Engineering support on wastewater system improvements, 25-co-ops.

"A. Criteria for Evaluation and Scoring\n\nIf the Agency, determines to make an award based on these evaluations, the Agency will notify the\nselected Consultants(s). Should the Agency be unable to reach agreement with the selected\nConsultant(s) during Contract discussions, the Agency may then undertake Contract discussions with the\nnext preferred Consultant and so on, or the Agency may reject all submittals, cancel this RFQ, or solicit\nnew Qualification submittals under a new acquisition process.\n\nThe Agency will use a scoring scale of 100 points which will be distributed as set forth in the table\nbelow.\n\nCATEGORIES POINTS\n\n1. Professional competence as evidenced by past projects performed in the last | 30\n10 years and experience in successfully completing design and construction\nprojects for sewer systems, and subsurface disposal systems.\n\n2. Demonstrated capabilities to assemble a project team or identify designated | 25\nindividuals that can effectively manage and

complete the tasks identified in\n\nthis RFQ.\n3. Demonstration of capacity and willingness to manage projects, start work 25\nquickly, and ability to complete projects within schedule and budget.\n4. Project understanding, approach, and methodology. 10\n5. Clarity, completeness, and conciseness of the qualifications package. 5\n6. Branch office of the Consultant Located in New Hampshire. 5\nTOTAL MAXIMUM POTENTIAL POINTS 100\n\nThe Agency will select a Consultant based upon the criteria and standards contained in this RFQ and\nfrom applying the weighting in this section. Oral interviews and reference checks, to the extent they are\nutilized by the Agency, will be used to refine and finalize scores.\n\nB. Planned Evaluations\n\nThe Agency plans to use the following process:\n\n\u00b0 Initial screening to ensure that the Qualifications are in compliance with submission requirements;\n* Preliminary evaluation of the Qualifications;\n\n\u00b0 Oral interviews (if necessary);\n\n+ Final Evaluation of Technical Qualifications and scoring; and\n\n\u00ab Select the highest scoring Consultant (s) and begin contract negotiation.\n\nC. Initial Screening\n\nThe Agency will conduct an initial screening step to verify Consultant compliance with the technical\nsubmission requirements set forth in the RFQ and the minimum content set forth in Section 5 of this\nRFQ. The Agency may waive or offer a limited opportunity to cure immaterial deviations from the RFQ\nrequirements if it is determined to be in the best interest of the State.\n\nD. Preliminary Technical Scoring of Qualifications\n\nNew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services\nPO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095\n(603) 271-3503\n\nwww.des.nh.gov\nPage 6 of 20\n" "The Agency will establish an evaluation team to initially score the Technical Qualifications. This\nevaluation team will review the technical submittals and give a preliminary score to the technical\nsubmittals under the guidelines set forth in Section 6. Should a Consultant fail to achieve 70 Points in the\npreliminary scoring, it will receive no further consideration from the evaluation team.\n\nE. Oral Interviews\n\nIf the Agency determines that it is appropriate, Consultants may be invited to oral interviews. The\nAgency retains the sole discretion to determine whether to conduct oral interviews, with which\nConsultants; and the number of interviews. Consultants are advised that the Agency may decide to\nconduct interviews with less than all responsive Consultants.\n\nThe purpose of oral interviews is to clarify and expound upon information provided in the written\nQualifications. Consultants are prohibited from altering the basic substance of their Qualifications during\nthe oral interviews and product demonstrations. The Agency may ask the Consultant to provide written\nclarifications of elements in their Technical Qualification regardless of whether it intends to conduct Oral\nInterviews.\n\nInformation gained from oral interviews will be used to refine technical review scores assigned from the\ninitial review of the Qualifications\n\nF. Final Technical Scoring of Qualifications\n\nFollowing Oral Interviews, Reference Checks and/or review of written clarifications of Qualifications\nrequested by the Agency, the evaluation team will determine a final score for each Technical\nQualification.\n\nG. Final Selection\n\nThe Agency will conduct a final selection based on the final evaluation of the Qualifications and begin\ncontract negotiations with the selected Consultant.