (Product and Sprint), Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), Continuous Integration, Iterative and Incremental Development (IID), Pair Programming, Refactoring, Retrospective, Story-Driven Modeling, and Test-Driven Development (TDD).

Area Cost Factors (ACF): Area Cost Factors are location-dependent cost multipliers used to enhance the accuracy of cost estimates for programmed federal construction projects throughout the world.

ARA: Assigned Responsible Agency. Documented responsibility designated to a group or team of government employees. In this case, the ARA is the Huntsville Engineering Support Center, assigned the responsibility for maintaining and enhancing the software and databases needed to support the Cost Engineering Community of Practice.

ARA PM: Assigned Responsible Agency Project Manager. There will be one PM who is assigned as the primary point of contact. The ARA PM is responsible for the overall execution of scope, schedule, and budget associated with requirements outlined in this base contract.

Azure DevOps: The Azure DevOps system is used to track RACER Problem/Change Requests (P/CR) and defect remediation. This system contains the detailed review and testing correspondence between the Government, Government Contractors, and AECOM. The RACER Azure DevOps system is available to key Government stakeholders to add to, comment on, and check the latest status of P/CRs.

CLIN: Contract Line Item. The only CLINs associated with this contract are labor, travel, and ODCs.

Work will be ordered via task order by negotiating firm-fixed quantities of each CLIN according to the estimated effort required to complete the task.

Contractor Manpower Reporting: The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) operates and maintains a secure Army data collection site where the contractor will report ALL contractor manpower (including subcontractor manpower) required for performance of this contract. The contractor is required to completely fill in all the information in the format using the Contractor Manpower Reporting website.

Contract Specialist (CS): The individual responsible for the day-to-day administration of contract activities, task order assignment, and official correspondence.

Contracting Officer (KO): The warranted individual responsible for the proper acquisition and administration of this contract.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): The COR will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the task order and assists in task order administration. The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the task order; perform inspections necessary in connection with task order performance;

maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the task order; issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications; monitor Contractor's performance and notify both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies; coordinate availability of government furnished property; and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regard to changes in cost or price, estimates or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

Contracting Officer Representative Tracking Tool (CORT Tool): A web-enabled application designed to provide insight into the COR nomination and designation process. Designed to track COR and COR-related actions within the DOD including the nomination, appointment, revocation, and termination of an individual as a COR against a DOD contract or a contract or order issued on behalf of a DOD assisting agency.

Contractor: The primary private entity responsible for the execution of the requirements of this contract.

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS): A web-enabled application that collects and manages the library of automated Contractor Performance Assessment Reports (CPAR). A CPAR assesses a Contractor’s performance and provides a record, both positive and negative, on a given Contractor during a specific period of time. Each assessment is based on objective facts and supported by program and contract management data, such as cost performance reports, customer comments, quality reviews, technical interchange meetings, financial solvency assessments, construction/production management reviews, Contractor operations reviews, functional performance evaluations, and earned contract incentives. CPAR ratings include ‘Exceptional’, ‘Very Good’, ‘Satisfactory’, ‘Marginal’, and ‘Unsatisfactory’.

CONUS: Continental United States. Associated with any of the 48 contiguous states of the U.S.

COP: Community of Practice

Commercial Cost Book: An electronic database consisting of construction task items with specific cost information for crews (labor & equipment) and materials necessary to calculate cost for construction projects.

Crystal Ball: A licensed software application, currently owned and maintained by Oracle, for calculating relative risk for cost overrun on given construction projects. This is used for identifying major areas of risk and for defining the amount of contingency to be applied to the task.

CSI (Construction Specifications Institute): An authority which prescribes a special industry-recognized format by which all construction tasks are listed and organized. A unique 12-digit number is used to identify each task. The first two numbers of each task identify which of 50 “divisions” the task falls under, based loosely upon the primary construction discipline used for each task (electrical, mechanical, etc.)

DFARS: A Department of Defense (DOD) supplement to the FAR which provides additional regulations or clarifications to existing FAR requirements.

DOD: Department of Defense

EDR/PP Utility: Estimate Documentation Report / Post Processor Utility. A software title that manually (no machine-to-machine direct interface) pulls both costs and cost estimate information from RACER.

Manually creates reports that are then manually transferred in the Formerly Used Defense Site Information System (FUDSMIS) for archiving.

EECoP: Environmental Estimating Community of Practice. The Government group that governs environmental estimating capabilities, including RACER.

