Notice to Contractors / Consultants:
The Department of Transportation (Department) is soliciting contracting and consulting services for the Design-Build projects identified below.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Design-Build Firms must be qualified in accordance with Rule Chapter 14-91, Florida Administrative Code. Design-Build Firms shall satisfy the technical qualification requirements of Rule 14-75, and all qualification requirements of Rule Chapter 14-22, Florida Administrative Code. The Contractor or Joint Venture members collectively, must be qualified in the advertised Construction Work Classes. The Contractor or Joint Venture cannot utilize subcontractors to meet the qualification requirements for the Construction Work Classes. The lead design consultant may utilize subconsultants to meet the advertised Professional Services Work Type requirements. Technical qualification is required in at least one of the work types for lead design consultant. All qualification requirements must be met prior to the Response Deadline. Two or more qualified parties submitting as a Joint Venture must meet the Joint Venture requirements of Rule Chapter 14-22, specifically Rule 14-22.007, Florida Administrative Code. Parties to a Joint Venture must submit a Declaration of Joint Venture, Form No. 375-020-18, and receive approval from the Department prior to the Response Deadline for Letters of Interest (LOI) or submittal of the Proposal, whichever occurs first. For projects in excess of $50 million, in addition to meeting all other qualification requirements of Section 337.14, Florida Statutes, and Rule Chapter 14-22, Florida Administrative Code, any Contractor who is not prequalified and in good standing with the Department as of January 1, 2019, must have satisfactorily completed at least two projects, each in excess of $15 million, for the Department or for any other state department of transportation. Evidence must be submitted a minimum of two weeks prior to response deadline to allow sufficient time for review by the Department. Acceptability of the two proposed projects is at the sole discretion of the Department.
NEW FORM MUST BE SUBMITTED FOR BRIDGE DESIGN PROJECTS:Design-Build Firms responding to advertisem*nts requiring Group 4 Bridge Design work type qualification must submit a completed and signed Bridge Qualification Form along with the LOI, by the date/time deadline established for the LOI. Please refer to this preamble and the specific project advertisem*nt for other submittal directions.
CONSULTANT ELIGIBILITY: It is a basic tenet of the Department's contracting program that contracts are procured in a fair, open, and competitive manner. The Department requires that consultants representing the Department must be free of conflicting professional or personal interests. In order to prevent potential conflicts of interest, the Department has established guidelines to be followed by design consultants. Please familiarize yourself with the requirements of Procedure No.375-030-006, also known as: "Conflict of Interest Procedure for Department Contracts." By submitting an LOI or Bid/Price Proposal as part of a Design-Build Firm, or Joint Venture, the design consultant certifies that they are in compliance with Procedure No. 375-030-006. This procedure is available at the following link: Procedure 375-030-006 A Proposal Guaranty of not less than five percent (5%) of the total actual Bid/Price Proposal in the form of either a certified check, cashier's check, trust company treasurer's check, bank draft of any national or state bank, or a Surety Bid Bond made payable to the Florida Department of Transportation must accompany each Bid/Price Proposal in excess of $150,000. A check or draft in any amount less than five percent (5%) of the actual Bid/Price Proposal will invalidate the Bid/Price Proposal. Bid bonds shall conform to DOT Form No. 375-020-34 furnished with the Bid/Price Proposal.
SELECTION PROCESS:The listed projects are covered by the selection processes detailed in the Design-Build Procurement and Administrative Procedure, Procedure No. 625-020-010.
