ARCHITECTENGINEERING

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ARCHITECT-ENGINEERING CONTRACTING
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A-E Contracting
At any given time, Savannah District has between
35
and 45 active A-E Contracts with as many as 700
Task Orders We make a lot of A-E Selections to
help execute a huge construction program!
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A-E Selection Process
Savannah District U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
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• Guidance
• Brooks Architect-Engineer Act
• FAR 36.602 and associated DFARS, AFARS EFARS
• EP 715-1-7 A-E Contracting

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A-E Selection Process
Goal of Selection Boards The primary goal of
all selection boards is to make the best match of
an A-Es capability/capacity to the specific
contract requirements.
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• Premise
• SAS has very large MILCON and OMA programs with
  projects than run the complete gamut from large
  Battalion Training Complexes to small building
  upgrades
• All contracts are unique A-E services required
  vary greatly

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• Announcement
• Synopsis consists of the following four part
  Corps of Engineers format
• 1. Contract Information
• 2. Project Description/Services Required
• 3. Selection Criteria
• 4. Submission

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• Selection Criteria
• Built around general FAR and DFARS criteria
• Services required must be specific
• Must indicate order of importance of criteria and
  sub criteria
• Uses criteria that will be important
  discriminators
• Must not be unnecessarily restrictive

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• Selection Criteria
• FAR 36.602-1 / DFARS 236.602-1
• Primary
• Specialized Experience and Technical Competence
• Key Personnel Professional Qualifications
• Work Management/Capacity
• Past Performance
• Secondary
• Knowledge of Locality (mostly for installation
  contracts)
• Geographic Proximity
• Volume of Recent DOD Work
• Participation of Small Businesses and Small
  Disadvantaged Businesses

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• A-E Evaluation Boards
• Pre-selection and Selection (FAR 36.602)
• Composed of in-house professional personnel with
  experience in engineering, architecture,
  construction, project management and acquisition
• Using agency invited to participate if
  appropriate
• Reviews and grades firms qualifications using
  criteria in the synopsis
• Must be reasonable, consistent and fair

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• Pre-selection Board
• Usually held when responses are greater than 10
• Reviews only primary criteria, does not consider
  secondary criteria
• Recommends to the selection board the highly
  qualified firms which have a reasonable chance of
  being considered as most highly qualified
• Submits report to selection board no separate
  approval required

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• Selection Board
• Reviews and back checks both primary and
  secondary criteria
• Through group discussion and consensus,
  determines most highly qualified firms, in order
  of preference (minimum of 3)
• Report produced which clearly states rationale
  for ranking of most highly qualified firms and
  reasons other firms were eliminated

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• Evaluation Factors
• Adequate depth in all disciplines cited in
  synopsis
• Key personnel must have
• Degree and registration as called for in
  announcement
• Pertinent experience
• Worked on example relevant projects
• Prime and subs must have
• Relevant recent experience (last 3-5 years) in
  the required type of work
• Worked together recently on similar projects
• Clearly delineated roles

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• Evaluation Factors (cont.)
• Prime and subs must have (cont)
• Established quality work management program
• Excellence in past performance through ACASS,
  repeat business, design awards, etc.
• All factors rated on performance risk as follows
• Outstanding Very low performance risk
• Above Average Low performance risk
• Average Moderate performance risk
• Below average High performance risk
• Poor Unacceptable performance risk

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Submission Protocol

• Do not visit the District between submission and
  final selections
• Unfair advantage over other firms
• Do not send in a test submittal
• It might count as the official submittal!

