C1DA--626A4-25-201 - AE Upgrade Primary Power Distribution 36C24925R0037

Presolicitation Notice Presolicitation Notice *=Required Field THIS IS A PRESOLICITATION NOTICE The Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 9 Central Region, 1639 Medical Center Parkway, Suite 204, Murfreesboro, TN, 37129, will be soliciting a Request for Proposal (RFP) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 36 to request for Architectural and Engineering Firm s SF 330 s for the following project: Project 626A4-25-201 for Architectural and Engineering Design Services to Upgrade Primary Power Distribution-York Campus located at the Alvin C York VA Medical Center, 3400 Lebanon Rd, Murfreesboro, TN 37129-1237. SET-ASIDE: 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns under the authority of 38 U.S.C. section 8127(d). CONSTRUCTION BUDGET DESIGN LIMITATIONS/PROJECT MAGNITUDE: Estimated Budget Between $5,000,000.00 and $10,000,000.00. PRODUCT/SERVICE CODE: C1DA Architect and Engineering Construction: Hospitals and Infirmaries NAICS: 541310 Architectural Services SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARD: $12.5 million PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Alvin C York VA Medical Center is seeking professional architect/engineering firms to complete contract drawings, specifications, technical reports, cost estimates, and services throughout construction for "Upgrade Primary Power Distribution System at the historic York Campus of the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), located at 3400 Lebanon Pike, Murfreesboro, TN 37129. This project will upgrade the primary power medium voltage distribution system serving the entire campus by replacing the existing 5 KV switchgear, medium voltage transformers, switches, voltage regulators and necessary 15 KV cabling. Electrical Substation Building 111 will be replaced with new building to accommodate new switchgear and to address current National Electrical Code (NEC) and Physical Security Standards. Project will also upgrade the control system configuration power balancing with the existing Co-Generation Plant. Work includes, but is not limited to, professional design services of electrical, fire protection, architectural, mechanical, and structural. The Period of Performance is 320 Calendar Days. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR AN AE FEE PROPOSAL; NO FEE PROPOSAL SHALL BE REQUESTED UNTIL AFTER AN EVALUATION HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROVIDED SF 330 AND THE TOP-RATED FIRM SELECTED. The solicitation is expected to be posted on or around June 23, 2025. This requirement is a 100% set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns under the authority of 38 U.S.C 8127 (d). Only those SDVOSB s listed and viewable in the SAM.gov database located at https://sam.gov/. The database will be checked at the time of offer submission as well as prior to award. All offers must also have an active listing in the System for Award Management (SAM) database https://sam.gov/. The awarded contractor must also submit evidence of enrollment with VETS4212. In addition to the requirements as set forth in the solicitation notice (to be issued), the proposed contractor must also be determined responsible in accordance with FAR Part 9 and 36.6. The Contracting Officer will determine responsibility prior to any award being made. Questions related to this requirement will only be addressed in writing by way of email to the Contracting Officer at jen.jamieson@va.gov. The Project Number, Project Name and Solicitation Number must be included in the subject line of all questions related to this requirement. No questions will be considered until the actual solicitation is released.