For those projects designated as ADJUSTED SCORE TYPE, the Department will conduct a two-phase design-build procurement process. For Phase I, qualified Design-Build Firms must submit an LOI for each project in which they are interested, to the indicated requesting unit by the time and date indicated as the Response Deadline. It is the responsibility of the Design-Build firm to insure that the complete LOI is timely received by the Department. The LOI will be limited to ten (10) 8½"x11" pages with a minimum font size of ten (10). In the LOI, please provide the name, address, phone number, and e-mail address for the Design-Build Firm contact person; the qualification status of the contractor and design consultant as part of the Design-Build Firm, and the key companies and key personnel proposed as participating in the Project. Resumes may be separately submitted, but are limited to one 8½"x11" page each. Resumes are not counted toward the ten(10) page limitation. Please provide one (1) page resumes for each of the following four (4) key staff positions and up to five (5) additional resumes of personnel who best highlight the experience and expertise of the Design Build firm for the particular project, as applicable:
- Design Project Manager
- Construction Project Manager
- Construction Design-Build Coordinator
- Utility Coordination Manager
The Department will judge the relative ability of each submitting company/entity to perform the required services based on qualification information and the LOI. Unless otherwise noted in the specific Design-Build advertisem*nt, the criteria for evaluating the Phase I submittals will include:
- Design-Build Firm Name and prequalifications
- Past Performance Evaluations, Design-Build Project Experience, Organization, and Staffing (0-7 Total Points):
- Contractor Grades
- Professional Consultant Grades
- Performance History with other States or Agencies, if none with the Department
- Design-Build Project experience of the Contractor and Professional Consultant
- Similar types of work experience
- Environmental Record
- Contractor Experience Modification Rating (Current Year)
- Design-Build Firm organization
- Design-Build Firm staffing plan
- Design-Build Firm coordination plan
- Design-Build Project Requirements and Critical Issues (0-13 Total Points):
- Understanding of Design-Build Project Requirements
- Identification of critical issues
- Outline for addressing critical issues
Relative weightings for all Phase I criteria are specified within the project advertisem*nt. All qualified firms submitting a responsive LOI will be scored on a scale of 0-20 points(Phase I). The Department will determine the short-listed firms with the objective to short-list the four highest ranking LOI scores. If four or less responsive firms submitted LOIs, all firms will be shortlisted. In the event of scoring ties, more than four firms may be eligible to move forward.
The Department will post the Short-List to the Department's website on the date shown below. The Short-Listed Design-Build Firms will be issued a Request for Proposal (RFP). The requirements for Phase II Technical Proposals will be described in the RFP. Phase II Technical Proposals will be scored on an 80-point scale. The total score from Phase I and Phase II will be added to determine the Design-Build Firm's Total Technical Score. Unless otherwise specified in the RFP, the award of the Project will be determined on a Total Adjusted Score as shown in the RFP based on both the Bid/Price Proposal and Technical Score.
The Phase I and the combined Phase I and Phase II results will be posted on the Department's website: (www.fdot.gov/procurement) on the indicated date. Public meeting dates and times are provided with new listed projects. All public meetings will be held in District headquarters unless otherwise noted. Changes to meeting dates and times will be updated on the Department's website.The agenda for all public meetings is as follows: a) Opening Remarks (approx. 3 minutes); b) Public Input (minimum15 minutes will be allotted); c) Department business; d) Closing. For more information, contact the designated responsible office. The Short-Listed firms will be provided a RFP containing a design criteria package and requested to provide a Technical Proposal and Bid/Price Proposal for the Project. The selection results will be posted on the Department's website at the date and time indicated in the advertisem*nt. Partners/Teaming Arrangements orproposed key staff of the Design-Build Firm shall not be changed after submittal of the LOI on ADJUSTED SCORE TYPE projects without written consent of the Department. Failure to receive approval on such a change may result in the Proposal being declared non-responsive.
Actual commitment and final execution of contracts are contingent upon an approved legislative budget and availability of funds.
RESPONSE PROCEDURE FOR ADJUSTED SCORE TYPE:The LOI and required attachments shall be submitted electronically in adobe.pdf format (unzipped) and attached to a single email. The Department has a 10 MB limit on email. Emails that exceed this 10 MB email server limit may be rejected by the Department's email server. It is solely the Design Build Firm's responsibility to ensure that the LOI is received by the Department's server by the LOI due date and time. Only (1) LOI per legal entity is acceptable. All LOI files should be sent to the indicated requesting unit, and must be received by the Department by the Phase I LOI response deadline shown below.
For those projects designated as LOW BID TYPE, Technical and Bid/Price Proposals must be submitted by the date and time indicated in the Advertisem*nt. It is the responsibility of the Design-Build Firms to insure that Technical and Bid/Price Proposals are timely received. For Low Bid Type projects, an RFP may be requested by any interested party at the response address provided below. The deadline for obtaining bid packages shall be 24 hours prior to scheduled letting date and time. In order to receive bid documents, the Design Build firm must complete Low Bid Design-Build Qualification Validation Form No. 700-011-36, for all qualifying team members, at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled letting. The form shall be submitted to the appropriate district, who will confirm qualification for the prospective Design-Build Firm. The form must be submitted at least 24 hours in advance of the response deadline (Bids Due Date/Bid Opening Date).
