A&E Coastal Construction/Building

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION FOR ACQUISITIONS NOT EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD
Joint Field Office - DR-4395-HI
(Per 41 U.S.C. 1901)

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.106-1(b)(1), 13.501 (a)(1)(ii), and FAR 6.302-1, I hereby determine that the Architect and Engineering (A & E) course on the Coastal Construction Manual (CCM) in support of DR-4395-HI is available from only one source, and competition is precluded for the reasons indicated below. There are no substitutes available.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity. The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region IX, Disaster Declaration DR-4395-HI proposes to award contract on a basis other than full and open competition.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved.
(a) Type of action: Firm-fixed price contract
(b) Amount: $53,353.20
(c) Type of funding: Disaster Relief Fund
(d) Year of funding: FY2019; and
(e) Other brief description: FEMA intends to award a contract to procure on a sole source basis A & E training on Costal Construction to be delivered December 3-7, 2018. The intent of the A & E CCM training is designed to reinforce permitted construction through application of model building codes for the state of Hawaii. Hazard Mitigation Branch proposes a 2 day class curriculum delivered by an A & E Professional using Coast Construction techniques including flood, wind, and earthquake consistent with the provision of the 2018 International Building Codes. The target audience is state and local government officials responsible for building permitting and inspection, state and local government engineers and, state and local government architects.

3. Description of Supplies/Services. The intent of the A & E CCM training is designed to reinforce permitted construction through application of model building codes for the state of Hawaii. Hazard Mitigation Branch proposes a 2 day class curriculum delivered by an A & E Professional using Coast Construction techniques including flood, wind, and earthquake consistent with the provision of the 2018 International Building Codes. The target audience is state and local government officials responsible for building permitting and inspection, state and local government engineers and, state and local government architects.

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304 (a)(1) implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.302-1 entitled "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements."

5. Demonstration that the Nature of the Acquisition Require Use of the Authority Cited. FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) approval to teach this course and specialization in coast construction techniques. Only this suggested source can furnish the requirements, to the exclusion of other sources, because of the EMI approval requirement and specialized knowledge in coastal construction. Course materials and training must be compatible with Emergency Management Institutes' L-386 Residential Coastal Construction curriculum and tailored to Hawaii's International Building Codes (IBC) required that building and construction and/or rehabilitation services be performed by, or approved by a registered or licensed architect or professional engineer or licensed general contractor.
Mr. Jones performs as a FEMA contractor for Building Sciences, a Branch of the FEMA Mitigation Directorate, FEMA HQ, and has been deployed as an instructor for this and other related Building Science field designed courses. He has served on numerous Mitigation Assessment Team deployments for analysis and reports on structural performance in the post disaster environment and, is considered a subject matter expert for coastal engineering, flood resistant design, and is a regular contributor to the International Code Council, and ASCE publications referencing coastal construction, and VE Zone mapping and modeling, and is often sought for coastal project collaboration and advice.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable. FEMA posted a Request for Information (RFI) to FedBizOpps (FBO) on October 26, 2018 with responses due on November 1, 2018. Only one (1) response was received - from Mr. Jones. FEMA has made this justification publically available pursuant to FAR 6.305 on FedBizOpps.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable. The contracting officer has determined that pricing for these services to be fair and reasonable based on: the previous purchase order, 70FBR918P00000134, that was awarded for this work in FY2018 that had to be cancelled.

8. Description of Market Research. Since the class required has to conform to the standards set by FEMA Emergency Management Institute, EMI was contacted for a list of potential sources that could perform. A list of six (6) instructors in addition to Mr. Jones was provided by EMI. All were queried in SAM.gov, and only Mr. Jones was registered.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition. The Contracting Officer finds it to be in the best interest of the Government to issue an award to Mr. Chris Jones in order to provide the required training to Hawaii state and local government officials responsible for building permitting and inspection, state and local government engineers and, state and local government architects. This is training that FEMA has been trying to bring to this training to Hawaii for several years and due to the multiple recent disaster declarations in the state the need for the training has grown. Being able to provide this training at this time is imperative to the success of mitigating the need for future disaster response in relations to coastal construction.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition. Chris Jones, was the only source to respond to the RFI.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required. Additional training resources will be encouraged to register with Sam.gov.

A copy of the solicitation can be requested by vendors who think they may be able to perform, please see attached Statement of Work.

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