PreProposal Conference Script 2009Dec16.pdf

Pre-Proposal Conference Meeting Minutes for the Contractual Segment

Presentation by Gregory Tom on December 16, 2009 at 9:00 AM at Dugway Proving

Ground, Utah

On behalf of the Corps of Engineers, I’d like to welcome you to today’s Pre-proposal

Conference for Solicitation W91238-10-R-0008, titled “Clean Potable Water System”

My name is Gregory Tom. I am a contract specialist helping Mr Charlie Crivellaro who is the primary point of contacts throughout the solicitation process. Mr Crivellaro’s telephone number and email address are found in the synopsis that is posted on

FedBizOpps and also in Section 00100 of the Request for Proposal (RFP).

If you have any questions, whether contractual, technical, or otherwise, you must submit them via the Bidder Inquiry System. This database is being required to be utilized in an effort to ensure that unfair advantages are not given to anyone, even a perceived advantage. In order to submit a question, you will need to use the “Bidder’s Inquiry

Key”, which is a 12-digit pass-code found under Section 00100, clause 52.0214-4581, of the RFP. When a question is submitted, it is assigned to the appropriate individual for evaluation; once the evaluation is provided, the question/comment is then replied to and then becomes viewable by anyone, as long as they use the Bidder’s Inquiry Key to log in.

As I stated earlier, by using this system a more appreciably level playing field is fostered.

It may seem a bit cumbersome to some, but this is done so that everyone is able to see the questions and answers exactly the same. One note of caution: Questions will not be accepted in Bidder’s Inquiry System after January 13, 2010. These Pre-proposal

Conference Meeting minutes that I’m reading from right now and the sign-in sheet will be posted to the FedBizOpps website. When anything new is posted on FedBizOpps, our office will try to post a notice on FedBizOpps indicating such. Therefore, I strongly encourage each of you to register to receive notification of changes to the solicitation on

FedBizOpps.

I need to emphasize at this point that nothing said here today qualifies or changes the terms and conditions of the solicitation. The solicitation can only be changed by formal amendment (Standard Form 30) to the RFP.

So far, no amendment has been issued. However, an amendment is expected to be issued by the end of this week or early next week. Amendment 0001 will incorporate pages 3 and 4 continue pages for the SF Form 1442. Again, these will be posted on FedBizOpps, but it is the contractor’s ultimate responsibility to check FedBizOpps regularly for any updates.

The purpose of my briefing today is to briefly discuss the contractual aspects of the solicitation, with emphasis on the submission of your proposal and the evaluation process. We take the time to do this because many firms may not be familiar with the process we will be using, which is usually called either “competitive negotiation” or “best value trade-off source selection”. We have found from past experience that a small investment of our time, up front, greatly improves the quality and accuracy of proposals and reduces the likelihood that we will have to reject a proposal due to non-conformance with the solicitation’s submission requirements.

The information I’m going to review, and all information in the RFP, is very important.

The RFP procedures vary substantially from the sealed bidding/IFB process.

There will not be a public bid opening as occurs with Invitation For Bids, or IFBs.

Nonetheless, offers must be received by the specified time at the specified place.

Presently, offers are due by January 28, 2010 at 3:00 PM Local Time in our Sacramento

District office. There is no parking in our building, so if you plan to hand-carry your proposal on the due date, be sure to allow sufficient time to find parking and submit your proposal package to the individual in our building’s lobby at 1325 J Street. We utilize a satellite clock for time accuracy and once the clock reaches 3:00 pm, any additional offers will be rejected in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. You are urged to pay attention to the Directions for Submitting Offers, which are spelled out on the first few pages of

Section 00100 of the RFP.

Under a competitive IFB situation, after a bid opening the bids become public information. That is not the case in the RFP process. The only information you will receive during the evaluation process will pertain to your own proposal. We will not release the names of the firms that submitted offers. Even under the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA), if RFP procedures are used, U.S. Code limits releasable information after contract award. Specifically, only the contract number, contract awardee and address, and contract amount is releasable; this is the same information that will be posted as an Award Announcement in FedBizOpps.

The RFP process takes much longer to get to an award than sealed bidding, since both price and technical evaluations are required. This solicitation requires a 90-day government acceptance period.

At this point, I’d like to go through the solicitation and point out areas of special concern based on commonly made mistakes, and the general organizational structure of the RFP.

