Inactive Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside (FAR 19.14)

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICIATION NOTICE The Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 9 Central Region, 1639 Medical Center Parkway, Suite 400, Murfreesboro, TN, 37129, is issuing this solic... THIS IS A PRE-SOLICIATION NOTICE The Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 9 Central Region, 1639 Medical Center Parkway, Suite 400, Murfreesboro, TN, 37129, is issuing this solicitation to request Architectural and Engineering (AE) Design Firm s SF330 s for the following project: Project # 621-24-112 for Architectural and Engineering Design Services to Renovate B34 Clock Tower for Physical Therapy at James H. Quillen VA Medical Center, Lamont and Veterans Way, Mt. Home, Tennessee 37684. SET-ASIDE: 100% Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB CONSTRUCTION BUDGET DESIGN LIMITATIONS/PROJECT MAGNITUDE: Construction Budget is $13,000,000.00 NAICS: 541310 Architectural Services SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARD: $12.5 million PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The James H. Quillen VA Medical Center is seeking professional architect/ engineering firms to prepare complete drawings, specifications, observation/ evaluation/ technical reports, cost estimates, and services throughout construction to Renovate Historic Clock Tower Building 34 for Rehab Medicine, Contractor is to create a design for a complete addition of a physical therapy rehabilitation center and prosthetics and orthotics lab (hereby referred to as the Rehab Medicine Center) based generally upon concept drawings, approximately 23,000 square feet. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR AN AE FEE PROPOSAL; NO FEE PROPOSAL SHALL BE REQUESTED UNTIL AFTER AN EVALUATION HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROVIDED SF330 AND THE TOP-RATED FIRM SELECTED. Interested firms should submit their current SF330 to Brian.Bentley@va.gov. The SF330s are due on Thursday, August 14, 2025, at 1:00 PM Central Time. See Electronic Submission Requirements on page 4 and 5 for instructions on submitting your SF-330. The selection of the most qualified contractor will follow the guidance provided in FAR 36.6 Architect-Engineer Services, except as provided in FAR 36.602-5 Short Selection Process for Contracts Not to Exceed the Simplified Acquisition threshold. The Government will not pay, 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. Firms will be selected based on demonstrated competence and qualifications for the required work. Bid Deduct Alternates of at least 20% of the approved construction budget shall be developed, planned, and estimated as necessary to ensure award of contract within available funds. Bid Deduct Alternates shall be clearly identified on contract drawings. All offerors are advised that in accordance with VAAR 836.606-73 the total cost of the architect or engineer services contracted for must not exceed 6 percent of the estimated cost of the construction project plus any fees for related services and activities. Additionally, FAR Clause 52.236-2 (c) - Design Within Funding Limitation, will be applicable to this procurement action. Design limitation costs will be provided to the most highly rated AE firm selected to complete the design. Important Notice: Apparent successful offerors must apply for and receive verification from the Department of Veteran Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) in accordance with 38 CFR Part 74 and VAAR 819.70 by submission of documentation of Veteran status, ownership and control sufficient to establish appropriate status, offerors must be both VISIBLE and VERIFIED by the Department of Veteran Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprises at the time of submission of proposal. Failure to be both VERIFIED by CVE and VISIBLE on VetBiz at the time of proposal submission, time of interview, and at time of award will result in the offeror s proposal being deemed non-responsive. All offerors are urged to contact the CVE and submit the required documents to obtain CVE verification of their SDVOSB status if they have not already done so. Contract Award Procedure: Before a small business is proposed as a potential contractor, they must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) website located at https://beta.sam.gov. Failure of a proposed SDVOSB to be VERIFIED by CVE and VISIBLE in VetBiz and registered in SAM at the time the SF 330 is submitted shall result in elimination from consideration as a proposed contractor. The proposed services will be obtained by a Negotiated Firm-Fixed Price Contract. The review/design of architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, or other engineering features of the work shall be accomplished by architects or engineers registered in a State or possession of the United States, or in Puerto Rico or in the District of Columbia. The project drawings/design shall follow applicable standards and codes described in VA Program Guides and design materials. Master Construction Specifications Index, VA Construction Standards Index, VA Standards Index, and Criteria are available in the Technical Information Library (TIL) on VA Website address: http://www.cfm.va.gov/til/. The submitted SF330s will be evaluated in accordance with the following eight criteria from the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 36.602-1 and Veteran Administration Acquisition Regulation Subpart 836.602. Then a minimum of three of the most highly qualified firms will be selected to hold discussions regarding concepts and relative utility of alternative methods of furnishing the required services. A fee proposal will be requested from the top- rated firm chosen. SELECTION CRITERIA: Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of required services; Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required, including, where appropriate, experience in energy conservation, pollution prevention, waste reduction, and the use of recovered materials; Capacity to accomplish the work in the required time; Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules; Location in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of the locality of the project; provided, that application of this criterion leaves an appropriate number of qualified firms, given the nature and size of the project; Reputation and standing of the firm and its principal officials with respect to professional performance, general management, and cooperativeness; Record of significant claims against the firm because of improper or incomplete architectural and engineering services; and Specific experience and qualifications of personnel proposed for assignment to the project and their record of working together as a team. The awarded A/E firm will prepare drawings and specifications in enough detail such that qualified outside General Contracting companies can prepare accurate and timely proposals for the desired work. The awarded A/E firm is responsible for ensuring that the specifications and drawings supplied fully represent all the work described in the Request for Proposal (RFP). The Medical Center must remain operational throughout the construction period and a detailed sequence of work will be provided by the A/E to minimize impact of the construction. The SF-330 can be downloaded through the GSA Forms Library at: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP, type in SF-330 in the Find a Form block and click on search. