36C24124Q0250.docx

SUBJECT*

VACT West Haven N&FS Preventive Maintenance Contract

GENERAL INFORMATION

SET-ASIDE

VAMC Manchester

718 Smyth Road Manchester NH 03104

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contract Specialist Nathan Langone Nathan.Langone@va.gov 603-340-0102

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

950 Campbell Ave

West Haven CT

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY’S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

Sources Sought Notice Sources Sought Notice

DESCRIPTION

Sources Sought Notice

This is a Sources Sought notice only. This is not a request for quotes and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. The Government will not provide any reimbursement for responses submitted in response to this Source Sought notice. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation.

If a solicitation is issued it shall be announced at a later date, and all interest parties must response to that solicitation announcement separately. Responses to this notice are not a request to be added to a prospective bidders list or to receive a copy of the solicitation The purpose of this announcement is to perform market research to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their size classification relative to NAICS 238220 (Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors) SBA size standard $19 million. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Network Contracting Office 1 (NCO 1) is seeking to identify any vendor capable of providing VAMC West Haven with regular equipment inspection, preventative maintenance, regular maintenance, and emergency repair services. Given that much of this equipment is specialized, this work must be performed by an authorized commercial vendor. This scope of work is to provide details related to a service contract to support this necessary work. The full SOW is attached below for reference.

This Sources Sought notice provides an opportunity for respondents to submit their capability and availability to provide the requirement described below. Vendors are encouraged to submit information relative to their capabilities to fulfill this requirement, in the form of a statement that addresses the specific requirement identified in this Sources Sought. Information received from this Sources Sought shall be utilized to facilitate the Contracting Officer’s review of the market base, for acquisition planning, size determination, and procurement strategy.

Submission Instructions: Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to perform the services are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by 17:00 EST, 01st of February 2024. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be emailed to Nathan.Langone@va.gov with Sources Sought # 36C24124Q0250 in the subject line. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

Interested parties should complete the attached Sources Sought Worksheet. Parties may submit additional information related to their capabilities, provided it contains all the requirements contained in the Sources Sought Worksheet. Responses to this Sources Sought shall not exceed 8 pages. In addition, all submissions should be provided electronically in a Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.

Attachment 1 Sources Sought Worksheet

QUALIFICATION INFORMATION:

Company / Institute Name: _______________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________ Phone Number: ________________________________________________________________ Point of Contact: _______________________________________________________________ E-mail Address: ________________________________________________________________ Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) #: ___________________________________________________ CAGE Code: __________________________________________________________________ SAM Registered: (Y / N) Other available contract vehicles applicable to this sources sought (GSA/FSS/NASA SEWP/ETC): __________________________________________________________________

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS:

VIP Verified SDVOSB: (Y / N) VIP Verified VOSB: (Y / N) 8(a): (Y / N) HUBZone: (Y / N) Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business: (Y / N) Women-Owned Small Business: (Y / N) Small Business: (Y / N) NOTE: Respondent claiming SDVOSB and VOSB status shall be registered and Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) verified in VetBiz Registry www.vetbiz.gov.

BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SDVOSB, VOSB, SMALL BUSINESSES OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT:

Provide a brief capability and interest in providing the service as listed in Attachment 2 Statement of Work with enough information to determine if your company can meet the requirement. The capabilities statement for this Sources Sought is not a Request for Quotation, Request for Proposal, or Invitation for Bid, nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach, but rather the Government is requesting a short statement regarding the company’s ability to provide the services outlined in the SOW. Any commercial brochures or currently existing marketing material may also be submitted with the capabilities statement. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government will not pay for information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation.

DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS

STATEMENT OF WORK

PM SERVICES- N&FS Equipment Preventative Maintenance/Inspection and Emergency Services

1.0 Introduction

To maintain safe and efficient inpatient Food Service operations, Nutrition & Food Service (N&FS) VA Connecticut requires regular equipment inspection, preventative maintenance, regular maintenance, and emergency repair services. Given that much of this equipment is specialized, this work must be performed by an authorized commercial vendor. This scope of work is to provide details related to a service contract to support this necessary work. This will be solicited as a base plus 3 potential option years.

2.0 Background

To meet FDA Food code, Serve Safe and VA National and employee safety requirements, N&FS equipment is required to function per manufacturer’s instructions. Given the complexity, expense and specificity of Food Service Operations equipment, any service agreement must include preventative maintenance to avoid costly and avoidable replacement. Preventative maintenance also minimizes the need for costly service and emergency calls. Specifically, the VHA Directive 1608 Comprehensive Environment of care program, and VHA Directive 1439 Food Service Management states that the equipment and components must be inspected, and maintained regularly to meet the facility efficiency, environmental and food safety requirements.

