NOTICE TO CONSULTANTS NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (REVISED AS OF 10/16/2006) Process I The New York State Department of Transportation has two processes to select consultants. Process I requires the consultant to prepare and submit both an electronic EOI and a NYSDOT255C. The electronic EOI is used to gather D/W/MBE credits, workload and last designation information only. The NYSDOT255C is used by a selection committee to score the other selection factors. The electronic inventory is not used for scoring. Process II, which applies to most Design and Construction Inspection projects as well as other projects uses an electronic EOI and an electronic inventory that is prepared by consultants using a Department computer program. The process to be used will be noted in the project advertisement. This notice applies only to Process I (the non-electronic process). For further information, firms should refer to the NYSDOT website, “Business Center” at https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/main/business-center. PROCESS I Firms interested in providing the subject services are invited to submit their qualifications in an Expression-of-Interest (EOI) submittal to the New York State Department of Transportation. All sections are due at the same date and time. Unlike Process II, there is no initial short list. All EOIs are evaluated. An Expression-of-Interest (EOI) consists of the following:
Section I, NYSDOT255C Section IA, Electronic EOI Section II, CONR386 Current Workload Disclosure Section III, Disadvantaged/Minority/Women's Business Owned Certification letters Section IV, Proofs of Authority Section V Quality Control Checklist
Assignment of services will then be made to the highest rated firm after evaluation of the information.
Forms and instructions are available for downloading from the NYSDOT website at https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/main/business-center/consultants/formspublications-and-instructions, “Consultants Forms, Publications and Instructions”. All information in the shortlist submittal must be consistent with the e-EOI. This includes but is not limited to team members, percent work, percent D/M/WBE participation, and workload information. Firms wishing to receive an acknowledgment indicating receipt of the firm‟s submittal by NYSDOT, may include a stamped, self addressed postcard which contains the contract D#. This postcard will be returned via U.S. Mail. NOTE: NYSDOT will protect confidential and proprietary information from disclosure to the extent permitted by the Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”), Article 6 of the Public Officers Law. Accordingly, proposers should identify the page(s) of their proposal which contain such information as, “confidential and proprietary”. For purposes of responding to Departmental advertisements for consultant servic es, each prime firm is limited to the submission of one electronic Expression-of-Interest. Each office of a firm responding to an advertisement MUST have a Consultant Identification Number (CIN), obtained from the web application. D/M/WBE Certifications It is the policy of New York State to maximize opportunities for the participation of New York State business enterprises, including D/M/WBEs. The appropriate certification must be in effect on the e-EOI due date and it is the responsibility of the prime firm or Joint Venture to obtain this proof prior to submitting any D/M/WBE on their eEOI. More detailed information can be found at the website under shortlist submittal instructions. “Section C, Disadvantaged/Minority/Women‟s Business Owned Certification letters”. D/M/WBE Participation The "percent of work" is defined as the estimated percentage of the direct technical labor for the ENTIRE project to be performed by the subconsultant. The "percent of D/M/WBE participation" is defined as the proposed percentage of the direct technical labor for the ENTIRE project to be performed by the subconsultant(s) that the Prime wishes the Department to use in computing the D/M/WBE selection process scoring credit for each D/M/WBE subconsultant (also see the Small/Disadvantaged/Minority/Women Business Enterprises Section below). The prime firm MUST list all proposed subconsultants, the type of services to be performed by the subconsultants, the overall “percent of work” for each subconsultant and indicate if the firm is a DBE, MBE or WBE, as appropriate.
FOR EACH PROPOSED D/M/WBE SUBCONSULTANT, PRIMES MUST ALSO LIST THE “PERCENT OF D/M/WBE PARTICIPATION” to be used for selection process D/M/WBE credit (0-18 percent). Credit will only be given up to a maximum of 18 percent D/M/WBE participation. Only the “percent of D/M/WBE participation” is used in computing selection process credit and represents a FIRM COMMITMENT to give the total offered “percent of D/M/WBE participation” (up to 18 percent) to D/M/WBE subconsultants. These two percentages may be different because the Department‟s “Proposed D/M/WBE Subconsultant Participation” selection process factor only gives scoring credit up to a maximum of 18 percent participation for all D/M/WBE subconsultants. At t he same time, D/M/WBE subconsultants may be assigned a higher “percent of work” than 18 percent because the prime needs (i.e., to obtain additional capacity to perform the work). Commercially Useful Functions Primes are required to give D/M/WBE subconsultants “Commercially Useful Functions” (CUF). The available CUF(s) may comprise a greater percentage of the direct technical labor for the entire project than the 18 percent maximum D/M/WBE participation for which scoring credit is given. CUFs are defined as those services that result in a product: A. B. C. that is distinguishable from the prime consultant‟s product, that is for elements of the contract which can be and are completely performed, supervised and managed by the D/M/WBE subconsultant, and for which the D/M/WBE subconsultant must perform significant tasks that can be considered commercially marketable.
