A.02 SAS-J-A Phase II USVI RTI.pdf

SAS 20-0009

After-the-Fact JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

PROJECT/EQUIPMENT: ACF, Regional Training Institute (RTI), St. Croix, USVI CONTROL NO: SAS 20-0009

AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. 2304 (C) (2) AMOUNT: $4,000,000.00

SIGNATURES ARE REQUIRED BELOW:

I have reviewed this J&A and find the justification adequate to support other than full and open competition.

DISTRICT SMALL BUSINESS SPECIALIST

SIGNATURE: Digitally signed by

HOLLIS.LEILA.1229930300

HOLLIS.LEILA.1229930300

Date: 2020.04.20 14:44:34 -04'00'

NAME: Leila Hollis

DATE: 20 April 2020

PHONE: (912) 652-5340

PROJECT MANAGER

SIGNATURE: Digitally signed by

LUO.JIMMY.H.1384938171

Date: 2020.04.20 15:23:38 -04'00'

NAME: Jimmy H. Lou

PHONE: (912) 652-5009

DISTRICT COUNSEL

SIGNATURE: BARAN.CONNIE.LEDF Digitally signed by

BARAN.CONNIE.LEDFORD.1229875910

ORD.1229875910 Date: 2020.04.22 08:03:33 -04'00'

NAME: Connie L. Baran

DATE: 21 April 2020

PHONE: (912) 652-5381

DISTRICT CONTRACTING CHIEF

SIGNATURE:

NAME: Paige H. Blechinger

DATE: 22 April 2020

PHONE: (912) 652-6177

COUNSEL TO SCO-ATLANTA SIGNATURE:

NAME: Tristan S. Brown

DATE:

PHONE:

SCO-ATLANTA/ALTERNATE

COMMAND ADVOCATE FOR

COMPETITION

SIGNATURE:

NAME: Laura J. Eichhorn

DATE:

PHONE:

PREPARED BY:

CONTRACT SPECIALIST

NAME: Nikisha W. Cook

PHONE: 912-652-5900

CONTRACTING OFFICER

NAME: Bruce A. Helms

PHONE: 912-652-6147

TECHNICAL

NAME: Jimmy H. Lou

PHONE: 912-652-5009

REQUIREMENTS

NAME: Erik T. Blechinger

PHONE: 912-652-5332

Digitally signed by

BLECHINGER.PAIGE.H.1142966634

Date: 2020.04.22 16:22:07 -04'00'

S0CT9LJE

Typewritten Text 27 April 2020

S0CT9LJE

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Typewritten Text 404-562-5051

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District (CESAS), Contracting Division, Savannah, GA

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: In support of Presidential National Emergency Declaration Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak, on 13 March 2020, after-the-fact approval is requested for a Justification and Approval (J&A) for a two-phase design-build construction, firm fixed price (FFP) Letter Contract awarded to Conti Federal Services, 2045 Lincoln Highway, Edison, NJ 08817, on an other than full and open competition/sole-source basis. The action was awarded as an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) and will be definitized as a FFP “C-type” contract. Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Disaster Relief funds were used for this award. There are no options identified for the contract.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: The purpose of this contract was to provide design-build construction services in accordance with (IAW) the Presidential National Emergency Declaration. Work effort consisted of the design and construction to retrofit the selected space into an Alternate Care Facility (ACF) to serve acute COVID patients. This effort is providing an ACF meeting basic healthcare functions with an emphasis on patient isolation, infection control, fire protection and life safety. This Justification is for the design-build construction of the General Instruction Building Regional Training Institute (RTI), St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands (USVI). The estimated total value of the contract to be awarded under this J&A is $4,000,000.00, based on the not-to-exceed (NTE) amount for the awarded UCA. This amount is based upon the Government’s estimate for the awarded contract. The period of performance for the design-build contract is anticipated to be 18 calendar days in total and performance began immediately upon award of the UCA to meet this schedule.

4. AUTHORITY CITED: 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(2), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED: Consistent with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) 206.302- 2(b), “use of this [unusual and compelling urgency] authority may be appropriate . . . [for] construction needed at once because of fire, flood, explosion, or other disaster.” In support of the Presidential National Emergency Declaration, the agency’s need for this construction is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the Government would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to sole-source a contract to a single firm selected from the group of firms that were down-selected after Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition.

