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Frequently Asked Questions
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NYC SCA
Frequently Asked Questions General Applications are obtained from the district office.See Choices and Enrollment How can I enroll my child in a new school under construction in my neighborhood? Contact the district office for an application.See Application Information How can I apply for a job at a new school under construction? Call 311 or (718) 472-8052 to report a complaint. The information about the school and details of your concern are forwarded to the SCA Project Support Manager (PSM) for the site. The PSM will call you back to address your concern. How do I make a construction related noise complaint? Contact the SCA Contract Administration Department at (718) 472-8222. I am a contractor and would like to know who has been awarded the contract for a specific school project? The first step is to contact the SCA prequalification hotline at (718) 472-8777 where you will be guided through the application process. Hours of operation are Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm. The forms are available online. See http://dobusiness.nycsca.org I am a contractor and would like to bid for a job. What is the first step? Contact the SCA Emergency hotline at (718) 472-2515. I am a construction worker on an SCA project and have observed unsafe conditions. To whom do I report this? Call (718) 472-8052 where you will be transferred to the appropriate Project Support Manager for details on the project. I am calling from a City Council Member’s office and have community members who would like a timeline and details for the new school project underway in their neighborhood. Contact the SCA Real Estate Department at (718) 472-8273. I know of property that is for sale that is a good location for a new school. Who do I contact? Design work is assigned to Architectural and Engineering Consultants who have Requirements Contracts with the SCA. These firms would have been selected for a contract, via a Request for Proposals (RFP) process. RFP's, typically issued to interested firms every one to two years, are prepared by the A&E Division and are managed for procurement by the Contract Administration Division; its Pre-Qual Unit pre-qualifies all of A&E’s consultants prior to their receiving Requirements Contracts. Pre-qualification applications are available on-line or contact the Contractor Qualification Hotline at (718) 472-8777. Hours of operation are Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm. See http://dobusiness.nycsca.org I am a Design Professional and would like to know how to obtain work at the SCA. The SCA addresses capital work including major building improvements (e.g. exterior masonry, roofing replacement, boiler upgrades, fire alarm system replacements, etc.) and capacity needs (building new buildings and additions). The Division of School Facilities is responsible for the work of custodial engineers and maintenance in buildings including fixing broken sinks and toilets, floor repairs, painting, fixing loose or missing handrails and smaller contracted repairs. Additionally there are some cases where the SCA and DSF collaborate on improvement projects. Can you explain the difference between building work performed by the SCA versus the Division of School Facilities (DSF)? Contact the Sale/Bid Plans room at (718) 472-8836 I would like more information or to pick up project plans? Contact Labor Law Compliance at (718) 472-8100. I am a laborer that has not been paid by the contractor, who can I call? The SCA project officer can provide information regarding payments to general contractors, including amounts and dates. In addition, you may have legal remedies available and should consult your attorney. We are subcontractors that have not been paid by the general contractor, what do we do? Business Development Department, Ruby Saake (718) 752-5047 How do I find out about the NYCSCA high school and College internship program? Please visit our website at Website or our Online Bid Set System at http://bidset.nycsca.org How do I get a list of bid opening and a timeline of them? Building names are jointly determined by the Community Education Council (CEC), elected officials and school community and are facilitated by the DOE Office of District Planning and Office of Public Affairs. How is the name of a school chosen? Opportunities/Contractors Information regarding anticipated bids can be obtained by clicking on the following link:Capital Improvement Projects Anticipated Contract Awards How do I obtain information about upcoming bids for CIP Projects? Yes, you must be prequalified prior to the bid opening. Do you have to be prequalified to submit a bid? The SCA strongly supports and encourages the participation of MWLBE firms as prime and subcontractors, as well as prime and subconsultants. For more information, visit Business Development, Mentor Programs and MWLBE Certification. How can MWLBE firms participate? To view a list of firms that are currently prequalified to do business with the SCA, visit the Prequalified Firms by Trade. How do I find SCA prequalified firms for a job? To