Volume 43 - Issue 33 - August 15, 2024

State of Kansas

Department of Transportation

Request for Proposals

Notice to Consulting Firms

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is seeking to augment its existing on-call consultant list with additional firms that are interested in providing Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) inspection services on an as-needed basis for projects in various locations statewide and fabrication shops in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and possibly other states. Inspection may include steel beam, high mast tower, overhead sign truss, and pedestrian rail fabrication. Experience in American Welding Society (AWS) D1.1 Structural Welding Code-Steel and AWS D1.5 Bridge Welding Code is required. Eighty percent of the work will be AWS D1.5 Bridge Welding Code. KDOT anticipates entering into up to 10 agreements with qualified consulting firms that may perform the services described below when KDOT does not have adequate personnel.

Interested consultants must submit a proposal as laid out herein by 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) August 28, 2024, to be considered for selection.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be prequalified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in the following category(s):

• 241 – Construction Inspection and Testing

If a firm is not currently prequalified by KDOT in any of the required categories, a proposal may still be submitted. Firms not prequalified must also provide documentation that demonstrates the firm is qualified for each specified category listed in this solicitation for the project. Firms must use the KDOT prequalification form to provide this documentation. KDOT 1050 Prequalification Category Definitions (Blue Book) can be found at http://www.ksdot.org/descons.asp. Please list all American Welding Society (AWS) Certifications on KDOT Form 1050 Kansas Department of Transportation Consultant Qualification Questionnaire, under the section Staff. All firms doing business with KDOT must be registered and in good standing under the laws of the State of Kansas at the time of contracting and must comply with applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

Background

Periodically for a given project, KDOT’s personnel may be unable to perform Certified Welding Inspector inspections at a fabrication shop located within Kansas or another state within the timeframe required so it may be necessary to engage a consultant firm (with appropriate AWS certifications) on short notice. This process begins with KDOT issuing an on-call service request to firms that have executed an on-call master agreement specifically for this type of support. To expedite commencement of work, resulting work order(s) are executed under the terms and conditions of that agreement.

Anticipated Consultant Scope

KDOT anticipates the following to be included in the consultant’s scope: project inspection, sampling, and testing, as well as accurate and timely documentation thereof, including submission of all documentation and test results to KDOT. Thorough knowledge of, and compliance with KDOT’s Standard Specifications for State Road and Bridge Construction, Construction Manual, project specifications, and other relevant KDOT policies, procedures, and manuals, as well as KDOT documentation and recordkeeping requirements is essential. American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector accreditation is required.

Anticipated Schedule and Key Dates

1. Proposals are due by or before 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) August 28, 2024.
2. Evaluation and ranking of proposals are expected to occur on or around September 4, 2024. Development of On-Call Agreements for Certified Welding Inspectors Services (“Master Construction Inspection and Testing On-Call Agreements”) with the highest ranked (shortlisted) firms are expected to begin on or around September 25, 2024. Executed agreements are anticipated to be complete no later than October 23, 2024.
3. Services associated with the “Master Construction Inspection and Testing On-Call Agreements” resulting from this Request for Proposals may be requested as soon as an agreement is in place with any consultant.

Instructions for Proposal

1. No cost or pricing information shall be submitted with the proposal. Proposals including cost or pricing information will be considered non-responsive and withdrawn from further consideration. However, each firm shall affirm it can meet the accounting requirements below.
2. The consultant’s proposal must not exceed 4 pages total (including any cover letter, index, etc.). All pages shall be standard letter size (8.5” x 11”). Any page larger than standard letter size will be counted as two or more pages depending on size.
3. A single PDF (10 MB maximum size) of the proposal including all attachments must be uploaded to the appropriate bid form on Bid Express by the proposal due date and time.
4. The proposal PDF file name must read:
   1. “On-Call Certified Welding Inspector Inspection Services 2024_FIRM NAME”
5. The proposal must be accompanied by Special Attachments No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”), No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”), and No. 12 (“Certification of Company Not Currently Engaged in the Procurement or Obtainment of Certain Equipment, Services, or Systems”). If you need a Tax Clearance Certificate, you can request one at https://www.ksrevenue.gov/taxclearance.html. Allow 2-3 business days for processing. Both attachments are required for every firm involved in a multi-consultant team. Upload these files as instructed in Bid Express.
6. The outline in Table 1 below describes the expected proposal organization and content sections.
7. Table 2 lists the evaluation criteria which will be used to make a selection. These will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Firms failing any category may not be shortlisted for negotiation, at KDOT’s sole discretion.
8. At KDOT’s option, firms may be interviewed by telephone conference call prior to being shortlisted for negotiation.