Background/Selection of Sole Source Contractor: As discussed in paragraph 8, Market Research, CESAS conducted this procurement in accordance with the Two-Phase Design-Build Selection Procedures in FAR 36.3. To that end, CESAS issued a limited competition Phase I design-build request for proposals to a total of five firms (supported by a J&A approved by the Senior Procurement Executive Control No. CENAN 20-003, 26 March 2020), and adequate competition was obtained in Phase I. Four of the five firms responded to the request for proposals. The Government conducted its Phase I evaluation and down-selected all four firms, as all were determined to be the highly qualified firms. CESAS continued sole-source negotiations as part of Phase II of the design-build acquisition only with Conti Federal Services for the particular requirement identified as St. Croix RTI.

Conti Federal Services was determined to be the most highly qualified firm for the specific requirement to design and construct an Alternate Care Facility, U.S. Virgin Islands. Based on the offeror’s recent/relevant performance record, the Government has a high expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort. The contractor provided several very relevant projects demonstrating past performance and is currently working with Philadelphia District in COVID-19 response and Alternative Care Facilities in New Jersey. The offeror’s proposal identified two (2) design-build projects with USACE districts, one completed in the last 5 years and the other completed in 2014. The available CPARS information for this offeror identified a trend of very good or exceptional for past performance, primarily for schedule, quality and management. The Offeror’s CPARS Summary Data was pulled and of the available information, the ratings identified VERY GOOD or EXCEPTIONAL for Schedule, Quality of Product/Service and Management in more than half of the evaluations. Conti Federal Services identified the ability to be fully ramped up for design and construction within 24 hours of award.

Conti Federal Services currently has staff on ground in the USVI in both St. Croix and St.

Thomas (the RTI ACF project is located in St. Croix). Conti Federal Services identified multiple methods to overcome logistics issues and achieve the contract. The proposal identified an existing relationship with Zapata their proposed subcontractor (designer) to complete the requirements of this solicitation. The proposal also identified multiple subcontractors and field staff already positioned and/or working with the offeror in the USVI. The proposal identified multiple subcontractors and field staff already positioned and/or working with the Conti Federal Services in the USVI.

Justification: The President declared a national emergency on 13 MAR 2020. FEMA assigned USACE to support Emergency Support Function (ESF) #3 “Public Works and Engineering.” On 13 April 2020, FEMA assigned CESAS a mission assignment that included the above referenced ACF work. This nature of this work was of such an unusual and compelling urgency that work had to commence immediately. As described by the President, “[t]he spread of COVID-19 within our Nation’s communities threatens to strain our Nation’s healthcare systems. As of March 12, 2020, 1,645 people from 47 States have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It is incumbent on hospitals and medical facilities throughout the country to assess their preparedness posture and be prepared to surge capacity and capability.” USACE has been requested to provide design and construction support to increase the capacity of our Nation’s healthcare system and must undertake design and construction as quickly as possible, to provide the necessary surge capacity.

Without limiting the number of sources from which the Government solicited a Phase II proposal to a single firm, the Government would have been unable to undertake construction quickly enough to meet the immediate need for additional ACF capacity in this area, and would not have met the necessary delivery schedule to provide additional capacity as close to the projected surge date as possible. A traditional design-build project acquired in accordance with the requirement for full and open competition under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) could take upwards of 6-9 months to award based upon historical averages of contracts of this dollar amount.

The time savings achieved through use of other than full and open competition was 6-9 months, as the entire two-phase process took four days. This time savings was critical in order for construction to begin as quickly as possible, supporting the unusual and compelling nature of the urgency of this procurement and the national emergency.

Alternative: CESAS examined several alternatives for fulfilling these requirements, but no other alternative would allow for performance to begin immediately. The only viable alternative was to select a single firm from the group of firms that were down-selected into Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition with whom the Government negotiated, in conjunction with utilizing a UCA or letter contract to allow the contractor to begin performance immediately and definitize at a later date. A Determination and Findings to award an UCA that will ultimately be definitized as a FFP “C-type” contract was approved by the Senior Contracting Official on 17 April 2020.