view firms disqualified, suspended or ineligible to perform work on SCA projects as a prime contractor, consultant, member of a joint venture, subcontractor, vendor or material supplier, visit Disqualified/Suspended/Ineligible Firms. How do I determine which firms are disqualified, suspended and / or ineligible to do business with the SCA? Project Labor Agreement PLA Weekend Wage Rates - Under the PLA, as negotiated, there are three possible weekend scenarios:A Weekend Make-Up Day because of conditions beyond the control of the Contractor, such as severe weather, power failure, fire or natural disaster preventing the performance of Program Work on a regularly scheduled work day, with the mutual agreement of the Local Union on a craft-by-craft basis: Straight Time plus 5%.Weekend Shift Work, where a worker has not already worked five days (or four ten-hour days on a site where the entire site is working on a four ten-hour day shift) in the week: That trade's normally applicable weekend shift rate -or- Time and a half straight time, whichever is LESS.Overtime Work, where a worker has already worked five days (or four ten-hour days on a site where the entire site is working on a four ten-hour day shift) in the week: That trade's normally applicable overtime rate. What is the rate of pay for shifts performed on the weekend? Computation of Overtime (The forty hour week question):1. For a standard five day work week, overtime is paid when a worker works:more than eight hours in a day -AND/OR-more than five days in a week regardless of how many hours worked each of those five days (e.g., after working four hours a day for each of five days for a total of only twenty hours, the worker would still be entitled to overtime for all time on any additional day worked.)2. When the entire job is on a four ten-hour day basis, overtime is payable when a worker works:more than ten hours in a day -AND/OR-more than four ten-hour days in the week. How is overtime calculated? The decision to work on a four ten-hour day basis must be made by agreement between the SCA, the General Contractor, and the applicable Local Unions on a craft-by-craft basis. No individual trade(s) may be singled out on a PLA site to work a four ten-hour day straight time basis without ALL trades working on the four ten-hour day basis. How are four ten-hour day projects scheduled? The only construction workers permitted on a PLA job site are members of one of the unions listed on the attached PLA Telephone Contact List. There are many other unions representing building and construction workers. Some of these other unions are from Long Island, Westchester and New Jersey, and others are New York City based, but they are not signatory to the PLA and therefore cannot represent any workers on a PLA job. (It also does not matter whether any of these other unions have apprenticeship programs of their own.)Additionally, a company that is signatory to one of these "other" unions CAN work on our PLA jobs, but the firm MUST get ALL of its workers (subject to the eighth worker provision, of course) for the trade directly from the appropriate union shown on the PLA Telephone Contact List by directly contacting and sending the union the Affidavit of PLA participation. The firm must also send a copy of that original affidavit with each weekly or monthly supplemental benefit check payment that is sent to the union.Again, ONLY workers who are members of one of the unions listed on the attached PLA Telephone Contact List may perform construction work on SCA PLA sites. Who is permitted to work on a SCA project that is subject to the PLA? Real Estate Please obtain as much information regarding the property as possible (e.g., address, location) and contact. Under no circumstances should anyone from the SCA other than Real Estate Services engage or negotiate with real estate brokers or other individuals who claim to represent landlords or property owners. I've been contacted by someone who is interested in selling or leasing property to the city/department of education/SCA. What should I do? Yes! Leased sites may present capital-eligibility issues for projects and in most cases, landlord approval is required before any alterations can be undertaken. Please contact either as appropriate to discuss the details of how to proceed. We started scoping a project (e.g. Capital Improvement Program (CIP), Reso A) and visited the school and learned that the site is leased. Does this matter? Please obtain as much detail as possible regarding the open charges - a printout of the charges from the Division of School Facilities (DOF) websites would be helpful - and see either. Please note that it may take some time for the assessing agency to clear the charges. We tried to file documents/close out a project, but we're told that there are open charges (e.g. Real Estate Taxes, Sanitation Assessments) against the property that must be leaned. How do we do that? You should identify the block and lot of the subject property (usually shown on a survey) and check the Department of Finance's (DOF) website usually contains copies of recorded deeds for a property, from which ownership information can be obtained. Who owns the property