Questions and Answers EHRM Upgrades for Balcones Heights CBOC; Balcones Heights Mental Health CBOC and North Bexar CBOC 1. Is this project intended to be a design-bid-build, or a design-build? A. It s intended to be design build. 2. Are you requiring clearances, credentials, or background check to be able to attend to the site visit? A. No, background check will not be required for the site visit. VA IT personnel will escort the offerors. Background checks will be done for those who win the bid before they start work. 3. We missed the site visit yesterday due to a scheduling conflict but wanted to request an opportunity to visit the site. A. No 4. Also, when do you anticipate opening up the solicitation on SAM.gov? A. Solicitation was posted 04 May 2023. 5. Will the VA provide complete existing as-build drawings (Architectural, Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) in electronic (PDF or DWG format) showing existing space layout, dimensions, square footage, MEP systems etc. for use in responding to this solicitation? A. The VA leases this building and does not have the architectural and MEP drawings requested. 6. If current existing spaces are not in compliance with VA Infrastructure Standards of Telecommunications Spaces Version 3.1 (or other VA Design guidelines) will they need to be modified to comply or are all existing spaces to remain in their current configuration? A. This project is to modify the existing space to meet VA requirements. Any requirements that are not practically attainable shall be identified during the design phase and brought to the attention of the VA for remediation. The designer and the VA will collaborate on the best way forward. 7. Solicitation Requirement Item 11, indicates a project completion of 360 Days from notice to proceed. The Scope of Work, Section 3, Period of Performance paragraph 3.3 outlines a period of performance of 150 days. Please clarify? A. The period of performance for this project is 150 days 8. Will the sign-in sheet of participants attending the Pre-Bid site visit be distributed? A. Yes, see attached 9. Is this project sales tax exempt? If the project is sales tax exempt will the government/ VA provide a sales tax exemption certificate? A. CO will provide tax exemption form under Title 122A 10. Will employees need badging to access the building? If so, what is the cost and process to get a badge? A. No. Badges are only required to access external employee doors.  They are created and managed on site. They are not security ID badges. 11. Is Commissioning by the owner? A. Please refer to SOW Section 1.4 Testing. Per Section 1.4.2 : Lessor will coordinate final tests with VHA COR and conduct final tests in his/her presence. Lessor shall furnish all labor, materials, equipment, instruments, and forms, to conduct and record such tests. 12.What are the working hours on this project? A. Working hours will be general building operation hours (0730 1630) Monday Friday 13.Where will the designated parking area be for workers accessing the construction site? A. There is an open parking lot. As long as they don t have to be parked next to the building there is room. Parking adjacent to building is reserved for veterans. If staging is needed, contractors may park in rear of building to drop off material in rear access door. However, vehicle must be moved after dropping off as it is a right of way (ROW) access. 14.Will the government accept the use of the industry leading Procore Project Management software as the primary submittal and data tracking tool for this project? A. No 15.Is there any work dealing with asbestos expected on this project? if so, please provide Hazardous material report? A. No 16.Is there any scope that will demolish, expand, or renovate spaces in the building? Please provide details. A. Please refer to scope of work, contract to upgrade EHRM infrastructure at N Bexar may require demolition of existing wall or hard ceiling. (pending on design) 17.Due to current potentially significant tariffs being placed on the importation of building materials such as wood or steel by the current Presidential Executive Branch, if a tariff is placed after bid time and before award will the government consider a price escalation on a contract value for products such as steel or wood should the executive branch levee tariffs effecting such materials? Most of these materials would still have been Buy American compliant as the tariffs would increase pricing on all steel or wood materials, regardless of origin. A. No 18.Will the Government consider adding an economic price adjustment (EPA) clause to the solicitation given the unprecedented inflationary environment we are in. FAR 16.3203-2 already allows adding an economic price adjustment clause. A. No, this is Firm Fixed Price Contract. 19.In accordance with 13 C.F.R. § 125.8(e), please confirm that the government will accept the experience from either member of an SBA approved Joint Venture with a mentor-protégé agreement to meet the requirements of the solicitation? A. This is SDVOSB only. 20. Please clarify the allocated budget for this project. A. Balcones Heights $350,000.00; Balcones Heights MH $250,000.00; and North Bexar $275,000.00 21. Solicitation has two durations, 360 days in the 1442 form cover page and a total duration of 150 days which include design & Construction, which one is the correct one? A. 150 days 22.When is the government expecting to award project and how long after NTP is the GC to mobilize? A. After evaluation of offers and 10 days after NTP to mobilize 23. Is there a more specific scope of work that lists the number of Telecommunications rooms, offices, spaces that will be affected by this project? A. No additional scope 24.Is there a layout of the building, that the design team can use to trace conduit/ telecom data drops to into rooms affected? A. General floor plans are available 25.The RFI deadline is a day after the site visit. Most of the project analysis will be done with site visit notes: Description, dimension, and quantities. Can RFI deadline be extended by a week to allow subcontractors time to review project scope? A. No, due to time constraint of the project need date 26. Will another site visit be allowed to confirm site requirements once a design/ scope is drafted out? A. Once a vendor/contractor is awarded. No additional site visits in pre-award phase. 