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RFI -Alaska Hwy Program of Work 2019-2020
EZ011-192511/A
Arthur (PWY), Carolyn
Telephone No. - (604) 364-2752 ( )
Fax No. - (604) 775-6633 ( )
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
Alaska Highway Program of Work in 2019/2020
BACKGROUND OF THE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
The highway was built 75 years ago during the Second World War by the United States Army and transferred to Canada after the war. PSPC is responsible for a 835 kilometres section of the Alaska Highway in northern B.C. The PSPC portion of the Alaska Highway is the principal land access route to northern BC, Yukon and Alaska. For northern BC residents, the Highway is virtually their ?main street?, providing the only link between Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and smaller communities. Maintenance for the PSPC portion of the Alaska Highway has been contracted out since the early 1980s.
Infrastructure Assets Management, Public Services and Procurement Canada (IAM), is the national office with the purpose of coordinating and delivering the strategy, stewardship and/or divestiture of a portfolio of engineering assets under PSPC ownership, situated across the country.
The mandate of IAM is to develop long-term management strategies for its assets, informed by various asset studies. Asset studies, inspections and engineering reports are analyzed and used by IAM to formulate strategic options for the long-term management and/or divestiture.
The Alaska Highway is an asset within the IAM portfolio.
The Alaska Highway stretches 2,450 Kilometres through northern BC, the Yukon and the State of Alaska. Eighty percent (1,960 Km) of the Alaska Highway is in Canada. Mile "Zero" (or "Kilometer Zero") starts in Dawson Creek, BC, and terminates in Delta Junction, Alaska. The responsibility for the 835 Km section from Km 133, north of Fort St. John, BC, to Km 968 at the BC/Yukon border, rests with PSPC.
PSPC is obligated to act as a responsible owner and ensure the asset is safe for use. This includes protecting the integrity, value and usefulness of its assets, and providing and managing safe, healthy and productive facilities/assets, consistent with government standards and comparable to engineering norms. The objectives of this ongoing program of work are consistent with these principles and will ensure that the Highway is maintained in safe working condition as it is the principal transportation corridor in northeast BC and the main link with the Yukon and Alaska.
DESCRIPTION OF POTENTIAL PROGRAM OF WORK
There are three (3) categories of spending on the Highway that may be addressed in the potential program of work. Annual spending for 19/20 is expected to be between $25M and $35M. Some of this work requires specialized equipment and expertise.
1. Capital Spending
Project identification and priorities are based on annual inspection reports, engineering assessments, and safety monitoring. The 2019/20 priority for the capital program of work is to re-surface another part of the southern section of the Highway from Bituminous Surface Treatment (lower grade pavement) to asphalt (better able to withstand truck traffic). Other specialized work in 2019/20 would include bridge repair and painting, drainage improvements, intersection improvements, etc.
Typical Work, Skills, Equipment and Sub-contracting required for this type of work include dump trucks, flaggers and traffic control, bulldozers, graders and general labour.
2. Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP)
Federal contaminated sites are located on land owned or leased by the federal government, or on land where the federal government has accepted responsibility for the contamination. Contamination is most often a result of past activities with environmental consequences that were not well understood at the time. The Government of Canada has taken action through the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) and remains committed to the proper management of those contaminated sites for which it is responsible.
As part of the remediation work being done under FCSAP on the Alaska Highway, PSPC is considering up to two sites in 2019/20 which may be suitable for Indigenous Benefits Plans. This remediation may include: excavation, transport to an offsite disposal facility, and/or operation of an onsite bioremediation facility. Typical work, skills, equipment and sub-contracting required for this type of work includes general labour, and equipment hire such as dump trucks, backhoes and agricultural tractors.
3. Old Alignment Program of Work
This program aims to remove abandoned structures and roadbeds and deactivate in such a way to reduce risks and hazards. PSPC is proposing two larger remediation contracts for 2019/20, one in the north and one in the south (removal, road bed deactivation and bio-engineering techniques).
Typical Work, Skills, Equipment and Sub-contracting required for this type of work are environmental monitors, dump trucks, flaggers and traffic control, bulldozers, graders and general labour, as well as site rehabilitation work such as planting and mulchers.
