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

****AMENDMENT 1/15/25: SEE ATTACHED RESPONSES TO RFI's, UPDATED SOW, AND PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE. THERE ARE NO OTHER CHANGES****** ****AMENDED TO SAY: RESPONSES DUE BY 28 JANUARY 2025, SEE REVI... ****AMENDMENT 1/15/25: SEE ATTACHED RESPONSES TO RFI's, UPDATED SOW, AND PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE. THERE ARE NO OTHER CHANGES****** ****AMENDED TO SAY: RESPONSES DUE BY 28 JANUARY 2025, SEE REVISED 36C25725R0010****** Presolicitation Notice Presolicitation Notice REQUEST FOR SF330 - Project 549A4-23-600, Design project to construct a new central plant to replace the original Building #11 Boiler Plant (1978) and joined Chiller Plant (1987) located at the Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center (SRMVC), VA North Texas Health Care System, 1201 E. 9th St., Bonham, Texas 75418. 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, 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) Network Contract Office 17 (NCO17) is seeking sources and intends to award a firm-fixed price design contract for Architect-Engineering (A-E) services for Project 549A4-23-600, Design project to construct a new central plant to replace the original Building #11 Boiler Plant (1978) and joined Chiller Plant (1987) located at the Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center (SRMVC), VA North Texas Health Care System, 1201 E. 9th St., Bonham, Texas 75418. The A/E shall provide investigative and feasibility design services, schematic design drawings, design development drawings, construction documents, final bid documents, specifications, calculations, cost estimates, narratives, bidding support services, solicitation support services, and construction period services for all facets of work and disciplines/trades to facilitate the construction of the central plant at the SRMVC. 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 Architect Services and the annual small business size standard is $12.5M. A full design team is required to complete this project. The projected award date for the anticipated A-E contract is on or before early June 2025. 3. SCOPE OF DESIGN See attached Statement of Work 4. A-E SELECTION PROCESS: Firms submitting SF330s 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 evaluation. SF330s will be evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria listed below to determine the most highly qualified firms for this requirement. The Government will notify and conduct discussions with a minimum of three of the most highly qualified firms. All firms not invited to participate in discussions will be notified at this time. Discussions may be held with the most highly qualified firms in the form determined to be most advantageous and economical by the Contracting Officer. The form of discussions will be the same for all firms. For this procurement, the discussions will be conducted via written response. The firms invited to participate in discussions will be notified by email and provided further instructions, to include any questions or topics to address. Following the completion of discussions, the firms will be evaluated, rated, and ranked based on the selection criteria for the written response. The highest rated firm will be selected, and the solicitation will subsequently be issued. The final evaluation and ranking will consider the information obtained via discussions for each firm. The solicitation will be issued to the highest rated firm as a Request for Fee Proposal (RFP). A site visit will be authorized for the highest rated firm during the negotiation process. An award will then be made as long as the negotiation of rates and hours leads to a determination of a fair and reasonable final contract price. If negotiations with the highest rated firm are unsuccessful, the firm will be notified that negotiations have been terminated. Negotiations will then be initiated with the next highest rated firm, and so on until award can be made. 5. SF330 SELECTION CRITERIA: The following are listed in descending order of importance: Primary Selection Criteria: Professional Qualifications (sections C through E): 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 (minimum of five (5) years) and qualifications (i.e., education, training, registration, certifications, overall relevant experience, and longevity with the firm as full-time employees) of personnel proposed for assignment to the project, and their record of working together as a team when evaluating professional qualifications. The lead designer in each discipline must be registered but does not have to be registered in the particular state where the project is located. A resume for each of these key positions MUST be provided identifying their specific role, via Section E in the SF330. Key positions and disciplines required for this project include, but are not limited, to: Principal-in-Charge Overall Project Manager. Architect Design Civil Design Structural Design Mechanical Design Electrical Design Plumbing Design Fire Protection Engineer (Texas Licensed) Physical Security Specialist. Quality Assurance/Quality (QA/QC) Control Manager Estimating Specifications Interior Design Other Offer must include the following statement of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business SDVOSB compliance when submitting the personnel proposed to perform the work under this requirement: I [signatory authority]______________________, [company] __________________, certify that the SDVOSB prime contractor will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to the prime for contract performance to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs by the Small Business Association s Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) in compliance of VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 852.219-75. 