AMENDMENT_0002-Q__A_SOLICITATION_1333ND19QNB640500_8-26-19_FINAL.pdf

AMENDMENT 0001 - SOLICITATION 1333ND19QNB640500

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO - SOLICITATION 1333ND19QNB640500

Reference Document & Location

Vendor Question

Q1. Section II. Scope of Work, page 5

“The required equipment is specifically designed for high resolution mass spectrometric measurements” Vendor Question: Typically, the wording, “high resolution mass spectrometric” refers to an accurate mass instrument, not nominal mass. Based on the solicitation wording in the specifications, a nominal mass, triple quad MS system is required. Can you confirm this?

A1. A normal mass triple quad mass spectrometer is what is needed.

See revised specification in Scope of Requirements, Section II – Scope of Work.

Q2. Section III.

Specifications, Part Number/Equipment, “5032309 BENCH PEAK MS TABLE 1B”

Vendor Question: This looks like it is a nitrogen generator/table combination specific for Sciex instrumentation. Would it be acceptable to quote a table to fit our MS system and a nitrogen generator separately?

A2. . This is a Brand name or Equal solicitation, see specification in Scope of Requirements, Section III Specifications - The Contractor shall provide the following AB Sciex branded equipment or equal, No nitrogen generator was in original SOW, the table can be a general table that supports mass spec and storage of rough pumps.

Q3. Section III.

Specifications, Instrument Description, page 6

“a. Total concentration of 4ng/L for 5 compounds of PFOA/PFOS in water > 50” Vendor Question: This specification was a little bit confusing, could you please clarify? What are the units on the > 50? Also, does the “total concentration of 4ng/L for 5 compounds of PFOA/PFOS in water” mean the sum of those 5 compounds and what specific compounds in addition to PFOS and PFOA?

A3. Yes the sum of 5 compounds of PFOA/PFOS in drinking water needs to be <= 4ng/L. See revised specification in Scope of Requirements;

Section III Specifications in table Instrument Description & Specification “a.”

Q4. Section III.

Instrument Description, page 6

“m. Scan functions” Vendor Question: I think some are specific to Sciex instrumentation, but are all of these scan functions required for the applications of interest?

A4. .

This is a Brand name or Equal solicitation, see specification in Scope of Requirements, Section III Specifications - The Contractor shall provide the following AB Sciex branded equipment or equal, not all scans are needed.

Q5. Section III.

Instrument Description, page 6

“n. Calibration Range (ng/L) for PFOA/PFOS in Water: 1-200

o. Linear Correlation for PFOA/PFOS in water > 0.999

p. S/N of 1ng/L of PFOA/PFOS in water >50

q. Accuracy of 1ng/L of PFOA/PFOS in water >95%” Vendor Question: For these specifications, is SPE desired or large volume direct injection?

A5. SPE yes, large volume direct injection no

Q6. Section IV. Delivery, “…one (1) basic user training session for up to six (6) users at NIST.”

Vendor Question: How many days should this user training be for? Is this only instrument familiarization or advanced application specific training to help set up a method for PFOS and PFOA required as well?

A6. Training should be for a minimum of 6 users and for a minimum of 2 days for familiarization of instrument, software and running of samples at NIST 331 Fort Johnson Road, Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston SC, 29412. See revised description in Scope of Requirements; Section IV Delivery.

Q7. Section V. Delivery and Installation Instructions, Page 7

“c. Installation shall be completed at time of delivery.”

Vendor Question: Can you clarify installation? Does that mean full installation or unboxing of the instrument and stacking it on the bench? If the site is not physically ready (e.g. electrical, space, and ventilation) for full installation at the time of delivery, what should be done?

A7. Site is physically ready, instrument is to be unboxed, installed in laboratory, all instrument gases hooked up and plugged into electrical outlets. All gas, electrical and location ready for instrument.

Q8. Section VI. Testing and Acceptance, “The Government shall supply the PFOA and PFOS samples to be analyzed during acceptance testing. The Contractor shall run the analyses demonstrating performance.”

Vendor Question: Will these be samples or standards? If samples, then please provide the details of these samples (i.e. matrix, concentration, et).

A8. Standards

Q9. You state in section II under SCOPE OF WORK that:

NIST requires a triple quad mass spectrometer (MS/MS) with an ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatograph used for low end exposure science, hormone measurement, plastic marine debris, proteins, per and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances, and persistent organic contaminants. The instrument shall be able to reproducibly generate high resolution and high-quality MS and MS/MS with fragmentation with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) to accurately identify unknown analytes in complex matrices. This instrument shall also give reproducible quantitative results compared to other MS/MS instruments. Under Scan functions you have a requirement for Full scan MS and selected ions for both Q1 and Q3, Product Ion Scan, Precursor Ion Scan, Neutral Loss or Gain Scan, MRM, sMRM, Enhanced Product Ion Scan, Enhanced Resolution Scan, MS^3 and MRM^3 scans.

Enhanced Product Ion Scan, Enhanced Resolution Scan, MS^3 and MRM^3 scans are all scans that relate to an ion trap or a QTRAP not a triple quad mass spectrometer. We request that references to these scans be removed from the bid as they do not relate to a triple quad mass spectrometer and would not allow reproducible quantitative results compared to other MS/MS instruments which is a requirement of the RFQ.

