Responses_to_questions_to_Synopsis_W912P718R0003.pdf

W912P718R0003

Questions

A-E Services Primarily for CPS / Civil Works, Interagency and International Services (IIS), and Military

Construction Projects

1. Question: In the Primary Selection Criteria section 1.a. it states, “A minimum of one (1) project shall demonstrate relevant experience with projects having professional fees of $5,000,000 or greater as the prime contractor for construction phase A-E services required in this solicitation.”

This is the same as the solicitation with no set aside, however the Competitive 8(a) has the fees lowered to $1,000,000. Is this the correct amount for the Total Small Business Set Aside? Or is it a typo and should be lower. I ask, because if it is in fact $5,000,000 just for the construction phase services, the Total Project fees would be significantly higher and the small business size standard has an average annual receipts of $15,000,000. This just seemed out of proportion and I wanted to verify I had the correct details and that we qualify before forwarding on the opportunity to my manager. Could you please clarify this?

Response: An amendment to the solicitation will be issued which will change the minimum sample project size from $5,000,000.00 to $1,000,000.00.

2. In looking at the solicitation I noted the requirement that “A minimum of one (1) project shall demonstrate relevant experience with projects having professional fees of $5,000,000 or greater as the prime contractor for construction phase A-E services required in this solicitation.” This requirement would appear to limit the number of small business that would be eligible for award of a contract considering that annual revenue limit is $15.000,000 under the assigned NAICS code. At this point I have been unable to find a small business firm with the needed experience other than possibly a mentor-protégé joint venture that can meet this requirement.

Response: See response to question number 1 above.

3. Question: In regards to the Primary Selection Criteria section 1.a., it states, “A minimum of one

(1) project shall demonstrate relevant experience with projects having professional fees of $1,000,000 or greater as the prime contractor for construction phase A-E services required in this solicitation.” Can you please clarify if this solicitation is asking for $1,000,000 in fees for the construction phase services (CPS) only. Our typical project only carry 10% to 15% for construction period services, therefore, we would need to have professional design contract that ranges from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 to achieve this requirement. We are the prime for professional fee contracts that are above $1,000,000 but this total would include construction period services.

Response: The government will accept example projects that have both, professional design A/E services and construction phase services fees, however the portion of the fees that are for CPS needs to be identified separately from the professional design services fees. An amendment to clarify this requirement will be issued.

The one (1) project to demonstrate specialized experience with CPS with a minimum value of $1,000,000.00 needs to be a project with CPS fees that are at least 50% of the total A/E Services fees. An amendment to clarify this requirement will be issued.

4. Question: In the Offerors Questions and Comments section of the Solicitation, it states, “Questions regarding this announcement and the pre-proposal conference must be in writing and shall be addressed to Mr. Roberto Escobedo via email at

Roberto.L.Escobedo@usace.army.mil. All questions must be submitted no later than January

12, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time to allow time for a response. Will there be an opportunity to submit additional questions after the pre-proposal conference?

Response: An amendment to the solicitation will be issued that will extend questions and comments to the synopsis to 22 Jan 18.

5. Question: In order to be awarded this contract does the awarding firm have to have all disciplines in house or can they be subbed out?

Response: Offerors DO NOT have to have all disciplines of key personnel in-house.

6. Question: This question relates to Past Performance. Our firm is a small business that has completed several relevant government CPS projects. Similar to a stand-alone CPS project, these projects were CPS for construction of a specific element of a specific government facility, and involved the same firm personnel throughout the project.

However, due to the nature of the small business contracting vehicle involved, and the ceiling amount associated, the government chose to extend our contract over multiple Task Orders to ensure continuity of service and personnel. Would the government consider allowing us to submit these projects as a stand-alone CPS projects?

Response: An IDIQ contract shall not be submitted as an example project. The Government will only evaluate information provided for specific task orders on an IDIQ contract. However, if the offeror believes that the Government should treat related task orders as a single CPS project, because the task orders involve CPS services on a single construction project, the offeror must present a justification explaining why it would be reasonable for the Government to do so. The

Government will then review the justification and treat the set of task orders as a single CPS project if the Government determines that such treatment is reasonable.

