SPECIAL NOTICE FOR QUALIFICATIONS DESCRIPTION SPECIAL NOTICE FOR QUALIFICATIONS (SF-330) NAICS Code: 541330 Engineering Services (Small Business size standard $22.5 million dollars) A. INTRODUCTION: The VA Connecticut Healthcare System, VAMC West Haven located in West Haven, CT has a requirement for a Firm-Fixed-Price contract to provide professional Architect/Engineer (A-E) Design Services to develop complete drawings, specifications, cost estimates and construction period administration for 689-24-113 AE Steam System Piping Replacement project. This project will address the deficiencies at the VAMC West Haven campus. This Special Notice is only a request for the SF 330 Form. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). Veterans Affairs (VA) is not requesting price or cost information at this time. Any price or cost information will not be accepted, considered, or evaluated. B. CONTRACT INFORMATION: The VA Connecticut Healthcare System, VAMC West Haven located in West Haven, CT has a requirement for a Firm-Fixed-Price contract to provide professional Architect/Engineer (A-E) Design Services to develop complete drawings, specifications, cost estimates and construction period administration for the 689-24-113 AE Steam System Piping Replacement project. C. MAGNITUDE OF CONSTRUCTION: The Magnitude of Construction in accordance with FAR 36.204 is between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000. D. SET-ASIDE INFORMATION: This acquisition is a Total Set-Aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) in accordance with VAAR 852.219-10 with NAICS Code 541330. Any subsequent award will require the firm to be registered in System for Award Management (SAM www.sam.gov) and the VETBIZ Vendor Information Pages (https://www.vip.vetbiz.va.gov/). VETBIZ will be used to determine SDVOSB/VOSB status, therefore, firms need to be registered with the applicable NAICS Code of 541330 at the time of the SF 330 s submission to the VA. E. SUBCONTRACTING LIMITATIONS: Prospective firms are reminded that in accordance with FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting, at least 50 percent of the cost of personnel for contract performance shall be spent for employees of the concern. SF 330 packages shall address how each firm anticipates meeting these criteria. This requirement is in accordance with the Selection of Architects and Engineers as implemented in Subpart 36.6 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Subpart 836.6 of the VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR). All submissions will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria. F. SELECTION PROCESS: A "short list" of the three (3) most highly rated, qualified A-E firms after initial source selection will be chosen for negotiations of a contract award. The Government will not pay, nor reimburse, any costs associated with responding to this request. The Government is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. Respondents are put on notice that three (3) most highly qualified A-E firm selected by the Selection Authority will be required to submit a Fixed Price Rate Proposal to include labor, overhead, profit, and other costs for this project for negotiation by the Contracting Officer prior to contract award. The negotiated agreement will be incorporated into the resulting contract. G. EVALUATION SELECTION CRITERIA: Pursuant to FAR 36.602, each respondent s SF 330 submittal package will be evaluated in the following six (6) Selection Evaluation Criteria: The selection criteria, in descending order of importance will be as follows: Specialized Experience and Technical Competence in the type of A-E work required; Professional Qualifications necessary for the satisfactory performance of required A-E services; Capacity to accomplish the A-E work in the required and allotted amount of time; Past Performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry; Knowledge of the project locality; and 6. Experience in Construction Period Services The six (6) Selection Evaluation Criteria are further discussed in Section H of this Special Notice for Qualifications. H. SELECTION CRITERIA DESCRIPTIONS: The six (6) Selection Evaluation Criteria are discussed further in this section and are set forth below. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL COMPETENCE in utility replacements and upgrades, reconfiguration, and modernization in a hospital environment. Other specialized experience to include: Structural Civil Mechanical, plumbing, and steam Fire Protection Phasing VA design standard Provide a detailed narrative that contains no more than two (2) relevant A-E Design Services projects performed and completed within the last five (5) years. The two (2) A-E Design Services projects selected by the A-E Firm should best illustrate the relevant team experience similar in the scope and the nature of the Steam System Piping Replacement project. Said narrative that comprises of the two (2) most relevant A-E Design Services projects should indicate Government experience or private sector experience on existing steam system piping renovations, new steam system piping design, and/or existing steam system piping renovations similar in size, scope, and complexity. These two (2) most relevant projects selected by the A-E Firm for this detailed narrative must entail the A-E Firm s ability to successfully execute the requirements identified in the attached Statement of Work. Include Government and private experience on projects similar in size, scope, and complexity. The evaluation may consider the management approach, coordination of disciplines and sub-contractors, quality control procedures, prior experience of the prime firm and any key subcon-tractors working together on relevant projects and familiarity with VA Design Guides/Manuals, Master Specifications, and other applicable standards. 2. PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS necessary for satisfactory performance of required service: The architects and engineers on the firm s staff representing the project or signing/stamping drawings in each discipline must possess a minimum of five (5) years of experience and are re-quired to be licensed, registered, or certified by a US state, the District of Columbia, or a US territory. Provide professional license jurisdiction of issue and license numbers and/or proof of licensure. At a minimum, the offeror shall describe the professional qualifications and not less than five (5) years of experience in the required disciplines. Disciplines required for this project include, but are not limited to: Structural, Civil, Mechanical, Plumbing, Steam, Fire Protection, Phasing, Cost Estimation, and Project Management. The evaluation will consider education, certifications, training, registration, overall and relevant experience and longevity with the firm. Complete and include the following SDVOSB Compliance Statement as a part of the SF 330 submission. This Compliance Statement applies to any team member/personnel that will perform work for this project. The Compliance Statement is as follows: I [signatory authority]______________________, [company] __________________ certify that the team proposed to perform under this requirement demonstrates the capability of 50% SDVOSB performance in compliance of 48 CFR 852.219-10. NOTE: Proposed team shall be members of the award team. Any substitution of personnel must receive prior consent of the Contracting Officer. Do not send resumes or SF 330 s. CAPACITY to accomplish work in the required time: The evaluation will consider the firm s plan and ability to meet the schedule of the overall project, as well as the available capacity of personnel in key disciplines. Provide the available capacity of required disciplines by providing current project workload, inclusive of all projects awarded by the VA during the previous 12 months and the full potential value. PAST PERFORMANCE on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. CPARS data or PPQs (if no CPARS data is available) must be provided for projects submitted under Factor 1 (Specialized Experience). CPARS data and PPQs do not count toward the page limitation. Government Past Performance Information Systems may be accessed. Evaluating past performance and experience may include information provided by the firm, customer inquiries, Government databases, and publicly available sources. Failure to provide requested data, accessible points of contact or valid phone numbers could result in a firm being considered less qualified. The following information is required for all projects: contract/task order number project title prime firm start and completion date Evaluations may also include additional performance related from the firm, customer inquiries, Government databases, publicly available sources, and additional projects in CPARS The Government reserves the right to also evaluate past performance on previously awarded federal task orders and any other information available. Additionally, the Government will review the firm s previous ability to meet the 50% SDVOSB performance requirement on other task orders. If there is no CPARS data available, Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) will be accepted. Please utilize the attached PPQ document. Note: We recommend you contact every reference listed and let them know we may contact them for information. Their timely replies would be appreciated. KNOWLEDGE OF THE LOCALITY to include specific knowledge of certain local conditions or project site features such as: geological features climate conditions local construction methods construction firms and trades labor availability local laws and regulations EXPERIENCE IN CONSTRUCTION PERIOD SERVICES for projects similar in scope to include: professional field inspections during the construction period review of construction submittals support in answering requests for information during the construction period support of construction contract changes to include drafting statements of work and cost estimates. A-E SELECTION EVALUATION RATING SYSTEM EVALUATION RATINGS These ratings focus on strengths, weaknesses and deficiencies of the offeror s qualifications as demonstrated by its SF 330 and subsequent discussions. Assigned ratings will reflect the consensus developed by the evaluation panel s assessment of the offeror s SF 330 as compared to the selection criteria. The following rating system will be used to determine the rating for each factor during the evaluations of the SF 330s and subsequent discussions with the most highly qualified firms: Adjectival Description Exceptional A comprehensive and thorough presentation of extraordinary merit with one or more significant strengths. Offeror s response is clearly superior. The response is innovative and exceeds requirements. No deficiency or significant weaknesses exists. Good Exceeds all the minimum requirements of the