C1DZ--Construct Addition & Renovations to Joint Ambulatory Care Center Design (Minor) - Pensacola, FL (Project #520-331)

The purpose of this mod to previous pre-sol is to provide a response to a technical question received regarding the NAICS code for this project. This response is being posted now due to the impact this could have on SF 330 submissions. Questions for this Pre-Solicitation Notice are still being accepted and another mod will be posted with all other responses after the deadline for question submission has passed.

Question:

In our experience, while architecture is integral to the referenced solicitation, the majority of work (>50%) will be engineering related. As such, the appropriate NAICS code for this project should be 541330, Engineering Design Services (small business size standard of $16.5M). Another advantage is that with the higher small business size standard, there will be more competition, and thus better value to the government.

We are requesting that you change the NAICS code to 541330.

VA Response:

The VA has carefully considered this request and determined it to be appropriate for the NAICS code to be changed to 541330 for this project.

PRESOLICITATION NOTICE

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR STANDARD FORM (SF) 330 ARCHITECT-ENGINEER QUALIFICATIONS PACKAGES ONLY. ALL INFORMATION NEEDED TO SUBMIT SF 330 DOCUMENTS IS CONTAINED HEREIN. NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE, TECHNICAL INFORMATION, OR BIDDER/PLAN HOLDER LIST WILL BE ISSUED. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT PAY FOR, NOR REIMBURSE, ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPONDING TO THIS REQUEST. THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Program Contracting Activity Central (PCAC) is seeking sources and intends to award a firm-fixed price design contract for Architect-Engineering (A-E) services for the Project #520-331 Construct Addition And Renovations To Joint Ambulatory Care Center in Pensacola, Florida minor design located at the Pensacola VA Clinic, 790 Veterans Way, Pensacola, Florida. The A-E shall provide investigative and feasibility design services, schematic design drawings, design development drawings, construction documents, bid documents, specifications, calculations, cost estimates, narratives, solicitation support services, and construction period services.

The A-E Services contract that is anticipated to be awarded will be procured in accordance with the Selection of Architects and Engineers Statute [formerly known as the Brooks Architect Engineer Act], Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 36.6 Architectural and Engineering Services, VA Acquisition Regulation 836.6, and VA Acquisition Manual M836.6 Architect-Engineer Services. In accordance with FAR 36.209, Construction Contracts with Architect-Engineer Firms, no contract for the construction of a project shall be awarded to the firm that designed the project or its subsidiaries or affiliates, except with the approval of the head of the agency or authorized representative.

2. PROJECT INFORMATION

This project is a 100% Set-Aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Concerns. The NAICS Code for this procurement is 541310 Architectural Services and the annual small business size standard is $8M. A full design team is required to complete this project. The projected award date for the anticipated A-E contract is on or before September 30, 2021.

The anticipated period of performance for completion of design is 365 calendar days after notice of award. The VAAR Magnitude of Construction for this project is between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000.

3. SCOPE OF DESIGN

A/E and related professional services shall include all consulting and support work required for programming, planning, design, production of construction documents and specifications, and construction period services required to add approximately 25,500 square feet of new floor space to the facility. The new square footage is to be added to the second floor over top of existing first floor space. (Note: The existing structural system was designed to accommodate this additional square footage). The new square footage will support Phlebotomy and Laboratory Services (approx. 7,200 square feet), Infusion Clinic (approx. 3,800 square feet), and Various Administrative Support Services (approx. 14,500 square feet). In addition, approximately 4,000 square feet of existing space will be renovated on the first floor to support Logistics and Engineering Services. A 65,000 SF (approx.) parking lot expansion will be included as part of the project.

The A-E shall be professionally licensed in any state in the United States. The A-E is responsible for all services to complete the deliverables listed in the A-E Statement of Work (SOW) (Final SOW - Pensacola JACC Minor Design). The deliverables outlined in the SOW are inclusive of the following: Schematic Design (25%), Design Development (50%), Construction Documents (75%), Final Design Documents (100%), Solicitation Support Services, and Construction Period Services.