For example, a Prime may find that the most reasonable CUFs acceptable to the Department comprise an estimated 15 percent and 10 percent of the work, respectively. As a result, the Prime assigns one subconsultant 15 percent and another subconsultant 10 percent of the work. By doing so, the Prime is both offering the maximum “percent of D/M/WBE participation” (18 percent) and assigning acceptable CUFs to subconsultants as required. Subcontractors ONLY SUBCONSULTANTS PROPOSED TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURAL, SURVEYING OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO THE ADVERTISEMENT OR THE REQUEST-FORQUALIFICATIONS AND ENHANCE THE CREDENTIALS OF THE PROPOSED TEAM ON THE GIVEN PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA, SHOULD BE LISTED in Item 6. If the prime firm does not have the in-house capabilities to provide non-engineering services, such as laboratory services, diving services, etc., and the naming of the provider of these services does not enhance the credentials of the proposed team,
these services must be subcontracted by the successful prime consultant in accordance with State procedures once a contract is executed, with no opportunity for D/M/WBE credit in the selection of the most qualified firm or team. D/W/MBE Alternates When proposing M/WBEs for “participation” in State funded projects and DBEs for Federally funded projects, the prime firm must also identify, unless otherwise specif ied, one (1) alternate firm for EACH DBE or M/WBE subconsultant that is being offered for credit for the D/M/WBE Subconsultant Participation selection factor (“the 18 percent maximum”). Other information such as „Current Remaining Work Disclosure form and D/M/WBE certifications are NOT required for alternate subconsultants. The alternate subconsultant must be able to provide the same “percent of participation” and services as initially proposed. In almost all cases, the subject services will be assigned t o the initially proposed subconsultants, however, the Department reserves the right to direct that the Consultant use an alternate subconsultant. Accounting Requirements: All firms included in electronic Expressions-of-Interest (prime consultants, Joint Ventures and subconsultants) must have internal control systems in place that meet Federal requirements for accounting. These systems must comply with requirements of 48CFR31, "Federal Acquisition Regulations, Contract Cost Principles and Procedures", and 23CFR172, "Administration of Negotiated Contracts." Administrative Matters: A. Electronic Expression of Interest Submissions (e-EOI) 1. Each prime consultant and Joint Venture partner must have an active general firm information and an active project inventory of the appropriate type (design or construction inspection) when submitting its electronic Expression of Interest. The e-EOI will otherwise be rejected. Subconsultants must have a valid eight digit Consultant Identification Number in order to be part of a prime/Joint Venture's electronic Expression of Interest. Normally, the EOI due date will only be extended if the NYSDOT server is not operating from 11:00 AM to 12:00 noon on the EOI due date. If this occurs, contact the NYSDOT Contract Management Bureau so that we are aware of the problem. If NYSDOT confirms that the server was down for this period, the e-EOI due date will be extended to 12:00 noon on the following business day.
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Submission of non-electronic material. RICHARD ALBERTIN, DIRECTOR Attention:___________(project analyst) NYS Department of Transportation Contract Management & Audit Bureau. 50 Wolf Road, 1st Floor Albany, New York 12232-0203
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Other Administrative Issues 1. During the negotiation process and prior to contract execution, and at the discretion of the Department, a firm‟s financial position may be reviewed to determine the firm‟s ability to retain qualified staff and to perform the specified work during the term of the contract. The firm‟s business practices, as documented by the NYSDOT for previous and/or on-going contracts, may also be reviewed at this time to determine a firm‟s responsibility. The designation of a firm remains tentative until execution of a contract. Designation may be retracted for failure to provide proof of authority to practice the required profession in the State of New York, failure to meet responsibility requirements in a review of the financial or business practices, or a failure to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract cost pursuant to Section 136-a of the State Finance Law. In all but the latter case, this action will only be taken pursuant to a due process determination by the NYSDOT Contract Review Unit. All communications regarding advertised projects are to be channeled through the Contract Management Bureau. Contact with any other NYSDOT unit or any other Agency involved with any advertised project will be considered a very serious matter and may result in disqualification. The Commissioner reserves the right to reject all e-EOIs submitted, to cancel the solicitations advertised according to this notice, and/or to resolicit for these services. ASTRID C. GLYNN, COMMISSIONER NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
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