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

INFORMATION REGARDING BIDDING MATERIAL, BID GUARANTEE AND BONDS 1.1 PROPOSAL MATERIAL: Proposal materials consisting of the specifications, other attachments, and contract forms are included and/or at... INFORMATION REGARDING BIDDING MATERIAL, BID GUARANTEE AND BONDS 1.1 PROPOSAL MATERIAL: Proposal materials consisting of the specifications, other attachments, and contract forms are included and/or attached as part of this Request For Proposal. The VA will not provide printed copies of the specifications or solicitation documents. It is the responsibility of the offeror to obtain the proposal materials in a time and manner sufficient to respond to this solicitation by the specified due date. 1.2 BID GUARANTEE: A Bid Guarantee, Standard Form (SF 24), is required in an amount not less than 20 percent of the proposal price but shall not exceed $3,000,000. Failure to furnish the required bid (proposal) guarantee in the proper form and amount, by the time set for receipt of proposals, may result in the rejection of the proposal. Copies of the SF 24 may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP. 1.3 PAYMENT & PERFORMANCE BONDS: The offeror to whom award is made will be required to furnish two bonds. A Payment Bond shall be provided on Standard Form 25A (SF 25A) and a Performance Bond shall be provided on Standard Form 25 (SF 25). Both bonds shall be submitted in accordance with FAR 52.228-15 Performance and Payment Bonds - Construction, which can be located under FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference. Copies of SFs 25A and 25 may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP. INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS TO BIDDERS/OFFERORS 2.1 AVAILABILITY OF SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS: All solicitation related documents will be published to https://sam.gov/. 2.2 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: This is a Request For Proposal (RFP) in accordance with FAR Part 15. Award will be made to the offeror whose proposal represents the “best value” to the Government utilizing the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) method of evaluation. Evaluation Factors include Factor 1 (Technical), and Factor 2 (Price). To receive consideration for award, a rating of ACCEPTABLE must be achieved for Factor 1 (Technical). Responsibility determination will be made in accordance with FAR 9.1, Responsible Prospective Contractors. All proposals shall be subject to evaluation by a team of Government personnel. The Government reserves the right to award without discussions based upon the initial evaluation of the proposals. Evaluations will be based on the following evaluation factors: Factor 2 - Technical Volume (Technical) Element 1 - Prior Experience Element 2 - Technical Approach Factor 1 - Price Proposal Requirement (Price) Price 2.3 SDVOSB SET-ASIDE: This procurement is 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concerns. Offers received from other than Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concerns will not be considered. All Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses must be listed as “verified” by the Small Business Administration (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 PROPOSALS AND TIME OF AWARD. Failure to be BOTH visible and verified at the time of proposal submission and time of award will result in the offeror’s proposal 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) are automatically granted certification by the SBA for the remainder of the firm’s eligibility period. The SBA intends to grant a one-time, one-year extension of certification to current SDVOSBs verified by the VA as of the transfer date on January 1, 2023. This additional year will be added to the existing eligibility period of a current participant. New applicants certified by SBA after January 1, 2023, will receive the standard three-year certification period. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA 2021) grants a one-year grace period for self-certified SDVOSBs until January 1, 2024. During the grace period, self-certified businesses have one year to file an application for SDVOSB certification and may continue to rely on their self-certification to compete for non-VA SDVOSB set-aside contracts. Self-certified SDVOSBs that apply before January 1, 2024, will maintain their eligibility through the expiration of the grace period until SBA issues a final eligibility decision. 2.4 PRE-PROPOSAL SITE VISIT: A formal site visit has been scheduled for this project. This will be the only opportunity for potential offerors to visit the site. All potential offerors, subcontractors, and suppliers are strongly encouraged to attend this site visit. All attendees are to meet at the lobby of 950 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, CT. Building 15 at the VA Connecticut Healthcare West Haven Campus on May 31, 2023 at 10:00 AM EST. See Attachment 15 – West have Site Plan 10.02.19. If further direction is needed, please call the COR Gary Barbour at 203-932-5711 ext 5122. All attendees are required to wear a medical grade mask, that covers the nose and mouth, at all times while inside the Connecticut Healthcare West Haven Campus. Parking is largely open across the campus. We ask that contractors refrain from parking in handicap (unless applicable), fire lanes, or other specially designated spaces. These are clearly marked for visitors’ expediency. NOTE: Although not required, it is highly recommended that those who attend the pre-proposal site visit for this project, review the drawings ahead of time. Due to the continued care of our veterans, there may be areas that cannot be accessed during the pre-proposal site visit. Any questions regarding these areas can be addressed during the technical question period of the solicitation. See FAR 52.236-27 of this solicitation for further information. 