NIH Multiple Award Task Ordering Contract (MATOC) for Architect-Engineering, Construction Quality Management, and Commissioning Services

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a Multiple Award, Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract for professional Architect Engineering (A/E) services procured in accordance with the Brooks A/E Act, Public Law 92-582, as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 36.6.

The North American Industry Classification System Codes (NAICS) for this acquisition are Architect or Architect/Engineer firms with an approved NAICS code of 541330 Engineering Services, with a small business size standard of $25,500,000.00 in average annual receipts.

The contract awards have an effective/ordering period of six (6) years. Each award has a minimum guarantee of $500 and the Contractors’ maximum order obligation will be $30 million for a single order. The total contract ceiling cumulative of all MATOC awards when combined, is $400 million.

All work and services will be ordered by issuance of individual firm-fixed-price (FFP) task orders. Per FAR 16.505(b)(1), NIH will comply with the order level requirement to provide fair opportunity consideration.  Notwithstanding the fair opportunity requirements set forth in 41U.S.C. 4106(c), NIH reserves the right to consider set-asides on an order-by-order basis as allowed in FAR 19.502-4(c). NIH may compete any orders solely amongst all the small businesses. NIH may issue orders directly to one IDIQ holder to meet the minimum guarantee. Small business awardees may compete against other-than-small business awardees for an order that is not set aside. Task order awards will follow the Brooks Act Procedures outlined in FAR Part 36.602.

Orders set aside for small business shall have limitations on subcontracting as follows - By submission of an offer and execution of a contract, the Offeror/Contractor agrees that it will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. “Similarly situated entity,” as used in this MATOC, means a first-tier subcontractor, including an independent contractor, that has the same small business program status as that which qualified the prime contractor for the award; and is considered small for the NAICS code the prime contractor assigned to the subcontract the subcontractor will perform. Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the 50 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. A joint venture agrees that, in the performance of the contract, the applicable 50 percent specified in the paragraph above will be performed by the aggregate of the joint venture participants.

Other-than-small-businesses have negotiated a small business subcontracting plan, acceptable by the Government, and incorporated into their respective IDIQ Contracts.

Contract holders are expected, in good faith, to participate in task order competitions and, if successful, to deliver quality projects on time and on cost, to include management and supervision of subcontractors. If for any reason, a contractor cannot participate in a competition, the contractor shall provide written notice of the reason(s) for non-participation prior to the proposal due date. Failure to participate in good faith and/or an overall performance CPAR rating of Marginal or Unsatisfactory may result in the contractor being off ramped from the MATOC.

In the event contractor(s) are off-ramped within 24 months of initial contract award, the Government reserves the right to on-ramp contractor(s) to maintain a pool of contractors. On-ramp contractors will be selected from the list of Most Highly Qualified Firms as determined during the initial evaluation of offers and awarded an IDIQ contract after negotiations in accordance with The Brooks Act, Public Law 92-582, as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 36.6.

Selected on-ramp contractors will be subject to a performance validation review. On-ramp contractor(s) must be active in the System of Award Management (SAM) and otherwise in compliance with the original multiple award solicitation. If found complaint, on-ramp contractors may be offered a bilateral IDIQ contract with the original guaranteed minimum and considered for task order projects.

After 24 months, the Government reserves the right to determine whether it would be appropriate to announce a new competition for the purpose of adding additional IDIQ holders. Periodically, the Government will assess the quality of performance by each IDIQ holder, the number, value and complexity of work awarded to each holder, and the amount of effective competition achieved by the current MATOC awardee pool. In addition, the Government will assess the internal transaction cost for issuing each task order and the amount of small business participation. Based on these criteria, if it is in the best interest of the Government, the MATOC Contracting Officer may announce a new competition to add additional IDIQ holders into the reserve and/or full-and-open category. The Government reserves the right to limit rolling admissions to only small business concerns.

The original effective period for contract holders is six (6) years from original MATOC establishment.

Travel for performance under this contract will not be reimbursed unless otherwise stated at the task order level or authorized in advance by the Contracting Officer.

It is anticipated that most of the work under the MATOC will be located on the NIH Main Campus, Bethesda, MD.

As a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH is the Federal Government's primary biomedical research agency.  The NIH's mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability. Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.