STANDARD FORM 1442

This form is used for soliciting offers, submitting offers, and making the award. The bottom of the form provides the time and date set for receipt of proposals as previously discussed. It also indicates that an offer guarantee is required. The required amount is

20% of the total price, excluding options, but Not To Exceed (NTE) $3 million. It also informs you the number of days the performance and payment bonds must be furnished after contract award [each equal to 100% of the contract price. The second page of the

SF1442 (technically the reverse side of page 1) is critical. In Block 14, you must enter your company’s name and address exactly as it appears in Central Contractor

Registration (CCR) and provide your CAGE code in the ‘Code’ block. Your telephone number is entered in Block 15. You must acknowledge all amendments (both

Amendment number and date) in Block 19. Lastly, Block 20A is the typed or printed name of the individual authorized to sign the offer with their signature in Block 20B, and the signature date is entered in Block 20C. If you are a joint venture, partnership, or corporation, you must also complete the continuation pages, three and four. These two pages will be added to the RFP by Amendment 0001.

PRICING SCHEDULE

Behind the SF1442 continuation sheets is the pricing schedule. Prices must be submitted for all items as indicated. Please verify your calculations…errors are too common. Excel is a wonderful program; however do not “round off” extended totals and use only two decimal places. Using more than two decimal places creates mathematical issues. As you look through the Pricing Schedule, please note that the project is structured with only a Base Item. At this time there are no Option Items. Please note the last page of the

Pricing Schedule, as it contains notes that should be read and understood. For this acquisition, the HUBZone price evaluation preference WILL apply in accordance with

FAR clause 52.219-4, Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small

Business Concerns. The Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Price Evaluation

Adjustment will NOT apply to this procurement as it is currently suspended for DoD.

SECTION 00100

Section 00100 is next. The RFP includes the FAR and DFARS provisions pertaining to this solicitation as well as any local supplements. Please note that this section specifies that FAX and telegraphic offers will not be accepted (Clause 52.0214-4584). The provision at FAR 52.215-1, ‘Instructions to Offerors – Competitive Acquisition” summarizes the rules of the source selection process that we will use. It should be read very carefully. Note that it says that you need to submit your best offer up front, as you may not get another chance. Also note that a proposal can be rejected by the Government if the pricing is materially unbalanced.

The provision 52.216-1, Type of Contract says the Government contemplates award of a

“firm, fixed-price construction contract”.

If an offeror is considering use of a foreign construction material, pay close attention to

FAR 52.225-12, Notice of Buy American Act Requirement – Construction Materials

Under Trade Agreements and Contract Clause 52.225-11, Buy American Act –

Construction Materials Under Trade Agreements of Section 00700.

SECTION 00111

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS, INSTRUCTIONS, BASIS OF AWARD,

AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

Section 00111 provides detailed instructions how to prepare and format your proposal for submission. In addition, it separates the Price Proposal Volume from the Technical

Proposal Volume and lists the respective submittals for each as Tabs 1 through 8 and

Tabs 1 through 5 respectively.

To reiterate, Section 00111 provides detailed instructions for preparing and submitting your proposal, which will consist of both a price proposal and a technical proposal. The technical and pricing proposals are to be submitted separately. You are required to submit one (1) original price proposal and no copies (paragraph 4). For the Technical

Proposal, submit one (1) original plus five (5) copies (paragraph 5). In addition, we need one complete copy of the technical proposal on Compact Disk (CD) in PDF format.

In preparing your offer, do not presume that the Government has any prior knowledge of your firm. Be sure to structure your proposal in strict compliance with the instructions in the solicitation. Use the specified formats exactly; doing so is to your benefit and will aid the Source Selection Board evaluators in reviewing your proposal. In some areas, we may be requiring very specific information in specified formats and with page limits in order to streamline the evaluation.

The following suggestions are provided to help you avoid making mistakes that could negatively impact your competitive standing:

- When submitting information using a specified format, you do not have to include the instructions we give you for completing each block in your submission. Just identify the block with the number and heading and provide the required information.

If you have any questions as to our intent, please enter your question in the Bidder’s

Inquiry System. Remember, Bidder’s Inquiry System will become inoperable after

January 13, 2010, so please don’t delay entering your questions.

--If a Key Subcontractor provides information to you about their experience in a different format than what the solicitation requires, you are responsible to modify that information into the required format. If you just submit the information “as is”, more than likely critical information will be missing that could impact your evaluation results.

Starting at paragraph 4 of Section 00111, the Price Proposal Volume is discussed. The format for the price proposal is shown as Tabs 1 through 8. Please ensure that the specified requirements are complied with. Tab 4 is asking for a price breakout for 20 work breakout structures. Submit fully burden amounts for each of these elements.

Special Note for Unrestricted Procurements

The pre-award survey and the subcontracting plan often cause confusion, because there may be some overlap with the information required in the technical proposal. Include the appropriate information in both places exactly as specified in the RFP. The Price and

Technical Proposals are evaluated separately.