Table 1: Proposal Content
Section	Description of Intent	Page Limit
Cover Letter		1 Page
Types of Projects	Describe the types of inspection and testing that your firm desires to on an on-call basis. Identify KDOT Districts, Areas, and out of-state locations in which you would be most inclined or most able to provide these services.
Approach to Schedule	Describe your firm’s approach to perform services within tight schedule requirements, capacity to respond to service requests within days, and availability of staff to begin work urgently.
Qualifications and Experience	For key personnel anticipated to be assigned to lead tasks described herein, provide a table including: consultant employee names, current office/field locations, qualifications/education, certification categories, certification number(s), KDOT Districts where employee has previous experience, States/Fabrication Shops, Districts/Areas employee is willing to serve.
Past Performance	Describe team’s past performance with respect to ability to: be responsive; have staff available to attend to urgent inspection needs; provide thorough documentation and follow contract administration policies and procedures; and ability to control costs on similar transportation projects, especially those performed for KDOT. Include three references and contact information.
Familiarity with KDOT Inspection and Testing	Describe team’s familiarity with KDOT’s construction inspection and testing policies and procedures. Describe familiarity with the types of work your team may be asked to inspect and any unique experience.

Table 2: Evaluation Factors
Evaluation Factor (Pass/Fail)
Qualifications and experience of project manager and other key project team members proposed for services
Availability to respond to the work
Past performance history for similar projects/services for KDOT Note: Lack of experience with KDOT may not result in failure in this category, pending positive references from other transportation clients, negative performance history or references may result in failure.
Understanding of KDOT contract administration and closeout procedures Note: Lack of experience with KDOT may not result in failure in this category, pending positive references from other transportation clients and commitment from the firm to research KDOT policies and standards prior to being given a notice to proceed on a given work order; negative references may result in failure.
The quality and completeness of the response

Contract Terms and Conditions

The list of consultants holding “Master Construction Inspection and Testing On-Call Agreements” as a result of this Request for Proposals shall be added to the list of on-call consultants which currently exists for this purpose. No changes will be made to the status of agreements already in effect.

A standard KDOT on-call agreement for engineering and technical services will be used. KDOT may request construction inspection and testing services via on-call service requests over a period of three years, which will result in work orders subject to a maximum cumulative aggregate amount payable to each on-call agreement holder under the agreement. This maximum amount payable will be the same for all on-call agreement holders added to the list as a result of this Request for Proposals, will be stated in each agreement, and is anticipated to be a cost not to exceed $5,000,000.

The following special attachments will need to be provided by the selected consultant and all subconsultants with the signed work order following negotiations and will become attachments to the contract.

• Special Attachment No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”)
• Special Attachment No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”)
• Special Attachment No. 12 (“Certification of Company Not Currently Engaged in the Procurement or Obtainment of Certain Equipment, Services, or Systems”)

Finally, each firm shortlisted must utilize accounting systems capable of the following before the firm may be awarded a contract:

• Valid, reliable, and current costs must be available within the system to support actual costs and pricing data.
• Capability to provide a means of measuring the reasonableness of incurred costs.
• Capability to identify and accumulate allowable costs by contract or project records that will reconcile with the general ledger.
• Ability to provide supporting documentation of actual expenditures for each billing, based on costs.

Special Contract Conditions

Interested consulting firms must have employees who are experienced in inspection, sampling and testing as well as American Welding Society certification(s).

Typical Locations of Fabrication Shops Outside of Kansas may include: (This List is not inclusive)

• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Van Buren, Arkansas
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Lincoln, Nebraska
• Valley, Nebraska
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Muskogee, Oklahoma
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Eau Claire, Wisconsin
• Wausau, Wisconsin

Questions

All questions regarding this Request for Proposals shall be submitted via Q&A section of bid form in Bid Express.

Questions can be submitted until August 15, 2024; answers will be provided to all prequalified consultants on August 22, 2024.

Calvin Reed
Secretary
Department of Transportation

Doc. No. 052372