EM-CX: Environmental Munitions Center of Expertise.

Engineering Change Proposal (ECP): A change typically initiated at the Government’s request that proposes a change in configuration and government performance requirements within a software application. Necessitates a change in the source code and/or model reports that impacts the design, algorithms, inputs, outputs, third-party interfaces, user interfaces, and other areas of a software application. Are often times considered to be a software enhancement.

EP 1110-1-8: Construction Equipment Ownership and Operating Expense Schedule. A manual developed by the Civil Works Center of Expertise at the Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that describes the costs of ownership, operation, depreciation, etc. of specific pieces of construction equipment. This document is primarily used to estimate fair and reasonable compensation to construction Contractors in modifications which involve the use of construction equipment.

Construction equipment identified in the Contractor’s commercial cost book must be cross-referenced to equivalent equipment types in the EP 1110-1-8 in order to be used since equipment costs are estimated using the cost values found in the EP 1110-1-8.

FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation. The federal government’s regulation for the execution of all federal acquisitions and purchases with Contractors and suppliers. It contains clauses which may or may not be included in the contract.

Government Agent: A representative acting in an official capacity on behalf of the Federal government.

HII (Historical Analysis Generator – 2nd Generation): A web-based software application for collection and evaluation of contract award costs for MILCON and Civil Works projects. The application allows for the evaluation of construction costs at the project, facility and/or system level within the project.

HNC: USACE, Huntsville Engineering and Support Center

HTRW: Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste

HTW: The three letter source code designation in the Cost Book for Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste line items.

Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ): Type of contract where the exact quantity required and exact time of ordering is not known at the time the contract is awarded. Quantities and periods of performance are defined within each task order generated under this contract.

MII: (Microcomputer Aided Cost Engineering System—2nd Generation). The latest detailed construction cost estimating software developed and maintained by the TRACES team for use by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies. It has replaced the MCACES Gold and MFW estimating systems, which were phased out.

Master format: See CSI

MILCON: Military Construction, construction projects funded via direct military appropriations.

NTP: Notice To Proceed. Official government authorization given by the Contracting Officer to the Contractor to proceed with a specified portion of the contract.

OCONUS: Outside the Continental United States. Associated with any location outside of the 48 contiguous states of the U.S. to include Alaska and Hawaii, but generally understood as any country other than the U.S.

ODC: Other Direct Costs. Other Direct Costs in a contract that cannot be attributed to any other CLIN, such as shipping of materials, reproduction expenses, software licenses, or other requirements defined at the task order level.

PACES (Parametric Cost Engineering System): A parametric construction cost estimating system developed by AECOM Technical Services, Inc., used by the Tri-Service cost engineering community and other federal agencies.

PC Cost: Government owned and maintained software for calculating budgetary construction cost estimates to be fed into the DD 1391 Processor system.

P/CR: Problem/Change Request. A process used for RACER to identify bugs and enhancement ideas typically generated by the RACER TRG, the Contractor, or other users. The RACER TRG works closely with the Contractor to prioritize the P/CRs using DevOps and meetings and P/CRs that require formal vote are brought before the EECoP.

PDF: Portable Document Format. Electronic document format most closely associated with Adobe® Acrobat software.

PDT: Project Delivery Team. HNC team managing this contract. (Engineering and Contracting members)

Performance Work Statement (PWS): A definition of the specific requirements expected in executing a contract line item.

PMBOK: Project Management Body of Knowledge. The PMBOK is widely acknowledged as the comprehensive authority on effect project management practices.

PMI: Project Management Institute. A group of professionals who created the Project Management Body of Knowledge.

PMP: Project Management Plan. The Contractor’s plan that describes how projects are to be executed and completed and who is responsible for each aspect of the project.

Project Manager (government): The government representative directly responsible for the proper management and administration of the requirements and deliverables of the contract and the resources to meet them. The project manager also leads the government’s integrated project delivery team for the contract.

ProjNet: The on-line document and submittal review system created by the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was developed primarily as a collaborative tool to review construction contract drawings and specifications between government and Contractor personnel, but has been successful in being used to review data submittals for RACER and PACES projects as well.

Proponent: The Cost Engineering Community of Practice Team Leader, HQUSACE. The Proponent is the lead person for providing guidance and funding for cost engineering applications within the Corps of Engineers.

