REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR DESIGN-BUILD SERVICES

CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR DESIGN-BUILD SERVICES

Ohio State Form F180-01

PROJECT NAME: College Wide PV Solar Panels

Project No. C20247085

LOCATION: Cuyahoga Community College,  700 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115

A. Project Description

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) consists of a total of 11 locations, approximately 50 buildings and more than 3,400,000 square feet of space. There are four main campuses (Eastern Campus, Metropolitan Campus, Western Campus and Westshore Campus) and the Brunswick University Center in Brunswick, Ohio. There are also two corporate colleges: Corporate College West located in Westlake, Ohio; and Corporate College East located in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Tri-C also has its District Office Building located on Carnegie Avenue directly across from Progressive Field, and the Jerry Sue Thornton Center on E. 22nd St. in Cleveland.

This Request for Qualifications is for Design-Build (Developer) Services that consist of Installing PV Solar Panels at five Tri-C locations that were identified in collaboration with our Criteria Engineer (Karpinski). The project will yield a power purchase agreement (PPA) that will reduce the current cost of electricity as well as diversify the energy sources utilized by Tri-C. This project is part of Tri-C’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The College chose a Criteria A/E firm (Karpinski) in March 2024 who has prepared the criteria requirements (SD level). This information will be supplied to the shortlisted firms.

B. Scope of Services for the PV Solar Panel Project

As required by the Agreement, and as properly authorized, provide the following categories of services: develop and maintain estimates of probable construction cost, project schedules, and construction schedules, Design Development, Subcontractor Prequalification and Bidding process, Construction Documents, Permitting and Plan Approval, Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Construction and Closeout stages. This PPA must present at minimum a cost neutral project that simply replaces the cost of energy displaced by the solar arrays proposed.

Refer to the Ohio Facilities Construction Manual for additional information about the type and extent of services required for each. A copy of the standard agreement can be obtained at the OFCC website at http://ofcc.ohio.gov.

The preconstruction and construction services are part of the PPA. Subcontracts may include, but not limited to Demolition, General Trades, Civil, Structural, Electrical,andothertradesthatwillbeawardedbytheDesign-Builder(DB) toprequalifiedvendorsusingacompetitiveprocess.Thepartieswillengageinan”openbook”pricingmethodinwhich allworkshallbebaseduponcompetitivepricingthatwillbereviewedbytheContractingAuthorityandtheOwner,the CriteriaA/Eandthe DB.TheContracting Authority and/orOwnershallhaveaccesstoallbooks,records,documents,and otherdataintheDB’spossessionrelatedtoitself,itssubcontractorsandmaterialsupplierspertainingtobidding,pricing or performance of the Agreement. TheDBwillworkcooperativelywiththe Contracting Authority and/orOwner,CriteriaA/Eand ProjectTeam,andwillprovide,amongotherservices,scheduledevelopment,estimateconfirmation,phasingand sequencing strategies,designdevelopment,PowerPurchaseAgreement, subcontractorprequalificationandbidding,constructiondocumentspreparation,constructabilityreview,permits, budgeting,andpreconstructionplanningthroughoutthepreconstructionstages.

Construction Services: The DB shall construct the Project in accordance with the construction documents and the schedule requirements. The DB shall hold all subcontracts and shall be fully responsible for the means and methods of construction, weekly progress meetings, testing and inspections, project safety, project completion within the schedule agreed upon in the preconstruction phase, compliance with all applicable laws and regulations including monitoring compliance with all equal employment and prevailing wage requirements, prevention of use of materials that trace back to forced labor, and submitting monthly reports of these activities to the Contracting Authority. All subcontracts shall be on the subcontract form prescribed by OAC Section 153:1-03-02. The Contracting Authority reserves the right to approve the DB’s selection of subcontractors and any supplemental terms to the subcontract form.

For purposes of completing the Relevant Project Experience Matrix in Section F of the Statement of Qualifications (Form F110-330), below is a list of relevant experience requirements for this RFQ:

1. Experience with the Design-Build delivery method, and that involve PV Solar Panels
2. Experience at public higher education facilities in Ohio
3. Experience working in proximity of occupied sites, buildings and facilities
4. Projects involving accelerated schedules
5. Experience with PPAs

C. Funding / Estimated Budget

This project will utilize a Power Purchase Agreement to pay for the entire project.

D. Tentative Schedule

DB Contract Awarded                                       November 2024

Design Phase Duration                                        November 2024- TBD Construction Stage Notice to Proceed           TBD

Construction Duration                                         TBD by DB Collaboration Substantial Completion of all Work TBD by DB Collaboration DB Services Completed                 TBD by DB Collaboration

E. Criteria for Selection

Selection Criteria: The DB will be selected using (i) qualifications-based process during the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) stage to develop a short list and (ii) best value process during the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage. The qualifications-based criteria for the RFQ is included in this announcement. The best value criteria used in evaluating proposals from short listed firms will include such factors that are determined to offer the greatest value to the Contracting Authority and Owner, combining both qualifications and PPA.

