C--ARCHITECT AND ENGINEERING SERVICES

CONTRACT INFORMATION: This contract is being procured in accordance with PL 92-582 (Brooks A-E Act) as implemented in FAR Subpart 36.6. This is a competitive procurement set aside for 8(a) Small Businesses. The number one ranked 8(a) small business firm will be selected for negotiation based on demonstrated competence and qualifications for the required work. The selected 8(a) small business A-E firm will need to demonstrate capability to perform, as the prime firm, at least 50% of the work described below in accordance with EP 715-1-7, Chapter 3-8 c, which can be found at http://140.194.76.129/publications/eng-pamphlets/ep715-1-7/toc.htm, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publications website. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this procurement is 541330 with a small business size standard of $4,500,000 average annual receipts over the last 3 fiscal years. Architect - Engineering Services are required for various military and civil works projects in or assigned to the Little Rock District and outside the primary area of responsibility at the Governments discretion. Work will be issued by negotiated firm-fixed-price task orders. This announcement is open to all businesses regardless of size. Firms will be selected for negotiation based on demonstrated competence and qualifications for the required work. The Little Rock District Corps of Engineers intends to award an indefinite delivery contract for general engineering services with anticipated award in Fiscal Year 2009. The length of the Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC) is five (5) years (one base year and four option periods not to exceed one year each). The total capacity of the contract will not exceed $6,000,000 (EFARS 36.601-3-90(b)). Option periods may be exercised at the discretion of the Contracting Officer when the contract amount for the base period or preceding option period has been exhausted or nearly exhausted. The minimum guaranteed amount is $24,000.00 for the base period only; there is no minimum guarantee for any subsequent option years. The business selected for this contract, must comply with FAR 52.219-9 regarding the requirement for a subcontracting plan on that part of the work it plans to subcontract. The subcontracting plan will be required with the final fee proposal, consistent with Section 806 (b) of PL 100-180, 95-907, and 99-661. The plan is not required with this submittal. At a minimum, the subcontracting goals for the Little Rock District which will be considered in the negotiation of this acquisition are: 70.0% of the total planned subcontracting dollars for Small Business (SB) concerns and of the Prime Contractors intended subcontract amount6.2% targeted for Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), 7.0% targeted Women-Owned Small Businesses, 9.8% targeted for HUBZone Small Businesses, 3.0% targeted for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, and 0.9% targeted for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. 2. PROJECT INFORMATION: A-E services are expected to be required for various military and civil works projects for a Firm Fixed Price contract for engineering, schematic (Charrette) design (10%), concept design (35%), working drawings (65%), final design (100%), construction phase services, and other services. The services will include, but not be limited to, any or all of the following: design, drafting, and planning services for new construction; renovation, RFPs for design-build, demolition and alterations of existing facilities; comprehensive interior design (CID); construction cost estimating; topographic or boundary surveys; various engineering studies and site investigations; subsurface geotechnical investigation and testing; and environmental studies/surveys and abatement design. Construction phase services may include site visits, technical assistance, preparation of operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals, and shop drawing and construction submittal review and approval. All work must be done by or under the direct supervision of licensed professional Architects or Engineers. 3. SELECTION CRITERIA: The selection criteria are listed below in descending order of importance (first by major criterion and then by each sub-criterion). Criteria a through e are primary. Criteria f through h are secondary and will only be used as tie-breakers among technically equal firms. a. Specialized Experience and Technical Competence: (1) Demonstrated experience by the prime firm and its consultants in military facility design of DOD and civil projects as well as recreational planning and design. Projects older than five years will not be considered. Similar projects newer than three years will receive higher ratings. (2) Cost Engineers that have completed formal training on M-CACES MII or later software; experience with both military and civil works breakdown formats for estimates; and familiar with preparation of detailed cost estimating procedures and construction schedules. (3) Construction Management Services (CMS) on Civil and Military construction projects including Quality Assurance and Construction Oversight Work. For CMS, Contractor(s) will work under the direction of the Local Resident Office Team Leader/Contracting Officers Representative for the administration of the construction contract. (4) Computer Resources firms must indicate in Section H of the SF 330 the following items: (a) accessibility to and/or familiarity with the Construction Criteria Base (CCB) system. This shall include as a minimum, the SPECSINTACT specification system, the MCACES estimating system, and the Dr CHECKS review management system; (b) demonstrated CADD capability with capacity to produce output files in .DXF or .DWG, .DGN and .CAL file format. CADD drawings will be required on CDs in AutoCAD Release version 2008 or more current version or Bentley MicroStation V8 XM or more current version, and compliance with A/E/C standards will be required; (c) use of Building Information Modeling may be required for Army MILCON projects; (d) for military projects utilizing the design-build process, the A-E may be required to access and utilize the online standard design Request for Proposal Model RFP Wizard; (e) other software requirements include providing MS XP operating system compatible MS Excel spreadsheets, Adobe Acrobat documents (.PDF), MS Access, MS Word documents and .CAL files in support of the electronic advertising process. (5) Firms must demonstrate the capability to design projects incorporating the latest DOD Force Protection/Anti-Terrorism criteria, UFC codes, and LEED