2.5 TECHNICAL QUESTIONS: Questions of a technical nature must be provided in writing and shall be submitted by the prospective offerors to Shardae Webb. Questions shall be submitted only via e-mail to: Shardae.Webb@va.gov . The subject line must read: West Haven VAMC – New Inpatient Pharmacy - Technical Questions. Oral questions of a technical nature are not acceptable due to the possibility of misunderstanding or misinterpretation. THE CUT-OFF DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF TECHNICAL QUESTIONS IS JUNE 5 , 2023 at 1:00 PM (ET). 2.6 AMENDMENTS: Amendments to this solicitation will be posted at https://sam.gov/. Paper copies of the amendments will NOT be individually mailed. No other notification of amendments will be provided. Potential offerors are advised that they are responsible for obtaining and acknowledging any amendments to the solicitation. Failure to acknowledge an amendment may result in your proposal being considered unacceptable. 2.7 PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS: The Government will not pay for any costs incurred in preparation and submission of proposals. 2.8 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS: Proposal Submission: Offerors shall submit their proposals via email to Shardae.Webb@va.gov. Proposals shall be based on solicitation document issued for RFP number 36C77622R0139. Proposals will be in the format stipulated in this document. Proposals shall be received on or before the date and time specified in Block 13 of the SF 1442. There will be no public opening of the proposals. Only e-mail proposals will be accepted. Hard-copy proposals will not be accepted. Proposals shall be submitted only via e-mail to Shardae Webb shardae.webb@va.gov on or before June 21, 2023 at 2:00 PM (ET). The subject line must read: (Firm Name) - West Haven VAMC – New Inpatient Pharmacy – 36C77622R0139 – (Volume I, II or III) Proposal Format: Technical, Price and Administrative sections of the Offerors proposals will be evaluated independently; therefore, the Offeror shall submit the proposal in three (3) Volumes via email: Volume I Technical, Volume II Price and Volume III Administrative. In order that the Volume I Technical may be evaluated strictly on the merit of the material submitted, the contractor shall include NO price information in Volume I. Offeror shall separate Volumes I, II and III. Each volume must be labeled with the Offeror's organization, business address, and VA Solicitation Number. The volumes shall be submitted in electronic format as searchable PDF documents. The proposal, in its entirety, shall not exceed three (3) emails (one email for each volume) and a total of 5MB each. Include page numbers and the company name in the header or footer of each page. Volume I Technical: Offerors shall format the Volume I Technical proposal as listed below. The specific evaluation criteria and methodology for Volume I is contained in Sections D and F. The offer, including title page, detailed table of contents, preface, for Volume I Technical shall not exceed a total of FIFTEEN (15) pages (title page, table of contents and preface are excluded from the page limits) in Microsoft, Times New Roman 12 font. The Offeror shall not include any price or price related material in the Volume I proposal. Use graphic presentations where such use will contribute to the compactness and clarity of the proposal. A page is defined as each face of an 8.5 X 11-inch sheet of paper containing information. Note, submission of the draft project schedule only, can be submitted by utilizing larger paper (11 X 17 inch). All information (except for document numbers, page numbers, etc.) shall be provided in an image area of 7 X 9 inches. Note, this does not apply for the submission of the draft project schedule. The background color of each page of the submission shall be white or ivory stock only. Excess pages will not be evaluated. Text lines will be single-spaced. A smaller font size for any graphics presented in a proposal is permitted as long as the information is legible to the human eye. Fonts other than Arial are permissible in the presentation of graphic material only. The Offeror’s responses shall clearly address each evaluation factor listed in this solicitation. Failure to submit in the format required and clearly address those factors may result in this offer being rated unacceptable. Volume II Price: Offerors shall format the Volume II Price proposal as listed below. The specific evaluation criteria and methodology for Volume II is contained in Sections E and F. Volume II Price shall not exceed a total of TEN (10) pages in Times New Roman size 12 font. Offerors shall complete the Price