criteria; has an above average probability of success; contains no significant weaknesses and only minor, correctable weaknesses exist. Acceptable Meets all the minimum requirements of the criteria; has an average probability of success; no significant weaknesses and any deficiencies can be readily corrected. Marginal Fails to meet one or more of the minimum requirements of the criteria; low probability of success; major weaknesses and/or significant number of deficiencies exist. Unacceptable Fails to meet any of the minimum requirements of the criteria; very low probability of success. Neutral (Applies only to Past Performance) Offeror s performance record, relevant past performance or information on past performance is not available COMMENT DESCRIPTION DEFINITIONS Strength: An area identified in the SF 330 or during discussion which indicates a high level of confidence of meeting the requirements and to some extent clearly exceeds what is necessary to meet the requirement. Weakness: A flaw, found in the SF 330 or during discussions, that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance. Deficiency: A failure, found in an SF 330 or during discussions, to meet a government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level. J. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS: a. Questions and comments regarding this notice must be submitted by email only to the Contracting Officer Tamye Molinaro at
[email protected]. b. Oral questions will not be answered. c. The deadline for questions is September 29, 2022, at 2:00PM EST. K. SF 330 SUBMITTAL PACKAGE PAGE INSTRUCTIONS: a. SF 330 submittal packages, including Past Performance Questionnaires, shall be submitted no later than 2:00PM EST on October 10, 2022. Respondents are responsible for ensuring SF 330 submittal packages, any revisions, and modifications are submitted by this time. b. Qualified A-E firms are required to submit ONE (1) electronic copy via email to Tamye
[email protected]. If file size exceeds 7MB then firms are required to send multiple emails with a sequence stating email 1 of __. SF 330 forms are available on-line at: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/SF c. Submission of information incorporated by reference is not allowed. d. Prospective firms shall address all selection criteria factors within their submitted SF 330 package. e. Submissions are limited to 85 pages. i. Absolutely no photographs shall be submitted. ii. Title pages and tables of contents, if applicable, are excluded from the page count limitation. iii. Pages submitted in excess of the limitations specified in this Notice will not be evaluated by NCO 1. f. Telephone or Fax inquiries will not be accepted. L. SF 330 PACKAGE CONTENTS: a. The SF 330 submittal packages shall consist of a completed SF 330 parts I and II, specific information addressing each of the SIX selection criteria described in this Notice; the additional information required by this Notice and past performance questionnaire section A. b. Respondents are required to meet all requirements in addition to those identified as selection criteria. c. SF 330 submittal packages not consistent with the requirements and selection criteria of this Notice may be determined unacceptable and removed from consideration. d. Any SF 330 submittal package, modification, or revision, that is received at the designated NCO 1 office after the exact time specified for receipt is late and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the contracting officer determines that accepting the late submittal would not unduly delay the acquisition; and There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received at NCO 1 installation designated for receipt of submittal packages and was under NCO 1 s control prior to the time set for receipt of submittal packages; or it was the only submittal package received. M. SF 330 PACKAGE PREPARATION: a. Qualified A-E firms are required to submit ONE (1) electronic copy via email to
[email protected]. SF 330 forms are available on-line at: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/SF. b. Electronic copy shall be in searchable PDF format of the SF 330 parts I and II, questionnaire Section A and additional information requested by this Notice. c. A cover sheet should be included, clearly marked with the Respondent's name, complete address with 9-digit zip code, phone number, e-mail address, DUNs number, date of response, title and Notice identification. d. Information not provided elsewhere in the SF 330 submittal package shall not be incorporated by reference. e. A table of contents shall be provided for ready reference to sections and figures. f. SF 330 submittal packages shall be consistent with the following structure and formatted accordingly: SF 330 PART I CONTRACT SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS 1. Sections A through D 2. Section E 3. Section F 4. Section G 5. Section H 6. Section I 7. Questionnaire section A only 8. Other additional information and attachments SF 330 PART II GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS (Note: Respondents shall clearly label additional information and attachments). N. FAR and VAAR: The FAR and VAAR citations referenced in this Special Notice can be accessed via the following internet links: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html END OF SPECIAL NOTICE See attached document: S02 Past Performance Questionnaire. See attached document: S02 Statement of Work .