REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS. Pre-Qualification of A&E Firms for On-Call Roster

Transcription

1 REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Pre-Qualification of A&E Firms for On-Call Roster Mid Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group Invitation to Interested Parties for salmon habitat restoration and enhancement projects in the Cedar River/Lake Washington, Green River and West Sound Watersheds. Per RCW Mid Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group (Mid Sound) seeks to develop a roster of pre-qualified professional consulting firms with an emphasis in salmon habitat and restoration design, permitting, and construction projects in Puget Sound. Mid Sound invites interested firms to submit a statement of qualifications and performance examples in accordance with the procedure outlined in this solicitation. Mid Sound expects to initiate 5-10 restoration designs over the next 3-5 years. Other projects requiring consulting may also be identified during this time period. We are also looking for firms interested in assisting with 3 rd party design review and project development. These services are solicited, and the roster updated every 2 years. This professional services roster is effective through June 30, Mid Sound develops and implements projects that enhance and restore Puget Sound salmon habitat, including streams, wetlands, and nearshore ecosystems. Firms included on this roster will have the opportunity to work with Mid Sound on exciting and important restoration projects providing survey, design, permitting, and other services associated with watershed restoration and salmon recovery. Engineering firms will be assessed based on three categories: 1) Qualifications and experience of staff; 2) Organizational efficiency and cost-effectiveness; and 3) Recent experience in northwest salmon habitat restoration and enhancement projects; special emphasis is being placed estuarine and nearshore systems. Five to ten firms will be pre-qualified for contracting to assist with the design of various fish passage and salmon habitat restoration projects and project development. Our hope is to work with each firm on this limited list at least once. Projects may be subject to state or federal audit requirements. 1

2 Table of Contents Solicitation Schedule 3 Solicitation Contact Information 3 Proposal 4 5 Roster Selection Process 5 Instructions and Requirements 6-11 Evaluation Process 11 Consultant Questionnaire Attachment A Consultant Inclusion Plan Attachment B Roster Selection Process Attachment C 2

3 Schedule Schedule of Events Date/Time Solicitation Release May 6, 2016 Deadline for Questions May 18, 2016 Response Deadline May 20, 2016 Noon local time Informal phone interviews if needed May 23-27, 2016 Announcement of Successful Firms(s) May 31, 2016 Mid Sound reserves the right to modify this schedule. Changes will be posted on our website or as otherwise stated. Mid Sound Contact Project Manager: Troy Fields, ; Fed Ex & Hand Delivery - Physical Address Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group c/o Troy Fields 7400 Sand Point Way NE Bldg. 138, Suite 202 North Seattle, Washington, US Post Office - Mailing Address Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group c/o Troy Fields 7400 Sand Point Way NE Suite 202 North Seattle, Washington, Unless authorized by the Project Manager, no other Mid Sound official or employee may speak for Mid Sound regarding this solicitation until award is complete. Any consultant contacting other Mid Sound officials or employees does so at consultant s own risk. Mid Sound is not bound by such information. 3

4 Proposal While there is no page limit for your proposal, Mid Sound appreciates the succinctness of your response. The proposal should consist of the following items: 1. Letter of Interest and Introduction (1 page maximum). 2. Minimum Qualification Certification: Provide a single page that lists the following Minimum Qualifications, and exactly how you achieve each one. Mid Sound will use this page to determine if you have achieved all the minimum qualifications. The Project Manager is not obligated to check references or search other materials to make this decision. a. Consultant must have a minimum of five years continuous experience during which the services have been the primary business service. b. Consultant must have successfully performed one contract with a public agency or nonprofit organization of similar size to Mid Sound that has been active for a minimum of five-years, with services similar to those expected by Mid Sound for this contract. c. Consultant must have a local office within 20 miles of the greater Seattle area (important for on-call contracts and responsiveness). 3. Summary of Qualifications: Please summarize your firm s qualifications and experience in design of fish passage and habitat restoration projects in Puget Sound. Please identify the type(s) of projects you are interested in being considered for from the list below: a. Culvert replacement to facilitate fish passage b. Stream channel and wetland restoration c. Estuarine, nearshore and shoreline restoration d. Third-party design review and project development 4. Cost Effectiveness: Successful inclusion on the roster will not be based on pricing and/or fee structure. Any firm submitting any information regarding fees, rates, cost reimbursable items, etc. will have their submittal immediately rejected for being unresponsive to this solicitation. Please describe how/why your firm can provide cost-effective services for projects located in WRIAs 8, 9 and East 15. Note that we are NOT requesting a rate sheet, but rather a brief narrative explaining how this goal can be accomplished. 5. Key Personnel (2 page maximum): Please list professional personnel who would be assigned to the work, what specific role they would play in the types of projects we describe, and a short bio for each. 6. Project Examples: Provide references for at least 3 and no more than 5 habitat enhancement projects completed within in the last 3 years, including project name, total engineering cost and construction cost, contact person, and phone number (3 pages maximum). Projects should be of the scale and scope of those that would be contracted under this SOQ. References should include the types of project you are interested in being 4

