National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy – NSPS
Special Advisors Procurement

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Special Advisors for the NSPS Project Requirement
3. Fairness Monitor Attestation of Assurance
4. Methodologies, Activities and Specific Findings
   1. 4.1 FM Activities and Observations: Request for Proposal
   2. 4.2 FM Activities and Observations: Evaluation Phase
5. Reference Documents

1. Introduction

Hallux Consulting Inc. (hereafter referred to as the Fairness Monitor) hereby submits its Fairness Monitor Contractor’s Final Report (FM Final Report), pertaining to the competitive procurement process for the Special Advisors for the NSPS Project undertaken by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) through Solicitation Number EN578-133323/A.

Hallux Consulting Inc. is an independent third party with respect to this activity. We reviewed all of the information provided, attended proposal evaluation team meetings and observed all relevant activities as described below and in accordance with our mandate. We had full access to all aspects of the procurement process and co-operation from all stakeholders at PWGSC.

We hereby submit the Final Report, covering the activities of the Fairness Monitor, commencing with the review of the draft request for proposals on October 27, 2013 and continuing through to the issuing of an e-mail to all bidders on February 12, 2014, advising them of the cancellation of the solicitation and that no contract would be awarded.

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

2. Special Advisors for the NSPS Project Requirement

The Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP) - TSPS Project Management was issued in order to seek expert resources with significant knowledge and experience in Federal Government procurement, approval and negotiation processes and with the Canadian Shipbuilding Industry was required to provide hands-on assistance in the daily operations of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS).

The NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROCUREMENT - TSPS Project Management - TASK BASED E60ZN-090002 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES  -  (TSPS) REQUIREMENT (File No. EN578-133323) TIER 2 (> $2M) was posted on buyandsell.gc.ca on November 13, 2013.

The requirement was for the Project Management Services Class for the services of:

1 Project Leader/Executive, Level 3 - Senior
1 Procurement Specialist, Level 3 - Senior

The opportunity was open only to the companies who qualified under the stated consultant categories, level of expertise, security level, region and tier.  It was anticipated there would be two (2) initiatives:

1. Combat vessels
2. Non-combat vessels

3. Fairness Monitor Attestation of Assurance

The Fairness Monitor hereby provides the following unqualified assurance statement concerning the competitive procurement process for two special advisors for the NSPS project commencing with the request for proposals and continuing through to the cancelling of the solicitation.

It is our professional opinion that the procurement process we observed for the above two advisors, was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

4. Methodologies, Activities and Specific Findings

Hallux Consulting Inc. was engaged as the Fairness Monitor (FM) to observe the competitive procurement process for Special Advisors for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, undertaken by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), and to attest to the fairness, openness and transparency of this monitored activity.

In accordance with the terms of this engagement, we familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents; reviewed draft versions of the RFP and the final version which was sent directly to Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders; reviewed Supplier Questions, and Answers provided by the Crown (Qs & As); reviewed Amendments 1 and 2 to the RFP; observed the consensus evaluation of bids received; provided fairness related comments to the Contracting Authority and ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate.

4.1 FM Activities and Observations: Request for Proposal

During the period October 27 to 29, 2013, the Fairness Monitor (FM) reviewed the draft RFP prior to the RFP being sent directly to Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders.

The Notice of Proposed Procurement was posted on buyandsell.gc.ca on November 13, 2013 and the RFP was sent directly to Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders on November 12, 2013.

Questions from potential bidders were accepted and answers were addressed and sent directly to all Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders, as amendments to the RFP, prior to the closing date. The FM reviewed and expressed an opinion on each of the two amendments to the RFP prior to them being sent to all prospective suppliers. In addition, the FM reviewed all written communication between the contracting authority and the NSPS project authority. 

No deficiencies in the RFP phase of the procurement were identified.

At the close of the RFP, three proposals had been received.

Observation: Although the RFP was sent to Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders prior to the posting on buyandsell.gc.ca, this minor timing anomaly is not considered to raise issues of fairness, openness or transparency.

No fairness issues resulted from the above observation.

4.2 FM Activities and Observations: Evaluation Phase

The FM attended the initial briefing session of the technical evaluation team, on December 11, 2013, led by the contracting authority. The evaluation team members were given specific, detailed instructions on how to proceed with the technical evaluation of the three bids received. The three members of the evaluation team proceeded to independently evaluate the bids in accordance with the mandatory and rated evaluation criteria described in the RFP. The FM attended the evaluation consensus meeting, on January 16, 2014, along with the contracting authority and the three members of the technical evaluation team. Consensus discussions were open, participated in by all evaluators and consensus was achieved on all technical criteria.

The contracting authority then concluded the consensus meeting and undertook to conduct the financial evaluation, of the bids, independently from the technical evaluation team.

No fairness issues were identified.

The FM and the three bidders were advised by the contracting authority on February 12, 2014, that the solicitation was to be cancelled due to the recent announcement of the Defence Procurement Strategy (DPS) that would be leading to changes in the operations of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) Secretariat.

5. Reference Documents

The documents in the table below were reviewed by the FM prior to them being sent to all qualified prospective suppliers.

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	Date
1	Special Advisors for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy Notice of Proposed Procurement EN578-133323/A	Published on November 13, 2013 on buyandsell.gc.ca
2	Special Advisors for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy Request for Proposals EN578-133323/A	Dated November 12, 2013 and sent directly to all Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders on November 12, 2013
3	Special Advisors for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy AMENDMENT 001 EN578-133323/A AMD001	Dated November 14, 2013 and sent directly to all Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders on November 14, 2013
4	Special Advisors for the National  Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy AMENDMENT 002 EN578-133323/A AMD002	Dated November 25, 2013 and sent directly to all Qualified Supply Arrangement Holders on November 25, 2013
5	Special Advisors for the National  Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy Notification of Cancellation of Procurement EN578-133323/A	E-mail from PWGSC Contract Authority to all Bidders sent on February 12, 2014.

Addendum to the Final Report
March 01, 2014

Addendum to Fairness Monitor Final Report dated March 1, 2014 pertaining to the competitive procurement process for the Special Advisors for the NSPS Project undertaken by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) through Solicitation Number EN578-133323/A.

This Addendum to the Fairness Monitor Final Report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase and includes contract cancellation and an allowance of time during which bidders could pose questions or request a debriefing. No questions were posed or were debriefings requested by bidders.

The FM and the three bidders were advised by the contracting authority on February 12, 2014, that the solicitation was to be cancelled due to the recent announcement of the Defence Procurement Strategy (DPS) that would be leading to changes in the operations of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) Secretariat.

Fairness Monitor Attestation of Assurance

It is our professional opinion that the procurement process we observed for the above two special advisors, was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.