QA: Quality Assurance. The government’s method of verifying that the Contractor’s quality control (QC) system is working.

QC: Quality Control. The Contractor’s system of ensuring that all product submittals and deliverables meet the level of quality specified in the government’s performance work statement.

QMP: Quality Management Plan. The Contractor’s plan that describes in detail how their QC system works.

RACER (Remedial Action Cost Engineering and Requirements): A parametric Environmental and Munitions remediation estimating system developed by AECOM Technical Services, Inc., and used by the Tri-Service cost engineering community and other federal agencies.

RAD: Radioactive Waste.

SOC 1 (System and Organization Controls 1): A report based on the auditing standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). A SOC 1 report focuses on the internal controls at a service organization. It provides assurance to the user entities and their auditors that the service organization's controls are effective and operating as intended.

SSAE 18 (Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 18): A set of standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for the preparation and examination of attestation engagements, such as SOC 1 reports. These standards are used by auditors to assess the effectiveness of a service organization's controls and to provide assurance to clients about the reliability of the services provided.

Tri-Service Automated Cost Engineering System (TRACES) Cost Book: A collection of data containing specific information (task descriptions; associated crews, labor, equipment, and production rates; task material prices, etc.) on specific construction tasks. This data is compiled and used by a number of automated cost estimating systems used by the federal government (MII, PACES, RACER, or other software titles) to create accurate and reliable construction cost estimates. The TRACES Cost Book will be compiled and combined from a specified list of approximately 17,000 government-maintained tasks.

The TRACES Cost Book must be maintained in both English and Metric units as separate databases.

The equipment portion of the TRACES Cost Book will be based upon the EP-1110-1-8, Region VIII, and Seattle Davis Bacon Labor Rates. The TRACES Cost Book is restricted information that cannot be disseminated in whole or displayed in part to any other agency or entity.

Tri-Services: The Army, Navy, and Air-Force cost engineering communities.

VV&A (Verification, Validation, & Accreditation): Key processes in the development and maintenance of models to ensure they are reliable and accurate.

Waterfall: A structured and linear software development methodology that emphasizes a logical progression of steps/phases including requirements, analysis, design, programming, testing, deployment, and operations & maintenance (O&M). Before moving to the next step/phase, there is usually a review and sign off process to ensure that all defined goals have been met. Is ideal for projects that have specific documentation, fixed requirements, ample resources, an established timeline, and well-understood technology.

Wide Area Workflow (WAWF): A web-based application that allows DOD vendors to submit and track invoices, receipts, and acceptance documents electronically.

3. GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED MATERIALS AND SUPPORT

Government Furnished Materials and Support. For each task order, the Government will provide such materials for exclusive use by the Contractor as deemed appropriate for the Contractor to perform the requirements of a particular task order. The Government makes no representation that the following examples of typical materials furnished by the Government are sufficient to accomplish the requirements of a particular task order.

3.1 Publications and Forms. The Government will provide the Contractor with all necessary publications such as regulations, engineering pamphlets, technical manuals, standards, Unified Facilities Criteria, user's manuals, and forms as necessary for the Contractor to perform tasks related to Government Cost Engineering.

3.2 Access to ProjNet. For the purpose of this contract, ProjNet is expected to be the administrative record for logging and managing all comments for major contract deliverables when technical reviews are specified within task orders. The Contractor, Government POC’s, and Government support Contractors will be provided access to ProjNet for the purpose of reviewing comments and allowed to annotate notes per each comment. Reviews and testing specific to P/CRs are handled separately in Azure DevOps.

3.3 Official Comments. If the Government decides not to use ProjNet, the Government will either find a replacement system or provide comments in a more formal manner where official comments are submitted to the Contractor via the KO. The comments will be provided in a timely manner and based upon submittals as specified within each individual task order.

Evaluation process and re-evaluations will be further defined in section 4 of this PWS.

3.4 Approval of Contract Changes. The KO is the sole authority to authorize a change to the contract and the Contractor may not take actions to perform any work beyond the original performance work statement without the consent of the KO. The Contractor is not authorized to enhance, modify or add to software without a written task order and respective specifications from the KO. If the Contractor considers a request for work to be outside the contract requirements, the Contractor shall bring such contradictory information, in writing to include supporting documentation, to the immediate attention of the KO for resolution prior to performing the work.

3.5 Points of Contact. The Government may provide a list of any Tri-Service, other federal agency, or Government support Contractor reviewers with each specific task order. This will contain names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses.

