. GIS Manager 305 Michaelian Office Building White Plains, NY 10601 Request for Quotes (RFQ) for Quality Assurance & Quality Control Services for Photogrammetric Base Map Update Westchester County, New York Westchester County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Department of Information Technology Issue Date: November 30, 2004 Reply Date: December 27, 2004
SECTION 1 1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND Westchester County, New York, is requesting quotes from qualified professionals to provide quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) services in support of the planned update of the County s base map, originally compiled from April 2000 photogrammetry. The update will be based on April 2004 aerial photography obtained in conjunction with the New York State Digital Orthoimagery Program (NYSDOP). The selected QA/QC firm will be responsible for the review and evaluation of both updated planimetric data and new street feature data, to be developed by the County s photogrammetric contractor (Sanborn Map Company), as well as for reviewing an updated Database Design and metadata records. The County anticipates data products will be delivered beginning in January 2005. Specifications for features to be either updated or newly developed from the 2004 photography are itemized in both Section 4.2 of this document and the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Planimetric and Street Feature / Infrastructure Data Capture, Westchester County, New York issued May 3, 2004. Electronic copies of both the May 2004 RFP and the 2000 Database Design are available via FTP download, or may be requested by emailing Ms. Deborah Parker at dape@westchestergov.com.
SECTION 2 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS 2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS Please note the following definitions of terms used herein: The term County refers to the County of Westchester, New York. The term Respondent refers to any person, firm, or Company that provides a quote in response to this document. The term Contractor refers to the Respondent to which a contract is awarded. Requirements of the Contractor defined in this document shall also apply in full to any subcontractor for the named Contractor. 2.2 OBJECTIVE OF THIS RFQ The objective of this RFQ is to provide Westchester County with information concerning the background, experience, staff, equipment, and financial stability of firms interested in performing QA/QC services for planimetric and street feature data development. 2.3 RESPONSE FORMAT FOR RFQ Respondents shall address all items as specified in Section 3 of this RFQ, as well as the technical information requested throughout other sections of this RFQ. Failure to adhere to this format or to address all items specified may disqualify a Respondent from further consideration. Respondents are also encouraged to include any additional information they wish to be considered. 2.4 REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION Any requests for clarification or additional information of a technical nature regarding this RFQ shall be directed to either: Mr. Sam Wear, Manager or Ms. Deborah Parker, GIS Specialist Westchester County GIS Westchester County GIS 148 Martine Avenue, Room 305 148 Martine Avenue, Room 305 White Plains, NY 10601 White Plains, NY 10601 Voice: (914) 995-3047 Voice: (914) 995-3888 Fax: (914) 995-3269 Fax: (914) 995-3269 stw1@westchestergov.com dape@westchestergov.com
2.5 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Responses must be received no later than Monday, December 27, 2004 at 4:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time. Responses should be addressed and delivered to Mr. Sam Wear at the address in Section 2.4. Quotes may be mailed or hand-delivered. Any quote received after the deadline by any delivery method will be returned unopened. 2.6 RESPONSIBILITY FOR COSTS The Respondent shall be fully responsible for all costs incurred in the development and submission of this quote. Quote documents should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward and concise description of the Respondent s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the quote request. No special bindings, colored displays, etc., are necessary. Emphasis should be placed on completeness and clarity of content. Selected Respondents may be asked to present in person the substance of their response to Westchester County representatives in White Plains. All costs of such presentations shall be borne solely by the Respondents. 2.7 RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS Respondents shall be required to submit evidence that they have relevant project experience and have previously delivered services similar to those required. Specific experience in QA/QC services related to photogrammetric products should be clearly demonstrated. Respondent may additionally be required to show that s/he has satisfactorily performed similar work in the past and that no claims of any kind are pending against such work. No quote will be accepted from any Respondent who is engaged in any work which would impair his/her ability to perform or finance this work, nor from any Respondent with outstanding claims pending for work of a similar nature, either completed or in progress. No quote will be accepted from, nor will a contract be awarded to, any Respondent who is in arrears to the County upon any debt or contract, or who is in default, as surety or otherwise, upon any obligation to the County, or is deemed to be irresponsible or unreliable by the County. 2.8 PRICE QUOTATIONS Prices quoted for work to be performed will be considered firm for a period of six (6) months from the date of submission.
