Attachment 1 - RFQ-White Paper-DRAFT.pdf

*Note: This is a DRAFT version of the IMSB RFQ, meant only to solicit feedback from interested parties in an effort to improve the Government’s OTA process. Feedback from industry may be incorporated into the final RFQ and Solicitation documents. The official IMSB Solicitation and RFQ will be posted once industry comments have been evaluated and incorporated as necessary.

Instructions for providing feedback via Projnet are provided as a separate document within this posting. Feedback is due at 1200 CST on 23 September 2026.

DRAFT - ATTACHMENT 1

DRAFT - STEP 1: Request for White Papers for Other Transaction (OT)

Design-Bid-Build under Other Transaction Authority (D-B-B under OT)

SECTION 1: OVERVIEW

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is seeking qualified Contractors to participate in a D-B-B under OT agreement for the Initial Minot Sentinel Beddown (IMSB) project suite at Minot AFB, ND. This request for white papers invites interested Contractors to submit qualification packages as the first step in a competitive, two-step selection process.

This acquisition emphasizes:

• Qualifications-Based Selection: Contractor(s) will be selected based on partnering approach, experience, capability, and teaming strategy, not a price proposal.

• Collaborative Project Development: The selected Contractor will work directly with USACE, the Designer of Record (DOR), and Air Force partners to provide recommended design adjustments to improve constructability and develop the final construction price and schedule.

• Speed and Flexibility: The Government will evaluate White Papers based on the criteria identified in this announcement using a qualifications-based, collaborative evaluation process. The evaluation is intended to identify the Contractor best suited to partner with the Government to adjust the design, offer technical solutions, and reach fair and reasonable agreement terms during subsequent phases of the process.

SECTION 2: OT FRAMEWORK

This acquisition will be conducted pursuant to the authority provided under 10 U.S.C. § 2808a using an Other Transaction (OT) agreement. The OT framework provides the Government with the flexibility to establish a collaborative, qualifications-based approach tailored to the complexity and requirements of this project.

The OT approach:

• Enables a collaborative process that encourages early engagement among the Government, DOR, Contractor, and other project stakeholders prior to construction award.

• Supports selection of a highly qualified Contractor based on demonstrated experience, capabilities, collaborative teaming approach, and ability to achieve project objectives.

• Enables the Government and selected Contractor to establish tailored agreement terms addressing project risks, schedule requirements, performance expectations, and other mission needs.

• Facilitates innovative acquisition approaches focused on speed, flexibility, and successful mission outcomes.

• Is not subject to FAR-based procurement procedures; however, applicable federal laws and requirements, including fiscal law requirements and required laws governing construction of public facilities.

SECTION 3: WHITE PAPER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to determine that a response which does not conform to the requirements or instructions contained in this announcement is ineligible for further consideration.

Contractors that submit White Papers determined to be the most advantageous to the Government, based on the evaluation criteria identified in this announcement, may be invited to participate in Pitch Meetings.

Interested parties should prepare their White Papers in a clear, concise, and organized manner that enables the Government to efficiently evaluate the proposed approach. To facilitate an efficient review, responses shall be prepared in accordance with the instructions and formatting requirements contained in this announcement. Failure to comply with these requirements may increase the risk that the response will not be considered for further evaluation.

3.1 GENERAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

White Paper Submission, Page Limitations, and Format Requirements

The White Paper shall be submitted by [15 working days after official RFQ issuance]. All submissions should be in Adobe PDF format with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) applied to all documents that will enable word searches to be conducted using Adobe-compatible PDF software.

Offers must be submitted electronically via Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) Solicitation at https://piee.eb.mil/. Respondents must be registered in PIEE before they can submit a proposal.

The page limitation for the White Paper is 10 pages. Title Sheet, letter from the bonding company agent, formal teaming agreements, CPARS, and Past-Performance Questionnaires (PPQ) are not included in the page limitation and should not be numbered. A one-page cover sheet or title sheet is recommended identifying your firm’s name, the file’s title, and describing any applicable teaming arrangements. Any extraneous information or cover letters that provide additional information about your firm that is not requested by this Request for White Papers will not be reviewed or evaluated.

All text shall be at least 10 pt. font and easily read (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri).

All text shall be typed and single-spaced. Each page shall be 8-1/2” x 11” (charts/graphics are the only documents that may be submitted on an 11” x 17”). Margins should be no less than 1” (right, left, top, and bottom).

Pages that exceed the page limitation will not be reviewed and the information contained on those pages will not be considered for evaluation.

Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data:

Respondents that include in their proposal data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes, shall-

(1) Mark the title page with the following legend:

This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed—in whole or in part—for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, an agreement is awarded to this respondent because of, or in connection with, the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting agreement. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]; and

(2) Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend:

Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.

