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

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.... 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 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Program Contracting Activity Central (PCAC) is seeking sources and intends to award a firm fixed price design contract for Architect-Engineering (A-E) services for Project #541-379 Expand Annex Cleveland, OH project located at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center (VHACLE). The A-E must provide design and construction period services to include investigative services, planning consultations and visits, comprehensive design work, preparation of contract drawings and specifications, preparation of cost estimates, construction period services, site visits, reports, as-built drawings, and other design services necessary for a complete project. 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 (FAR) subpart 36.6 Architectural and Engineering Services, VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 836.6, and VA Acquisition Manual (VAAM) 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 Architectural Services and the annual small business size standard is $12.5M. Please note, the VA has thoroughly reviewed this NAICS code and had determined that it is the correct NAICS for the work being performed. A full design team is required to complete this project. The VA expects to award the anticipated A-E contract in March 2024. The anticipated period of performance for completion of design is 350 calendar days after notice of award (NOA). The VAAR Magnitude of Construction for this project is between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000. 3. SCOPE OF DESIGN This procurement is to obtain all professional A-E services for the Expand Annex Cleveland, OH project located at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center (VHACLE). The purpose of this project is to design: This is a multi-phased project that will add one additional 10,900 sf floor onto the existing Annex building, renovate 3,500 sf of vacated space within the medical center, and create a 2,000 sf connector from the Annex through the parking garage to the main hospital. This project provides complete electrical, technology, mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, structural, architectural, and interior design documentation. a. Police Service will be relocated from the Ambulatory Care area of the hospital to 6,000 sf of new space in the Annex i. Relocating Police will enable renovation of the current Police suite into a Patient Welcome center for Veteran Patients. The Welcome Center will provide resources for Veterans including whole health, mental health, homelessness, benefits delivery, women s health, research, medical specialty services, primary care, and inpatient offerings. This feature would consolidate patient education and customer service support into a single location to prevent information silos. b. The remaining 4,900 sf of new space will accommodate much needed clinical admin support space for medical specialty functions. c. A 2,000 sf conditioned connector will be constructed through the garage to provide safe access for patients and staff when walking between the Annex and the hospital. d. A 2,500 sf Ketamine clinic in space that is being vacated by the PAOC. This will allow for the program to serve both outpatient and inpatient Veteran needs to treat depression. It would further support initiatives in place to pursue opportunities for Cleveland to be a VISN Center of Excellence for Ketamine treatment for Veterans across VISN 10. The A-E must be professionally licensed in any state in the United States. The A-E is responsible for all services to complete the deliverables listed in the SOW. The deliverables outlined in the SOW are inclusive of the following: Six submissions are required (SD, DD, 65%, 90%, 100%, and Final) plus a Bid Issue submission which constitutes a complete bid package consisting of drawings, specifications, and detailed cost estimate. Please note that the 350-calendar-day period of performance for the design completion begins with the issuance of the NOA and that a notice to proceed (NTP) will not be issued for the completion of a design project. The solicitation support services will be an option item that will be exercised after acceptance of the final design. The period of performance for solicitation support services will match the solicitation period for the construction project. The construction period services will be option items that will be exercised after the award of the construction project. The period of performance for construction period services will match the period of performance for the construction project. 4. A-E SELECTION PROCESS Firms submitting SF 330s 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 initial selection evaluation. The selection process will include the evaluation of qualifications (SF 330s), discussions (interview/written responses), and fee proposal negotiations with the highest rated firm. Pricing will not be included in the evaluation factors for either the SF 330s or the interview/written responses. The evaluation of qualifications consists of the review of the provided SF 330s and determination of the highest rated firms. A minimum of three of the highest rated firms will then be shortlisted and invited to continue with discussions. All firms not shortlisted will be notified at this time. In accordance with FAR 36.607(b), any requested debriefings of successful and unsuccessful firms will be held after final selection has taken place and will be conducted, to the extent practicable, in accordance with 15.503, 15.506(b) through (f), and 15.507(c). Note that 15.506(d)(2) through (d)(5) do not apply to architect-engineer contracts. The discussions consist of the evaluation of the interview/written responses provided by the shortlisted firms and selection of the top ranked firm. The prior evaluation of the SF 330s will not be taken into consideration during the final evaluation and ranking. The firms selected to participate in discussions will be notified by email of selection and provided further instructions, including all submission requirements and a reiteration of the factors. After the discussions are conducted, the firms will be evaluated, and the highest rated firm will be selected to receive the solicitation and engage in negotiations. The solicitation will be issued to the highest rated firm as a Request for Fee Proposal (RFP). All SOW attachments and site-specific documentation will be provided to the highest rated firm with the RFP. A site visit will be authorized during the negotiation process. Award selection will be made based on the results of the discussions and successful negotiation of rates and fees for the project. If negotiations are not successful with the highest rated firm, they will continue with the next highest rated firm, and so on until award can be made. 5. QUALIFICATIONS (SF 330) SELECTION CRITERIA The following factors are listed in descending order of importance: Primary Selection Criteria: Specialized Experience and Technical Competence: Specialized experience and technical competence in the design and construction period services shall be provided for multi-phased building addition and interior specialty clinic renovations. Work shall include Programming, Design Submissions, Site Investigation/Field Verification, Asbestos Testing, Construction Documents, Technical Specifications, Cost Estimates, Reports, Medical Equipment Planning, and Construction Administration Services. Projects experience should include Government and private sector experience on projects similar in size, scope and complexity and experience with project phasing to maintain hospital operations during construction. The evaluation will consider the management approach, coordination