CAPITOL VISITOR CENTER, SEQUENCE 2, MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING AND BUILDOUT. The Architect of the Capitol (AOC), with the assistance of the General Services Administration (GSA), announces this opportunity for Construction Excellence in Public Buildings and the intent to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Construction Services for The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), and related work in and around the U. S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC. The CVC will greatly enhance the experience of visiting the U.S. Capitol building. Not only will it significantly enhance security for the Capitol, but it will provide new educational opportunities for visitors and improve accessibility and visitor comfort. As designed, the CVC will compliment the Capitol building and its surroundings and will become a seamless addition to the Capitol complex. The CVC will be located underground on the East Front of the Capitol, so as to enhance rather than detract from the appearance of the Capitol and its historic Frederick Law Olmsted landscaping. When completed, the CVC will contain approximately 580,000 square feet on three levels, requiring approximately a 196,000-square-foot excavation, or "footprint," on the East Front of the Capitol. The CVC will include space for exhibits, visitor comfort, food service, two orientation theaters, an auditorium, gift shops, security, connections to existing buildings, service tunnels for underground vehicle access to the Capitol, loading docks, mechanical facilities, and storage. The CVC will preserve and maximize public access to the Capitol while greatly enhancing the experience for the millions who walk its historic corridors and experience its monumental spaces every year. This solicitation will address only a portion of the work required to complete the CVC, as noted below. The Architect of the Capitol will utilize a ?best value? source selection process to enable selection from among high quality contractors for this procurement. The project is being constructed in two (2) sequences and will require extensive coordination between this contractor and contractors of prior enabling projects and the Sequence 1, Excavation/Foundation/Structure contractor, as well as with contractors performing other AOC projects in the immediate vicinity of the project. This advertisement is for Sequence 2 of the project. Sequence 2 includes but is not limited to the build-out of the interior spaces, installation of electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems, coordination with existing Capitol building systems where the CVC connects within the Capitol building, and completion of the aboveground Plaza among other activities. The estimated construction cost for Sequence 2 is in the range of $100 to $125 million. The Contractor must provide all management, supervision, labor, materials, supplies, and equipment (except as otherwise provided), and must plan, schedule, coordinate and assure effective performance of all construction to meet AOC schedule, budget and operational requirements. The Contractor will perform the construction in accordance with the design specifications, drawings and provisions of the contract. The solicitation for Sequence 2 will be issued in two (2) phases. Phase I will be for technical proposals and will include a set of draft specifications and drawings. It will be available on or about 09/24/2002. Under Phase I the Government will evaluate past experience and performance, technical and management capabilities. After evaluation, offerors will be advised of their technical standing prior to issuance of Phase II, which will be a request for offerors of high technical merit to submit pricing proposals based upon completed specifications and drawings. Phase II of the solicitation will be issued approximately 45 days after receipt of proposals for Phase I. After evaluation of Phase I and Phase II proposals, the government will award a fixed-price contract to the responsive and responsible offeror determined by the government to be offering the ?best value.? For this procurement, technical factors, when combined, are significantly more important than price. No specific numerical weight will be assigned to price for evaluation purposes. Competitive formal source selection procedures will be used similar to those in FAR 15. Offerers are advised that award may be made without discussion or any contact concerning the proposals received. The government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals at any time prior to award; to negotiate with any or all offerors; to award the contract to other than the offeror submitting the lowest total price; and to award to the offeror submitting the proposal determined by the government to be the most advantageous to the government. Therefore, proposals should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms. NOTE: Firms submitting technical and price proposals will not be compensated for proposal preparation costs. To be considered for final award, firms must submit proposals per the RFP to BOTH Phase I and Phase II of the solicitation on the due dates established. A pre-proposal conference/subcontractor outreach forum will be held on October 2, 2002 at Loews L?Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, D.C. Interested parties may pre-register for the forum by going to http://cvcoutreach.gilbaneco.com or by contacting the forum coordinator, Alyce Fitzpatrick at (301) 317-6149. The RFP Phase I will be issued by the Contract Specialist at GSA, Mid Atlantic Region in Philadelphia, PA, and posted electronically on the www.fedbizops.gov website. A compact disk (CD) of the draft specifications and drawings will be issued by the AOC, Washington, DC. Final technical specifications and drawings will be issued with Phase II of this solicitation. In order for potential offerors to be placed on the bidders list, respondents must submit a written request via fax to Cal Durgin, (202) 228-2073 or e-mailed to
[email protected]. Any questions regarding this synopsis may be directed to Cal Durgin, CVC Contract Manager, at (202) 228-2370 or Dan Correnti, GSA Contract Specialist, at (215) 656-6152. This procurement is being conducted under full and open competition on an unrestricted basis under NAIC code 233320.