FEMA Federal Insurance Mitigation Administration (FIMA)

Notice Type:

Sources Sought

Synopsis:

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Number: 70FA6018I00000005- Structural Elevation

This is a continuation of FEMA's May-July 2018 market research efforts following RFI 70FA6018I00000006 - Structural Elevation.

FEMA/Federal Insurance Mitigation Administration (FIMA) - Structural Elevation

NAICS Code: 524298

This purpose of this sources sought is for market research purposes for NFIP structural elevation solution in the field of flood insurance for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) within the Federal Insurance & Mitigation Administration (FIMA) under Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

1. Background:

The Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) is a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which operates the Risk Management and Flood Insurance Directorates and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

FEMA's NFIP has been offering flood insurance coverage to homeowners, renters and businesses as protection against flood losses for fifty years. In return, local governments provide commitment to sound floodplain management and related flood disaster mitigation efforts. In addition to offering flood insurance, the duties of the NFIP include identifying communities' flood risks, mapping and publishing Flood Insurance Rate Maps of those risks, helping communities meet floodplain management requirements, and communicating the benefits of flood insurance protection so that more Americans are reimbursed for flood damage through the insurance mechanism, rather than through Federal disaster assistance funds.

Currently, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has taken elevation for insurance purposes into account by determining rates based on "elevation of lowest floor above or below base flood elevation (BFE) (or in some limited cases above or below the ground)". A "lowest floor guide" is published in the Flood Insurance Manual that provides more than two dozen images across various flood zones to help agents and underwriters identify the appropriate lowest floor for rating. The elevation is provided on an Elevation Certificate (EC).

FEMA is currently redesigning its rating methodology through the Risk Rating 2.0 Initiative, which will deliver flood insurance rates that are clear and take advantage of technology. These new rates will be delivered to current and future policyholders starting in 2020. The current policy base is approximately 5.1 million with approximately 4 million contracts in force. FEMA will still take elevation into account for insurance rating purposes, but is exploring new ways for obtaining that information. Through these efforts, FEMA's goal is to make flood insurance easier for agents to price and sell policies, and in turn, help customers better understand their flood risk and the importance of flood insurance.

1. Scope:

Under Risk Rating 2.0, elevation of a building will continue to be an important determinant of risk and will still be a key component of rating. However, rather than obtaining elevation using only an Elevation Certificate (EC), FEMA is exploring using third-party first-floor height (FFH) above ground estimation tool to obtain the elevation of the first floor of a building. FEMA may also be interested in procuring absolute ground elevation data as part of this acquisition.

The primary purpose of procuring a first-floor height tool is to allow FEMA to quickly and accurately estimate structural elevation during the time of sale of an insurance policy. However, FEMA may consider utilizing the tool for other uses, such as in support of the Flood Mapping Program or Flood Plain Management.

2. Objectives:

Objective 1: Provide a first-floor height tool

The FFH tool must meet the following requirements:

· Fully functional and available for use by FEMA staff, NFIP "Write Your Own" (WYO) companies, NFIP Direct, and insurance agents by April 1, 2020;

· Provide a given accuracy nationwide within a reasonable margin of error and confidence interval (e.g. accuracy within +/- 1 feet for 90% of the structures with 95% confidence);

· Coverage for nearly all structures in the United States, including tribal areas and territories;

· Be able to handle many concurrent queries from separate users, up to 50,000 transactions per day during normal operations. The number of transactions will increase significantly before and after a major flooding event, and in the first year of service;

· Greater than 99% uptime, with planned downtime scheduled for non-business hours with reasonable notice and explanation to FEMA and FEMA technical contractors;

· A response time of six (6) seconds or less;

· FEMA will consider different levels of automation of the FFH tool, with an expectation for the tool or API service to be user intuitive; and

· Provide documentation/certificate of FFH to end user.

Objective 2: Improve the tool as technology advances

Given that technology in this space is innovative and developing, FEMA is considering a requirement to renew the first-floor height estimation every few years. There will be an expectation that as technology and supporting data continues to improve and advance, FEMA will be able to provide policyholders with more accurate information over time.

Objective 3: Provide alternative solutions

For structures such as new buildings, remote locations, or structures that are visually limited by vegetation or the built environment, FEMA may require an alternative method for estimating elevation. FEMA is interested in understanding any alternative solutions for those situations that could be provided by the vendor.

Objective 4: Provide training and training materials for wide distribution

The purpose of this objective is to obtain model documentation, tutorials, and standard train-the-trainer training for FEMA personnel, NFIP "Write Your Own" (WYO), NFIP Direct, and insurance agents to gain proficiency in obtaining first floor height data. The vendor will provide a user guide that details how the tool should be used and provide guidance to the end-user.

In addition, the vendor will provide standard technical and troubleshooting support for assistance required arising from technical difficulty in usability or understanding. The vendor's delivery method for technical and troubleshooting support is subject to the following constraints:

· Where support is done remotely, the vendor will be unable to access any NFIP data.

· Where support is completed onsite or remotely with access to data, the vendor is required to be badged (and complete a public trust background investigation).

RFI Questions:

1. What general comments or feedback do you have on the draft objectives?

2. Please provide a capabilities statement that would support the objectives. If you have provided a capabilities statement as part of RFI 70FA6018I00000005, please note any improvements in your solution since that capabilities statement was submitted.

a. In reviewing the background and requirements document, do you see your solution being able to meet the objectives? Why or why not?

b. Please address your solution's ability to address each requirement within Objective 1 in detail.