Please note that the 365-calendar-day period of performance for the design completion begins with the issuance of the Notice of Award (NOA) and that a Notice of Proceed (NTP) will not be issued for the completion of a design project. The construction period services will be option items that will be exercised after the award of the construction project. The period of performance for construction period services will match the period of performance for the construction project.

4. A-E SELECTION PROCESS

Firms submitting SF 330s in response to this announcement, not later than the closing date and time specified herein and in accordance with submission requirements, will be considered for initial selection evaluation. The selection process will be made using a two-phase process. Phase I consists of the initial evaluation of the provided SF 330s and determination of the highest rated firms. A minimum of three of the highest rated firms will then be short listed and invited to continue with Phase II of the process. All firms not short listed will be notified at this time. Phase II consists of interview presentations for the short-listed firms and selection of the top ranked firm to receive the solicitation and conduct negotiations. The firms selected for the interview presentations will be notified by email of selection and provided further instructions as well as all the evaluation criteria requirements. After the interview presentations are concluded, the firms will be evaluated and the highest rated firm will be selected and sent the solicitation, and negotiations will follow. A site visit will be authorized for the highest rated firm during the negotiation process. Award selection will be made based on the results of the interview presentations and successful negotiation of rates and fees for the project, and not the SF 330 qualifications from Phase I. If negotiations are not successful with the highest rated firm, they will continue with the next highest rated firm, and so on until award can be made.

Please note that during the evaluation of the interview presentations, the prior evaluation of the SF 330s will not be taken into consideration as they shall be considered separate evaluations.

5. PHASE I SF 330 SELECTION CRITERIA

The following are listed in descending order of importance:

Primary Selection Criteria:

Professional Qualifications: Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of required service. The design firm and A-E on staff representing the project or signing drawings in each discipline must be licensed to practice in any one of the United States of America. Provide Professional License numbers and/or proof of Licensure. The evaluation shall consider the specific experience and qualifications (i.e., education, training, registration, certifications, overall relevant experience, and longevity with the firm as full time employees) of personnel assigned to key positions proposed for assignment to the project, and their record of working together as a team when evaluating the firm s professional qualifications.

Key positions include Project Manager(s), Quality Assurance, and technical staff that are important to the successful outcome of the project. A complex multi-disciplined project may have many key technical staff, including Architects, Civil Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Environmental Engineers, Fire Protection Engineers, Interior Designers, Mechanical Engineers, Structural Engineers, and Surveyors. The lead key personnel in each discipline must be registered professionals but do not have to be registered in the particular state where the project is located.

Offer must include the following statement of SDVOSB compliance when submitting the personnel proposed to perform the work under this requirement: I [signatory authority] ___________________, [company] __________________ certify that the team proposed to perform under this requirement demonstrates the capability of 50% SDVOSB performance in compliance of 48 CFR 852.219-10.

The information provided in sections C through E of SF 330 will be used to evaluate this evaluation factor. Do not include this information in section H, unless it is pertinent to support the information listed in the other sections.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience and technical competence in the design of and construction period services for specialized building types requiring physical security measures. Any provided past performance information on projects should include relevant work with Hospitals, Large Medical Clinics, Civil, Architectural, Mechanical, Structural, Electrical, and physical security upgrades/installation.

Include no more than six Government and/or private projects that demonstrate relevant experience with projects that are similar in size, scope, and complexity, as stated above. The evaluation will consider the management approach, coordination of disciplines and subcontractors, quality control procedures, prior experience of the prime firm and any key subcontractors working together on relevant projects, and familiarity with VA Design Guides/Manuals, Master Specifications, and other applicable standards.

The information provided in sections F and G of SF 330 will be used to rate this evaluation factor. Do not include this information in section H, unless it is pertinent to support the information listed in the other sections.

Capacity: Capacity to accomplish work in the required time. The evaluation will consider the firm s ability to meet the schedule of the overall project, as well as the available capacity of key disciplines to perform the work in the required time. Provide the available capacity of key disciplines by providing current project workload, inclusive of all projects awarded by the VA during the previous 12 months and the full potential value of any current indefinite delivery contracts.

