Project Management View from Rail Transit Programs and Projects

Critical Components in General Conditions  -  Buyer Contacts

This is the 5th in a series of discussions that is intended to prompt Project Teams to be aware of the entire contract document, including Information For Bidders (IFB), General Conditions/Terms and Conditions (GCs) and the Technical Requirements [Specifications and Drawings.] 

It is important the Buyer’s Project Manager and Contracting Officer verify content or provide input that ensures the contract is complete and executable within the Buyer’s organizational assets and business processes.   

GC – Buyer Contacts:   Typically, the main contacts provided by the Buyer are the names and mailing addresses for the Project Manager and Contracting Officer.   Other important contacts should include mailing addresses for submitting invoices – accounts payable.   These need to be verified and as the contract proceeds, updated as changes in personnel or office locations occur.

While the main contacts are conspicuous, there may be other contacts, addresses and reporting forms buried throughout the contract.    Some include statutory requirements that are needed for government regulations as well as conditions for project funding.   

For construction in the rail transit domain, some of the less conspicuous contacts and topics may include Equal Employee Opportunity, Dept of Labor, Minority/Disadvantaged Businesses, and Owner Controlled Insurance.     These requirements are binding, and it is important that the project team monitor and verify compliance.  

TIP:   Buyer PM and Seller PM should compile a list of personnel assigned to the contract along with contact information, including Email and mailing addresses.  

TIP:   At the Contract Kick Off Meeting, PM should present and review a Table containing all contacts and deliverable/reporting requirements, frequency and due dates.

TIP:   All Seller’s submission of certificates and forms to entities outside the Buyer’s contacts should be reported and appended to the Seller’s Monthly Progress Report. 

Critical Components in Information For Bidders  -  Bid Requirements

This is the 4th in a series of discussions that is intended to prompt Project Teams to be aware of the entire contract document, including Information For Bidders (IFB), General Conditions/Terms and Conditions (GCs) and the Technical Requirements [Specifications and Drawings.] 

Even with a standard form contract, it is important the Buyer’s Project Manager, Contracting Officer, technical representatives and PM support services (scheduler and estimator) verify content or provide input that ensure the contract is complete and executable within the Buyer’s organizational assets and business processes.   

In order to assure an expeditious and fair review of bids, the Buyer will identify the expectations for the bid documents submitted from potential bidders.    While some contracts may simply identify a single price sheet signed by the bidder, the complexity of the contracts may require more information to assure the Buyer is confident the bidder understands the scope of work.

IFB – Bid Requirements:    Requirements, instructions and Schedules (forms) are contained in the Information for Bidders section of the standard form contract document.     This section identifies the content, format, and forms required in the Seller’s bid documents.    This typically includes bid cost breakdown, schedule of values, corporate brochures, corporate licenses and certifications, resumes of key personnel, recent project list, and questionnaires and affidavits regarding contract defaults or litigation.

In publicly bid contracts, the requirements also include the bid evaluation criteria used by the Buyer to review and assess the Sellers’ bids:

• Invitation For Bid (IFB)/Request For Quotation (RFQ) procurement is a solicitation for firm fixed prices from the Sellers.   It is used when the Buyer determines the contract will deliver the exact product expected within the defined schedule.  The bid requirements include total lump sum prices for the items in the pricing sheet.  The award is based on the lowest price by a responsive responsible bidder.   
• Request For Proposal (RFP) procurement is a solicitation that consists of a technical volume and a cost volume.   It is used when the Buyer determined the IFB/RFQ solicitation will not obtain the best value from the market domain regarding the latest advances in materials, means and methods, systems, and computer hardware and software.    The award is based on defined criteria that is summarized in the contract in order from most important to least important.   The criteria is the framework for the Buyer’s evaluation of the technical volume, selection of the best proposal from Seller, review and negotiation of cost with the selected Seller.  The process to contract award  typically includes a combination of technical response and understanding of work; project experience, qualifications, and management team; and reasonableness of cost relative to the Buyer’s estimate, analysis of market conditions and recent awards for similar contracts within region.  

