Small construction companies that want steady work at the Charleston region’s joint base have until Oct. 28 to get in line for a share of up to $400 million.
The 628th Contracting Squadron at Joint Base Lindsey Graham, formerly Joint Base Charleston, is taking proposals for a multiple-award construction contract for building and repair work at the base and its outlying sites over five and a half years, according to the solicitation posted on SAM.gov, the federal contracting website. The documents call it “JB CHS MACC 2.0,” using the base’s former name.
The competition is set aside for two kinds of small businesses: those in the federal HUBZone program, which favors firms in historically underutilized business zones, and those owned by service-disabled veterans.
How the contract works
Task orders under the contract may not exceed $400 million in total over five years and six months, counting options, the solicitation says. That is up from the $350 million maximum the squadron listed in a sources-sought notice last year.
Slides from an Aug. 6 pre-proposal conference say the Air Force plans up to six awards and may name up to three more contractors that can be added later. Task orders will range from $3,000 to $30 million, with most between $1 million and $10 million, according to the slides.
The work can include new construction, alteration, repair or demolition of buildings, roads, grounds and utilities, along with design-build jobs. It covers the air base in North Charleston, the Weapons Station in Goose Creek, the Short Stay recreation area in Moncks Corner, North Auxiliary Airfield in North and the Defense Fuel Supply Point in Charleston. Contractors would also support Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina for emergency use, the solicitation says.
The money isn’t in hand yet. “Funds are not presently available for this effort,” the solicitation says. “No award will be made under this solicitation until funds are available.”
A dorm repair comes first
Bidders are competing in part on price for a first job, called a seed project: repairs to Dormitory Building 464, estimated at more than $10 million.
The conference slides list interior renovations, window and door replacement, a new HVAC system, plumbing work, a replacement fire alarm system, fire suppression improvements, new interior lighting and electrical upgrades. Seismic work includes foundation improvements and added shear walls. The job is scheduled to take 450 calendar days after notice to proceed.
The Air Force will sort offers by seed project price, then review past performance until nine offerors are rated with substantial confidence, the slides say. Every winner gets a $3,000 orientation task order to cover the contract’s guaranteed minimum. The seed project itself may go to the awardee offering the best overall value.
The squadron first set Sept. 21 as the proposal deadline. Amendments moved it to Oct. 14 and then, on Oct. 13, to noon on Oct. 28.
What could follow
A workload estimate in the conference slides projects 16 possible task orders in fiscal 2027, seven in 2028, eight in 2029, 16 in 2030 and 12 in 2031. That is 59 in all, including 15 estimated at more than $10 million.
“Numbers provided are projections only based on data currently available and contingent on availability of future funds,” the slides say.
Smaller jobs, too
The base is also replacing a smaller contract for routine upkeep.
In a Sept. 15 notice, the squadron said it intends to raise the ceiling on its existing facility enhancement and maintenance contracts, held by K&K Industries and RAAD Construction Group, from $16.5 million to $18.5 million as a bridge. Their ordering period expires Nov. 30.
On Oct. 14, it posted the solicitation for the follow-on contract. It is set aside for small businesses and covers flooring replacement, painting and other protective coatings, and “like-in-kind” replacement of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. The solicitation’s order limits are $500,000 for a single item and $1.5 million for a combination of items. Offers are due Nov. 5.
Bigger projects go elsewhere
Some of the base’s biggest projects are bid separately. On Sept. 30, the Pentagon announced that the Army Corps of Engineers’ Louisville District had awarded Alexandra Construction Inc. of Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts, a contract with a total face value of $21.973 million to build a training building in Charleston. In August, the Navy hired HITT Contracting for a $264 million expansion of the nuclear power training simulation complex at the base.
Builders who win a spot on the new contract face one local cost the solicitation flags. The city of North Charleston charges a business license tax on contract work inside the city, and it applies that tax to federal contractors working on the air base, which is within city limits, according to the solicitation.