The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF 330. Please ensure the capacity applies toward the team/personnel provided in the SF 330.

Past Performance: Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and/or private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. The past performance will be evaluated for all projects provided in section F to include a review of Contractor Performance Assessment Rating System (CPARS). The following information is required for all projects noted in section F: Contract/task order number, project title, prime firm, start date, and completion date. Evaluations may also include additional performance-related information from the firm, customer inquiries, Government databases, publicly available sources, and additional projects in CPARS.

Evaluations will consider superior performance ratings on recently completed VA projects as well as the reputation and standing of the firm and its principal officials with respect to professional performance, general management, and cooperativeness. Also, consider, as appropriate, the record of significant claims against the firm because of improper or incomplete architectural and engineering services. Failure to provide requested data, accessible points of contact, or valid phone numbers could result in a firm being considered less qualified. All projects provided in the SF 330 must be completed by the office/branch/individual team member performing the work under this contract.

The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF 330. If there is no CPARS data available, Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) will be accepted. Please utilize the attached PPQ document. *PPQs should not be submitted by the evaluator to VHA PCAC directly. Completed PPQs must be incorporated into the SF 330 submission. The PPQs will be counted toward the page limitation for this submission.

Locality: Knowledge of the locality, to include specific knowledge of certain local conditions or project site features, such as geological features, climatic conditions, local construction methods, or local laws and regulations.

The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF 330. Note that the intent of this factor is to showcase a firm s understanding of the site and locality, and not where the firm is located and how they would travel to the site. Information related to the firm s location shall be provided in section H, under Secondary Selection Criteria Factor 1 - Geographic Location.

Construction Period Services: Experience in construction period services to include the ability to provide a local (in-house or consultant) professional project representative for the duration of the construction period; review of construction submittals; support in answering requests for information (RFIs) during the construction period; support of construction contract changes, including drafting statements of work and cost estimates; physical attendance at monthly site meetings, inspections, and other meetings with deliverables as outlined in the Scope of Work; providing minutes of meetings between the A-E, VA, and contractors; generation of punch-list reports; and production of as-built documentation.

The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF 330.

Secondary Selection Criteria:

Geographic Location: Location of the firm, as measured by the driving distance (miles) between the Offeror s principal business location and the Pensacola VA Clinic, 790 Veterans Way, Pensacola, FL 52507. Determination of the mileage will be based on Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/).

*The secondary selection criterions are used as a tie-breaker, if necessary, in ranking the most highly qualified firms following the completion of the SF 330 evaluations. The secondary selection criterion will not be applied when determining a firm s SF 330 submission Excellent, Acceptable, Good, Marginal, or Unacceptable.

The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF 330.

6. PHASE II INTERVIEW PRESENTATIONS SELECTION CRITERIA

In accordance with FAR 36.602-3(c), discussions will be conducted in the form of interview presentations. The selected firms will be invited to present their qualifications via teleconference to the A-E Technical Evaluation Board. The instructions for interview presentations will be provided to the highest rated, selected firms only. Each selected firm will be evaluated based on their responses to the evaluation criteria during their interview presentation. The top-rated firm will be selected based on their rating from the interview presentations. The previous ratings from the SF 330 evaluations are not applicable during Phase II.

Below are the evaluation factors for the interview presentations. All factors listed are of equal importance.

Team Proposed for this Project: Provide an organizational chart of the team and discuss the roles of the key personnel for this project. If possible, include the assigned key personnel in the interview presentations.

Proposed Management Plan: Address design phase quality control and plan, and construction phase quality control and plan. Explain techniques planned to control estimated cost, project schedule, quality of deliverables, and solutions for anticipated problems. Discuss constructability review process and identify specific personnel performing constructability review for all disciplines, and their qualifications and methods for managing RFIs and submittals in a timely fashion.

Approach to Project Challenges: Discuss approach to overcome geographical obstacles considering the amount of site visits needed for this specific project (address both design phase site visits as well as approach for Construction Period Services). Discuss ability, familiarization, or experience with VA design guides and directives and their interpretations and application to this design. Describe plans with this project to ensure VA requirements are kept current, and specified equipment will be approved by the VA.

