W911SG27BA002 Solicitation RFI Questions and Answers.pdf

W911SG27BA002 Solicitation RFI Questions and Answers

1. A business plan needs to be on file and serviced with two districts (New Mexico and El Paso Districts). Does an office need to be established in both districts or is just one sufficient?

a. A single office location is sufficient. Establishing offices in both districts is not required. The arrangement of office locations is up to the contractor, keeping in mind that the majority of the work will be performed at Fort Bliss, Texas.

2. If the previous items and sections within this solicitation illustrate a requirement for Bonafide offices in both districts, then according to the federal government portal of Small Business Dynamic Search there is only one SBA 8(a) certified entity meeting this requirement at the present date. As such, would the federal government consider possessing a Bonafide office in either El Paso, Texas or New Mexico?

a. Yes. Possessing an approved office in either El Paso, Texas or New Mexico is sufficient. The solicitation does not require physical offices in both districts. Per the previous RFI response, a single office location is acceptable as long as the contractor can fully support operations

3. Would the Bid Schedules need to be provided in excel sheets to fill in the blank?

a. Yes. The Bid Schedules will be provided as fillable Excel spreadsheets for submission.

4. Do suppliers need to be added to the Subcontractors list requested on Tab F?

a. Yes. Material suppliers must be included on the Subcontractors list on Tab F.

5. Statement of Work (Para 1.7, Page 8) Qualifications, indicates to provide key personnel resumes to the KO for review as part of the bid package. However, Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Bidders document does not mention these resumes need to be provided. Should we include them in another Tab and as a hard copy or email on the proposal?

a. Yes. Key personnel resumes must be included in the proposal. The resumes must be submitted via email.

6. How would the Government account for inflation on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th year?

a. Inflation will be managed via the Engineering News Record Construction Cost

Index. The formula for accounting for inflation is: f = (CCI - C) / (CCI - B).

i. CCI – C is the Construction Cost Index for the month in which the Option

Year is exercised

ii. CCI – B is the base reference for the Month in which the basic contract is awarded

7. On the Bid Schedules for New Mexico and Texas there is a CLIN 0163 NON PRE-

PRICED; can you please provide clarification as to what this CLIN 0163 pertains to?

a. Non-Pre-Priced is a placeholder for incidental, specialized, or unforeseen work items that are necessary to complete a project but do not have an established unit price in the standard Bid Schedule.

8. Does the General Contractor and/or Subcontractors require State of New Mexico Construction License? – If yes, what is the Specific Classification of Work License required from the State of New Mexico?

a. No. Because the work is performed entirely on a federal military installation, state-level contractor licensing is not required by the Federal Government.

However, contractors must demonstrate equivalent commercial qualifications and experience as outlined in the Statement of Work.

9. Would the Government accept a Value Engineering (Systematic Approach) of Short- Slab Desing and/or Pavement Panels with Optimized Geometry and Fiber Reinforced?

Following ACI 330.2R-17 Guide for the Desing and Construction of Concrete Site Paving for Industrial and Trucking Facilities. This approach will enhance the value of construction by Function, Performance, Schedule and Quality over the cost.

a. No. Bids must be submitted in strict accordance with the current design, specifications, and UFGS requirements outlined in the solicitation.

10. Would the Government accept Fiber Glass Rebar?

a. No. Fiberglass rebar (GFRP) is not accepted. All concrete reinforcement must strictly comply with the traditional steel reinforcement specifications, ASTM standards, and Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) detailed in the solicitation.

11. Do we need to include Professional Liability Coverage with Errors and Omissions for the Desing portion of the Contract?

a. No. Professional Liability / Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance is not required.

This is a construction-only contract.

12. Can the Rapid Pass Program be implemented to suppliers and subcontractors? Also, how can we participate in the Rapid Pass Program?

a. Not at this time. However, all subcontractors and material suppliers can obtain installation access through the base's standard procedures.

13. Statement of Work Paving IDIQ (1.28.2) indicates that the PM shall maintain a file at the job site with current project drawings, executed TO, specifications, Quality Control Plan, as-builds and modifications. Would the Government provide a staging area for the full term of the contract to store a mobile office, equipment and materials?

a. The Government will provide a staging area for each specific Task Order. If the contractor requires an additional site, it must be requested and coordinated through the Master Planning Division.

14. Will the use of On-Site Recycled Concrete Aggregate be accepted as base material?

a. No, unless explicitly authorized in writing for a specific Task Order.

15. Will on-site crushing and screening be allowed?

a. No, unless explicitly authorized for a specific Task Order and approved by DPW Environmental.

16. Are there any Geotechnical Reports available?

a. No. There are no geotechnical reports available for the baseline solicitation.

17. Would the Government consider and allow the ASTMC94 Specification for the time limit of discharge?

a. No. Concrete discharge time limits must strictly adhere to the military specifications outlined in the solicitation.

18. Is a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) certification to be able to bid and work on this project?

a. No. A Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) certification is not required to bid on this IDIQ contract.

19. Should both bid schedules be submitted? That is the Bid Schedules titled “Schedule_PAVE_FE 10011 0J_PavingNM.pdf” and “Bid Schedule_PAVE_FE 10011 0J_PavingTX.pdf”. Along with Page 5, 6 and 7 of 157 from “Solicitation Amendment - W911SG27BA002 0001.pdf” (Section 00 10 00 – Solicitation, Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) Schedule)?

a. Bidders are required to complete and submit all requested pricing documents, including both the New Mexico and Texas geographic bid schedules and the CLIN schedule pages from the solicitation amendment. Failure to submit any portion of these pricing schedules may render the proposal non-responsive.