3.0 Scope

Contract includes full maintenance for the equipment listed in ATTACHMENT A (above), consisting of scheduled preventive maintenance (PM), inspections and periodic testing, corrective call back service for operational problems not successfully preempted by PM, corrective service for problems identified during inspections, and 24-hour 7-day per week after-hours emergency call back service.

Contractor shall provide all resources required in performing these maintenance services and inspections, including parts, materials, lubricants, fluids, cleaning fluids, equipment, tools, shipping, travel, and labor. Contractor is responsible to determine the nature and extent of any work required restoring equipment to satisfactory condition and operation, as determined by Veteran Affairs Healthcare Facility Management and Nutrition & Food Service. All equipment operations, tests, maintenance, alterations, and repairs performed under this contract shall comply and be in accordance with manufacturer guidelines and/or the following industry standards, as applicable, whichever is more stringent.

The vendor shall provide on-call services to include labor costs, unlimited service calls, semi-steam boiler descaling. The vendor will be able to respond to issues within six (6) hours. Vendor will conduct throughout inspection and shall provide to Nutrition and Food Service a detailed quote to include parts, labor cost supply minor parts and materials as needed for necessary upgrades, replacement, and repairs. During each visit the vendor shall perform inspection of the equipment, components, filters and must provide to Nutrition & Food Service a complete inspection report within 48 hrs. Monitoring should include, but not limited to filter cartridge, repair parts, temperature monitoring. The vendor shall provide action and services to ensure and correct any issue from the inspection/monitoring that is out of spec for the requirement according to the service contract.

4.0 ACCEPTANCES OF EXISTING EQUIPMENT:

a) In accordance with standard kitchen equipment industry practice this is a full maintenance contract. The Contractor shall, inspect, maintain, repair, test all the kitchen equipment.

b) The Contractor will accept all Nutrition & Food Service kitchen equipment "as is". All repairs shall be the Contractor’s sole responsibility.

5.0 PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

Definition. "Preventive Maintenance (PM) is regularly scheduled work on the kitchen equipment(s) that the Contractor must do to accomplish the following:

1. Ensure their safe, reliable, and continued operation.

2. Prevent breakdowns due to worn parts.

3. Maintain equipment above the point where deterioration begins.

4. Preventative maintenance service shall include, but is not limited to:

a) “Corrective and Preventative Maintenance Checklist” shall be provided for each equipment inspected. Scheduled service includes, but is not limited to, items on attached PM check charts. During all PM service, any specific device cleaning, lubrication, adjustment, or part replacement, which is performed, shall be indicated on an accompanying service report.

b) Each contract year, all items that rely on cleaning, lubrication, or routine part replacement shall receive such service at least once as indicated by service report. Failure to provide that report may result in non-payment until such time as they are presented

c) The vendor shall submit the inspection report and preventative maintenance checklists to the N&FS department and Facility Maintenance Service (FMS) via email within 48 hours after work completion.

d) The vendor shall submit technician certification/licensure prior to work start. Copies of these are also to be submitted with the completed checklists.

e) Vendor shall submit all necessary safety plans to include, but not limited to; equipment specific Lock-Out Tag Out procedures, Electrical Safety, plan and SDS for any chemicals used to the Contracting Officer representative (COR) for approval prior to working at the Medical Center.

f) Vendor shall schedule all site visits, to include emergencies, with the COR.

g) Vendor shall furnish authentic parts from the equipment manufacturer and the recommendation from the operational manual. The determination of when to replace parts is at the recommendation of the technician, with the COR’s concurrence. Additional service charges may be incurred to install parts during scheduled inspections or callbacks as specified in this agreement. Any additional service required will need to take place on an alternate day after review and approval of scope of work by NFS and FMS services.

h) Vendor shall operate on the premises during the hours of 0700 and 1630, unless otherwise authorized by the COR.

i) Work sites shall be left in the same manner of cleanliness and order in which they were found. Vendor will provide their own waste disposal, if any.

j) All vendor technicians performing work on site must report to Facility Service in Building 15 to the contractor badge check in/out room to sign in on the contractor log and get a “Contractor” badge. Badges must be returned, and log signed out prior to departing the premises. Vendor shall then coordinate with the COR prior to performing their work.

k) Personnel must always wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) (Per recommend guidance of the Medical Center) Work done under this project must comply with infection control requirements.

l) The contractor shall receive all deliveries of materials, equipment, tools, or other goods off station, and bring them to the job site. The West Haven VA Connecticut shall not accept deliveries for project purposes.

