Annual Maintenance

 INTRODUCTION

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION.  The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD), intends to award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to Nexus Group LLC, 2101 Sardis Rd. North Charlotte, NC 28227.   Annual Maintenance for various scientific instruments: Shaker/Agitator; Incubator; Liquid Chromatograph and Calorimeter).

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 811219 with a Size Standard $20.5.

 REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Circular (FAC) 2024-04 effective 05/01/2024.  This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000) and FAR Subpart 12- Acquisition of Commercial Items. 

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 are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements.

Place of Performance

National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD 20892, United States

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Cell Biology & Neurobiology program carries a dozen of scientific instruments that are heavily used by researchers on daily basis, and these instruments must have full-service contracts along with periodic preventive maintenance to ensure full performance and prevent costly repair when they break, or become non-functional.

REQUIRED FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS

A mission critical laboratory instruments, and heavily used scientific items are all bundled together, and NEXUS group provided a quote clearly guarantees full-service maintenance management included “unlimited onsite service, parts, labor, travel, technical support and annual PM where specified”.

The anticipated period of performance: 06/01/2021-05/31/2025, the vendor will be paid quarterly in arrears.

Full service on-site support to include unlimited repairs, parts, labor, travel, technical support, prioritized service, and annual (1) Preventative Maintenance (PM) per OEM recommendations. Coverage includes the following consumables: lamps, seals, and lasers in addition to standard PM Kit consumables. Nexus shall issue on-demand workorders to service vendors upon laboratory requests. Service shall be provided by a combination of certified ISO and OEM technicians on demand with a best-efforts on-site response to NICHD in Bethesda, MD.  Routine service in accordance with OEM specifications; corrective repairs; OEM sponsored software updates, patch fixes and revisions are covered and performed during PM service and corrective service.

CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND- NAME) DETERMINATION

The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10—Market Research.  Only one source is available: Per FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) the Contracting Officer has determined that Nexus Group LLC is the only vendor that can provide the Annual Maintenance for various scientific instruments.  The following specifications are the only ones that can be met by Nexus Group LLC.

CLOSING STATEMENT

This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. 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.  Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement, unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Vendor/Contractor’s (UEI) the Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov is now the authoritative identifier for those doing business with the federal government. The DUNS Number is no longer valid for federal award identification, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size.  All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.”

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

 All responses to this notice 75N94024Q00102 shall be submitted electronically by 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, on May 13, 2024.

Assessment of Capability

The contractor will be evaluated on their capability to provide the product to the specifications as stated on the solicitation and shall be required to provide required service with certification from the OEM.  The contractor shall provide notarized documentation from Nexus Group LLC that the installation personnel meet the above requirements, and the vendor must have legal access to Nexus Group LLC software licenses and must be supplied during service and upgrades.