NOTICES
Retention of a Professional Design Firm or Firms
[31 Pa.B. 1865]
Project Reference No. FDC 500-910 The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Department) will retain a professional design firm or firms for open-end contracts for various building and engineering designs and associated geological services, environmental services and CADD services. The contract or contracts will be for a 12-month period with four 12-month extensions possible. Projects will be assigned on an as-needed basis.
Letters of Interest for these projects will only be accepted from individuals, firms or corporations duly authorized to engage in the practice of professional design. If an individual, firm or corporation not authorized to engage in the practice of engineering desires to submit a letter of interest, said individual, firm or corporation may do so as part of a joint venture with an individual, firm or corporation which is permitted under State law to engage in the practice of engineering and/or architecture. The professional design firm may be an engineering/architectural firm, an architectural/engineering firm, an engineering firm with an architectural subconsultant or an architectural firm with an engineering subconsultant.
The firm's area of responsibility for assigned work shall be throughout Central and Western Commonwealth. Bureau of Facility Design and Construction (Bureau) personnel will do project work in conjunction with this professional design firm on some of the projects.
The services may encompass a wide range of design and environmental efforts with the possibility of several different types of projects being designed under short completion schedules. The firm or firms may be required to design multiple projects at the same time.
The open-ended design services work will consist of building architectural, mechanical, plumbing and electrical designs, tie-ins to site utilities, major maintenance repair, renovations to existing buildings and additions to existing buildings. Many of these projects may be for buildings less than 5,000 square feet in size and small in terms of project scope.
Areas of environmental study associated with these projects may include, but are not limited to, wetlands, soil, geology, DER Chapter 105 and Corps of Engineers 404 permits. The environmental studies will be conducted in accordance with accepted analysis techniques and methodologies.
The selected firm or firms may be required to perform any or all of the projects in order to ensure a complete environmental investigation has been performed and may be required to provide all necessary environmental services, material and equipment necessary to collect, analyze and organize data, assess impacts, prepare reports and design mitigation plans. The reports and other graphic material to be prepared may include, but are not limited to, plans of study, meeting minutes, preparation of permit application documents, mitigation plans and reports and wetland and floodplain findings.
The professional design firm or firms may be required to perform any or all of the following duties: attend site visits; prepare minutes; perform necessary field surveys; plot topography and cross sections; develop erosion control details and narrative; prepare type, size and location report; prepare construction drawings, specifications, and estimates; procure core borings; provide soil and foundation engineering report; investigate utility involvement; and evaluate alternative using benefit/cost analysis, develop details and narratives; prepare reports; and also, the review of shop drawings, catalog cuts and occasional attendance at job conferences may be required.
The services shall also include, but not be limited to, a preliminary meeting in the Bureau of Facility Design and Construction, 8th floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, for each project. The contract shall be based on the hours of service and qualifying expenses not exceeding the contract amount. Work may be done on an hourly basis or a maximum cost work order for the individual design project. The design work will be reviewed by the architectural and engineering staff of the Bureau, and when acceptable, approved by same staff.
The number of open-end contracts and the dollar amount of each contract shall be at the discretion of the Department for the first year. The extent of the work for the subsequent 4-years of the contract will be dependent on the availability of additional funds and additional projects for those years, also at the discretion of the Department.
Information Concerning Socially and Economically Restricted Businesses (SERBs).
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania strongly encourages the submission of proposals by SERBs.
To achieve the objective of enhancing SERB participation, the Commonwealth has established SERB utilization as a selection criteria in the evaluation process.
The Bureau of Contract Administration and Business Development (BCABD) will evaluate the aforementioned criteria and will assign a point value to be considered within the overall RFP total point tabulation.
Proposals submitted by individuals claiming SERB status or proposals submitted by individuals reflecting joint venture and subcontracting opportunities with SERBs must submit documentation verifying their claim.
SERBs are small businesses whose economic growth and development have been restricted based on social and economic bias. Such small businesses are BCABD certified minority and women owned businesses and businesses whose development has been impeded because their primary or headquarters facilities are physically located in areas designated by the Commonwealth as being designated enterprise zones. A small business will not be considered socially/economically restricted if it has gross annual revenues exceeding $4,000,000, is dominant in its field of operation or employs more than 50 persons.
