The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Louisiana requires the services of a professional construction inspection firm with experience in performing construction inspections for various water resources projects. This acquisition process is being conducted in accordance with the Brooks Act as implemented in FAR Subpart 36.6. The primary NAICS code is 541330, which has a size standard of $4.5M. This announcement constitutes the only notice. PROJECT INFORMATION: The selected firm must be able to work on sites which are landbased, shallow draft and deep draft marine and marshland-based areas. The selected firm will perform any or all operations necessary to construction quality assurance (construction inspection) for various water resource projects within Louisiana as described below. Quality assurance activities required may consist of but are not limited to any part, one, or all of the following activities: construction layout, quantity computations, field testing and sampling of construction materials, safety compliance checks of construction activities, and development of accurate and complete quality assurance reports. The typical project could require knowledge and experience in all aspects quality assurance activities associated with the design and construction of deep and shallow foundations (bearing capacity, consolidation, etc.), earthwork, reinforced concrete structures, automated and manual water control gates, rock riprap placement timber structures, steel structures and structural fabrication, timber, steel and concrete piling, sheet piling channel back stabilization measures, dredging for access channels and marsh creation/nourishment. The firm should employ technicians that are in good physical condition, as this contract will require a physically demanding job including but not limited to; climbing in and out of boats; on and off barges, tug boats, and ATVs; walking on uneven ground, beams and rock riprap. The firm will be required to perform quality assurance activities in accordance with NRCS standards. The majority of construction work will be civil in nature however electrical and mechanical engineering knowledge may be required on some projects. The government anticipates the award of a fixed price indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity type (IDIQ) contract as a result of this competition. The initial contract period will be for one (1) year and the Government may, at its option, extend the contract to a maximum of five (5) years by exercising four (4) each one-year renewal options. Work under the contract will be subject to satisfactory negotiation of individual Task Orders. The price of any single task order shall be at least $5,000 but shall not exceed $500,000. The maximum order amount for any contract period (base year and each option year) shall be $300,000. The guaranteed minimum is $5,000 for the contract per year. Task Orders will be negotiated as firm fixed-price procurements for individual projects. PRE-SELECTION CRITERIA will be based on 1) having a minimum of one in-house engineer employed on a full time basis, and must be a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Louisiana with a minimum of ten years experience. 2) Associate with or have a minimum of one land surveyor registered as a Professional Land Surveyor in the state of Louisiana, with a minimum of ten years experience. 3) Have a minimum of five civil engineering technicians, two with a minimum of ten years experience in construction inspection, and the other three with a minimum of five years experience in construction inspection. SELECTION CRITERIA: Each firm will be evaluated on the following: 1.Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance. Evaluation will be based upon the number of qualified personnel and their knowledge and level of experience associated with the requirements above, and their availability to perform work on this contract. 2. Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required. Evaluation will be based on the extent of directly related experience in performing quality assurance (construction inspection) of the types of projects described; specialized education at the university level, and all other applicable education, training, and certifications. Preferential consideration will be given to those firms with the knowledge of and direct experience in the application of the described requirements in the coastal marsh environment in Louisiana. 3.Capacity to accomplish the work. Evaluation will be based on the number of qualified personnel available in the disciplines described in the scope of solicitation, the quantity of existing work under contract, the anticipated contractual workload, and the schedules for completion of that work. Evaluation will also be based upon the precision level and quantity of field office equipment and other hardware/software units available to work on this contract. Examples of equipment include but are not limited to number/size of boats, trucks, ATV's, GPS, Total Station, computers, AutoCAD, MicroStation, plotters, printers, etc. 4. Past performance on contracts with government agencies and private industry. Evaluation will be based upon the firm's past experience with other government agencies and the private sector in performing the requirements described; the quality and timeliness of performance under previous contracts. A minimum of three references with telephone numbers must be provided. 5. Location in the general geographic area and knowledge of the locality. Evaluation will be based on past work experience in Louisiana where quality assurance work was performed. Firms shall indicate the locality of their past work experience. Preferential consideration will be given to firms that have performed the requirements described in coastal marsh areas of Louisiana. The evaluation factors listed above are ranked in their order of importance, with criteria (1) being the most important. In order to comply with the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, all contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) to be considered for award of a Federal contract. For information regarding registration contact the CCR Web Site at www.ccr.gov. It is also required that all contractors be registered in the Online Representations and Certifications (ORCA) to be considered for an award of a Federal Contract. For information regarding registration to ORCA, contact the ORCA website at https://orca.bpn.net. Firms which meet the requirements described in this announcement are invited to submit 4 copies of Standard Form 330, Architect-Engineer Qualifications and any other supplemental information deemed relative to the selection criteria. Interested firms must submit their SF-330's no later than March 30, 2009, 4:00 p.m. CT, to the attention of Vicki Supler, Contract Specialist, USDA-NRCS, 3737 Government Street, Alexandria, LA 71302. Only those firms responding by that time will be considered for selection. Facsimile or email transmissions will not be accepted. Solicitation packages are not provided and no additional project information will be given to firms during the announcement period. After an initial evaluation, three or more of the firms considered to be the most highly qualified firms may be chosen for discussions. The most highly rated firm selected will then be asked to submit a proposal. This is not a Request for Proposal but a Request for Qualifications. Any questions should be addressed to the contracting officer. NOTE: Work will be located throughout the State of Louisiana.
