The Medical Repair and Renewal (MRR) Program at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, offers a fast track, efficient method for design and execution of all types of medical facility repairs, renovations, conversions, alterations, additions (within statutory limits), and construction projects. The MRR Program provides project management, construction, engineering, contracting, and design & A-E services support to multiple Department of Defense (DoD) agencies at various locations nationwide.
Throughout FY23, our team managed over 80 projects valued at more than $620 million for our various DoD customers. In FY22, MRR awarded approximately $271 million in new medical facility repair/renovation & studies/design projects for our customers.
The key to our success is our innovative use of Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. The MRR Program uses Design-Build (D-B) Construction (CONUS only) IDIQ contracts to rapidly execute our customer’s requirements. MRR also has direct access to a suite of medical Architect-Engineer (A-E) contracts (CONUS and OCONUS), which are managed by the Engineering Directorate at Huntsville Center, to meet the various design and study needs of our clients.
These contracts, and how we use them, offer many benefits and advantages to our multiple DoD Service customers. Our MRR contractors can execute work across the vast spectrum of medical construction services: from simply replacing ceiling tiles in an administrative non-patient area, to a highly complex, phased demolition and construction renewal modernization of a multiple-OR suite while maintaining patient services throughout the renewal (to include dental & veterinary clinics, and all types & biosafety levels of laboratories).
Medical Division Architect-Engineer (A-E) Contracts (all Small Businesses)
- Sherlock Smith & Adams
- GoldenWolf-EwingCole JV
- Global Engineering Solutions of Washington, DC
- Health Facility Solutions Company
- Shadpour Consulting Engineers
Benefits and Advantages
Performance-Based Scopes of Work: The use of performance-based SOWs ensures that the customer’s desired end result is achieved. Multiple Government reviews of the contractor’s design are customarily conducted using the ProjNet DrChecksTM online document review platform; this ensures that the customer has visibility, input, and review of the contractor’s proposed product. MRR contractors are also required to focus on and manage project risks.
IDIQ Contractors: Our IDIQ contractors are specifically selected based on their qualifications and experience in medical facility design, repair, and construction projects. These contractors have employed professionals in the field of medical facility design and guarantee that implementation of the work plan will satisfy the performance specifications of the scope of work and The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requirements.
Design-Build Construction Contract Advantages: The use of work plans prepared by the contractor instead of Government-furnished designs eliminates change orders and minimizes risk due to design omissions and errors. The Government reviews and accepts the design, but the contractor retains design liability. Significant time savings can be achieved using the D-B approach, which eliminates the lengthy construction proposal receipt and review process of the traditional design-bid-build acquisition strategy. On the MRR Program, projects are typically competed using Request for Proposals (RFPs) among the appropriate contractor pool (Restricted [8A] vs. Unrestricted [Large Biz plus 8A]), and are then awarded at a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) to the contractor determined to provide the Best Value to the Government to execute the work. Alternatively, a Lowest Price/Technically Acceptable selection criteria may also be employed for projects of a less complex nature.
Quality: The majority of MRR projects are successfully completed on time and have high customer satisfaction. The likelihood of project success and quality workmanship is high using MRR because we exercise annual ordering period options and award new task orders only if the contractor’s past performance on previous task orders has been demonstrated to be satisfactory.
Best Applications:
Projects best suited for MRR Design-Build Construction contracts are Operations and Maintenance (O&M, not MILCON) Congressionally-appropriated, and typically programmed at $300,000 or greater for construction. Our niche is primarily those projects that are beyond the typical capabilities of a Job Order Contract (JOC) or Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) contractor. We have discovered that this niche is fairly wide and that our customers appreciate the responsiveness and flexibility afforded by our program.
Download the MRR fact sheet (PDF)
(as of October 2023)