626A4-25-201 - 36C24925R0037 - AE Upgrade Primary Power Distribution Responses to RFIs: Question 1: Can you please confirm you are not looking for an SF330 proposal and just a 6298 Fee for this project? Question 2: This is strictly a request for a fee proposal, not for qualifications. Is that correct? Answer 1 and 2: Correction to solicitation announcement. Provide SF330, 6298 Fee Proposal are NOT needed until after evaluations have been made. Instructions are provided below. NO FEE PROPOSAL SHALL BE NEEDED UNTIL AFTER EVALUATIONS HAS BEEN MADE ON THE PROVIDED SF330 AND THE TOP-RATED FIRM SELECTED. Interested firms should submit their current SF330 to jen.jamieson@va.gov. The SF330s are due on Friday, July 25, 2025, at 1:00 pm CT via email. See Electronic Submission Requirements for instructions on submitting your SF330. The selection of the most qualified contractor will follow the guidance provided in FAR 36.6 Architect-Engineer Services, except as provided in FAR 36.602-5 Short Selection Process for Contracts Not to Exceed the Simplified Acquisition threshold. 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. Firms will be selected based on demonstrated competence and qualifications for the required work. Bid Deduct Alternates of at least 20% of the approved construction budget shall be developed, planned, and estimated as necessary to ensure award of contract within available funds. Bid Deduct Alternates shall be clearly identified on contract drawings. All offerors are advised that in accordance with VAAR 836.606-71 the total cost of the architect or engineer services contracted for must not exceed 6 percent of the estimated cost of the construction project plus any fees for related services and activities. Additionally, FAR Clause 52.236-22 (c) - Design Within Funding Limitation, will be applicable to this procurement action. Design limitation costs will be provided to the most highly rated AE firm selected to complete the design. Important Notice: Apparent successful offerors must be registered in the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) site at the time of submission of proposal. Failure to be both VERIFIED by the SBA and VISIBLE at the time of proposal submission, time of interview, and at time of award will result in the offeror s proposal being deemed non-responsive. All offerors are urged to contact the SBA DSBS (https://dsbs.sba.gov/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm) and submit the required documents to obtain verification of their SDVOSB status if they have not already done so. Contract Award Procedure: Before a small business is proposed as a potential contractor, they must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) website located at https://sam.gov. Failure of a proposed SDVOSB to be VERIFIED by SBA and VISIBLE in SBA DBSB and registered in SAM at the time the SF 330 is submitted shall result in elimination from consideration as a proposed contractor. The proposed services will be obtained by a Negotiated Firm-Fixed Price Contract. The review/design of architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, or other engineering features of the work shall be accomplished by architects or engineers registered in a State or possession of the United States, or in Puerto Rico or in the District of Columbia. The project drawings/design shall follow applicable standards and codes described in VA Program Guides and design materials. Master Construction Specifications Index, VA Construction Standards Index, VA Standards Index, and Criteria are available in the Technical Information Library (TIL) on VA Website address: http://www.cfm.va.gov/til/. The submitted SF330s will be evaluated in accordance with the following eight criteria from the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 36.602-1 and Veteran Administration Acquisition Regulation Subpart 836.6. Then a minimum of three of the most highly qualified firms will be selected to hold discussions regarding concepts and relative utility of alternative methods of furnishing the required services. A fee proposal will be requested from the top-rated firm chosen. SELECTION CRITERIA: - Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of required services, - Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required, including where appropriate, experience in energy conservation, pollution prevention, waste reduction and use of recovered material; - Capacity to accomplish the work in the required time. Provide the available capacity of key disciplines to perform the work in the required time. Provide the available capacity of key disciplines by providing current project workload, inclusive of all projects awarded by the VA during the previous 12 months and the full potential value of any current indefinite delivery contracts. Offers shall clearly state their available capacity presenting workload percentages for the key disciplines and/or team members. Also, the offeror must provide the completion percentages and expected completion date for the VA projects awarded in the previous 12 months. The information for this factor shall be provided in section H of the SF330. Please ensure the capacity applies toward the team/personnel provided in the SF330. - Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. The past performance will be evaluated for all projects provided in section F to include a review of Contractor Performance Assessment Rating System (CPARS). The following information is required for all projects noted in section F: contract/task order number, project title, prime firm, start date, and completion date. Also, consider, as appropriate, the record of significant claims against the firm because of improper or incomplete architectural and engineering services. Failure to provide requested data, accessible points of contact or valid phone numbers could result in a firm being considered less qualified. All projects provided in the SF330 must be completed by the office/branch/individual team member performing the work under this contract. The information for this factor shall be provided in Section H of the SF330. If there is no CPARS data available, Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) will be accepted. Please utilize the attached PPQ document. Complete