Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

*UPDATE* 15OCT2024- Submissions due date extended to 28-October- 2024 1:00pm EDT. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Due to upcoming storm amended to postpone ... *UPDATE* 15OCT2024- Submissions due date extended to 28-October- 2024 1:00pm EDT. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Due to upcoming storm amended to postpone Pre-Proposal Teleconference until 1300 on 15 October 2024. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTRACT INFORMATION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District (SAJ) is soliciting for Architect-Engineer (A-E) Services in accordance with Public Law 92-582 (Selection of Architects and Engineers or Brooks Act) as implemented in FAR Subpart 36.6. As a result of this announcement, SAJ intends to award an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) to perform A-E Services for geotechnical core drilling, laboratory, testing, and hydrogeological investigations and studies located within the SAJ AOR. This no longer includes, PR, VI or the Caribbean. This procurement will be set-aside as Small Business. The primary purpose of this contract is to provide Architect-Engineering (AE) services for projects located within the geographic boundaries of the Jacksonville District on land, and on protected and unprotected water, to include Florida and Georgia. Secondarily, the contract may be used to provide services within the geographic boundaries of other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts within the South Atlantic Division, and the Nation. The Contractor will have the right to refuse orders for services to be performed outside of the area of responsibility of the Jacksonville District. Only the firm considered most highly qualified will be awarded a contract. An Indefinite Delivery Contract will be negotiated and awarded from this solicitation with subsequent work issued by negotiating firm-fixed price task orders. The contract will be a period of one year from date of award, with options to extend for four (4) additional years, not to exceed a total of five years. The contract minimum is $10,000.00. While the estimated dollar amount per year is $3,000,000.00, the actual obligation per year may be greater than or less than $3,000,000.00. The maximum amount of the contract is $15,000,000.00 for the life of the contract. The task order minimum is $10,000.00 and the maximum is $2,000,000.00 in accordance with FAR 52.216-19, Order of Limitations. Other applicable clauses include FAR 52.216-18, Ordering, and FAR 52.216-22, Indefinite Quantity. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this action is 541330. The Small Business size standard is $25,500,000.00. Compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52.219-14 Limitations of Subcontracting will be required. 1. PROJECT INFORMATION: The work will primarily consist of geotechnical core drilling and geotechnical subsurface sampling via continuous and/or standard penetration testing (SPT) and other standard drilling techniques, undisturbed sampling, rock coring in hard and soft rock units, large diameter coring within rock units, sonic drilling, vibracoring, probing, field and in situ testing, geophysical site investigations, field and laboratory geotechnical testing of materials (including construction Q/A) testing), chemical analytical laboratory testing, site preparation, and establishing coordinate locations. 2. SELECTION CRITERIA: The selection criteria for this project are listed below in descending order of importance. Criteria in paragraphs A through F are primary. Criterion G is secondary and will only be used as a tiebreaker among firms that are essentially technically equal. Please limit your response to 50 pages, excluding cover pages, tabs, table of contents, licenses, certifications, resumes, letters of commitment, joint venture agreements, and commendations/past performance are excluded from the 50 page limit. FACTORS FOR EVALUATION IN DESCENDING ORDER OF IMPORTANCE ARE: A. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL COMPETENCE: The firm shall demonstrate specialized experience and expertise either in-house or through association with a qualified sub-contractor(s). Limit project submissions to ten (10) projects for the entire A-E team in SF 330 Section F. Additional projects may be included in SF 330 Section H. All projects shall be clearly annotated with applicable A-E firms from the team. Images of work products must be clearly annotated with source of picture, specific description of what is being presented, and who produced the items depicted in the image. All pages shall be numbered sequentially either for the entire package or within each Section. If any portion of the work provided as specialized experience is subcontracted, clearly identify that work as such and provide the required experience of that subcontractor as it relates to work the subcontractor is to perform for this solicitation. If the offeror is a joint venture, each firm shall provide information demonstrating experience relevant to their role on this requirement. Joint Venture Requirements: Parties wishing to propose as a joint venture must submit, with the Pro Forma documents, an executed copy of the joint venture agreement. The joint venture agreement shall be executed in accordance with FAR 4.102(d). Each joint venture partner shall submit evidence satisfactory to the Contracting Officer that its Board of Directors has approved its participation in the joint venture or by an instrument of similarly binding character in the case of an unincorporated entity. Offerors are reminded