At this time, I’d like to briefly review the Technical Proposal Volume, which begins in paragraph 5. These are critical pages to understand because it identifies the format, contents and list of Tabs for the Technical Proposal Volume. Each Tab and its required content are identified on the subsequent pages. The Evaluation Factors are: 1) Concept

Design/Technical Approach; 2) Management Approach, 3) Experience and Capability; 4)

Past Performance; and 5) Socio-Economic Consideration. There are sample submission documents within Section 00111 that you can refer to when preparing your proposal.

Preface

Discussion of this submission begins in paragraph 5.3. The preface introduces the team proposed to perform on this project with an introduction narrative and a summary list.

The narrative provides information about the Prime and Key Subcontractor(s) to include their role, authority, and major work elements they will perform.

Factor 1: Concept Design/Technical Approach

Factor 3 has three parts; a technical narrative, project schedule, and statement of compliance. The technical narrative describes the offeror’s approach to design, construction approach of the facility from site prep to clean-up, and conceptual design.

The project schedule is a simple bar/GANTT chart broken down to the “Feature of

Work”. The Offeror’s statement of compliance is only required to be submitted and signed if proposing a shorter duration than 730 calendar days.

Factor 2: Management Approach

Factor 2 has two parts; project organization chart and management plan. The organization chart graphically depicts the offeror’ proposed project team. The management plan is a comprehensive plan discussing approach used to control design, construction, and closeout.

Factor 3: Experience and Capability

Factor 3 requires the offeror to provide specific information regarding both their own experience as well as any proposed Key Subcontractors and corporate resumes. The offeror is required to submit at least one example projects for themselves and each Key

Subcontractors proposed to perform one of the three capability areas. The “example projects” must demonstrate capabilities in the following areas: 1) design-build project management as a Prime Contractor; 2) A-E design effort; 3) the firm performing the potable water system construction and 3) each firm performing construction effort greater than $1M. For each example project use the Project Information Form format to provide the requested information.

Factor 4: Past Performance

This factor concentrates on information that will be used to evaluate the past performance record of the offeror and proposed Key Subcontractors. Past performance evaluation information should be provided on the example projects submitted under the Experience and Capability factor. If an official written performance rating or evaluation is not available (e.g., Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (CCASS)), have a reference submit a completed Past Performance Questionnaire. The Government may utilize information other than that supplied by the offeror in its evaluation of past performance.

For each example projects provide under Factor 1, seven additional information is used in the evaluation of past performance: Compliance with socio-economic requirements, safety record, performance problems, quality awards, contract prices, completion dates, and regulatory issue.

Letters of Commitment and Authorization must be submitted from each proposed Key

Subcontractor.

Factor 5: Socio-Economic Consideration

Factor 5 has three parts; proposed small business participation, proposed historically black colleges and universities/minority institutions, and proposed certified small disadvantaged businesses. Provide the information using the sample format even if none are proposed. If no business found for the second and third part, follow the suggested language.

EVALUATION

Section 00111 includes information on how the price and technical proposals will be evaluated. Paragraph 3 states how the price proposal and technical proposal submissions will be evaluated.

Paragraph 2.3 is very important, as it gives the relative importance of technical and price considerations. In this solicitation, technical (non-price) factors, when combined, are approximately equal to price. The Relative Weighting of the Technical Evaluation

Factors and their relative weights are identified in paragraph 2.6. For this project, Factor

1 (Concept Design/Technical Approach) is the most heavily weighted factor, while

Factor 2 (Management Approach) is weighted less than Factor 1, Factor 3 (Experience and Capability) is weighted less than Factor 2, Factor 4 (Past Performance ) is weighted less than Factor 3, and Factor 5 (Socio-Economic Consideration) is the least heavily weighted factor.

How each Factor will be evaluated is described in more detail within each Factor’s requested information under the subparagraph entitled “Evaluation Criteria”. These subparagraphs explain how the Government intends to evaluate the proposals that are received.

In summary, we strongly recommend that you read and become familiar with this

Section. Refer to it often while preparing your technical proposal and then review it again before you finalize your technical proposal. Ensure that your technical proposal has accurately presented your company’s and your key subcontractors’ ability to successfully complete this project. Be sure that all required information has been provided, and prepared in the prescribed format, because with the exception of past performance, our evaluation must be based strictly on the information presented in your technical proposal. Omitted information could cause your proposal to be considered unacceptable, and therefore ineligible for award. Pay attention to the words “must” and

“shall”. If you fail to provide information the government tells the offeror he/she must or shall provide and he/she fails to provide it, it would likely result in a material omission and thereby a deficiency in the proposal.

You also need to be aware of the potential impacts of submitting excess information.