2.9 RIGHT TO REJECT QUOTES The County reserves the right to reject any and all quotes. This quote request is neither a contractual offer nor a commitment to purchase services. The County assumes no contractual obligation as a result of the issuance of this quote request, the preparation or submission of a quote by a Respondent, the evaluation of quotes, or final selection. 2.10 PRIME CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITY Respondents have the option of subcontracting parts of the services they propose. All subcontractors will be subject to approval by the County. The Contractor shall cause appropriate provisions of their quote to be inserted in all subcontracts ensuing, to insure fulfillment of all contractual provisions by subcontractors, including adequate insurance. 2.11 COMPLETE SERVICES/PRODUCTS The Contractor shall be required to (a) furnish all tools, equipment, supplies, supervision, transportation, and other execution accessories, services, and facilities; (b) furnish all materials, supplies, and equipment specified and required to be incorporated in and form a permanent part of the completed work; (c) provide and perform all necessary labor; and (d) in accordance with good technical practice, with due diligence, and in accordance with the requirements, stipulations, provisions, and conditions of this document and the resultant contract, execute and complete all specified work to the satisfaction of the County. 2.12 PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE The County has established a schedule for responses, quote review, Contractor selection, and project initiation. The following tentative dates have been established for this procurement. Milestone Date RFQ Released November 30, 2004 Quote Due Date December 27, 2004 Contractor Selection January 10, 2005 Notice to Proceed (est. Contract Completion) February 8, 2005
SECTION 3 QUOTE FORMAT AND CONTENT 3.1 FORMAT AND CONTENT Respondents are required to submit concise technical responses to this document. Unless specific exception is noted in your response, Respondent shall be assumed to be in agreement with, and will employ, the technical approaches described in the following sections. Quotes shall contain all elements of information requested. Detailed explanations of each technical step are not required. Summarize your approach, highlighting important points that may differentiate your quote or firm from others. The County reserves the right to include any part of the selected quote, either in addition to or in lieu of the specifications contained in this document, in the final contract. The following sections and content are required in each quote: 1) Introduction and Executive Summary 2) Company Profile 3) Organizational Structure and Key Staff Résumés 4) Experience and Reference Summary 5) Response to Commercial Questions 6) Technical Approach 7) Miscellaneous 8) Cost Quote Detailed requirements and directions for the preparation of each section are presented below. Section 1: Introduction and Executive Summary An Executive Summary should be prepared describing the major facts or features of the project, including any conclusions, assumptions, and generalized recommendations the Respondent desires to make. The summary should be no longer than two (2) pages, and should contain a brief statement indicating your firm s understanding of this project, and noting the key advantages of your firm and/or its approach. Section 2: Company Profile Provide the following Company Profile information for your firm. If you are proposing to subcontract any of the proposed work to another firm, similar information must be provided for each subcontractor. The length of the company profile should not be more than one (1) page per firm.
1) Firm name and business address, telephone and facsimile numbers, email addresses; include contact information for all production facilities to be involved 2) Year established (including former firm names and year established, if applicable) 3) Type of ownership and parent company, if any; pending ownership changes, if any 4) Indicate whether the firm is licensed to do business in the State of New York; note if the firm is on the State contract 5) Project manager s name and contact information, for all involved firms 6) Work to be accomplished by each company included on the team. Section 3: Organizational Structure and Key Staff Résumés Describe how you anticipate organizing your team for this project. Provide a listing of key project team members who will be involved. Provide résumés for the principal-incharge, project manager, and other key managerial staff and technical staff. Do not include résumés for persons not directly involved in this project. It will be required that the key people proposed for the project actually participate. If subcontractors are to be used, the same information should be provided for each subcontracting firm. Section 4: Experience and Reference Summary Respondents must include at least three project references that can be contacted by the County. If subcontractor is being proposed, similar information must be provided for the subcontractor. When preparing project summaries, please provide the following information: 1) Project name 2) Name and address of client 3) Client contact person (name/position/current phone number) 4) Period of contract 5) Description of overall project scope, including all services and deliverables 6) Description of services and deliverables provided by any subcontractors or prime contractors who participated as part of the project team for the project 7) Value of contract 8) Status and comments. Respondents are to include in their experience summary only those projects that are similar in scope to this one, and to cite those projects in which members of the proposed project team have taken part. Do not cite more than six (6) projects. The County is
particularly interested in projects where your firm has performed QA/QC for Countyscale projects involving data development from digital orthophotos. Section 5: Technical Approach In your response, include a narrative of key steps, in no more than 15 pages. Note specifically any operations included or excluded that may differentiate your technical procedure from others. Include a description of quality control procedures. Also, provide a list of the equipment and software you propose to use for each of the major steps in the QA/QC process. Specify software version(s) where appropriate. Do not include extraneous equipment that will not be used for this project. Based on your technical plan of operations and previous project experience, explain when and where you will require support from County personnel. Include a detailed description for a comprehensive QA/QC program applicable for the Westchester County base map update. The description can contain elements such as: Possible statistical sampling methodologies Field verification strategies if recommended or plausible Manual and automated tools to verify data Acceptance/rejection criteria and procedures Samples of inspection forms/logs used. Section 6: Miscellaneous Any miscellaneous information such as sample maps and quality control forms may be included within this section of the response. Section 7: Cost Quotes Price costs connected with this RFQ should be included in this section. The County requests two types of quotes: A) ONE fixed price cost quotation (include total number of hours on which the quote is based) for all requested services associated with this QA/QC RFQ; and B) Hourly rates for specific staff positions (i.e., Technician, Senior Project Manager, etc) performing QA/QC work. (Upon review of the proposals submitted, the County may seek to negotiate contractor services only for specific functions and tasks.) Where applicable, reference to New York State Office for General Services (http://www.ogs.state.ny.us) position titles and hourly rates for QA/QC work should be made. Reference to any submissions by the Respondent to the
February 2004 Westchester County Request for Proposal (RFP) for Information Technology Professionals Consultant Services should also be included. 3.2 SELECTION CRITERIA Westchester County GIS will evaluate individual quotes in context of the Respondent s overall capabilities, experience and the information provided in each response. Any firm determined to be technically unqualified, or whose quote is deemed unresponsive, will not be considered. The quotes will be evaluated on the following criteria, listed not necessarily in order of importance: Demonstrated understanding of the problems and needs presented by the project Stability of company and adequacy of production facilities Qualifications of project personnel and Respondent s ability to commit qualified staff sufficient to support a project of this size and scope Quality of equipment to be used Ability to complete the project in a timely manner without major deviations from project requirements Advantage(s) of the approaches and procedures proposed to achieve the project objectives Cost-effectiveness of Respondent s proposed fee Past experience with similar projects Overall quality control procedures recommended.
