1305M319ANFFR0012_Sole_Source_Justification_Redacted.pdf

Version 1.0

Source Selection Information – see FAR 2.101 and 3.104

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901)

Purchase Request NFFR7000-19-00593

1. Agency and contracting activity.

Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), Operations and Management Division (OMD) in La Jolla, California.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a sole source justification for a follow on requirement to be issued via a BPA off of a GSA schedule. The proprietary services and diagnostic tools are specific to the Siemens APOGEE Building Automation System which is currently installed at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

The requirement is to provide Siemens APOGEE Building Automation System support and maintenance which provides Human Machine Interface for the BAS functions at the SWFSC at an estimated total cost of for a five year period from October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024, comprised of a five-year base period with no option periods. This will allow the NMFS, SWFSC, OMD to manage, control and monitor building mechanical systems, lab freezers, aquariums, clean rooms, seawater pumping, and other integrated building functions which are essential to the mission functions of the programs located at the SWFSC, in addition to providing personnel who are responsible for 24/7 emergency response.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

41 U.S.C. 1903, using SAP up to $13M for contingency operations as authorized by FAR 13.500(c) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a sole source as supported below:

6.

Only one source under the authority of FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

PR NFFR7000-19-00593

Source Selection Information – see FAR 2.101 and 3.104

Siemens Industry, Inc. is uniquely qualified to provide these services to the Southwest Fisheries Science Center based upon the following:

a. Siemens installed the existing BAS, performed startup and commissioning of the BAS in 2013-2014, and maintained the system during the construction, commissioning, warranty phases of the project. These phases spanned approximately two years, as well as during the last five years of operation.

Siemens Insight APOGEE is proprietary and cannot cost effectively be integrated by another contractor either by replacement, or without serious risk to the integrity of the network using a web-based interface component known as a Java Application Control Engine (JACE). Additionally, other vendors will be unable to receive OEM parts at affordable pricing and in a timely manner. Another aspect is the proprietary software language used to program the equipment is written in Siemens PPCL which is specific to Siemens Industry, Inc. and would require programmers with Siemens specific training. By going to another vendor, to respond to our BAS needs, they will need to call in Siemens for a service call, the scheduling of the visit may not be considered a priority as there would not be a contract between Siemens and the SWFSC which describes a response time as typically two hours for a phone response and four hours for an on-site response, once a call is placed. Siemens would need to coordinate their service call according to their schedule and charge the third party contractor for their time spent on the call, the cost would then be passed along with an additional markup on the part of the third party contractor. This situation is not feasible due to the fact that this location is considered critical and emergency service issues must be addressed immediately and cannot be put off by a day or more when a problem occurs, furthermore there is no cost benefit as additional costs for the service call will be passed along to SWFSC along with an added markup.

7. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A notice of intent to negotiate a sole source award will be publicized in accordance with FAR 5.203(a) after the justification is approved. A copy of the justification will be posted within fourteen days of award as required by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii)

8. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will follow the procedures set forth in FAR 13.106-3(a) to determine that the costs to the Government are fair and reasonable, including comparison of the proposed prices with prices found reasonable on previous purchases and comparison to the independent Government estimate.

9. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The Western Acquisition Division conducted market research to verify the program office’s

PR NFFR7000-19-00593

Source Selection Information – see FAR 2.101 and 3.104 assertion that only one source had the capability to provide the requested services, including requesting confirmation that no other authorized resellers or service providers for the Siemens Insight Apogee are available in the greater San Diego, California area. Written confirmation that a Siemens field office was the only authorized source in the greater San Diego area was provided to the contract specialist on April 12, 2019. The required capabilities in question consist of roughly three factors: 1) proprietary technology and associated diagnostic tools, 2) system and building knowledge, including relatively quick access to replace parts and 3) locality. On between April 22, 2019 and April 25, 2019, the contract specialist confirmed that the required services were available via the GSA.

10. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

In 2013, Rudolph & Sletten is the contractor that built the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) facility at 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037. During construction, Rudolph & Sletten subcontracted to who then subcontracted to Siemens Industry Building Technologies, Inc. to install the Building Automation System (BAS). The existing Siemens APOGEE Building Automation System (BAS) was installed in accordance with the original construction plans and specifications. Siemens APOGEE Insight provides Human Machine Interface (HMI) through a graphical approach to manage, control, and monitor the BAS functions.

APOGEE Insight is a trademark of Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. and is proprietary. The BAS consists primarily of one APOGEE Insight server, one APOGEE Insight workstation, Siemens APOGEE BACnet PXCM/C field panels and Siemens Field Level Network (FLN) equipment controllers and expansion devices.

By definition a BAS is a computer-based control system designed to monitor and control all parameters of a HVAC/electrical systems, and is used to provide fire and life safety of occupants, to minimize energy and operational cost, and to control water conservation. A BAS is Direct Digital Control (DDC) based with functions distributed both physically and functionally over the field controllers. The DDC interface, with sensors, actuators and environmental control systems, carries out various functions of energy management, alarm detection, scheduling, communication interface/control, building maintenance, and report generation. These controllers are capable of functioning in a stand-alone mode; even when communication with the central control station is lost.

Common applications of a BAS include equipment scheduling (turning equipment on and off as required), optimum start and stop (turning heating and cooling equipment on in advance to ensure the building is at the required temperature during occupancy or non-occupancy hours), operator adjustment (accessing operator set-points that tune systems to changing conditions), monitoring (trending of temperature, energy use, equipment start and stop times, operator logon, etc.), alarm reporting (notifying the operator of equipment failures, out-of-limit temperature or pressure conditions, or the need for maintenance). BAS helps in conserving energy by executing various energy efficient programs for optimized performance of the systems and to assist the operation and maintenance of the building.

This order is necessary to avoid a break in service for this critical mission requirement.

Siemens Industries, Inc. via the local San Diego field office possesses the proprietary technology and associated diagnostic tools, the qualified service technicians and specialized capabilities required to perform this requirement.