The Contracting Services (CS) group of the Denver Service Center (DSC) is the largest contracting office in the National Park Service (NPS) and serves the Associate Director for Professional Services in Washington, DC.

• BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
• OUR SERVICES
• CONTRACTING PROFESSIONALS' RESOURCE
• WHO WE ARE
• DSC CONTRACTING SERVICES' RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
  1. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
  2. DESIGN/BUILD AND COMPETITIVELY NEGOTIATED CONSTRUCTION
  3. A/E SELECTION BASED ON SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES AND INTEGRATED DESIGN
  4. IDEAS IMPLEMENTATION

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

The NPS has migrated to an electronic commerce environment for the majority of its acquisition/procurement activity. If you want to do business with the National Park Service (or any Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau), detailed guidance and registration information is found on our electronic commerce site at http://ideasec.nbc.gov.

When you access the web site, you can:

• Review all requirements posted by DOI bureaus and offices
• Search for and read any open RFQ, IFB and RFP
• Quote on RFQs before the posted closing dates
• Receive electronic awards and notices for RFQs
• Download solicitation packages and drawings as desired.

There is no cost to you for this service. Competing for business with NPS and DOI electronically is painless and simple. To take advantage of future opportunities electronically with NPS and DOI, you must:

• Obtain a valid Dun & Bradstreet Number (D&B) from Dun & Bradstreet through the Internet (http://www.dnb.com) or by calling them at 1-800-333-0505. Only vendors with valid D&Bs may submit a quote.
• Register your firm at our electronic commerce web site http://IDEASec.nbc.gov.

Central registration will not only alleviate the need for you to submit a separate bidder's application to each office, the information can be used to notify you when we have a requirement within your capability. You have control over updating the information about your firm so that we can match your capabilities electronically with our needs.

Using 4.0 or newer versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape provides the best results. Your local Small Business Administration should also be able to help you and provide access to a personal computer if you do not have one.

Business and Economic Development (BUDS) Program

If you are a small, disadvantaged, women-owned business, or an 8(a) contractor and wish to pursue contracting opportunities with NPS, please contact our Business Utilization Development Specialist (BUDS), Rosemary Ortiz. We are regularly seeking construction and architectural and engineering firms to perform work for the National Park Service. For more specific information on these contracting opportunities, call (303) 969-2112 or e-mail Rosemary_Ortiz@nps.gov

Department of Interior, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
http://www.doi.gov/osdbu/

Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/

OUR SERVICES

Besides being the designated contracting office for the majority of the line item construction programs of  NPS, the CS group provides a wide variety of services to parks and regions in the national park system, as well as to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service (Department of Agriculture).

• Solicits, negotiates, awards, and administers IDIQ Professional Services contracts and purchase orders (under $100,000) for:
  • Construction planning (design)
  • GIS services and geotechnical engineering
  • Plant propagation
  • Noise and vibration evaluation
  • Archeological investigations and evaluations
  • Hazardous material surveys
  • Aerial photography and topographical surveying
  • Utility surveys
  • Construction management
  • Financial analysis services
  • Boundary and construction layout surveys
  • Transportation and traffic engineering
  • Historic resources
  • Cultural landscape inventories
  • Ethnographic resource studies
  • Artifact analysis
  • Environmental assessments
  • General Management Plans
• Negotiates, awards, and administers task orders against existing contracts to accommodate the needs of in-house project managers, regions, parks, and other agencies
• Solicits, evaluates, negotiates, awards, and administers construction contracts (generally over $100,000) for the NPS line item construction program, as well as the Fee Demonstration Program and other fund sources

Harpers Ferry Center maintains a searchable online database of the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for use by the entire service (http://165.83.219.72/hafe/hfc/idiq.cfm).

CONTRACTING PROFESSIONALS' RESOURCE

The following site was developed by a nationwide committee of NPS contracting and procurement professionals and provides links to a wide variety of procurement resources. http://165.83.20.6/amoeba/NPS_acq_mgmnt.nsf/

WHO WE ARE

Each team also consists of a full complement of contract specialists and procurement technicians to accomplish the work of the program.

DSC CONTRACTING SERVICES' RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

• Problem to be Solved:
  The Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 and the digital signature legislation of 2000 promote the use of electronic technology to streamline processes, reduce paperwork, and allow agencies to use electronic "signature" rather than pen-and-paper signatures. Printing and mailing hard copies of contract documents has become extremely costly. The cost estimate for a recent project was $45,000 for printing alone. The expense and time impacts associated with issuing amendments to all solicitation plan holders are also becoming unmanageable. The potential for protests against award because of the government's failure to properly manage amendments is always a matter of concern.
• Actions Taken:
  DSC entered into a partnership with the Department of Interior's, National Business Center (NBC) to post construction solicitation packages on NBC's IDEAS electronic commerce website. The contractor community received the first electronic solicitation with overwhelming response. Since that time, we have posted all of DSC's competitively negotiated construction projects on the NBC website. Estimated price ranges for these projects have ranged from less than $1,000,000 to over $10,000,000. All contract documents are scanned and provided electronically to all potential contractors, subcontractors and suppliers with access to the Internet. Amendments are now issued electronically as well and the responsibility to be aware of any and all amendments to the solicitations has passed from the government to the potential offerors.
• Expected Outcome:
  -- Issuing amendments electronically substantially reduces the potential for protests related to the management of amendments to solicitations.
  -- Competition on these projects has not been impacted negatively due to the electronic postings.
  -- The labor and printing and mailing costs associated with issuing solicitations will be reduced substantially.

