SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Specialist in Construction Industry Tolerances
- Notice Date
- 5/3/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541310
— Architectural Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD), Division of Procurement, UNB 4th Floor 200 Third Street, Parkersburg, WV, 26101-5312
- ZIP Code
- 26101-5312
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-RFQ-04-055
- Archive Date
- 5/4/2005
- Point of Contact
- Becky Thompson, Contract Specialist, Phone (304) 480-7079, Fax (304) 480-7203, - Susie Daugherty, Contracting Officer, Phone (304) 480-7138, Fax (304) 480-7203,
- E-Mail Address
-
procurement@bpd.treas.gov, procurement@bpd.treas.gov
- Description
- The Access Board through the Dept of Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt, intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, a contract with David Kent Ballast, AIA, Architectural Research Consulting, 2952 S.Spruce Way, Denver CO 80231, to provide consulting services to develop and implement a plan to clarify construction industry tolerances, materials, and measurements. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board) is an independent federal agency responsible for developing accessibility guidelines for newly-constructed buildings and facilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act. Those guidelines include an instruction at ADAAG 3.2 stating that: "All dimensions are subject to conventional building industry tolerances for field conditions." A tolerance is an acceptable deviation from a specified value and is generally related to a specific material or fabrication. Upcoming revisions to ADAAG will establish dimensional ranges for most features that will explicitly preclude the application of any tolerance. Although trade and materials organizations have identified accepted construction tolerances as a by-product of their development of detailed technical specifications for specific products, consumers, code officials, and the construction industry itself have been uncertain about the interface between 'conventional tolerances' and accessibility. Additionally, industry standards, specifications and test protocols do not yet address some measures of significance to facility usability, such as the smoothness of an accessible route or the planarity of a ramp slope. And increasingly, traditional measurement protocols based upon straightedges and carpenter's rules are being abandoned in favor of the convenience and detail obtainable using electronic levels and laser surveying and dimensioning. Soft conversions between metric and US customary units are also seen to have an effect. Court cases and practitioner queries suggest that a clarification of the tolerances appropriate for various materials and conditions would be useful. Objective- The Access Board requires to contract with a knowledgeable specialist in construction industry tolerances to guide and manage a collaboration between the Board and certain construction industry technical and association representatives to 1/develop technical assistance for consumers, design and construction professionals, code officials, and others on appropriate construction tolerances and 2/facilitate the updating/amending of selected standard industry specifications to include measurement and tolerances criteria that reflect access and usability provisions in the Board's guidelines. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Industry associations typically specify tolerances for particular materials and elements based upon project type or purpose; for example, the tolerance range for the flatness of a concrete slab in a building is less than that for an exterior concrete walkway. Measurement protocols from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) may also be used to set tolerances in construction. Professional design and engineering membership organizations are closely involved in the process. This industry-based system is well-developed and widely accepted, as recognized in ADAAG 3.2 Dimensional Tolerances. Accordingly, the Board believes it will be useful to begin this project by convening an industry workshop of technical and specification staff from key design and engineering associations, construction trades, and testing and materials organizations as appropriate. The workshop will clarify industry consensus on tolerances in construction and will develop an industry-by-industry approach to including accessibility considerations in the standard specifications and protocols that guide industry work. The Contractor shall consult with the Board to plan, manage, conduct, and report on the workshop and follow up with industries and the Board to implement workshop plans and recommendations. The Contractor shall also develop a technical assistance bulletin that outlines key issues in tolerances, including metric conversion, units of measure, rounding, significant figures, precision, local practice and legal considerations; the bulletin shall also reference, cite, or otherwise provide information on existing and augmented industry specifications and protocols to readers. TASKS AND DELIVERABLES TASK 1: Planning -The Board will identify 7-10 key provisions from its current, soon-to-be-released, and proposed guidelines that raise tolerances issues. The Contractor will work with the Access Board and other key stakeholders to identify the contents, schedule, and logistics for the Workshop. An agenda will be developed and circulated to key persons for review. DELIVERABLE: Approved agenda. TASK 2: Develop and contact list of Workshop participants. The Contractor will work with the Access Board and other key stakeholders to identify Workshop attendees. DELIVERABLE: Approved list of participants. TASK 3: Develop and produce Workshop materials. The Contractor will work with the Access Board and other key stakeholders to develop background, discussion, and resource materials to support the Workshop agenda. DELIVERABLE: Workshop materials.TASK 4: Conduct the Workshop. The Contractor will administer and facilitate the Workshop and document the plan, including schedules and responsible persons, for industry actions to develop the revised specifications and protocols that are to be a principal product of this Contract. It is anticipated that the workshop would be held in the Washington, DC area. The workshop location must be accessible. DELIVERABLE: Report on action plans by trade. TASK 5: Support plan implementation. The Contractor will follow up with individual industries, providing input, resources, and support as feasible, advising the Board on progress and issues, and encouraging and monitoring the development of revised specifications and protocols that reflect accessibility criteria. DELIVERABLE: Periodic progress reports on industry actions. TASK 6: Develop technical assistance bulletin. The Contractor shall draft, circulate for industry and Board review, and finalize an 8-10 page bulletin on construction tolerances in established Board format (see attached requirements for print and electronic accessibility). The bulletin shall include a general discussion of tolerances and illustrations and references that will enable readers to obtain more specific information on tolerances for specific materials, installations, and assemblies. DELIVERABLE: Technical assistance bulletin. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The Contractor shall meet with the Contract Officer within 30 days of project award to establish project approach and procedures. Documentation of the industry plans for developing revised specifications and protocols. A Proceedings shall be submitted for review and approval within 60 days of the Workshop date. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE. Public Debt will consider all affirmative responses received no later than May 17, 2004 at 2 PM EDT. Affirmative responses shall reference RFQ04-055 and shall be accompanied by sufficient documentation to clearly show the ability to provide the required services or functional equivalent at terms more advantageous to the Government. Requests for more information will not be considered an affirmative response. If no affirmative response is received that clearly demonstrates the ability to meet all requirements and that it is more advantageous to the Government, a sole-source award will be made to David Kent Ballast.
- Record
- SN00579005-W 20040505/040503212310 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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