PPQs should be incorporated into the SF330 directly. The PPQs will be counted towards the page limitations for this submission. - Location in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of the locality of the project; provided, that application of this criterion leaves an appropriate number of qualified firms, given the nature and size of the project. This information should be provided in Section H of the SF330. Note that the intent of this factor is to showcase a firm s understanding of the site and locality, and not where the firm is located and how they would travel to the site. Information related to the firm s location, shall be provided in section H, under Secondary selection Criteria Factor 1. The awarded A/E firm will prepare drawings and specifications in enough detail such that qualified outside General Contracting companies can prepare accurate and timely proposals for the desired work. The awarded A/E firm is responsible for ensuring that the specifications and drawings supplied fully represent all the work described in the Request for Proposal (RFP). The Medical Center must remain operational throughout the construction period and a detailed sequence of work will be provided by the A/E to minimize impact of the construction. The SF330 can be downloaded through the GSA Forms Library at: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/TOP, type in SF-330 in the Find a Form block and click on search. - Reputation and standing of the firm and its principal officials with respect to professional performance, general management, and cooperativeness. - Record of significant claims against the firm because of improper or incomplete architectural and engineering services. - Specific experience and qualifications of personnel proposed for assignment to the project and their record of working together as a team - Experience in construction period services to include professional field inspections during the construction period, review of construction submittals, support in answering requests for information during the construction period, and support of construction contract changes to include drafting statements of work, and cost estimates shall be included as an evaluation criterion when construction period services is included in the statement of work for A-E services. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 36.209, no contract for the construction of a project shall be awarded to the firm that designed the project or its subsidiaries or affiliates, except with the approval of the head of the agency or authorized representative. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Unless paper offers are specifically authorized in an individual solicitation, all responses to solicitations must be submitted electronically as described below. Responses submitted in a paper form are unacceptable and will be returned. Failure to comply with this requirement may jeopardize the possibility of receiving an award for the contract due to noncompliance with the terms of the solicitation. You must submit your electronic offer, and any supplemental information (such as spreadsheets, backup data, technical information), using any of the electronic formats and media described below. In addition, contractors are notified of the award via an electronic Notice of Award e-mail. The award document will be attached to the Notice of Award e-mail. Acceptable Electronic Formats (Software) for Submission of Offers: Files readable using the current Microsoft* Office version Products: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Please see security note below for caution regarding use of macros. When submitting construction drawings contractors are required to submit one set in AutoCAD and one set in Adobe PDF (purpose: contracting can open the PDF version and engineering can open AutoCAD files). Files in Adobe* PDF (Portable Document Format) Files: When scanning documents scanner resolution should be set to 200 dots per inch, or greater, Other Electronic Format: If you wish to submit an offer using another format other than described in these instructions, e-mail the Contracting Officer who issued the solicitation. Please submit your request at least ten (10) calendar days before the scheduled closing date of the solicitation. Request a decision as to the format acceptability and make sure you receive approval of the alternate format before using it to send your offer; and please note that we can no longer accept .zip files due to increasing security concerns. E-mail Submission Procedures: For simplicity in this guidance, all submissions in response to a solicitation will be referred to as offers. Subject Line: Include the solicitation number, name of company, and closing date of solicitation, Size: Maximum size of the e-mail message shall not exceed five (5) megabytes. Only one email is permitted unless otherwise stated in this paragraph or in writing by a Contracting Officer, and The offer will be date and time stamped by the Microsoft Email system and will be the official record of receipt for the submission. SECURITY ISSUES, LATE BIDS, UNREADABLE OFFERS: Late submission of offers is outlined at FAR Parts 52.212-1(f), 52.214-7, and 52.215-1(c) (3). Particular attention is warranted to the portion of the provision that relates to the timing of submission. Please see FAR 15.207(c) for a description of the steps the Government shall take regarding unreadable offers. To avoid rejection of an offer, vendors must make every effort to ensure their electronic submission is virus-free. Submissions or portions thereof submitted and which the automatic system detects the presence of a virus, or which are otherwise unreadable will be treated as unreadable pursuant to FAR Parts 14.406 and FAR 15.207(c). The virus scanning software used by our e-mail systems cannot always distinguish a macro from a virus. Therefore, sending a macro embedded in an e-mail message or an e-mail attachment may cause the e-mail offer to be quarantined. You may send both the spreadsheet and the spreadsheet saved in PDF format to ensure that your proposal is readable. Password protecting your offer is not permitted. The Contracting Officer will file the offer electronically which will allow access only by designated individuals.

