Navy Seeks Contractors for $5 Billion in Global Construction

The Navy released an Aug. 20 request for proposal (RFP) for an 8-year, $5 billion, multiple-award contract that will deliver global construction.

The contract, Global Contingency Construction (GCC), primarily will provide construction work including supervision, equipment, materials, labor, travel, and engineering services in support of natural disaster response, humanitarian efforts, conflict, emergent mission critical requirements, or similar projects. The contractors may be tasked to participate in military exercises and may be required to provide initial base operating support services, incidental to construction efforts. The work is expected to be primarily overseas, but also may be for work in the United States in support of disaster recovery efforts and other contingency operations.

This work will be competed as a multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Approximately four contracts will be awarded with a base year and seven one-year options and a combined ceiling value of $5 billion. The minimum guarantee for each contract is $25,000 over the life of the contract. Task orders will be either cost-plus–award-fee or firm-fixed-price orders. There will be no yearly or per contractor limit on task order awards.

The upcoming contracts would replace incumbent contracts that were awarded in March 2019 to six companies with a combined reported ceiling value of about $1 billion. Although the six companies received the minimum $25,000 award, only four, Illuminate Buyer LLC, Environmental Chemical Corp. , Tutor Perini Corp. and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., have received more than that initial amount. The combined total obligations on the contracts to date amounts to $407 million. The contracts run through March 2024 so additional obligations will continue being disbursed. The largest single project was for $80 million in repair work at Camp Lejeune, NC performed by Illuminate Buyer. Although the incumbent contracts could be used for work overseas, the work to date has mainly been in the United States except for about $15 million for work in Bahrain.

The Navy’s decision to issue recompete details so early in advance of the March 2024 incumbent expiration date is unclear. Since the contract is designed for contingencies, which are highly unpredictable, it is probable that the Navy wants to have the flexibility to deal with large, unanticipated requirements over the next eight years and the existing contracts, with only about $500 million left until they reach their ceiling, might not be sufficient.

The Navy and Marine Corps facilities have suffered expensive damage in recent years due to hurricanes and natural disasters. In 2018, Hurricane Florence caused an estimated $3.6 to $3.7 billion in damage to Camp Lejeune. Restoration work remains ongoing.

The government did not respond to a Bloomberg Government inquiry seeking clarification for additional details regarding acquisition planning. Responses to the RFP are due Oct. 5.

To contact the analyst on this story: Robert Levinson in Washington, D.C. at rlevinson@bgov.com