S02 - RFQ 3677626Q0240 - FPLS SOW Attachment A1- Design Review SOW Template.pdf

VA Anywhere Healthcare System Version 1.2 1234 Main St Feb 20, 2026 Anywhere, US 98765

Blanket Purchase Agreement – Task Order Fire Protection and Life Safety Design

Review Services 101-26-101 Renovate Primary Care

Professional Services Scope of Work

1. GENERAL INTENT: The Veterans Affairs Anywhere Healthcare System (VAAHCS) (herein referred to as “the VA”) intends to procure professional and technical services for fire protection and life safety design review services (herein referred to as “FPLS”) under a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) task order. The Consultant (herein referred to as the “Life Safety Agent” or “LsA”) shall provide services in accordance with this scope of work (SOW).

2. STATEMENT OF WORK: The LsA shall serve as an objective, independent third-party advocate for the Government on the project with internal and external stakeholders, and with other VA consultants and contractors.

LsA work for this task order is a fire protection and life safety code review for the subject project to enhance the performance and safety of VA buildings and infrastructure designed in compliance with VA’s adopted codes, standards and manuals. All work is expected to be completed off-site (i.e., 100% remote) with virtual meetings held as needed. If during the execution of work on this task order unusual or compelling needs create a requirement for an on-site / face-to-face meeting, either the VA or the LsA may request the meeting through the Contracting Officer.

The Architecture/Engineering (A/E) design SOW contains the specific details on the project, its scope, and goals. It is attached as an appendix to this FPLS SOW for LsA reference. Future modifications to the design SOW will be shared by VA with the LsA for awareness and use during work on this task order.

The LsA shall provide review services for the following design submittals of the project:

Submittal Title Design Percentage Schematic Design (SD) 35%

Design Development (DD) 65% Construction Documents (CD) 95%

The VA shall either provide directly to or arrange for the A/E to submit to the LsA the submittal’s design narrative, drawings, specifications, calculations, answers to requests for information (RFIs) and all other related documents when ready for review.

FPLS items to be reviewed at each submittal are detailed in VA Program Guide, PG-18- 15, Volume C, A/E Submission Instructions for Minor and NRM Construction Program (Paragraph II-C Fire Protection of the Nov 2008 version if not superseded by a new version). Each item in the program guide shall be checked for in addition to its compliance with applicable codes and standards. Additionally, each submittal design review must include a review of the following elements, at minimum (as applicable to the specific submittal as identified in VA Program Guide, PG-18-15, Volume C, A/E Submission Instructions for Minor and NRM Construction Program):

a. Classification of Occupancy (this must be determined before a review can be started)

b. Minimum Construction Requirements (and separation)

c. Means of Egress

i. Components (stairs, ramps, doors, door hardware, etc.)

ii. Capacity (clear widths)

iii. Number of Means of Egress

iv. Arrangement

v. Travel Distance (e.g., to exits, within suites, to smoke barriers, etc.)

vi. Discharge from Exit

vii. Illumination

viii. Emergency Lighting

ix. Marking Exit Signs

x. Suites

d. Protection

i. Vertical Openings

ii. Hazardous Areas

iii. Detection/Alarm Systems, including fire alarm control matrix

iv. Suppression / Extinguishment (sprinklers, extinguishers, clean agent, kitchen, etc.)

v. Corridors (separation, clear width, etc.)

vi. Subdivision of Building Spaces (smoke barriers, occupancy separations, etc.)

e. Building Services

i. Utilities

ii. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (e.g., smoke and fire dampers, sequence of operations for fire protection-related building controls)

iii. Elevators

iv. Chutes

f. Design Specifications, if provided

g. Narrative, if provided

h. Confirmation that a fire protection engineer on the A/E’s team has performed fire alarm, fire suppression, and life safety design for the project.

The above paragraphs constitute the basic outline of the work to be accomplished and in no way comprises all the details for this task order. The LsA shall be solely responsible for the management, including all associated labor, equipment, materials, mailing costs, and inspection, to meet the FPLS review requirements of the project.

The LsA shall further provide meeting minutes for all FPLS review meetings held under this task order.

3. TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE CRITERIA: The primary criteria for this FPLS design review task order shall be the most current versions of:

a. VHA Directive 7712 Fire Protection Code Reviews of Delegated Construction Projects (https://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=9797)

b. VA Qualifications and Scope of Services, Project Fire Protection Engineer (https://vatilms.va.gov/vatilms/reports/Miscellaneous%20Scopes%20of%20Servi ce%20and%20Checklists)

c. VA Fire Protection Design Manual (https://vatilms.va.gov/vatilms/reports/PG-18-10%20Design%20Manuals)

d. International Building Codes (IBC) as noted below (https://www.iccsafe.org/products-and-services/i-codes/the-i-codes/)

e. NFPA 101 Life Safety Code as noted below (https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/nfpa-101-standard-development/101)

f. NFPA National Fire Codes, with the exception of NFPA 5000 and NFPA 900 (https://www.nfpa.org/for-professionals/codes-and-standards)

g. The VHA-Joint Commission Clarification Document (https://vaww.hefp.va.gov/fire-protection) Note: this is an internal VA website that is not available to the public; the most current document will be provided to the LsA upon request

h. Joint Commission Accreditation Standards (https://www.jointcommission.org/en-us/standards)

NFPA 101 primarily addresses life safety and fire protection features while the IBC addresses a wide range of considerations, including, but not limited to, structural strength, seismic stability, sanitation, adequate light and ventilation, and energy conservation. VA buildings must meet the requirements of NFPA 101 and documents referenced by NFPA 101 in order to comply with the accreditation requirements of Joint Commission. Therefore, designs shall comply with the requirements of the latest edition of NFPA 101 and documents referenced therein. Design features not addressed by NFPA 101 or documents referenced therein shall comply with the requirements of the latest edition of the IBC or as otherwise addressed in other VA adopted criteria. For design features that are addressed by both the IBC as well as NFPA 101 or a document referenced by NFPA 101, the requirements of NFPA 101 or the document referenced by NFPA 101 shall be used exclusively (this applies even if the IBC requirements are different).

Secondary criteria is hosted on the VA Technical Information Library (TIL) available at http://www.cfm.va.gov/til/index.asp. The TIL is managed by the VA Office of Construction and Facility Management and is the master repository for all VA numbered standards for construction to include design and construction specifications, procedures, standard details, BIM/CAD standards, equipment guides, space planning and design guides. The documents of the TIL shall be the minimum design criteria for all VA projects performed in the construction of new facilities and the modernization, alteration, addition, or improvement of its real property to include commissioning, recommissioning and retro-commissioning projects. All design and commissioning documents which are reviewed by the LsA shall be developed in accordance with the

VA TIL, including (but not limited to) the following listed VA references (most recent version/edition):

Program Guide Number

Program Guide Title

PG-18-1 Master Construction Specifications PG-18-3 Design and Construction Procedures

[Including but not limited to: Codes, Standards, and Executive Orders]

PG-18-4 Standard Details and CAD Standards PG-18-10 Design Manuals (by discipline) PG-18-13 Topic Specific Standards and Criteria PG-18-14 Room Finishes, Door, and Hardware

Schedules PG-18-15 Minimum Requirements for A/E

Submissions ALERTS VA Standards and Design Alerts

Where conflicts exist between VA adopted codes and standards and the documents on the TIL, the LsA shall bring this to the attention of the Government. The resolution of the conflict shall be made by the authority having jurisdiction for VA to ensure consistency department wide.

4. POLICY CRITERIA: Federal laws and executive orders, as well as VA and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) policies in the form of plans, directives, handbooks, operational memos, notices and manuals mandate requirements for the design, construction, operations, energy efficiency and sustainability of Government capital assets that are owned and leased.

Federal laws and executive orders impacting Government capital assets are numerous and subject to periodic change. If a new or changed Federal policy imposes new requirements or changes existing policies (Federal, VA or VHA), they will be referenced in the task order SOW as a mandatory criteria to follow.

VA and VHA policies are available at https://www.my.sites.va.gov/policy, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/ and https://vaww.va.gov/vhapublications/ (Note: the last link is an internal VA websites that is not available to the public). The most current revision of a document shall be used and may be annotated by a “(#)” added to the document number. Additional changes to policies may be in a separate publication with the same document number annotated by “/#”. As applicable to FPLS reviews, these include, but are not limited to:

a. VA Directive 0055 VA Energy and Water Management Program

b. VA Handbook 0730/4 Security and Law Enforcement

c. VHA Directive 7515 Medical Gas and Vacuum Systems

d. VHA Directive 1028 Facility Electrical Power Systems

e. VHA Directive 1810 Boiler and Boiler Plant Operations

f. VHA Directive 1811 VHA Healthcare Engineering Program Requirements

Where conflicts exist between VA/VHA policy or other Federal requirements, the LsA shall bring this to the attention of the VA. The resolution of the conflict shall be made by the authority having jurisdiction for VA to ensure consistency department wide.

