Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Army’s Huntsville Engineering and Support Center holding virtual industry day Oct. 23rd

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The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville has scheduled a Virtual Industry Day for its Range and Training Land program. The event coincides with the Small Business Forum 2018, set for Oct. 23, 2018 at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration located on the U.S. Space & Rocket Center campus at 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Alabama.

The Huntsville Center’s objective is to select architectural and engineering firms for design services to support various Army, Army Reserve, National Guard and Marine Corps installations and design projects for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District offices; and other Federal and State agencies.

The hour-long event begins at 10 a.m. in the auditorium. During the event, Huntsville Center staff will provide information and answer questions concerning the acquisition requirement.

The agenda consists of an overview of the scope of work; planned acquisition strategy approach; small business tips and best practices. The event will also provide networking opportunities and increase small business participation.

While registration for the Small Business Forum 2018 is closed, you can attend virtually.  The event will be available live via the Huntsville Center’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HuntsvilleCenter.

To learn more about how your firm’s capabilities may fit, please see the fact sheets about programs and doing business with the Huntsville Center at https://www.hnc.usace.army.mil/Media/Fact-Sheets.

Georgia Tech schedules federal construction and A-E contracting classes in 2016

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Two new classes — designed for government contracting officials and contractors alike — will be offered by Georgia Tech’s Contracting Education Academy in 2016.

Each of the two classes is five days in length, and each provides critical insights into how the government plans and executes contracting strategies for construction and architectural-engineering (A-E) work.

CON 243CON 243: Architect-Engineer Contracting is a five-day course, focusing on contracting for architectural-engineering services, covers issues across the contracting spectrum, including acquisition planning, source selection, proposal analysis, contract award and work, and contract management. Specific topics and practical exercises allow professionals to gain knowledge of the Selection of Architects and Engineers statue, the Standard Form 330, slate and selection process, review of government estimates, liability, Title II services, modifications, and contracting officer’s representative (COR) responsibilities. In this advanced course, students learn how to research proper application and interpretation of conflicting regulatory guidance, including Public Law, FAR, the DFARS and other Agency Supplements to the FAR, and legal precedence.

Who Should Attend CON 243:

Contracting officers, contract specialists, contracting officer representatives, program/project managers, small business specialists, industry contracting personnel, architects and engineers.

How You Will Benefit by Attending:

You will learn how to:

    • Determine if the services require Selection of Architects and Engineers Statute procedures and how to identify the basic steps necessary for the requirement.
    • Distinguish how the project is to be advertised and determine what is to be contained in the advertisement.
    • Determine the elements necessary for performance work statements.
    • Evaluate firms and determining the order in which they will be ranked once service has been advertised and qualifications statements received,
    • Determine applicable cost principles specific to A-E contracting in order to prepare a Government estimate or review a proposal.
    • Recognize when and how a Government cost estimate for the project is developed.
    • Develop a strategy and negotiating the project given an A-E firm’s proposal and the Government estimate,
    • Distinguish how the Government maintains quality assurance on the contract after it has been awarded.
    • Analyze the roles and responsibilities of those charged with the management and administration of the contract after award.
Schedule for CON 243 – click here.

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CON 244CON 244: Construction Contracting focuses on unique construction contracting issues, such as acquisition planning, contract performance management, funding, environmental concerns, construction contract language, and construction contracting in the commercial setting, the Construction Wage Rate Requirements Statute, design/build, basic schedule delay analysis, constructive changes, acceleration, and construction contract quality management.

Who Should Attend CON 244:

Contracting officers, contract specialists, contracting officer representatives, program/project managers, small business specialists, and industry contracting personnel.

How You Will Benefit by Attending:

You will learn how to:

      • Apply the Federal acquisition laws, regulations, Department of Defense and other agency supplementation, policies, procedures, and best business practices in soliciting and administering construction contracts.
      • Contrast the regular support requirements with a Construction Acquisition Plan in accordance with FAR Parts 7 and 36, DFARS Parts 207 and 236 and agency supplements, policies and procedures.
      • Develop a construction solicitation package in accordance with FAR, agency supplements, and policy/procedures.
      • Evaluate the appropriate construction contract awardee.
      • Determine the applicable construction contract administration (compliance) approach, using FAR, DFARS, DoD regulation/guidelines, and other relevant agency supplement, procedures and best business practices.
      • Formulate the remedy and appropriate clause for a changed construction condition in accordance with Federal and DoD acquisition and other agency laws, regulations, and best business practices.
      • Document appropriate actions necessary to verify for construction progress payment or construction contract closeout.
Schedule for CON 244 – click here.

Critics say federal design-build construction contracts stifling competition

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As lawmakers examine possible reforms to the contracting process for federal building construction, they heard on Dec. 3, 2013 from industry advocates who say current agency practices are chasing away perfectly qualified contractors, wasting money and stifling competition.

The issues surround the government’s use of design-build contracts for federal buildings — a setup in which the architectural work and the actual building construction are bundled into a single contract. Agencies can award those contracts in either a one-step or two-step process, and architects and builders who work in the federal space say they’re seeing problems with both.

In the one-step version, contractor teams have to submit virtually all of the technical details of their proposals all at once, and so do all their competitors.

That’s an expensive process. Charles Dalluge, an associate with the American Institute of Architects, said the average design-build proposal costs a company about $260,000.

“Teams must complete up to approximately 80 percent of the design work in advance, they must determine space needs, mechanic, electrical, structural, HVAC and other systems, building supplies and materials and, of course, the cost of construction,” he said. “As federal buildings become more complex, this work requires a considerable investment of time from the professionals on each of the design build teams.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/76/3517931/Federal-design-build-construction-contracts-stifle-competition

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