EP-D-09-95_Extension_JOFOC.docx

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) Authority: 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), FAR Part 6.302-1

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

This justification for other than full and open competition (JOFOC) supports a six (6) month extension of services on contract EP-D-09-095 to provide Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor support at the EPA’s Research Triangle Park (RTP) Facilities as described in the contract Statement of Work (SOW). Option Period IV of this contract expired September 30, 2014 at which time a six month Option Period V was exercised in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. Option Period V expires March 31, 2015. This contract action will result in a modification to contract EP-D-09-095 extending services on a sole source basis for six months. The re-competition for O&M support services at EPA-RTP is scheduled for award September 2015. The purpose of this document is to justify the need to extend Option Period V an additional six months to prevent a lapse in support for critical services to maintain the EPA-RTP Facilities while the new support contract is competed.

3. Description of the services required to meet the agency’s needs

EPA-RTP Facility Background The EPA has multiple facilities in the RTP and Chapel Hill, NC area (combined to make up EPA-RTP Facilities). The EPA's facilities on the main campus in RTP are 1.2 million square feet of offices, laboratories, computer and conference spaces, and child care facilities. The EPA RTP facilities are classified as a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Bio-Safety Level II Research Facility and AAALAC (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International) facilities. Descriptions of the facilities covered are as follows:

- The main facility is 1,145,000 million square feet and includes 3 office wings, an office tower, an additional office building and 400 research laboratories. The EPA main campus complex includes four 5-story laboratory blocks, three 3-story office blocks, and a 6-story office building that also houses special program areas.

- The High-Bay building is an engineering research facility that is comprised of specialized large-scale labs with 35 foot ceilings and specialized research equipment. Located elsewhere on the main campus are the 100,000 square foot National Computer Center (NCC) which houses office space, computer training facilities, high performance scientific computers and large-scale computing systems. There is also a 25,400 square foot Child Care Center located on the main campus.

- Other buildings included in the scope of this requirement are the Human Studies Division in Chapel Hill, NC where EPA's clinical and epidemiological research is conducted; the Page Road Facility, which currently houses Receiving/Delivery Operations and Fluid Modeling Facility Wind Tunnel Operations; and the Reproductive Toxicology Facility (RTF) Building in RTP, NC where the EPA conducts research into environmental contaminants.

Services Required at EPA-RTP Facilities Contract EP-D-09-095 is a hybrid contract consisting of Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Fixed Rate for Services-Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs). The SOW allows for Service Contract Act (41 U.S.C. 351-357) labor and construction services subject to the Davis Bacon Act (41 U.S.C. 3141). Typical requirements for each are as described below:

· Typical FFP efforts on contract EP-D-09-095 include scheduled inspections and maintenance services to include: fire extinguishers, sprinkler system, elevator system inspections; operations of the Building Automation System (BAS); Facility Trouble Desk Operations; Quality Control; Planning and Estimating; and Administrative and Program Management Support.

· The ID/IQ efforts on the current contract are issued via task orders for the required services, subject to the Service Contract Act (SCA) / Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or for construction services subject to the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA).

· Service efforts under the SCA/CBA would include regularly-recurring, routine maintenance of the EPA RTP facilities covered by the Statement of Work (SOW). On average, fifteen (15) of the total task orders per year are considered Standing Task Orders (STO). These are for yearly recurring services to include the following:

· Time and Material (T&M) Services are limited to non-routine and unpredictable requirements: Service Calls, Maintenance Repairs/Preventative Maintenance Repairs (MR/PMRs), and Snow Removal Services.

· Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) Services: Supply Inventory Management, Service Contract Act (SCA)/Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Lead and License Pay, the National Computer Center (NCC) Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) maintenance, and Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Mechanic Labor at the Human Studies Facility (HSF).

· In addition to the Standing Task Orders identified above, any other regularly-recurring, routine maintenance of the EPA RTP facilities covered by the SOW and subject to the SCA/CBA, in excess of $30,000 requires its own task order.

· Construction type task orders subject to the DBA include any construction, alteration or repair of covered EPA RTP facilities. Typical EPA RTP facility projects subject to the DBA would include: office renovations, electrical infrastructure redesign/renovations, remediation to remove/replace damaged facility materials, and ancillary building construction (to include infrastructure support services similar to the following: concrete, electrical, and plumbing).

