C222-- Public Address System

DESCRIPTION This is a Special Notice for the establishment of an Architect-Engineering (A/E) contract with services to be performed at the Hampton VA Medical Center located at 100 Emancipation Drive, Hampton VA 23667. This requirement is being executed under a 100% set-aside to Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). Interested firms must be registered in the Small Business Administration s (SBA) Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) database to be considers. The SBA VetCert can be located here: https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/#home THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. SOLICITATION PACKAGES WILL NOT BE ISSUED UNTIL AFTER AN EVALUATION HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROVIDED SF-330s. Blank SF-330s can be downloaded through the GSA Forms Library at: https://www.gsa.gov/forms Interested firms should submit their current SF-330, Parts I and II, to contact@example.gov. The SF-330s are due no later than 4:00PM, EST on September 15th, 2023. SCOPE OF WORK This project requires the services of an A/E firm having special knowledge of electrical design, specifically Public Announcement (PA) systems. The A/E must have experience with architectural and electrical engineering with regards to installing new PA systems. INTENT The A/E shall provide design services for Non-Recurring Maintenance (NRM) construction project 590-23-115. The project will design a new standalone PA system for all buildings on the Hampton VA Medical Center Campus. This will require individuals who will have major contract or project management responsibilities and/or will provide a balanced, licensed, and certified workforce in the following disciplines: Architectural, Security, Communication, Electrical, and Fire Protection. REQUIREMENTS The requirements of this A/E project will include, but are not limited to site investigation, communication and electrical engineering, fire protection engineering, creating documents, drawings and specifications, and final inspection of construction. Please carefully read Attachment A Statement of Work (SOW) for the full details of this project. EVALUATION OF OFFERORS A/E firms will be selected based upon the following eight (8) criteria, in order of importance: Professional Qualifications Specialized Experience and Technical Competence Past Performance Capacity to Accomplish the Work Construction Period Services Record of Significant Claims Utilization of SDVOSB firms Location (tiebreaker) All eight selection criteria are detailed in Attachment B Selection Criteria. Please read the Attachment B carefully and provide documented experience and skills that addresses all factors and subfactors. SELECTION PROCESS The agency has convened a selection board for the evaluation of responses to this notice. Responses will be evaluated in accordance with the Selection of Architects and Engineers Statute (Public Law 92-582), formerly known as the Brooks Act, and implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 36.6. Specifically, SF 330 submissions will be evaluated to identify the most highly qualified firms, using the selection criteria identified above. Discussions will be held with at least three (3) of the most highly qualified firms. Interviews may be conducted. The processes at FAR 36.602-4 and FAR 36.606 will then be followed. SELECTION INTERVIEW Interviews shall be scheduled with firms slated as the most highly qualified. Firms slated for interviews will be asked a series of established questions. Elaborate presentations are not desired. GENERAL INFORMATION All design and work will conform to the current edition of the VA Master Specifications and VA Design Standards (published at www.cfm.va.gov) as well as all ASME, OSHA, IBC 2009, NFPA and NEC building codes and standards. All work shall be coordinated through the Contracting Officer s Representative (COR). The A/E firm will prepare drawings and specifications in enough detail such that qualified outside general contracting companies can prepare accurate and timely proposals for the desired construction work. Microsoft Project scheduling and management software will be used by both the A/E and contractors to allow for regular tracking of schedules and work by the VA Medical Center. Schedules with MS Project will be regularly sent to the COR upon project initiation and whenever significant changes occur in the schedule. In accordance with VAAR 836.204, the estimated magnitude of construction is between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. The estimated cost of construction (ECC) shall only be provided to the A/E for the purposes of providing a proposal and the ECC will be finalized during negotiation in accordance with FAR 36.609-1(b). The A/E will provide an initial estimate of cost to perform the work above and will design only those items that can be provided within the cost limitations. Production and delivery of designs, plans, drawings, and specifications shall not exceed six (6) percent of the cost of construction as per VAAR 836.606-71. The medical center must remain operational