Questions and Answers Residential Technical Assistance Pilot Program, Request for Proposals: Multifamily Specific Resiliency Technical Assistance Q: Define Project Start Date on p. 4 A: Project Start Date is the date when information about the program will be released to the public. The Center will determine the exact phasing of the project launch in coordination with GOSR, for example: marketing may begin before eligibility determinations and scheduling of audits, etc. Q: Please qualify Design phase as it relates to project timeline or homeowner pathway on page 11. A: The Design phase is the period of the project where the work necessary to launch the program as described above is undertaken. Q: Please describe what activities are in the Design Phase vs. the Counseling Phase. Specifically, should the implementation of the building resilience assessment tool, assessments, associated reports, etc. be a part of the unit priced deliverable? Schedule D pricing template seems to indicate that the unit price is just for counseling, but the last bullet of the Scope on Page 5 places them together. Please Clarify. A: The majority of the funding contemplated under this contract is intended to be paid on a deliverable basis during the counseling phase spanning from approximately June 2016 through December 2017. Limited funding is available for costs incurred by the contractor in the project design phase before the launch of the program. Q: RFP states that the counseling session will commence June 1st. However, based on project pathway noted (page 11) preliminary activities would need to take place including: development of project resources and tools, website creation, determination of housing partners and finally Resilience audit conducted. Do you anticipate this will be occurring before June 1st? Are these the activities considered part of the Design Phase? A: The following activities will be conducted as part of the design phase: development of project resources and tools, website creation, and determination of housing partners. Resilience audits will begin after the project launch. Please note that the selected firm will not be responsible for the website creation, determination of housing partners, and resilience audits. A separate RFP for firms seeking to conduct resilience audits will soon be released.
Q: When do you anticipate reaching out to the resilience building professional firms? Will the search happen in partnership with Multi family vendor in order to include multifamily vendor in selection process and maximize expertise of multifamily partner/vendor? A: Outreach is currently underway to resiliency building professional firms. It is unlikely that we will have completed the multifamily vendor procurement process by the time we finalize this procurement. Q: What is the Center s expectation of the resilience counseling session? Is the understanding it s a single point of engagement or will there be consideration of and allowance for multiple points of engagement (i.e. follow up etc). A: Responding multifamily bidders should propose counseling of the highest value and utility based on their expertise and the cost per deliverable. Q: How has the center determined the budget $500K for all resilience assessments? How many multifamily buildings does the center estimate including in program? Is there an expected per building budget? A: We expect bidders to develop cost models according to their expertise and the specifications in the scope of work. Q: Has multifamily housing owner eligibility criteria determination occurred yet with GOSR? Will the multifamily vendor have ability to weigh in on factors/criteria? Are multifamily buildings qualified to participate if they did not sustain impact from Sandy or Irene but are located in a flood zone or climate vulnerable location in the community? A: Please see Section 8 of the program guide provided at cnycn.org/contracting for information regarding elgibility. The selected firm will have the ability to propose additional criteria subject to approval by the Center and GOSR. There is no restriction on eligibility for buildings that were not impacted by Sandy or Irene. Q: What level of administration will the vendor be required to provide the housing owners? A: The Center is not able to answer this question without additional clarification. Q: Will vendor determine housing owner eligibility or will that be determined by Center? A: The vendor should include determining eligibility in the cost of the deliverable. Q: Please confirm that intake eligibility screening and income verification is not part of the scope of this RFP. A: The multifamily vendor is expected to conduct eligibility screening, including income verification, for multifamily building owners. The Center intends to implement a web based eligibility form for single family applicants with fields for basic biographical information and the ability to upload documents.