626A4-25-201 - 36C24925R0037 - AE Upgrade Primary Power Distribution Responses to RFIs: The Statement of Work is good but since this is an upgrade to the existing facilities, do you have 1-line/as-built drawings that we can use in our bid preparation? A: Please see attached one-line drawings for existing conditions. The DWG file is the overall campus one line. The PDF shows a co-generator that was added to the campus power. There seems to be some discrepancies in the one-lines, so the AE s need to keep that in mind. A site walk would also go a long way in assisting us with pricing. A: No, site visit will not be provided since this is an AE Design. No fee proposal shall be needed until after evaluation has been made on the provided SF330. Page 3 says PPQs will count towards the page limitations but there is no mention of the page limit anywhere else. Is there a page limit for the SF330 submission? A: Size: Maximum size of the e-mail message shall not exceed five (5) megabytes. Only one email is permitted unless otherwise stated in this paragraph or in writing by a Contracting Officer. Submitted SF330 s are not to exceed a total of fifty (50) pages INCLUDING cover page and any other submitted documents. Does the VA have a list of which disciplines firms should provide resumes for in Section E? A: Yes, see page 5 of SF 330 Does the VA have a minimum or maximum number of projects they want firms to submit in Section F? A: Yes, the AE should provide 3-5 relevant projects for this section. Can you please confirm that we only need to provide VA projects awarded in the previous 12 months and the full potential value of any current indefinite delivery contracts for the prime A-E and not for our proposed subcontractors? A: Provide the available capacity of key disciplines by providing current project workload, inclusive of all projects awarded by the VA during the previous 12 months and the full potential value of any current indefinite delivery contracts. Can you please confirm we are not required to submit CPARS with our submission, only PPQs if CPARS are not available for the project? A: CPARS to be submitted, if there is no CPARS data available, Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) will be accepted. Can you please confirm that the geographical location of the firm is not an evaluation consideration of Factor 5 (Location)? Page 4 states location in the general geographical area of the project but then states that the intent is not where the firm is located. This paragraph also refers to Secondary Selection Criteria Factor 1, where information related to the firm s location is to be addressed, but there is no paragraph or subcategory for Secondary Selection Criteria in the RFQ. A: Geographical location of the firm is not an evaluation consideration, however, intent of this factor is to showcase a firm s understanding of the site and locality, and not where the firm is located. Firm s location to be addressed is to determine what Wage Determination to extract from SAM.gov. Would you consider cancelling this solicitation and re-issuing it through the IDIQ AE MATOC TVHS-Nashville and Murfreesboro that was awarded in September 2024? This vehicle has not yet been used to solicit responses to RFQs and seems to be a perfect fit for this project. A: No Thanks for any insight you can give as to why this vehicle is not being used. A: CONSTRUCTION BUDGET DESIGN LIMITATIONS/PROJECT MAGNITUDE: Estimated Budget Between $5,000,000.00 and $10,000,000.00. Can you please clarify if PDFs are an acceptable format for the 626A4-25-201 - 36C24925R0037 - AE Upgrade Primary Power Distribution SF330s to be submitted? A: Yes, PDFs are acceptable. Can you please also confirm the page limitations? A: Size: Maximum size of the e-mail message shall not exceed five (5) megabytes. Only one email is permitted unless otherwise stated in this paragraph or in writing by a Contracting Officer. Submitted SF330 s are not to exceed a total of fifty (50) pages INCLUDING cover page and any other submitted documents.