5 considered for. 7. Proposal Response: There is no maximum page limit for your proposal, however Mid Sound encourages the use of double-sided pages); Your response should include each of the following. Addenda may change this list; check any final instructions: a. Letter of Interest b. Minimum Qualifications Sheet c. Cost Effectiveness Plan d. Key Personnel e. Project Examples & References f. Consultant Questionnaire (for work within City of Seattle) g. Sub Consultant Inclusion Plan (for work within City of Seattle) 8. Consultant Questionnaire (Attachment A): Submit the completed questionnaire in your response if you would like to be considered for work within the City of Seattle and other jurisdictions that may require it. 9. Sub Consultant Inclusion Plan (Attachment B): If subcontractors would be used, the firm or firms that you expect to work with should be identified, including the location of the local office. You do NOT need to provide references, resumes or project descriptions for subcontractors; however that material may be requested during the contracting process if applicable. Submit the completed plan in your response if you would like to be considered for work within the City of Seattle and other jurisdictions that may require it. The Plan must be responsive in the opinion of Mid Sound, which means a meaningful and successful search and commitments to include WMBE firms for subcontracting work. Mid Sound reserves the right to improve the Plan with consultant before awarding any specific contract. When choosing sub consultants to include in responses, consultants should use selection methods and strategies sufficiently effective for successful WMBE participation. At Mid Sound s request, Consultants must furnish evidence such as copies of agreements with WMBE subcontractors either before execution or during performance of any contract. Selection Process Mid Sound maintains the public s trust by using a fair, competitive, and transparent process during the selection for consulting services and development of this on-call roster. Process guidelines detailing Mid Sound s use of this roster and how consultants will be selected for specific projects is included in Attachment C Roster Selection Process. 5

6 Instructions and Requirements This section details Mid Sound instructions and requirements for your submittal. Mid Sound reserves the right in its sole discretion to reject any Consultant response that fails to comply with these instructions. 1. Questions: Proposers may submit written questions to the Project Manager until the deadline stated on page 1. Mid Sound prefers questions be through . Failure to request clarification of any inadequacy, omission, or conflict will not relieve the Consultant of responsibilities under any subsequent contract. It is the responsibility of the interested Consultant to assure they receive responses to questions if any are issued. 2. Changes to the RFP/RFQ: Mid Sound may make changes to this RFP/RFQ if, in the sole judgment of Mid Sound, the change will not compromise Mid Sound s objectives in this solicitation. Any change to this RFP/RFQ will be made by formal written addendum issued by Mid Sound s Project Manager and shall become part of this RFP/RFQ. 3. Receiving Addenda and/or Question and Answers: It is the obligation and responsibility of the Consultant to learn of addenda, responses, or notices issued by Mid Sound. Some thirdparty services independently post Mid Sound solicitations on their websites. Mid Sound does not guarantee that such services have accurately provided all the information published by Mid Sound. All submittals sent to Mid Sound may be considered compliant with or without specific confirmation from the Consultant that any and all addenda was received and incorporated into your response. However, the Project Manager reserves the right to reject any submittal that does not fully incorporate Addenda that is critical to the project. 4. Proposal Submittal: Proposals must be received by Mid Sound no later than the date and time on page 3 except as revised by Addenda. All pages are to be numbered sequentially, and closely follow the requested formats. Mid Sound does not have page limits specified in the submittal instructions section. The submitter has full responsibility to ensure the response arrives at Mid Sound within the deadline. A response delivered after the deadline may be rejected unless waived as immaterial by Mid Sound given specific fact-based circumstances. 5. Response Submittal: Submit one (1) original unbound, three (3) bound copies, and one (1) electronic CD copy of the response. Mid Sound will not accept Fax and copies as an alternative to the paper or CD copy submittal. If an or fax version is delivered to Mid Sound, the paper CD copy will be the only official version accepted by Mid Sound. Delivery is to the location specified on page 3. 6