SECTION 4 SCOPE OF WORK Respondents are encouraged to propose their most efficient approach to accomplishing the tasks outlined. The project plan will entail three essential components: 1) project coordination and administration, 2) implementation of QA/QC procedures during pilot project, and 3) review and inspection of all digital data, including post-edit review of all corrected errors identified during initial QA/QC inspection. 4.1 PROJECT COORDINATION The QA/QC Contractor may be required to attend all project meetings with the 2005 project team to be held at Westchester County offices in White Plains. It is estimated that such meetings will be required approximately monthly. The Contractor will provide tracking mechanism(s) to be approved by the County during contract negotiations, to follow the progress of all deliverables by geographic entity (40 delivery areas, 2,278 tiles and 43 municipalities). For each meeting the Contractor will submit an electronic progress report with appropriate graphical illustrations showing the status of the project, including tiles submitted, checked, approved, or rejected to-date. 4.2 REVIEW PROCEDURES Respondents are requested to submit their proposed methodologies and procedures for reviewing and verifying all digital products produced, during both pilot and production phases, for compliance with the requirements and specifications in Section 5 and Section 6 of the RFP. The pilot project will consist of approximately twenty tiles (each covering 2500 ft x 2500 ft in area), and will serve to validate the database design, data production, and QA/QC review methodologies for the production phase. Pilot project schedule is anticipated for February 2005. Contractor will review data products including: 1. Updated planimetric features captured in 2000 project: hydrology line and polygon features, structure roofline polygons, rail lines, street centerlines, edge-of-pavement polygons, and transportation structures; and 2. New planimetric features (followed by estimated capture rate): dams (95%); stone walls (80%); manholes (65%); catch basins (65% along road rights-of way, 60% outside ROW); fire hydrants (60% in ROW, 50% outside ROW); street signs (30%); utility poles (85%); light poles (85%); guard rails (85%); and road barriers (90%). Note: The review of new contour data is not included in this project.
The Contractor will obtain all deliverables directly from Sanborn, and will be responsible for checking all deliverables and certifying their conformance to specifications and all requirements of Sanborn s contract with the County. The Contractor must complete preliminary quality control activities on each shipment of data (estimated at 16 monthly shipments over the course of the project) within thirty (30) days of receipt. 4.3 ACCEPTANCE PROCEDURES Planimetric data products that do not meet specifications shall be returned by the Contractor to Sanborn accompanied by documentation clearly describing the reasons for rejection, and the County shall be notified. Products found to require edits (whether omissions or errors), shall be returned by the Contractor to Sanborn along with clearly annotated identification of the error(s). These products shall subsequently be re-submitted to Contractor by Sanborn, and must be inspected again by the Contractor to assure all identified problems have been corrected. Products that fully meet specifications and that contain no errors shall be forwarded to the County as acceptable, approved for payment. QA/QC shall be deemed complete when all required data and products have been certified as acceptable and forwarded to the County. The Contractor will be responsible for any costs associated with transmitting all files and documents, whether returning to Sanborn for edits, or forwarding as approved to the offices of Westchester County GIS in White Plains.
SECTION 5 SCHEDULE In their response to this quote, Respondents shall propose a detailed schedule of performance for completion of all components of the QA/QC program. Listed below are the estimated project milestones to be met by the Contractor. Dates are approximate and are to be used for planning purposes: final dates will be defined after project award. Milestone: Complete By: Notice to Proceed February 8, 2005 QA/QC Review of Pilot Project (20 tiles) February 2005 First Delivery (approximately 200 tiles) March 2005 Subsequent monthly Deliveries (~200 tiles each) April 2005 June 2006 QA/QC Completed June 30, 2006