6.0. SERVICE CALLS:

a) A "Service Call" is a report of an equipment malfunction made by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) or designated building occupants and the Contractor' s subsequent response to and correction of the problem.

b) Whenever called by the COR or his designee (seven days per week, 24 hours per day) the Contractor shall respond promptly. In no case may the arrival time exceed that listed in the contract.

c) For each service call the Contractor shall provide to the COR documentation that contains the following minimum information:

1. A description of the problem.

2. The location of the problem.

3. A description of the action taken to resolve the problem.

4. The time and date corrective action was completed.

5. The name of the person, or persons, who corrected the problem.

7.0 SCHEDULE:

a) Not later than ten (10) working days after contract start date the Contractor shall submit to COR for approval an annual work schedule designed to meet the requirement. A simple schedule indicating, for example, "the technician will be in a particular building the first Tuesday of every month" will be sufficient. The Contractor does not have to indicate what work will be done. The purpose is to let the Building Manager and the COR know when to expect the technician.

b) PM shall be performed during normal business hours at times convenient to VA, with quarterly PM being conducted according to a pre-arranged recurring schedule that must be approved by the VA prior to contract start date.

d) After Hours No after hour work will be performed on any equipment unless the malfunction inhibits operation or appears to make the unit unsafe.

e) Recording Presence. Each contract employee must sign in at building 15 when entering the premises and state the purpose of the visit (for example, scheduled maintenance, service call or repairs) and sign out when leaving the building. Upon completion of service the Contractor shall report to the Engineering Officer or designee.

9.0 CONTRACTOR CONDUCT:

a) All persons furnished by the Contractor, including subcontractors, are the sole responsibilities of the Contractor. The Contractor shall be responsible for their compliance with all laws, rules and regulations and conduct at the respective medical centers.

b) Contractor shall always, and all cases be treated as an independent contractor solely, and not as an employee of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Contractor shall not accrue any employee benefits from the VABHS, including but not limited to, insurance, workmen's compensation, vacation pay, sick pay or holiday day. Contractor shall assume full responsibility for all state and Federal withholding taxes, FICA and all other tax payments which may become payable on account of any payment or services rendered pursuant thereto. VACT shall not be liable to Contractor, its agents, and employees for damages or injuries.

10. PERFORMANCE STANDARD:

a) Records regarding downtime will be kept by the COR and the maintenance Contractor.

Equipment downtime is calculated only from those normal hours of coverage that the scheduled equipment is not fully operational. Downtime will begin when the Contractor is required to be on site (see Call Back Service on-site requirement) after notification by the CO, COR, or designee. Downtime will accumulate until the scheduled equipment is returned to full and usual operation and accepted as such by the Contracting Officer, COR, or designee. This does not include scheduled maintenance for PM purposes or refusal of access to the equipment by the VA.

11. CONTRACT CLOSEOUT INSPECTION:

a) No later than two (2) months before the expiration of the contract period of performance a joint inspection of all equipment will be made by the Contractor and Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) or designee.

b) The COR will prepare an Existing Deficiency Report that lists the deficiencies found. All defective parts mutually found during this inspection will be replaced within thirty (30) days, except for parts requiring purchase and delivery, these parts shall be replaced within sixty (60) days.

c) The Contracting Officer may take deductions from moneys due the Contractor for any deficiency that remains uncorrected when this contract expires. Such deductions will be based upon the cost to the Government of having the deficiencies corrected by other means.

d) The Contractor may dispute the Contracting Officer's decision concerning responsibility for deficiencies and file a claim under the "Disputes Clause" of this contract. However, pending a resolution the Contractor shall perform the work.

12. DEFINITIONS/ACRONYMS:

CO - Contracting Officer is a person with the authority to enter, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings.

COR - Contracting Officer's Representative

Preventive Maintenance Inspection - Services that are periodic in nature and are required to maintain the equipment in such condition that it may be operated with minimal incidence of malfunction or inoperative conditions.

Normal business hours are 7:00A.M. to 7:30 P.M., Monday through Friday excluding federal holidays.

Federal Holidays Observed by the VA Connecticut New Year's Day Martin Luther King Day Presidents' Day Memorial Day Juneteenth Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans' Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day

Emergency Service- Services/repairs to be performed (excluding regularly scheduled inspections, maintenance, and repairs) upon Government notification 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Response Time- refers to the physical presence of a qualified service technician/mechanic on site to perform repairs within stipulated time frames within the contract.

Service Report I Job Ticket I Vendor Engineering Service Report. A documentation of the services rendered for each incidence of work performance under the terms

See attached document: VA West Haven comm Kitchen propo equip.