For construction in the rail transit domain, the bid requirements may include a management plan, quality plan, descriptions and product data for major equipment and systems, and summary level bar chart schedule. 

TIP:   Bid cost breakdown and schedule of values should be aligned with the Buyer’s contract cost estimate.  This will ensure expeditious due diligent review of bids for completeness and reasonableness.

TIP:    Seller’s must submit all information in bid requirements to be evaluated as responsive.   This ensures that their bid will enter the next phase for evaluating responsibility for the work. 

TIP:   Buyer’s responsibility checks on Sellers’ bids includes reference checks on recently completed contracts as well as a review of Buyer’s internal performance reviews of the Sellers’ previous contracts, and expert review of corporate financial reports, litigation or legal actions. 

TIP:    Certifications in the technical specifications should be verified by Buyers prior to award to the Seller [prime contractor] or prior to post-award approval of Seller’s subcontractors. 

Critical Components in Information For Bidders   -  Key Personnel

This is the 3^rd in a series of discussions that is intended to prompt Project Teams to be aware of the entire contract document, including Information For Bidders (IFB), General Conditions/Terms and Conditions (GCs) and the Technical Requirements [Specifications and Drawings.] 

Even with a standard form contract, it is important the Buyer’s Project Manager, Contracting Officer, and technical representatives verify content and ensure the contract is complete and executable within the Buyer’s organizational assets and business processes.   

Similar to specifying the company qualifications, the Buyer may also expect the bidders/Seller to provide Key Personnel for managing the work.     In addition to the level of effort – full time/part time, the bidders/Seller need to be aware of the Buyer’s expectations.    

IFB - Key Personnel:    A list of personnel is typically included in the Information for Bidders section of the standard form contract document.   This section identifies the key personnel required by the Buyer for the Seller.   For each key person, a description of experience, education, specialized training/certifications, licenses, and project experience.    The personnel may include Project Manager, Deputy Project Manager, Superintendent, Scheduler, Quality Manager and Safety Manager.   Under certain contract scopes, there may be requirements for Logistics Specialists, Training Specialists and Critical Crane Lift Specialist.    The requirements should be consistent with the Buyer’s expectations, the Engineer-Of-Record recommendations for Seller’s staff, and the requirements in the Division 1 Specifications, which the biggest tool in the contract for the Buyer’s project management team. 

For construction in the rail transit domain, the key persons may also include technical specialists for Track, Signal, Communications, Power, System Integration, Rolling Stock and Operations.

TIP:   The qualitative and quantitative requirements should be balanced with the qualified Seller pool but not be overly restrictive so as to reduce the submission of responsive bids.   

TIP:   Once the metrics are established in the contract, they can not be waived.    In order to avoid any type of protest during the bid evaluation, provide some flexibility in requirements for Buyer discretion using an equivalent combination of years experience, education and project assignments.

TIP:   Requirements for key personnel can also be stated in the technical specifications, which are prepared by the EOR.     During the final review of the completed contract documents, key personnel in the IFB and specification sections should be aligned.   As needed, the  IFB can identify technical personnel as key persons and reference the specification section for requirements.    

Critical Components in Information For Bidders  -  Company Qualifications

This is the 2^nd in a series of discussions that is intended to prompt Project Teams to be aware of the entire contract document, including Information For Bidders (IFB), General Conditions/Terms and Conditions (GCs) and the Technical Requirements [Specifications and Drawings.] 

It is important the Buyer’s Project Manager, Contracting Officer, and technical representatives verify content and ensure the contract is complete and executable within the Buyer’s organizational assets and business processes.   

Typically public and government contracts are advertised with legal notices in local and regional newspapers to attract a large pool of Seller’s to participate in the bid process.   The larger the pool of potential Sellers, the better the opportunity for competitive bid pricing, and thereby increasing  the potential best value for the Buyer and it funding partners, which many times include government funding.    

