Volume 42 - Issue 32 - August 10, 2023

State of Kansas

Department of Transportation

Notice to Consulting Firms

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is seeking a qualified consulting firm or team of firms to supply personnel to perform professional services as described below. Interested consultants must email a proposal to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov by 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) August 30, 2023, to be considered for selection.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be prequalified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in Category 241 Construction Inspection and Testing.

If a firm is not currently prequalified by KDOT, 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 notice 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. Consultants may create a team to meet the prequalification requirements. 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.

Anticipated Consultant Scope

KDOT anticipates the following to be included in the consultant’s scope: Construction Inspection/Testing in the form of full time, in-house, technical and construction contract administration assistance to KDOT’s District 1, Area 4 Topeka, Kansas Construction Office. Scope will include assistance with construction project supervision, inspection staffing, and contract administration. Consultant staff may serve as project supervisor of complex construction projects and/or multiple smaller projects.

Consultant staff will be utilized a minimum of 40 hours per week excluding holidays. Hours may be split between two employees of the firm. Contract period will be one year with an optional one-year extension.

Anticipated Schedule and Key Dates

1. Proposals are due by or before 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) August 30, 2023.
2. Anticipated Start Date: As soon as under contract.

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 Proposals including cost or pricing information will be considered non-responsive and withdrawn from further consideration.
2. The consultant’s proposal must not exceed 4 pages total (including any cover letter, index, etc.).
3. A PDF (2MB maximum size) of the proposal must be emailed to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov by the proposal due date and time.
4. The subject line of the email and the PDF file name must read:
   1. “FC-1001-24–EmbedConstInsp.Admin in D1A4 Topeka_FIRM NAME”
5. The proposal must be accompanied by Special Attachments No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”) and No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”). 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.
6. The outline in Table 1 below describes the expected proposal organization and content sections.
7. Table 2 lists the evaluation criteria and associated weights which will be used to make a selection.

Table 1: Proposal Content
Section	Description of Intent
Cover Letter	(no more than 1 page)
Project Approach	Describe how your firm will meet the fluctuating needs of the project.
Approach to Quality Control	Describe methods or procedures your firm will use to provide all services with professional quality and technical accuracy.
Qualifications and Experience	For key personnel to be assigned to the project provide names, qualifications, education, training, and expertise. Identify their area(s) of responsibility and percent of their time dedicated to the project. List work for which you do not have in-house capability and name the firm you propose to subcontract with.
Past Performance	Describe team’s past performance with respect to ability to meet project schedules; quality of work; and ability to control costs on similar transportation projects, especially those performed for KDOT. Include three references and contact information.
Familiarity with KDOT and Project Area	Describe team’s familiarity with KDOT’s processes and standards. Describe familiarity with the project area and any identified special site conditions.

Table 2: Evaluation Factors
Evaluation Factor	Weight
The quality and completeness of the response	10%
Availability to respond to the work	20%
Qualifications and experience of key project team members proposed for services	20%
Past performance history for similar projects/services for KDOT	20%
Understanding of the District and Area	10%
Understanding of KDOT contract administration and closeout procedures	20%

Contract Terms and Conditions

A standard KDOT agreement for engineering and technical services will be used for professional services projects. 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”)

Questions

All questions regarding this Request for Proposals shall be emailed to KDOT.DesignContracts@ks.gov.

Questions can be submitted until August 17, 2023; answers will be provided to all prequalified consultants on August 24, 2023.

Additional Details

Construction Project Supervision and Contract Administration

Under the direction of the Metro Engineer (ME, Field Engineering Administrator (FEA) or Construction Engineer (CE), assist with construction project supervision, inspection staffing, and contract administration. The consultant may serve as project supervisor of complex construction projects and/or multiple smaller projects.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide recommendations to the ME, FEA and CE regarding project actions, staffing and any other project related matters.
• Responsible for the review or compilation of project documentation for all phases of work performed to substantiate the contract payments. This documentation includes daily diaries, weekly recaps, test reports, final papers, and data entered into AASHTOWare.
• Make determination on the charges of working days.
• Represent KDOT in all project-related meetings and conferences.
• Provide guidance to the construction staff in the review of construction plans such as verifying steel quantities, grade computations, and earthwork quantities.
• Maintain contact with the contractor’s project manager on the project.
• Represent KDOT on construction project related decisions.

Mentoring Resource

The consultant will serve as a mentor and provide effective leadership to less experienced technicians and engineering associates. The consultant will identify and recommend areas of additional training needed within the construction office. This information will be used to assist the ME, FEA or CE to organize effective training programs for the construction office.

Provides other project related construction assistance to the ME, FEA and CE as directed.

Construction Plan Development

Reviews or prepares documents for field-designed projects such as 1R projects, bridge set-aside projects, culvert set-aside projects, and 3R major modifications. This includes field measuring, quantity computations, drafting of plan sheets and field surveys. This also includes participation in field checks and plan reviews as necessary.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 5 years of experience managing large or complex KDOT construction projects.
• Current CIT certifications in basic inspection, asphalt paving inspection, concrete paving inspection, structures inspection, ACI concrete field-testing technician, aggregate field technician.
• Expert proficiency with KDOT’s construction management software AASHTOWare.

This is expected to be a full-time (40-60 hours per week excluding holidays) assignment based at the District 1, Area 4 Office in Topeka, Kansas. The hours will be through one main person with two delegates. The delegates are intended to be used when the main person is on leave, unavailable or the workload has created a need for additional staff for a short period of time. The contract period will be one calendar year with an option for KDOT to add a one-year extension.

Calvin Reed
Secretary
Department of Transportation

Doc. No. 051403