7. Question: Please confirm that you would like the Design Quality Control Plan included in Section D, rather than in Section H, of the SF 330.

Response: No, only one management plan is required which is described in paragraph C.1.b.

The reference to a “Quality Management Plan” in paragraph D will be deleted by amendment.

8. Question: Is CPS for horizontal construction projects anticipated under the Small Business or 8(a) procurements?

Response: Yes, horizontal construction projects are anticipated, however not guaranteed.

9. Question: If we do not have a CPARS yet for a government contract in Section F, may we include a PPQ?

Response: Yes, PPQ’s are allowed.

10. Question: Would the government accept a Certified Construction Manager (CCM) certification for the Construction Manager position?

Response: No, a CCM certification will not be accepted in lieu of the PE/RA requirement.

11. The solicitation States “Project examples submitted should be of completed construction projects and shall identify start and completion dates as well as the project size” and then also states further on that “For submittal purposes, an example project can consist of either a single task order on an IDIQ contract, or a stand-alone contract for CPS.” if a Task Order is complete but construction is still ongoing, may that portion of the project (which the Task Order managed) be used as a completed project example?

Response: Yes, if the contract action (task order) is completed and the construction project is still ongoing, the contract action can be submitted as a sample project.

12. Large projects and Programs tend to have long and sometimes interrupted life spans due to funding, logistics, or sequencing; can a completed project phase be used as a project example?

Response: Yes, as long as the completed project phase can demonstrate a firm’s ability to provide construction phase services on a construction project.

13. Due to the nature of large programs which extend for many years and tend to have long close out periods, can a substantially complete project be used as a Section F project example?

Response: Yes, as long as the substantially completed project can demonstrate a firm’s ability to provide construction phase services on a construction project. An amendment will be issued that will allow substantially completed construction projects for example projects.

14. For the required example projects, will you accept 95% (or partially) completed projects? Can we submit completed task orders or completed phases of project as completed “projects”?

Some evaluations won’t be in CPARS yet, so it won’t be “completed”.

Response: See responses to questions 11, 12, & 13 above.

15. Will the pre-proposal conference power point presentation be provided?

Response: Yes. It will be provided for informational purposes only, without the intention of amending or changing the meaning of the language in the solicitation.

16. Given that the contract is a regional contract, requires a lot of Part II A-E qualifications that will not be included from page count. Section D in the synopsis says to provide a quality management plan for the proposed QMP team – is this also part of the page count?

Response: The reference to a Quality Management Plan in paragraph D, this reference was deleted by amendment. The only management plan required for the proposal is described in paragraph C.

17. Is the $1M for SB and 8(a) and $5M for UR for construction phase only?

Response: This was addressed in an earlier amendment(s) to each synopsis, which clarified the requirement that the example project at the minimum threshold needs to be at least 50% CPS.

18. “VA” is not mentioned in the synopsis, but the driving support CPS is for VA vertical and horizontal construction. If this contract is to provide VA work as mentioned, would examples showing VA work score better? Is the VA work relevant under IIS?

Response: For example projects the customer will not be evaluated and/or considered in the specialized experience criteria factor.

19. If you submit VA projects, how is it scored? Is it under IIS?

Response: Example projects will not be given any more or less weight based on the customer.

VA is considered an IIS program.

20. Will consideration be given to those without engineer licenses for key personnel?

Response: Registration requirements for key personnel will not be revised to allow CM certifications in lieu of professional licenses.

21. The company we worked with has only been around for 18 month, so they literally can’t meet the 2 year minimum required in the selection criteria listed in the synopsis. Can we still use them? How can we work around this?

Response: An amendment will be issued to revise this requirement which will state the following. “All submitted resumes shall include overall relevant experience and longevity with the firm (longevity with a firm will be weighted higher).

22. If the Corps uses this tool as described to support work for the VA, how will the Corps meet the intent of the law espoused in the U.S. Supreme Court Decision Kingdomware Technologies, Inc.

v. United States as decided on 16 June 2016, and its intended consideration towards SDVOSB and VOSB socioeconomic concerns?

Response: The United States Supreme Court decision Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States, decided on 16 June 2016, interprets 38 USC section 8127, a statute that applies only to procurements conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Procurements conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are not subject to the requirements of that statute.