4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The following requirements and deliverables will be required under the base contract and shall therefore be applied to any task order issued (whether mentioned in the task order or not). Each task order will be negotiated after master contract award and the task order proposal shall include all ancillary costs associated with the requirements of Section 4 of this PWS. Additional requirements described in each task order once awarded may complement, emphasize, or add to any requirements or processes mentioned in this paragraph. The Government reserves the right to make technical adjustments to these requirements (i.e. the requirements will not always be verbatim to the technical specifics provided in this contract, but will be within the technical content described herein) on an individual task order basis. The government reserves the right to expand any requirements of any task order so long as the requirement does not force the Contractor to perform outside the scope of what would be considered reasonable within the bounds of this contract.

4.1 Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities. The Contractor shall have the functional and technical knowledge of developing parametric construction and environmental models, programming software logic for and usage of PACES and RACER, cost engineering for Military, Civil Works, Environmental and munitions projects, and instruction expertise on the PACES and RACER.

The Contractor shall have at least three years of experience in construction and environmental parametric cost model development and have legal rights to use the PACES and RACER modeling methodology. The Contractor shall also have the capability to create the models in the correct structure format that are usable by the PACES and RACER software. In addition, the Contractor shall have at least three years of experience in providing effective instruction on the PACES and RACER software for the primary purpose of performing cost engineering on construction (MILCON & Civil Works) and environmental and munitions remediation projects.

The Contractor shall furnish all services and supplies requested by the KO through the issuance of task orders as generally characterized within this section. The Contractor shall provide qualified personnel in the cost engineering and software development disciplines to: (1) Perform specified services and (2) Furnish the management, administration, training, travel, supervision, quality assurance, supplies, materials and equipment (not otherwise furnished as Government Furnished Materials). These personnel shall deliver services within schedule and in accordance with contract terms, reference documents conditions, specific contracts and task order requirements and contract clauses.

4.2 Parametric Estimating and Software Requirements. The parametric tools provided under this contract shall utilize a parametric estimating approach to estimate such that the estimator can enter a minimal amount of information to generate a cost estimate; each cost model has required parameters that drive secondary parameters which calculate based on algorithms and assumptions built into each cost model. The estimating tools provided under this contract shall include a comprehensive library of cost models and assemblies, similar to those outlined in Appendix A, to support the full range of project needs and preserve estimating functionality over time. Outputs from the tools provided under this contract shall maintain functionality to be exportable to key federal Government systems, such as Micro-Computer Aided Cost Estimating Systems (MCACES) Second Generation (MII), Estimate Documentation Report/Post Processor (EDR/PP) Utility, etc.

4.3 Reporting and Export Functionality. The parametric tools under this contract shall maintain the ability to export reports in multiple formats (Excel, PDF, RTF, XML, etc.) to facilitate integrations with Government systems such as MII, Formerly Used Defense Sites Management Information System (FUDSMIS), etc. The Contractor shall provide support for batch reporting and automated documentation processes to streamline Government program reporting needs. The Contractor shall provide for the delivery of essential report types, including Uniformat (Levels 1- 4), CSI, DD Form 1391, assembly detail, and cost markup reports.

4.4 Transparency, Traceability, and Markups. The Contractor shall be required to deliver detailed backup documentation for the parametric tools under this contract, including, but not limited to, model reports and cost assumptions, supporting transparency and accountability of the tools.

The Contractor shall ensure markups (e.g. prime, subcontractor, overhead, contingency, SIOH) are configurable and allow for flexible and tailored estimates. All estimates shall maintain traceable links from model inputs to final outputs to support internal QA/QC processes and external audits.

4.5 Integration of Key Data Sources. The Contractor shall have the ability to integrate and update various authoritative data sources within the estimating tools, including, but not limited to, TRACES Cost Book and pricing databases, escalation factors, Area Cost Factors (ACFs), and location modifiers (i.e. seismic zone, winter dry bulb, frost line depth, etc.). The parametric tools under this contract shall allow for regular updates of these data sources to reflect market conditions, location adjustments, and Government guidance, helping maintain the accuracy and defensibility of estimates.

4.6 Communication, Meetings, and Coordination. Communication between the Contractor and government will be necessary and frequent throughout the period of performance of this contract. Communication will take various forms on both a scheduled and unscheduled basis.