Schedule in part A of this solicitation. Offerors shall ensure the Signed Standard Form (SF) 1442 is provided. Offerors shall acknowledge receiving amendments by filing out the section 19 of the SF 1442. In addition to the Price Schedule, offerors shall submit a complete breakdown of the Division Pricing of Line items. Bid Guarantee: The Offeror shall furnish a bid guarantee as stipulated solicitation (see FAR 52.228-1). Pricing shall be Firm Fixed Price. The bid guarantee shall be provided on Standard Form 24. The bid bond shall be submitted as part of the electronic submission. Failure to furnish the required bid guarantee on the proper form and for the proper amount by the time specified in Block 13 of SF 1442, may result in rejection of the proposal. Volume III Administrative Information: Offerors shall include the following in Volume III. All of the below information must be provided. An Offeror may be considered unacceptable if these items are not provided in the proposal. Offeror shall return a signed copy of the amendment(s) that are acknowledged in section 19 of the SF 1442. Representations & Certifications: As the provision at FAR 52.204-7 is included in the solicitation, FAR 52.204-8 (d) applies and the fill-in for FAR 52.204-8 (b)(2) does not need to be completed. The offeror is required to complete the annual representations and certifications electronically at https://www.sam.gov. A copy of the completed annual representations and certification shall be submitted with proposal. Offeror shall conform to VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting in accordance with VAAR 852.219-77 to submit required certification. A copy of this certification shall be submitted with proposal. Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment: Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.204-24 (c) Representation. Information Regarding Responsibility Matters: Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-7 (b) Information Regarding Responsibility Matters. Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements: Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-13 (b) (1) or (2) Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements. A copy of this response shall be submitted. Post Award Small Business Program Representations: Offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.219-28 (g) Post-Award Small Business Program Representations. Experience Modification Rate: The Offeror shall include the Safety of Environmental Violations and Experience Modification Rating (EMR) Information, including filling out the attached document Contractor Safety and Environmental Record Evaluation Form. Provide offeror’s information pertaining to their past Safety and Environmental record. The information must contain a certification that the offeror has no more than three (3) serious, or one (1) repeat or one (1) willful OSHA or any EPA violation(s) in the past three years. If such certification cannot be made, a Offeror shall explain why and submit as much information as possible regarding the circumstances of its past safety and environmental record, including the number of EPA violations and/or the number of serious, repeat, and/or willful OSHA violations, along with a detailed description of those violations. Provide offeror’s information regarding their current EMR. This information shall be obtained from the Offeror’s insurance carrier and be furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead. If a Offeror’s EMR is above 1.0, Offeror must submit a written explanation of the EMR from its insurance carrier furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead, describing the reasons for the elevated EMR and the anticipated date the EMR may be reduced to 1.0 or below. Self-insured contractors or other contractors that cannot provide their EMR rating on insurance letterhead must obtain a rating from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI) by completing/submitting form ERM-6 and providing the rating on letterhead from NCCI. Note: Self-insured contractors or other contractors that cannot provide EMR rating on insurance letterhead from the states or territories of CA, DE, MI, NJ, ND, OH, PA, WA, WY, and PR shall obtain their EMR rating from their state run worker’s compensation insurance rating bureau. If the NCCI cannot issue an EMR because the Bidder/Offeror lacks insurance history, Bidder/Offeror shall submit a letter indicating so from its insurance carrier furnished on the insurance carrier’s letterhead, and include a letter from the NCCI indicating that is has assigned Bidder/Offeror a Unity Rating of 1.0. The above information, along with other information obtained from Government systems, such as the OSHA and EPA online inspection history databases, will be used to make an initial Determination of Responsibility. This requirement is applicable to all subcontracting tiers, and prospective prime contractors are responsible for determining the responsibility of their prospective subcontractors. Failure to provide the above documentation, may result in a determination that an Offeror is non-responsive and therefore ineligible for award. Final Proposal Revisions If determined to be necessary, proposal revisions will be requested from the proposals received. The CO will identify those Offerors, whose