Proposed Approach to Design Development: Discuss plan to ensure specifications and drawings are complete, accurate, all inclusive, and in coordination with each other. Discuss approach to evaluate existing site conditions and coordination with All Engineering Disciplines.

Approach for Physical Security: Provide your firm s approach to physical security design of a mission-critical building, such as a government building, with examples. Provide examples of situations that had to be overcome to satisfy the design obligation and meet the needs of the facility.

Expectations for VA A-E Collaboration: Discuss what expectations the A-E firm would have from the VA for this project. Describe strategy for collaboration meetings throughout each phase (including Construction Period Services) and their significance to the overall end-product.

7. SUBMISSION CRITERIA/REQUIREMENTS

The below information contains the instructions and format that shall be followed for the submission of the SF 330 Statement of Qualifications:

Submit ONE (1) SF 330 Statement of Qualifications via email to Kara A. Evert at kara.evert@va.gov. This shall include Parts I and II and any applicable attachments.

The SF 330 submission is due by 2:00 PM ET ON JULY 6, 2021.

The SF 330 shall be submitted in one email and have a file size no larger than 5 MB. No hard copies will be accepted.

The subject line of the email shall read: SF 330 Submission; 36C77621R0130 Construct Addition and Renovations to Pensacola Joint Ambulatory Care Center

The submission must include the SF 330, Architect-Engineer Qualifications (form is available online at http://www.cfm.va.gov/contract/ae.asp).

The SF 330 submission shall not exceed a total of FIFTY (50) pages. This includes CPARS and/or PPQs and any other relevant information. Any pages submitted by an offeror that exceed the limit will not be considered during the evaluation. Each page shall be in Arial or Times New Roman, size 12 font, single spaced. The title page, table of contents, and Part II of the SF 330 will not count toward the page limitation.

A PPQ from previous projects may be submitted for this project. If significant portions of a project have been completed since the previous PPQ was filled out, a new PPQ should be submitted to accurately assess the project. *Important Note: For this procurement, all PPQs should be completed by the evaluator and returned to the A-E firm. The submitting A-E firm must incorporate completed PPQs into the SF 330 document. PPQs should not be submitted by the evaluator directly to VHA PCAC.

In addition to the SF 330 submissions, firms must provide a second accompanying document that includes the following information (the accompanying document will not count toward the page limitation of the SF 330):

Cage Code

Dun & Bradstreet Number

Tax ID Number

The email address and phone number of the Primary Point of Contact

A copy of the firm s Vet Biz Registry

All questions shall be submitted to kara.evert@va.gov with the subject line Pensacola JACC Question - 36C77621R0130. The cutoff for question submission is 2:00 PM ET ON JUNE 22, 2021. Questions will be answered through modification to the Pre-Sol Notice posted to Contract Opportunities at https://beta.sam.gov/.

NOTE: This procurement is a 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns. Offers received from other than SDVOSBs will not be considered. All SDVOSBs must be listed as verified by the VA s Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE). Offerors must be verified by CVE and visible in the Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database (http://www.vetbiz.va.gov/vip/) at the time of SF 330 Submission, Interview Presentations, and Award. Failure to be BOTH visible and verified at these times will result in the offeror being deemed unacceptable and ineligible for award.

All prime firms are required to meet the NAICS code requirement specified for this project. The Contracting Officer shall verify the NAICS code in VIP and/or the System for Award Management (SAM). Failure to meet the NAICS code requirement may result in the rejection of the SF 330 submission.

All Joint Ventures must be CVE verified at time of SF 330 Submission, Interview Presentations, and Award and submit agreements that comply with 13CFR 125.15 prior to contract award.

SF 330 submissions received after the date and time specified will not be considered. Late proposal rules per FAR 15.208 will be followed for late submittals. Firms not providing the required information may not be evaluated. All information must be included in the SF 330 submission package.

It is the offeror s responsibility to check the Contract Opportunities website at https://beta.sam.gov/ for any revisions to this announcement prior to submission of SF 330.