CONTEMPLATED PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
As part of the Government of Canadas goal of modernizing procurement practices, PSPC is considering initiatives including that of indigenous procurement and developing initiatives to increase the diversity of bidders on government contracts, including that of Indigenous Peoples. PSPC invites input from the Indigenous and non-Indigenous business communities. This feedback may also allow for consideration of potential socio-economic benefits, such as skills and economic development within the area.
The procurement strategies are not yet finalized. However, some of these potential requirements will not be set-aside under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business. The contemplated procurement strategies will be publicly tendered competitive Request for Proposals or Invitations to Tender that are open to any Indigenous and Non-Indigenous firms as well as Joint Ventures.
A portion of evaluation strategies in these potential procurements will include either mandatory or point-rated criterion focused toward an Indigenous Benefits Plan (IBP) related to the eight First Nations communities in proximity to the Alaska Highway. Conversely, the evaluation strategy may include a combination of both types of criterion.
There are eight First Nations communities in proximity to the Alaska Highway. The First Nations groups are:
Treaty 8 Tribal Association
Kaska Dena Council
Interested bidders are encouraged to engage with local First Nations.
PURPOSE OF THIS RFI
The purpose of this RFI is to:
INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONS
For the purpose of this project, Canada is interested in determining the current and future capacity for the provision of construction material, equipment, labour and skills within the traditional territories of the Local First Nations.
Please consider the following questions in your response to this RFI.
1) Do you own or operate a company or Joint Venture? If so, please provide a list of the Skills and equipment you offer. Please include a detailed summary including a brief history of work and/or projects completed within the last 10 years (if any).
2) For prime contractors considering this opportunity, how could you work with sub-contractors, labour, training (e.g. apprenticeships), material, and equipment available from the Local First Nations? How would your company organize and manage this?
3) For both indigenous community members and industry, what incentive strategies have you encountered in previous contracts to encourage First Nations engagement resulting in skills development, industrial capacity and economic benefit to local First Nations?
4) Could you recommend approaches for incorporating indigenous procurement measures? In developing criteria related to an Indigenous Benefits Plan (IBP), what types of benefits would be most meaningful to local First Nations (e.g.: One or more of the following: Subcontracting, Labour, Training, etc.)
5) Do you anticipate the inclusion of the requirement for an Indigenous Benefits Plan (IBP) will have an impact on your participation in this procurement?
6) One of the indigenous procurement measures implemented for this procurement may be to ensure that a minimum percentage of subcontracting consist of diverse suppliers, which in this case would be focused toward local First Nations. What percentage of subcontracting with diverse suppliers might be achievable? For example, one approach could be to include a rated criterion in the RFP to award 5-15% of the total technical score on the basis of subcontracting to diverse suppliers. A diverse supplier is currently defined as a business owned or led by Canadians from underrepresented groups, such, Indigenous Peoples.
7) PSPC is considering various models to confirm that a supplier meets the definition of a diverse supplier. One option is that suppliers self-certify with an attestation, which would be verified by PSPC through audits throughout the life of the contract. Should PSPC use attestation (self-certification) followed by audits, or certification by established certification organizations to qualify diverse suppliers? What other methods would you propose we use to verify diverse suppliers? A second option is to make use of third party organizations which verify that suppliers meet the diverse supplier definition and provide a certification for a fee such as:
https://www.buysocialcanada.com/suppliers
Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council
WBE Canada, Certified Women Business Enterprises
Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
Inclusive Workplace Supply Council of Canada
8) Certification bodies typically charge a fee to certify a business as a diverse supplier. Are you willing to pay an extra fee to be certified? Would this type of fee create an impact on your organization?
Please identify any other issues, concerns, or recommendations not addressed above.
NOTE TO RESPONDENTS
Respondents may submit their responses to the PSPC Contracting Authority, identified below, preferably via email.
Carolyn Arthur
Supply Specialist, Real Property Contracting
Public Services and Procurement Canada
219 - 800 Burrard Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 0B9
E-mail address: C••••••••@•••••.••.ca
Telephone: 604-364-2752
Facsimile: 604-775-6633
A point of contact for the Respondent should be included in the package.
