A-E-Contract Initial Final Consultant Evaluation Process 10-26-2017

District 4 Calmentor Business Development Workshop

January 26, 2017

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Room: 15th, Room 15-220, Caltrans D-4 Office  

Enhanced A&E Contract Initial & Final Consultant Evaluation Process

I. Introduction:

a) Self Introduction of  the Workshop Leader(s): Name; Total number of years of experience in Caltrans; and current job position, etc. 

b) Self Introduction of Attendees: Name; job title; and, firm name. 

II. A&E Contract Selection Panel Members Selection and Approval Process

a) Nominated by Contract Manager , CSU Office Chief or by Caltrans Principal Managers. No self-nomination is allowed. 

b) Approved by Deputy District Director or HQ Division Chief and DPAC Division Chief.

c) A technically diverse group (3 to 5 members) of subject matter experts from various functional offices or Districts within Caltrans. 

d) Selection Panel Member Qualifications:

1.  Availability.  A week of performing the duties of members of the panel during the selection process.
2. The Desire to Perform the duties of the selection panel members:
   1. Read the Scope of Work and Request for Qualification
   2. Complete and sign mandatory forms.
   3. Participate in the Initial Evaluation Process.
   4. Participate in the Final Evaluation (Interview) Process.
   5. De-briefing is done by Contract Manager and may need support from panel members.
3. Completed California Department  of Justice Office of  Attorney General’s Ethics Training Course.
4. No Conflict of Interest.
5. Maintains Confidentiality of Trade Secrets,  Consultant’s Patents, and other “products of the mind”, if any, mentioned in the SOQ.     
6. Caltrans Office Chief Position or higher
7. Having a reputation of a subject matter expert.
8. Confidence in participating and supporting  a consensus decision making process with other panel members.
9. Understand and follow procurement process guidelines
10. If required, provide prompt responses to address inquiries from Contract Manager, DPAC Chairperson and others about  comments made during consultant selection and evaluation. 

III. Initial Evaluation Process/ Consultant Short Listing 

a. A 5-working day commitment among selection panel members of reviewing the request for qualification (RFQ), reviewing and commenting on each statement of qualifications (SOQ) and completing the initial evaluation form for each firm who submitted responsive SOQ.

b. Comments are incorporated and referenced by the panel members as part of the scoring and evaluation of  SOQ. 

c. Each panel member conducts his or her independent scoring and evaluations of each SOQ.

d. Rankings of consultants scores by each of the panel members are compiled  by the DPAC Contract Analyst in Sacramento.

e. The Contract Analyst completes an overall ranking of consultants’ SOQs based on the rankings submitted by the panel members.

f. DPAC  in collaboration with District Contract Manager decides what the cut-off number of consultants to shortlist based on the overall ranking provided by the Contract Analyst. Minimum 3 is required.

g. The result of the initial evaluation is retained and carry through the final evaluation process. The outcome of the initial evaluation has a weight of  25% in the overall selection process. 

h. A minimum of 3 SOQs submittal is required by DPAC to avoid re-advertisement of the RFQ. However, 1 or 2 SOQ submittals require a justification from the Contract Manager for approval by DPAC inorder to proceed with the selection process without re-advertisement.        

i. The RFQ, SOQs and Initial Evaluation Forms are public documents under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) if kept in Caltrans records.

IV. Final Evaluation Process/ Consultant Interview Process

a. DPAC sends notifications to all shortlisted firms about the interview. The notification includes a sample Task Order from the District.

b. During the interview, each shortlisted firm has to perform the following in order:

1. A 10-15 Minute Introduction and Presentation of how to respond to the Sample Task Order (that was sent with the invitations for interview).
2. Receive written questions within the scope of work of the A&E contract. Typically, these questions are prepared by the subject matter experts.
3. A 20-minute time allotment to prepare responses to the questions.
4. A 20-minute time allotment to respond to the questions.
5. 5. A 2-minute closing statement to augment the answers provided to the questions.

c. Each consultant firm is evaluated based on its interview performance using the criteria listed in the final evaluation form (Form No. 2028a). 

d. Each firm’s Strengths and Weaknesses are discussed and documented by the panel members. 

e. Scores on the evaluation sheets are tabulated, ranked and reported by the non-voting DPAC Selection Panel Chairperson to the rest of the voting panel members.

f. A weight of 75% is given to Technical Evaluations (20% Task Order presentations and 55% Technical Scenario Questions) of the interview.   

g. Based on the scores of the initial evaluation and interviews, the overall ranking is deliberated and approved by the panel members.

V. Consultants Dos and Don’ts

a. Dos

1. Do access the DPAC website from time to time for updates of contract look ahead reports (LAR) of upcoming contracts at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/dpac/aeinfo.html. The LAR has information regarding new contracts, names of current Prime Consultants who has the current contracts to be renewed.
2. Do a request of documents through DPAC.public.records.request@dot.ca.gov   
3. Do a thorough and complete review of the Request for Quantitation (RFQ) and Statement of Work (SOW).  
4. Do a list of all requirements found in the RFQ and SOW and address how you firm will meet these requirements in your SOQs. 
5. Do a list of your firm’s Strengths and Weaknesses. If weaknesses are very apparent in the SOQ, your firm for example does not have specific required specialty, then hire that specialty or team up with a firm who has that specialty.      
6. Do a spellcheck or other checks for grammatical and mechanical errors in the Statement of Qualification (SOQ).
7. Do a timely submittal of SOQs. Do get a proof of delivery/receipt from DPAC or from the District Contract Manager when SOQs are submitted and received by Caltrans.
8. Confirm the receipt of interview notice from the DPAC Analyst if shortlisted through email.  
9. Do ask questions if something is not clear about the Scope of Work during advertisement. 
10. Do a de-briefing with the Contract Manager after the contract is awarded.

b. Don’ts

1. Do not call anyone from Caltrans for questions except for the DPAC Analyst while the contract is being advertised or during the contract selection process. 
2. Do not forget to disclose a Conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest in your SOQ, if someone in your team has any.
3. Do not submit incomplete forms with your Statement of Qualification (SOQ).
4. Do not over-estimate or inflate work allocation to certified firms to meet or exceed SBE, DBE or DBVE contract goals in your SOQs.
5. Do not forget to include an organization chart in your SOQ.
6. Do not forget to bring your team’s Cost Proposal and other documents that may be required during the interview.
7. Do not include references in the SOQ that will give your firm unfavorable reviews or comments.
8. Do not divulge the interview questions with other firms to be interviewed. 
9. Do not leave out handouts that are not thoroughly vetted or reviewed for correctness and completeness to the selection panel members.
10. Do not forget to do a post interview analysis and feedback from your team about how you performed during the initial and final selection process.