that to obtain an award the awardee, to include a joint venture, must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database. Applicable to set aside solicitations: Joint Ventures must meet applicable size standards (See FAR Subpart 19.1). Submit with the proposal any size determination for the Joint Venture entity received from the Small Business Administration. A Joint Venture where-in one party is not a small business may be referred to the Small Business Administration (IAW FAR 19.302 (b)) to determine eligibility. All questions regarding Joint Ventures must be directed to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and not the Contracting Officer. A Project is defined as a single, stand-alone contract and/or a single task order issued under an existing IDIQ contract(s) unless the project included multiple phases and was issued under more than one contractual order. It shall be noted that an IDIQ contract is not a project. Do not combine multiple task orders unrelated to a stand-alone project to create a single project example. Combining multiple task orders under an IDIQ to create a single project will not be compliant with the solicitation criteria, and it will not be evaluated or considered. The contract number or IDIQ number and individual task order number associated with the project in the title must be included for each of the projects. If the project is not 100% complete, note the current percentage and estimated date when the project will be completed for each contract and/or task order. (1) DRILLING Firms shall clearly demonstrate specialized experience and expertise in the following field data collection procedures: Standard Penetration Testing (SPT); rock coring (including large diameter, six inches, or more in weak rock); sonic drilling; vibracoring; wash probing; undisturbed sampling; test pits; monitoring well and piezometer installations. Firms shall clearly demonstrate specialized expertise in multiple field conditions including upland, swamp (partially inundated or tidally inundated), island, over water, and unusual situation or difficult access locations. Firms must demonstrate experience obtaining site access (rights of entry, permits, site clearing, and heavy equipment operation); and establishing coordinate locations using the appropriate coordinate systems and datums (horizontal and vertical) on land and over water. All geotechnical field activities shall be conducted per the appropriate state or federal standard operation procedures, as applicable. (2) GEOTECHNICAL LABORATORY TESTING Firms shall clearly demonstrate, either in-house or through association with qualified subcontractors, specialized experience, and expertise in the following laboratory analyses: Index testing (grain size distribution, carbonate content, Atterberg limits, moisture content, specific gravity, and organic content); triaxial tests; consolidation; compaction tests; permeability tests; unit weights; and unconfined compressive strength testing. Firm must clearly demonstrate ability to obtain and maintain USACE laboratory validation of pertinent tests throughout the contract life. If the firm currently does not have access to a USACE validated lab, the firm must clearly demonstrate ability to obtain USACE laboratory validation PRIOR to contract award. The lab shall be a Corps validated lab located within 30 miles of the SAJ District Office. (3) IN SITU AND FIELD TESTING Firms shall clearly demonstrate specialized experience and expertise in the following in situ and field data collection procedures: Cone Penetration Testing (CPT); other in situ and field data collection procedures (i.e., Pocket Penetrometer, Dilatometer Testing (DMT), Vane Shear Testing (VST), and Pressuremeter Testing (PMT), etc.); field data collection procedures (recharge tests, slug tests, percolation tests); and aquifer testing (drawdown, specific capacity, etc.), well casing pressure, Aquifer Performance Tests (APT); turbidity, and field sampling stabilization parameters (pH, specific conductivity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen.)). (4) GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS Firms shall clearly demonstrate experience in the following geophysical methods and technologies: upland and marine seismic (reflection, refraction, cross-hole, and tomography); electrical (self-potential, resistivity, and induced polarization); ground penetrating radar (GPR); and borehole logging (spontaneous potential, resistivity, electrical, natural gamma, gamma-gamma, neutron, caliper, temperature, flow meter, sonic, and borehole camera). (5) CHEMICAL ANALYTICAL LABORATORY TESTING Firms shall clearly demonstrate, either in-house or through association with qualified subcontractors, specialized experience, and expertise in the following: chemical analytical laboratory testing (microbiological, organic, inorganic, and radiochemical analyses).Chemical analytical laboratory facilities must demonstrate participation in the National Environmental Accreditation Program (NELAP) and be accredited by the State of Florida accrediting authority, Department of Health, for the methods, analyses, and matrices grouped above. Chemical analytical laboratory facilities must demonstrate experience working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and utilizing QA/QC Data Validation Software-ADaPT Electronic Data Deliverables (AEDD). (6) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE TO THE FIRM Firms must have the ability to obtain all necessary equipment to perform the work, including but not limited to drill rigs; amphibious or track-mounted drill rigs; floating plant for protected