COMMUNITY AND INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT SESSION
In order to facilitate this information-gathering exercise, a Community and Industry Engagement event is scheduled. This event will provide contractors and the local First Nations the opportunity to meet and discuss partnering, sub-contracting, and skills development.
Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Time: 9:00am to 11:00am PDT/MST
Location: Fort Nelson, BC
Respondents can participate in person or via teleconference. Interested suppliers should register a maximum of two representatives by notifying the Contracting Authority identified above (Carolyn Arthur) no later than 4:00 pm PDT/MST April 15, 2019. Further details will be provided to respondents.
Attendees are responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, meals and parking. PSPC will not reimburse any attendee for expenses incurred in attending, participating and/or responding to any part of these industry engagement activities.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO RESPONDENTS
This RFI is neither a call for tender nor a Request for Proposal (RFP). No agreement or contract will be entered into based on this RFI. The issuance of this RFI is not to be considered in any way a commitment by the Government of Canada, nor as authority to potential respondents to undertake any work that could be charged to Canada. This RFI is not to be considered as a commitment to issue a subsequent solicitation or award contract(s) for the work described herein.
This RFI is not intended to constitute, or be interpreted as, a call for tenders, a call for proposals, or as a pre-qualification process. Submission of a response to this RFI or participation in a meeting is not intended to, nor does it, create any contractual or other legally binding obligation or duty, including any obligation or duty to accept or reject information, to enter into negotiations or decline to enter into or continue negotiations, or to award or decline to award a contract. Participation in this RFI and the submission of a response to this RFI is not a pre-condition to participation in a subsequent commercial process, if any.
Respondents are requested to provide their comments, concerns, and, where applicable, alternative recommendations regarding how the requirements or objectives described in this RFI could be satisfied. Respondents should explain any assumptions they make in their responses.
There is no formal structure or format that a response to this RFI should meet. The respondent should feel free to submit whatever information it feels would make a useful and relevant contribution to PSPC analysis of this project and the development of solicitation documents to procure a solution to fulfill its requirements.
Canada may, in its sole discretion, contact any respondents to follow up with additional questions or for clarification of any aspect of a response.
This RFI will not result in the creation of any source list. Therefore, whether or not any potential supplier responds to this RFI will not preclude that supplier from participating in any future procurement.
All responses will be treated as confidential, subject to the provisions of the Access to Information Act (R.S. 1985, c. A-1) and the Privacy Act (R.S., 1985, c. P-21).
PSPC will in no way make any direct attribution of any information obtained from respondents that has been identified by respondents as confidential or proprietary within their responses.
Responses will not be formally evaluated. However, PSPC will review all responses received by the RFI closing date. PSPC may, at their discretion, review responses received after the RFI closing date.
A review team composed of representatives of PSPC will review the responses received. PSPC reserves the right to hire any independent consultant or use any resources that it considers necessary to review any response, in part or in its entirety. Not all members of the review team will necessarily review all responses.
In addition to any other expressed or implied rights, PSPC reserves the right to:
.1 Cancel this RFI process at any time;
.2 Cancel this RFI process at any time and issue a new RFI for the same or similar information;
.3 Make amendments to the timing and/or structure of this RFI process, including the closing date of the RFI, at its exclusive discretion;
.4 Request additional supporting information or clarification from any or all respondents, and/or provide to respondents additional clarification and information pertinent to this RFI;
.5 Contact any customer or reference provided within a respondents submission; and
.6 Not consider any response, in its entirety, containing information which PSPC in its opinion, believes to contain misrepresentations or any other inaccurate, suspicious or misleading information.
Questions regarding this RFI must be submitted electronically and to the contracting representative named above. Questions must be received no later than 22 April, 2019 in order to allow sufficient time to provide a response. Enquiries received after that time may result in an answer NOT being provided.
Feedback and responses related to this RFI are requested no later than 29 April, 2019 in order to allow for its review. Feedback and responses received after this date may not be considered.
Changes to the RFI may occur and will be advertised on the Government Electronic Tendering System (buyandsell.gc.ca). PSPC may provide written answers to questions received on or before the RFI closing date by means of RFI addenda and or Questions and Answers Posted on Buyandsell.gc.ca. Canada asks Respondents to visit Buyandsell.gc.ca regularly to check for changes, if any.
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned
The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.
Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.
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