Building Automation System Upgrades

This amendment is hereby issued to extend the proposal due date to May 21, 2015, at 4:00PM, Central Standard Time. In addition, please note that answers to all submitted questions will be posted on or about May 6, 2015. This amendment is also issued to incorporate FAR clause 52-225-9 Buy American Act-Construction Materials into the Solicitation.

Buy American Act-Construction Materials (SEP 2010)
(a) Definitions. As used in this clause-
Commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item-(1) Means any item of supply (including construction material) that is-
(i) A commercial item (as defined in paragraph (1) of the definition at FAR 2.101);
(ii) Sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace; and
(iii) Offered to the Government, under a contract or subcontract at any tier, without modification, in the same form in which it is sold in the commercial marketplace; and
(2) Does not include bulk cargo, as defined in section 3 of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1702), such as agricultural products and petroleum products.
Construction material means an article, material, or supply brought to the construction site by the Contractor or a subcontractor for incorporation into the building or work. The term also includes an item brought to the site preassembled from articles, materials, or supplies. However, emergency life safety systems, such as emergency lighting, fire alarm, and audio evacuation systems, that are discrete systems incorporated into a public building or work and that are produced as complete systems, are evaluated as a single and distinct construction material regardless of when or how the individual parts or components of those systems are delivered to the construction site. Materials purchased directly by the Government are supplies, not construction material.
Cost of components means-
(1) For components purchased by the Contractor, the acquisition cost, including transportation costs to the place of incorporation into the construction material (whether or not such costs are paid to a domestic firm), and any applicable duty (whether or not a duty-free entry certificate is issued); or
(2) For components manufactured by the Contractor, all costs associated with the manufacture of the component, including transportation costs as described in paragraph (1) of this definition, plus allocable overhead costs, but excluding profit. Cost of components does not include any costs associated with the manufacture of the construction material.
Domestic construction material means-
(1) An unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in the United States;
(2) A construction material manufactured in the United States, if-
(i) The cost of its components mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States exceeds 50 percent of the cost of all its components. Components of foreign origin of the same class or kind for which nonavailability determinations have been made are treated as domestic; or
(ii) The construction material is a COTS item.
Foreign construction material means a construction material other than a domestic construction material.
United States means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and outlying areas.
(b) Domestic preference. (1) This clause implements the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a-10d) by providing a preference for domestic construction material. In accordance with 41 U.S.C. 431, the component test of the Buy American Act is waived for construction material that is a COTS item (See FAR 12.505(a)(2)). The Contractor shall use only domestic construction material in performing this contract, except as provided in paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3) of this clause.
(2) This requirement does not apply to information technology that is a commercial item or to the construction materials or components listed by the Government as follows:
(3) The Contracting Officer may add other foreign construction material to the list in paragraph (b)(2) of this clause if the Government determines that-
(i) The cost of domestic construction material would be unreasonable. The cost of a particular domestic construction material subject to the requirements of the Buy American Act is unreasonable when the cost of such material exceeds the cost of foreign material by more than 6 percent;
(ii) The application of the restriction of the Buy American Act to a particular construction material would be impracticable or inconsistent with the public interest; or
(iii) The construction material is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities of a satisfactory quality.
(c) Request for determination of inapplicability of the Buy American Act. (1)(i) Any Contractor request to use foreign construction material in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of this clause shall include adequate information for Government evaluation of the request, including-
(A) A description of the foreign and domestic construction materials;
(B) Unit of measure;
(C) Quantity;
(D) Price;
(E) Time of delivery or availability;
(F) Location of the construction project;
(G) Name and address of the proposed supplier; and
(H) A detailed justification of the reason for use of foreign construction materials cited in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of this clause.
(ii) A request based on unreasonable cost shall include a reasonable survey of the market and a completed price comparison table in the format in paragraph (d) of this clause.
(iii) The price of construction material shall include all delivery costs to the construction site and any applicable duty (whether or not a duty-free certificate may be issued).
(iv) Any Contractor request for a determination submitted after contract award shall explain why the Contractor could not reasonably foresee the need for such determination and could not have requested the determination before contract award. If the Contractor does not submit a satisfactory explanation, the Contracting Officer need not make a determination.
(2) If the Government determines after contract award that an exception to the Buy American Act applies and the Contracting Officer and the Contractor negotiate adequate consideration, the Contracting Officer will modify the contract to allow use of the foreign construction material. However, when the basis for the exception is the unreasonable price of a domestic construction material, adequate consideration is not less than the differential established in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this clause.
(3) Unless the Government determines that an exception to the Buy American Act applies, use of foreign construction material is noncompliant with the Buy American Act or Balance of Payments Program.
(d) Data. To permit evaluation of requests under paragraph (c) of this clause based on unreasonable cost, the Contractor shall include the following information and any applicable supporting data based on the survey of suppliers:
Foreign and Domestic Construction Materials Price Comparison
Construction material description
Unit of measure Quantity Price (dollars) 1
Include all delivery costs to the construction site and any applicable duty (whether or not a duty-free entry certificate is issued).
List name, address, telephone number, and contact for suppliers surveyed. Attach copy of response; if oral, attach summary.
Include other applicable supporting information.
Item 1
Foreign construction material
Domestic construction material
Item 2
Foreign construction material
Domestic construction material
(End of clause)

As of April 20th, 2015, the drawing package for this project may be requested in CD form. In order to receive a copy of the CD, SAM registration should be active. ID must be presented at time of pickup. Please send requests to Patricia Dalinis at patricia.dalinis@gsa.gov, or Shantá Cardiel at shanta.cardiel@gsa.gov.

The General Services Administration (GSA), Great Lakes Region, Acquisition Management Division (AMD) is issuing this synopsis for the updating of the Building Automation System at the United States Federal Courthouse, located at 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, MN. This procurement will be available, full and open, to all businesses regardless of size. The estimated cost is between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000. The NAICS code is 238210, Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors. The Small Business Size Standard is $15 Million.

For general reference, the scope of this project requires the contractor to furnish all labor, equipment, tools, materials, and supervision necessary for the upgrade and replacement of the existing Building Automation System, including the network backbone and controls for the heating/cooling systems, as indicated in the specification. The duration of the contract is 310 calendar days from Notice to Proceed to Final Completion.

It is the Government's intent to award a contract to the responsible offeror whose proposal conforms to the solicitation and provides the best value to the Government based on the following evaluation factors: Price and Technical Evaluation Factors, which consist of Past Performance, Past Experience, and Qualifications of Key Personnel. The Solicitation will be released on or about April 6th, 2015, with a proposal due date on or about May 6th, 2015. A pre-proposal site visit will be scheduled within two weeks of the issuance of the solicitation. The entire scope of work, inclusive of drawings and technical documents will be available through Federal Business Opportunities. Interested parties are responsible for printing the Solicitation and all related documents. It is also the interested parties' responsibility to monitor this site for release of the Solicitation, amendments and any other related information.

All contractors must be active in SAM, www.sam.gov, to be considered for award.

For any questions related to this synopsis, please contact the Contract Specialist, Patricia Dalinis, at 312-353-4771 or patricia.dalinis@gsa.gov or Contracting Officer, Shantá Cardiel, at 312-353-7242 or shanta.cardiel@gsa.gov.