Federal Building in Shawinigan Construction Management Services

1. Introduction

Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Inc. (RCGT) was engaged on May 15, 2019 as a Fairness Monitor (FM) to observe the procurement process for the Construction management services—New Federal building in Shawinigan Project, issued by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), as a result of bid solicitation number EE474-200945/A. RCGT is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

RCGT reviewed all the information provided and observed all relevant activities in this phase, as identified in section 4 and 5 of this report. We hereby submit the Final Report, covering the activities of the Fairness Monitor, from July 26, 2019, continuing through the conclusion of the Evaluation Phase on November 15, 2019.

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

2. Attestation of assurance

Based on the activities performed and described in this report, the Fairness Monitor hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the procurement process for the Construction management services—New Federal building in Shawinigan:

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

3. Project requirement

The objective of this project is to construct a new building with a gross area of approximately 25,700 m2 (square meter), owned by the Crown, to provide new space in support of the Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada, Health Canada and Shared Services Canada programs. This new building will be built on the site of the existing National Verification and Collections Centre (NVCC). The work covered by the Request for Proposal (RFP) includes, but is not limited to the:

1. constructions of a new building
   1. the new building must be deployed on the site of the current NVCC
      1. a gross area of approximately 25,700 m2
      2. a gross area of approximately 20,230 m2
   2. the existing building will be maintained in operation throughout the work in order to ensure the continuity of the operations of customers and users until they move into the new building
2. complete development of the new building
3. decontamination and deconstruction of the existing building
4. deconstruction of the existing parking lot (total of about 1,200 parking spaces), access roads and decontamination of the site (in phases)
5. construction of a new parking lot and access roads (in phases)
6. complete development of the site (in phases)

4. Fairness monitoring engagement and methodology

RCGT was engaged as an FM to observe the procurement process for the Construction management services—New Federal building in Shawinigan Project, and to attest to the fairness, openness and transparency of this monitored activity.

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we:

• reviewed documents provided by the Contracting Authority
• monitored communications with proponents provided by the Contracting Authority
• attended meetings that the Contracting Authority Technical Authority or Project Authority requested our presence at
• identified potential fairness related matters to the Contracting Authority and Technical Authority
• ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate

This report is based on information made available to us by the Contracting Authority, Technical Authority and Project Authority during the procurement process from July 26, 2019 to November 15, 2019. RCGT reserves the right, but will be under no obligation, to review or revise the report if further information that may impact our observations becomes known to us after the date of this report.

5. Activities and observations

5.1 Request for proposal phase

The following activities were performed during this phase:

• from July 26, 2019 to September 8, 2019
  • a review of the Request for Proposal was performed and questions, comments and identified issues were discussed
  • RCGT received the first draft of the RFP on July 26, 2019
  • the RFP was posted on Buyandsell.gc.ca on September 9, 2019
  • 6 amendments to the RFP were issued from September 25, 2019 to October 29, 2019
• from September 19, 2019 to October 29, 2019
  • a review of all questions and answers responses and the corresponding RFP amendments was conducted
• on September 26, 2019
  • RCGT attended a site visit which was led by the PWGSC Contracting Authority

The RFP closed on November 5, 2019 at 14:00 Eastern Standard Time.

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents, observed the RFP Phase identifying fairness-related matters to the Contracting Authority, and ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate.

All comments identified by RCGT throughout the RFP Phase were resolved by either the Technical or Contracting Authority.

5.2 Evaluation phase

The following activities were performed:

• reviewed the following documents
  • evaluation Criteria
  • technical evaluation plan
  • technical evaluation grids
  • bidder responses
  • financial evaluation worksheets
  • final evaluation selection document
• participated via conference call to the evaluation kick off meeting on November 8, 2019 and observed the following
  • orientation instructions provided to evaluators
  • evaluation grids provided to evaluators
• attended the technical evaluation consensus meetings on November 14 and 15 2019 and observed the following
  • the application of the evaluation process including observing the consensus meetings of evaluation teams related to the mandatory and rated requirements
  • the review of the roll-up of evaluation results
• reviewed documentation related to the financial evaluation including the price certification performed on November 15, 2019 and observed the following
  • process to complete financial evaluation forms
  • signed evaluation documents
  • calculation of final scores
  • final evaluation selection document

2 bids were received for which a technical evaluation was performed.

The evaluators performed individual evaluations first and then conducted meetings to come to a consensus score for the mandatory and technical criteria. The meetings were mediated by the Technical Authority with support from the Contracting Authority.

1 of the 2 bids exceeded the number of pages permitted for the technical section for which the additional pages were removed from their proposal for evaluation purposes.

Both bidders, as evaluated, met the mandatory and minimum rated requirements. The consensus meetings concluded, and the evaluators reviewed and signed off on the consensus evaluations. The responsive bids were reviewed for financial compliance with the RFP. Both bids were deemed financially compliant. Using the evaluation criteria, the successful bidder was identified.

All comments or issues identified RCGT throughout the Evaluation Phase were resolved by either the Technical or Contracting Authority.

6. Reference documents

The documents related to solicitation number EE474-200945/A are available on Buyandsell.gc.ca or through the project office.

The roles and responsibilities for the Fairness Monitor Team Leader, Fairness Monitor Specialist and Fairness Monitor Contractor’s Representative have been defined in our contract with PSPC. For more information on these roles and responsibilities, please contact PSPC.

7. Addendum to the final report

Addendum to the FM Final Report dated December 18, 2019 with respect to the Construction management services – New Federal building in Shawinigan procurement process, issued by PSPC, as a result of bid solicitation EE474-200945/A.

This addendum to the final report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase.

Contract Award, Communications, and Debrief

The following activities were performed:

• contracting Authority issued award and regret letters on April 15, 2020
• debrief meeting conducted with the successful bidder on June 4, 2020

The award and regret letters were provided to us by the Contracting Authority for review prior to being communicated to the bidders; no concerns were identified. The unsuccessful bidder received a letter that provided the results of the evaluation, that is, points obtained for the rated criteria and the evaluated cost per point.

The successful bidder requested a debrief session which the FM attended by teleconference on June 4, 2020.

There were no fairness issues identified during these activities.

Based on the activities performed and described in this addendum, the FM hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the procurement process for the Construction management services—New Federal building in Shawinigan project.

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