Navy issues RFP for $5B multiple award contract

Dive Brief:

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic has issued a Request for Proposals for an eight-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Global Contingency Construction (GCC) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) worth up to $5 billion in foreign and domestic construction projects. Proposals are due Oct. 5.
NAVFAC plans on issuing four contracts under the MAC, and the winners will compete for task orders for construction projects "in support of natural disaster response, humanitarian efforts, conflict, emergent mission critical requirements, or projects with similar characteristics." Some task orders could also involve design services and incidental support services as well.
The task orders will be either Cost-Plus–Award-Fee (CPAF) or Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) agreements. The MACs, which will be issued for an initial one-year period to each winning bidder, are subject to renewal via seven, one-year options. Contractors that do not submit bids for more than two task order RFPs risk their option not being renewed.

Dive Insight:

Prospective bidders, according to the solicitation, must have significant logistical and performance capabilities. The MAC includes a wide range of projects such as:

Dredging
Airfield facilities construction
Administrative and educational facilities
Electric power distribution systems Communication facilities
Water and sewage treatment plants
Enemy containment and processing facilities
Building envelope repairs
Fencing
Garbage disposal and recycling facilities
Warehouse facilities and transportation depots for construction materials
Rail facilities
Bridges and causeways
Medical clinics and field hospitals
Road construction
Pier and waterfront construction
Chemical, biological and radiological area decontamination
Environmental restoration

Given the scope of the potential projects and the staffing the requirements for these mega contracts, construction firms that have a global footprint or that can establish one quickly — and that have ready resources — are the ones that will qualify.

Earlier this year, for example NAVFAC increased an existing MAC by $10 million, bringing it to a total value of more than $1.1 billion. The six contractors that won the right to bid on task orders for that contract are major construction companies AECOM Technical Services Inc., Aptim Federal Services LLC, CH2M Hill Constructors Inc, Environmental Chemical Corp., Fluor Intercontinental Inc. and Perini Management Services Inc. Like the most recent RFP due Oct. 5, the task orders are for a variety of construction projects around the world and in the U.S.

Public agencies, not just the military, use IDIQ MACs when they're not sure exactly what services they will need. Contractors are not guaranteed that they will win work, but will often receive a base contract upon the initial award. As part of NVFAC's latest solicitation, winning bidders will receive a base task order award of $25,000.

Another benefit of the IDIQ MAC for public agencies is that as part of the bidding process, contractors typically offer unit pricing for labor and materials, allowing the government, be it the military or local, to lock in pricing for the time period of the contract. They also don't have to open up a new bid process for each project that comes along.

But smaller contractors are not necessarily locked out of IDIQ MAC opportunities. On Aug. 26, the Navy announced that it awarded a $240,000 IDIQ MAC to four contractors — Mechworks Mechanical Contractors Inc., North State Mechanical Inc., R&W Construction Co. Inc. and Siler Excavating LLC — out of a field of 11 bidders to take on construction projects at Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune in North Carolina. That work under that MAC will include new construction, renovations, alterations and repair for mechanical, electrical and plumbing projects.