H356-- BASELINE ASBESTOS INSPECTION Government Response to Vendors Questions and Answers Quotes submission is extended to 06/04/2021 at 2:00 PM EST. Responders must provide written acknowlegemet of Amendedment

Vendor Questions and Answers - RFQ 36C24721Q0739 - BASELINE ASBESTOS INSPECTION 1

I understand from the SOW that there are 2 (two) buildings included for the asbestos Inspections, is that correct? No, only Main Facility/Hospital

How many floors comprise each building? 5 floors not including basement

How many square feet comprise each building? 513,255 sf

Are crawl spaces included in the inspections? Yes

If so, what is the condition of each crawl space? It is tight, dirt floor, slopes, lots of piping, considered a non-permit confined space.

Is the sampling of the interior only? Yes, however it does have basement and above ceiling tiles.

Is there going to be a site visit offered prior to RFP being submitted? No

Because of the accelerated RFP schedule, I expect there will not be a site visit; can you give number of building, sizes, and construction dates, and dates of major renovation projects? No site visit prior see question #1 & 3

Are any roofs or crawlspaces included in this PWS? Yes crawlspace, not roofs.

The scope of work (SOW) mentions the buildings in Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center Campus but there is no list of total number of buildings and square footage of the buildings of the campus provided. Please provide the square footage of the buildings in the campus along with the list of buildings that need to be surveyed and sampled. Main Hospital only, see answer #1 and 3.

Please provide the date of construction of the buildings on the campus. 1965

Please provide a campus map of the locations with the building s name and location on the map. Provided only after award.

Please clarify that the Floor plans of the buildings will be provided to the successful bidder in PDF and Auto Cad format. Please provide maps and floor plans of the buildings to be surveyed prior to the bid to get a better idea of the facilities. Yes, these will be provided to COR by Engineering Department.

Please clarify the type of survey/sampling that needs to be performed by the contractor as the SOW mentions 3 different types of surveys (AHERA, ASHARA, and OSHA asbestos notification requirements) that needs to be fulfilled. The AHERA survey does not require quantification and sampling of non-friable materials and no exterior survey in the building whereas NESHAP requires survey and testing of all materials present in the building prior to the renovation/demolition activities whereas the OSHA only wants the materials that would be renovated or contacted by the workers to be tested prior to work. Is it AHERA or NESHAP survey that is required? A NESHAP survey would be very detailed and may not be feasible. Yes, NESHAP is what is needed. We need quantity to be included, description, condition, etc.

Please clarify if the contractor needs to survey and sample ceramic walls or floors along with patterned floor tiles in the hallways and labs and rooms as those cannot the sampled without damaging the material and all these materials cannot be filled with a filler etc. May have to sample patterned floor tile uncapacious technique. No to Ceramic Walls and Labs.

Please clarify if there are any confined spaces or permit-required confined spaces that the contractor needs to access during the survey. Yes, the basement/crawlspace is a non-permit confined space and we require a notification form upon entry not a permit.

Please clarify that all areas with radioactive materials, pathogen testing and testing areas containing virus storage and oxygen cylinders would not be required to be surveyed and sampled. The vendor will not be exposed to hazardous products during sampling, however we do have radiology department rooms that may need sampling but will ensure no exposure with safety escort to these areas and as a hospital there are also areas with BBP that will need testing, we will proved PPE against BBP if necessary and an escort. Do not foresee vendor being in area of exposure.

Please confirm that the contractor is not required to perform any survey and sampling of the elevators and elevator shafts, laundry chutes, dumb waiters and any waste chutes in the buildings. None of the above is required. We have already had the chutes and damper tested.

Please clarify that the contractor will be able to access all areas of the hospital without hinderance and if escort is needed, the escorts will be available for gaining access to any secured areas. See answer #20 below

Please confirm that the contractor will not be held responsible for wait times to enter the hospital areas and if any areas are inaccessible/locked or could not be accessed due to lack of escort, the VA would provide compensation in time and money to the contractor. The COR to the best of his/her ability will ensure areas can be access and when necessary escort is available for secure areas. However, an emergency or safety event may arise beyond COR control. Vendor shall preplan/coordinate with COR their weekly sampling schedule to ensure spaces are available. If still concerned and going to demand payment for any sort of delay, then recommend vendor built this into his quote.

Please clarify as to the thoroughness of the building records and the dates when the last surveys and abatements actions were undertaken. Can these records be made available for review prior to the submission of the quote? Upon awarded vendor will be given rights to all records.