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 and technical competence (sections F, G, and H): A/E must use Engineering professionals with proven experience with energy center designs greater than $20,000,000 dollars on VA facilities. Section G will used to evaluate the prior experience of the prime firm and any key subcontractors working together on the provided relevant projects. The evaluation will also consider narratives addressing the following topics in Section H. Simply re-stating this list in Section H will not be sufficient. The narrative of how the firm addresses each of these will be evaluated. The management approach The coordination of disciplines and subcontractors Quality control procedures, and Familiarity with VA Design Guides/Manuals, Master Specifications and other applicable standards. Capacity (section H): 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 re-quired time. Provide the available capacity of key disciplines by providing current project workload, inclusive of all projects awarded by the VA during the previous twelve (12) months and the full potential value of any current indefinite delivery con-tracts. Offeror shall clearly state their available capacity presenting workload percent-ages for the key disciplines and/or team members. Also, the offeror must provide the completion percentages and expected completion date for the VA projects awarded in the previous twelve (12) months. 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 (section H): Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. Past performance will be evaluated for all projects provided in Section F. The Contractor Performance Assessment Rating System (CPARS) database will be reviewed to evaluate the projects that have a CPARS entry. CPARS are not required to be submitted with the SF330 submission. The contract number for the project must be submitted with each project in Section F so CPARS can be reviewed in the database. Please note we are unable to review any CPARS from other Federal Agencies, outside of the VA. For any project that does NOT have CPARS data available, a Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) is required to be submitted with the SF330. The PPQ should be rated and signed by the evaluator. In the event that a firm does not receive a requested complete PPQ from an evaluator prior to the time for submission, the firm shall submit the partially completed PPQ with Section 1 and the Evaluator Information in Section 2 completed. Ensure a POC is listed with the project title/contract number. The VA will make reasonable attempts to contact the POC upon submission for PPQ completion. Evaluations may also include additional performance related from the firm, customer inquiries, Government databases, publicly available sources, and additional projects in CPARS. The Government reserves the right to contact any POC listed on a CPARS report or PPQ. 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. If appropriate, the record of significant claims against the firm because of improper or incomplete architectural and engineering services may be evaluated. 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. For PPQs, please utilize the attached PPQ document. Completed PPQs should be incorporated into the SF 330 directly. PPQs should not be submitted to the VHA PCAC directly. Any PPQs will not be counted towards the page limitations for this submission. However, any narratives provided for past performance in Section H will be counted toward the page limit. Knowledge of Locality (section H): to include specific knowledge of certain local conditions or project site features, such as geological features, climatic conditions, working with and 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. Experience in construction period services (Section H): Experience in construction period services must be demonstrated via project experience. These may be the same projects identified above in Factor 1; however, the firm shall clearly delineate the types of construction period services performed for each. Project descriptions must include experience with: Solicitation support services, Professional field inspections during the construction period, Review of construction submittals, Support in answering requests for information during the construction period, Support of construction contract changes to include drafting statements of work and cost estimates, Attendance at weekly conference calls, providing minutes of meetings between the AE, VA, and contractors, Pre-final inspection site visits, Generation of punch-list reports, Coordination with commissioning requirements and Production of as-built documentation. In addition, the firm must include experience addressing unforeseen conditions and emergent situations, conducting situation evaluations and make midcourse corrections. Include description on how the firm can be proactive or responsive in these situations. The firm shall provide a detailed description of projects worked that illustrate experience in these ten areas. Projects must be within the last ten (10) years. 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: Sam Rayburn Memorial Veteran Center 1201 E. 9th Street Bonham, Texas 75418. Determination of the mileage will be based on Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/). The secondary selection criterion is used as a tiebreaker, if necessary, in ranking the most highly qualified firms following the completion of the SF330 evaluations. The secondary selection criterion will not be applied when determining a firm s SF330 submission Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Marginal, or Unacceptable. The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF330. 