7 Responses should be in a sealed box or envelope marked and addressed with the Mid Sound contact person name, the solicitation title. If submittals are not marked, the Proposer has risks of the response being misplaced and not properly delivered. The Submittal may be hand-delivered or otherwise be received by Mid Sound staff at the address provided, by the submittal deadline. Delivery errors will result without careful attention to the proper address. Please do not use plastic or vinyl binders or folders. Mid Sound prefers simple, stapled paper copies. If a binder or folder is essential due to the size of your submission, Mid Sound encourages you use fully 100% recycled stock. 6. License and Business Tax Requirements: In order to be included on the roster, consultant must meet all applicable licensing requirements for tasks they wish to be considered for. Companies must license, report and pay revenue taxes for the Washington State business License (UBI#) and applicable Municipal Business License, if required by law. Carefully consider those costs before submitting a response, as Mid Sound will not separately pay or reimburse such costs. 7. Municpal Business Licensing and associated taxes: a. If you have a physical nexus in a city covered under this roster, you must obtain appropriate Municipal Business licenses and pay all taxes due before you can respond to specific project RFPs. b. A physical nexus means you have physical presence, such as: a building/facility in the municipality, you make sales trips into the municipality, your own company drives into the municipality for product deliveries, and/or you conduct service work in the municipality. c. We provide a Consultant Questionnaire Form in our submittal package items later in this RFQ, and it will ask you to specify if you have physical nexus. d. All costs for any licenses, permits and Municipal Business License taxes owed shall be borne by the Consultant and not charged separately to Mid Sound. e. The apparent successful Consultant(s) must immediately obtain the license and ensure all municipal taxes are current, unless exempted by City Code due to reasons such as no physical nexus. Failure to do so will cause rejection of the submittal. f. Those holding a municipal business license may be required to report and pay revenue taxes to the municipality. Such costs should be carefully considered by the Consultant prior to submitting your response. 8. State Business Licensing: Before your firm can be included on the roster, you must have a State of Washington business license (a Unified Business Identifier known as a UBI#). If the State of Washington has exempted your business from State licensing (some foreign companies are exempt and sometimes, the State waives licensing because the company has no physical presence in the State), then submit proof of that exemption to Mid Sound. All costs for any 7

8 licenses, permits and associated tax payments due to the State because of licensing shall be borne by the Consultant and not charged separately to Mid Sound. Instructions and applications are at and the State of Washington Department of Revenue is available at Federal Excise Tax: Mid Sound is exempt from Federal Excise Tax (Federal EIN: ). 10. Consultant Responsibility to Provide Full Response: It is the Consultant s responsibility to respond in a manner that does not require interpretation or clarification by Mid Sound. The Consultant is to provide all requested materials, forms and information. The Consultant is to ensure the materials submitted properly and accurately reflect the Consultant s offering. During scoring and evaluation, Mid Sound will rely upon the submitted materials and shall not accept materials from the Consultant after the RFP/RFQ deadline; this does not limit Mid Sound s right to consider additional information (such as references that are not provided by the Consultant but are known to Mid Sound, or past Mid Sound experience with the Consultant), or to seek clarifications as needed. 11. Prohibited Contacts: Consultants shall not interfere in any way to discourage other potential and/or prospective consultant from proposing or considering a response to the solicitation. Prohibited contact includes but is not limited to any contact, whether direct or indirect (i.e. in writing, by phone, or other, and by the Consultant or another person acting on behalf of the Consultant) to a likely firm or individual that may discourage or limit competition. If such activity is evidenced to the satisfaction and in sole discretion of Mid Sound, the Consultant that initiates such contacts may be rejected from the process. 12. No Guaranteed Utilization: Mid Sound does not guarantee utilization of any consultants included on the roster. The solicitation may provide estimates of utilization; such information is for consultant convenience and not a usage guarantee. Mid Sound reserves the right to issue multiple or partial awards, and/or to order work based on Mid Sound needs. Mid Sound may turn to other appropriate contract sources or supplemental contracts, to obtain these same or similar services. Mid Sound may re-solicit for new additions to the consultant pool at any time, and at its sole discretion. Use of such supplemental contracts does not limit the right of Mid Sound to terminate existing contracts for convenience or cause. 8