Period of Performance: Extension of Option Period (Opt Pd) V 04/01/2015 through 09/30/2015

Estimated Potential Increase of Contract Amount:

Predictable and routine service requirements on this contract are Firm Fixed Priced (FFP) at the basic contract level (not issued via task order). To continue performance of these essential services and to continue support from Non-SCA/CBA labor categories, the Government anticipates that FFP line items will have to be increased by a total of $1,815,000.00 to cover the six month extension of Option Period V.

The ID/IQ efforts required for this contract are issued via task order. There is adequate labor ceiling (hours and dollars) available at the contract level in Option Period V to support all anticipated efforts. No increase to the ID/IQ line items covering SCA/CBA labor, Davis-Bacon Act labor, Other Direct Costs, or the overall ID/IQ Cost Ceiling of the contract are required. Currently awarded ID/IQ task orders that have not been completed by March 31, 2015 will have their period of performance (POP) extended as appropriate (not beyond September 30, 2015). Standing Task Orders will require POP extensions (to September 30, 2015) and pricing will be increased at the task order level to cover the extended performance. All task order price increases due to this extension (along with any additional task orders issued during the extension) will be accomplished within the current Option Period V ID/IQ ceiling value already established at the contract level.

4. Authority

Advance planning for this requirement began in February 2014 as RTPPOD began Market Research efforts to evaluate all potential sources (e.g., required sources of supply under FAR Part 8, Small Businesses under FAR Part 19, etc.). The Market Research Report was signed by the Contracting Officer (CO) in June 2014 and the Small Business Administration concurred with the CO’s recommendation for competitive procurement in July 2014. The Advance Procurement Team (APT) initially met March 2014 and the Advance Procurement Plan (APP) document was initially generated May 2014.

The EPA has operated on this RTP Main Campus Facility since 2002. In that time, EPA has gained better knowledge and understanding of the efforts required to support continued operations within this facility. In accordance with FAR Part 16.103(b), (c); contracting personnel from RTPPOD has worked with EPA-RTP’s Facilities Management Services Division (FMSD) personnel to transition multiple efforts that were previously Time and Materials (T&M) on EP-D-09-095 to Firm Fixed Price (FFP) services on the new requirement. Each requirement was analyzed to determine if the task was routine, predictable and if each could be defined sufficiently with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) to allow for FFP pricing. The PWS was evaluated and largely re-written (from its draft form) during this process to provide prospective contractors with a clear, better defined requirement. These efforts significantly contributed to procurement delays that have driven the need for this extension and approval of this justification to extend services an additional six months.

5. Describe how the contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

AMEC has provided support to EPA under contract EP-D-09-095 since September 2009. RTPPOD is currently in the process of issuing a solicitation with intent to award a new contract under competitive procedures by September 2015. Depending on the outcome of that competitive procurement, responsibility for the EPA-RTP requirement may transition to a new contractor. Contractor transition for a requirement with the size, scope and complexity of this SOW is complex and places critical Government facilities, assets and systems at increased risk as the incoming contractor becomes fully capable to perform the support functions required. Continuity of services and personnel is essential to the health of the facility and the facility’s role in supporting EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment. The Government will potentially enter a transitional period between contractors for this requirement in September 2015. The potential period of performance for the new contract (Base Period plus four potential Option Periods) will make the risk and costs inherent in transitional activities acceptable to the Government. A modification of EP-D-09-095 to allow for continuation of services with the current O&M Contractor (AMEC) provides the lowest risk for critical facility and systems support for the six month time period contemplated by this JOFOC. Additional details are below.

There are currently approximately ------ AMEC employees (-- maintenance technicians and -- administrative and/or supervision personnel) supporting EPA’s operation and maintenance support requirements at RTP. Contractors generally propose incumbent retention target rates to fulfill personnel requirements as part of their technical proposal. There is no assurance that incumbent staffing retention targets could be achieved during the actual transition phase of the contract. This means increased costs for training, clearance of employees (EPASS, OASIS, etc.), uniforms and the overall costs of employees becoming familiar with the facilities. These risks and/or associated costs are anticipated, expected and acceptable when awarding a long term contract as the Government will receive value and benefit from the investment in the successful offeror and their personnel. Transitional risk and/or costs for a contractor to perform services over a six month period of performance with the likely potential that another transition would occur in September 2015 would be inappropriate and irresponsible as the Government would accept high levels of performance risk without receiving benefit from sustained continuity of those personnel.