The Government reserves the right to not consider responses, in part or in full, that fail to adhere to the pro-forma criteria listed above at its sole discretion

3.2 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PIEE

How to Register for Access to PIEE Every Vendor must register in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment for the specific applications they wish to use. During registration, respondents will need to register for the solicitation module with the relevant role (Proposal Manager).

To use an application in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment system, you must establish a personal account in the system.

This account is activated by your Government Administrator or the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment Customer Support Center.

You will need to take several steps to establish your personal account:

On the PIEE Home Page, click the Help/Training button in the upper right-hand corner for steps needed to complete before registering.

Complete your Vendor activation requirements (See Vendors Getting Started section on the Help/Training page).

Set up your PC to use the applications (See Machine Setup link on the Help/Training page).

Self-register as "Vendor" or your Contractor role for your CAGE codes (See the demo below for help with Self Registration).

Have your GAM activate your account.

Additional registration instruction and step-by-step walkthrough can be found at:

https://pieetraining.eb.mil/wbt/xhtml/wbt/portal/overview/vendorRegister.xhtml

How to Upload Proposals to PIEE

Detailed instructions on the uploading of proposals can be found at:

https://pieetraining.eb.mil/wbt/xhtml/wbt/sol/solicitation/proposals.xhtml

PIEE Web based training: https://pieetraining.eb.mil/wbt/

In the event a respondent is unable to register for a PIEE account or otherwise is unable to upload their proposal to PIEE, the respondent shall email the individuals identified below no later than 48 business hours prior to the offer due date and time, stating the issue they are having with PIEE, and request instructions for an alternate method to submit their proposal. This alternate method will be in the form of email to the following recipients:

Ariel Vogan, Ariel.E.Vogan@usace.army.mil Jennifer Gilbreath, Jennifer.C.Gilbreath@usace.army.mil

For the purposes of determining whether the white paper was received "late", the date and time the file(s) are received by the USACE Outlook Server or uploaded into the PIEE Solicitation website as identified in the PIEE Solicitation notification e-mail sent to the Contract Specialist(s)/ Agreements Officer will be the time and date the Government received the proposal. Do not assume that electronic communication is instantaneous. Please make allowances for delays in transmittal.

3.3 WHITE PAPER CONTENT (REQUIRED SECTIONS)

3.3.1. BONDING CAPACITY (Excluded from the Page Count)

The submission shall include a letter from your bonding company agent certifying the current maximum bonding capacity per project and the aggregate.

mailto:Ariel.E.Vogan@usace.army.mil mailto:Jennifer.C.Gilbreath@usace.army.mil

3.3.2. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND RESULTS

Instruction: Provide a concise description of up to three (3) projects the Contractor considers most relevant to this effort. For each project, provide:

• Customer/owner with contact information;

• Project title and location;

• Delivery method;

• Project value;

• Brief scope summary;

• Completion status or current phase;

• Description of one or two significant challenges; and

• Explanation of how the Contractor addressed those challenges and achieved successful results.

Expectation: Project examples should demonstrate relevance in terms of size, complexity, coordination requirements, phasing, stakeholder integration, or collaborative delivery characteristics similar to this project suite.

3.3.3 Staffing, Teaming. and Organizational Approach

Instruction: Provide a concise narrative describing the proposed team structure, staffing, and management approach for execution of the individual projects and the project suite as a whole.

Include:

• Identification of the prime Contractor and key team members;

• Roles and responsibilities of major partners or subcontractors;

• Lines of authority, communication, and coordination;

• A plan for initial staffing, staffing continuity (and/or replacement), and drawdown throughout project delivery;

• A brief explanation of any prior working relationships among key team members that support effective execution; and

• One organizational chart depicting the proposed team structure.

Expectation: The narrative and supporting organizational diagram(s) shall demonstrate an integrated team and management structure that will take advantage of the Phase 1 OT Agreement and demonstrate how the firm will resource and effectively manage execution of the project suite to include possible sub-project teams, subcontractors, etc. The lead superintendent, construction manager, and/or project manager identified for the project suite will be expected to participate in the Phase 2 Pitch Meetings.

Joint Ventures (JVs) & Teaming Agreements, if applicable.

The Joint Venture must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be eligible for award of the agreement. The joint venture must have its own Unique Entity ID (UEI) number and register as such.

The Agreements Officer will recognize the integrity and validity of the Contractor’s arrangements; provided that the arrangements are identified and company relationships are fully disclosed and validation of formal agreements and relationships (e.g., Mentor-Protégé agreements, Joint Ventures, partnerships, etc.) are provided in the offer and submitted with the proposal responding to the Request for White Papers. Nothing in the Request for White Papers authorizes teaming arrangements in violation of antitrust statutes.