Low Bid Technical Proposals shall be submitted using Low Bid Design-Build Technical Proposal Form No. 700-010-21.The Technical Proposal of the low bid Proposer will then be reviewed to determine its responsiveness. If found to be non-responsive, the next lowest bid Proposer will be considered. A Proposal will be considered non-responsive if it does not contain all of the information and level of detail requested in the RFP. All Bid Openings and public meetings will be held in District headquarters unless otherwise noted. Changes to meeting dates and times will be updated on the Department's website. The agenda for all public meetings is as follows: a) Opening Remarks (approx. 3 minutes); b) Public Input (15 minutes); c) Department business; d) Closing. For more information, contact the designated responsible office. The selection results will be posted on the Department's Website at the date and time indicated in the advertisem*nt. Partners/Teaming Arrangements or key staff of the Design-Build Firm shall not be changed after submittal of the Proposal on LOW BID TYPE projects without written consent of the Department. Failure to receive approval on such a change will result in the Proposal being declared non-responsive.
RESPONSE PROCEDURE FOR LOW BID TYPE: The Technical Proposal and required attachments shall be submitted electronically in adobe.pdf format (unzipped) and attached to a single email. The Department has a 10 MB limit on email. Emails that exceed this 10 MB email server limit may be rejected by the Department's email server. It is solely the Design Build Firm's responsibility to ensure that the Technical Proposal is received by the Department's server by the due date and time. Only (1) Technical Proposal per legal entity is acceptable. All Technical Proposal files should be sent to the indicated requesting unit and must be received by the Department by the response deadline shown below.
Note: The Department reserves the right to reject all Proposals and/or to waive minor Proposal irregularities.
The Contractor or Lead Design Consultant shall not team with other Proposers to submit more than one Proposal per project.
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN DESIGN-BUILD FIRMS AND DEPARTMENT:Respondents to these solicitations or persons acting on their behalf may not contact, between the release of the solicitation and the end of the 72-hour period following the agency posting the notice of intended award, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays, any employee or officer of the executive or legislative branch concerning any aspect of this solicitation, except in writing to the procurement officer or as provided in the solicitation documents. Violation of this provision may be grounds for rejecting a response. In order to ensure a fair, competitive, and open process, once a project is advertised under Current Advertisem*nts, all communications between interested firms and the Department must be directed to the Department's Bid Question and Answer website. It is the responsibility of the Design-Build Firm to review the Bid Question and Answer website and the project advertisem*nt for updates prior to the Response Deadline.
Pursuant to Sections 120.57(3) and 337.11, Florida Statutes, and Rule Chapter 28-110, Florida Administrative Code, any person adversely affected by the agency decision or intended decision shall file with the agency both a notice of protest in writing and bond within 72 hours after the posting of the notice of decision or intended decision, or posting of the solicitation with respect to a protest of the terms, conditions, and specifications contained in a solicitation and will file a formal written protest within ten days after the filing of the notice of protest. The required notice of protest and bond, and formal written protest must each be timely filed with the Florida Department of Transportation, Clerk of Agency Proceedings, 605 Suwannee St, Mail Station 58, Tallahassee FL 32399-0458. Failure to file a notice of protest or formal written protest within the time prescribed in section 120.57(3), Florida Statutes, or failure to post the bond or other security required by law within the time allowed for filing a bond shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120 Florida Statutes.
The Department will pay stipends to the Short-Listed Design-Build Firms for Adjusted Score Design-Build, based on the following guidelines:
- The Design-Build Firm must submit responsive Technical and Price Proposal in Phase II in order to be eligible for a stipend.
- The Design-Build Firm who is ultimately awarded the Contract is not eligible for a stipend.
- The Design-Build Firm must execute and transmit to the Department within one (1) week after the Short-List protest period, the Design-Build Stipend Agreement, Form No. 700-011-14. Terms of said agreement are non-negotiable. A fully executed copy of the Design-Build Stipend Agreement will be returned to the Design-Build Firm.
- All responsive shortlisted firms not awarded the contract will be eligible to receive a stipend.
