Volume 43 - Issue 10 - March 7, 2024

State of Kansas

Department of Transportation

Request for Proposals

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 upload a proposal by 12:00 p.m. (Central Time) March 15, 2024 to the Bid Express page to be considered for selection.

Consultant Prequalification

Interested consulting firms must be prequalified by KDOT or otherwise demonstrate qualification in the following category(s):

• 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 5, Area 5 Wichita, 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. See Attachment for additional details.

Consultant staff will be utilized a minimum of 40/60 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) March 15, 2024.
2. Ranking of proposals is expected to occur on or around March 18, 2024. Negotiations with the most highly ranked firm are expected to begin on or around April 4, 2024. An executed agreement is anticipated shortly thereafter.
3. 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 uploaded to the appropriate bid form on Bid Express by the proposal due date and time.
4. The subject line of the email and the PDF file name must read:
   1. “FC-5001-24–EmbedConstInsp.Admin in D5A5 Wichita FIRM NAME”
5. The proposal must be accompanied by Special Attachments No. 8 (“Tax Clearance Certificate”), No. 10 (“Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment”), and No. 12 (“Certification of Company Not Currently Engaged in the Procurement or Obtainment of Certain Equipment, Services, or Systems”). 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. All attachments are required for every firm involved in a multi-consultant team. Upload these files as instructed in Bid Express.
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.
8. Although not anticipated at this time, KDOT reserves the right to interview for the requested services associated with any of the listed projects prior to making final selections.

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 3: 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”)
• Special Attachment No. 12 (“Certification of Company Not Currently Engaged in the Procurement or Obtainment of Certain Equipment, Services, or Systems”)

Questions

All questions regarding this Request for Proposals shall be submitted via Q&A section of bid form in Bid Express.

Questions can be submitted until March 6, 2024; answers will be provided to all prequalified consultants on March 12, 2024.

Additional Details

The KDOT District 5 Area 5 construction offices located in Wichita, Kansas, are requesting an embedded consultant to provide full time, in-house, technical and construction contract administration expertise.

This is expected to be a full-time (40-60 hours per week excluding holidays) assignment based at the District 5 Area 5 Wichita West Office. The hours will be allocated to a primary person with up to two delegates. The delegates are intended to be used when the primary 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 optional one-year extension.

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 AASHTOWare.
• Make determination on the charges of working days and other similar contract issues.
• Represent KDOT in 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.
• Advise the KDOT on construction project related decisions.

Mentoring Resource

The consultant will serve as a mentor and provide effective leadership and training 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 five years of experience managing large or complex KDOT construction projects.
• CIT certifications in basic inspection, asphalt paving inspection, concrete paving inspection, structures inspection, ACI concrete field testing technician, and aggregate field technician.
• Proficiency with AASHTOWare Project.

Calvin Reed
Secretary
Department of Transportation

Doc. No. 051901