PreProposal Conference Script LSTF.pdf

Pre-Proposal Conference Meeting Minutes for the Contractual Segment

Presentation by Doug Wesemann on April 18, 2012 at 9:00 AM at Dugway PG, Utah

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

Conference for Solicitation W91238-12-R-0001, titled “Design-Build Life Science Test

Facility”. My name is Doug Wesemann and I will be giving you an overview for the

Phase 2 proposal requirements. Connie Newell remains the primary Contract

Specialist throughout the solicitation process and contract award and you should contact her for any further information or clarification of this information.

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 in Section 00 21 16 Instructions to Proposers.

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 appreciable 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 the Bidder’s Inquiry System as of Close of Business: May 4, 2012.

Please continue to monitor the FEDBIZOpps for amendments to this solicitation. 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, two amendments have been issued. Amendment 01 was to provide a revised

Section 00 22 10 for number of offerors to Phase 2 and Amend 02 was to initiate Phase 2 and provide some minor changes to Vol 1 and Vol 2 attachments. Again, notices and amendments will be posted on FedBizOpps, 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 May 14, 2012 3:00 PM Local Time in our Sacramento

District office. There is no public 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.

Promptly at 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 in Section 00 21 16 starting on the same page as the Bidder Inquiry information.

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. In addition, this project is 2-phase which means an even longer extended period of time for award.

The solicitation for this project is proceeding as a Full and Open Unrestricted RFP. 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.

I wanted to note that you may have noticed, the actual contract format numbering has changed. The old Sections 00100, 00600, 00700 and 00800 have been replaced.

In essence, the old Section 00100 has been replaced by Sections 00 21 00 and 00 21 16, the old Section 00600 has been replaced by Section 00 45 00, Section 00700 by Section 00 70 00 and information provided in the Old Section 00800 is now provided in Sections 00 72 00 and 00 73 00. The old section 00110 for Phase 1 Instructions and Evaluations is now Section 00 22 10 and the old section 00120 for Phase 2 Instructions and Evaluations is now Section 00 22 20. There may be some clauses and information from the old sections that do not directly translate to the new sections; please remember that it is important for you to read the entire solicitation.

STANDARD FORM 1442

Beginning on the 2nd page of the RFP is the Standard Form 1442. This form is used for soliciting offers, submitting offers, and making the award. It also indicates that an offer guarantee is required. The required amount is 20% of the total price, 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 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 SF Form 1442 continuation pages, three and four.

PRICING SCHEDULE

Following 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 as required pricing for five (5) Base Line Items and six (6) Option Line Items.

Please note that after the Pricing Schedule of the RFP there are Pricing Schedule notes, which contain 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 00 21 00

The RFP includes FAR and DFARS provisions pertaining to this solicitation. 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 Agreement. This provision cross-references to Contract Clause FAR

52.225-11, Buy American Act – Construction Materials Under Trade Agreement of

Section 00 70 00.

SECTION 00 21 16

This section was originally the “local instructions” in the old Section 00100. This section includes the bidder inquiry, proposal submittal information, pre-award survey information for Phase 2, preparation of subcontracting plan, bid guarantee and payment bond information. Please note that this section specifies that FAX and telegraphic offers will not be accepted.

SECTION 00 22 10

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS, INSTRUCTIONS, BASIS OF AWARD,

AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

This section addressed Phase 1 which we do not need to discuss here today.

SECTION 00 22 20

This section provides for preparation and formatting instructions and evaluation criteria for Phase 2 proposal submittal.

In addition, it separates the Price Proposal Volume (Tabs 1 through 8) from the Phase 2

Technical Proposal Volume (Tabs 4 through 7). The following factors will be evaluated for the Phase 2 Technical Proposal:

Factor 4: Technical Approach/Solution Factor 5: Key Personnel Factor 6: Management Approach Factor 7: Socio-Economic Considerations

To reiterate, Section 00 22 20 provides detailed instructions for preparing and submitting your Phase 2 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. For the Technical

Proposal, submit one (1) original plus seven (7) copies. 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 close of business May 4, 2012, 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.

Beginning with Paragraph 1.3 in Section 00 22 20, 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 21 work breakout structures. Submit fully burden amounts for each of these elements.

At this time, I’d like to briefly review the Technical Proposal Volume, which begins with

Paragraph 2. This is a critical page 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:

Technical Approach/Solution; Key Personnel; Management Approach and Socio-

Economic Considerations. There are sample submission documents within

Section 00 22 20 that you can refer to when preparing your proposal.