27.What is the company managing the BMS / controls to adjust or add any additional sensors to the existing systems? A. On-site building manager was unable to provide a determination 28.What are the companies, currently servicing the existing: access control : Security Technology of South Texas Cameras: Security Technology of South Texas BMS / Controls : On-site building manager was unable to provide a determination Fire Alarm: Western States Fire Protection of San Antonio Fiber provider: AT&T 29.Where will the new fiber/ data line be tapped from? A. DMARC room / area where existing fiber / data are located 30.Can the required superintendent on site double hat the SSHO position required? A. Yes 31.Can you please confirm that during construction, Division 27 and 28 tasks are to be managed by a full-time onsite project manager who possesses a BICSI RCDD certificate? A. Construction needs to be done according to design and design needs to be done/approved by RCDD qualified person 32.Under this project, are we to provide an allowance for additional Cat 6A cabling to support cables which may not be identified during the solicitation process? A. No 33. Has this site had any recent Wi-Fi upgrades, if not, does the site foresee Wi-Fi upgrades being performed under the NextGen wireless program which may add access points to the project scope? A. Building will not fall under NextGen wireless program, Recent upgrades were installed 34. Can you confirm the number of TR/Telecom spaces to be remediated under this solicitation? A. There are 2 solicitations. Mental Health Clinic 1 TR room and Gold & Silver Clinic 2 TR Rooms 35. What are the operating hours of the clinic? A. 0730 1630 (Monday Friday) 36. Will Telecomm Room as-built files be provided? A. No; Telecom room general as-builts which include the following (room #, area, and dimensions of space are available. 37. Will HVAC, electrical, and low voltage as-built drawings be provided? A. No SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS In accordance with FAR 28.307-2 and FAR 52.228-5, the following minimum coverage shall apply to this contract: (a) Workers' compensation and employers liability: Contractors are required to comply with applicable Federal and State workers' compensation and occupational disease statutes. If occupational diseases are not compensable under those statutes, they shall be covered under the employer's liability section of the insurance policy, except when contract operations are so commingled with a Contractor's commercial operations that it would not be practical to require this coverage. Employer's liability coverage of at least $100,000 is required, except in States with exclusive or monopolistic funds that do not permit workers' compensation to be written by private carriers. (b) General Liability: $500,000.00 per occurrences. (c) Automobile liability: $200,000.00 per person; $500,000.00 per occurrence and $20,000.00 property damage. (d) The successful bidder must present to the Contracting Officer, prior to award, evidence of general liability insurance without any exclusionary clauses for asbestos that would void the general liability coverage. (End of Clause) MANDATORY WRITTEN DISCLOSURES Mandatory written disclosures required by FAR clause 52.203-13 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General (OIG) must be made electronically through the VA OIG Hotline at http://www.va.gov/oig/contacts/hotline.asp and clicking on "FAR clause 52.203- 13 Reporting." If you experience difficulty accessing the website, call the Hotline at 1-800-488- 8244 for further instructions. PAYMENT & PERFORMANCE BONDS: The offeror to whom award is made will be required to furnish two bonds. A Payment Bond shall be provided on Standard Form 25A (SF 25A) and a Performance Bond shall be provided on Standard Form 25 (SF 25). Both bonds shall be submitted in accordance with FAR 52.228-15 Performance and Payment Bonds - Construction, which can be located under FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference. Copies of SFs 25A and 25 may be obtained from http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP. AVAILABILITY OF SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS All solicitation-related documents will be published to Contract Opportunities at https://sam.gov/ . Request For Quote This solicitation is being issued as a Request For Quote ( RFQ) in accordance with FAR Part 13. SDVOSB SET-ASIDE This procurement is a 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns. Offers received from other than SDVOSB concerns will not be considered. All SDVOSBs must be listed as verified by the Small Business Administration (SBA) Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert). Offerors must be verified and visible in the SBA VetCert database (Veteran Small Business Certification (sba.gov)) at TIME OF SUBMISSION OF BIDS AND TIME OF AWARD. Failure to be BOTH visible and verified at the time of bid submission and time of award will result in the offeror s bid being deemed unacceptable and ineligible for award. NOTE: As of January 1, 2023, all SDVOSBs that were previously verified by the VA Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) are automatically granted certification by the SBA for the remainder of the firm s eligibility period. The SBA intends to grant a one-time, one-year extension of certification to current SDVOSBs verified by the VA as of the transfer date on January 1, 2023. This additional year will be added to the existing eligibility period of a current participant. New applicants certified by SBA after January 1, 2023, will receive the standard three-year certification period. The NDAA 2021 grants a one-year grace period for self-certified SDVOSBs until January 1, 2024. During the grace period, self-certified businesses have one year to file an application for SDVOSB certification and may continue to rely on their self-certification