waters; in situ testing equipment; geophysical equipment; and survey equipment. Firms must indicate whether the equipment is owned, sub-contracted, or leased. For drill rigs, firms must indicate whether drill rigs are equipped with automatic or manual hammers. B. QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL: A resume is required for each person, showing relevant education, training, registration, and certifications. Note: one individual possessing the required expertise of more than one discipline is acceptable, but the resume must clearly demonstrate meeting the required length of experience of each discipline. The firm must have, either in-house or through association with qualified subcontractors, adequate staff with specialized experience and knowledgeable in the geology of the SAJ AOR to perform the work in the required time. The individual resume for each person should not exceed 3 pages. (1) Registered Professionals: Key personnel must have a bachelor, master, or doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in geology, physical science, engineering, geomatics, land surveying, or related field. Key personnel must have a professional license from one State or Commonwealth of the United States in Geology, Engineering or Land Surveying. The minimum key personnel required are listed below, and minimum years experience is shown in parentheses for the following disciplines: a registered professional geologist (5 years of recent experience in Florida), a registered professional civil/geotechnical engineer (5 years of recent experience in Florida), a registered surveyor (3 years of recent experience in Florida), a geophysicist (10 years of recent experience; Florida experience is preferred), and a hydrogeologist (5 years of recent experience in Florida). (2) Other Professionals: The minimum key personnel required are listed below, and minimum years experience is shown in parentheses for the following disciplines: geologist in training (1 year of recent experience; Florida experience preferred); civil/geotechnical engineer in training (1 year of recent experience; Florida experience preferred); chemist (3 years recent experience with data reduction and analysis); environmental field technicians (3 years recent experience conducting environmental sampling; Florida experience preferred); geotechnical field technicians (3 years of recent experience in Florida) and drillers (3 years of recent experience in Florida). (3) A resume is required for each person, showing relevant education and training, intended contract role(s) as defined herein to be filled by the person, as well as experience both past and recent (within the last five years). Note one individual possessing the required expertise of more than one contract role is acceptable but the resume must clearly demonstrate meeting the required length of experience of each contract role via documented project assignments/experience. C. PAST PERFORMANCE: Firm, and/or the sub-contractor, must provide relevant past performance in the accomplishment of similar work that it outlined in this Solicitation. Firm must submit information for relevant contracts and subcontracts including the name, address, and telephone number of references. Relevancy is defined in the Department of Defense (DoD) guide to collection and use of past performance as information that has a logical connection with the matter under consideration and application time span. Submit information for all relevant contracts and subcontracts started or completed within the past 5 years measured from the date of synopsis (see paragraph 2 and 2A, for page and project limits). Firms may include supporting information in the proposal, such as letters of commendation from clients, on past performance on recent similar contracts include information on problems encountered in prior contracts and discuss actions taken to remedy unsatisfactory performance. Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry regarding quality, cost control and timeliness of work will be reviewed. Past DoD experience data available to the Government through Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) will also be evaluated. Other credible, documented information on past performance will be considered, except for adverse performance information to which the firm has not had an opportunity to respond. D. CAPACITY TO ACCOMPLISH THE WORK: Firm, and/or the sub-contractor, must have the capacity to proceed with work and accomplish it in a timely manner once a notice to proceed is issued and accomplish it in accordance with scheduled completion dates. The Prime firm shall clearly demonstrate at least minimal drilling capabilities of one drill rig, an experienced drill crew, and at least one recent project example (within past 5 years measured from the date of synopsis). E. KNOWLEDGE OF THE LOCALITY: Firm, and/or the sub-contractor, must demonstrate knowledge of the locality, geological features, and local environmental conditions for Florida. This includes but is not limited to rock formations, regional and local stratigraphic relationships, regional and local groundwater regimes (to include assessment of artesian conditions), seismicity, etc. Experience must be demonstrated in qualified personnel resumes, and past project experiences. F. GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY: Firms based in or having branch offices with laboratory testing capabilities in Florida will be given preference, provided that application of this criterion leaves an appropriate number of qualified firms, given the nature and size of the project. THE FOLLOWING SECONDARY CRITERION WILL BE