proposals are within the competitive range, considering the selection criteria identified in this section. Discussions may be conducted with those Offerors falling within the competitive range, after which proposal revisions will be requested. Sealed proposal revisions will be submitted as per Section 2.7(A), above, except as noted below and will be due at a time and place to be determined. Offerors submitting proposal revisions will not be requested to re-submit any documents which are unchanged from their initial proposals. They should provide necessary changes to individual paragraphs, as briefly as possible, together with a table of contents, which clarifies where within the initial proposal the additional information or changed documents would be placed. Proposal revisions shall include a completed SF 1442 that acknowledges receiving all amendments, by number. A new bid bond shall be submitted only if the final proposal revisions Offeror’s price proposal is greater than its initial price proposal. *Note this section 2.7(C) only applies if discussions are conducted Volume I – Technical Proposal Requirements: The proposal shall address the following submission requirements for Volume 1 (Technical). Volume I, Factor 1 Technical - Element 1, Prior Experience: Prepare and submit no more than 4 projects completed within the last 5 years, detailing your firm's experience as a prime contractor with erecting, renovating, or altering, facilities intended for the storage and distribution of medication to patients (inpatient pharmacy, IV Rooms, etc). Offerors must submit project references and the proposal narrative shall adequately describe the projects that are relevant to this requirement that were preformed directly by the General Contractor. The narrative shall also address any equipment to be utilized (owned or rented); and any other documentation relative to this project to demonstrate expertise in pharmacy construction. Offerors who submit proposals with no prior experience will be rated as neutral, equaling an acceptable rating. Volume I, Factor 1 Technical - Element 2, Technical Approach: Offerors must clearly demonstrate their understanding of the project requirements Including phasing and scheduling of activities in accordance with the construction documents. Simply restating the requirements (copying and pasting from the solicitation) is not considered to be a demonstration of complete understanding. Rather, Offerors must show that they have analyzed the requirements and demonstrate the extent to which they understand the requirements across the body of the proposal. Contractors shall specifically demonstrate the following: Having familiarity with USP 797 and USP 800 requirements and have designed/ constructed buffer rooms that meet USP 797 and USP 800 requirements which include the special HVAC requirements. Phasing plan following project solicitation plans, and specifications demonstrating ability to follow documents and mitigate major impacts to patient care, pedestrian travel, vehicular traffic, and manage offsite storage as well as limited onsite storage. Understanding of site constraints and working within those constraints outlined in the plans and specifications. Volume II – Price Proposal Requirement: The proposal shall address the following submission requirements for Volume II (Price). Volume II – Factor 3, Price Proposal Requirements Carefully follow “Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors”. Standard form (SF) 1442 Solicitation, Offer and Award (Construction, Alteration, or Repair) and the pricing schedule when submitting price offers. Submit a bid guarantee as stipulated in the solicitation. In addition to the pricing schedule, Offerors shall submit a complete Breakdown of the Division Pricing for CLIN 0001. The Division Pricing will be used to determine price reasonableness. This is found as attachment 19. The prices shall be Firm Fixed Price. The Offeror shall take care not to include remarks that take exception to the Government’s Specifications/Drawings or pricing requirements or otherwise preclude the Government from evaluating the offer or render the offer as unacceptable. If the Offeror communicates in its proposal any qualifications, exceptions, exclusions, or conditions to the proposed prices not provided for in the Offerors proposal documents, the Contracting Officer may reject the proposal and exclude the Offeror from further discussions. Evaluation of Offers Methodology: All Offerors are advised that, in the interest of efficiency, the Government reserves the right to conduct the evaluation in the most effective manner. Specifically, the Government may first evaluate the total proposed price of all Offerors. Thereafter, the Government will evaluate the technical proposal of the lowest priced Offeror only. If the lowest priced Offeror’s technical proposal is determined to be rated as Acceptable, the Government may make award to that Offeror without further evaluation of the remaining Offerors’ technical proposals. If the lowest priced Offeror’s technical proposal is determined to be rated as Unacceptable, then the Government may evaluate the next lowest priced technical proposal, and so forth and so on, until the Government reaches the lowest priced technical proposal that is determined to be rated as acceptable. However, the