Architectural and Engineering Consultant Services for the Construction of a New Federal Building in Shawinigan

1. Introduction

Samson & Associates was engaged as a Fairness Monitor (FM) on May 15, 2019 to observe the competitive selection process for the Architectural and Engineering Consultant Services for the Construction of a New Federal Building in Shawinigan, undertaken by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and issued as solicitation EE474-200697/A. Samson & Associates is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

We reviewed all the information provided and observed all relevant activities. We had full access to all aspects of the procurement process and co-operation from all stakeholders.

We hereby submit the Final Report, covering the activities of the FM, commencing with the issuance of the Request for Proposal (RFP), through to the close of its evaluation phase.

This report includes our attestation of assurance, a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment, the methodologies applied and relevant observations from the activities undertaken.

2. Attestation of assurance

The Fairness Monitor hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the competitive selection process for the Architectural and Engineering Consultant Services for the Construction of a New Federal Building in Shawinigan, commencing with the issuance of the Request for Proposal through to the close of its evaluation phase.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process we observed was carried out in a fair, open, and transparent manner.

3. Requirements

The objective of the project consists in the construction of a new federal building of 25,700 m² in Shawinigan. This building will provide new office space in support of the programs run by the Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada, Health Canada, and Shared Services Canada. This new building will be constructed on the existing National Verification and collections Centre site.

The proponents must take into consideration the following:

1. The project will be carried out in project management mode via a contractor hired by PSPC under a separate contract
2. The new building will be constructed at the site of the existing building, which will be fully occupied and operational and which must remain so at all times for the duration of the project. The execution strategy must, among other criteria, ensure that a maximum number of parking spaces is maintained for the duration of the project
3. The new building must obtain Gold-level LEED-NC accreditation
4. Building information modelling (BIM) will be used to execute this project
5. Access constraints to the existing building must be considered at every step of the project

4. Methodology

Samson & Associates was engaged as an FM to observe the competitive selection process for the Architectural and Engineering Consultant Services for the Construction of a New Federal Building in Shawinigan and to attest to the fairness, openness and transparency of this monitored activity.

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents, and observed the request for proposal activities (e.g., request for proposal and related amendments, Questions & Answers process, site visits and proposal evaluation), identified fairness-related matters to the contracting and technical authorities, and ensured that responses and actions were appropriate.

4.1 Activities and observations: request for proposal phase

The request for proposal was issued via buyandsell.gc.ca on August 26, 2019 with a closing date of November 13, 2019.

A site visit took place during this phase, which the Contracting Authority (CA) and FM attended.

There were eight amendments issued, the last of which was posted to buyandsell.gc.ca on November 8, 2019. Questions from potential bidders were received and responded to on buyandsell.gc.ca. The FM examined the request for proposal documents as well as all the questions and answers provided during the request for proposal publication, ensuring that FM related issues were addressed satisfactorily.

Seven proposals were submitted by interested bidders.

No fairness issues were noted.

4.2 Activities and observations: evaluation phase

The FM examined the evaluation plan, framework and scoring worksheet. During the evaluation phase, the bid evaluation consisted in a review of the documentation submitted by bidders as indicated in the request for proposal.

There was an evaluation kick-off meeting held with the CA, the technical evaluators and the FM on November 4, 2019. The evaluation team included three evaluators.

Seven bids were received as part of the procurement process. The technical bid evaluators started on November 14, 2019. The FM and the CA attended all Evaluation Consensus Meetings with the evaluation team. The consensus meetings were held from November 26 to 29, 2019.

The financial evaluation was undertaken by the CA following the technical evaluation. One of the financial proposals was deemed non-compliant. The FM examined the financial evaluation results.

The summary report on the evaluation was produced by PSPC on December 9, 2019. The FM reviewed the summary report.

No fairness issues were noted.

5. Reference documents

The following documents referenced by number in this report, unless otherwise indicated, are all available through PSPC.

6. Addendum to final report, September 3, 2020

Addendum to the final fairness monitor (FM) report dated December 10, 2019 regarding the competitive selection process for the Architectural and Engineering Consultant Services for the Construction of a New Federal Building in Shawinigan, undertaken by Public Services and Procurement Canada.

This Addendum to the FM Final Report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase.

Fairness Monitor activities related to contract award and debriefings

Seven bids were submitted in response to the Request for Proposal. Of the seven bids received, one financial proposal was deemed non-responsive.

The bidders were informed of the evaluation results and contract award on April 15, 2020. A written debrief consisting of a letter, which included technical and financial evaluation scores was sent to bidders. The FM reviewed the letters before they were sent.

Five bidders requested a debrief by teleconference to obtain additional clarifications. Debrief meetings were held August 24 and 25, 2020. The FM attended all debrief meetings as well as the Contracting Authority and the Technical Authority.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the competitive selection process for the Architectural and Engineering Consultant Services for the Construction of a New Federal Building in Shawinigan.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process that we observed, was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.