USED AS A TIEBREAKER, IF NECESSARY: G. VOLUME OF PAST DoD CONTRACTS AWARDED TO FIRM: Work previously awarded to the firm by the DoD will be reviewed with the objective of effecting equitable distribution of contracts among equally qualified firms. ENFORCEABILITY OF PROPOSAL: The proposal must set forth full, accurate, and complete information as required by this announcement. By submission of the offer, the offeror agrees that all items proposed (if applicable e.g., key personnel, subcontractors, etc.) will be used for the duration of the contract and any substitutions shall require prior Contracting Officer approval. The award decision for this contract will be based, in part, on an evaluation of the key personnel and/or subcontractors the Contractor included in its proposal for the positions and/or items of subcontracted work identified in the proposal. The Contractor agrees these key personnel and/or subcontractors will be employed as described in its proposal and no substitutes will be employed without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer. The Contractor further agrees that any proposed substitutes shall meet or exceed the qualifications of the original personnel and/or subcontractors. If the Contractor proposal did not name a subcontractor for an identified item of work, the Contractor will not be allowed to subcontract that item of work without prior approval of the Contracting Officer. This is not a request for a price proposal. To avoid a conflict of interest, any contractor proposing as a prime may not have a subcontractor who is also proposing as a prime. This solicitation shall be viewed as one singular solicitation. Therefore, a firm submitting a proposal as a prime contractor may NOT also be listed as a subcontractor in ANY other submitted proposal under this solicitation. This requirement also applies to firms submitting as Joint Ventures. In the event a conflict of interest is found, the Contracting Officer reserves the right to deem ineligible for award the proposal submitted by the prime firm who is also a subcontractor under another firms proposal. As required by acquisition regulations, interviews to discuss prospective contractor qualifications for the contracts will be conducted only for those firms considered most highly qualified after submittal review by the selection board. Interviews will be scheduled after the final selection board has determined the most highly qualified firms. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Firms meeting the requirements described in this announcement and wishing to be considered must submit their SF 330, Part I, for the proposed combined team (firm or joint venture and all subcontractors), and SF 330, Part II, for the firm or joint venture and each subcontractor electronically to PIEE Solicitation Module at https://piee.eb.mil/ system. A firm will not be considered if its SF330 Part I is not signed, unless the SF330 Part I is accompanied by a signed cover letter or a current (within 3 years) signed SF330 Part II. If a firm does not submit an SF330 Part II with its SF330 Part I, or have one on file, it will not be considered (FAR 36.603(b)). Submit qualification proposals with SF330 Parts I and II in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) as two separate electronic files. Offerors may use compression utility software such as WinZip or PKZip to reduce file size and facilitate transmission. The two electronic files shall be named as follows: W912EP24R0019FirmName-SF 330-I.pdf W912EP24R0019FirmName-SF 330-II.pdf Submittal packages must be received via the method indicated above, no later than 1:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on October 28, 2024. Submittals received after this date and time will not be considered. f submitting as a joint venture, submit a copy of the Joint Venture Agreement. The Contract Specialist is Ms. Isis S. Hill at isis.s.hill@usace.army.mil. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond those sufficient to present a complete and effective response to this announcement are not desired. The NAICS code is 541330. Responses to this request shall be submitted electronically as stated above; telephone calls and personal visits are discouraged. This is not a request for priced proposal. Hand delivery will not be accepted. Written requests for explanation or bidder inquiries must be sent to the person identified as the Contract Specialist via email. Inquiries and requests that are directed to any other person may not be relayed to the proper person and therefore, may not be answered. A pre-proposal teleconference will be held on Tuesday October 15, 2024 at 1:00 PM (EST). Due to limited ports, the teleconference is being held only for those firms interested in this specific work. To RSVP, please send an email to Contract Specialist, Isis S. Hill at isis.s.hill@usace.army.mil, with Solicitation No. W912EP24R0019 in the Subject Line. The pre-proposal slideshow, attendance roster, and Q and A will be posted as an attachment to the combined synopsis/solicitation, after the teleconference has concluded. Contracting Office Address: US Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District P.O. Box 4970 Jacksonville, Florida 32232-0019 United States Issuing Office: US Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District 701 San Marco Blvd Jacksonville, Florida 32207 United States Point of Contact(s): Primary Point of Contact: Isis S. Hill, Contract Specialist Email: isis.s.hill@usace.army.mil Phone: (904) 232-1240 Secondary Point of Contact: Sherelle N. Barber, Contracting Officer Email:sherelle.n.barber@usace.army.mil Phone: (904) 232-3916