next to a school site? EE needs to contact them regarding a license agreement, access for inspection, etc.? RFP Process Firms do not need to be prequalified with the SCA in order to submit a proposal. However, a firm must be prequalified to be awarded a contract following their selection. A requirement for prequalification is that firms be registered with the New York State Division of Corporations as a New York entity. For additional information please visit the Prequalification Process page. Do I have to be prequalified to submit a proposal? Contact the Contract Negotiator, overseeing the specific RFP. Contact information can be obtained at Request for Proposal. How can I obtain on which firms were invited to submit proposals for a particular solicitation? Firms must request a copy of the RFP via e-mail from the Negotiator overseeing the solicitation. The request is then forwarded to the User Department to make a determination on whether the firm can receive a copy of the RFP.Firms interested in obtaining a copy of the RFP must provide all of the following information:1. A description of your firm's experience including:length of time your firm has been in existence performing the services required under this RFPprior projectsfirms you've partnered with, and the value of the portion your firm worked onnumber of years2. Whether your firm is prequalified with the SCA (if you don't know, you can state this).3. The full contact information of the person to whom the RFP should be sent, including:TitlePhone numberFax numberStreet address (RFPs are not sent to PO boxes.) How can I get involved to participate in the RFP process and submit proposals for the services for which my firm may qualify? All proposer's will be notified of the names of the firms selected for Contract Award within three (3) to Four (4) weeks after the RFP due date. If I have submitted a proposal for a specific RFP, when can I expect to be informed of the names of the selected firms? Sub-contractor Approval Form - SAF No, all sub-contractors must submit a prequalification application prior to beginning work on an SCA project and prior to completing an SAF. Is completing a SAF the first step in the pre-qualification process? All General Contractors (GCs) awarded an SCA contract, and their proposed sub-contractors, must submit a sub-contractor approval form through the Vendor Access System (VAS) before beginning work on the project. Who must compete a SAF? The online SAF process does not yet include Mentor projects. SAFs for Mentor projects continue to be processed by Mentor Construction Managers. Can sub-contractors submit online SAFs for Mentor projects? All Wick’s sub-contractors must be prequalified at the time of bid opening. In addition, for Wicks-related work that is valued at or above $1,000,000, please note that all Wicks sub-contractors proposed for such work must also be pre-qualified for work above $1,000,000. Are Wicks sub-contractors required to prequalify? Sub-contractors must have a project specific SAF in pending or approved status with an issued certificate of insurance before beginning work. Can a sub-contractor begin work after submitting the SAF? Yes, GCs and sub-contractors must submit a separate SAF for each project and scope of work; and a separate SAF for any additional work added to an existing project. Does a GC or a sub-contractor awarded more than one SCA project have to submit an SAF for each award? Yes, the VAS system provides GCs and sub-contractors with on-demand access to SAF status information and on-demand access to OCIP insurance certificates. Is the status of a SAF available online to GC's and sub-contractors? The VAS system automatically identifies subcontractor specific trade codes and confirms a subcontractor’s qualification and certification status. How can the SAF help a GC determine sub-contractors qualifications? To begin the process, GCs and upper-tier sub-contractors should access VAS, and click the Sub-contractor Approval Form (SAF) link in the Project Information (Post Award) section of the homepage. How does a GC or an upper-tier sub-contractor begin the SAF process? Yes, information from prior submissions is pre-populated to subsequent SAFs thereby reducing keystrokes. Completing a SAF is a lengthy process. Does the system pre-populate from previous submissions? Yes, click and download the SAF User Guide in PDF format. Can I download the SAF User Guide? If you are listed as a SAF contact on your firm's prequalification application, login by entering your Login ID and Password on the VAS login page. If you are not listed as an SAF contact on your firm’s prequalification application, you can be added as an SAF contact. Visit the SAF User Guide for instructions. How do I get a VAS login ID or password? The SCA strongly encourages everyone (except Mentor projects) to complete and submit the SAF online. The VAS system is an accurate, time-efficient way to process requests. Can I still use the paper SAF form? If you are unable to submit the form electronically after checking the SAF User Guide, or need any other assistance, contact the Prequalification Hotline (718) 472-8777. Is there a number to call if I need more help?