Q: What role will the vendor play with regard to working with resilience engineers? A: The vendor will help to determine the form of the resilience audit in the design phase. The vendor will receive a copy of each audit report. The vendor will determine participant eligibility for all multifamily buildings of more than four units. The Center or the engineering vendor will schedule audits. The vendor will provide feedback as necessary regarding the audits. Q: Will the vendor deploy and coordinate with engineers and owner and function as an owner s representative? A: No. Q: There are discrepancies between what is required to be in the assessment based on the two lists p. 5 vs. p. 12 A: Consult the list on p. 5; the selected firm is expected to contribute significantly to the final scope of the audit. Q: RFP states that the vendor is willing to develop multifamily educational resources for insurance professionals...are you referring to brokers, surety representatives etc.? A: Yes. The multifamily vendor is expected to develop a more advanced version of the curriculum developed for building owners and building services professionals, including flood insurance agents. Q: Do you have a list of firms or will these representatives come from building owners? A: Please clarify what firms this question refers to. Q: What kind of educational resources are you considering or will this be determined with multifamily vendor? A: This is to be determined with multifamily vendor. Q: Regarding identification of subcontractors for application. RFP asked for sub consultants in the proposal but then in the clauses, RFP states there needs to be a competitive bidding process. Therefore, would any subcontractor referenced in the application need to be appropriately bid and as follows, what is the applicability of including them in the initial application? A: Respondents should identify any subcontractors that would be required under this contract; it is not anticipated that the services contemplated under this scope would require additional subcontracting. Any subcontracting must be conducted in compliance with the procurement standards of GOSR and CDBG requirements. Q: Clarify specific functions that will be bid out by CNYCN so we can determine subs that would be appropriate to bring into the project. A: The Center does not anticipate that this scope of work should require additional subcontractors for qualified firms.
Q: Do you have a schedule for entire period of performance from commencement to closeout you can share? A: A complete schedule will be determined as part of the contracting process. Q: Per Program requirements, LMI communities/housing are priority. As stated in the GOSR program guide, there are a host of items that GOSR requires from the owner to determine eligibility (p 10 from program guide). Will CNYCN be conducting all eligibility for households particularly multi family? If not, this would of course create a larger administrative burden for the vendor and potential programmatic timing delay and would need to be cost out accordingly. Is there an alternate pathway that could determine LMI eligibility without having to provide proof of income from residents? A: The multifamily vendor is responsible for determining eligibility of applying building owners whose properties have more than four units. Respondents are encouraged to propose CDBG compliant processes that may be used to determine eligibility in an expeditious manner. Q: You state that the center will work with partner organizations to conduct resilience audits. Confirm that the engineering/resilience building services firms will be conducting the audits/assessments. A: Yes Q: Does GOSR anticipate providing some set aside funding from CDBG DR to resource resilience improvements? A: Not within this program. Q: What kind of Disaster case management services does the center anticipate providing to the owners? A: The Center will not have direct contact with owners of multifamily buildings except for the scheduling of the resilience audit. The respondent will be responsible for all interactions with multifamily building owners, with the exception of the resilience audit. Q: Does the Center anticipate providing case management to residents of multifamily housing? A: No Q: Under Referrals and Recommendations, will the multifamily vendor be required to provide referrals to housing counseling or is this just single family? A: The vendor is expected to provide referrals, however, not to housing counseling, which is generally intended for single family building owners. Q: You state that the resiliency recommendations will provide owners/managers with personalized recommendations around future flooding. This seems to be a limited approach to resilience assessments would the Center considering broadening the reach of the assessment to include extreme weather and other climate hazards? A: Yes
Q: Can the Design Phase be bid as fixed cost as opposed to Time & Material? A: Respondents must provide a time and materials bid in order for the Center to fairly compare responses from all bidders. Q: Under deadline schedule, what is the deliverable cited to be delivered on June 1st? A: At this stage, the selected firm should be in a position to provide resiliency counseling to eligible building owners. Accordingly, the form of the audit, the educational materials, and related materials must be complete by this time. Q: Are Part I Required Federal Provisions of Exhibit A are negotiable specifically clauses 10, 11, and 12. We have attached provision amendments would like to know if this is negotiable. See attachment A. Questions Re: GOSR Program Guide for clarification A: No. These are standard provisions from the Center s funder. At this time, the Center does not anticipate these provisions being negotiable. Q: On Section 5 program requirements, guide states that the: The program administrator will offer a residential audit program and one on one technical assistance to low to moderate income (LMI) residents in the NYRCR communities of Canarsie, Gravesend and Bensonhurst, Howard Beach, Lower Manhattan, Red Hook, Rockaway East and Southeast Brooklyn Waterfront. The program administrator will oversee an application process where qualified residential property owners can apply for services. The selected program administrator will prioritize residents by income and those residing in vulnerable residential areas (100 year flood plain) within the above communities, including but not limited to those in low lying areas that were impacted during Superstorm Sandy. Applicants found eligible for these services are known as Qualified Applicants, as defined above. The program guide also stipulates on Page 10 that Tenants residing in rental properties are ineligible to participate in the program as applicants. This may be need to be clarified with GOSR. We are of the understanding the program is focused on residential housing owners not residents. Please clarify. A: Yes, this program is intended for building owners. As stated elsewhere in these responses, the multifamily vendor is encouraged and expected to propose additional eligibility guidelines upon selection. Q: How will Multi family vendor coordinate with selected CBO s? Will the Center coordinate these entities in a network or will the MF vendor be responsible for engaging with CBO outreach teams? A: The multifamily vendor is not expected to have a formal role in coordinating with the community based organizations selected to provide resilience counseling to single family building owners; however, the multifamily vendor should consider leveraging connections to community based organizations as a part of its outreach program to reach multifamily building owners. Q: On page 4 of the RFP it is stated that The Center has reserved approximately $500,000 for these costs. Is this sentence referring to the counseling only or Assessments and Counselling? A: Counseling only; there is an additional procurement for the resilience audits.
