Project Management Resource for the East Tunnel Rehabilitation Project

Table of Contents

• Background and Introduction
• Project Requirement
• Attestation of Assurance
• Objectives of the Fairness Monitor Assignment and Methodology
• Fairness Monitor Specific Activities and Findings
• 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 Project Management Resource for the East Tunnel Rehabilitation Project undertaken by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) through Solicitation Number EH900-132946/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 draft Request for Proposal (RFP) through the review of the RFP, the evaluation of proposals and the finding that all proposals were non-compliant.

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 to select a company to provide PWGSC with a Project Management Resource to assist it to plan, coordinate and implement the necessary work relating to the replacement of parts of the East Tunnel that is used to distribute heating and cooling to certain government buildings, and to rehabilitate other parts and build some new tunnels.

PWGSC owns and operates seven (7) centrally located plants that provide heating and cooling for more than 100 buildings in the National Capital Area [NCA]. The heating and cooling is distributed through five networks made up of 12 kilometres of tunnels and 40 kilometers of pipeline.

The East Tunnel distributes steam, chilled water and auxiliary services from the Cliff Central Heating Plant to the Supreme Court and the buildings in the west sector of Parliament Hill. The tunnel was constructed in 1916 and had substantial expansion of services between 1966 and 1967. It is now deemed to have reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.

Attestation of Assurance

The FM hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the procurement process to select a company to provide Public Works and Government Services Canada with a Project Management Resource for the East Tunnel Rehabilitation Project.

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

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 draft RFP;
• reviewed the Request for Proposal (RFP);
• reviewed all amendments 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 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

FM Activities and Findings during the Draft RFP Phase

During the period June 21 to June 28, 2013 we reviewed versions of the Draft RFP and provided fairness related comments to the Contracting Authority. Appropriate changes were made to the Draft RFP by project officials.

FM Activities and Findings during the Posting Period of the RFP

We reviewed the RFP when it was posted on the Government Electronic Tendering System (GETS) on July 10, 2013 (Document 1). No fairness deficiencies were identified. During the period July 11 to July 26, 2013 we reviewed Amendments 1 to 3 (Documents 2 to 4) and provided fairness related comments to the Contracting Authority. Appropriate action was taken by project officials. The RFP closed on August 2, 2013.

FM Activities and Findings during the Evaluation Phase

On October 9, 2013 we observed the consensus evaluation meeting on the technical requirements and provided fairness related comments to the Contracting Authority. Appropriate action was taken by project officials.

On October 16, 2013 we were advised by the Contracting Authority that a review had confirmed the opinion of the evaluation team that all bidders were non-compliant. No fairness deficiencies were identified.

Reference Documents

The following documents are referenced by number in this report. Unless otherwise indicated, these documents are available through the Project Management Resource for the East Tunnel Rehabilitation Project Contracting Officer.

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)	Posted on GETS July 10, 2013
2	Amendment 1 to RFP	Posted on GETS July 24, 2013
3	Amendment 2 to RFP	Posted on GETS July 25, 2013
4	Amendment 3 to RFP	Posted on GETS July 25, 2013

Addendum to the Final Report
January 8, 2014

Addendum to Fairness Monitor Contractor's Final Report dated January 8, 2014 concerning Project Management Resource for the East Tunnel Rehabilitation Project

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 October 23, 2013 we reviewed written debriefings to the bidders, all of which were non responsive. The debriefings provided information as to why the bidder was found to be non-responsive. No fairness deficiencies were identified. One bidder requested further information concerning its response and the requested information was provided to the bidder on November 19, 2013. 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.