Short List: Each firm responding to this RFQ will be evaluated and selected based on its qualifications and the qualifications and experience of the particular individuals identified as the candidate’s proposed team for the Project. After evaluating the responses to this RFQ, the Contracting Authority will select a short list of no fewer than three candidates that it considers to be the most qualified, except if the Contracting Authority determines that fewer than three firms (Developers)are qualified, it will only select the qualified firms.

Request for Proposal: The short-listed firms shall be sent a Request for Proposal (RFP) that will invite the firms to submit pricing proposals containing their proposed Power Purchase Agreement encumbering,  construction stage personnel costs, and itemized construction stage general conditions costs. The short-listed candidates will also receive (i) form of the Agreement with the Contracting Authority containing the contract terms and conditions, (ii) set of the most recent criteria documents and (iii) proposed Project schedule. These items will be distributed at the pre- proposal meeting.

Pre-Proposal Meeting: Prior to submitting a response to the RFP, the short-listed firms will be invited to meet collectively with the Contracting Authority and the Owner. The purpose of the pre-proposal meeting is to permit the short-listed firms an opportunity to ask the Contracting Authority and the Owner questions in an individual setting to help the firms prepare their responses to the RFP.

Interview: After submitting responses to the RFP, the short-listed firms will be interviewed by the Contracting Authority and representatives of the Owner. The purpose of the interview will be to meet the proposed Project team, become familiar with key personnel, and understand the project approach and ability to meet the stated objectives for the Project. Please be prepared to discuss with specificity the firm’s capacity to conduct this work in compliance with the timetable, budget and Tri-C’s diversity and inclusion expectations (Supplier Participation: 15% Minority, 5% Female, 2% Veteran, and 6% SBE/CSB/SDBE and Workforce Hiring Diversity: 45% Cuyahoga County resident, 15% Minority, 7% Female, and 2% Veteran). The Contracting Authority will notify each short-listed firm to schedule individual times for the interviews.

Selection Schedule: Below is the tentative schedule, which is subject to change.

Cancellation and Rejection: The Contracting Authority reserves the right to reject all proposals and cancel at any time for any reason this solicitation, any portion of this solicitation or any phase of the Project. The Contracting Authority shall have no liability to any proposer arising out of such cancellation or rejection. The Contracting Authority reserves the right to waive minor variations in the selection process.

For all Statements of Qualifications, please identify the EDGE-certified Business Enterprises, by name, which will participate in the delivery of the proposed professional services solicited in the RFQ.

F. Requirements for Proposal Submittal

Firms are required to submit the current version of Statement of Qualifications (Form F110-330) available via the OFCC website at http://ofcc.ohio.gov.

Proposers are requested to submit the following information in response to this RFQ within Section H of Form F110-330.

1. Summary: Provide a summary, on one page or less, describing why your firm/team is the most qualified for the Project.
2. Bonding/Insurance: Provide evidence of capacity to provide bonding in the amount of the construction budget (e.g. a letter from your Surety agent stating that one or more Sureties will issue Bonds in the amount of the construction budget if your team is selected) and a copy of the firm’s certificate of insurance showing the firm’s current limits of liability for commercial general liability, employer’s liability, business automobile liability, and professional liability
3. Management Systems: Describe the scheduling and cost control systems the firm would propose to use for the Project
4. Self-Performed Work: Indicate whether the firm intends to self-perform any work on the Project through a competitive process and, if so, the nature of the work and capability to self-perform.
5. Estimating: Demonstrated record of accomplishment of performance of in-house estimating on projects comparable to the Project.
6. Scheduling: Demonstrated record of accomplishment of performance of managing projects to the original

Additionally, please provide the following:

1. Each submittal shall include an organizational chart that describes the relationships and responsibilities of each key team member listed in the proposal.
2. All projects whether scheduled for LEED certification or not will be designed using sustainable, high performance design principles as a standard of practice.
3. All projects are to be engineered to meet the requirements of Ohio House Bill 251, the Advanced Energy
4. As part of Tri-C’s efforts to become more sustainable, we are requiring that all submittals be recyclable or
   1. Submittals shall be binder clipped, GBC bound or No spiral binding or 3-ring binders.
   2. The use of 100% recycled content paper for all proposals is
5. This project will be administered using a modified version of the State of Ohio Standard Requirements for Public Facility Construction.
6. Since Tri-C is a State of Ohio institution, permitting will be thru the State of Depending on the project scope, coordination with the Local Municipality may be required.

Request for Qualifications are due July 16th by 2:00 PM. Submit six (6) hard copies and one (1) consolidated PDF on a USB drive, including the F110-330 forms, to: Cuyahoga Community College, Attn: Shehadeh Abdelkarim, 700 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115, Attention: College Wide PV Solar Panel Project #C20247085.

For additional information, please contact Shehadeh Abdelkarim, Project Manager, Construction, Planning, & Design, (Shehadeh.Abdelkarim@tri-c.edu / 216.987.4899).