This Small Business Sources Sought Notice is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government. This notice is intended strictly for Market Research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Eunice Kennedy Shriver, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and technical capability of qualified small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business or HUBZone small businesses capable of providing delivery of ultra-pure gaseous Nitrogen (N2). The delivery of ultra-pure gaseous Nitrogen (N2) is a critical requirement for many of the individual laboratories at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The loss of this resource for even a few hours imposes very large costs to experiments in the building. NIDDK has a requirement is for Bulk delivery of liquid nitrogen to the loading dock, and to the basement plumbing system. Users from individual laboratories use this resource for experimental work and for sample cryogenic freezing every day. Both the liquid and gaseous phases of liquid nitrogen are provided to NIDDK laboratories in Bethesda, Maryland through the large bulk delivery tanks to the loading dock (Building numbers provided at time of award). This will be Base + 4. Special Considerations: Loss of N2 has in the past has triggered direct damage to scientific research equipment (of several $10,000s). An even more expensive problem occurs when people undertake multi-week long unstable sample preparations so that their biochemical preparation occurs for "just-in-time" access to expensive pre-scheduled instrumentation time. To maintain 24/7 delivery to the building, this tank has to be refilled approximately once per week. It is imperative that the risk of LN2 delivery interruption to NIDDK laboratories in Bethesda, Maryland be mitigated, so the NIDDK has invested in a Telemetry Unit, which we own, that is compatible with and vendor shall, monitor our Telemetry round the clock, and it will trigger a delivery if the tank drops to 3,000 gals. The intended procurement will be classified under North American Industrial Classification (NAICS) code 221210 with a size standard of 1000. All respondents are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business. Interested firms responding to this market survey must provide (a) capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills and capability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the above. The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not to exceed 15 pages, so that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the requirements above. Your capability statement, not to exceed 15 pages, should include references. Capability statement must be received at the email address identified in this synopsis by 10:00 A.M. local time on August 14, 2017. Any questions regarding this announcement must be sent via email to
[email protected] and must include solicitation NICHD17-190 in the subject line of email. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provided feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate response to a solicitation. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provided feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate response to a solicitation. Confidentiality - No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s)." PLEASE NOTE: In order to receive an award, contractor must be registered and have valid certification in the System for Award Management (SAM) http://www.sam.gov