certification criteria. Firms must have personnel with at least three years experience in Fire Protection and Life Safety Design that are familiar with the use and application of NFPA codes 70 and 101 and UFC 3-600-01, Design: Fire Protection Engineering for Facilities, which has replaced MIL-HDBK 1008C. b. Professional Qualifications: (1) The design team must possess experienced and registered or certified personnel. The A-E work may consist of the following disciplines and skills, but are not limited to: Licensed Project Engineer, Construction Representative, Engineering Technician, Quality Assurance Representative, Construction Engineer, Civil Engineer, Structural Engineer, Architectural Engineer, Architect, Electrical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Environmental Engineer, Industrial Hygienist, Geotechnical Engineer, Fire Protection Engineer, Program Management, Project Management, Geologist, CADD Specialist, Administrative Assistant, Project Scheduler (Primavera proficiency required), and registered professional land surveyors. Resumes shall not exceed one page. Availability of an adequate number of personnel in key discipline shall be presented to insure that the selected A-E firm can meet the potential of working on multiple tasks. The evaluation will consider education, training, registration, overall and relevant experience and longevity with the firm. c. Past Performance: Past performance on DOD and other contracts with respect to quality of work, cost control, and compliance with performance schedules. Evaluation will be based on established Architect-Engineer Contract Administration Support System (ACASS) ratings and other credible documentation included on the SF 330. Evaluation may prove advantageous for firms with superior performance ACASS evaluation ratings on recently completed projects. d. Capacity to Accomplish the Work in the Required Time: Firms must demonstrate ability of the design team to perform at least two $200,000.00 task orders in a 150-day period. The evaluation will consider the experience of the firm and any consultants with similar size projects and the availability of an adequate number of personnel in key disciplines. In Section H, Par I, SF 330, prime firms must show their last 12 months of Federal contract awards stated in dollars. e. Knowledge of the Locality: including climate conditions, architectural context, local construction methods and local/state building codes and permit requirements. f. Small Business and Small Business Entities Participation: Extent of participation of small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, Hubzone small businesses, service-disabled veteran owned small businesses, historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions in the proposed contract team, measured as a percentage of the total estimated effort. g. Geographic Proximity: Proximity of the team to the core project region defined as the military and civil boundaries of the Little Rock District Corps of Engineers (if awarded to a Serviced-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, within 300 miles of the Little Rock District). h. Volume of DOD contract awards in the last 12 months: Considerations may include: (1) Equitable distribution of contracts among qualified A-E firms, including minority-owned firms, small business (SB) and small disadvantaged business (SDB) participation and firms that have not had prior DOD contracts. (2) ACASS retrievals; and (3) Current workload. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: All requirements of this announcement must be met for a firm to be considered for selection. Interested firms having the capabilities to perform this work must submit a single SF 330 for the design team to the above address. Please clearly indicate the Solicitation Number and POC name on the outside of the package. Proposals must be received by no later than 4:00 PM on Tuesday, April 14, 2009. Submittals by facsimile transmission, email, or in an electronic format will not be accepted and will be considered non-responsive. Mailing address to send submissions: US Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District (CESWL-EC-D) PO Box 867, Room 7315 Little Rock, AR 72203. ATTN: Royce West. For delivery services send submission to: US Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, ATTN: Royce West, Room 73156, 700 W. Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR, 72203. Forms may be obtained through GPO at +1 (555) 000-0000 or via the GSA Forms Library web site at http://www.gsa.gov/forms/zero, select tab STANDARD FORMS (SF). ALL FIRMS ARE ADVISED THAT REGISTRATION IN THE CENTRAL CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION (CCR) DATABASE IS REQUI RED PRIOR TO AWARD OF A CONTRACT. Failure to be registered in the DOD CCR database may render your firm ineligible for award. All firms are encouraged to register as soon as possible. Information regarding this registration may be obtained by accessing the website at http://www.ccr.gov. The SF 330 must also include the following: a. Section H: prime firm's ACASS # and distance (in terms of POV driving miles) from address of office to perform the work and the Little Rock District. For ACASS information, call +1 (555) 000-0000; b. Section H: include your Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code. c. Firms with more than one office: (1) Section C: this section should reflect the proposed project team, distinguishing, by discipline, between the number of personnel in the office to perform the work and the total number of personnel in the firm; (2) Section E: each key person's office location; d. Section E: registrations must include the year, discipline and state in which registered; e. Section F: a descriptive project synopsis of major items of work; f. Section F. Indicate fee in terms of thousands of dollars, not percentage of work completed; g. Section G.26: In addition to the key personnel name, include the firm associated with the individual. Joint Venture Agreements Joint Ventures are allowable on competitive 8(a) set-asides, however, the joint venture agreement must be received by SBA prior to proposal due date and approved before award of any resulting contract. If contemplating a joint venture, notify your assigned SBA Business Development Specialist (BDS) as soon as practical to ensure compliance with established regulations. Prior to the final selection, firms considered highly qualified to accomplish the work may be interviewed either by telephone or by formal presentation. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for A-E Services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.