to compete for non-VA SDVOSB set-aside contracts. Self-certified SDVOSBs that apply before January 1, 2024, will maintain their eligibility through the expiration of the grace period until SBA issues a final eligibility decision. AMENDMENTS Amendments to this solicitation will be posted at https://sam.gov/. Paper copies of the amendments will NOT be individually mailed. No other notification of amendments will be provided. Potential offerors are advised that they are responsible for obtaining and acknowledging any amendments to the solicitation. Failure to acknowledge an amendment may result in the offeror s bid being considered non-responsive. QUOTE SUBMISSION A. GENERAL: (a) Offerors shall submit their bids via email to: Dr. Vinicky Ann Ervin Ph.D. (b) Only email quotes will be accepted. No original or hard copies will be accepted. (c) The bid bond shall be submitted as part of the electronic submission and the original hard copy of the bid bond shall be mailed to: Audie Murphy VA Hospital ATTN: Alfred K. Lagat 7400 Merton Minter St San Antonio, Texas 78229-5898 (e) Failure to provide electronic quotes and an electronic copy of the bid bond by the date and time set for receipt of bids may deem the quote Non-Responsive. BID PACKAGE CONTENTS: (a) Standard Form (SF) 1442 Solicitation, Offer, and Award: The offeror shall complete and sign the OFFER section of the SF 1442. Please include your company s Unique Entity Identifier associated with SAM.gov in Block 14. (b) Acknowledgement of All Amendments: The offeror shall agree to and acknowledge all amendments by either 1.) completing block 19 of the SF 1442, or 2.) returning the signed amendment form(s) with the submission. (c) Price Schedule: The offeror shall complete the Price Schedule of the solicitation. (d) Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements Notice and Representation: The offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.229-11 (d). (e) Representations & Certifications: As the provision at FAR 52.204-7 is included in the solicitation, FAR 52.204-8 (d) applies and the fill-in for FAR 52.204-8 (b)(2) does not need to be completed. The offeror is required to complete the annual representations and certifications electronically at https://www.sam.gov. (f) Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment: The offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.204-24 (d) Representations. (g) Information Regarding Responsibility Matters: The offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-7 (b). (h) Violation of Arms Controls Treaties or Agreements: The offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.209-13 (b) Certification. (i) Post Award Small Business Program Representations: The offeror shall provide their response to FAR 52.219-28 (h), if applicable. (j) Limitations on Subcontracting: The offeror shall complete and sign the VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting - Certificate of Compliance for Services and Construction required in VAAR 852.219-75 and return it with their bid submission. A copy of the clause to be completed and included with the bid is attached as a separate document (Attachment 17 - Limitations on Subcontracting - Construction). The completed and signed form will become part of the official award documentation. (k) Experience Modification Rate: The offeror shall provide the Safety and Environmental Violations and Experience Modification Rating (EMR) information, including filling out the attached document Contractor Safety and Environmental Form. (1) Provide offeror s information pertaining to their past Safety and Environmental record. The information must contain a certification that the offeror has no more than three (3) serious, or one (1) repeat, or one (1) willful OSHA or any EPA violation(s) in the past three years. If such certification cannot be made, an offeror shall explain why and submit as much information as possible regarding the circumstances of its past safety and environmental record, including the number of EPA violations and/or the number of serious, repeat, and/or willful OSHA violations, along with a detailed description of those violations. (2) Provide offeror s information regarding their current EMR. This information shall be obtained from the offeror s insurance carrier and be furnished on the insurance carrier s letterhead. If an offeror s EMR is above 1.0, offeror must submit a written explanation of the EMR from its insurance carrier furnished on the insurance carrier s letterhead, describing the reasons for the elevated EMR and the anticipated date the EMR may be reduced to 1.0 or below. (3) Self-insured contractors or other contractors that cannot provide their EMR on insurance letterhead must obtain a rating from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI) by completing and submitting form ERM-6 and providing the rating on letterhead from NCCI. Note: Self-insured contractors or other contractors that cannot provide their EMR on insurance letterhead from the states or territories of CA, DE, MI, NJ, ND, OH, PA, WA, WY, and PR shall obtain their EMR from their state-run worker s compensation insurance rating bureau. (4) If the NCCI cannot issue an EMR because the offeror lacks insurance history, the offeror shall submit a letter indicating so from its insurance carrier furnished on the insurance carrier s letterhead and include a letter from the NCCI indicating that it has assigned the offeror a Unity Rating of 1.0. (5) The above information, along with other information obtained from Government systems, such as the OSHA and EPA online inspection history databases, will be used to make an initial Determination of Responsibility. (6) This requirement is applicable to all subcontracting tiers, and prospective prime contractors are responsible for determining the responsibility of their prospective subcontractors. (7) Failure to provide the above documentation may result in a determination that an offeror is non-responsive and therefore ineligible for award. DETERMINATION OF NON-RESPONSIVE Quotes received pertaining to this solicitation will be reviewed for responsiveness. Failure to