throughout the construction period and a detailed sequence of work will be provided by the A/E to minimize impact of the construction. The A/E will provide documents at each submission as indicated in the statement of work. The NAICS code for this procurement is 541330 - Engineering Services. The current small business size standard for 541330 is $25.5 Million. DESIGN COSTS All offerors are advised that, in accordance with VAAR 836.606-71, the total cost of the A/E services contracted for the production and delivery of designs, plans, and specifications shall not exceed six percent (6%) of the estimated cost of the construction. Additionally, FAR 52.236-22 Design Within Funding Limitations, will be applicable to this procurement action. Design limitation costs will be provided to the most highly rated A-E firm(s) selected in accordance with the outlined process. LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING In accordance with VAAR 852.219-73, VA Notice of Total Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside and 13 CFR 125.6, an SDVOSB concern agrees that, in the performance of the contract, it will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to firms that are not similarly situated. Firms that are similarly situated are those that are also SBA-registered SDVOSBs. SECURITY BADGE REQUIREMENTS For the purpose of site visits and all other work on the medical center campus, designers are required to obtain flash badges for this project. Coordinate with the COR to obtain badges. REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION All responses to this special notice must be submitted electronically as described below. Failure to comply with this requirement may jeopardize the possibility of receiving an award for the contract due to non-compliance with the terms of the solicitation. You must submit your electronic offer, and any supplemental information (such as spreadsheets, backup data, technical information), using any of the electronic formats and media described below. In addition, contractors are notified of the award via e-mail. The award document will be attached to the notice of the award e-mail. Acceptable Electronic Formats (Software) for Submission of Offers 1. Files readable using the current version of Microsoft Office products: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access. Spreadsheet documents must be sent in a format that includes all formulas, macro, and format information. Print or scan images of spreadsheets are not acceptable. Please see security note below for caution regarding use of macros. When submitting construction drawings contractors are required to submit one set in AutoCAD and one set in Adobe PDF. (Purpose: contracting can open the PDF version and engineering can open AutoCAD files) 2. Files in Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) Files: When scanning documents scanner resolution should be set to 200 dots per inch, or greater. 3. Other electronic formats: If you wish to submit an offer using another format than those described in these instructions, e-mail the Contracting Officer/Specialist who issued the solicitation. Please submit your request at least five (5) calendar days before the scheduled closing date of the solicitation. Request a decision as to the format acceptability and make sure you receive approval of the alternate format before using it to send your offer. 4. Please note that we can no longer accept .zip files due to increasing security concerns. E-mail Submission Procedures For simplicity in this guidance, all submissions in response to a solicitation will be referred to as offers. a. Subject Line: Include the solicitation number, name of company, and closing date of solicitation. b. Size: Maximum size of the e-mail message shall not exceed ten (10) megabytes. The SF330, in its entirety, shall not exceed one email of 5MB. The SF330 (not including past performance questionnaires) are limited to 45 pages. If the page limits are exceeded, the pages in excess of the limit will not be read nor considered. Only one email is permitted unless otherwise stated in this paragraph or in writing by the Contract Officer submitting the solicitation. Due to VA IT Security protocols, email submissions are limited to 10Mb per email. Furthermore, it is the sole responsibility of the prospective firms to confirm receipt of their submission in its entirety prior to the closing date & time of their submission in response to this synopsis. The Microsoft Outlook email time/date stamp will be used to date and time stamp offers for the official record of receipt for the submission. The date and time stamp in recipient s inbox is the official record of receipt. SECURITY ISSUES, LATE BIDS, & UNREADABLE OFFERS 1. Late submission of offers is outlined in FAR Parts 52.212-1(f), 52.214-7, and 52.215-1(c)(3). Attention is warranted to the portion of the provision that relates to the timing of submission. 2. Please see FAR 15.207(c) for a description of the steps the Government shall take with regard to unreadable offers. 