DRAFT RFQ.pdf

DRAFT REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS: Provided for Informational Purposes Only. Subject to Change.

Project: Construction of Equipment Concentration Site (ECS) Complex located at Fort Carson, Colorado

Authority: This acquisition will be executed using the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) at 10 U.S.C. § 2808a.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Louisville District plans to solicit and execute a Construction Manager at Risk (CM@Risk) with OTA. This Plan of Action establishes a comprehensive strategy for the design and construction of the ECS complex at Fort Carson, Colorado. The primary objective is to award an initial OTA for Preconstruction Advisory Services to the most highly qualified construction contractor when the design is at approximately 65% completion. The contractor will act as an expert consultant to help the Government and the Designer of Record (DOR) finalize the design to 100%, perform constructability reviews, conduct open-book subcontractor outreach, and establish a validated Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) to be incorporated into the agreement through a bilateral modification for Phase 2 construction execution.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

This acquisition will deliver a consolidated, fully functional ECS complex on an undeveloped 48-acre parcel of land at Fort Carson, CO. This site features a comprehensive range of facilities designed to support the mission of ECS-42, which is responsible for the maintenance and storage of key military assets assigned to 83 regional Army Reserve units.

The operational readiness of this military equipment is essential for both training Army Reserve Soldiers and equipping units from which the Active component will draw upon for critical warfighting capabilities inherent to deployable combat forces.

Core Facilities include:

General Purpose Warehouse (GPW): A 39,313 square-foot (SF) secure, clear-span storage facility designed for the protection and preservation of military equipment.

Area Maintenance Support Activity (AMSA) Shop: A 26,217 SF vehicle maintenance facility featuring advanced vehicle maintenance exhaust systems, overhead cranes, heavy-duty hoists, and specialized tool rooms.

Organizational Storage Building: A 5,000 SF high-bay vertical storage facility.

Container Storage Area: A 4,440-square-yard (SY) reinforced concrete layout for secure tactical container storage.

Supporting Infrastructure & Specialized Systems include:

Heavy Equipment Parking & Site Work: A Military Equipment Parking (MEP) lot featuring extensive heavy-duty concrete pavements designed to withstand high-shear tracked and wheeled tactical vehicle loads, alongside POV parking, security fencing, and utility tie-ins.

Tactical Vehicle Wash Facilities: Two dedicated, high-capacity vehicle wash racks/platforms featuring industrial filtration and water-recycling systems.

Bi-Level Loading Ramp: A reinforced bi-level loading ramp designed to facilitate the rapid loading and unloading of heavy armored vehicles onto transport carriers.

Specialized Foundations: Geotechnical engineering solutions, including deep foundation systems and soil stabilization, to mitigate volatile soil conditions across the 48-acre site.

Fire Protection: Advanced fire detection and suppression systems, including specialized solutions for high-bay maintenance areas and hazardous material storage, compliant with all relevant UFC and NFPA standards.

Cybersecurity: Facility-related control systems will be designed and implemented in accordance with UFC 4-010-06, ensuring the cybersecurity of all networked building systems.

UFC Compliance: The entire facility complex will be designed and constructed to meet all applicable Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC), including AT/FP (Antiterrorism/Force Protection) standards and sustainable design principles as outlined in the Army Sustainable Design and Development Policy.

Agreement Phase 1 Overview: Pre-Construction Services

The selected CM@Risk contractor will act as an expert consultant to the Government, collaborating directly with USACE and the third-party A/E firm (DOR) during active design progression.

Scope: The contractor will perform detailed constructability reviews, evaluate design documents for operability, plan site logistics and sequencing, conduct local subcontractor outreach, and develop a comprehensive, live project schedule in Primavera P6.

Purpose: The purpose of Phase 1 is to mitigate project risk, resolve key technical and scope issues, and align the parties on a common path forward before establishing the final construction price.

Open-Book Costing: The contractor will develop a transparent, open-book cost model. All subcontractor bids, vendor quotes, and labor/equipment rates will be shared openly with USACE.

This pricing will be continuously reconciled against the Government's Independent Government Estimate (IGE) using the MII cost database as the design progresses to 100%.

Early Work Packages (EWPs): If critical long-lead systems (switchgear, transformers, specialized wash racks, or structural steel) must be ordered before the final design is 100% complete, the Agreements Officer may authorize separately funded EWPs or Limited Notices to Proceed. These packages will establish the technical basis, pricing, cancellation exposure, and storage/insurance requirements to secure early fabrication slots without committing the Government to the full construction phase.

The Off-Ramp: The Government is not obligated to move into Phase 2 of the agreement. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement on a fair and reasonable GMP, or if funding is unavailable, the Government retains the right to exercise its "Off-Ramp" provision. In an off-ramp scenario, the Government pays the contractor for all authorized, completed design and preconstruction services performed to date and retains full rights to utilize the design deliverables to complete the project via alternative acquisition methods. Neither party is liable for anticipated profit on unawarded construction work.

Agreement Phase 2 Overview: Construction Services

Scope: Agreement Phase 2 consists of the completion of all physical construction activities required to deliver the fully functional ECS Complex on Fort Carson, Colorado.

Pricing & Negotiation: The price for Agreement Phase 2 is established through the following process that occurs within Agreement Phase 1:

1. Upon sufficient design and pre-construction services in Phase 1, the contractor will submit a formal GMP proposal based on the validated open-book cost model. The GMP is the absolute ceiling for the construction phase.

2. The Agreements Officer will lead formal negotiations to establish a fair and reasonable

GMP.