provide documentation as outlined in the RFQ section of the solicitation by the date and time set for receipt of bids may deem the bid non-Responsive. DETERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITY A Determination of Responsibility will be conducted for the apparent low bidder/awardee prior to award of the project. The above information, along with other information obtained from Government systems, such as, but not limited to the OSHA and EPA online inspection history databases, as well as any other information the Contracting Officer has determined to be valid, will be used to make the Determination of Responsibility. NOTE: Any information received by the Government that would be cause for a negative Determination of Responsibility may make the offeror ineligible for award. VETS 4212 Title 38, USC Section 4212(d), codified at 41 CFR Section 61-300, requires that federal contractors report, at least annually, the number and category of veterans who are within their workforce. Submission of the VETS-4212 reporting information can be done electronically at: http://www.dol.gov/vets/vets4212.htm. Award cannot be made unless the awardee has filed their VETS-4212 report. Therefore, all offerors are encouraged to file every year. The Contracting Officer may request a copy of the email confirmation of receipt notification prior to awarding the project. SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM) Federal Acquisition Regulations require that federal contractors register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at https://sam.gov/ and enter all mandatory information into the system. Offerors are required to be registered in SAM at the time an offer is submitted in order to comply with the annual representations and certifications requirements (see FAR 52.204-7). CONTRACT AWARD Award may only be made with the responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to the solicitation, will be most advantageous to the government, considering only price (see FAR 52.214-19). The low price will be evaluated by the Contracting Officer prior to award to confirm that it is a fair and reasonable price that is most advantageous to the Government. REVIEW REQUIRED REGISTRATION WITH CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORTING SYSTEM (CPARS) As prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 42.1502(e), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluates contractor past performance on all construction contracts that exceed $750,000 and shares those evaluations with other Federal Government contract specialists and procurement officials. The FAR requires that the contractor be provided an opportunity to comment on past performance evaluations prior to each report closing. To fulfill this requirement, VA uses an online database, CPARS, which is maintained by the Naval Seal Logistics Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. CPARS is available to all Federal agencies and is the system used to collect and retrieve performance assessment reports used in source selection determinations. CPARS also includes access to the federal awardee performance and integrity information system (FAPIIS). FAPIIS is a web-enabled application accessed via CPARS for contractor responsibility determination information. Each contractor whose contract award is estimated to exceed $750,000 is required to register with CPARS database at the following web address: http://www.cpars.gov/. Help in registering can be obtained by contacting Customer Support Desk @ DSN: 684-1690 or COMM: 207- 438- 1690. Registration should occur no later than thirty days after contract award and must be kept current should there be any change to the contractor s registered representative. For contracts with a period of one year or less, the contracting officer will perform a single evaluation when the contract is complete. For contracts exceeding one year, the contracting officer will evaluate the contractor s performance annually. Interim reports will be filed each year until the last year of the contract, when the final report will be completed. The report shall be assigned in CPARS to the contractor s designated representative for comment. The contractor representative will have thirty days to submit any comments and re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer. Failure to have a current registration in the CPARS database, or to re-assign the report to the VA contracting officer within those thirty days, will result in the Government s evaluation being placed on file in the database with a statement that the contractor failed to respond. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS AND SPECIAL AGREEMENT CHECKS All contractor employees are subject to the same level of investigation as VA employees who have access to VA Sensitive Information. The level of background investigation is commensurate with the level of access needed to perform all work as identified in the solicitation documents. This requirement is applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same access. As per VA Directive 0710, costs of background investigations will be borne by the contractor. Please be advised that the awardee will need to coordinate with the VA Medical Center concerning badging requirements. REFERENCES TO VA ENGINEER, RESIDENT ENGINEER, OR PROJECT MANAGER Any reference contained within the solicitation/contract specifications and/or drawings to the VA Engineer, Resident Engineer, or Project Manager, or their abbreviations shall be replaced with Contracting Officer s Representative (COR). USE OF PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects (PLAs): Offeror(s) may submit proposals with or without a PLAs. The PLAs shall fully conform to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 22.5 Project Labor Agreement for Federal Construction Projects. No additional credit will be assigned to proposals submitted with a PLA. PLA proposals will not be given additional credit toward selection of a proposal for award. Offeror(s) who chose to provide a proposal including PLAs shall do so in compliance with the applicable solicitation requirements.
