This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation for this requirement. THIS IS THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. NO OTHER SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSUED.The provisions and clauses incorporated into this document are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-13. EVALUATION AND AWARD The Government will make an award to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The provisions at FAR 52.212-2--- Evaluation- Commercial Items, apply to this solicitation. While MSHA intends to make an award from this solicitation, it reserves the right to make no award based on the quality of proposals submitted. MSHA is not responsible for and will not reimburse any bid and proposal costs incurred by offerors. Each offeror must submit a proposal in accordance with the instructions herein. Proposals must respond to and meet all of the mandatory requirements of this solicitation. Failure to meet any mandatory requirement may be cause for rejection of an offer without further consideration. When evaluating an offeror, the Government will consider how well the offeror complied with both the letter and intent of these instructions. The Government will consider any failure on the part of an offeror to comply with both the letter and spirit of these instructions to be an indication of the performance it can expect during task order performance. Clarity and completeness of the proposal are of the utmost importance. The proposal must be written in a practical, clear and concise manner. It must use quantitative terms whenever possible and must avoid qualitative adjectives to the maximum extent possible The Government intends to choose the best-value contractor, and may award without discussions. Notwithstanding its plan to award without discussions, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions with offerors in the competitive range, if necessary and to permit such offerors to revise their proposals. The Government also reserves the right to change any of the terms and conditions of the solicitation by Amendment at any time prior to award and to allow offerors to revise their offers accordingly. Interested parties should forward a proposal addressing the above requirements, all pricing information, and any other relevant information to the contracting officer no later than 3:00 pm EST Monday, December 11, 2006. Responses may be made electronically to och.william @dol.gov or
[email protected]. All questions relating to this solicitation must be forwarded to the above address no later than 3:00 pm EST Monday, December 4, 2006---NO EXCEPTIONS. MSHA will not reimburse any costs relative to responding to this notice and solicitation. ****NOTE TO OFFERORS**** Offerors who have submitted a proposal based on the previously issued ?Sources Sought Notice? may want to revise their proposal. Please advise the individuals listed above by e-mail of your intention to either retain the previous proposal or revise and resubmit. If you choose to resubmit, the government will destroy the original proposal. SITE VISITS WILL BE CONDUCTED ON NOVEMBER 28 AND 29, 2006 AT 10:00 A.M. AND 2:00 P.M. EACH DAY. NO ALTERNATE DATES WILL BE PROVIDED. PLEASE CONTACT CHARLES ROSS AT 304-256-3534 TO SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT. SOLICITATION WILL APPEAR AS AMENDMENT # 1. ************** THE FOLLOWING FAR CLAUSES ARE MADE A PART OF THIS COMBINDED/SOLICITATION: FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-2, 52.212-3, 52.212-4 AND 52.212-5 **************