W912DW18R0005_Synopsis_Questions_and_Answers_12JAN18.pdf

A-E IDIQ for Design and Construction Support Services Solicitation Number: W912DW18R0005 (Original posting 22 December 2017)

Response to A-E Questions

General. The Government has received multiple questions and requests for clarification regarding this Pre-Solicitation Notice. Responses are provide below, and anticipate the following actions:

• A revised notice will be posted by the Government shortly incorporating specific changes resulting from these inquiries.

• The response date will be extended to 1 February 2018.

• A cut-off date for questions will be established as 25 January 2018.

Question 1. On page 6 of the Pre-solicitation Notice for Solicitation Number W912DW18R0005 you outline 11 disciplines with PE / RA requirements.

(1) Project Manager (SF330 function code 48; PE required)

(10) Sustainable Designer (fc 13; PE required)

Is it acceptable to have a Registered Architect for disciplines (1) and (10) as a substitute for a PE?

USACE Response 1: Synopsis requirements has been revised for multiple key disciplines identified in the solicitation notice for Criterion B, and the changes are indicated below:

• “Submit resumes in Section E of the SF330 for each of the disciplines below, which are listed in descending order of importance.

(1) Project Manager (SF330 fc 48; licensed or registered professional required)

(2) Architect (fc 06; Registered Architect (RA) required)

(3) Civil Engineer (fc 12; Professional Engineer (PE) required)

(4) Structural Engineer (fc 57; PE required)

(5) Electrical Engineer (fc 21; PE required)

(6) Mechanical Engineer (fc 42; PE required)

(7) Fire Protection Engineer (fc 25; PE required)

(8) Interior Designer (fc 37; RA or nationally recognized certification [e.g., ASID

NCIDQ])

(9) Cost Engineer (fc 18; nationally recognized cost engineering certification

[e.g., AACEI CCP or CEP] or PE required; experienced in use of MCASES MII software)

(10) Sustainable Designer (no fc; license or registered professional with LEED certification required)

(11) Communications Engineer (fc 13; PE or nationally recognized communication engineering certification [e.g., RCDD] required).

• Responses must be coordinated with Part II, subpart 9, “Employees by

Discipline”.

• If multiple resumes are provided for Criterion B, identify the single most highly qualified individual proposed by the Team for each key discipline for evaluation.

The additional resumes for the required disciplines or for disciplines that are not listed in this criterion will not be evaluated.”

Question 2. Page 6, under PRIMARY CRITERION (B) PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS states that a PE is required for the Sustainable Designer. Can this language be changed to allow for a PE or RA (Registered Architect) with a 3rd Party Sustainable certification such as LEED AP to fulfil the role of a Sustainable Designer?

ALSO, it appears the function codes for Sustainable Designer and Communications Engineer are swapped.

USACE Response 2: The error has been corrected. See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

Question 3. On page 11 there is a table which defines the ratings basis for each key discipline for the capacity requirement. The quantities of personnel required in order to get an "outstanding" or even "good" rating seem to be more what one would expect for an "Unrestricted" solicitation, not a small business set-aside. It would seem like those numbers should be cut in half or more for the small business set-aside version. There are a lot of small businesses out there in the 5 - 15 person firm size. To get an outstanding rating it may indicate that small business would be required to team with a large business. This past year we had approximately $2 million worth of task orders for an IDIQ which is a good size for a year. Working those task orders we had 4 Mechanical Engineers, 3 Electrical Engineers, 1 Interior designer, 1 CAD person, 1 Cost estimator, 1 Hazardous Materials person, 1 Project Manager/Structural and 1 Project Manager/Architect. These numbers are quite a bit less than the numbers shown for Outstanding or Good in the table.

We would ask that you review and reconsider the quantities of personnel required to achieve each of those ratings in the capacity ratings table in the solicitation.

USACE Response 3: The comment has been considered. The table was unintentionally included and has been removed from the solicitation notice.

Question 4. First, part 2 item 1 of that criteria states that a PE is required to fulfill the role of project manager (fc48). As an architecture firm, we would propose to utilize a Registered Architect in that capacity. Would the Army Corps of Engineers accept a RA as equal to a PE in that capacity?

Second, part 2 item 8 of that criteria indicates that a RA is preferred to fulfill the role of Interior Designer (fc 37). Would an Interior Designer holding an NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) certification be an acceptable alternative?

USACE Response 4: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

Question 5. On Page six of the solicitation, under Primary Criterion (B) Professional Qualifications, item 2, it states:

(1) Project Manager (SF330 function code 48; PE required)

(2) Architect (fc 06; RA required)

(3) Civil Engineer (fc 12; PE required)

(4) Structural Engineer (fc 57; PE required)

(5) Electrical Engineer (fc 21; PE required)

(6) Mechanical Engineer (fc 42; PE required)

(7) Fire Protection Engineer (fc 25; PE required)

(8) Interior Designer (fc 37; RA preferred)

(9) Cost Engineer (fc 18; nationally recognized cost engineering certification or PE required)

(10) Sustainable Designer (fc 13; PE required)

(11) Communications Engineer (pc S11; PE required)

• Are professionals with an ‘RA’ designation (with no PE) a suitable substitution for line items 1 and 10?

USACE Response 5A: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

• Will teams be ranked less favorably if an Architect/RA filled these two roles?