Once the contract is advertised for bid, any business entity can obtain the contract documents and submit a bid for the work.   In order to equally serve the time and financial investment by the Buyer and the bidders in the procurement process, the contract should identify company qualifications.    

IFB Company Qualifications:   Company qualifications are typically included in the Information for Bidders section of the standard form contract document.   This section identifies the corporate requirements for the Seller.    The requirements can include years experience; experience with project’s similar in scope, complexity and amount; licenses/certifications; and  the technical capabilities of the Seller’s organization.   The requirements should be correlated with the technical specifications regarding Cited Standards, Quality and Deliverables, and be consistent with the Engineer-Of-Record’s list of potential qualified Sellers for the contract work.

For construction in the rail transit domain, key project experience may include individual and combined scope for track and switches, DC substations, overhead AC catenary systems, third rail-traction power, ASC/cab signal systems, radio communications and fiber optic networks, supervisory centers and supervisory systems, train stations and platforms, rolling stock (passenger cars, locomotives and work trains), rolling stock and work train shops, and employee facilities. 

TIP:   The qualitative and quantitative requirements should be balanced with the qualified pool of Sellers but not be overly restrictive so as to reduce the submission of responsive bids.   

TIP:  Once the metrics are established in the contract, they can not be waived.    In order to avoid any type of protest during the bid evaluation, provide some flexibility in requirements that allows for Buyer discretion using an equivalent combination of years experience, project experience, management expertise, and technical capabilities.  

TIP:   Requirements for installation specialists, system integrators and equipment suppliers can also be stated in the technical specifications, which are prepared by the EOR.     During the final review of the completed contract documents, company qualifications in the IFB and specification sections should be aligned.   As needed, the IFB can identify other unique company qualifications by reference to the specification section for requirements.    

Critical Components in Information For Bidders  -  Due Dates

While there are many standard form contracts, each typically cover the same requirements available from Construction Specification Institute, American Institute of Architects, and Design Build Institute of America.   The standard form contains legal and contractual requirements to complement the execution of work defined in specifications and drawings that create the contract.    The contract content ensures that the expectations of the Buyer and the obligations of the Seller are clear, concise, unambiguous, understood and agreed upon with joint endorsement of the contract. 

This is a series of discussions that is intended to prompt Project Teams to be aware of the entire contract document, including Information For Bidders (IFB), General Conditions/Terms and Conditions (GCs) and the Technical Requirements [Specifications and Drawings.] 

While a standard form may imply it is a “boiler plate”, it is important the Buyer’s Project Manager, Contracting Officer, Legal representative and Accounts Payable Manger verify content and ensure the contract is complete and executable within the Buyer’s organizational assets and business processes.   

IFB  - Due Dates:    Due date are scattered throughout the Information for Bidders section of the standard contract form document.   The dates are assigned to critical milestones for prospective Sellers to participate in the procurement for the contract, and it provides the controlled and structured process by the Buyer leading to contract award.   These dates are essential to managing the contract procurement process in accordance with the project schedule.   The milestones usually include:  A)  Bid Conference date, location and time.  B) Site Tour date, location, time and itinerary.  C)  Question Period start and end dates,  D) Bid Due Date, delivery location and time.   The requirements should be reasonable for the contract complexity and industry, and should be aligned with the project schedule. 

For construction in the rail transit domain with government fundng, the optimum processes for procurement of the contract will include activities for:   A)  45 days (min) to receive bids.   B) 30-45 days (min) for bid review and selection of lowest responsive and responsible Seller.  C) 30-45 days (min) for Buyer’s internal time for authorizing contract award. 

TIP:  Assure the requirements account for Sellers’ time for creating take-offs, developing costs and submitting a responsive bid.  Overly aggressive due dates/schedule may cause large numbers of Sellers questions and requests to extend the bid due date or risk a smaller pool of bids.  

TIP:  The end of Question Period does not always extend with each extension of bid due dates.    Note that extending the question period risks that questions will continue from bidders with a consequential impact to the contract award date in the project schedule.