Government Conference Centre Rehabilitation Environmental Consultant Procurement

Table of Contents

1. Background and Introduction
2. Project Requirement
3. Attestation of Assurance
4. Objectives of the Fairness Monitor Assignment and Methodology
5. Fairness Monitor Specific Activities and Findings
6. Reference Documents

Background and Introduction

Knowles Consultancy Services Inc. and Hill International Inc. in Joint Venture was engaged as the Fairness Monitor (FM) to observe the competitive procurement process for the Government Conference Centre Rehabilitation Environmental Consultant Procurement undertaken by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) through Solicitation Number EP760-140545/A. Knowles Consultancy Services Inc. and Hill International Inc. in Joint Venture is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

We hereby submit the Final Report covering our activities commencing with the review of a Request for Proposal (RFP) through the evaluation of proposals and the selection of the recommended bidder.

This report includes our attestation of assurance, a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment, the methodologies applied, and specific activities and relevant findings.

Project Requirement

The Government of Canada identified a requirement for a professional engineering firm to act in the capacity of an Environmental Consultant to provide required consulting services during the rehabilitation of the Government Conference Centre. The firm will be supported by a team of sub-consultants and specialists in the abatement and geotechnical requirements for the rehabilitation project.

The Environmental Consultant will work closely and collaborate continuously with the Prime Consultant, which is responsible for the overall building rehabilitation design. The Environmental Consultant will prepare and actively manage all aspects of the geotechnical and abatement design and implementation associated with this project in conjunction and coordination with the Prime Consultant and the Construction Manager.

Attestation of Assurance

The FM hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the procurement process to select an Environmental Consultant to provide required environmental consulting services during the rehabilitation of the Government Conference Centre.

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

Note: For all references in this report concerning fairness related comments being provided to project officials, it is confirmed that, as necessary, project officials provided clarification to the FM or took appropriate action to address the comments, and as a result no fairness deficiencies were recorded.

Objectives of the Fairness Monitor Assignment and Methodology

The overall objective was as follows: provide PWGSC with independent observation of project procurement activities; provide fairness related comments to project officials as early as possible so that appropriate action could be taken to resolve the concerns before fairness was impacted; bring any potential fairness concerns to the attention of the Operational Integrity Sector if there is no timely resolution with project officials; and attest to the fairness of the procurement process, including its execution.

To accomplish the objective we undertook the following activities:

• became familiar with the project governance structure;
• reviewed the Request for Proposal (RFP);
• reviewed all amendments and addenda to the RFP including questions submitted by bidders and answers provided;
• reviewed the procedures to be used for the evaluation of responses and the guidance provided to the evaluation team;
• observed the evaluation of responses to the RFP and the presentations by bidders to ensure that the specified evaluation and contractor selection procedures and departmental policy were followed and consistently applied during the evaluation and selection process; and
• observed the debriefing of unsuccessful bidders. (This activity will be reported on in an addendum to this report after any debriefings.)

Fairness Monitor Specific Activities and Findings

Fairness Monitor Activities and Findings during the Development of the RFP and Posting on BuyandSell

During the period November 4, 2013 to November 6, 2013, we reviewed draft versions of the RFP and provided fairness related comments to the Contracting Authority. Appropriate action was taken by project officials.

The RFP was posted on BuyandSell on November 15, 2013 (Document 1). During the period December 10, 2013 to January 8, 2014, we reviewed Amendments 1 to 4 (Documents 2 to 5) in draft and final form including questions from interested suppliers and answers provided.Fairness related comments were provided and appropriate action was taken by project officials.

The RFP closed on January 14, 2014.

Fairness Monitor Activities and Findings during the Evaluation of Bids

We observed the consensus technical evaluation of the proposals on February 3, 2014 and provided fairness related comments. Appropriate action was taken by project officials.

On February 14, 2014 the Contracting Authority advised us that the combined technical and financial evaluation had been completed and verified by a second official and that a recommended bidder had been identified. No fairness related issues were identified.

Reference Documents

The following documents are referenced by number in the attached report.Unless otherwise indicated, these documents are available through the Government Conference Centre Rehabilitation Environmental Consultant Procurement project office.

Table Summary

The following table includes a list of documents referred to in the report such as the Request for Proposal (RFP), amendments, clarification letters, debriefing letters, etc. Each row is numbered, followed by the document title, then a document identifier such as a date or document number.

Reference Documents

No.	Document	Additional information
1	Request for Proposal (RFP)	Published on BuyandSell on November 15, 2013
2	Amendment 1 to RFP	Published on BuyandSell on December 13, 2013
3	Amendment 2 to RFP	Published on BuyandSell on December 19, 2013
4	Amendment 3 to RFP	Published on BuyandSell on December 20, 2013
5	Amendment 4 to RFP	Published on BuyandSell on January 8, 2014

Addendum to the Final Report
July 14, 2014

Addendum to Fairness Monitor Contractor’s Final Report dated February 14, 2014 concerning Government Conference Centre Rehabilitation Environmental Consultant Procurement

This Addendum to the Fairness Monitor Contractor's Final Report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase and includes the debriefings of bidders.

On February 19, 2014 written debriefings were sent to the bidders. We subsequently reviewed the debriefings and no fairness deficiencies were identified. The debriefings sent to the two unsuccessful bidders provided information as to why the contract was not awarded to the bidder. Both bidders requested further information concerning their responses and we observed the requested debriefings which were provided on March 13, 2014 and March 17, 2014. No fairness deficiencies were identified.

Fairness Monitor Attestation of Assurance

It is the opinion of the Fairness Monitor that the post evaluation activities, including the debriefings, were carried out in a fair manner. In this context, fairness is defined as decisions made objectively, free from personal favouritism and political influence, and encompasses the elements of openness, competitiveness, transparency and compliance.