Solicitation Questions and Answers (Revised Amendment 3).pdf

General Questions.

1. Question: it appears that this is set aside for small business, less than $19 million a year. But the Bid Prep seems to call out a Bond of $24.5 million? Generally speaking your bond capacity is based on your largest project plus a percentage, maybe 30%- 50%? So for a company to be $19m a year and get a $24.5m bond would be almost impossible unless you did a single $19m job in the recent past.

Answer: See Amendment 1. Bonding requirements have been revised to be at task order level.

2. Question: In order to participate in this bidding process, is it imperative that our products are listed on the "MPI (Master Painters Institute) Approved List?

Answer: o eror can submit the paint or coating they would intend to use in a PPI for government approval prior to submission of the proposal.

3. Is a Lead-Based Paint certification mandatory for compliance?

Answer: Per UFGS 02 83 00 (attachment 5) paragraph 1.5.2.2, and paragraph

1.6.3 of the SOW’s environmental compliance section, there needs to be at least a minimum of a “Lead Compliance Plan’’ in place as a pre-construction submittal, which must include the name of a certified third party inspector or planner, if the contractor does not have an employee with the requisite credentials employed with them.

4. Is it essential to obtain an asbestos certification?

Answer: Per UFGS 02 82 00 (attachment 4) paragraph 1.3.2, those who are sampling require the EPA Model Accreditation (MAP) training, and hold an EPA/state license as an asbestos inspector. All employees working with or in ACM rooms or areas require annual training on the handling of ACM (para 1.3.12). The transportation of ACM requires a WA DOT certification saying they’re training and can legally dispose and transport the material. Any site that has asbestos that is being remediated or tampered with must have a “Designated Competent Person” on site with an Asbestos Contractors License, and a minimum of 2 years experience on the job working with the material (para 1.5.2). Please review Attachment 4.

5. What contractor licenses are required for this project?

Answer: There are no specific licenses that are required to submit as part of the umbrella contract proposal. Section 01 45 00.00 10 – Quality Control and Section 01 35 26 – Government Safety Requirements in the SOW covers key personnel requirements regarding experience and training. It is recommended that contractors submit their prospective key personnel resumes with their proposal if known. Since this is an Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) contract, it is assumed that contractors submitting bids will have the requisite experience and certification requirements in order to perform the work that is described. Each individual task order will have varying requirements, some of which will likely be subcontracted out. Therefore, the government is not requiring to see every license specified in UFC or UFGS at this time.

6. Is insurance a prerequisite at the bidding stage?

Answer: No, Bidder shall provide proof of insurance in the amounts specified in the solicitation no later than the post-award conference.

7. Is a bond necessary for the bidding process?

Answer: No, a bond is not required to be submitted at time of bid, but shall be required to submit their bond in accordance with FAR Clause 52.228-1Bid Guarantee, which states: “(d)If the successful bidder, upon acceptance of its bid by the Government within the period specified for acceptance, fails to execute all contractual documents or furnish executed bond(s) within 10 days after receipt of the forms by the bidder, the Contracting O icer may terminate the contract for default.”

8. Is Product Data (SD-03) required? If so, when should we provide it to ensure timely processing?

Answer: Product data is not required as part of the umbrella contract proposal, unless the contractor intends to submit something that they are unsure meets with government environmental requirements and wants to be sure it would be accepted prior to submitting a unit cost. Product data will be required as a pre-construction submittal requirement on each individual task order if not a part of the contractors Authorized Use List.

9. Are Manufacturer’s Certificates (SD-07) essential? If yes, when should these be submitted for seamless approval?

Answer: Manufacturers certificates are not required as a part of the umbrella contract proposal. Each individual task order will have them as a construction submittal requirement if applicable to that task order.

10. Are Test Reports (SD-06) needed? If so, what is the optimal timing for submission?

Answer: Test reports are required as a close-out submittal requirement if applicable to that particular task order.

11. Regarding environmental compliance, what specific materials are classified as hazardous?

Answer: Basically, any liquid that is not water is considered hazardous as it applies to this contract; paint, reagents, glues, mastic, etc. All materials the contractor intends to use will need to be submitted upon contract award as an umbrella submittal, which will become the rolling list known as the Authorized Usage List (AUL) which the contractor will be allowed to use on subsequent task orders, and which they can add to as the contract progresses.

