Responses_to_questions_(2)_to_Synopsis_W912P718R0005.pdf

W912P718R0005

Questions

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

Construction Projects

1. Question: With the legal authority (10 U.S.C. 2323) that established the HBCU goal expiring on September 30, 2009 and the publishing of an interim rule in the Federal Register at 79 FR 61579 on October 14, 2014, that deleted those DFARS sections that were based on 10 U.S.C. 2323, are contractors still required to meet the 5% HBCU/MI goal as stated or will a good faith effort to incorporate HBCUs and MIs in contract performance be the required standard?

Response: An amendment to the solicitation will be issued that will delete the HBCU goal and revise the other SB goals.

2. Question: In reference to Criteria 2. Professional Qualifications, there is a set number of resumes that the government is looking for in our submission. If we were to submit a resume for a Program Manager would that resume be evaluated? Would the resume be counted against us?

Response: Submitting a resume for a Program Manager would not help or hurt the firm in their proposal submittal evaluation. There is no selection criteria that could be used in evaluating a PM’s resume.

3. Question: If we have a previously submitted (completed) PPQ for another proposal, can we submit that PPQ for this solicitation?

Response: There is nothing in the synopsis that would prohibit a previously submitted PPQ, however if it’s not relevant to CPS or if it’s not current it might not be considered.

4. Question: Are Part IIs and CPARS evaluations excluded from the SF 330 total count of 50 single pages? The Solicitation specifically excludes resumes, past performance questionnaires, and dividing pages.

Response: Part II and CPARS evaluations are NOT included in the 50 single page limit.

5. Question: A management plan is referenced three times in the solicitation. Criterion 1b requires:

“The management plan shall be presented in Section H and may reference Sections C and D.”

Immediately following this reference, “An organizational chart for the team with a discussion of the management plan for this contract and personnel roles in the organization (either Section D or H).” Paragraph D, Submission Requirements, requires: “In Section D of the SF 330, provide the quality management plan and organization chart for the proposed team.” Do you require two plans, a management plan and a quality management plan? Where should the plan or plans be presented in our SF 330 response, in Section D or Section H?

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.

6. Question: Many of the services listed in Paragraph B, Project Information, are traditional AE activities. To meet the "total cost of CPS only contract" requirement of project size stated in Criterion 1a, please confirm that the Government will accept the AE services task order total cost (which includes Construction Phase Services) as the project size?

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 $5,000,000.00 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.

7. RFP C.2, Key Personnel - Given that this contract is for construction phase services, can a CCM certification be used in leu of the PE or RA qualification for the Project Engineers/Construction Managers positions?

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

8. RFP C.2, Key Personnel - The Building Systems Commissioning Agent/Engineer personnel are required to be an AABC member. Please confirm that AABC is the AABC Commissioning Group

(ACG).

Response: The Building Systems Commissioning Agent/Engineer needs to be certified by the AABC Commissioning Group (ACG). An amendment will be issued to correct the certification reference.

9. RFP C.4, Past Performance - The RFP states that “…PPQ may be used to provide or supplement a firm’s past performance with other than U.S. Governmental clients.”

If our client has a standing policy stating that they will not fill out PPQs, but are willing to provide USACE with a verbal evaluation, will this be acceptable to the Government?

Response: NO, the government will not be accepting any verbal evaluations.

10. RFP D, Submission Requirements - Will the Government accept a font size smaller than 12 pt for Section E resumes and Section F example projects?

Response: NO, the only font size acceptable for this proposal submittal is font size 12 in either Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier.

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?

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.