T2505 Bid Amendment #3 08.27.24 .docx

PHILIP D. MURPHY

Governor State of New Jersey

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

DIVISION OF PURCHASE AND PROPERTY

PROCUREMENT BUREAU

33 WEST STATE STREET

P. O. BOX 230

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 08625-0230

ELIZABETH MAHER MUOIO

State Treasurer

TAHESHA L. WAY

Lt. Governor

AMY F. DAVIS, ESQ.

Acting Director https://www.njstart.gov

August 27, 2024

To: All Interested Bidders

Re: Bid Solicitation # 24DPP01009 T2505 - Consulting Services: Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Infrastructure and Non-Infrastructure Research

Previous Quote Submission Due Date: August 30, 2024 (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time) Revised Quote Submission Due Date: September 11, 2024 (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

Bid Amendment #3

The following constitutes Bid Amendment #3 to the above referenced Bid Solicitation:

· This Bid Amendment extends the Quote Submission due date from August 30, 2024 to September 11, 2024 (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time); and

· This Bid Amendment includes answers to questions;

· An Optional Pre-Quote Conference was held on June 17, 2024. The below firms were confirmed to be in attendance:

· Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.

· Jerome M. Lutin, PhD, LLC

It is the sole responsibility of the Bidder to be knowledgeable of all of the additions, deletions, clarifications, and modifications to the Bid Solicitation and/or the New Jersey Standard Terms and Conditions relative to this Bid Solicitation as set forth in all Bid Amendments.

All other instructions, terms, and conditions of the Bid Solicitation shall remain the same.

Bid Solicitation # 24DPP01009 T2505 - Consulting Services: Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Infrastructure and Non-Infrastructure Research

Answers to Questions

Where applicable, each question references the appropriate Bid Solicitation section.

Section Reference Question (Bolded) and Answer

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Yes. Prior to the Quote Opening Deadline, a Bidder should review the documents comprising the submitted Quote to ensure that all of the required documents have been completed and attached. Oftentimes a Quote is deemed non-responsive because a Bidder fails to attach a required form or attaches a blank form. To review a submitted a Quote, a Bidder should log into NJSTART and review each document attached to the Quote submission. Instructions on how to review a submitted Quote can be found in the Quick Reference Guide entitled How to Review a Submitted Quote, which is available on the NJSTART Vendor Support Page under Vendor Reference Guides.

No. Please be advised that all Quotes shall be submitted electronically through NJSTART.

As stated in Bid Solicitation Section 2.2, Exceptions to the State of NJ Standard Terms and Conditions (SSTC): “Questions regarding the State of New Jersey Standard Terms and Conditions and exceptions to mandatory requirements MUST be posed during the Electronic Question and Answer period and shall contain the Bidder’s suggested changes and the reason(s) for the suggested change(s).” Moreover, as stated in Bid Solicitation Section 3.11, Bidder proposed terms or conditions that conflict with those contained in the State of New Jersey Standard Terms and Conditions may render a Quote non-responsive.

At this time, the State declines to provide the weighting of the evaluation criteria for this Bid Solicitation. Bidders are advised to include the level of detail it deems sufficient to assist the Evaluation Committee in its review of the Bidder’s Quote.

Section 3.14 Technical Quote, requires the Bidder to describe its plans and approach for accomplishing the work required in the Scope of Work as part of its Technical Quote. The Bidder must set forth its understanding of the requirements of this Bid Solicitation and its approach to successfully complete the Contract.

Section 3.15 Management Overview, states that the Bidder should set forth its overall technical approach and plans to meet the requirements of the Bid Solicitation in a narrative format and requires that the Bidder demonstrate its understanding of the objectives, the nature of the work, and the level of effort necessary to complete the services for the Scope of Work, without merely repeating the tasks to be completed.

To the extent there is overlap in the responses to these sections in the Bidder’s Quote, such an overlap is acceptable, so long as all requirements are met. The Bidder should include the level of detail it determines necessary to assist the Evaluation Committee in its review of the Bidder’s Quote.

The Bidder shall describe its approach and plans for accomplishing the work outlined in the Scope of Work for each respective Category (Infrastructure/Non-Infrastructure) it is submitting a Quote for. The Bidder must set forth its understanding of the requirements of this Bid Solicitation and its approach to successfully complete the Contract. The Bidder should include the level of detail it determines necessary to assist the Evaluation Committee in its review of the Bidder’s Quote.

Yes.

Bidders are instructed to include the level of detail it deems sufficient to address all requirements outlined in the Bid Solicitation to assist the Evaluation Committee in its review and evaluation of the Bidder's Quote.

