Inactive

SYNOPSIS: INTRODUCTION: In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 10.002(b)(2), this Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is for market research and information purposes only at this time and sha... SYNOPSIS: INTRODUCTION: In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 10.002(b)(2), this Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is for market research and information purposes only at this time and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Program Contracting Activity Central (PCAC) is conducting a market survey and is seeking potential sources for an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) for construction projects in federally owned and leased facilities supported by Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 8 servicing the VA Caribbean Healthcare System. This IDIQ MATOC will cover major medical facilities and other various related off-site VA medical facilities in the Puerto Rico (PR) and Virgin Island (VI) regions. (IDIQ MATOC Caribbean). The main VISN 8 facilities covered under this MATOC are: Arecebo VA Clinic, PR Ceiba VA Clinic, PR Comerio VA Clinic, PR Euripides Rubio Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, PR Guayama VA Clinic, PR Mayaguez VA Clinic, PR Saint Croix VA Clinic, VI Saint Thomas VA Clinic, VI San Juan VA Medical Center, PR Utuado VA Clinic, PR Vieques VA Clinic, PR Companies interested in participating in the solicitation for the VISN 8 MATOC Caribbean should submit a response to this notice as described below. The responses will help the VA to determine the level of industry interest by socio-economic categories within the small business communities. The Request for Information (RFI) reference ID for this SSN is 36C77624Q0221. A previous SSN was posted under RFI ID 36C24823Q0429 in January 2024 for a similar vehicle; any response provided under that RFI ID will not be reviewed for this SSN. Therefore, you must respond to this SSN with the information requested in this notice to be evaluated. Please do not re-submit the same response as the information requested is different. SPECIAL NOTE: This note is to highlight special circumstances related to the VA Caribbean Healthcare System. Wage Determination: The prevailing Wage Determination for Puerto Rico is not applicable for this procurement. The Wage Rate Requirements (Construction), formerly known as Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) does not apply to federal construction contracts in Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands or other territories. However, some related Acts which provide federal assistance to local Government bodies in these territories do require the payment of prevailing wage rates. Payment of Municipality Taxes in Puerto Rico: The Contractors shall be responsible for all Municipality Taxes also known as Arbitrios Municipales and patents for all construction projects, when a proposal is submitted to the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Caribbean Healthcare System, Puerto Rico. Each Contractor shall make an assessment with the Centro de Recaudaciones e Ingresos Municipales known as CRIM from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Contractors shall be responsible to find out the applicable municipality construction taxes and patents where the construction project will be performed with each local Government offices (i.e. San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, etc.). If the Contractor fails to include the applicable municipality construction taxes and patents with their proposed cost/price proposal, the Contractor will be solely responsible for the omitted cost/price. Daylight Savings Time: No Daylight-Saving time is observed in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Christmas Bonus Law: Puerto Rico Christmas Bonus Law No. 148 of June 30, 1969, as amended, is applicable to all businesses working in Puerto Rico. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: VISN 8 has a requirement for on-going facility support for general construction, alteration, modification, maintenance and repair, demolition and new construction of buildings, facilities and real property for the above listed major medical facilities and other various related off-site VA medical facilities in the Puerto Rico and Virgin Island regions. The services for this project will include providing all construction related services such as: providing labor, materials and equipment required to complete the project as per contract documents. The IDIQ MATOC will cover all construction projects, to include Minor, Major, and non-recurring maintenance (NRM) projects. Projects will include but is not limited to the following: New Construction additional square feet requirements, construction of new facilities, design-build for construction of new facilities. Maintenance, Repair & Alteration - general and specialized construction work on commercial and institutional buildings, both interior and exterior, specifically hospital construction. Mechanical - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement of heating and air-conditioning equipment. Electrical - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement of electrical wiring and equipment. Plumbing - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement of plumbing and equipment. Masonry - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement of masonry work, stone setting, brick laying and other stonework. Site Work - excavation, grading, demolition of buildings and other structures; earth moving and land