Operations and Maintenance Requirement

SYNOPSIS This is a request for Information (RFI) as identified in FAR 15.201(c)(7). This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). A RFI is not being issued at this time, and this notice shall not be considered as a commitment by the Government to issue a RFI, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The General Services Administration (GSA) is sending you this Request for Information (RFI) on our National Operations and Maintenance Specification. Your responses will help direct the further refinement of this national standard. This inquiry is for information only and is being issued solely for planning purposes. This RFI does not constitute a statement of work (SOW) or a commitment to issue a SOW in the future. In addition, GSA will not incur any cost associated with the development or distribution of any information provided in response to this request. BACKGROUND GSA Public Building Service (PBS) provides workplaces for more than one million federal employees. PBS manages a real estate portfolio of over 9,600 buildings nationally including more than 1500 owned facilities in all 50 states. We utilize contractors to operate and maintain nearly all of our owned facilities. These contracts are typically 1 year contracts with 4 option years (5 year contracts). GSA has established a standard statement of work for all operations and maintenance contracts. The SOW is adjusted for each facility. The statement of work is revised on a periodic basis to support congressional and executive mandates, industry changes, agency priorities, and other changes GSA feels are important to improve the management of our facilities. GSA is currently in the process of updating the statement of work. We are seeking industry input from operations and maintenance vendors already under contract with GSA or interested in working with GSA in the future. Your input is valuable in helping us develop requirements that improve our facilities, reduces our costs, and simplifies the contractor's ability to maintain our facilities. REQUIREMENT GSA seeks responses from industry to the questions relating to: current 2008 Statement of Work (SOW), draft language changes, proposed additions to SOW , addition of a new template and questions regarding contracts. RFI PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS Responses to this RFI are not offers and shall not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The responses to this RFI may be used to assist the Government in developing an Operation and Maintenance Contract. Per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 - Market Research, this RFI is posted for data gathering and planning purposes only. It does not constitute a RFI, and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a RFI or award a contract. The Government will not reimburse any respondent for any cost associated with information submitted in response to this RFI. Industry feedback is vitally important an the Government will be receptive to any and all ideas received from industry. This RFI is an expression of the Government's interest only and does not obligate the Government to pay for the requested information nor respond to any submission. Proprietary information is not being solicited; however, if it is submitted, highlight and clearly mark those sections with "proprietary information". RESPONSES TO RFI: FAR Provision 52.215-3 is hereby incorporated in full text: 52-215-3 Request for Information or RFI for Planning Purposes (OCT 1997) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal cost, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Although "proposal" and "offeror are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. This RFI is issued for the purpose of: (Not Applicable, this is an RFI). (End of provision) RESPONSES SUBMISSION Responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Contract Specialist, Eddie M. Whitaker, eddie.whitaker@gsa.gov and Contracting Officer, Collette Scott, colltte.scott@gsa.gov. Questions concerning this RFI must be expressed in your response NEW EXTENDED DUE DATE Responses must be received no later than Friday, May 4, 2012 by 12:00 pm noon. All material submitted in response to this RFI must be properly marked. To: eddie.whitaker@gsa.gov Cc: collette.scott@gsa.gov Subject: RFI#: Operation and Maintenance (Please no telephone inquiries) Please respond to the following questions via email to the Contract Specialist: (1) Current 2008 Statement of Work (SOW) link 2008 O&M Spec Questions regarding the attached 2008 performance work statement. This performance work statement is the current standard for all new operations and maintenance contracts. 1. Did requirements present difficulty in the delivery of O&M service? Yes or No; if Yes provide examples. 2. General recommendations on how to either improve our service delivery or lower our cost. 3. Please describe the O&M scope of services you currently provide GSA. Do you also provide services for any non government entities? How many contracts do you have with each, and can you tell us the differences in how GSA and non government entities contract for services? Are the scopes prescriptive, performance or a hybrid? (2) Language Changes to 2008 SOW Questions regarding proposed language changes to the current 2008 performance work statement are provided below. These requirements will be considered further based on your input. Access to changes is provided via the link. Changes are highlighted in yellow. Link to 2012 changes 1. Are requirements clear and concise? Yes or No; if No give examples 2. Do requirements increase costs? 3. Will requirements benefit GSA by reducing costs, improving maintenance and enhancing occupancy comfort? Yes or No; if No give examples (3) Additional Changes to 2008 SOW Questions regarding additional topics. We intend to include or revise requirements to include sustainability, equipment inventories, and use of CMMS, green purchasing, Building Rating (LEED/ EBOM), training trash hauling reporting, reimbursable thresholds and performance measures. 1. How does the private sector or other government agencies address these areas in your contracts? (4) New Template GSA is proposing a template of building criteria to enable the contractor to estimate their O&M service cost. Some examples of the criteria we are considering are: service call history, amount of tenants in the building and who they are, R&A work load, energy & water usage history, age of building, square footage, number of elevator, escalators, etc. and maintenance of agency owned equipment. 1. What other criteria would you recommend? (5) Contracts Terms 1. When comparing a 5 year contract term to a 10 year term please provide information, documentation, benefits and disadvantages on the following: ? What is the effect on price ? What is the effect on hiring and retention of employees ? Overall impact on service and customer/tenant satisfaction 2. What economies of scale are provided using long term contracts? 3. What is the typical contract term in the private sector (total number of years)? 4. What do you believe is an ideal contract term and why? 5. Please offer suggestions for improvement in any area of the O&M contracting process that you believe would result in the Government receiving better value for the Taxpayer. This may include improvements in scope, contract inspection and contracting methods, adjustments to the FAR and changes to statutory law etc. 6. Please describe the O&M scope of services you currently provide GSA. Do you also provide services for any non government entities? How many contracts do you have with each, and can you tell us the differences in how GSA and non government entities contract for services? Are the scopes prescriptive, performance or a hybrid? 7. What dollar thresholds for incidental/minor repairs do you currently have to honor in your existing contracts with GSA? With other clients? 8. How does this incidental/minor repair threshold impact the bidding process from your perspective relative to estimating and subsequent pricing of repairs? 9. What dollar threshold for incidental/minor repairs would you like to see in GSA contracts? Please explain why. 10. In accordance with the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act, GSA is implementing verification that both Federal and Contract employees posses the core competencies required to operate the federal inventory. What method of verification, documentation, etc. would you recommend to verify contract employees posses competencies in O&M, Safety and Health, Energy Management, Water Efficiency, Sustainability and Performance Measurement? Please provide your recommended approach