Tag: border wall

Department of Homeland Security Elaborates on its Anticipated Request for Border-Wall “Prototypes”

border-wall DHS prototype

Last week, we reported that the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had published a presolicitation notice announcing its intent to issue a solicitation “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico.”  On Friday, March 3, CBP amended that notice “to provide additional information to interested bidders” and address “a revision in strategy.”  The revised solicitation includes several significant changes that will be of interest to contractors and other observers.

To begin, the amended notice provides more information about the actual requirements that CBP anticipates including in the solicitation.  According to the notice, CBP expects to request a design for a concrete structure, approximately thirty feet in height, which “will meet requirements for aesthetics, anti-climbing, and resistance to tampering or damage.”

The amended notice now explicitly invokes the “Two Phase Design Build Procedures” under FAR 36.3.  It also provides a revised timeline for the procurement allowing more time, for proposal preparation and evaluation:

  • On or about March 8, 2017: solicitation anticipated to issue

  • March 20, 2017: “vendors to submit a concept paper of their prototype which will result in the evaluation and down select of offerors”

  • On or about May 3, 2017: “down select of phase 1 offerors to submit proposals in response to the full RFP, including pricing”

Consistent with the original notice, the amendment states that CBP will likely issue multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contracts and provide options for additional miles of wall.

Indeed, the notice now explains that, although the procurement will “provide some initial construction of some wall segments,” it “is not intended as the vehicle for the procurement of the total wall solution for the border with Mexico,” perhaps in part because funding for the entire project has not yet been appropriated.  This statement signals that another solicitation will likely follow the one announced last week.

A number of questions raised in our previous post remain, and will hopefully be answered in the next few days in the full solicitation.  Observers also should keep watch for a subsequent solicitation at some point in the future that will address the completion of the border wall.

ARTICLE BY Jennifer L. Plitsch, Kayleigh Scalzo & Andrew Guy of Covington & Burling LLP

© 2017 Covington & Burling LLP

DHS Announces Intent to Award Contracts for Border Wall “Prototypes” by Mid-April

border wall immigration DHS

On Friday, February 24, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection published a presolicitation notice announcing its intent to issue a solicitation “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico.” At least on the government procurement front, this notice marks the most concrete indication of the federal government’s intent to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

The notice — issued under Solicitation No. 2017-JC-RT-0001 — indicates that the resultant contracts will be for the design and build of “prototype wall structures,” suggesting that the Government may not yet be asking for the design and build of the wall itself.  And while the notice is only one paragraph long, it is noteworthy in several respects.

As an initial matter, the notice sets out a dizzyingly fast timeline for the procurement:

  • March 6, 2017: solicitation anticipated to issue

  • March 10, 2017: “vendors to submit a concept paper of their prototype(s)”

  • March 20, 2017: “evaluation and down select of offerors”

  • March 24, 2017: remaining offerors “to submit proposals in response to the full RFP,” including price

  • Mid-April 2017: “Multiple awards . . . contemplated”

Even considering the Government’s desire to take rapid action, it is difficult to see how contractors, or government personnel, will be able to comply with these incredibly tight turnarounds or if working at this pace for a project of this magnitude is in the ultimate interest of the country.  In addition, no specific funds have yet been appropriated for this project, meaning that it is unclear how the federal government plans to pay for the work that, presumably, it intends to commence shortly after awards in mid-April.

Beyond timing and funding, many other questions remain that will hopefully be answered when the full solicitation is issued, including:

  • How prototypes will be evaluated in light of the variety of terrains and concerns at different areas of the border.

  • How potential domestic sourcing preferences may be incorporated — if at all — at this stage of the project, as such requirements have the potential to impact costs, supply chain, and design, among other things.

  • How pricing will be evaluated at this stage of the process and how costs will be taken into account in the project as a whole, in light of the broad range of estimated costs that have been reported by various sources.

  • How the option periods mentioned in the notice will operate — the notice states that “[a]n option for additional miles may be included in each contract award,” although the need for “additional miles” of wall at the conceptual stage of the work is not evident.

Contractors and non-contractors alike will be keeping a close eye on this procurement and marking their calendars for March 6 in the hopes that their many questions will be answered.

ARTICLE BY Jennifer L. Plitsch & Kayleigh Scalzo of Covington & Burling LLP

© 2017 Covington & Burling LLP