Excess information will NOT be evaluated. For example, if you were to submit three pages when only two pages were allowed, the third page would not be evaluated. This could have a major impact on your evaluation results if critical information is not considered because it was on the third page. This also applies to the example projects. If it is not clear what example projects demonstrate what capability, the first example project will be considered the first until the maximum number of allowable example projects are evaluated and then the remaining example projects will be considered excess.

AWARD

Next I would like to briefly summarize the evaluation, selection, and award process.

Initially the price and technical evaluation of your proposal are done separately. This prevents the technical evaluators from being influenced by any pricing considerations.

After the conclusion of these two separate evaluations, the Contracting Officer will determine whether or not award can be made on the basis of initial offers. If this can’t be done, the Contracting Officer will determine the competitive range for the project. If and when the Contracting Officer determines the competitive range for the project, we will inform those offerors determined to be in the competitive range, that they are included in the competitive range for the purpose of discussions (negotiations). The competitive range will consist of the most highly rated proposals. When necessary, the competitive range can be further reduced for purposes of efficiency. Discussions may involve one, or multiple, revisions to an offeror’s proposal and could often include solicitation amendments. All firms still in the competitive range at the conclusion of discussions will be given the opportunity to submit a final proposal revision. But, I need to repeat… you need to submit your best offer initially. There may not be a second chance if you are eliminated from the competitive range on the basis of your initial offer.

The Contracting Officer will select for award the proposal which offers the best value to the Government, which may not be either the lowest priced offer or the offer with the highest technical rating. The decision will involve a comparison of the strengths, weaknesses, and risks in each proposal along with the prices offered. The award will be made to the Offeror that provides the best combination in the judgment of the Contracting

Officer, who will be the Source Selection Authority.

SECTION 00600

REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS

The next section of the solicitation is 00600, which contains the Representations and

Certifications that must be completed by each offeror. For Joint Ventures, separate forms must be submitted. The forms must be completed in their entirety and submitted with your pricing proposal. Please be very sure to correctly indicate the proper size status for your company.

SECTION 00700

CONTRACT CLAUSES

Section 00700 contains the FAR and DFARS contract clauses required by law and regulation. They are either provided in full text or not. Full text can be found on http://farsite.hill.af.mil/ or similar website. These clauses contain important information, including the following:

--The performance period is 730 calendar days after notice to proceed as identified on the

SF Form 1442.

--Performance and payment bonds, each equal to 100% of the contract price, will be required (FAR 52.228-15). The successful offeror will be required to provide payment and performance bonds within 10 calendar days after award of the contract.

--Progress payments will be made monthly or more frequently based on percentage of work satisfactorily completed (FAR 52.232-5).

--The due date for invoice payments is 14 calendar days after receipt of a proper payment request by the designated billing office (FAR 52.232-27).

--The contractor is required to perform on the site, with its own organization, work equivalent to at least 25% of the total amount of work to be performed under the contract

(FAR 52.236-1).

-- Permits and Responsibilities (FAR 52.236-7). This clause states that it is the contractor’s responsibility to obtain any necessary licenses and permits, at no additional cost to the Government. In addition, the contractor is responsible for compliance with any Federal, State, and municipal laws, codes, and regulations applicable to the performance of work. Contractors are responsible for all damages to persons or property that occur as a result of the Contractor’s fault or negligence; and contractors are responsible for all materials delivered and work performed until completion and acceptance of the entire work, except for any completed unit of work which may have been accepted under the contract.

SECTION 00800

SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

Section 00800 includes critical information, including the following:

--Security Requirements for Unclassified Contracts (FAR 52.204-4003). This clause identifies the requirements for those contractor or subcontractor employees requiring access to Automated Information Systems and also to foreign nationals working on the contract.

--Minimum Insurance Requirements (FAR 52.0228-4502) This clause list the various minimum required insurance.

--Partnering Clause (FAR 52.236.4901) The Government intends to encourage the foundation of a cohesive partnership with the Contractor and its subcontractors. The objectives are effective and efficient contract performance and intended to achieve completion within budget, on schedule, and in accordance with plans and specifications.

ATTACHMENTS

The attachments include the following:

Technical Specifications

General Wage Determination (Davis-Bacon Act)

This concludes my formal remarks. I need to remind you that all questions must be submitted via the Bidder’s Inquiry System, which will be unavailable after January 13, 2010.

I would also like to remind you that anything discussed here today does not change the solicitation, unless incorporated into the solicitation by a formal amendment. This concludes our pre-proposal conference. I realize that your time is valuable and would like to thank you for your time to attend today, your attention and your interest in this project. We look forward to your proposals. We will now take a short break and meet in the parking lot to commence the site visit.