Worldwide AE Design IDIQ - Pre-Solicitation Synopsis_Final.pdf

FY24 Worldwide AE Design IDIQ – Pre-Solicitation Synopsis

This is a Pre-Solicitation Notice – interested companies do NOT need to submit any documentation at this time. The solicitation for qualification packages will be posted on

SAM.gov at a later date, please see below for further information.

The U.S. Department of State (DOS), Office of the Procurement Executive (OPE) on behalf of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), has a requirement for professional, licensed architectural/engineering (A/E) firms (prime or joint venture) to provide architectural and engineering services for planning and design of new construction, facility renovation, rehabilitation, restoration, system replacement, physical and technical security upgrade, and building maintenance projects and programs at various U.S. diplomatic and foreign service posts worldwide, as well as domestic OBO offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

The procurement may be set-aside, in some capacity, for small businesses.

The professional design services shall include, but are not limited to the following:

architecture, historic preservation, landscape architecture, long range planning, master planning, conceptual, schematic and preliminary designs, design development, construction documents, specifications, interior design & space planning, furniture specification, site utilization studies, cost estimating, budget assessment, as well as life-cycle analysis, quality assurance reviews of the work of other A/E firms, research and development studies, value engineering studies or reviews, graphic design and signage, food service design, scheduling, engineering support services, electrical, mechanical, fire protection, structural (including blast/seismic), civil/geotechnical engineering, environmental and sustainable design, facility management, project management, and construction phase services and claims analysis services.

The firms shall coordinate U.S. Government’s requirements and the applicable laws, codes, and standards at the overseas project sites. The A/E firms will likely be required to sub-contract to local A/E firm(s) for each task order to complete due diligence, pre-planning activities and/or obtain local design approvals. Knowledge and experience in the preparation of planning, design and construction documents employing alternative delivery methods (e.g.

design-build with bridging, design-build, and design-bid-build, etc.) shall be required.

Award selection process/stages:

The upcoming solicitation will consist of three (3) stages using the Brooks Act, also known as the Selection of Architects and Engineers statute source selection, (FAR 36.6) as follows:

In the first stage, Stage 1 – Pre-qualification, prospective offerors are required to submit portfolios of qualifications that establish their design and leadership capabilities of the Lead

Team and the key discipline core team members that would be responsible for the execution of project task orders under this A/E design services contract. Offeror submissions will be evaluated and point-scored by a Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) based on criteria provided in the Stage 1 announcement. Offerors will be ranked, and a short-list of the most highly rated companies will be issued. Companies listed on the short list will be eligible for participation in

Stage 2.

Firms must also be determined eligible as "United States Person" offerors, as defined in the

Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986, in order to be considered for the next stage of the solicitation. Please note, the Stage 1 announcement will provide offerors the required Omnibus paperwork to complete and submit with their Stage 1 submission(s).

In, Stage 2 – Short List, the short-list of qualified offerors will assemble their technical teams and submit detailed information as to their proposed team, management plan, and past performance on construction documents and relevant submittals. Stage 2 submissions will be reviewed by the TEP. The short-listed offerors may also be required to make presentations to the TEP. The TEP will make a determination of the most highly qualified offerors consistent with the announced evaluation criteria and will recommend the most highly qualified offerors for selection to participate in Stage 3.

In the last stage, Stage 3 – Request for Proposal (RFP), the most highly qualified offerors as determined in Stage 2 will be issued a formal RFP to submit a pricing proposal. The price proposal will be reviewed by the Contracting Officer for fair and reasonable pricing and compliance with the RFP. At the conclusion of successful negotiations and pending facility clearance confirmation the resultant contract award(s) will be made.

Facility Clearance Requirement:

In order to be eligible for award, the successful offeror(s) must possess, or be eligible to obtain, a Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Secret Facility Clearance (FCL), with Secret safeguarding capability, issued in accordance with the National Industrial Security

Program Operating Manual, DOD 5220.22-M. Additionally, the successful offeror selected for contract award must possess, or immediately obtain an Information System (IS) or standalone computer, approved by DSS, for processing classified information. Performance on the contract will require access to the Department’s ProjNet-C, for receipt and transmission of all classified information, and a DCSA-approved classified IS for processing classified information.

If an uncleared offeror from the Stage 2 short-list is recommended for selection, the

Department of State will sponsor the uncleared firm for an FCL. Firms which form joint ventures must also comply with the above FCL requirements. Sponsorship does not guarantee that the firm will receive the clearance.

Foreign firms are not eligible for FCLs. Only U.S. firms organized and operating in the U.S. or

Puerto Rico, or a U.S. possession or trusted territory, are eligible for facility clearances. U.S.

firms which are determined to be under Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) are not eligible for an FCL unless actions (as directed and approved by DCSA) can be taken to effectively negate or reduce associated FOCI risks to an acceptable level.

Estimated schedule:

The solicitation, Stage 1 – Pre-qualification, is planned for release on SAM.gov in December

2023/January 2024.