Quality Assurance Data Analysis as a Leading Indicator for Infrastructure Condition Performance Management

QUALITY ASSURANCE DATA ANALYSIS AS A LEADING INDICATOR FOR INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6 in conjunction with FAR Subpart 13.5, and as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is 41-20-14029 and is being issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2005-72, effective January 30, 2014. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541330 and the small business size standard is $14 Million. This procurement is unrestricted and is open to all sources. The Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a requirement to examine quality assurance data collected during pavement construction to determine whether and how it could be used as a leading indicator within an agency's pavement management system in supporting performance management and pavement investment decisions. The Government intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order resulting from this combined synopsis solicitation to the qualified responsible Offeror whose offer conforming to the requirements will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. See Attachment 1, Statement of Work. The following FAR clauses and provisions apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, the following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1. Technical Capability a. Demonstrated understanding and experience with highway quality assurance data collection and analysis of as-constructed data to assess expected performance. b. Demonstrated understanding of past and present efforts used for pavement management data to predict expected performance, both on a national and international basis c. Understanding and knowledge of the design, construction and maintenance of pavements and how rehabilitation/reconstruction/preservation priorities are established d. Identification of gaps pertaining to linking as-built project data to pavement performance measures, and how they should be addressed e. Description of what challenges need to be overcome to facilitate the use of Quality Assurance data for asset management purposes f. Demonstration of complete access to facilities, including all venues, equipment and other resources necessary to successfully deliver project g. Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with, manage and coordinate geographically dispersed individuals, teams and institutions h. Knowledge of other previous, current, or on-going related projects, particularly international, where resource sharing may be possible in terms of data, literature, or contacts i. Overall ability and readiness to take on project, including qualifications, capabilities, and experience of proposed key personnel a. Key Personnel The Offeror shall include in its response to this RFQ, a resume for each "Key Personnel" proposed for this project. Individual resumes shall be no more than two pages in length. Resumes shall include the following: - Name of person - Proposed position, function, or role - Proposed labor category - Education (including, in reverse chronological order, colleges and/or technical schools attended (with dates), degree(s)/certification(s) received, major field(s) of study, and approximate number of total class hours) - Experience (including, in reverse chronological order, area(s) of work in which a person is qualified, company and title of position, approximate starting and ending dates (month/year), concise descriptions of experience for each position held - Certification that the information contained in the resume is correct and accurate The following key personnel are considered to be essential to the work being performed hereunder: Name Position or Title Contact Information Key Responsibilities Contractor shall submit resumes, curricula vitae, or other similar documentation that demonstrates requisite knowledge, training, and expertise for all key personnel. - 1. Past Performance - 2. Price The Technical Capability is more important than Past Performance, and when the two non-price factors (Technical and Past Performance) are combined, they are approximately equal to price. The more equal the quotations may be relative to non-price factors, the more important the price factor will become. Based upon the results of an integrated assessment of the technical, past performance and price quotation, the Government may make an award to other than the lowest-price quotation or the quotation with the highest technical rating if the source selection official determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government. Quotations will be reviewed for page limitations. Pages exceeding the page limitation will be eliminated from evaluation. A quotation receiving an "Unacceptable" or "Fail" rating in one or more factors may be removed from further consideration for award. The Government will evaluate prices by adding the total price for all items to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. FAR 52.212-3, Offer Representation and Certifications-Commercial Items. Vendors are advised that they shall include a completed copy of this provision FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders- Commercial Items. The following optional clauses at 52.212-5 apply: 52.203-6, 52.204-10, 52.209-6 52.219-8, 59.219-28, 52.222-3, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36. 52.222-37, 52.222-40, 52.222-54, 52.223-18, 52.225-13, 52.232-33 The following Department of Transportation Clauses apply: 1252.223-73 OFFER SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS The quotation package shall include the following items. Submission of a quotation that does not contain all the items requested below may result in elimination from consideration for award. All text shall be no less than single-spaced and printed black on white paper. Color is acceptable to highlight or call out to a specific detail, graphics, photos, etc. and for Company stationary and logos. Printing shall be easily readable (12-pitch type or 10 point proportional spacing). Cross references should be utilized to preclude unnecessary duplication of data between sections. A page shall be an 8 - x 11 " sheet of paper, minimum of 1" margins. Letter size and spacing requirements for illustrations and tables may be at the discretion of the vendor but must easily be readable. Fold-outs with diagrams and tables will be counted as one page and shall not exceed an 11 x 17" sheet of paper. The vendor shall number each page in order to eliminate any confusion. In the event the vendor creates an ambiguity in their numbering of pages, the Government may exercise its own discretion in