NIH’s mission is to provide high quality, safe, state-of-the-art laboratories, clinical, animal and supporting facilities in response to the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers current and emerging scientific goals and objectives consistent with the HHS Strategic Plan. Primary drivers to support this include existing, new and expanding science program requirements and the availability and suitability of facilities that comply with The Joint Commission (TJC), the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), other applicable codes and standards and guidelines.

The A/E firm or team shall have capability and proficiency to support all architectural and engineering disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP), fire protection, civil, and structural engineering design. The A/E firm or team shall include licensed or registered professional engineers, architects, as well as other specialties requiring certifications, as applicable by industry standards.

The A/E firm or team shall have proficiency and relevant experience in performing basic A/E services during the three (3) general phases of a project:

1) Pre-Design Phase

• Program of Requirements (POR) / Validation of PORs (For both NIH-owned and leased facilities)
• Special Studies

2) Design Phase

• Schematic Design 
• Design Development, not limited to:
  • Design Intent Documents 
  • Design Development 
  • Bridging Documents 
• Construction Documentation 

3) Post-Design Phase

• Bidding / Negotiation
• Construction Administration, not limited to:
  • Equitable Adjustments
  • Commissioning (Cx)
  • Construction Quality Management (CQM)

The A/E firm or team shall have proficiency and experience performing A/E services in support of renovation, repair, modification, alteration and/or new construction of the following types of facilities and/or utility infrastructure project. Projects may include, but are not limited to the following areas:

1)         Animal Care Facilities - to include, but not limited to, facilities for housing, care, and use of animals in experimental testing, research, and training as related to biomedical research.  Animals used at the NIH for research include but are not limited to mammals of all sizes, including primates, and aquatic animals.

2)         Biomedical Research Laboratory / Laboratory Facilities - to include, but not limited to, general and specialized biomedical and animal research laboratories, laboratory support spaces, laser laboratory, and Electron Microscopes. Projects related to lab facilities in this contract will include general and Bio-Safety Levels (BSL) -2, -3, and -4.

3)         Health Care Facilities or Hospitals - to include, but not limited to, patient care units, outpatient clinics, intensive care units, surgical suites with catheterization laboratory, radiology, nuclear medicine, and MRI suites, pharmacy, rehabilitation, transfusion medicine, cyclotron, radiation oncology, medical gas services, pediatrics, and hospital support services.

4)         Office / Public Space Facilities - to include, but not limited to, offices, Sensitive Compartmented Information facilities (SCIF), training facilities, conference facilities (including Natcher Conference Center), libraries (including the National Library of Medicine), child development centers, residences and lodging, commercial shops and food services, wellness centers and gyms, recreational facilities, facilities for ancillary services such as fire and police, parking structures, and exterior improvements such as roadways, sidewalks, and landscaping.

5)         Interior and Exterior Utility Infrastructure and Utility Generation Distribution Systems - The A/E services include the design of interior & exterior utility infrastructure and systems for Office / Public facilities; Animal Care facilities; Bio-medical Research laboratories; Healthcare / Hospital facilities; and general-purpose facilities such as parking structures and warehouses. The utility interior and exterior infrastructure and generation and distribution systems include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing systems
  • High Voltage Electrical
• Central Utility Plant (CUP)
• HVAC systems to include specialized filtering requirements, supply and exhaust systems and associated controls
• Steam/condensate, high temperature hot water, heating hot water, chilled water, lab water, high purity water, and potable water systems
• Compressed air, medical gas, lab vacuum, and material gas systems
• Central CO2 systems
• Central liquid nitrogen systems
• Fuel oil systems
• Storm water and sanitary sewer distribution systems
• Wastewater treatment systems
• Electrical Substations
• Landscaping irrigation systems
• Commissioning
  • Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV)
• Historical
• Geotechnical
• Elevator
• Physical Security
• Interior / Exterior Lighting
• Telecommunications
• Building Envelope
  • Roofing
• Building Model Information (BIM)

ARCHITECT / ENGINEER SERVICES

The A/E shall furnish all labor, management, investigations, studies, travel, supplies, equipment, and materials to perform the required services. The A/E is responsible for determining what disciplines and skill sets are required for accomplishing the work and form a team accordingly.