A company and its affiliates have achieved success and are graduated from this State-sponsored program when their gross revenue exceeds $4,000,000 annually. Any other small business in which an owner of a graduated firm has a financial interest or over which an owner of a graduated firm has control, either directly or through family members, will not qualify for SERB status. Control is defined as the power, whether or not exercised, to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a firm, whether through the ownership of voting shares, by contract or otherwise, or through the making of day-to-day as well as major decisions in matters of policy, management and operations. A determination of control shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following factors: capital investment and all other financial, property acquisition, contract negotiation, and legal matters; officer-director-employee selection and comprehensive hiring; operating responsibility; cost-control matters; income and dividend matters; financial transactions; and rights of other shareholders or joint partners.
Proposers seeking to identify SERBs for joint venture and subcontracting opportunities are encouraged to contact:
Department of General Services
Bureau of Contract Administration
and Business Development
Room 613 North Office Building
Harrisburg, PA 17125
Phone: (717) 787-6708
FAX: (717)-772-0021
DGS Web Page: www.dgs.state.pa.usGeneral Requirements and Information
Firms interested in performing the required services for the project are invited to submit Letters of Interest to Eugene J. Comoss, P.E., Director, Bureau of Facility Design and Construction, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 8th Floor, 400 Market Street, P. O. Box 8451, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8451. Contact J. Michael Bielo at (717) 787-3217 for general information concerning the design work.
Each Letter of Interest must include the firm's Federal identification number and the project reference number. The Letter of Interest shall also include a description of the firm's three most recently completed projects similar to the project proposed. The description shall include the client, contact person and phone number, the estimated or actual construction cost of the portion of the work which the firm designed, the project manager and the names of all personnel who made major contributions to the project. The Letter of Interest shall indicate the firm's capability of working on multiple small projects at the same time and understanding of the Department's needs. A standard DGS Form 150-ASP must accompany the Letter of Interest and shall indicate the individual in charge. The Form 150-ASP is available by downloading from DGS Home Page on the Internet at http://www.dgs.state.ps.us/cnprs.htm. Form 150-ASP may also be obtained in hard copy or on disk (in Word '97 format only). Written request for hard copy or disk should be addressed to the Selections Committee, Department of General Services, Room 104, 18th and Herr Streets, Harrisburg, PA 17125. In addition, the Form 150-ASP can be obtained via e-mail by addressing your request to: pbianchi@exec.gsinc.state.pa.us. Additional information pertinent to the firm's qualifications to do the work of this contract may be included. Direct costs other than payroll, such as travel and subsistence, shall be based on the current State rates. The Department shall reimburse miscellaneous expenses such as copies, prints, sepias, postage and film at cost upon approval.
The following factors will be considered during the evaluation of the firm's Letter of Interest:
Criteria evaluated by the Technical review will include:
Professional's understanding of the problem as demonstrated in Letter of Interest, and as stated in their own interpretation of the tasks to be performed.
Qualifications of firm.
Professional personnel in firm.
Soundness of approach as demonstrated in Letter of Interest, including the firm's description of prompt responsiveness to design questions, shop drawings and construction questions.
Geographic proximity of the professional to the facility or study area.
Available manpower to perform the services required.
SERB participation. (Evaluated by DGS)
Equitable distribution of the contracts.
Each proposer shall relate their proposal to the above criteria.
Six copies of the Letter of Interest, six copies of the required forms and one copy of the SERB information must be received no later than 4 p.m. on April 27, 2001. The six copies shall be submitted in six complete sets that shall be spiral bound or in folders or secured by binder clips. The assignment and services will be made to one of the firms responding to this notice. However, the Department reserves the right to reject all Letters of Interest submitted, cancel the solicitation requested under this notice, and/or re-advertise solicitation for this service.
The Department will offer a debriefing session to the unsuccessful firms. The Department disclaims any liability whatsoever to its review of the proposal submitted and in formulating a recommendation for selections. Recommendations made by the Department shall be final.
JOHN C. OLIVER,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 01-595. Filed for public inspection March 30, 2001, 9:00 a.m.]
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