3. What else should FEMA be considering when developing their requirements?

4. FEMA is exploring multiple methods for integration of the FFH tool into the NFIP rating system, and would like to understand vendor capabilities or concerns for:

a. Having a fully integrated system that meets DHS security requirements (either through an API call or built on FEMA systems)

b. Providing a full-service outside website or web service for users to purchase a FFH estimate and then plug back into the NFIP rating system.

5. Can you describe the data sources you are using for: geocoding purposes, number of steps and its height determination, size and location of the flood openings, ground elevation, imagery, and any other data sources?

a. If FEMA or other governmental agencies were to provide alternative data sources (e.g. higher resolution ground elevation data), would you be able to use the additional data sources?

b. Would you recommend not using FEMA data sources for any reason?

c. How would the solution utilize best available data to cover the entire United States and Territories?

d. What is the frequency of data refreshes for the different data sources used?

6. Please provide an estimate or an example of what your commercial pricing for Government customers would be for this solution for Government market research purposes only.

a. Please break your estimate out as follows:

i. Any costs associated with system integration

ii. Fee-per-transaction

iii. Please discuss any cost efficiencies associated with an unlimited annual license versus a fee-per-transaction payment approach

b. Please address your ability to accept user payment directly with an easy payment platform integration for all payments online

This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government, nor will the U.S. Government pay for information solicited. The information from this notice will help the FEMA, Acquisition Operations Division Mitigation Branch, plan their acquisition strategy.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

The requirement will be within the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, 524298 All Other Insurance Related Activities. The small business size standard for this NAICS Code is $15.0M.

Responses should include your company's capability statement. Oral Communications ARE NOT acceptable in response to this notice. However, follow-up discussions / market research may be performed.

Responses should provide the following information:

A. Company Information (e.g. name, business address, point of contact, telephone number, e-mail address). Also include DUNS Number or CAGE Code;

B. Summarization of projects showing capabilities and past performance in the applicable areas and list relevant projects.

C. Statement of current business size status (ie HUBZone small business concern, service-disabled veteran-owned small business firm, 8(a) contractor, woman-owned small business, small business, or large business concern). Also business size in relation to the NAICS code size standards assigned to this acquisition.

D. Please disclose any Organizational Conflict of Interest concerns that you foresee at this time.

E. Do you currently have a GSA schedule that would be able to provide the required services? If yes, please provide your GSA schedule.

Submission requirements:

1. Page limit - ten (10) pages (20 pages front and back) 8 ½ x 11 pages

2. 1 inch margins (top, bottom, and sides)

3. Times New Roman font - 12 point

4. Page limitation does not include: 1 cover page or 1 letter of introduction

5. Do not include promotional materials

Any proprietary information should be clearly marked.

Offerors wishing to participate in the industry day shall submit a request to Contracting Officer, Nicole.Smith@fema.dhs.gov and Contract Specialist, Jose Bumbray, Jose.Bumbray@associates.fema.dhs.gov not later than 2:00 PM (EST) April 26, 2019 and include the following details:

Company Name:

POC Name:

Number of Attendees:

Questions pertaining to this RFI are due to the Contracting Officer, Nicole Smith, Nicole.Smith@fema.dhs.gov and Contract Specialist, Jose Bumbray, Jose.Bumbray@associates.fema.dhs.gov not later than 2:00 PM (EST) May 3, 2019. The subject line of the email shall contain the following: Questions for Sources Sought Notice 70FA6018I00000005 - Structural Elevation.

Only electronic submissions will be accepted and are to be sent only to the Contracting Officer, Nicole Smith, Nicole.Smith@fema.dhs.gov and Contract Specialist, Jose Bumbray, Jose.Bumbray@associates.fema.dhs.gov not later than 2:00 PM (EST) on May 10, 2019. The subject line of the email shall contain the following: Response to Sources Sought Notice 70FA6018I00000005 - Structural Elevation.

The Government tentatively intends to conduct a virtual industry day on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 from 11:00 AM (EST) - 12:30 PM (EST) during this market research period to afford industry the ability to learn more about the Government's needs within the Risk Rating 2.0 Program after reviewing the draft requirements documents.

Industry Day Logistics:

Conference Number: 1-877-446-3914

Participant Code: 232966

Screen share: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/rgf54o3jbzni/

The industry day participants will be:

Prospective offerors

WYOs

Vendors

Agents

Other key stakeholders

All industry day participants are encouraged to provide feedback on the Government's draft requirements documents via written response.

This Sources Sought is an advance notice for informational and acquisition strategy planning purposes only and is not a solicitation. In order to receive an award from any resultant solicitation, should one be issued, the successful offeror must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). The SAM website is https://www.sam.gov.

This Sources Sought synopsis notice should not be construed in any manner to be an obligation to issue a contract or result in any claim for reimbursement of costs for any effort you expend in responding to this request. No solicitation is currently available. Any future solicitation package will be made available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website https://www.fbo.gov. Interested parties are solely responsible for monitoring the FBO website for the release of a solicitation package and/or any updates/amendments.

The Government will NOT provide funding to the interested party or submitter in response to this notice. The Government will not pay for any costs incurred in preparing a response to this sources sought notice.

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