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• Submission Protocol

• Do not send submissions several hours before
  closing
• Time outs
• Password resets

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• Notification of Unsuccessful Firms
• All firms are notified of their selection status
  within 10 days after approval of selection report
• No notifications provided after pre-selection
• Simple letter do not give reasons
• May release name of firm with which a contract
  will be negotiated
• Advise firm they have 10 days to request a
  debriefing

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• A-E Debriefing
• A-E must request in writing or electronically
• Debrief within 14 days of A-E's request either
  by phone or in person
• Based on pre-selection/selection report
• Discuss significant weak or deficient
  qualifications as well as positive aspects of
  submittal
• May not discuss other firms
• Prepare summary of discussion for contract file

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• Types of Opportunities
• For larger firms
• IDCs for district use usually require work on
  multiple task orders simultaneously
• Larger firms typically have the capacity,
  technical expertise and depth of experience for
  these types of contracts
• However, with the right team, small businesses
  can win (and have won) on unrestricted
  competitions.

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• Types of Opportunities (cont.)
• For smaller firms
• IDCs for Value Engineering, Master Planning, GIS
• Design support to the District
• IDCs for use by installations
• Complex or technical contracts requiring specific
  expertise (I.e. Life Safety, structural
  evaluations, etc)
• SAS strongly encourages partnerships between
  large and small firms so that the smaller firms
  can compete in the future for those contracts
  requiring greater technical expertise and depth
  of experience.

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A-E Contracting Trends

• A-E IDIQ Contracts will be the typical method of
  executing RFP/Designs
• Project specific contracts will rarely be used
• Typically 5 to 8 Solicitations annually
• Typically 3 to 6 Contracts per Solicitation
• Contracts will typically consist of a base year
  and four one-year options with a maximum limit of
  up to a total of 12 Million

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THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN MAKING SUBMISSIONS
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The Announcement
Things to Remember

• READ EVERYTHING
• CAREFULLY!
• RESPOND TO EVERYTHING COMPLETELY!

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Things to Remember

• BUILD YOUR NEXT PROPOSAL BASED ON LESSONS
  LEARNED.
• SCHEDULE A DEBRIEF EVEN
  IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL
• THE BOARD TAKES NOTHING FOR GRANTED - YOU MUST
  DEMONSTRATE ALL OF YOUR QUALIFICATIONS.
• THE BOARD MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WILL HELP
  YOU.

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Things to Remember

• PUT YOURSELF IN THE REVIEWERS SHOES - READING
  STACKS OF PROPOSALS IS THOROUGHLY
  EXHAUSTING!
• BE COMPLETE, BE CLEAR, BE CONCISE!

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Things to Remember
MOST BOARD MEMBERS ARE OVER 40 YEARS OLD. DONT
USE SMALL PRINT IN ORDER TO PUT MORE INTO YOUR
PROPOSAL. USE FONT SIZE AS STATED IN ANNOUNCEMENT!
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Things to Remember
TRY TO AVOID PUTTING FLUFF IN YOUR PROPOSAL. IT
COULD BE MISUNDERSTOOD AND COULD HURT YOU!
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Things to Remember
MAKE YOUR PROPOSAL EASY TO READ AND EMPHASIZE
YOUR CRITICAL INFO. FOLLOW THE FORMAT OF THE
ANNOUNCEMENT! (AND ABOVE ALL, DONT CHANGE THE SF
330 FORMAT!)
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In a Nutshell

• Reviewers dream proposal - Its all there, in
  logical, easy to find order.
• No two contracts are identical look at each
  submission with new eyes.
• No magic formula for good, honest content!

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Not a Game of Chance

• No matter how well you complete the government
  forms there are no substitutes for
• Having designed similar facilities
• Experienced team that have worked together
• Good Past Performance
• Valid work plan
• Customer Satisfaction
• Etc.

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Contacts

• Charles N. McGee, Acting Chief, Engineering
  Technical Specialties Branch
• charles.n.mcgee_at_usace.army.mil
• 912-652-5621
• Les Zuniga, AE Selection Coordinator
• leslie.a.zuniga_at_usace.army.mil
• 912-652-5574
• Sherry Turner, AE Selection Assistant
• sherry.a.turner_at_usace.army.mil
• 912-652-5703

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Questions