Award: If the parties successfully negotiate a fair and reasonable price, the Agreements Officer will execute a bilateral modification to the OT Agreement, incorporating the GMP, funding the physical construction, and authorizing the contractor to go "At-Risk" for construction execution where the contractor assumes single-point responsibility for construction means, methods, schedule, and trade coordination. They will furnish the required performance and payment bonds covering the full value of the construction phase upon execution of Phase 2.

Selection Process

To maximize commercial agility and technical innovation, the Government will utilize a two-step, Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) process under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 2808a. Price is not evaluated during the initial selection steps; instead, a fair and reasonable price for Agreement Phase 1 is negotiated exclusively with the most highly qualified firm.

Request for Statement of Qualifications

This initial phase serves as a rapid, credentials-focused down-select to identify a short list of the most credible and experienced Builders.

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be solicited publicly for approximately four (4) weeks on SAM.Gov via the PIEE Solicitation Module, allowing all responsible sources to submit responses. In addition, the Deputy for Small Business will provide this opportunity to non-traditional federal contractors, with a link to the SAM.Gov announcement. Draft articles may be included with the RFQ, in addition to the existing design.

To reduce industry submission burdens, submissions are limited to a format of 10 pages or less (excluding the surety letter, Contractor Performance Assessment Ratings - CPARS, PPQs, Letters of Recommendation). Submissions are evaluated against the criteria in Section 6.1. The Government intends to short list and invite a target of three (3) of the highest-qualified firms to Step 2 – Pitch Presentations.

Initial Evaluation and Down Select (Pitch Meeting Invites)

The government evaluation team will evaluate the qualification packages and advise the Agreements Officer on which firms should be invited to a Pitch Meeting.

The Agreements Officer will determine which firms demonstrate the highest potential in their qualifications package and invite a target of three (3) of the highest qualified firms to participate in Pitch Presentations/Meetings.

Pitch Presentations

This step is the cornerstone of the evaluation, moving beyond a paper-based assessment to a direct evaluation of the team's expertise, problem-solving abilities, and collaborative chemistry. A target of three (3) of the highest qualified firms will be invited to individual, confidential pitch presentation meetings. Pitch presentation meetings will be held shortly after qualifications packages are due. The pitch presentation meetings will serve as the final competitive evaluation step.

Each pitch presentation is expected to last a maximum of three and a half (3.5) hours. Firms will have 60 minutes to deliver an oral presentation about why they believe they are the best qualified firm to deliver the project. After 60 minutes, a panel of government reviewers will use the remaining time to ask questions about the qualifications package, presentation, and the firm’s capabilities. The firm may be asked to respond to hypothetical scenarios and potential innovative solutions to address the compressed timeframes of the customer. The Pitch Meetings are intended to be conversational, rather than a strict question and answer session.

Government reviewers will not disclose the identity of other firms, nor the contents of other firms’ qualifications packages/pitch presentations. However, if pitch presentation discussions result in changes to project requirements, all firms will be notified of the changes and given an opportunity to respond.

Based upon the evaluation of the pitch presentations, the Government will select one firm to enter negotiations with for the Articles and Agreement Phase 1 pricing.

Negotiation with the Most Highly Qualified Offeror & Award

The single, most highly qualified firm will be selected to enter exclusive negotiations. The AO will request a detailed price proposal for Phase I (pre-construction services) and negotiate the final design fee and Agreement Articles using an IGE as a benchmark. Either party may suggest changes to the draft articles. Upon agreement, the AO executes Phase I OTA. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, USACE reserves the right to discontinue negotiations and take any action determined to be in the Government’s best interest, including entering negotiations with another firm, revising the acquisition approach, or canceling the Request for Qualifications.

Requirements for Qualification Packages

The Government will evaluate the written RFQ submissions to identify a shortlist of a target of three (3) most highly qualified offerors to advance to the pitch presentation phase. The following factors, listed in relative order of importance, will be evaluated:

Factor 1: Corporate Experience & Relevance:

Requirement: Demonstrated corporate experience as a Prime Contractor completed within the last ten (10) years. To ensure a comprehensive, streamlined team evaluation, offerors are required to submit a maximum of three (3) projects for the Prime Contractor.

Standard: The offeror should demonstrate successful construction execution of complex heavy-industrial, vehicle maintenance, or logistics/warehousing facilities utilizing collaborative delivery methods (CM@Risk, Progressive Design-Build, etc.). To fully capture and evaluate past performance quality, offerors must submit recent performance evaluations (CPARS evaluations, Past Performance Questionnaires [PPQs], Letters of Recommendation, and/or direct evidence from the end user of the quality of performance for each of the projects submitted), with higher consideration given to firms demonstrating a consistent record of high-performance ratings.

Factor 2: Technical Merit Narrative:

Requirement: A written technical approach demonstrating how the firm will execute the specialized requirements of the Fort Carson ECS.

Standard: The narrative should provide a highly credible, realistic understanding of:

1. Target Value Design (TVD) integration and open-book cost reconciliation.

2. Lean Construction and scheduling to prevent trade stacking on-site.

3. Off-site industrial prefabrication and modularization strategies to mitigate regional labor shortages.

4. Civil site logistics, mass grading, utility tie-ins, soil stabilization (specifically targeting expansive Front Range clays), and weather-risk management for heavy high-shear concrete paving across the 48-acre parcel.

5. Executing seamless coordination within a secure, active installation, including access control, badging and gate logistics, heavy haul route deconfliction, Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) posture compliance, and zero-disruption protocols for ongoing Fort Carson tenant missions and military convoy movements.

Other mandatory requirements:

Bonding and Financial Capacity:

Requirement: Verifiable evidence of financial stability and the required bonding capacity to execute the project.