NIA 23-002031

Post Date/ Solicitation Issue Date

December 12, 2022 12:00 pm

Closing Response Date

December 22, 2022 12:00 pm

Proposed Award Date

December 27, 2022 12:00 pm

Project Title

Preventative Maintenance and Repair Service for QX200 AutoDG ddPCR System and QX200 Digital PCR Reader

Contracting Office

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Small Business Size Standard

$30M

FPDS Classification Code

J066

Estimated Period of Performance

December 28, 2022 – April 28, 2023

Competition Status

Non-Competitive

Single-Sole Source Determination

Statutory Authority: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures and at a dollar value less than the simplified acquisition threshold are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements.

This notice of proposed acquisition is posted as an intent to award a service contract on a non-competitive basis to Bio Rad. Bio-Rad instruments are manufactured solely by Bio-Rad Laboratories and, as such, are the sole providers of spare parts for the instrument. Also, only their engineers are certified and trained to service their instruments and have access to all the required, certified replacement parts and equipment. Unauthorized persons providing services to Bio-Rad instruments may invalidate the warranty. Only Bio-Rad’s engineers are certified and trained to service their instruments and have access to all the required, certified replacement parts and equipment. Bio-Rad Laboratories has provided a sole source letter which supports being the sole-source provider of these services.

Background/Description of Requirement

This acquisition is being conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 13 – Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and FAR Part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Items, and the resultant contract award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2202-08 dated October 28, 2022.

The purpose of this requirement is to procure preventative maintenance and repair support for Bio-Rad QX200 AutoDG ddPCR System and QX200 Digital PCR Reader owned and operated by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Laboratory of Clinical Investigation (LCI).  This equipment is used by the NIA Clinical Research Core lab and requires preventative maintenance and repair support to ensure continued full function and continuity of NIA research data.  

 

Period of Performance:  December 28, 2022 – April 28, 2023.

Place of Performance:  The place of performance shall be the NIA site located at 251 Bayview Blvd., 8^th Floor., Rm. 08C009, Baltimore, MD 21224.

SCOPE OF WORK

General Requirements:  Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below:

 

Specific Requirements: The Contractor shall provide the Government with on-site repair support for the following Bio-Rad instrument:  QX200 AutoDG ddPCR System and QX200 Digital PCR Reader.  Maintenance and repair support shall include all labor, travel, and replacement parts necessary to provide preventative maintenance support, install new instrument software upgrades and train staff in use of the new software, and troubleshoot problems in person and via telephone Monday thru Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM East Coast time. Replacement parts and software upgrades provided must be Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) certified. Service technicians shall acknowledge repair requests within 24 business hours, and an on-site visit from a technician shall occur within 72 business hours when on-site visit is required.

LEVEL OF EFFORT:  One repair and one preventative maintenance visit at fixed pricing is anticipated.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES:  The NIA will provide workspace and access to the equipment for repair support.  The contractor field service technician servicing the equipment will be required to coordinate with the program office in advance of arrival so that access may be granted.  

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES:  Documentation shall be provided by the vendor to show they completed the service on the equipment and left with the COR or POC. The service technician is to present a service ticket that briefly details the work performed to the POC for signature and a copy of the ticket is to be left with the POC.  A detailed written report of any service is to be submitted to the Contracting Officer’s Representative, or a delegated entity, within 24 hours of service being performed.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:  The Contractor shall provide one service report to the Government after the service is completed which details all maintenance and repair work performed for each instrument.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Travel:  All travel time should be included within the provided service agreement quote.

Key Personnel:  Key personnel must be original equipment manufacturer (OEM) factory-trained, authorized technicians.

SUMMARY STATEMENT:  

The Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), certification of country of ownership, and the certification of business size must be included in the response.  

All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.

Quoter Terms and Conditions (To be completed by the Offeror):

1. Period of Performance OR Delivery Date After Receipt of Order:
2. Shipping Point (F.O.B. OR Destination):
3. Payment Discount Terms:
4. NIH BPA Number
5. SAM UEI No:
6. Name of Company:
7. Street Address, City, State, Zip code:
8. Name of Person Authorized to Provide Quote:
9. Telephone Number and Email Address of Person Authorized to Provide Quote:

ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, PROVISIONS, AND REPRESENTATIONS

The FAR Clauses are incorporated by reference and are provided in full text at https://www.acquisition.gov/

1. FAR Provision 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) is applicable to this solicitation.
2. FAR Provision 52.212.2 Evaluation-Commercial Items (Nov 2021) is applicable to this solicitation. The Government will evaluate quotations or offers in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered.  The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotes: Technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement; Price; and Past performance [see FAR 13.106-2(b)(3)]
3. FAR Provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (May 2022), is applicable to this solicitation. 
4. FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (November 2021), is applicable to this solicitation.
5. FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (October 2022) is applicable to this solicitation.

In addition, the following FAR provisions and clauses are applicable to this solicitation and incorporated by reference:

1. 52.204-7 System for Award Management (Oct 2018),
2. 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018),
3. 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020),
4. 52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020)
5. HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015).

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated as an attachment. Offerors MUST complete the provision at 52.204-24 and 52.204-26 and submit completed copies as separate documents with their quotation.

1. FAR 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)
2. FAR 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)
3. FAR 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020)
4. NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions

All responses must be received by December 22, 2022 at 12 pm EST and must reference announcement/ solicitation number NIA-23-002031. Responses may be submitted electronically to Carla Blalock (Carla.blalock@nih.gov). Fax responses will not be accepted.