clearing of buildings and non-buildings; landscaping, fencing, storm drainage, limited environmental remediation; asphalt and concrete paving excavation. Roofing - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement of roofs (spraying, painting, or coating and installation of roofing and skylights). Renovation - maintenance, repair, alterations, and addition in insulation, painting and wall covering work; flooring work, tile and terrazzo work, carpeting, and finish carpentry work. Drywall - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement of drywall, plaster/stucco work, and building insulation work. Interior and Exterior Improvements - maintenance, repair, alterations, addition, installation, and replacement window and door installation, exterior and interior painting, fire protection, installation of acoustical ceilings, demolition, abatement, asbestos, and limited utilities. PROCUREMENT INFORMATION: The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for all work under the IDIQ MATOC is 236220 General Construction, with a size standard of $45 Million. PCAC anticipates awarding multiple construction IDIQ contracts to cover the facilities listed above. The anticipated maximum contract value for all work issued under the MATOC is $700 Million. IDIQs will not have an individual contract ceiling/maximum. The ordering period of the IDIQ will be five years. The resulting contracts will not have fixed unit costs. All contract work will be completed through individual Firm Fixed Price (FFP) task orders awarded against the established IDIQ MATOC for individual construction projects. Each task order will be priced individually and will include its own wage determination. These task orders will be competed amongst the IDIQ awardees. Each task order will have its own period of performance established. Typical task orders will consist of providing all labor, tools, equipment, material, and supervision needed to provide construction services including renovations/alterations and new construction of hospital spaces and infrastructure. Significant sub-contracting opportunities can be expected to include a variety of trades including roofing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, carpentry, roadwork, paving, painting, masonry, fencing, demolition, abatement and excavation. The anticipated task orders will be competitive, firm-fixed-price contracts utilizing the design-bid-build approach (final Specifications and Drawings will be provided by the VA) or design-build approach (Awardee will be responsible for design and construction). The anticipated task order solicitations will be issued either as a Request For Proposal (RFP) in accordance with FAR Part 15, considering Technical and Price Factors as either trade-offs or lowest price technically acceptable, or as an Invitation for Bid (IFB) in accordance with FAR Part 14, considering Price only. SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION: This notice is published to conduct market research to determine if there is a sufficient number of verified Service-Disabled/Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs/VOSBs), Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) and small businesses (SBs) capable of performing the requirements. The type of socio-economic set-aside, if any, will depend upon the responses to this notice and any other information gathered during the market research process. In order to be eligible as an SDVOSB or VOSB, a firm must be registered under the applicable NAICS in SBA VetCert. Registration may be accomplished at https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/. Additionally, all interested firms must have an active registration in SAM at www.sam.gov. The SBA Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program applies to this requirement. Prospective offerors are encouraged to seek assistance from their Procurement Technical Assistance Center regarding the SBA Small Business Mentor Protégé Program within the framework of a Joint Venture Agreement. The JV itself and the members of the JV shall be registered in SAM.gov at time of submission of the offer and throughout the performance of the contract. Members of the JV (i.e., parties to the JV) shall be registered and listed as mentor and protégé, respectively, in the SBA Mentor-Protégé Program (SBA MPP) database at time of submission of the offer. 13 CFR 125.9. (https://www.sba.gov/mpp) In accordance with the Limitations on Subcontracting, any small business prime contractor shall perform at least 15% of the cost of the contract, not including the cost of materials, with its own employees for general construction-type procurements. (See 13 CFR § 125.6). Prior Government contract work is not required for submitting a response under this SSN. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Interested parties meeting the requirements of this notice must submit the following information: (1) Provide company name, DUNS number and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), company address, Point-of-Contact name, phone number and email; (2) Provide company business size based on NAICS code 236220. Also, provide business type (i.e., Large Business, Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned Small Business, Hub Zone Small Business, etc.); (3) A positive statement of your intention to submit a proposal for evaluation of the IDIQ MATOC when the solicitation is posted. As part of this statement, please indicate if your firm is more likely to submit a proposal if task orders are competed as a FAR 14, Invitation for Bid, (Price Only) as opposed to a FAR 15 solicitation which includes technical factors other than price under a Request for Proposal. Would a FAR 15 procurement dissuade you from submitting a task order proposal? (4) Provide a Capability Statement describing the type of work your company has performed in the past in support of the same or similar requirement. This section is IMPORTANT as it will help to determine the type of socio-economic set-aside, if any. Please provide the following in your response: No more than three (3) contracts that your company has performed within the last seven (7) years that are of comparable size, complexity, and scope to the types of requirements covered under this vehicle. Include the project name, project owner and contact information as this person may be contacted for further information, project scope, project size (Example: square footage), building use (Example: Medical Facility, Office Building, etc.), project dollar value, start and completion dates. Describe specific technical skills and key personnel your company possess to perform the requirements described in this notice Describe your Self-Performed** effort (as either a Prime or Subcontractor). Describe Self-Performed work in terms of dollar value and description. **Self-Performed means work performed by the offeror themselves, NOT work performed by another company for them for any of the project examples provided Provide a response to each of the following items: Describe your company s experience managing construction projects; Describe your company s experience managing construction projects in an active hospital. Discuss your experience with managing the following types of contracts. What was the dollar value and project title, and what was your role, if applicable? New Design-Build Construction projects New Design-Bid-Build Construction projects NRM projects in a healthcare facility EHRM Infrastructure Upgrade Construction projects Describe your experience demonstrating an ability to manage multiple simultaneous construction crews, and how you plan to adequately staff to work multiple areas of the project at once to reduce schedule impact? Describe your experience, if any, as an IDIQ holder and completing simultaneous task orders; Include your demonstrated ability to manage subcontractors and maintain work schedule timelines. (5) Provide the prime contractor s Bonding Capability (construction bonding level per contract and aggregate construction bonding level, both expressed in dollars) via letter from bonding company; (6) Statement acknowledging the limitations on subcontracting; (7) Attachment 1 indicating the areas of interest and price category ranges; (8) Attachment 2, PLA questionnaire; and (9) Any other pertinent company documentation. It is requested that interested contractors submit a response (electronic submission) of no more than ten (10) single sided pages, single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font minimum that addresses the above information (this is inclusive of the PLA questionnaire and Attachment 1). This response must be submitted as a single application-generated (not scanned) PDF document that is less than or equal to 5MB in size. Please note that hard copies will not be accepted. Please also include a cover page, which includes, at a minimum: the company s name, address, Dun & Bradstreet number, Unique Entity Identifier (if available), socio-economic status, point-of-contact name, phone number, and e-mail address. Responses must include 36C77624Q0221 Sources Sought VISN 8 MATOC Caribbean in the subject line of their e-mail response. Submissions (responses) shall be submitted via email to the primary and secondary points of contact listed below by June 14, 2024, at 5:00 PM ET. No phone calls will be accepted. DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a solicitation. Information submitted to in response to this SSN is strictly voluntary. The Government will not award a contract based on this notice. This notice is a request by the Government to collect information from construction firms for the purpose of market research. Not providing a response to this notice will not prohibit or exclude a company from participating in any future solicitations. The Capabilities Statement submitted in response to this Sources Sought shall not be considered to be a bid or proposal. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and is neither to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for information solicited. No evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. After completing its analyses, the Government will determine whether to limit competition among the small business categories listed above or proceed with full and open competition as other than small business. At this time no solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized in Contract Opportunities at https://sam.gov/. It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. POINTS OF CONTACT: Contracting Office Address: VHA Program Contracting Activity Central (VHA-PCAC) 6100 Oak Tree Blvd. Suite 490 Independence, OH 44131 Primary Point of Contact: Jacquelyn Wise Contract Specialist jacquelyn.wise@va.gov Secondary Point of Contact: Katherine Gibney Contracting Officer katherine.gibney@va.gov ATTACHMENT 1 AREAS OF CONSIDERATION/PRICE CATEGORY RANGES - CONSTRUCTION IDIQ MATOC FOR VISN 8 CARIBBEAN (PUERTO RICO/VIRGIN ISLANDS) NOTE: INTERESTED PARTIES MUST INDICATE AREAS OF CONSIDERATION AND PRICE CATEGORY RANGE(S) BELOW AND RETURN BY June 14, 2024, at 5:00 PM ET. LOCATIONS INTERESTED IN CONSIDERATION Arecibo VA Clinic, Avenida