Q: On page 5, third bullet, Implement a building resiliency assessment tool Does this refer to using, or implementing the portal to be developed, as described under the RFP entitled The Design and Development of a Housing Resiliency and Flood Insurance Rate Calculation Web Platform, or developing/using another tool? A: This refers to the the information provided to the building owner based on the results of the audit. It is separate from the website. Q: Is the Center using the same definition as GOSR for Multi Family (i.e. more than 4 units)? A: Yes. Q: Economies of scale and building types will factor into pricing. For this reason, and to inform a staffing plan, please provide the number (or range) of structures expected to be assessed and the percentage of types (e.g. townhouse, duplex, mid rise, high rise, etc.). A: The Center anticipates around 100 multifamily buildings to participate in the program; however, ultimate utilization of this program will be based on demand and interest. Q: If a list of buildings is available, including building type and number of units, can it be provided? A: No. Q: Have historic preservation and Tier II environmental assessments been performed for the facilities in the program? If so, will these documents be made available to the successful consultant? A: No buildings have been selected at this point. Q: Please confirm that building specific drawings of conceptual designs are not required in the assessment reports. A: Respondents may choose to include building specific drawings of conceptual designs in their proposed scope of work. Q: Will the contractor be responsible for the scheduling of site visits? A: No; this will be done by the Center or the firm conducting resilience audits. Q: Will the auditors be expected to identify potential concerns with duplication of benefits? A: No. Q: Since the size and type of buildings (e.g. semi attached four unit v. midrise with elevator, etc.) is currently unknown and assessment time, reporting time, and associate costs will vary with type and size, would the Center entertain separate unit pricing for up to three different building types? A: Yes; however in order to fairly compare bids please provide a blended rate that responds to the budget template in Schedule D.
Q: The program mentions a budget for the counseling phase. Could CNYCN suggest a budget for the planning phase, in terms of estimated hours and total costs? A: The Center expects that a team member from the selected firm will participate in meetings and related work necessary for the design of the resiliency audit, the Housing Resiliency and Flood Insurance Rate Calculation Web Platform, and other relevant aspects of the program as related to the role described in this RFP. Such an employee should expect to spend between 5 to 10 hours per week during the planning phase. Q: Can you clarify where the program stands, has it started? A: We have issued Request for Proposals for a multifamily specific technical assistance and website design and development. Audits and counseling have not started. Q: Schedule A mentions 5 phases but the scope of work does not seem to correspond to all phases. Can you please clarify? A: The multi family technical assistance organization work will be concentrated in step four, resiliency counseling, as well as step one, education and outreach, and step five, referrals and recommendations. Q: Page 13 of Schedule A, also refers to homeowners. Please clarify. To which homeowner pathway does this scope of work correspond? A: This RFP is for a multifamily technical assistance organization focused on providing counseling for multifamily building owners and managers. Another aspect of the program will focus on single family homeowners. Q: Would CNYCN accept a nationally certified MWBE rather that NYS approved? A: M/WBE firms should be certified with the State of New York. Q: Although the RFP is specific to multi family buildings, in Schedule A, Section 1, refers to.... engaging individual homeowners to participate in one on one resiliency audits and counseling. Please clarify is the contractor is expected to provide resiliency audits and counseling to individual homeowners as well as owners/managers of multi family properties. A: No, just to owners/managers of multi family properties. Q: How many inspections does CNYCN foresee? A: The program will be responsive to demand, therefore, we are unable to predict the exact mix of multifamily versus 1 4 family program participants. For planning purposes, we assume approximately 100 multifamily buildings will participate. Please note that the respondent to this RFP is not responsible for the on site inspections, e.g. the resilience audit ; a separate RFP will be issued for this service. The firm selected for this RFP will be responsible for reviewing the information from the resilience audit and providing individualized recommendations as described in the scope of work and the Program Guide.
