The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) on Aug. 17 issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking to identify as many as 15 firms to provide construction management services for the construction of New York City municipal public buildings under the agency’s Project Excellence Program.
The RFP is available for download here. A virtual pre-proposal conference will be held on Sept. 9. Responses to the construction management services RFP are due by Sept. 24.
“The construction management contracts emphasize the principles expressed in DDC’s Strategic Blueprint for Construction Excellence, which is our roadmap to faster and more effective project delivery,” said Thomas Foley, DDC’s Deputy Commissioner for Public Buildings. “We’ve made several important changes to the next round of construction management contracts to incentivize and challenge firms to meet the city’s objectives. Building professionals who want to make a difference are strongly encouraged to respond to our RFP and help build the next generation of great public buildings.”
DDC is the principle agency responsible for designing and delivering the City’s civil infrastructure as well as public buildings, including firehouses, libraries, community health centers, recreation centers, theaters, museums and more for over 20 city agencies plus numerous cultural institutions that receive funding from the city.
DDC’s Project Excellence Program pre-qualifies firms to provide construction management services for its public buildings projects. Once part of the pre-qualified list, firms can more rapidly be deployed to individual projects as needed, reducing procure times for construction management services while ensuring the highest levels of quality and professionalism. The agency previously contracted with 24 construction management firms for the current round of the program, which will expire in 2022.
Recent examples of public buildings completed by the agency under its Project Excellence Program include the new firehouse for Rescue Company #2 in Brooklyn. Buildings currently under construction in the program include the new Far Rockaway Library in Queens and the Staten Island Districts 1&3 Sanitation Garage in Fresh Kills.
For the program’s next round, the agency will seek to contract for three years with up to 15 firms to provide construction management services for new construction, major renovations and system upgrades and replacements. Three categories of construction management contracts are being solicited based on the size (estimated construction cost) of the projects for which services are to be provided:
- Small Projects – DDC intends to enter into Requirements Contracts with up to five (5) qualified construction management firms for various projects with an estimated construction cost up to $10,000,000;
- Medium Projects – DDC intends to enter into a Requirements Contract with up to five (5) qualified construction management firms for various projects with an estimated construction cost above $10,000,000 and up to $50,000,000;
- Large Projects – DDC intends to enter into a Requirements Contract with up to five (5) qualified construction management firms for various projects with an estimated construction cost above $50,000,000.
Firms may propose for more than one category by submitting one response to the RFP. If a firm submits a proposal for more than one category, DDC reserves the right to assign the proposer to a category based on the proposer’s experience, capacity and the best interests of the program. No firm will be awarded more than one contract regardless of how many categories the firm submits a proposal for.
This round of construction management contracts will include comprehensive, partial and consulting services. Contracts have been adjusted since the previous round to incentivize firms to achieve the city’s objectives for the Project Excellence Program:
- All services will be on Time Card (direct salary with multiplier for overhead and profit) only (previous contracts included a fee curve for fee for profit).
- Direct salary rates will be based on actual salary (previous contracts included maximum allowable direct salary rates).
DDC encourages participation in the Project Excellence Program by Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) and sets significant requirements for M/WBE participation in its projects. To learn more about how eligible firms can become certified as an M/WBE, please visit Certify With the City.
DDC’s construction management contracts emphasize the principles expressed in the agency’s Strategic Blueprint for Construction Excellence, a comprehensive plan introduced in January 2019 to deliver DDC projects faster and more cost effectively. Selected firms will be evaluated on performance and their ability to proactively manage projects and support on time on budget delivery. Firms selected for the Project Excellence Program will be awarded construction management projects on a rotating basis for comprehensive and partial construction management services.