The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) intends to award a contract on a sole source basis to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) upon the basis of the authority provided at FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i). The University of New Hampshire provides the only accessible specialized laboratories capable of fulfilling the Government’s requirements in its entirety. This acquisition requires a laboratory located within one hundred and twenty-five (125) miles of the ERDC-CRREL facilities in Hanover, New Hampshire to provide repetitive laboratory access, allowing CRREL personnel to conduct ongoing and future research projects. The types of laboratory testing and analyses required are unique activities which are related to the cold regions-induced failure modes of metals, plastics, and soils. The necessary laboratory testing activities requires a combination of highly specialized equipment, technical background by research civil and geotechnical engineers (e.g. professors well published in these areas), along with familiarity with applying ASTM and AASHTO standard tests to novel materials for prototyping purposes Specifically, ERDC-CRREL requires repetitive laboratory access to the University of New Hampshire’s available instrumentation and facilities to obtain orientation, training, expert consultation and intermittent usage. The University of New Hampshire is the only local source reasonably capable of providing the necessary access to instruments, technologies, services, and expert consultation for ongoing current and future research projects on an as needed basis. Requirements: A multiyear Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) shall be established IAW FAR 13.303 to allow access to accomplish the work under this requirement, it shall be necessary for the contractor to provide the following: a) Certain short-run or single-instance testing may be performed by the contractor’s instrument managers (“staff-assisted use”). Such sessions will be considered and organized on a case-by-case basis according to facility policy and standard operating procedures. The extent of assistance will be ascertained before analysis by agreement between the ERDC-CRREL PI and the University of New Hampshire laboratory manager. b) Prior to allowing “self-use” access to specialized, sensitive, and expensive instruments, orientation and training may be required. Orientation shall occur on a mutually convenient schedule and shall follow a staff-assisted or orientation/training rate schedule. Orientation is intended to ensure the maintenance of integrity and operability of the instrument and to optimize the usefulness of the results by ensuring that the full capability of the instrument is utilized. c) Once orientation has been completed, the contractor shall consider allowing “self-use” access to instruments as need arises. Physical key or card access to instruments shall also be considered on a case-by-case basis. Scheduling of access times shall be according to facility policy and standard operating procedures. d) University managed testing based on agreed scope of work and to be determined per project call order. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541380, which has a size standard of $16,500,000. Please provide responses to this notice NLT 12:00 PM EST, 23 June 2021 to:
[email protected] and
[email protected] Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses to this notice will not be considered as a response to any solicitation, a request to be added to a prospective offerors list, or to receive a copy of any solicitation. A determination by the Government not to compete the contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Note: In order to be eligible for award of a Government contract, vendors must be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), have no active exclusions, and complete the FAR and DFARS representations and certifications.