\n\nH. Rights of the Agency in Accepting and Evaluating Qualifications\n\nThe Agency reserves the right to:\n\ne Make independent investigations in evaluating Qualifications;\n\n* Request additional information to clarify elements of a Qualification;\n\ne Waive minor or immaterial deviations from the RFQ requirements, if determined to be in the best\ninterest ofthe State;\n\n\u00ab Omit any planned evaluation step if, in the Agency\u2019s view, the step is not needed;\n\ne Atits sole discretion, reject any and all Qualifications at any time; and\n\ne Open contract discussions with the second highest scoring Consultant and so on, ifthe Agency is\nunable to reach an agreement on Contract terms with the higher scoring Consultant(s)\n\nNew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services\nPO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095\n(603) 271-3503\n\nwww.des.nh.gov\nPage 7 of 20\n" "Section 7 - Terms and Conditions Related to the RFQ Process\nA. RFQ Addendum\n\nThe Agency reserves the right to amend this RFQ at its discretion, prior to the Qualification submission\ndeadline. In the event of an addendum to this RFQ, the Agency, at its sole discretion, may extend the\nQualification submission deadline, as it deems appropriate.\n\nB. Non-Collusion\n\nThe Consultant\u2019s signature on a Qualification submitted in response to this RFQ guarantees that the\nprices, terms and conditions, and Work quoted have been established without collusion with other\nConsultants and without effort to preclude the Agency from obtaining the best possible competitive\nQualification.\n\nC. Property ofthe Agency\n\nAll material received in response to this RFQ shall become the property ofthe State and will not be\nreturned to the Consultant. Upon Contract award, the State reserves the right to use any information\npresented in any Qualification.\n\nD. Confidentiality of a Qualification\n\nUnless necessary for the approval of a contract, the substance of a Qualification must remain\nconfidential until the Effective Date of any Contract resulting from this RFQ. A Consultant\u2019s disclosure or\ndistribution of Qualifications other than to the Agency will be grounds for disqualification.\n\nE. Public Disclosure\n\nPursuant to RSA 21-G:37, all responses to this RFO shall be considered confidential until the award of a\ncontract. At the time of receipt of Qualifications, the Agency will post the number of responses received\nwith no further information. No later than five (5) business days prior to submission of a contract to the\nDepartment of Administrative Services pursuant to this RFO, the Agency will post the name, rank or\nscore of each Consultant.\n\nThe content of each Consultant\u2019s Qualification shall become public information upon the award of any\nresulting Contract. Any information submitted as part of a response to this request for Qualification\n(RFQ) may be subject to public disclosure under RSA 91-A. In addition, in accordance with RSA 9-F:1, any\ncontract entered into as a result of this RFQ will be made accessible to the public online via the website\nTransparent NH. However, business financial information and proprietary information such as trade\nsecrets, business and financials models and forecasts, and proprietary formulas may be exempt from\npublic disclosure under RSA 91-A:5, IV. If you believe any information being submitted in response to\nthis request for Qualification, bid or information should be kept confidential as financial or proprietary\ninformation; you must specifically identify that information in a letter to the agency, and must\nmark/stamp each page of the materials that you claim must be exempt from disclosure as\n\u201cCONFIDENTIAL.\u201d A designation by the Consultant of information it believes exempt does not have the\n\nNew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services\nPO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095\n(603) 271-3503\n\nwww.des.nh.gov\nPage 8 of 20\n" "effect of making such information exempt. The Agency will determine the information it believes is\nproperly exempted from disclosure. Marking of the entire Qualification or entire sections of the\nQualification (e.g. pricing) as confidential will neither be accepted nor honored. Notwithstanding any\nprovision of this RFQ to the contrary, Consultant pricing will be subject to disclosure upon approval of\nthe contract. The Agency will endeavor to maintain the confidentiality of portions of the Qualification\nthat are clearly and properly marked confidential.\n\nIf a request is made to the Agency to view portions of a Qualification that the Consultant has properly\nand clearly marked confidential, the Agency will notify the Consultant of the request and ofthe date the\nAgency plans to release the records. By submitting a Qualification, Consultants agree that unless the\nConsultant obtains a court order, at its sole expense, enjoining the release of the requested information,\nthe Agency may release the requested information on the date specified in the Agency\u2019s notice without\nany liability to the Consultants.