9 13. Effective Dates of Response: Solicitation responses are valid until Mid Sound completes the roster process. Should any consultant object to this condition, the Consultant must object prior to the deadline for questions listed on page Cost of Preparing Proposals: Mid Sound is not liable for costs incurred by the Consultant to prepare, submit and present proposals, interviews and/or demonstrations to this or any future solicitations. 15. Changes or Corrections to Proposal Submittal: Prior to the submittal due date, a Consultant may change their proposal, if initialed and dated by the Consultant. No changes are allowed after the closing date and time. 16. Errors in Proposals: Consultants are responsible for errors and omissions in their proposals. No error or omission shall diminish the Consultant s obligations to Mid Sound. 17. Withdrawal of Proposal: A submittal may be withdrawn by written request of the submitter. 18. Rejection of Proposals: Mid Sound may reject any or all proposals with no penalty. Mid Sound may waive immaterial defects and minor irregularities in any submitted proposal. 19. Incorporation of RFQ and Response in Contract: This RFQ and Consultant s response, including promises, warranties, commitments, and representations made in the successful proposal once accepted by Mid sound, are binding and incorporated by reference in any contract Mid Sound may enter into with the Consultant. 20. Equal Benefits: For many projects within the City of Seattle Mid Sound requires consideration of whether Consultants provide health and benefits that are the same or equivalent to the domestic partners of employees as to spouses of employees, and of their dependents and family members. The Consultant Questionnaire (Attachment A) includes materials to designate your equal benefits status. 21. Women and Minority Subcontracting. In alignment with The City of Seattle Mayor s Executive Order and City ordinance, Mid Sound encourages the maximum practicable opportunity for successful participation of minority and women-owned subcontracts. Consultants wishing to be considered for jobs within the City of Seattle must agree to SMC Chapter 20.42, and seek meaningful subcontracting opportunities with WMBE firms. In this event, Mid Sound requires a plan for including minority and women-owned firms, which becomes a material part of any contract. A template for this plan is included as Attachment B. 22. Insurance Requirements: Mid Sound is not requesting your insurance information as part of your response. For any questions regarding Mid Sound s requirements please contact the Project Manager listed on page Ethics Code: Mid Sound has chosen to align our ethics code, with that of The City of Seattle. 9

10 Please familiarize yourself with the information contained at the following link: For an in depth explanation of the City s Ethics Code for Contractors, Vendors, Customers and Clients, please visit: Any questions should be addressed to the Project Manager named in this document. a. No Gifts and Gratuities: Consultants shall not directly or indirectly offer anything (such as retainers, loans, entertainment, favors, gifts, tickets, trips, bonuses, donations, special discounts, work, or meals) to any Mid Sound employee, volunteer or official, if it is intended or may appear to a reasonable person to be intended to obtain or give special consideration to the Consultant. An example is giving sporting event tickets to a member of the proposal evaluation team of a solicitation to which you submitted. The definition of what a benefit would be is broad and could include not only awarding a contract but also the administration of the contract or evaluating contract performance. The rule works both ways, as it also prohibits proposal evaluation team members from soliciting items from Consultants. Promotional items worth less than $25 may be distributed by the Consultant to Mid Sound employees if the Consultant uses the items as routine and standard promotions for the business. b. Contract Workers with over 1,000 Hours: The ethics code applies to Consultant workers that perform over 1,000 cumulative hours on any Mid Sound contract during any 12- month period. Any such employee must abide by the ethics code. The Consultant is to be aware and familiar with the ethics code accordingly. c. No Conflict of Interest: Consultant (including officer, director, trustee, partner or employee) must not have a business interest or a close family or domestic relationship with any Mid Sound official, officer or employee who was, is, or will be involved in selection, negotiation, drafting, signing, administration or evaluating Consultant performance. Mid Sound shall make sole determination as to compliance. 24. Background Checks and Immigrant Status: Mid Sound will not be conducting background or immigrant status checks during this solicitation process. 25. Compliance with Applicable Laws, Regulations and Funding Policies: All Mid Sound work is implemented in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and applicable funding agency policies. In responding to solicitations, consultants shall comply with, and Mid Sound is not responsible for determining compliance with, any and all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and/or policies, including, but not limited to: State Environmental Policy Act; Industrial Insurance Coverage; Architectural Barriers Act; permits (shoreline, Hydraulics Project Approval, demolition); land use regulations (critical areas ordinances, Growth Management Act); federal and state safety and health regulations (Occupational Safety and Health Administration/Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act); and Buy American Act; Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (OMB Form 200 Super Circular ) 10

11 & other funding agency guidelines 26. Protests to Project Manager: Interested parties that wish to protest any aspect of this RFP/RFQ selection process shall provide written notice to the Mid Sound Project Manager. 27. Debriefs: For a debrief, please contact the Mid Sound Project Manager for this solicitation. Evaluation Criteria Responses will be judged by a 3-person panel consisting of the Mid Sound RFQ Project Manager (Executive Director), Mid Sound Operations Director and a Mid Sound Boardmember. Mid Sound reserves the right to obtain outside, or 3 rd -party review of the responses. Responses will be scored in the following categories: 1) Qualifications and experience of staff; 2) Organizational efficiency and cost-effectiveness; and 3) Recent experience in northwest salmon habitat restoration and enhancement projects; special emphasis is being placed estuarine and nearshore systems. 11