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Post-Pandemic Construction Costs Study

INTRODUCTION

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is the national representative organization of First Nations people in Canada. The AFN represents and advocates First Nations interests for more than 600 First Nations from across the country.  The AFN invites qualified individuals and firms to submit proposals to provide professional services for a study to determine the magnitude of increasing construction costs.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to select a proponent to provide a study quantifying the effect of the pandemic on the rise in construction costs for completing infrastructure projects on-reserve.

The study will be expected to cover, at a minimum, the following:

  • Analyze the impacts of rising residential, commercial, and industrial building construction costs and project the cost impacts for the immediate and near future of First Nations infrastructure development across the country.
  • Regional breakdowns and remote community impacts.
  • Other contributory factors such as labour costs, fuel pricing, supply chains, plumbing, electrical and telecommunications product prices.
  • Analysis of Canadian building construction price indices and other sources related to processes of funding major capital infrastructure projects for First Nations on-reserve.

The AFN recently completed a National First Nations Asset Needs Study, which is a national assessment of on-reserve infrastructure and provided 20-year investment needs. The Study identified an investment need of approximately $73 billion across the 634 First Nations in Canada over 20 years.

However, the AFN is now seeking to complement the National First Nations Asset Needs Study with this desktop study which will provide a detailed breakdown in current dollars of the exorbitant construction prices that have impacted First Nations infrastructure projects in recent years.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The role of the AFN is to advocate on behalf of First Nations as directed by Chiefs-in-Assembly. This includes facilitation and coordination of national and regional discussions and dialogue, advocacy efforts and campaigns, legal and policy analysis, communicating with governments, including facilitating relationship building between First Nations and the Crown as well as public and private sectors and general public.

Each First Nation in Canada is entitled to be a member of the AFN. First Nations exercise their membership through their Chief (official delegate). There are over 634 First Nation delegates who are eligible to participate in the election of the National Chief.

First Nations are faced with dramatic increases in the cost of construction materials for housing and infrastructure projects. The cost of materials has risen significantly in the past year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The high costs of materials increase the costs of home construction and infrastructure projects, thereby jeopardizing and delaying vital development.

The May 2021 Statistics Canada report Building Construction Price Indexes, first quarter 2021 reports the “higher construction costs overall were mostly attributable to a shortage of construction materials, which led to higher month-over-month prices for softwood lumber (+11.9%) and veneer and plywood (+20.1%) in March. Softwood lumber (+118.9%) prices rose at their fastest year-over-year pace on record in March, partially because of low stocks following the temporary shutdown of sawmills during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for materials continued to be high as building materials and supplies sold by wholesalers were up 19.1% year-over-year in February.”

These statistics reflect the cost increases in 11 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) where competitive pricing exists. It does not represent the reality First Nations face when purchasing materials away from these CMAs where First Nations must source construction materials at an increased cost, from limited suppliers, and with inadequate delivery options for remote First Nations.

The Chiefs-in-Assembly have directed the AFN to act under – Resolution 29/2021 Federal Government Financial Support for High Cost of Construction Materials. This Resolution directs the AFN to advocate for robust financial support for First Nations housing and infrastructure projects. As well, this Resolution directs the AFN to urge Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to acknowledge the impacts on First Nations due to the increased cost of construction materials resulting in significant impacts on the delivery of housing and infrastructure projects.

Furthermore, the Chiefs-in-Assembly have directed the AFN to act under Resolution 03/2020 – Addressing Priority Concerns and Needs of First Nations Around COVID-19. This resolution directs the AFN to urge the Government of Canada to rectify any inequities in their efforts to aid and support First Nations during the pandemic and to address the social injustice, economic insecurity and priority issues continuing to confront and challenge First Nations, including, but not limited to: funding to support safe and high-quality education, mental wellness and addictions services and supports, gender-based violence supports, shelters, healthcare resources, and infrastructure.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

All proposal submissions shall be received by the AFN no later than January 5, 2024.

All proposal submissions will clearly identify in the email subject line with the name of the proponent and the document title “RFP for Post Pandemic Construction Costs Study”.