12. For e ective environmental compliance, what are the allowable limits for VOC content?

Answer: As a rule of thumb, VOC levels should not exceed .5 mg/m3. If it goes above this level, a justification would be necessary stating there is no other material which would get the job done. JBLM Design Standards state ASHRAE 189.1, section 8.4.2 should be utilized for the emissions content of materials.

13. Can you share if this is a new contract or an existing contract? This is an existing contract.

14. Who is the incumbent? Ostrom Painting and Sandblasting, Inc.

15. How would I access the previously awarded contract? The previously awarded contract is W911S820D0011.

16. QUESTION: (Addendum #3)

I read the addendum this morning and saw that the bond amount went back to 24.5M for the overall bond amount. I am certain the way my surety will read this is that they would need to write a bond for 24.5M as if that amount can be awarded all at one time. In the letter the surety would need to write some qualifying language. They would need to say something like:

Contractor XXX is bondable to the amount of 24.5M AGGREGATE over a 5-year period, the maximum amount per project is 8M………..or something like that to qualify that they are not bonding the entire amount all at one time.

That would cause huge duress for any “Small Business” and tip the playing field in favor of the larger companies, which would not be in the spirit “small business” set asides.

ANSWER:

Although the formal question period has ended, it's important to clarify this point for all interested parties.

Bonding Documentation: As stated in Section 00 21 13 – Instructions to Bidders, Part 6, Paragraph (d), bidders are required to provide a Surety Letter from their bonding company. Notably, there’s no prescribed format or page limit for this letter. What matters is that it clearly confirms the bidder’s bonding capacity for the maximum ceiling of the contract.

This solicitation is a 100% Total Small Business Set-Aside under FAR 19.5, per Block 10 of the SF 1442 and Instructions to Bidders Paragraph 2. The Government’s total contract ceiling is $24,500,000.00, which represents the maximum amount of work that may be ordered under the resulting contract.

Bonding Capacity is a matter of responsibility Under FAR Part 9, the Government must determine that a prospective contractor is “responsible” before making an award. One key requirement is adequate financial resources, which includes bonding capacity. Contractors working on Government installations must be able to obtain bonds for the value of the projects they may be assigned—even up to the full ceiling of the contract.

Ordering: because this contract has only one ordering period, the Government could theoretically issue multiple task orders totaling up to the full $24.5 million ceiling immediately upon award. Alternatively, task orders could be staggered throughout the five-year period. Either way, bidders must demonstrate their ability to bond at the full contract value, ensuring readiness for any ordering schedule.

The requirement for bonding up to the full ceiling isn’t arbitrary, it reflects the Government’s need for assurance that a contractor can perform any task order, large or small, at any time during the contract period. It’s a crucial factor in establishing responsibility and ensuring successful performance.

TE-01 Price List Questions.

1. From bid items 1 through 85, do the prices include all costs such as material, labor, and miscellaneous charges?

Answer: Yes, every expense required to perform the unit cost of that line item to include labor, materials, equipment, subcontracting costs, safety, and cost associated with adherence to applicable regulations must be included.

2. Do we need to bid on all items from 1 through 142, or is it acceptable to selectively bid? Regarding "Personnel Lifts and Other Support Equipment," we don’t own some of the lifts and equipment. If allowed, can we submit the costs and subcontract this work?

Answer: No, the government would need to see the proposed unit cost of all line items, otherwise the proposal would not be complete or able to be compared to with other proposals. It is assumed that not 100% of the work would be self-performed, or performed using contractor owned equipment. The rental fees or subcontracting costs associated with that line item should be calculated into the unit cost.

3. For items 108, 109, 110, 122, and 123, if needed, can we submit the costs and subcontract this as well?

1. Answer: Yes, the unit costs of all line items should reflect what it costs the contractor to perform it, to include subcontracting costs.

4. Some bid items are unclear due to no site visit. Can I submit average prices for these items?

Answer: The contractor should submit what they believe to be a competitive price for each line item, this proposed price should be their best proposed price at which they can perform that work, keeping in mind that some task orders may only utilize a handful of line items. If a contractor knowingly underbids certain line items, they would still be required to perform those line items if awarded the contract at the price they bid.