USACE Response 5B: Licensed or registered professionals will be rated equally.

Question 6. On Page 6, section 2, you are requesting ONE resume for each of the disciplines listed. We have at least 2 different firms for most of the disciplines listed and we feel our team would show stronger if we are able to list at least 2 resumes for each discipline. Would this meet your requirements? Please advise if this is acceptable for this submittal. We definitely want to show our overall experience as a team and meet all of the requirements of this RFQ.

USACE Response 6: See Question 1 response for revised requirements. Regarding this specific question:

“If multiple resumes are provided for Criterion B, identify the single most highly qualified individual proposed by the Team for each key discipline for evaluation. The additional resumes for the required disciplines or for disciplines that are not listed in this criterion will not be evaluated.”

Question 7. On Page 6, it states that for the Communications Engineer, a PE is required. Would Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD) certification be acceptable instead of a PE?

USACE Response 7: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

Question 8. Regarding Criteria B, item 2…does USACE only want 1 resume per discipline…so 1 PM resume, 1 Architect resume, etc., or does this instruction mean that we should NOT submit a resume for other disciplines not listed in the Solicitation (ex:

geotechnical engineer isn’t listed as a discipline)?

USACE Response 8: See Question 1 and Question 6 responses for revised requirements.

Question 9. For Primary Criterion (B) Professional Qualifications, we have the following questions:

1. With regard to the list of resumes for the disciplines requested [item 2., (1) – (11)]:

a. Is it acceptable to include resumes for disciplines beyond this list? For example, we have often used other disciplines on IDIQ task orders at JBLM such as land surveyors, geotechnical engineers, and hazardous materials assessors

USACE Response 9A: See Question 1 and Question 6 responses for revised requirements.

b. Is it acceptable for the interior designer to have the NCIDQ certification or the IIDA professional membership?

USACE Response 9B: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

c. Is it acceptable to provide more than one resume for each discipline?

USACE Response 9C: See Question 1 and Question 6 responses for revised requirements.

d. For the cost engineer, can the government note which “nationally recognized cost engineering certification” it deems acceptable?

USACE Response 9D: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

2. Item 3 states “Responses must be coordinated with Part II, subpart 9, “Employees by Discipline.” Can the government clarify what this means? Does this simply mean that the government wants to see the same disciplines/function codes on the Part IIs?

USACE Response 9E: If key personnel are identified and proposed to meet a function code and requirement under Criterion B, the Government expects the Part II function code listings submitted for the firm(s) also indicate that capability and capacity.

Question 10. Criterion D Capacity:

a. Do the key discipline personnel need to be licensed personnel? In other words, to achieve an “Outstanding” Rating, do all 8 Project Managers need to be P.E.s, or can they be non-licensed staff? Same question for other 10 disciplines.

USACE Response 10A: Professionals offered for key disciplines in Criterion B are to be licensed or registered professionals, unless otherwise indicated in the synopsis.

Criterion D evaluates the number of people employed in each discipline, by function code, by the firm.

b. Can we include the Key Discipline staff (the 11 resumes under Criterion B) in multiple categories as part of Criteria D Capacity? For example, if we list one Mechanical PE for a Key Discipline under “Crit B”, can we count that same person as one the Mechanical Engineers AND one of the 5 Fire Protection Engineers, AND one of the 5 Sustainable Designers under “Crit. D”?

USACE Response 10B: Part II requires that each individual be identified by one function code. Identifying one individual as multiple function codes is not allowed.

The solicitation notice has been revised as follows:

“Each key discipline required in the response shall be shown in and coordinated with Part II of the SF330, which requires that each individual employed by the firm be identified by one function code. Part II will be evaluate to determine if the function code capacity and claimed numbers of personnel support the information in Section H.”

c. In our table summary, should we list names and titles of staff listed (8 PMs, 15 Architects, etc.), or just the number of staff for the Prime firm, subs, and total team capacity?

USACE Response 10C: Provide the number of personnel for (1) Prime/JV, (2) team subconsultants, and (3) total team capacity in Section H.

d. Sustainable Designers: for capacity, can we show Sustainable Designers as Registered Architects or LEED-accredited personnel?

USACE Response 10D: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.

Question 11. Location of work: Will task orders be issued for work just at Fort Lewis/McChord AFB, or could task orders also cover work at Yakima Training Center, Mountain Home AFB, and Malmstrom AFB?

USACE Response 11: The work will be primarily located within JBLM. In addition, capacity will be available for use by other military agencies with similar requirements and applicability at installations within NWS.

Question 12. Criterion A - VA Medical Center projects as DoD projects: Are VA projects, as in Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers facilities, considered “DoD” or “military” facilities that we could include in our 330-Fs as military projects?

USACE Response 12: VA is not part of DoD, and its projects are not subject to military project requirements. Criterion A states:

“Projects completed for non-DoD agencies, with similar requirements to the range of military projects described above, may be submitted as experience, but will not be evaluated more favorably.”

Question 13. Agency managing task orders: Which agency will manage task orders that arise under this contract – will it be the US Army Corps of Engineers or JBLM staff?

USACE Response 13: Contract task orders issued for this acquisition are administered by USACE.

Question 14. Cost Engineer certifications: What are the nationally recognized cost engineering certifications the Corps will allow for Cost Engineers?

USACE Response 14: See Question 1 response for revised requirements.