Impact: As determined by the President, the current COVID-19 outbreak presents a public health crisis and constitutes a national emergency. Because of the magnitude and gravity of the emergency, the President declared that hospitals must be prepared to surge capacity and capability, and that additional measures are needed to successfully contain and combat the virus in the United States. The USACE is the only entity with the capacity to build the infrastructure needed to support response to this emergency, but can only do so if certain exceptions full and open competition are implemented. Failure to select a single firm from the group of firms down-selected after Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition with whom the Government will negotiate, undertake construction immediately, and complete within 18 calendar days, in conjunction with utilizing a letter contract, utilize a letter contract, undertake construction immediately, and complete within 18 days, would have resulted in delays in design and construction of medical infrastructure required to adequately respond to the COVID-19 outbreak and would have severe adverse impacts on the safety and the public health of the United States.

This J&A will enabled CESAS to expedite award for urgently needed design and construction services identified above in Paragraph 3.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: CESAS solicited from as many firms as was practicable for Phase I. A limited sources J&A approved by the Senior Procurement Executive on 26 March 2020, Control No. NAN 20-003, supported other than full and open competition for Phase 1. It was necessary to negotiate a contract with a single source selected from the group of firms down-selected from Phase I of this two-phase design-build acquisition. As discussed in Paragraph 5, “Alternatives,” no other alternative will allow performance to begin immediately.

The notice required at FAR 5.201 will not be published based on the exception at FAR 5.202(a)(2), Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

7. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: CESAS is mindful of the requirement in FAR 6.302-2 to request offers from as many potential sources as is practicable under the circumstances, and therefore did perform a limited competition for Phase I of the design-build procurement. However, here it is not practicable to request an offer from more than one source under Phase II of a design-build procurement, because without issuing a letter contract on a sole-source basis, CESAS would be unable to undertake construction immediately and would not meet the delivery schedule of 18 calendar days. However, a competitive process was utilized in Phase I to select the highly qualified firms to advance to Phase II as identified in paragraphs 5 and 8.

MARKET RESEARCH:

INTERESTED SOURCES: In this instance, the need to undertake construction as soon as possible is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the Government and the public would be seriously injured unless CESAS is able to limit the number of sources from which it solicits Phase II proposals to one.

OTHER FACTS: NA

TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Jimmy H. Luo Title: Program Manager Signature:

(date in electronic signature)

12. REQUIREMENT CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Erik T. Blechinger Title: Deputy District Engineer Signature:

For Planning, Programs, and (date in electronic signature) Project Management

13. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION:

"I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable."

Digitally signed by

BLECHINGER.ERIK.TOD.10766821

Date: 2020.04.21 16:51:43 -04'00'

Digitally signed by

LUO.JIMMY.H.1384938171

Date: 2020.04.21 16:49:11 -04'00'

This will be determined by conducting a detailed cost/price analysis of the offeror’s proposal, taking into consideration all pertinent information including field pricing assistance, audit reports and technical analysis, fact-finding results, independent Government cost estimates and price histories. The contractor will be required to submit their price/cost proposal IAW FAR Part 15, and Certified Cost or Pricing Data will be required IAW FAR 15.403-4.

Name: Bruce A. Helms Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

(date in electronic signature)

14. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name: Bruce A. Helms Title: Contracting Officer Signature:

(date in electronic signature)

APPROVAL

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve after-the-fact this contract to provide design-build construction services in support of the Alternate Care Facilities effort for the General Instruction Building Regional Training Institute, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. §2304(c)(2), Unusual and Compelling Urgency, subject to the availability of funds, and provided the work herein described has otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Name: Laura J. Eichhorn Title: Senior Contracting Official – Signature:

Atlanta (date in electronic signature)

Digitally signed by

HELMS.BRUCE.A.1054395090

Date: 2020.04.22 15:22:39 -04'00'

Digitally signed by

HELMS.BRUCE.A.1054

395090 Date: 2020.04.22 15:23:00 -04'00'

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Typewritten Text 27 April 2020

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Typewritten Text Alternate Advocate for Competition