Please confirm that if a previous survey or abatement record shows that the building does not contain any ACM or the ACM has been abated from a particular building, the inspector is not required to inspect that building. Yes, upon award vendor will have access to survey information.

Please confirm that the contractor must survey only the areas and materials in the building that have been shown as ACM in the previous report and the contractor does not need to survey the areas mentioned in the previous/baseline report. If a building is shown to have ACM only on 2 floors and the building has 7 floors, the contractor only needs to visit the two floors where the ACM has been mentioned. Not yet, the vendor will not be responsible for re-sampling of confirmed positive ACM.

Please clarify if the previous/baseline reports are in which format, e.g. word, excel etc. pdf

Please clarify if the material has been assumed as ACM in the previous/baseline survey reports provided by VA to the contractor, does the contractor needs to sample those assumed materials or can the contractor keep those as assumed in the updated report. We would like sampled no assumption unless homogeneous. Goal here is not exposure.

Please confirm that if a previous record mentions that the ACM has been abated/removed from a particular location from a building, the inspecting team is not required to sample the new replacement material installed in that area. Confirmed, replacement material not required to be sampled.

Please confirm that the inspecting contractor does not need to sample any materials that have been installed as replacement material in the buildings after the abatement of ACM. See #26 and especially not after start date of project.

Please clarify if there are any records that the materials installed in the hospital buildings in last few years (15 years or 10 years) are asbestos free and the contractor is not required to survey/sample those areas and materials. Cannot confirm, SDS does not qualify due to propriety ingredients.

Please confirm if any previous asbestos data that will be provided to the contractor can be utilized e.g. sample results, positive lab results of existing materials. Yes, vendor may have to set up data exchange site to place massive amount of electronic data.

The SOW mentions that the contractor to collect suspect materials for confirmatory laboratory analysis. Please confirm that the contractor only is required to survey and sample the materials not sampled in the previous reports. Any materials already sampled and documented in the previous survey reports, whether positive or negative, will not be required to be sampled again. Once positive always positive. Yes, only material not sampled in previous reports

Please provide a Not to Exceed number for samples for PLM analysis as without a number there will be wide disparity between the quotes provided by the contractors, and it will not be an equal comparison between the quotes. Sample analysis of PLM (up to 1,000) and TEM (Up to 285 TEM).

Please clarify if the labeling can be performed after the materials have been analyzed by the laboratory and positive materials identified. That will lead to 2 mobilizations and trips. Would need to be after results are analyzed and yes would be two trips.

Please clarify if one electronic copy of the report would be required to be submitted for all the buildings or does each building require an electronic report. The SOW mentions requirement of 1 electronic and 2 hard bound copies of the report. Please clarify that only one (1) hard copy of report is required of a building and a total of 2 hard copies of the report. Two hard copies of report which shall include building drawings. Two each

Please clarify if any draft copy is required by VA for review prior to finalizing the report. Also, please clarify that the survey report requirement of 1 electronic and 2 hard bound copies. Verified. However, facility would like to have meeting and work off paper copy with vendor to confirm report & drawings is what is needed.

Please confirm that the license cards and the asbestos hazard prevention plan mentioned in section 3 on page 3 can be provided to VA after the award but prior to the start of the work? It would be more up to date and concise plan as the contractor would have all pieces in place as the things might change during the time of submittal of proposal and field work due to the present conditions (Covid-19 etc.). We are going to want to start job quickly (like week or so) after award.so vendor will need to present SC DHEC license cards/certs prior to the award.

Please confirm that the kick-off meeting can be attended by the contractor via phone call, webex or zoom and is not required to be present physically. Microsoft Teams

Please remove the requirement for sampling roofing materials as the roofs are not sampled prior to the demolition of the building to ensure that the integrity of the roofing material is not compromised, and the warranty is not voided. The buildings can be demolished with the suspect roofing material as most state regulators consider roofing materials to be non-friable Category I materials that could be left in the building during demolition activities as the chances of the material becoming friable are minuscule. It can be removed.

Please confirm that the samples need to be only analyzed using the polarized light microscopy (PLM) and the no cost for point count analysis or TEM analysis should be considered during the cost preparation. We are going to need TEM confirmation but can use stop positive.

Please confirm that the labeling is only required for TSI and not for miscellaneous materials that may be present. Really can t label walls or flooring, so I would say TSI only at this time.

Please extend the proposal submittal date by at least one week as the responses to the queries may affect the final cost. Contracting Officer call