The Contractor should be prepared to partake in review meetings, teleconferences, internet-enabled conferences, or other requirements defined at the task order level. The Contractor’s costs associated with communication and necessary work under this base contract but outside the scope of any particular task order should be spread as either overhead or direct costs within assigned task orders in accordance with established accounting procedures. A task order may require the Contractor to: (1) attend and host meetings; (2) perform site visits; and (3) coordinate with other government agencies, Contractors, and offices not directly associated with the government. Meetings will be held subject to Army Conference policy. The Contractor may necessarily gather information, prepare and provide a draft agenda at least three (3) business days prior to a meeting, coordinate interfacing with other automated systems, demonstrating features, disseminate information and meeting minutes, perform training, and provide user support.

4.7 Contractor Travel: Contractor will be required to travel CONUS during the performance of this contract to attend meetings, conferences, and training. The contractor may be required to travel to off-site training locations and to ship training aids to these locations in support of this PWS.

Contractor will be authorized travel expenses consistent with the substantive provisions of the Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) and the limitation of funds specified in this contract. All travel requires Government approval/authorization and notification to the COR.

4.8 Personnel Requirements

a. Key Personnel. The Contractor shall provide key personnel to fill the roles identified below. The years of experience included within the minimum criteria as set forth below for key personnel are considered concurrent, i.e., any years shown for specialized experience are not in addition to the time for general experience. The Contractor’s personnel as described in the proposal are hereby incorporated by reference and the Contractor shall provide these persons as part of contract performance. The KO will make final determinations as to whether personnel meet criteria requirements. Should key personnel change during the life of the contract, new resumes and qualifications will be provided and approved in advance of performance by the KO for those personnel. Key personnel are as follows: Program Manager, Project Manager, Lead/Senior Computer Programmer, Quality Control Representative, Technical Writer, and Principal Cost Engineer. In the event that any key personnel perform in more than one capacity within the same task order, it is imperative that the Contractor charge appropriately the labor category and rates for the work being performed for individual tasks on this contract. Key personnel are required to attend all meetings, scheduled and ad hoc. Meetings may be attended virtually.

4.9 Project Management

a. General. The Contractor shall provide program/project management and supervisory functions to ensure timely performance on all task orders. The Contractor shall provide substantive guidance, policy and practices, for managing and executing the terms of the contract and demonstrate a commitment for continuous improvement of internal work processes, minimizing the impact of changes on external system users, and providing security safeguards for proprietary information. USACE recognizes the Project Management Institutes (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) as the industry standard. For software processes, the Contractor shall provide project management leadership in the areas of Waterfall or Agile development processes. The Contractor shall describe experience with these software development processes. This experience shall describe the type of experience, years, and organization’s ability to support modern software development practices.

b. Contractor Manpower Reporting (CMR): The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) operates and maintains a secure Army data collection site where the Contractor shall report ALL Contractor manpower (including subcontractor manpower) required for performance of this contract. The Contractor shall completely fill in all the information in the format using the Contractor Manpower Reporting website. The required information includes: (1) Contracting Office, KO, and COR; (2) Contract number, including task and delivery order number; (3) Beginning and ending dates covered by reporting period; (4) Contractor's name, address, phone number, e-mail address, identity of Contractor employee entering data; (5) Estimated direct labor hours (including sub-Contractors); (6) Estimated direct labor dollars paid this reporting period (including sub-Contractors); (7) Total payments (including sub-Contractors); (8) Predominant Federal Service Code (FSC) reflecting services provided by Contractor (and separate predominant FSC for each sub-Contractor if different); (9) Estimated data collection cost; (10) Organizational title associated with the Unit Identification Code (UIC) for the Army Requiring Activity (the Army Requiring Activity is responsible for providing the Contractor with its UIC for the purposes of reporting this information); (11) Locations where Contractor and sub-Contractors perform the work (specified by zip code in the United States and nearest city, country, when in an overseas location, using standardized nomenclature provided on website); (12) Presence of deployment or contingency contract language; and (13) Number of Contractor and sub-Contractor employees deployed in theater this reporting period (by country). As part of its submission, the Contractor shall provide the estimated total cost (if any) incurred to comply with this reporting requirement.