A copy of the formal agreement (e.g., Mentor-Protégé agreements, Joint Ventures, partnerships, etc.) must be provided to be eligible for selection for the award. The agreement may be provided with the White Paper submission. The documentation of the agreement is excluded from the page count. If the final agreement is not available at the time of White Paper submission and the Contractor is selected for Pitch Presentation(s), the agreement must be submitted prior to the first Pitch Presentation meeting.

3.3.4 COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO PRE-CONSTRUCTION AND EXECUTION

Instruction: Provide a concise description of the Contractor’s approach to collaborating with the Government and Designer of Record (DOR) during pre-construction activities. At a minimum, address the Contractor’s approach to:

• Partnering and communication;

• Issue identification and resolution;

• Constructability review, recommended design adjustments, and recommended adjustments to contractual requirements;

• Support of schedule and price development during the pre-construction phase;

• Onboarding of key trades and subcontractors;

• Construction of simultaneous projects to achieve anticipated periods of performance; and

• Management of key project risks across the project suite.

Expectation: The response should demonstrate the Contractor’s ability to support a collaborative, qualifications-based delivery process and effective execution of multiple facilities or sub-projects under a unified project framework. This preserves the OT collaboration intent without requiring extensive corporate philosophy discussion.

SECTION 4: EVALUATION CRITERIA

The Government will evaluate White Papers of Contractor’s with adequate bonding capacity for merit using a qualifications-based approach.

• BONDING CAPACITY - Bonding capacity will be reviewed on a pass/fail basis. The Contractor shall have at least a $120M single project, $300M aggregate bonding capacity.

Submissions that do not demonstrate the required bonding capacity will be disqualified from further consideration.

• FACTOR 1 – RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND RESULTS - The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Contractor demonstrates successful performance on projects similar in size, complexity, coordination requirements, and collaborative delivery characteristics to the project suite. The Government will consider the relevance of the project examples provided, the Contractor’s demonstrated record of successful execution, and the effectiveness of actions taken to address significant project challenges.

Experience with the Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) delivery model will be considered similar to D-B-B under OTA for the purpose of evaluating relevant experience.

• FACTOR 2 – STAFFING, TEAMING, AND ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH -

The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Contractor proposes a clear, integrated, and effective staffing and management approach for execution of the project suite. The Government will consider the clarity of roles and responsibilities, lines of authority, communication and coordination methods, the integration of key partners and subcontractors, and the overall suitability of the proposed team structure to execute multiple facilities and/or sub-projects.

• FACTOR 3 – COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO PRE-CONSTRUCTION AND

EXECUTION - The Government will evaluate the extent to which the Contractor demonstrates an effective approach to working collaboratively with the Government and Designer of Record during the pre-construction and construction phases of the project suite. The Government will consider the Contractor’s approach to partnering, issue resolution, constructability input, schedule and price development support, and management of project risks. Greater consideration may be given to Contractors that demonstrate effective early-contractor involvement and a practical approach to supporting successful project outcomes across the project suite.

Greater consideration may be given to Contractor(s) demonstrating:

• Proven success in delivery models that demonstrate early collaborative involvement with Government or requirements owner.

• Demonstrated willingness and ability to work with the Government to best utilize early contractor involvement during pre-construction and construction activities.

• Ability to identify the unique challenges on complex projects and the associated solution(s) that overcame those challenges.

• Project management teams that are well staffed and that have worked together on prior successful projects.

Comparative Evaluation - Upon completion of the evaluation, the Government intends to conduct a comparative evaluation of all submissions and invite a target of three (3) of the most highly qualified Contractors to Pitch Presentations. Comparative analysis will consider the merits demonstrated by each Contractor under the factors above. The Government may seek clarifications or engage in communications with one or more respondents. The Government reserves the right to modify the evaluation approach as necessary, consider additional information obtained through this process, and/or select none, one, some, or all Contractors for Pitch Presentations. This is consistent with the current down-select language in the attachment.

Clarifications and Communications - The Government may seek clarifications or engage in communication(s) with one, or more respondent. The Government reserves the right to engage with any number of respondents as many times as it determines necessary to understand the respondent’s response.

Modification of Evaluation Approach - The Government reserves the right to modify the evaluation approach as necessary, consider additional information obtained through this process, and/or select none, one, some, or all Contractors for Pitch Presentations.

SECTION 6: COMMUNICATIONS

All communications shall be directed at the Agreements Officer (AO). The Government will provide all design builders with notification whether they were selected for Pitch Presentations.

SECTION 7: FINAL COMPLIANCE CHECK

Before submission, confirm:

• All required sections included

• Page limit not exceeded

• Format compliance

• Organizational chart included

• References provided

• Submission instructions followed

Compliance: Your white paper must address all requirements outlined in this attachment.

Incomplete submissions may be deemed non-conforming and disqualified from further consideration.

***End of Attachment 1***