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 36.209, 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. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Unless paper offers are specifically authorized in an individual solicitation, all responses to solicitations must be submitted electronically as described below. Responses submitted in a paper form are unacceptable and will be returned. Failure to comply with this requirement may jeopardize the possibility of receiving an award for the contract due to noncompliance with the terms of the solicitation. You must submit your electronic offer, and any supplemental information (such as spreadsheets, backup data, technical information), using any of the electronic formats and media described below. In addition, contractors are notified of the award via an electronic Notice of Award e-mail. The award document will be attached to the Notice of Award e-mail. Acceptable Electronic Formats (Software) for Submission of Offers: Files readable using the current Microsoft* Office version Products: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Please see security note below for caution regarding use of macros. When submitting construction drawings contractors are required to submit one set in AutoCAD and one set in Adobe PDF (purpose: contracting can open the PDF version and engineering can open AutoCAD files) Files in Adobe* PDF (Portable Document Format) Files: When scanning documents scanner resolution should be set to 200 dots per inch, or greater; Other Electronic Format: If you wish to submit an offer using another format other than described in these instructions, e-mail the Contracting Officer who issued the solicitation. Please submit your request at least ten (10) calendar days before the scheduled closing date of the solicitation. Request a decision as to the format acceptability and make sure you receive approval of the alternate format before using it to send your offer; and please note that we can no longer accept .zip files due to increasing security concerns. E-mail Submission Procedures: For simplicity in this guidance, all submissions in response to a solicitation will be referred to as offers. Subject Line: Include the solicitation number, name of company, and closing date of solicitation; Size: Maximum size of the e-mail message shall not exceed five (5) megabytes. Only one email is permitted unless otherwise stated in this paragraph or in writing by a Contracting Officer; and The offer will be date and time stamped by the Microsoft Email system and will be the official record of receipt for the submission. SECURITY ISSUES, LATE BIDS, UNREADABLE OFFERS: Late submission of offers is outlined at FAR Parts 52.212-1(f), 52.214-7, and 52.215-1(c) (3). Particular attention is warranted to the portion of the provision that relates to the timing of submission. Please see FAR 15.207(c) for a description of the steps the Government shall take regarding unreadable offers. To avoid rejection of an offer, vendors must make every effort to ensure their electronic submission is virus-free. Submissions or portions thereof submitted and which the automatic system detects the presence of a virus or which are otherwise unreadable will be treated as unreadable pursuant to FAR Parts 14.406 and FAR 15.207(c). The virus scanning software used by our e-mail systems cannot always distinguish a macro from a virus. Therefore, sending a macro embedded in an e-mail message or an e-mail attachment may cause the e-mail offer to be quarantined. You may send both the spreadsheet and the spreadsheet saved in PDF format to ensure that your proposal is readable. Password protecting your offer is not permitted. The Contracting Officer will file the offer electronically which will allow access only by designated individuals. VA NOTICE OF TOTAL SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE (DEC 2009) (a) Definition. For the Department of Veterans Affairs, Service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern : (1) Means a small business concern: (i) Not less than 51 percent of which is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans or, in the case of any publicly owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans (or eligible surviving spouses); (ii) The management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans (or eligible surviving spouses) or, in the case of a service-disabled veteran with permanent and severe disability, the spouse or permanent caregiver of such veteran; (iii) The business meets Federal small business size standards for the applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code identified in the solicitation document; and (iv) The business has been verified for ownership and control and is so listed in the Vendor Information Pages database, (http://www.VetBiz.gov). (2) Service-disabled veteran means a veteran, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(2), with a disability that is service-connected, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(16). (b) General. (1) Offers are solicited only from service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns. Offers received from concerns that are not service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns shall not be considered. (2) Any award resulting from this solicitation shall be made to a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. (c) Agreement. A service-disabled veteran owned small business concern agrees that in the performance of the contract, in the case of a contract for: (1) Services (except construction), at least 50 percent of the cost of personnel for contract performance will be spent for employees of the concern or employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns; (2) Supplies (other than acquisition from a non-manufacturer of the supplies), at least 50 percent of the cost of manufacturing, excluding the cost of materials, will be performed by the concern or other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns; (3) General construction, at least 15 percent of the cost of the contract performance incurred for personnel will be spent on the concern s employees or the employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns; or (4) Construction by special trade contractors, at least 25 percent of the cost of the contract performance incurred for personnel will be spent on the concern s employees or the employees of other eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns. (d) A joint venture may be considered a service-disabled veteran owned small business concern if (1) At least one member of the joint venture is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern, and makes the following representations: That it is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern, and that it is a small business concern under the North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code assigned to the procurement; (2) Each other concern is small under the size standard corresponding to the NAICS code assigned to the procurement; and (3) The joint venture meets the requirements of paragraph 7 of the explanation of Affiliates in 19.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (4) The joint venture meets the requirements of 13 CFR 125.15(b). (e) Any service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern (non-manufacturer) must meet the requirements in 19.102(f) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to receive a benefit under this program.