Gas Chromatography equipment manufactured by Bruker Scientific (Brand Name or Equal)

Acquisition Description:

This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items using Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This acquisition will be made in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 “Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and solicitation for commercial Items,” as applicable, and as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation (a written solicitation will not be issued) and quotes are being requested.

This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP). The solicitation documents and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2022-04, January 30, 2022. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516 - Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1000 employees.

The combined synopsis/solicitation number is RFQ-NIAID-2131819 and this is issued as a Request for Quotes (RFQ), under Brand Name or Equal (considered full and open competition) requirements.

This requirement is NOT set aside for small business.

BRAND NAME OR EQUAL: NIAID requests responses from qualified sources capable of providing the requirements as outlined. To be considered for award, vendors of “equal” products, including “equal” products of the brand-name manufacturer, must meet the criteria for the salient characteristics of the items specified below. If providing an equal product(s), please supply descriptive data for evaluation purposes to determine the validity of how it is an EQUAL.

Project Description:

National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID)’s Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology (LCIM) (collectively Program) has been at the forefront of scientific, clinical, and epidemiological research into human immunologic, inflammatory, and infectious diseases. Acquisition of state-of-the-art technologies promotes the overall mission of the LCIM by providing tools to advance these projects. The research performed by LCIM requires the use of mass spectrometers (MS) and gas chromatographs/gas chromatography (GC) for the examination, collection, and identification of data from samples. One of Program’s current project will assess the metabolic response to pollution, specifically, assessing the metabolic pathways needed for bacteria metabolism, and then assess how these pathways are altered in response to anti-microbial challenge (both prescription drugs as well as pollutant insults). Traditional MS devices require follow up evaluations for any metabolite identified – meaning any potential target of interest will require additional time, money, and resources to confirm it the identification of the metabolite is correct.  With the new technology ION mobility, which assesses both the metabolite’s mass and its 3D shape in space, definitive identification can be performed on all metabolites assessed at first pass. This allows for the type of high throughput required to perform this type of work.  Program currently has a ION mobility outfitted instrument but it cannot performed gas chromatography.  Program’s proposed purchase will allow them to adapt their current existing system to combine the abilities of GC and ION mobility together.

Requirements:

Brand Name or Equal items:

A Brand Name or Equal (full and open competition) is appropriate for the following items.

• GC-APCI II Source for GC-MS coupling; #8700493; Qty 1
• 456-GC for GC-APCI, 230V; #4560002002; Qty 1
• PTV IS INJECTOR EFC 21 AIR 230V; #4561210132F Qty 1
• 8400 SAMPLER ASSY; #CP739371; Qty 1
• BR-5MS; FS; 30 M X 0.25 MM ID, 0.25 μM; #BR86377; Qty 1
• 4XX-GC Installation Kit; #392500291; Qty 1
• Freight costs systems (intercontinental) - shipping and handling; #DAL05059; Qtyn1

See justification documents (attached) for a description of features, functionalities, and compatibilities that would be required.

Place of Performance or Delivery:

NIH-NIAID

Attn: Ian Myles

29 Lincoln Dr

BLDG 29, Wing B

Room 5G17

Bethesda, MD 20814

FOB: Destination

The government intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order to the responsible contractor as a result of this RFQ that will include the terms and conditions set forth herein. By submitting an offer in response to this RFQ, confirms acceptance that the government terms and conditions will prevail over the award.  The award will be based on the following: the capability to meet the brand name requirement and price.

Submission shall be received not later than July 28, 2022 @ 4:00 PM EST

Offers may be e-mailed to Lu Chang at <lu-chang.lu@nih.gov>, Offers shall include RFQ number in the subject line (RFQ-NIAID-2131819). Late submissions shall be treated in accordance with the solicitation provision at FAR 52.212-1(f). All responsible sources may submit an offer that will be considered by this Agency.  Any questions or concerns regarding this solicitation should be forwarded in writing via e-mail to Lu Chang at <lu-chang.lu@nih.gov>.

By submitting a response to this posting, your facility is accepting that the following Government Terms and Conditions shall prevail over the purchase order award:

The following FAR provisions apply to this acquisition:

52.211-6 BRAND NAME OR EQUAL (AUG 1999)

(a) If an item in this solicitation is identified as “brand name or equal,” the purchase description reflects the characteristics and level of quality that will satisfy the Government’s needs. The salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics that “equal” products must meet are specified in the solicitation.

(b) To be considered for award, offers of “equal” products, including “equal” products of the brand name manufacturer, must-

(1) Meet the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristic specified in this solicitation;

(2) Clearly identify the item by-

(i) Brand name, if any; and

(ii) Make or model number;

(3) Include descriptive literature such as illustrations, drawings, or a clear reference to previously furnished descriptive data or information available to the Contracting Officer; and

(4) Clearly describe any modifications the offeror plans to make in a product to make it conform to the solicitation requirements. Mark any descriptive material to clearly show the modifications.

(c) The Contracting Officer will evaluate “equal” products on the basis of information furnished by the offeror or identified in the offer and reasonably available to the Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer is not responsible for locating or obtaining any information not identified in the offer.

(d) Unless the offeror clearly indicates in its offer that the product being offered is an “equal” product, the offeror shall provide the brand name product referenced in the solicitation.

52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference. (Feb 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es): https://www.acquisition.gov/

FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management (OCT 2018)

FAR 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020)

FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items (NOV 2021)

FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (NOV 2021)

FAR 52.229-11 Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements—Notice and Representation (Jun 2020)

FAR 52.203-18 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements – Representation (JAN 2017)

FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Aug 2020)

FAR 52.204–26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation

(OCT 2020)

The following FAR contract clauses apply to this acquisition:

52.252-2 -- Clauses Incorporated by Reference. (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address:  http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffara.htm

FAR 52-212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items (NOV 2018)

FAR 52-212.5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items (JAN 2022) *The applicable subparagraphs of FAR52.212-5 are included in the attachment to this posting.

FAR 52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (NOV 2021)

FAR 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (OCT 2018)

FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020)

FAR 52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (NOV 2021)

Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulations (HHSAR)

The following additional Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulations (HHSAR) clauses are applicable to this requirement, copies are available from http://www.hhs.gov/policies/hhsar/:

Provisions

352.239-73 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015)

Clauses

352.203-70 Anti-Lobbying (December 18, 2015)

352.208-70 Printing and Duplication (December 18, 2015)

352.222-70 Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015)

352.239-74 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (December 18, 2015)

The following additional provisions and clauses are applicable to this requirement and provided in full text as Attachments:

FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020)

FAR 52.209-7, Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Oct 2018)

FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (Jul 2021) (Tailored)

FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Feb 2021)

FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (Sep 2021)

By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation (www.sam.gov).

Copies of the above-referenced provisions and clauses are available from http://www.acquisition.gov/far/loadmainre.html & http: //www.hhs.gov/regulation/index.html or, upon request, either by telephone or fax.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Update 1 - 7.18.2022:

Revised the items and Bill of Materials (BOM) required for this solicitation.