2. DESIGN/BUILD AND COMPETITIVELY NEGOTIATED CONSTRUCTION

• Problem to be Solved:
  Historically, the preferred method for procurement of construction by civilian agencies has been via sealed bidding procedures. There is a common perception that contracts awarded to the "low bidder" usually result in poor quality work and an inordinate number of change orders and modifications. The majority of contracts awarded by DSC in the past have been to "low bidders." In many instances, change orders and modifications have been the result of design deficiencies and errors and omissions in contract documents, which often lead to disputes between the general contractor, the A/E designer, and the government.
  
  Actions Taken:
  DSC began using the competitive negotiation, best value trade-off procedures in fiscal year 1999. We have chosen to use these procedures, as opposed to sealed bidding, to more effectively evaluate past performance and past experience of contractors. By doing so, we are able to select contractors who provide the best value to the government, rather than awarding on price alone. In conjunction with the best value trade-off procedures, DSC is beginning to use two-phase design/build construction procedures as opposed to the more traditional design/bid/build procedures. By doing so, the responsibility for risk and cost control is transferred from the government to the design/build contractor. The first phase of the process is based on qualifications of the design/build team as in the A/E selection process. The second phase utilizes competitive negotiation best value procedures to determine an award. During the past year, all construction projects issued by DSC have been solicited using the best value trade-off process or the design/build construction process.
• Expected Outcome:
  Sealed bid solicitations have been virtually eliminated at DSC. By using the best value trade-off process, we will be able to select contractors who are best suited for our projects. We have seen, and expect to continue to see, reductions in change orders and modifications because of this evaluation and selection process. In regard to design/build projects, we anticipate cost savings as well as significant time savings on most design/build projects. Change orders and modifications will be reduced substantially, as we will be dealing with one contractor only. Disputes between the A/E designer, general contractor, and the government will be avoided, if not eliminated completely.

3. A/E SELECTION BASED ON SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES AND INTEGRATED DESIGN

• Problem to be Solved:
  The use of A/E's by DSC to accomplish line item construction and fee demonstration programs is expected to increase. Integrated design and sustainable design practices were not used as specific evaluation criteria in the selection of A/E firms.
• Actions Taken:
  Currently, all solicitations issued by DSC stress the importance of integrated and coordinated designs, as well as sustainable design practices, by using these as specific evaluation criteria. As we supplement and/or replace existing A/E contracts, we are evaluating the use of multi-disciplinary versus single discipline contracts, to ensure that both types of contracts are available. We are also evaluating the need for some geographic based contracts in addition to the nation-wide contracts. We are looking at the 5-year line item construction program and estimates for other programs, such as the fee demonstration, to identify types and locations of anticipated projects. We are also evaluating the need for higher contract ceilings than those used in the past, since we will be relying almost exclusively on A/Es for complete design services. We will continue to use the Design Excellence Portfolio process to select firms for more project specific requirements.
• Expected Outcome:
  The Indefinite Deliver/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) A/E design contracts issued by DSC will be awarded to leaders in sustainable design practices. Whether the design services are for complete projects, or for only portions of projects, the A/Es will be expected to provide integrated and fully coordinated designs. We expect to see a reduction in A/E design deficiencies. The geographic distribution of lead disciplines, number of contracts, and higher contract ceilings will more closely match the needs dictated by the 5-year line item construction program and other programs, such as fee demo.

4. IDEAS IMPLEMENTATION

• Problem to be Solved:
  The Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998 and the digital signature legislation of 2000 promote the use of electronic technology to streamline processes, reduce paperwork, and allow agencies to use electronic "signature" rather than pen-and-paper signatures. The Department of Interior has determined that the Interior Department Electronic Acquisition System (IDEAS) will be the only electronic requisitioning and purchasing system to be authorized for use by the bureaus within the department. A few bureaus were selected to pilot the implementation of IDEAS. These bureaus reported an inordinate number of problems with the system, e.g., interface with financial and property systems and inability to provide accurate contract award reports. IDEAS was viewed as being extremely slow, cumbersome, and not user-friendly. At this time, complete implementation of IDEAS on a department-wide basis was questionable.
  
• Actions Taken:
  DSC began using IDEAS/Procurement Desktop on a limited basis in FY 1999. IDEAS was used primarily to issue requisitions and to issue orders utilizing the simplified acquisition module. Early in FY 2000, the software provider, AMS, in collaboration with the Department of Interior's National Business Center (NBC) and the Department of Interior Procurement User's Group (PUG) and Technical User's Group (TUG), met a number of times to resolve the software and design problems. Representatives from DSC and the Denver Administrative Program Center served as members on both the PUG and the TUG. The efforts of the NBC, PUG and TUG have resulted in a number of enhancements to the original program. Many of the problems have been eliminated and the program is becoming more user-friendly. Since the beginning of FY 2001, the Denver Service Center has fully implemented IDEAS and is using all of the modules for requisitioning, simplified acquisitions, and formal contracting. We have also begun implementing the electronic commerce functionality of IDEAS. At this time, we can post solicitations electronically and receive quotes electronically using the simplified acquisition module; however, we are not yet able to receive proposals from offerors electronically using the formal contracting module.

• Expected Outcome:
  All requisitions and solicitations will be managed electronically via IDEAS/Procurement Desktop. We will expand our use of the award/obligation and receiving report functions within IDEAS utilizing the built-in interface with the Federal Financial System (FFS). This will improve financial, budget, and property accountability since we will be getting closer to single point of entry for all procurement actions. The PUG will continue to work with AMS and the NBC to fully implement electronic commerce, which will include the ability to receive proposals electronically and to award all contracts with electronic signatures.