3. To avoid rejection of an offer, vendors must make every effort to ensure their electronic submission is virus-free. Submissions or portions thereof submitted and which the automatic system detects the presence of a virus, or which are otherwise unreadable, will be treated as unreadable pursuant to FAR Parts 14.406 and FAR 15.207(c). 4. The virus scanning software used by our e-mail systems cannot always distinguish a macro from a virus. Therefore, sending a macro embedded in an e-mail message or an e-mail attachment may cause the e-mail offer to be quarantined. You may send spreadsheets in both .xlsx and .pdf formats to ensure that your proposal is readable. 5. Password protecting your submission is not permitted. The Contracting Officer will file the offer electronically which will allow access only by designated individuals. IMPORTANT NOTICE Apparent successful offerors must apply for and receive verification from the SBA in accordance with 38 CFR Part 74 and VAAR 819.70 by submission of documentation of veteran status, ownership, and control enough to establish appropriate status. Offerors must be both VISIBLE and VERIFIED by SBA at the time of submission of offers and at the time of award. Failure to be both VERIFIED by SBA and VISIBLE on VetCert at the time of submission of offers and at the time of award will result in the offeror s proposal being deemed non-compliant. All offerors are urged to contact the SBA and submit the required documents to obtain SBA verification of their SDVOSB status if they have not already done so. 852.219-73 VA NOTICE OF TOTAL SET-ASIDE FOR CERTIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES (JAN 2023) (DEVIATION) (a) Definition. For the Department of Veterans Affairs, Service-disabled Veteran-owned small business concern or SDVOSB : (1) Means a small business concern (i) Not less than 51 percent of which is owned by one or more service-disabled Veterans or, in the case of any publicly owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more service-disabled Veterans or eligible surviving spouses (see VAAR 802.101, Surviving Spouse definition); (ii) The management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more service-disabled Veterans (or eligible surviving spouses) or, in the case of a service-disabled Veteran with permanent and severe disability, the spouse or permanent caregiver of such Veteran; (iii) The business meets Federal small business size standards for the applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code identified in the solicitation document; (iv) The business has been certified for ownership and control pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 8127, 13 CFR 128, and is listed as certified in the SBA certification database at https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/; and (v) The business agrees to comply with VAAR subpart 819.70 and Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations regarding small business size, government contracting, and the Veteran Small Business Certification Program at 13 CFR parts 121, 125, and 128. (2) The term Service-disabled Veteran means a Veteran, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(2), with a disability that is service-connected, as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(16). (3) The term small business concern has the meaning given that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). (4) The term small business concern owned and controlled by Veterans with service-connected disabilities has the meaning given the term small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans under section 3(q)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)(2)). (5) The term "SDVOSB participant or certified SDVOSB means a small business that has been certified in the SBA Veteran Small Business Certification Program and listed in the SBA certification database (see 13 CFR 128.102). (b) General. In order for a concern to submit an offer and be eligible for the award of an SDVOSB set-aside or sole source contract, the concern must qualify as a small business concern under the size standard corresponding to the NAICS code assigned to the contract and be listed as an SDVOSB participant in the SBA certification database as set forth in 13 CFR 128. (1) Offers received from entities that are not certified SDVOSBs and listed in the SBA certification database at the time of offer shall not be considered. (2) Any award resulting from this solicitation shall be made to a certified SDVOSB listed in the SBA certification database who is eligible at the time of submission of offer(s) and at the time of award. (3) The requirements in this clause apply to any contract, order or subcontract where the firm receives a benefit or preference from its designation as an SDVOSB, including set-asides, sole source awards, and evaluation preferences. (c) Representation. Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 8127(e), only certified SDVOSBs listed in the SBA certification database are considered eligible to receive award of a resulting contract. By submitting an offer, the prospective contractor represents that it is an eligible and certified SDVOSB as defined in this clause, 13 CFR 121, 125, and 128, and VAAR subpart 819.70. (d) Agreement/LOS certification. When awarded a contract action, including orders under multiple-award contracts, an SDVOSB agrees that in the performance of the contract, the SDVOSB shall comply with requirements in VAAR subpart 819.70 and SBA regulations on small business size, and government contracting programs at 13 CFR part 121 and part 125, including the non-manufacturer rule and limitations on subcontracting (LOS) requirements in 13 CFR 121.406(b) and 13 CFR 125.6. For the purpose of limitations on subcontracting, only certified SDVOSBs listed in the SBA certification database (including independent contractors) shall be considered eligible and/or similarly situated (i.e., a firm that has the same small business program status as the prime contractor). An otherwise eligible firm further agrees to comply with the required (LOS) certification requirements in this solicitation (see 852.219-75 or 852.219-76 as applicable). These requirements are summarized as follows: (1) Services. In the case of a contract for services (except construction), 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 listed in the SBA certification database (excluding direct costs to the extent they are not the principal purpose of the acquisition and the SDVOSB/VOSB does not provide the service, such as airline travel, cloud computing services, or mass media purchases). When a contract includes both services and supplies, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the service portion of the contract. (2) Supplies/products. (i) In the case of a contract for supplies or products (other than from a non-manufacturer of such supplies), the SDVOSB prime contractor will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to the prime for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs listed in the SBA certification database. When a contract includes both supply and services, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the supply portion of the contract. (ii) In the case of a contract for supplies from a non-manufacturer, the SDVOSB prime contractor will supply the product of a domestic small business manufacturer or processor, unless a waiver as described in 13 CFR 121.406(b)(5) has been granted. Refer to 13 CFR 125.6(a)(2)(ii) for guidance pertaining to multiple item procurements. (3) General construction. In the case of a contract for general construction, the SDVOSB prime contractor will not pay more than 85% of the amount paid by the government to the prime for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs listed in the SBA certification database. (4) Special trade construction contractors. In the case of a contract for special trade contractors, no more than 75% of the amount paid by the government to the prime for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, may be paid to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs listed in the SBA certification database. (5) Subcontracting. An SDVOSB subcontractor must meet the NAICS size standard assigned by the prime contractor and be certified and listed in the SBA certification database to count as similarly situated. Any work that a first tier VIP-listed SDVOSB subcontractor further subcontracts will count towards the percent of subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. For supply or construction contracts, the cost of materials is excluded and not considered to be subcontracted. When a contract includes both services and supplies, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the portion of the contract with the preponderance of the expenditure upon which the assigned NAICS is based. For information and more specific requirements, refer to 13 CFR 125.6. (e) Required limitations on subcontracting compliance measurement period. An SDVOSB shall comply with the limitations on subcontracting as follows: __X__ By the end of the base term of the contract or order, and then by the end of each subsequent option period; or ____ By the end of the performance period for each order issued under the contract. (f) Joint ventures. A joint venture may be considered eligible as an SDVOSB if the joint venture 13 CFR 128.402 and the managing joint venture partner makes the representations under paragraph (c) of this clause. A joint venture agrees that, in the performance of the contract, the applicable percentage specified in paragraph (d) of this clause will be performed by the aggregate of the joint venture participants. (g) Precedence. The VA Veterans First Contracting Program, as defined in VAAR 802.101, subpart 819.70, and this clause, takes precedence over any inconsistencies between the requirements of the SBA Veteran Small Business Certification Program, and the VA Veterans First Contracting Program. (h) Misrepresentation. Pursuant to 38 USC 8127(g), any business concern, including all its principals, that is determined by VA to have willfully and intentionally misrepresented a company s SDVOSB status is subject to debarment from contracting with the Department for a period of not less than five years (see VAAR 809.406-2 Causes for Debarment). (End of clause)