The exceptions to above referenced stipend guidelines are Factored Design-Build contracts, and Design-Build Push Button contracts. For Factored Design-Build projects, the Department will pay stipends to the top two Short-Listed Design-Build Firms that were not selected. For Design-Build Push Button contracts, the Department will not pay stipends.
DBE AND NON-DBE SMALL BUSINESS ASPIRATION GOAL:It is the policy of FDOT to encourage the participation of small businesses and disadvantaged business enterprises ("DBE") in all facets of the business activities of FDOT, consistent with applicable laws and regulations. FDOT has established an aspiration goal of 10.65% DBE usage and an additional 3% non-DBE Small Business usage for the subject Project. Firms proposing for this Project shall aspire to have 10.65% or more of the total contract costs performed by DBEs, and an additional three percent (3%) or more of the total contract costs performed by non-DBE small businesses. Although not a contract requirement, FDOT believes that the aforementioned aspiration goal can realistically be achieved based on current availability of DBEs and small businesses. FDOT further believes that the 13.65% overall goal can be achieved through race neutral means, using standard competitive procurement processes. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 339.0805, Florida Statutes, and Rule 14.78.005, Florida Administrative Code, FDOT has adopted rules to provide certified DBEs opportunities to participate in the business activities of FDOT as vendors, contractors, subcontractors, and consultants. FDOT has adopted the DBE definition set forth in Code 49 of Federal Regulations Section 26.5. The Department's DBE directory may be found at the following website: https://fdotxwp02.dot.state.fl.us/EqualOpportunityOfficeBusinessDirectory/CustomSearch.aspx Firms agree to apply their best efforts to utilize qualified non-DBE small businesses as vendors, contractors, subcontractors, and consultants for the Project. Qualifications for small businesses may be found at the following website http://www.fdot.gov/EqualOpportunity/sizeStandards.shtm Firms will submit the Aspiration Goal Form for "DBE" and "Non-DBE Small Business" Firms at the Pre-Construction Conference.
COMPLIANCE WITH NONDISCRIMINATION STATUTES AND AUTHORITIES:Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq., 78 stat. 252), (prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin); and 49 CFR Part 21; The Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, (42 U.S.C. § 4601), (prohibits unfair treatment of persons displaced or whose property has been acquired because of Federal or Federal-aid programs and projects);Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, (23 U.S.C. § 324 et seq.), (prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex); Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, (29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq.), as amended, (prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability); and 49 CFR Part 27; The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, (42 U.S.C. § 6101 et seq.), (prohibits discrimination on the basis of age); Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982, (49 USC § 471, Section 47123), as amended, (prohibits discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, or sex); The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, (PL 100-209), (Broadened the scope, coverage and applicability of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, by expanding the definition of the terms “programs or activities” to include all of the programs or activities of the Federal-aid recipients, sub-recipients and contractors, whether such programs or activities are Federally funded or not); Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in the operation of public entities, public and private transportation systems, places of public accommodation, and certain testing entities (42 U.S.C. §§ 12131 -- 12189) as implemented by Department of Transportation regulations at 49 C.F.R. parts 37 and 38; The Federal Aviation Administration’s Non-discrimination statute (49 U.S.C. § 47123) (prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, and sex); Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, which ensures non-discrimination against minority populations by discouraging programs, policies, and activities with disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority and low-income populations; Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency, and resulting agency guidance, national origin discrimination includes discrimination because of limited English proficiency (LEP).To ensure compliance with Title VI, you must take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to your programs (70 Fed. Reg. at 74087 to 74100); Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which prohibits you from discriminating because of sex in education programs or activities (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq).
INSPECTOR GENERAL: The contractor/consultant/vendor agrees to comply with section 20.055(5), Florida Statutes, and to incorporate in all subcontracts the obligation to comply with section 20.055(5), Florida Statutes.
SCRUTINIZED COMPANIES: Section 287.135, FloridaStatutes, prohibits agencies from contracting with companies for goods or services of any amount if, at the time of contracting, the company is on the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List, created pursuant to Section 215.4725, Florida Statutes, or is engaged in a boycott of Israel. Section 287.135, Florida Statutes, also prohibits a company from bidding on, submitting a proposal for, or entering into a contract for goods or services of $1 million or more if the company is on either the Scrutinized Companies with Activities in Sudan List, or the Scrutinized Companies with Activities in the Iran Petroleum Energy Sector Lists which were created pursuant to section 215.473, Florida Statutes.