Government reserves the right to evaluate all Offerors’ technical proposals should it desire to conduct discussions, or otherwise determine it to be in the Government’s best interest. Volume I, Factor 1 Technical – Element 1, Prior Experience: Offerors will be required to submit the information on Prior Experience. Information submitted will be reviewed to determine if the offeror’s technical rating is ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE. Offerors who submit proposals with no prior experience will be rated as neutral, equaling an acceptable rating. Acceptable is defined as the Offeror demonstrated the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Unacceptable is defined as the Offeror failed to demonstrate the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Minimum requirements are defined as the Offeror has clearly analyzed requirements outlined in the project scope and demonstrated a clear understanding of the project and adequately demonstrated their construction experience to complete this project. Each criteria element must be addressed to be deemed acceptable, including: Prepare and submit no more than 4 projects completed within the last 5 years, detailing your firm's experience as a prime contractor with erecting, renovating, or altering, facilities intended for the storage and distribution of medication to patients (inpatient pharmacy, IV Rooms, etc). Only include projects that have been successfully completed. Offerors must submit project references and the proposal narrative shall adequately describe the projects that are relevant to this requirement that were preformed directly by the General Contractor. The narrative shall also address any equipment to be utilized (owned or rented); and any other documentation relative to this project to demonstrate expertise in pharmacy construction. Offerors who submit proposals with no prior experience will be rated as neutral, equaling an acceptable rating. Volume I, Factor – Technical – Element 2, Technical Approach Offerors will be required to submit the information on Technical Approach. Information submitted will be reviewed to determine if the offeror’s technical rating is ACCEPTABLE or UNACCEPTABLE. Acceptable is defined as the Offeror demonstrated the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Unacceptable is defined as the Offeror failed to demonstrate the ability to meet all of the Government’s minimum requirements as identified in the solicitation. Minimum requirements are defined as the Offeror has clearly analyzed requirements outlined in the project scope and demonstrated a clear understanding of the project and adequately demonstrated their construction experience to complete this project. Each criteria element must be addressed to be deemed acceptable, including: Having familiarity with USP 797 and USP 800 requirements and have designed/ constructed buffer rooms that meet USP 797 and USP 800 requirements which include the special HVAC requirements. Phasing plan following project solicitation plans, and specifications demonstrating ability to follow documents and mitigate major impacts to patient care, pedestrian travel, vehicular traffic, and manage offsite storage as well as limited onsite storage. Understanding of site constraints and working within those constraints outlined in the plans and specifications. Volume II Factor 3, Price: The total evaluated price will be determined by the Offeror's price for CLIN 0001 on the pricing schedule. The Offeror who provides the lowest price will be determined to be the lowest priced Offeror. In addition to the pricing schedule, Offerors shall submit a complete Breakdown of the Division Pricing for CLIN 0001. The Division Pricing will be used to determine price reasonableness. The Breakdown of the Division Pricing is found as attachment 19 to the solicitation. If the Offeror communicates in its proposal any qualifications, exceptions, exclusions, or conditions to the proposed prices, the Contracting Officer may reject the proposal and exclude the Offeror from further consideration for award. 2.9 DETERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITY: A Determination of Responsibility will be conducted for the apparent successful offeror prior to award of the project. The above information, along with other information obtained from Government systems, such as, but not limited to the OSHA and EPA online inspection history databases, as well as any other information the Contracting Officer has determined to be valid, will be used to make the Determination of Responsibility. NOTE: Any information received by the Government that would be cause for a negative Determination of Responsibility may make the offeror ineligible for award. 2.10 VETS 4212: Title 38, USC Section 4212(d), codified at 41 CFR Section 61-300, requires that federal contractors report, at least annually, the number and category of veterans who are within their workforce. Submission of the VETS-4212 reporting information can be done electronically at: http://www.dol.gov/vets/vets4212.htm. Award cannot be made unless the awardee has filed their VETS-4212 report. Therefore, all Offerors are encouraged to file every year. The Contracting Officer may request a copy of the email confirmation of receipt notification, prior to awarding the project.