The Bidder shall describe its approach and plans for accomplishing the work outlined in the Scope of Work for each respective Category (Infrastructure/Non-Infrastructure) it is submitting a Quote for. The Bidder must set forth its understanding of the requirements of this Bid Solicitation and its approach to successfully complete the Contract. The Bidder should include the level of detail it determines necessary to assist the Evaluation Committee in its review of the Bidder’s Quote.

The contract schedule in Bid Solicitation Section 3.17, Contract Schedule, refers to the schedule for the overall Contract. If key dates are a part of this Bid Solicitation, the Bidder’s schedule should incorporate such key dates and should identify the completion date for each task and sub-task required by the Scope of Work. Such schedule should also identify the associated deliverable item(s) to be submitted as evidence of completion of each task and/or subtask.

The schedules referenced in Section 3.18, Sample Case Studies, are specific to the sample cases and should be viewed as separate to the contract schedule referenced in Section 3.17.

There is no specified format for the Bidder to provide its justifications of budget allocation and schedules to meet the requirements of Section 3.18 Sample Case Studies.

The Bidder should include the level of detail and formatting it deems sufficient to determine the dollar share of the total estimated budget it would allocate to perform the literature review, technology transfer, survey(s), research plan, data collection, reduction, and analysis of data, reporting of findings, meetings and presentations, and implementation, and include justification for its decision.

The Bidder should also include the duration of each task in its schedule for either or both Case Studies.

The Bidder should submit its response to the Case Study of its choice in a narrative format and include the level of detail it deems sufficient to address all requirements outlined in the Bid Solicitation and assist the Evaluation Committee in its review of the Bidder's Quote.

The Bidder should include the level of detail and formatting it deems sufficient to determine the dollar share of the total estimated budget it would allocate to perform the literature review, technology transfer, survey(s), research plan, data collection, reduction, and analysis of data, reporting of findings, meetings and presentations, and implementation, and include justification for its decision.

The Bidder should also include the duration of each task in its schedule for either or both Case Studies.

Refer to the answer to Question #13.

Yes.

The Bidder should include the level of detail it determines necessary to assist the Evaluation Committee in its review of the Bidder’s Quote. Refer to the answers to Questions #12 and #13, as well as Section 3.18 for additional information.

Section 3.19 Organizational Experience allows the Bidder the opportunity to provide information relating to its organization, personnel, and experience, including, but not limited to, references, together with contact names and telephone numbers, evidencing the Bidder’s qualifications, and capabilities to perform the services required by this Bid Solicitation.

Section 3.23 Experience with Contracts of Similar Size and Scope, requests a comprehensive listing of contracts of similar size and scope that it has successfully completed, as evidence of the Bidder’s ability to successfully complete services similar to those required by this Bid Solicitation. The Bidder must also provide details of any negative actions taken by other contracting entities against them in the course of performing these projects including, but not limited to, receipt of letters of potential default, default, cure notices, termination of services for cause, or other similar notifications/processes. Additionally, the Bidder should provide details, including any negative audits, reports, or findings by any governmental agency for which the Bidder is/was the contractor on any contracts of similar scope. In the event a Bidder neglects to include this information in its Quote, the Bidder’s omission of this necessary disclosure information may be cause for rejection of the Bidder’s Quote by the State.

Also, per Section 3.23, if a Bidder chooses to subcontract any of the services, the Bidder should provide documented experience to demonstrate that each Subcontractor has successfully performed work on contracts of a similar size and scope to the work that the Subcontractor is designated to perform in the Bidder’s Quote. The Bidder must provide a detailed description of services to be provided by each Subcontractor.

DOT declines to modify the required Labor Rate Titles or the associated experience, education, and licensing qualifications outlined in this Bid Solicitation.

The licensing qualifications listed in Section 4.11 for the Chief Engineer, Project Manager, Project Engineer, and Principal Engineer, state that the Bidder should have one (1) of the following licenses, memberships or degrees; Professional Engineer (PE), Ph. D., AICP or Professional Planner (PP). The State notes that “should” denotes that which is permissible or recommended, not mandatory. The Contractor may provide staff that do not meet the recommended qualifications, so long as the staff is otherwise qualified and able to perform the role or tasks assigned. The SCM reserves the right to require the Contractor to replace any staff assigned to this Contract that is determined by the State to be unqualified or unable to perform the role or tasks assigned.

No, only the named Bidder would qualify for the pricing preference. To receive the preference, the Bidder must be registered as a qualified Small Business or Disabled Veteran's Business with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Small Business Registration and M/WBE Certification Services Unit, by the date the Quote is received and opened.

No, only the named Bidder would qualify for the pricing preference. To receive the preference, the Bidder must be registered as a qualified Small Business or Disabled Veteran's Business with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Small Business Registration and M/WBE Certification Services Unit, by the date the Quote is received and opened.

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