1. NHCA Education Series Contractor Pre-Qualification CSST
February 24, 2017

2. Combined Sewage Storage Tunnel

3. Why Pre-Qualify
1. To better manage project risk particularly those projects of high value, challenging conditions and significant unknowns.

4. CSST Experience
1. High value: the project value was initially estimated at $195M
2. Undertaking a type of project for which the City had limited experience (LRT and South Ottawa Tunnel are the only two major tunnelling projects in recent times).
3. Undertaking a tunneling project through challenging soil conditions, crossing under the Rideau River, Rideau Canal and LRT.

5. Early Stages
1. We solicited the assistance of Infrastructure Ontario, a quasi-government agency with experience in large scale infrastructure projects.
2. We engaged a “Fairness Commissioner” who ensured that our procurement process remained “transparent” throughout.
3. We consulted with our legal counsel in preparation for our discussions with the contracting industry.

6. What we did
1. Undertook a “market sounding” to test some of the strategies we wanted to include in the RFQ.
Gauge interest of the industry in this project.
Determine the availability of the specific tunnel boring machine we wanted to use on the project.
Determine if the contractors had experience with the various risk management tools we wanted to include in the contract (DSC, EBD, GBR/GDR, DRB)
Poll the industry to gauge interest in alternative financing methods for the project (traditional vs. contractor financing with milestone payments)
Determine best methods of introducing innovation into the project.

7. What we did
2. Based on results of the “market sounding” we prepared the RFQ Terms of Reference based on:
the availability of the TBM we selected
a limit of approximately 5 respondents to be shortlisted for the RFT
a traditional design-bid-build procurement
the implementation of the various risk management tools (DSC, DRB, GBR/GDR, EBD)
3. RFQ Terms of Reference was broken down into two stages
Stage 1: Mandatory qualifications (pass/fail)
Stage 2: Evaluated qualifications (rated)
To make it to Stage 2, the proponent had to pass all of the criteria in Stage 1.
To make the shortlist, the proponent had to meet a minimum score of 70%.

8. The RFQ Part 1: Mandatory Requirements
Provided proponents overall scope of the project which included the proposed location of the planned infrastructure as well as the operational parameters and the major project constraints.
Bonding and insurance capability based on a project value of approximately $195M.
WSIB Clearance Certificate
Requested that the contractor (or tunneling subcontractor) have tunneling experience on tunnels of similar size, in similar materials and using a TBM with pressurized face capabilities.
Requested that the contractor (or tunneling subcontractor) provide evidence that they have at least 15 years tunneling experience.
Requested evidence that the Tunnel design engineer had a minimum of 10 years tunnel design or construction experience and have used TBM.

9. The RFQ Part 2: Technical or Evaluated Requirements
Assessed General Contractor Capability and Experience
Assessed Tunneling and Shaft Contractor Capability and Experience
Evaluated the capability and experience of key subcontractors (mechanical, electrical and I/C)
Evaluated overall team organization chart to see if it covered all of the expected disciplines and reporting/communication relationships
Assessed the contractors approach and methodology to do the work, the evaluation criteria included: schedule, planning/staging, risk management strategy, change management system, communication strategy.
To assist in the evaluation process we developed a series of templates

10. RFQ Evaluation Scoring Team Evaluation Team Representation
Consultant (2 members)
City (3 members)
Infrastructure Ontario (1 member)
Oversight by City (2 members)
Oversight by Fairness Commissioner (1 member)
Evaluation followed the 2 stage process only those passing stage 1 were evaluated as part of stage 2.
Evaluation was based on consensus for each of the evaluated criteria.
Scoring Team

11. Lessons Learned
Ensure that you are clear in terms of what contracting arrangements are acceptable, i.e. Joint Venture, Partnerships, General Contractor-Sub Contractor.
Understand the industry and request the appropriate level of experience for the corporation, sub contractors, project manager and key team members.
Ensure that submissions are made in the prescribed format to ensure that the submissions are easy to follow and information is easy to find.
Ensure that the weighting for the evaluated criteria is appropriate to reflect the importance of the criteria