5. COLLABORATION REQUIREMENTS: The LsA during work on task orders, in addition to the members of VAHCS integrated project team, shall collaborate as needed with VHA Office of Healthcare Environment and Facilities Programs (HEFP) staff, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) Capital Assets Management staff, the Commissioning Agent for the project and any VA or VHA program office that by policy has review and oversight responsibilities for certain types of capital projects (i.e., sterile processing spaces, operating rooms, radiology departments, sterile compounding pharmacies, etc.). Design review comments from these entities that impact the fire and life safety elements of the design, shall be incorporated into the review comments. For all LsA task orders, any LsA deliverables shall be coordinated with the project’s design submittals to ensure compliance with all project FPLS requirements are met.

6. DELIVERABLE FORMATS AND ACCEPTABILITY: Deliverables shall be submitted in electronic format only, unless specifically required to be in hard copy format as listed below. Electronic copies shall be delivered to the VA via a jointly agreed-upon transmission method (i.e., email, secure file exchange, commercial submittal transfer platform, etc.) prior to the start of work on the task order. Portable Document Format (.pdf), Microsoft Office Suite formats (.docx, .xlsx, and .pptx), Autodesk AutoCAD (.dwg) and Autodesk Revit Project (.rvt) files are acceptable.

Submittals shall additionally be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. '794 d); information on the requirements for accessible media can be found at http://www.section508.gov/.

Specific requirements for LsA deliverables are listed below:

a. Design FPLS Review Deliverables Design FPLS review reports shall be submitted in the specified VA format (reference the FPLS BPA master SOW for guidance) in accordance with the submittal review timelines established by the A/E design SOW project schedule phases.

b. Site Visit Reports (if needed)

Site visit reports shall be submitted within seven (7) calendar days of the visit.

c. Meeting Notes and Minutes

Meeting minutes for all formal LsA meetings and conferences held with the VA or between the A/E and the Commissioning Agent. Meeting minutes shall be submitted within seven (7) calendar days of the meeting or conference.

d. Requests For Information

Requests For Information shall be submitted within three (3) calendar days of submittal to the LsA.

e. Task Order Modification Requests

Modification requests shall be submitted within seven (7) calendar days of submittal to the LsA for review. Note - If a significant modification, VA will provide additional time and document format guidance.

LsA deliverables will be accepted by VA when all discrepancies, errors or other deficiencies identified in writing have been corrected. If VA finds that a document contains spelling errors, grammatical errors, is in an improper format, or otherwise does not conform to the requirements stated in this SOW, the document may be immediately rejected without further review and returned to the LsA for correction and resubmission.

7. REVIEW SCHEDULE/PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The LsA’s review schedule will generally mirror the VA submittal review periods for the design A/E’s project schedule unless noted below:

Submittal Phase Task Period of Performance Schematic Design (SD) / 35% Submittal Review

14 calendar days after receipt by LsA of SD Submittal

SD Review Comments Resolution Review and Certification

7 calendar days after receipt by LsA of SD Submittal resolution statements

Design Development (DD) / 65% Submittal

14 calendar days after receipt by LsA of DD Submittal

DD Review Comments Resolution Review and Certification

7 calendar days after receipt by LsA of DD Submittal resolution

Construction Documents (CD) / 95% Submittal

14 calendar days after receipt by LsA of CD Submittal

CD Review Comments Resolution Review and Certification

7 calendar days after receipt by LsA of CD Submittal resolution

Design FPLS Review Period of Performance 63 Calendar Days

8. PROGRESS PAYMENTS: The task order is billable at the following percentages for review work completed and certified by submittal:

a. Schematic Design (SD) / 35% Submittal – 30% of the task order amount

b. Design Development (DD) / 65% Submittal – 65% of the task order amount

c. Construction Documents (CD) / 95% Submittal – 100% of the task order amount

9. TASK ORDER CONTRACT OVERSIGHT: All contracts for this project, including this task order, shall be awarded by a VA contracting activity. Only a warranted VA Contracting Officer shall have authority to change the terms and conditions of a contract. These changes may involve the contract award amount, contract period of performance, issuance of stop work orders and changes to the statement of work.

A Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will be appointed by the Contracting Officer to monitor and manage the LsA’s performance under the FPLS design review task order contract. The COR shall be a representative of the VAAHCS Engineering Service Project Section and have the technical knowledge required to monitor and oversee the project.

A COR will also be designated for the project’s construction contract to monitor and manage the construction contractor’s performance. This designation under the construction contract shall be considered equivalent to the industry standard of “Owner’s Representative” and does not supersede or eliminate the design A/E’s responsibility for construction period services. The design A/E ultimately shall be responsible for any errors and omissions with the design discovered during and after the completion of construction.

ATTACHMENT:

101-25-101 Renovate Primary Care A/E design SOW