of disciplines and subcontractors, quality control procedures, prior experience of the prime firm and any key subcontractors working together on relevant projects and familiarity with VA Design Guides/ Manuals, Master Specifications, and other applicable standards. Other specialized experience includes experience in critical path scheduling, fire protection, construction infection control protocols, energy conservation, transition, and sustainable design practices. Submissions shall include no more and no less than five (5) recent and relevant Government and private experience projects similar in size scope and complexity, and experience with the type of projects/competence above. Relevant is defined as those task requirements identified in the Statement of Work. Recent is defined as services provided within the past 5 (five) years. Each project shall include the following: Project title, location and detailed narrative describing the scope of services provided including the type of work performed by the offeror and its role in the project i.e. prime contract, Teaming Partner or subcontractor Project Owner, owner s point of contact including telephone number and email address. Services & Deliverables provided under the contract/task order Period of Performance, including start and completion dates Total dollar value of the project Contract number associated with the project. 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. Professional Qualifications (Sections C through E) necessary for satisfactory performance of required service. The A-E shall demonstrate they are able to sign and stamp each drawing by individuals licensed in any state in the United States for the key positions listed below. Provide Professional License numbers and/or proof of Licensure. The evaluation shall consider the specific experience (minimum of five 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. Firms must provide a Section E Resume of each of the following key personnel. Key positions and disciplines required for this project include, but are not limited to: Project Manager Architect (LEED certified) CADD Technician Estimator Electrical Engineer Mechanical Engineer Plumbing Engineer Fire Protection Engineer Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD) Structural Engineer Industrial Hygienist Quality Assurance Physical Security Specialists Commissioning Agent At a minimum, the offeror shall describe the professional qualifications of project team and have not less than five (5) years of experience in the required disciplines. Offer must include the following statement of 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. Past performance: 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. 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. Capacity: 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 required time. Provide the available capacity of key disciplines by providing current project workload, inclusive of all projects awarded by the VA during the previous 12 months and the full potential value of any current indefinite delivery contracts. Offeror shall clearly state their available capacity presenting workload percentages 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 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. Experience in construction period services: Experience in construction period ser-vices to include solicitation support services, professional field inspections during the construction period, coordination with commissioning requirements, 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, and production of as-built documentation. The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF 330. Knowledge of Locality: Knowledge of the locality, 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, how far away the firm/branch office is from the site, and how they would travel to the site. Information related to the firm s location shall instead be provided in Section H under Secondary Selection Criterion Factor 1, Geographic Location. See below. Secondary Selection Criterion*: Geographic Location: Location of the firm, as measured by the driving distance (miles) between the Offeror s principal business location and the project site. 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 SF 330 evaluations. The secondary selection criterion will not be applied when determining a firm s SF 330 submission Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Marginal, or Unacceptable. The information for this factor must be provided in section H of the SF 330. 6. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS The below information contains the instructions and format that must be followed for the submission of the SF 330 Statement of Qualifications: Submit ONE (1) SF 330 Statement of Qualifications to Contract Specialist Nicholas Rolin at nicholas.rolin@va.gov . This must include Parts I and II and any applicable attachments. The submission must include the SF 330, Architect-Engineer Qualifications (form is available online at http://www.cfm.va.gov/contract/ae.asp). The SF 330 submission is due by 10:00 AM ET on Tuesday November 7, 2023. The SF 330 must be submitted in one email and have a file size no larger than 5 MB. No hard copies will be accepted. The subject line of the email must read: SF 330 Submission - 36C77623R0183 Cleveland Minor Design- Expand Annex. The SF 330 submission must not exceed a total of 50 pages. This includes CPARS and/or PPQs and any other relevant information. Any pages submitted by an offeror that exceed the limit will not be considered during the evaluation. Each page must be in Arial size 12 font, single spaced. The title page, table of contents, and Part II of the SF 330 will NOT count toward the page limitation. A PPQ obtained for another SF 330 submission may be submitted for this project. However, if significant portions of the project have been completed since the PPQ was filled out, a new PPQ should be submitted to accurately assess the project. *Note: All PPQs should be completed by the evaluator and returned to the A-E firm. The submitting A-E firm must incorporate completed PPQs into the SF 330 document. PPQs should not be submitted by the evaluator directly to VHA PCAC. Firms must include the following information in section B of the SF 330 submission: SAM Unique Entity Identifier Tax ID number Cage code Primary point of contact s email address and phone number All questions must be submitted to nicholas.rolin@va.gov with the subject line SF 330 Questions - Cleveland Minor Design- Expand Annex. This procurement is a 100% set-aside for SDVOSB concerns. Offers received from other than SDVOSBs will not be considered. Offerors must be certified as SDVOSBs by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and visible in the Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) database (https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/) at the time of SF 330 submission, interview/written responses, and award. Failure to be certified in the VetCert database at these times will result in the offeror being deemed ineligible for award. All joint ventures must be SBA certified at the time of SF 330 submission interview/written responses, and award and must submit agreements that comply with 13 CFR 128.402 prior to contract award. All prime firms must meet the NAICS code requirement specified in this notice. The Contracting Officer will verify the NAICS code in VetCert. Failure to meet the NAICS code requirement may result in the rejection of the SF 330 submission. 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. Firms not providing the required information may not be evaluated. All information must be included in the SF 330 submission package. It is the offeror s responsibility to check the Contract Opportunities website at SAM.gov for any revisions to this announcement prior to submitting their SF 330.