A9. This text ”Enhanced Product Ion Scan, Enhanced Resolution Scan, MS^3 and MRM^3 scans.” will be removed in SOW in specifications, see revised SOW.

Q10. You discussed software licenses in the RFQ. Should the license for software be valid for the lifetime of the instrument?

A10. Yes license should be valid for lifetime of the instrument

Q11. Does NIST have a preference for purchasing a Triple Quad Mass Spectrometry Instrument with an Ultrahigh Pressure Liquid Chromatograph which is manufactured in the United States of America?

A11. The Buy American Act and other applicable clauses apply to the acquisition however a product manufactured outside the US may be considered under certain circumstances.

Q12. You state that the bidder must provide Unlimited telephone and e-mail support for questions regarding operations during regular business hours. The telephone support shall include response to questions about operating practices, application use, and service issues that can be diagnosed and resolved over the telephone; can you please confirm that this should be provided at no extra charge for the lifetime of the instrument?

A12. The identified support shall be provided for the life of the instrument

Q13. NIST requires one (1) basic user training session for up to six (6) users at NIST. How many days of training should be included? Can you please confirm that this training should be offered at no extra charge?

A13. See answer to question 6

Q14. Does NIST require onsite trouble shooting/technical support and if so how many days should be included?

A14. Yes any onsite trouble shooting/technical support under this requirement would be IAW warranty terms.

Q15. Does NIST have a preference for a triple quad mass spectrometer (MS/MS) with an ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatograph which is manufactured, sold, and serviced by the same manufacturer to eliminate any possibility of one manufacturer stating it is the others problem?

A15. Any proposed equipment must meet the Government requirements as stated in the specifications.

Q16. The language, “Ultrahigh Pressure Liquid Chromatography” is used throughout the bid, yet the example product that is given is the Agilent 1260 which is considered by most to be a mid-level chromatography system with back pressure ratings in the range of 9,000-10,000 psi.

UHPLC systems are closer to 18,000 psi back pressure rating. There is a significant price difference between the mid-level and the UHPLC systems. Can you provide specifications for the LC system so that we can provide the equal/equivalent system?

A16. A HPLC with back pressure limit of > 8000 psi and wording was revised on SOR and SOW.

Q17. Is NIST planning on using a published EPA or AOAC method for the analysis of PFOA/PFOS? If so, which method and what kind of water would be analyzed? Waste water? Drinking water?

A17. NIST Methods only and drinking water to be analyzed.

For the purposes of providing test results documenting the capabilities of their equipment to measure the compounds of interest:

Q18. a. Are we only to measure the specific compounds PFOA and PFOS for the purposes of this bid?

A18. OEM Compounds are needed to validate the install and calibration of instrument and also PFOA/PFOS have to be tested to meet are specifications in SOR.

Q19. b. Is the presented concentration range to be the concentration/amount of material on column? And the analysis should be used with a column as opposed to flow injection or some other type of method that does not utilize a column?

A19. Concentration on column and analysis needs to be with a column.

Q20. c. “In Water”-does this mean in clean water? Drinking water?

Waste water? For the purposes of this bid?

A20. Drinking Water

Q21. d. What sample prep is being used? In the current EPA methods, solid phase extraction (SPE) is used. Can you specify how to prepare the sample for the purposes of this bid?

A21 NIST sample prep method with SPE

Q22 For the purposes providing equal products-under the warranty information, the bid states that the contractor shall provide a minimum of two (2) preventative maintenance visits. Are these to be free of charge? Are both PM visits to take place within the 1 year warranty period? Or, shall they take place at the end of year 1 and the end of year 2?

A22 PMs included with price of instrument and warranty period.

Q23 Many vendors use the term “preventative maintenance visit” very differently and offer various options for preventative maintenance coverage. Can you please specify what is to be included in the PM visit? Changing of consumables? Cleaning of instrument only? Does the customer or the contractor provide the parts?

A23 PMs will include what the OEM instrument manufacturer specifies for a said PM, this will includes changing of consumable, cleaning instrument and calibration/validation of operation before and after PM, with the contractor providing all parts needed for PM.

Q24 If we offer a service contract that is equivalent in price to 2 PREMIUM PM visits, but it is a total of 3 Years of Warranty, plus two PREMIUM PM VISITS, where all consumable parts are replaced, shall we quote this as an option on the quote to avoid being penalized if the price is higher, but it is a more thorough and better value service contract?

A24 Two PMs per year are the requirement and are not optional.

Q25 Under this section: section 2 (For the purpose of Past Performance) For this section are you looking for other labs that can verify the performance of the equipment for the same application (PFOS/PFOA)? Such as private or public labs that can be contacted as a reference to verify the past performance of the equipment?

A25 Yes, documentation would need to be provided.

Q26 We have just recently released a new version of the SCIEX 5500 called the 5500+. Can we submit 2 proposals for this RFQ? One with the 5500 Classic and one with the new 5500+?

A26 Yes, submission of multiple quotations is allowable, each quotation will be evaluated on its own merits.