In general, pre-design and design phase services will include, but not limited to:

•           Field / site investigations, inclusive of Pre-Tab investigations and Electrical metering

•           Planning and Coordination Drawings

•           Building Information Modeling (BIM) (Only if applicable to the task order)

•           Sustainable Design

•           Program of Requirements (PORs)

•           Special Studies

•           Schematic Design

•           Design Development

•           Construction Documents (65%)

•           Construction Documents (95%)

•           Construction Documents (100%)

•           Rendered perspectives of proposed building construction and substantial site development

•           Construction cost estimate(s)

•           Construction baseline schedule

•           Geotechnical investigations

•           Preparation of Reports

The A/E may be required to provide construction phase and other services including, but not limited to:

• Construction Bidding and Negotiation Support
• Construction Inspections / Site Representation
• Construction Progress Meetings
• Requests for Information (RFIs)
• Construction Submittal Reviews
• Change Order Reviews / Support
• Punch lists
• Inspection of Stored Items
• Construction Close-out Support including As-builts; Record Documents; Non-Compliance Notices; Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals; Warranties; Product and Equipment Demonstrations and Training.
• A/E Record Documents

COMMISSIONING SUPPORT SERVICES

Commissioning support services (Cx) shall perform, but not limited to, the following tasks:

• Review Specifications and Drawings
• Review Submittals
• Develop Commissioning Scripts
• Review O&M Manuals
• Witness Testing of Electrical and Mechanical Systems

CONSTRUCTION QUALITY MANAGEMENT (CQM)

The Construction Quality Manager (CQM) shall perform, but not limited to, the following tasks:

• General Project Management - to include, but not limited to, administration and management services to assist the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) in the general day-to-day administration of the overall Project.
• Project Governance
  • Preparation and maintenance of a Project Management Plan (PMP)
  • Assist in the implementation of the Project Governance Structure
• Reviews and Document Management
  • Monthly Reports
  • Requests for Information (RFI)
  • Submittals
• Financial Management
  • Budget / Cost Control Monitoring and Management
  • Invoices / Application for Payment review
  • Change Order Control Process and Management
  • Estimating Services

• Scheduling Support - regularly review, analyze, and monitor the DBB/DBCs performance schedule(s), including, but not limited, to the preliminary/baseline schedule, Critical Path Method (CPM) construction schedules, and fragnets, as required. 
• Quality Construction Management, Reviews and Administration Assistance - shall include inspections, verifications, details audits and evaluations of materials and workmanship necessary to determine and document the quality of construction. The CQM contractor shall use its expertise and knowledge of construction practices, means and methods to execute an effective Quality Assurance Program.

Only A/E firms or teams demonstrating the above capabilities and experience to perform the required contract services should respond.

All A/E services under this requirement shall be consistent with NIH's applicable policies, guidelines and/or procedures for the design and construction of the NIH facilities and infrastructure. At a minimum, the planning and design of facilities / infrastructure under this contract shall be in compliance with all applicable Federal Regulations; and, follow the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals”, the NIH Design Requirements Manual (DRM) (latest edition), the HHS Facilities Program Manual, and the “AIA Guidelines for the Planning and Design of Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities” (https://www.aia.org).

The following is the name of the successful Offerors, along with the associated award numbers:

• Veteran Design & Construction, Inc.                    IDIQ Contract #75N99026D00002
• Summer Consultants, Inc.                                     IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00003
• L2S Engineering LLC                                          IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00004
• OLBN, Inc.                                                           IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00005
• TD&H Engineering                                              IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00006
• AFG Group, Inc.                                                   IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00007
• ATI, Inc.                                                                IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00008
• Chinook Systems, Inc.                                          IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00009
• Lambis Rank                                                         IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00010
• Jacobs Project Management Co.                           IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00011
• McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc. (MBP)                IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00012
• Affiliated Engineers Metro DC, Inc.                     IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00013
• Cannon Design                                                      IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00014
• Daly-IMEG Health, a Joint Venture                      IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00015
• HDR Architecture, Inc.                                         IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00016
• Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum (HOK)            IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00017
• Perkins & Will, Inc.                                              IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00018
• RMF Engineering                                                 IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00019
• Salas O’Brien Federal, LLC                                 IDIQ Contract # 75N99026D00020