counting pages. Page Limitation. Pages shall be numbered sequentially from "1" through the total number of pages in each volume. The quotation shall not exceed the page limits stated for each volume. Any pages in excess of that listed will be disregarded, and will not be included in the quotation evaluation. The Government will not accept any changes to the vendor's quotation after the closing date of this solicitation. Page limits do not include covers for volumes, table of contents, indices, title pages, cross reference indices, and section dividers if they are inserted soley to provide ease to the reader in locating parts/sections of the quotation. Page limits do include all appendices, charts, graphs, diagrams, tables, photographs, drawings, etc. Digital copies shall be provided on CD-ROM disk in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Project and/or Adobe PDF formats. Due to the submission format requirements described herein, electronic, email, and faxed quotations will not be accepted. 1. Technical proposal (original plus five copies) page limit-25 pages 2. Past Performance Information (original plus 3 copies) page limit-15 pages Include documentation regarding relevant past performance as it directly relates to the work being procured under this RFQ. Submit data for past performance within the past 36 months and not beyond. To illustrate the vendor's past performance the following documentation shall be submitted: Documentation outlining the vendor's corporate experience performing work similar to the work called for in the solicitation in addition to relevant past performance with contracts as a prime or major subcontractor which is the same or similar in nature, size and complexity to the services being procured under this solicitation. Non-Government contracts may be used if Government contracts are not available. Vendor may provide performance information of predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or subcontractors who will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant. The documentation shall be submitted in the following format: Contract number, award date, and contract type, Cost/price - original awarded And final (or projected final, if contract is current) Delivery Schedule-original And final (or projected final, if the contract is current) Name, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address for the following: - o Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO), or Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) - o Government or commercial technical representative or COR/COTR Identify in specific detail for each contract listed, why or how that effort is considered relevant or similar to the effort required by this solicitation. In determining relevancy, consideration should be given but not limited to such things as product/service similarity, product/service size and complexity, contract type, contract environment, division of company proposing, and any subcontractor interaction. A narrative explanation on each contract listed describing the objectives achieved and any cost growth or schedule delays encountered. For any contracts which did not/do not meet original requirements with regard to cost, schedule, or technical performance, a brief explanation of the reason(s) for such shortcomings and any demonstrated corrective actions taken to avoid recurrence, A copy of any cure notices or show cause letters received on each contract listed and a description of any corrective action by the vendor or proposed subcontractor The vendor shall list each time the delivery schedule was revised and provide an explanation of why the revision was necessary. Vendors are reminded that both independent data and data provided by the vendors in their submissions may be used by the Government to evaluate vendor past performance. However the burden of providing thorough, complete, and current past performance information as requested remains with the vendor. Submissions that do not contain the information requested by this section are at risk for rejection or a less than acceptable performance rating by the Government. In the case of a vendor without any relevant past performance history, past performance will be evaluated as "neutral". A neutral rating is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage to the vendor. If the past performance information is negative, the vendor will be given an opportunity to provide rebuttal. All past performance comments received will be taken into account and could affect the overall rating. The overall past performance evaluation is a subjective decision based on the whole of all the data received. Vendors with no past performance may provide the equivalent information on company officials and/or personnel proposed for this action. 3. Price Quotation (original plus three copies) page limit-5 pages See attached document. Responses to this solicitation shall be submitted to Pauline Jaffe, Contracting Officer, Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants Management, 1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E. (E66-107), Washington, D.C. 20590 and are due no later than 11:00 a.m. local time on July 3, 2014. Electronic submissions via email or fax will not be accepted. Vendors shall mail quotations through a commercial/Government carrier or be hand carried. The Government is not responsible for delays encountered in the mailing process. Vendors are encouraged to submit their quotations with adequate lead time to compensate for delays. NOTE: Security procedures prohibit non-uniformed couriers from delivering material directly to offices in the DOT building. Only uniformed couriers from FedEx and the United Parcel Service, who are dressed in a uniform bearing their organization's name and possessing official identification, may deliver material directly to the Office of Acquisition Management. Other couriers and individuals must deliver material to the mail room/visitor's center at the new DOT building's main entrance at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE. The guard may accept the material, dismiss the courier, and then the material will be examined and x-rayed prior to being delivered to the FHWA Office of Acquisition and Grants Management through the normal building mail delivery procedures. This could add one or more working days to the delivery time. FHWA is not responsible for pick-up of vendor's quotation from DOT security guards nor from the DOT mail room. Vendors shall make allowances for these procedures in order to assure that offers arrive on time. Questions regarding this requirement shall be submitted electronically to Pauline.Jaffe@dot.gov by June 16, 2014.