Late submissions will not be accepted.

All proposal submissions should be emailed to: [email protected] and cc: [email protected]

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

All proposals shall include the following information:

  1. Title Page: referencing the RFP title, the firm’s name and address, the name, telephone number and email address of the contact person, and date of the proposal.
  2. Executive Summary: outlining the background information of the proponent’s company, including contents of the proposal.
  3. Qualifications: Provide a description of the proponent’s capabilities/experience specifically related to AMP training delivery.
  4. Statement and Description: of the physical and human resources required to carry out and complete the training sessions, including the minimum requirements covered in the Objective, and as well to include software and intellectual material.
  5. Project Organization: Identify the composition of the proposed project team, if any, including:
    1. Project team members.
    2. Description of the roles of the team members.
    3. Level of experience of the team members specific to asset management plan training.
  1. Client References: The names of three (3) references which have used the services of the proponent for AMP training and delivery. References to include the client’s name, title, contact information.
  1. Cost Breakdown: The Proponent shall provide a detailed cost breakdown for the proposed services, showing the total cost for the performance of all services, expenses, materials, deliverables, and software/hardware costs (if applicable), to be used for completion of the work. Include in the price breakdown how much an individual training session will cost. Total cost shall be in Canadian dollars and inclusive of HST.
  2. Project Deliverables: The Proponent shall provide AFN with a study to determine the magnitude of increasing construction costs as mandated by Chiefs in Assembly, Resolution 29/2021.

RIGHTS OF THE AFN

The AFN reserves the right to:

  1. reject any or all proposals received in response to this Request for Proposals;
  2. enter into negotiation with one or more Consultants on any or all aspects of their respective proposals;
  3. accept any proposal in whole, or in part;
  4. cancel and/or re-issue the modified version of a given RFP requirement at any time;
  5. award one or more contracts;
  6. verify all information provided with respect to a given RFP requirement, including the right to request a confirmation of the Consultant’s legal status and signed documentation; and
  7. award contracts without competition for follow-up work, if any, to the selected Consultant for a given project requirement.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The AFN will select the Proponent(s) which, in the AFN’s sole discretion, best serves the overall needs of the AFN. The following is a summary of the general considerations that will be used to determine the Proponent(s) that will be selected:

  1. Expertise of Firm/Organization submitting the proposal – 20%
  2. Experience in working with First Nations – 20%
  3. Proposed Work Plan and Approach – 25%
  4. Experience in research, problem solving and strategy development in First Nations infrastructure projects and construction industry pricing – 25%
  5. Total price – 10%

TIMETABLE

The following dates are set forth for informational and planning purposes and may be changed at the AFN’s sole discretion.

RFP Released/Advertised/Posted – 2023/12/14

Deadline for questions – 2023/12/21

Deadline for submission of proposals – 2024/01/05

Completion of proposal evaluations – 2024/01/10

Finalist Interviews (if required) – 2024/01/11

Final Selection – 2024/01/12

Contract Start Date  – 2024/01/17

The timetable is tentative only and may be changed by the AFN, in its sole discretion, at any time prior to the Proposal Submission Deadline.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Price

Contractors must provide a firm fixed price, including administrative fees, travel, material costs, translation, printing of draft concepts and HST.

 Confidentiality

Responses to this RFP will be considered as confidential information by the AFN and will be used solely for the purposes of selecting the successful proponent.

Clarification/ Questions

All proposal submissions will be acknowledged.

Requests for clarification and/or questions regarding this RFP should be directed to:

Liz Fox
Senior Analyst, Infrastructure
Economic Development, Infrastructure, and Fisheries
Assembly of First Nations
Email: [email protected] and cc: [email protected]

 Submission

Only those submissions that meet the deadline will be considered.

Submissions to this RFP must be received by the close of business (5:00 pm EST) on February 21, 2023.

Submissions must be sent by email to: [email protected] and cc:  [email protected]

Should a proponent’s proposal exceed 10Mb it is acceptable for the proponent to provide a link to a OneDrive file within the proposal submission email.

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