Q: Schedule D, Cost Proposal, requires a cost per building for resiliency counseling. To ensure the most accurate and cost effective proposal, it would be very helpful if proposers were provided with an estimate of the number of buildings that will likely be included in this work and location. This will assist in planning and scheduling of human resources in the most efficient manner. What is the estimated number of buildings by community listed in the RFP? A: Please see the answer above. Q: For how many buildings do you anticipate the contractor will be tasked with doing assessments? A: Please see the answer above. Q: Will the resiliency assessment tool mentioned on Page 5 in the third bullet point in the RFP be available for all property owners in the seven communities or limited to the owners of multi family housing in those areas, or LMI owners of multi family housing, or owners of multi family housing that benefit LMI people? A: No. While the educational materials described will be shared publicly on FloodHelpNY.org and/or through other means, the resiliency assessments described in the third bullet point will be unique to each building owner. Respondents are encouraged to create a template with components that can be re used. For single family (1 4 unit) buildings, the online tool described in the RFP for the Housing Resiliency and Flood Insurance Rate Calculation Web Platform will provide the basis of this report. The multifamily vendor is not expected to create an online platform given the variety of multifamily structures in New York City. Q: Is there a specific building resilience assessment tool you are considering for use or anticipating the contractor will develop such a tool? If the latter, are you looking for a piece of software or more of a formalized process and associated references and resources to conduct the assessments? A: Please see the answer above. Respondents should describe in their responses what they anticipate they can provide to building owners and in what format. Q: Are income eligibility determinations required for all one on one sessions and the resiliency audits? A: Yes. Q: Page 3; paragraph 2: Need clarification on the following: Request For Proposals must include a completed NYS Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire and notarized certification, along with verification that a completed NYS Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire hasbeen filed with the NYS Office of the State Comptroller: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/vendrep/. Does the above statement apply to prime only or do subconsultants have to provide a NYS Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire as well? A: Prime contractors should complete the questionnaire. Q: Is there an established website where educational materials will reside? Are there related existing social media channels? A: The materials will reside on the online resiliency tool platform: http://cnycn.org/wp content/uploads/2016/01/rfp Website Final 1.pdf. This site is expected to
replace the contents of the Center s existing site FloodHelpNY.org. The Center s social media channels can be used for promotion and/or the related social media channels will be created. Q: Has a brand/look and feel for designed materials been established? A: There is an existing brand/look and feel for the current version of the FloodHelpNY website, however, it will be determined during the project planning phase whether this will be used, altered, or discarded. Respondents to this RFP should not expect to be responsible for branding. Q: To what languages will materials be translated? Will contractor be responsible for translation? A: The Center anticipates materials will need to be translated into Spanish and Russian. Additional languages may be required as the program develops. Q: The Scope of Work (SOW) does not include all of the actions captured in Schedule A Project Description portion of the RFP. Can CNYCN confirm that the intended Scope of Work does not include the following: Schedule A.2 Intake/Eligibility: i. Finalize eligibility criteria in coordination with GOSR ii. Create an online screening tool similar to that created for the NYS Mortgage Assistance Program Schedule A.4 Resiliency Counseling ; although the SOW does indicate that the development of resiliency education resources is required, it does not indicate that post audit counseling will be the responsibility of the RFP respondent as outlined in the Project Description. Schedule A.5 Referrals and Recommendations A: Schedule A describes the entire program. The Scope of Work that begins at the bottom of page four outlines the scope for the multifamily vendor. In regards to the specific questions: i. The multifamily vendor is expected to assist with finalizing eligibility criteria. ii. The multifamily vendor is not expected to develop an online tool. The Center will develop an online tool for all participants, however, certain information for multifamily buildings may not be able to be collected online. The multifamily vendor is expected to review applicants that are owners/managers of buildings of greater than four units for program eligibility. iii. Recommendations are absolutely expected of the multifamily vendor and are the most important service this firm is expected to provide to program participants. Where relevant, referrals should be made. Q: What are the small business and/or NYC based business participation goals? A: There are the M/WB goals of 15% MBE and 15% WBE participation. In addition, there are Section 3 business participation goals. Q: What are the flow down clauses, if any, from the Prime Contract with the State that are driving Schedule C Insurance Requirements? A: Insurance requirements are imposed by the Center s funder, the New York State Governor s Office of Storm recovery.