Reporting period shall be the period of performance not to exceed 12 months ending September 30 of each government fiscal year and must be reported by 31 October of each calendar year. Contractors may use a direct XML data transfer to the database server or fill in the fields on the website. The XML direct transfer is a format for transferring files from a Contractor’s system to the secure website without the need for separate data entries for each required data element at the website. The specific formats for the XML direct transfer may be downloaded from the website.

c. Azure DevOps. The Contractor shall maintain an Azure DevOps system for PACES and RACER for the purpose of tracking and prioritizing defects, P/CRs, ECPs, status, and testing results and collaboration. The Contractor shall maintain access to the Azure DevOps systems and grant Government and Government Support Contractors access to the systems upon agency TRG/TWG lead approval. Additionally, the Contractor shall have an approval process in place for internal personnel access. During monthly status meetings, Azure DevOps system access shall be reviewed to ensure personnel from each agency still require access to the system. If it is determined during the monthly status meeting that personnel have access to the PACES/RACER Azure DevOps system and are no longer involved with the development or testing of PACES/RACER, the Contractor shall revoke their access immediately.

d. Contractor’s Project Management Plans (PMP). The Contractor shall develop a Master PMP for the general operations under this contract. It shall cover both PACES and RACER and act as the primary example of the support provided to the Government through the Master Contract along with roles and responsibilities delivered by AECOM.

This master PMP shall be evaluated and updated annually until the end of the ordering period. Submission of the Master PMP will be required following the award of the Master Contract. The Contractor shall develop and deliver separate Task Order PMPs for each software title. The Task Order PMPs shall be delivered for the first task order of each software title; PACES & RACER. The Task Order PMPs shall include the details necessary and relevant, including a project baseline schedule, for managing the work specific to the first task order of each software title. Subsequent task orders will require updates to the Task Order PMPs. The Contractor’s performance will be rated in accordance to how tasks are planned and executed under the framework of the Master

PMP and Task Order PMPs. The Master PMP shall be briefed during the kickoff meeting of the first task order for each software title. The Task Order PMP shall be briefed during the kickoff meeting for each task order. The Master PMP and Task Order PMPs and will be accepted as final after all valid comments have been adjudicated in ProjNet. Without reiterating the PWS for an individual task order, the Task Order PMPs shall include procedures for fulfilling the requirements of the contract, information on procedures and software development processes (e.g. – Waterfall, Agile, SAFE) for developing automated databases and other software, as well as information on functionality (including accurate and auditable estimates) and operational characteristics of automated databases and software used to develop PACES/RACER assemblies and models and on the currently produced software: PACES and RACER. The Task Order PMPs shall demonstrate which portion, if any, of PACES/RACER assemblies and models covered under this contract still include any interface and sharing of modeling technology between the two systems. Off-the shelf software, which will be used, shall be specifically identified and related to functional relationship within the contract that it will be used for. The Contractor shall designate the following within the Task Order PMPs: (1) the principal company officer responsible for administering individual task orders issued under this contract, (2) the principal company officer who is authorized to negotiate technical and management considerations (these first two officers may be one in the same) and (3) the principal company officer responsible for administrating the Quality Management Plan (shall be a separate individual). The Task Order PMPs will be signed by AECOM, PACES, and RACER Project Managers and any subsequent changes to the final Task Order PMPs shall follow the process outlined in the subsidiary change management plan.

4.10 Quality Management

a. General. All Quality Control (QC) is the responsibility of the Contractor. The Contractor is responsible for the quality of all contract deliverables. The Contractor shall exercise in-house QC by qualified independent team members and thoroughly test all updates and installation procedures from individual task orders prior to submittal delivery to the Government. Testing shall be completed in accordance with Section 5.4 of this PWS and as defined in individual task orders. The Independent team members providing QC should be familiar with PACES and/or RACER but not working on the specific task order.

Testing will be performed on current Government approved operating system platform(s), generally the latest Microsoft product(s). The Contractor will be required to support the software’s functionality with the government’s current operating environment at the time of task order completion.

b. Contractor’s Quality Management Plan (QMP). The Contractor shall develop, maintain and execute an approved QMP. The QMP shall clearly depict how the Contractor will provide effective QC to deliver quality products consistent with contract requirements for the full scope of the contract. Furthermore, the QMP shall list the names, qualifications, authority/chain of command, and responsibilities for each staff member responsible for ensuring quality management for all contract deliverables and the overall PACES/RACER products.

c. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). One of the outputs from the QMP is the QASP. The QASP provides a systematic method to evaluate performance for the stated contract. The Contractor’s performance will be evaluated in part to how tasks are executed in accordance with the QASP. It is the Government’s responsibility to be objective, fair, and consistent in evaluating performance. The Government will provide a draft QASP with future task order RFP’s. The contractor can recommend edits to the QASP and the QASP will be considered final when it is signed by both parties. The QASP shall contain a table depicting the standard, acceptable quality level, method of surveillance, and incentive for each task deliverable.

d. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). The Contractor may be required to generate and provide to the Government, SOPs to demonstrate their processes and controls for specific activities. For example, the Contractor may be required to generate and provide to the Government, an SOP that details their procedures and controls to obtain pricing for individual line items. Specific requirements for these SOPs will be specified under individual task orders, if required.

4.11 Documenting Performance / Quality Standards

a. Quality Deficiencies. Deficiencies for each deliverable shall be tracked in WAWF, the CORT Tool, CPARS, and/or as an administrative record in ProjNet and/or DevOps.

b. Quality Assurance. The Government will perform periodic quality assurance checks on all Contractor deliverables to make certain of product conformance with contractual requirements during the product development and after the product has been issued to the users. The results of these reviews will be formally furnished to the Contractor as written comments in ProjNet or DevOps. The Contractor shall evaluate all comments and provide red-lined copies of the deliverable as a means for the commenter to verify recommendations are incorporated appropriately. The Contractor shall indicate in their evaluation if they believe the review comment has the potential to impact scope, cost, or schedule of the project. Such comments will be flagged and brought to the attention of the Government Project Manager and KO. The KO will make a final determination regarding scope, cost, or schedule impacts from such flagged comments. The Government will back check the comments following submission of the Contractor’s evaluation. Deliverables will not be accepted as final until all comments in ProjNet or DevOps have been closed and adjudicated to the satisfaction of the Government. If comments are unsatisfactorily incorporated, the KO has the right to ask for a corrected final.

c. Re-submittal of deliverable(s). Unacceptable or incomplete deliverables will be returned to the Contractor for correction of deficiencies. The Contractor will correct the errors and re-submit the deliverable with a new transmittal letter within 10 working days (unless indicated otherwise on the task order baseline schedule) at no additional cost to the Government. Any associated schedule changes (if any) must be approved by the KO.

d. Comment Log. The Government’s user community will review the deliverables and will provide comments in ProjNet or DevOps. After submitted reviews, the KO or their representative may also provide formal written comments. If ProjNet, DevOps, or similar tracking software is not used, the Government will provide the Contractor a report of all comments. As a minimum, the report will contain the reviewer’s name, the reviewer’s comment number, date and content of comment, reviewer’s comment, comment status, deliverable incorporated into and date and description of the comment resolution. Each comment will have a unique log ID separate from the reviewer’s comment number. The report will be capable of recording subsequent comments of Contractor and Government rebuttals to provide a complete history of the comment, from creation to resolution. The comment log will be used during the review process of Contractor submittals associated with individual task orders.

e. Responding to comments. Unless otherwise notified, the Contractor can provide evaluations in ProjNet or DevOps immediately after a comment is entered.

Notwithstanding, the Contractor shall provide a complete evaluation within 10 business days of receiving comments, unless an alternate schedule is otherwise specified in a task order. Official comments by definition are considered by the Government to be within scope. The government project manager will coordinate all team member/reviewer comments and separate out comments from team members/reviewers that were not developed based on the task order PWS and therefore would not be considered in scope by the Government and would not be submitted via the KO. Official comments will be managed within the ProjNet, DevOps, or equivalent system. The log format for comments will be established by the Government and contain fields for the Contractor to respond to each individual comment. The log format will be organized into categories that relate to the task as specified under the individual task order. Specific instruction on the ProjNet system will be provided to the Contractor as needed. In-scope comments submitted separately via e-mail from technical users and/or TCESC/DWG/EECoP members, may be responded to by the Contractor, however the Contractor shall always reply to sender comments with a “copy furnished to” the KO and/or the Government ARA Project Manager. When responding to comments, the Contractor shall always annotate all comments as being “concur,” ”non-concur,” “check and resolve,” or "for information only" with rationale for accept/dispute, respectively. When writing evaluations, enough detail shall be provided so that the Government can verify how each comment was adjudicated.

The Contractor may state recommendations when deemed necessary to support decisions. Any items that the Contractor finds dispute with will be resolved via conference calls, or “in-person” meetings (if necessary) with the Government.