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.

Factors 4 through 7

Factor 4: Technical Approach

Factor 4 has three parts; (1) a Technical Narrative, (2) NAS Project Schedule, (3)

Construction Approach, (4) Conceptual Design , (5) Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design Approach and (6) Offeror’s Statement of Compliance. The technical narrative describes the offeror’s approach to design and the construction approach of the facility from site prep to clean-up. The project schedule graphically illustrates the proposed integration, scheduling, and phasing of the major features on the critical and near-critical path broken down to the “Feature of Work”. The Construction

Approach is to provide solution for architect plan and construction needed to complete the project. Specifics of this are noted in the description and evaluation criteria. The

Conception Design portion is to provide narrative on the offeror’s unique design and construction solutions and will include the identified rendering drawings. Leadership in

Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Approach is to identify ability to incorporate, document and obtain LEED certification. The Offeror’s statement of compliance is only required to be submitted and signed if proposing a shorter duration than 900 calendar days.

Factor 5: Key Personnel

A resume is required for each key personnel proposed position. The identified positions are Project Manager, Design-Build Project Manager, On-Site Project Superintendent, Design Coordination Manager, Contractor Quality Control (CQC) System Manager and

Site Safety and Health Officer (SSHO). For each resume, there is a sample format provided. Use of a different format could result in a lower rating if all of the requested information is not provided. Dates must include months and years. Please note the bolded information provided for overlapping time periods.

Factor 6: Management Approach

Factor 6 Management Approach has three areas for evaluation: (1) Project Organization

Chart, (2) Management Plan and (3) Approach to Project Quality Control. The Project

Organization Chart and graphically must clearly include all of the required information.

The Management Plan and Approach to Project Quality Control may include either narrative and/or graphics. Please ensure that all identified criteria are addressed for both of these areas.

Factor 7: Socio-Economic Consideration

Each offeror will provide their proposed utilization of specific types of business concerns as identified in Tab 7.

This factor is not the Subcontracting Plan that is required to be submitted by all large business concerns and is to be included in the Price Proposal Volume.

EVALUATION

Section 00 22 20 includes information on how the price and technical proposals will be evaluated. Paragraph 1 Pricing proposal provides number format, contents and tab requirements. Paragraph 2.3 and subparagraphs entitled “Evaluation Criteria” for each

Phase 2 factor (4 through 7) states how the technical proposal submissions will be evaluated.

Please refer to Section 00 22 10, Paragraph 2.6 for the Relative Weighting of the

Technical Evaluation Factors as it provides the relative importance of technical and price considerations. In this solicitation, technical (non-price) factors, when combined, are approximately equal to price. For this project:

Factor 1 – Organization and Technical Approach is the most heavily weighted factor.

Factor 2 – Experience and Capability is weighted less than Factor 1.

Factor 3 – Past Performance. Both Factors 2 and 3 are of approximately equal importance.

Factor 4 – Technical Solution, Both Factors 1 and 4 are of approximately equal importance.

Factor 5 – Key Personnel is weighted less than Factors 2 and 3.

Factor 6 – Management Approach is weighted less than Factor 5.

Factor 7 – Socio-Economic Considerations is the least heavily weighted factor it is weighted significantly less than any other evaluation 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, 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.

AWARD

Next a brief summary of 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 cannot be done, then the Contracting Officer will determine the competitive range for the project as follows: 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 00 45 00

REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS

The next section of the solicitation is 00 45 00, 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 00 70 00

CONTRACT CLAUSES

Section 00 70 00 contains the FAR and DFARS contract clauses required by law and regulation. They are provided as both reference and/or full text as applicable. These clauses contain important information, including the following:

--The performance period is 900 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).

-- 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 00 72 00

DESIGN-BUILD INSTRUCTIONS

These instructions were previously under the old section 00800 and include pertinent information to the design-build process and requirements.

SECTION 00 73 00

SUPPLEMENTARY CONDITIONS

Section 00 73 00 includes several key clauses and other supplementary conditions to the proposal.

--Minimum Insurance Requirements (FAR 52.0228-4001). This clause lists the various minimum required insurance.

Dugway Proving Ground local information.

Davis Bacon Wage Determination

ATTACHMENTS

The attachments, which follow Section 00 73 00, include the following:

Technical Specifications Div 01 through 49 – Attachment 1

Attachments, Drawings, Reports - Attachment 2

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 as of the Close of

Business – May 4, 2012.

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.