20. The Instruction to Bidders does not include any instructions for key personnel, can you clarify if we need to provide resumes with our proposal package, or if this is something we should omit in proposal preparation?

a. Yes. Key personnel resumes must be provided with your proposal via email.

21. Please clarify the correct procedure for completing the bid pricing forms, including the solicitation CLINs, SF 1442. Please confirm whether the amount entered for each applicable CLIN in Section 00 10 00, Tab C, should equal the total sum of the corresponding unit-price line items included in the bid schedule attachments + the 4-year analysis. Should the amount entered on SF 1442 represent the total of all CLINs listed in Section 00 10 00, Tab C?

a. Yes. All pricing totals must match exactly across all submitted documents.

22. Please provide additional guidance regarding the amount to be entered for CLIN 0163, Non-Pre-Priced Items. We reviewed Section 4, Specific Task 4.3, concerning non-pre-priced items; however, it remains unclear what cost, or allowance, should include for this CLIN. Please confirm the appropriate pricing method so that we may complete the bid schedule accurately and avoid overstating or understating this item

a. Bidders shall use the specific "Plug Number" (Estimated Allowance) provided by the Government for CLIN 0163.

23. Statement of Work Paving IDIQ, page 38, paragraph 4.58 indicates that Contractor shall provide a private testing firm. On the Bid Schedules for Texas and New Mexico no CLIN Description is available for the type of testing. Should this items be on the Non Pre- Priced Clin 0163?

a. No. Quality control testing shall not be placed under the Non-Pre-Priced CLIN 0163. The cost of utilizing a private testing firm to meet the quality control requirements outlined in paragraph 4.58 must be factored into the contractor's proposed unit prices across the standard paving and concrete CLINs.

24. Should the resumes be included in the email submission or in the hard-copy submission?

a. Resumes must be included in the digital/email submission.

25. For line items that encompass a range of specifications (e.g., pavement sawcut depths from 6" to 12" or variable piping diameters) but do not break them down into separate sub-CLINs, is the contractor expected to price the maximum parameter (e.g., the thickest pavement or largest diameter) across the entire line item?

Please clarify if the Government intends to evaluate these composite items based on the most demanding specification, or if a weighted average should be utilized

a. Contractors shall provide a single composite unit price that covers the entire specified range.

26. (1) Fixed unit prices (e.g., $8.00/LF for concrete curb) rely on economies of scale and are financially unsustainable for micro-quantities (e.g., an order of only 5 LF). How should the contractor account for minimum order thresholds for pre-priced items?

a. Contractors shall propose standard fixed unit prices regardless of order size.

27. (2) Will the Government establish minimum order quantities per Task Order for these

CLINs, or will the Government permit the contractor to negotiate these low-quantity requests as Non-Prepriced Items (NPI) when ordered below a specific threshold (e.g., fewer than 50 LF)?

a. No. The Government will not establish micro-thresholds for individual CLINs

28. To ensure a fair and balanced evaluation of our Overhead and Profit (OH&P) rates, is there a standardized target project value or independent government estimate (IGE) we should use as our baseline direct cost? Providing a theoretical task order dollar amount or a standard project matrix would allow all offerors to calculate and apply OH&P under identical, accurate assumptions.

a. Government will not provide a theoretical task order baseline for calculating Overhead and Profit (OH&P). Bidders must apply their corporate OH&P structures directly to the itemized unit rates requested within the provided Bid Schedules.

29. As per indicated in Section 00 21 13, Subsection 2.2. The intention of the Government is to award a contract considering only price. Can you please clarify how the lowest price is going to be determined? Or normalized, given that the Bid Schedules provided are NOT weighed by quantities of each of the items.

a. The Government will provide a standardized matrix of estimated quantities within the revised Excel Bid Schedules.

30. In the context of the question above and the possibility of the exposed situations likely to occur. How would the public Opening of Bids conduct the announcement of the apparent lowest price? This for public clarity and for the best interest of awarding the bid that is the most advantageous to Servicemembers, and Government stakeholders.

a. The apparent lowest price announced at the public bid opening should be based purely on individual CLIN pricing. That is, each item is to be weighed as if only one of them is needed at the bid opening, but when further reviews are conducted, they will be weighed against internal government estimates.

31. (p.46-48 of 157) incorporated FAR 52.219-18 & DFARS Clause 252.219-7010, apparently indicate that this competition is limited to current SBA-8(a) small businesses serviced by SBA District Offices for New Mexico and El Paso Texas. Could you please confirm this is the correct interpretation?

a. Yes. This is the correct interpretation.

32. Solicitation page 14 of 157, Article #5 provides details about the submission of bid requirements. This item lists Tabs A through G needed to be submitted. Please confirm this is the only information needed, as there are other sections in the Solicitation requesting additional information such as Key Personnel Resumes (see page 100 of 157, Article #1.7, Qualifications).

a. No. The bid submission must include all items requested across the entire solicitation.

33. Please confirm if there are any estimated quantities for each type of repair that we should consider for bidding purposes.

a. When submitting your proposal on the bid schedule, the quantity of each item is set to 1 for pricing purposes. When the bid is received, it will be compared to weighted internal Government estimate so only Pricing is considered.

34. In case of conflict between DOT (NM & TX) specifications and UFGS, which specifications need to be followed.

a. Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) govern over all state Department of Transportation (DOT) specifications. In the event of a conflict, the contractor must strictly adhere to the UFGS requirements and military standards outlined in the solicitation. State DOT specifications may only be utilized as a reference when a specific material grade or test method is explicitly called out within the Statement of Work or task order instructions.

35. Can a sample Task Order be provided for review?

a. No. A sample Task Order will not be provided for review. Bidders must base their proposals strictly on the baseline specifications, terms, and itemized line items included in the current solicitation and Bid Schedules.