\n\nF. Non-Commitment\n\nNotwithstanding any other provision of this RFQ, this RFQ does not commit the Agency to award a\nContract. The Agency reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to reject any and all Qualifications, or any\nportions thereof, at any time; to cancel this RFQ; and to solicit new Qualifications under a new\nacquisition process.\n\nG. Qualification Preparation Cost\n\nBy submitting a Qualification, a Consultant agrees that in no event shall the Agency be either\nresponsible for or held liable for any costs incurred by a Consultant in the preparation of or in\nconnection with the Qualification, or for Work performed prior to the Effective Date of a resulting\nContract\n\nEthical Requirements\n\nFrom the time this RFQ is published until a contract is awarded, no bidder shall offer or give, directly or\nindirectly, any gift, expense reimbursement, or honorarium, as defined by RSA 15-B, to any elected\nofficial, public official, public employee, constitutional official, or family member of any such official or\nemployee who will or has selected, evaluated, or awarded an RFQ, or similar submission. Any bidder\nthat violates RSA 21-G:38 shall be subject to prosecution for an offense under RSA 640:2. Any bidder\nwho has been convicted of an offense based on conduct in violation of this section, which has not been\nannulled, or who is subject to a pending criminal charge for such an offense, shall be disqualified from\nbidding on the RFQ, or similar request for submission and every such bidder shall be disqualified from\nbidding on any RFQ or similar request for submission issued by any state agency. A bidder that was\ndisqualified under this section because of a pending criminal charge which is subsequently dismissed,\nresults in an acquittal, or is annulled, may notify the department of administrative services, which shall\nnote that information on the list maintained on the state\u2019s internal intranet system, except in the case\nof annulment, the information, shall be deleted from the list.\n\nThe Consultant shall identify any potential conflicts of interest and how they would be managed through\ntheir submitted Qualifications.\n\nNew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services\nPO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095\n(603) 271-3503\n\nwww.des.nh.gov\nPage 9 of 20\n" "Challenges on Form or Process of the RFQ\n\nAny challenges regarding the validity or legality of the form and procedures of this RFQ, including but\nnot limited to the evaluation and scoring of Qualifications, shall be brought to the attention ofthe\nAgency at least ten (10) business days prior to the Qualification Submission Deadline. By submitting a\nQualification, the Consultant is deemed to have waived any challenges to the agency\u2019s authority to\nconduct this procurement and the form and procedures of this RFQ.\n\nSection 8 - Contract Terms and Award\nA. Non-Exclusive Contract\n\nAny resulting Contract from this RFQ will be a non-exclusive Contract. The State reserves the right, at its\ndiscretion, to retain other Contractors to provide any of the Services or Deliverables identified under this\nprocurement or make an award by item, part or portion of an item, group of items, or total\nQualification.\n\nB. Award\n\nIf the State decides to award a contract as a result of this RFQ process, any award is contingent upon\napproval of the Contract by the Governor and Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire and\nupon continued appropriation of funding for the contract.\n\nC. Standard Contract Terms\n\nThe Agency will require the successful bidder to execute a Firm Fixed Price/Not to Exceed Contract\nusing the Terms and Conditions attached as Appendix B.\n\nThe Term of the Contract will be until June 30, 2026.\n\nTo the extent that a Consultant believes that exceptions to the standard form contract will be necessary\nfor the Consultant to enter into the Agreement, the Consultant should note those issues during the\nConsultant Inquiry Period. The Agency will review requested exceptions and accept, reject or note that it\nis open to negotiation ofthe proposed exception at its sole discretion. Ifthe Agency accepts a\nConsultant\u2019s exception the Agency will, atthe conclusion of the inquiry period, provide notice to all\npotential Consultants of the exceptions which have been accepted and indicate that exception is\navailable to all potential Consultants. Any exceptions to the standard form contract that are not raised\n\nduring the Consultant inquiry period are waived. In no event is a Consultant to submit its own standard\ncontract terms and conditions as a replacement for the State\u2019s terms in response to this solicitation.\n\nNew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services\nPO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095\n(603) 271-3503\n\nwww.des.nh.gov\nPage 10 of 20\n"