6. DISCUSSIONS/WRITTEN RESPONSE SELECTION CRITERIA: In accordance with FAR 36.602-3(c), discussions will be conducted in the form of a written response to questions developed by the TEB. The selected firms will be invited to respond to written questions related to criteria in the SF330s. The instructions for the written responses will be provided to the selected firms only. Each selected firm will be evaluated based on their responses to the questions asked. The highest-ranked firm will be selected based on their written response. The previous SF330 evaluations are not applicable during the written response phase of the Selection Process. 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: Submission Contents Firms are required to submit two documents: One SF330, Architect/Engineer Qualifications, and any attachments as a PDF on the SF330 form (form is available on-line at http://www.cfm.va.gov/contract/ae.asp). One separate document containing the following information: Cage code; Unique Entity Identifier (UEI); Tax ID Number; E-mail address(es) and Phone number(s) of the Primary Point(s) of Contact; Address of firm for correspondence; A copy of the firm s VetCert/Vendor Information Pages registration and verification Format of Submissions The page limitation of the SF330 PDF submission shall not exceed a total of 35 pages. This includes cover letters, title pages, section divider pages, table of contents, etc. Every page in the PDF will count toward this page limit except the CPARS reports/PPQs and Part II of the SF330. Each page shall be in in Times New Roman font, size 12, single spaced, on 8.5 x11 paper with 1 margins on all sides. Any pages in excess of the 35 pages that are not exempt will be removed and will not be evaluated. Submit ONE (1) SF 330, Statement of Qualifications and any attachments, and ONE (1) accompanying document containing the above SDVOSB information, via email to the Contracting Officer Rhonda.Richardson5@va.gov. The subject line of the email shall read: SF330 Submission; 36C77625R0010 CONSTRUCT BONHAM ENERGY CENTER, DESIGN PROJECT NO: 549A4-23-600, Bonham, TX The SF 330 PDF shall be submitted in one email and have a file size shall be no larger than 5 MB. No hard copies will be accepted. Firms not providing the required information may not be evaluated. All information must be included in the SF 330 submission package. Technical Questions: All questions shall be submitted to Rhonda.Richardson5@va.gov with the subject line SF330 Question - 36C77625R0010 CONSTRUCT BONHAM ENERGY CENTER, DESIGN PROJECT NO: 549A4-23-600, Bonham, TX The cutoff for question submission is 2:00 PM CT on January 7, 2025. Questions will be answered through amendment to the Pre-Solicitation Notice posted to Contracting Opportunities at SAM.gov. Submission Due Dates All responses are due via email on or before January 28, 2025, at 10:00 AM CST. NOTE: 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. All emails must be received by the VA email server by 10:00 AM CST. The time will NOT be based on when firms hit Send . DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS. Errors in email address spelling or attempts at emailing timely will not recover a late submission. Other Information All prime firms must meet the NAICS code requirement specified in this notice. The Contracting Officer shall verify the NAICS code in VetCert through the Small Business Administration (SBA) and/or the System for Award Management (SAM). Failure to meet the NAICS code requirement may result in the rejection of the SF330 submission. Reminder: This procurement is a 100% set-aside for SDVOSB concerns. Offers received from other than SDVOSB concerns will not be considered. All SDVOSBs must be listed as verified by the SBA Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert). Offerors must be verified and visible in the SBA VetCert database (Veteran Small Business Certification (sba.gov)) at TIME OF SUBMISSION OF SF330 s, WRITTEN RESPONSES, AND TIME OF AWARD. Failure to be BOTH visible and verified at the time of SF330s, Written Responses, and time of award will result in the offeror being deemed unacceptable and ineligible for award. NOTE: As of January 1, 2023, all SDVOSBs that were previously verified by the VA Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) were automatically granted certification by the SBA for the remainder of the firm s eligibility period. The SBA granted a one-time, one-year extension of certification to current SDVOSBs verified by the VA as of the transfer date on January 1, 2023. The additional year was added to the existing eligibility period of a current participant. New applicants certified by SBA after January 1, 2023, received the standard three-year certification period. The NDAA 2021 granted a one-year grace period for self-certified SDVOSBs that ended January 1, 2024. During the grace period, self-certified businesses had one year to file an application for SDVOSB certification and could continue to rely on their self-certification to compete for non-VA SDVOSB set-aside contracts. Self-certified SDVOSBs that applied before January 1, 2024, will maintain their eligibility through the expiration of the grace period until SBA issues a final eligibility decision. All Joint Ventures must be SBA verified at time of submission and submit agreements that comply with 13CFR 125.15 prior to contract award. It is the offeror s responsibility to check the Contract Opportunities website at: https://www.sam.gov/ for any revisions to this announcement prior to submission of SF 330s. See attached document: SOW Construct Bonham Energy center - Final 11-14-24. End of Document