Victor Rojas II, Hospital Metropolitano, Zona Industrial - Carrizal 9 Arecebo, PR 00616 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Ceiba VA Clinic - PR-3, Kilometers 54.9, Lot 3 Pueblo Ward, PR 00735 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Comerio VA Clinic - Jose de Diego Street, Suite 15 Comerio, PR 00782-2531 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Euripides Rubio Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic - 1010 Paseo Del Veterano Ponce, PR 00716-2001 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Guayama VA Clinic - 345 Avenida Hostos Mayaguez, PR 00680-1507 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Mayaguez VA Clinic - Jose de Diego Street, Suite 15 Comerio, PR 00782-2531 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Saint Croix VA Clinic - 10553 Kingshill The Village Mall, Suite 113 St. Croix, VI 00850-4701 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Saint Thomas VA Clinic - 50 Estates Thomas, Suite 101 St. Thomas, VI 00802 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location San Juan VA Medical Center - 10 Calle Casia San Juan, PR 00921-3201 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Utuado VA Clinic - Calle Isaac Gonzalez Esquina Ledesma, Hospital de la Montana Utuado, PR 00641-2660 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Vieques VA Clinic - Road 997, Centro De Salud Susana Centeno Vieques, PR 00765-0326 ( ) Interested in Consideration for this location Price Category (per task order award, may select more than one): ( ) CAT I $2,000-$1,000,000 ( ) CAT II - $1,000,001 to $10,000,000 ( ) CAT III - $10,000,001 to $20,000,000 ( ) CAT IV - $20,000,001 and above ATTACHMENT 2: PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT (PLA) QUESTIONNAIRE Project Labor Agreement (PLA) A PLA is defined as a pre-hire Collective Bargaining Agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project and is an agreement described in 29 U.S.C. 158(f). The PLA questionnaire must be filled out and returned with the Sources Sought response. The questionnaire can be found at the end of this document. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 22.503 Policy: (a) Executive Order (E.O.) 14063, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, requires agencies to use project labor agreements in large-scale construction projects to promote economy and efficiency in the administration and completion of Federal construction projects. (b) When awarding a contract in connection with a large-scale construction project (see 22.502), agencies shall require use of project labor agreements for contractors and subcontractors engaged in construction on the project, unless an exception at 22.504(d) applies. An agency may require the use of a project labor agreement on projects where the total cost to the Federal Government is less than that for a large-scale construction project, if appropriate. (1) An agency may, if appropriate, require that every contractor and subcontractor engaged in construction on the project agree, for that project, to negotiate or become a party to a project labor agreement with one or more labor organizations if the agency decides that the use of project labor agreements will (i) Advance the Federal Government's interest in achieving economy and efficiency in Federal procurement, producing labor-management stability, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations governing safety and health, equal employment opportunity, labor and employment standards, and other matters; and (ii) Be consistent with law. (2) Agencies may consider the following factors in deciding whether the use of a project labor agreement is appropriate for a construction project where the total cost to the Federal Government is less than that for a large-scale construction project) The project will require multiple construction contractors and/or subcontractors employing workers in multiple crafts or trades. (ii) There is a shortage of skilled labor in the region in which the construction project will be sited. (iii) Completion of the project will require an extended period of time. (iv) Project labor agreements have been used on comparable projects undertaken by Federal, State, municipal, or private entities in the geographic area of the project. (v) A project labor agreement will promote the agency's long term program interests, such as facilitating the training of a skilled workforce to meet the agency's future construction needs. (vi) Any other factors that the agency decides are appropriate. See FAR Provision: 52.222-33 Notice of Requirement for Project Labor Agreement and FAR Clause 52.222-34 Project Labor Agreement for further details. PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT (PLA) QUESTIONNAIRE (Please respond to the questions below) 1. Is your company familiar with Project Labor Agreement (PLA) and its use on construction projects? Yes/No Comments: 2. Would your company likely submit a proposal for the VA construction solicitation that requires the use of a PLA? Yes/No Comments: 3. If VA requires a PLA, would your proposed construction cost likely to increase or decrease and what is the likely percentage of cost increase or decrease? Comments: 4. Does the VA requirement to use of a PLA on a construction project restrict competition? Yes/No Comments: 5. Do you expect subcontractor resistance should VA requires the use of a PLA on this construction solicitation? Yes/No Comments: 6. Do you have additional comments regarding the use of a PLA for this project? Comments: --- End of PLA Questionnaire ---