A short term disruption to the continuity of operations for the maintenance and operations of this facility (prior to the new contract award date of September 2015) would also lead to increased costs due to excess turnover and unacceptable levels of risk exposure to Government assets and facilities in the following:

· Operations and Maintenance of the BAS (Building Automation Systems)

· Disruptions to Environmental Conditions impacting:

· Laboratory Research conducted at the EPA RTP Facilities, which are designated as Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Bio-Safety II Research Facilities. RTP-EPA has over 400 research laboratories associated under its current SOW.

· The EPA’s National Computer Center (NCC) located on EPA RTP Campus.

· Childcare at First Environments Early Learning Center located on EPA RTP Campus.

· Endangerment of Laboratory Animals housed on EPA RTP Campus, which is an AAALAC (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care) certified facility.

· Potential disruption to the Preventative Maintenance Program, which effects:

· More than 11,000 individual items or pieces of equipment that require routine and/or scheduled maintenance tasks.

· Over 800 separate types of routine and/or scheduled maintenance tasks performed on those items and/or equipment.

6. Describe the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable:

A Notice of Intent to Sole Source this requirement will be publicized to the fedbizopps.gov website and the website of the Agency for fifteen (15) calendar days per FAR Subpart 5.2.

7. The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer anticipates fair and reasonable pricing based on the following:

· All Service Contract related labor efforts will be submitted with labor rates in accordance with the Service Contract Act/Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between AMEC and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 4873, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) covering the time period October 1, 2014 through March 31, 2016.

· Services not covered by the Service Contract Act and/or CBA will be evaluated and negotiated (as appropriate) to ensure fair and reasonable pricing based on the elements making up each rate. These rates will be negotiated at the contract level with the award of this six month extension.

· Construction efforts issued through individual task orders will be based on competitive subcontractor proposals and/or RSMeans (construction cost estimating tool) pricing, or through comparison with Davis-Bacon Act labor rates.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10). If no market research was conducted, state the reasons.

No additional market research was conducted for this six month extension request for the continuity reasons stated in Paragraph 5 above. The requirement for the re-competition of EP-D-09-095 will be executed competitively. Based on the information found in paragraph 5 of this document, it is not reasonable to believe that a contractor could take over the operations and maintenance for a facility of this size, scope and complexity without reducing essential services and increasing the Government’s risk and unnecessary costs on a short term (six month) basis. Therefore, a sole source extension to the current contractor is the only responsible way to meet this essential Government requirement.

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

AMEC has adequately supported this operations and maintenance requirement since being awarded the contract in 2009. The Government is not stating that there are no other contractors who can support this O&M requirement. The Government is instead saying that considering the short period of performance contemplated within this extension that no other contractors could transition this workload from AMEC, and efficiently continue performance without potential reduced services, increased costs, and unnecessary risks to the Government.

This JOFOC and extension of services is also not an attempt by the Government to limit competition to the incumbent contractor. The Government will ensure that interested contractors have the opportunity to compete for this long term work under the re-competed contract.

10. List sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition. If no sources expressed an interest in writing, indicate such.

Multiple sources indicated an interest in the re-competition of EP-D-09-095 in response to a sources sought synopsis issued in April 2014. The result of the evaluation of those sources is detailed within the Market Research Report and cannot be released at this time due to procurement integrity of that ongoing action. Interested, qualified contractors will have the opportunity to compete for award scheduled for September 2015.

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 supplies or services required.

To be considered for the re-competition of EP-D-09-095, Contractors will be required to demonstrate that they have successful experience in the operations and maintenance of facilities of similar size, scope, and complexity of the EPA-RTP campus. Beyond the demonstration of adequate experience, no further barriers are anticipated, thus the new requirement will be awarded through competitive procedures. For this extension, the only barrier to competition for this extension is the short period of performance which is only to allow for competition to occur on the new contract. No additional barriers to competition are further anticipated beyond the experience requirements noted within the Request for Proposal (RFP).

12. Certifications, Review, and Approval

Technical Representative I certify that the supporting technical data which forms the basis of this justification is complete and accurate.

Director OARM Facilities Management and Support Division

Contracting Officer I certify that the information contained in the justification above is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer RTP Procurement Operations Division

Review

Approval