Revised_SOW_04.29.2022.pdf

B.3 SCOPE OF WORK (SOW)

This requirement is for Subscription satellite/cable television subscription services at the Buffalo VA Medical Center 3495 Bailey Avenue Buffalo, NY 14215 and Batavia VA Medical Center 222 Richmond Avenue Batavia, NY 14020. The period of performance shall be from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 with the provision of four (4) option years.

II. GENERAL:

1. The Contractor shall provide all parts, new equipment, materials, labor, supervision, test equipment, maintenance service, technical manuals, and transportation necessary to install equipment and provide and maintain satellite television programming subscription services.

2. The satellite/cable TV signal shall be continuous, non-interrupted, with High Definition (HD) viewing quality.

3. Monthly service costs shall be based on a minimum of 315 cable drops for the Buffalo VA Medical Center and approximately 125 cable drops for the Batavia VA Medical Center.

4. The number of cable-drops in corresponding systems are subject to change at any time for the duration of the contract. Additional cable drops above the initial quantities shall be added through a modification to the contract and shall have the same cost per drop as the existing cable drops noted within the contract. The VA may relocate existing drops no longer in use.

5. No government equipment shall be provided under this contract except the connection point to the TV distribution system and electricity service/connection.

6. It is the desire of the Government for the vendor to maintain ownership and maintenance all equipment that is installed to provide TV service under this contract.

7. Tasks applicable to both facilities include the following:

a. If Satellite Television is the chosen media, the newest model of satellite dish being utilized shall be installed in the following manner:

i. Contractor shall ensure all satellite dishes are properly orientated to ensure optimal signal strength is achieved.

ii. Contractor shall ensure the mounted satellite dish assembly will survive winds up to

125 MPH.

iii. Contractor shall ensure all roof mounted penetrations are properly flashed and sealed to prevent water migration into the building.

iv. Contractor shall ensure satellite mast assembly is properly bonded to building steel with minimum size #6 AWG copper wire for lightning protection and clearly marked.

➢ Do not “mix grounds” of different systems. Do not use electrical system conductors for ground.

b. Regardless of the chosen media (Satellite or Cable) and upon commissioning of the new system, the existing Television satellite dishes shall be removed and handed to VAMC Electrical staff, to ensure ownership with current contractor is retained.

c. Contractor shall install new feed cables from the service entrance origin (Satellite Dish or Street) to the Television Distribution Room (TVDR) in continuous pulls; no splitters or splices shall be used in this process.

i. Contractor shall use RG-11 or 13 mm (1/2 inch) hardline coaxial cable for runs more than 150 FT in length.

d. Any penetrations made to exterior walls will be discrete and pre-approved by the facility. All penetrations through the building envelope shall be properly sealed to prevent moisture migration into the building.

e. Transmission cables: shall be double shielded and adequate for transporting High- Definition Television (HDTV) services.

f. From entry into the building, until inside the TVDR, all feed cables must be run inside conduit supplied and installed by VAMC staff.

g. Equipment racks with ample room for future upgrades shall be supplied by the contractor and utilized wherever possible.

i. Contractor shall follow the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding ventilation space between equipment for cooling. Provide vent panels and cooling fans for operation of equipment within OEM specified temperature limits.

➢ The VA has purchased a climate-controlled rack for the Buffalo facility, and the rack room is air conditioned at the Batavia facility

i. Contractor shall terminate field wiring entering equipment racks as follows:

➢ Provide ample service loops at harness breakouts and at plates, panels, and equipment. Loops must be of length to allow plates, panels, and equipment to be removed for service and inspection.

➢ Where terminal blocks are not designed for rack mounting, utilize aluminum or plywood plates as a mounting surface. Terminal blocks should not be mounted on bottom of rack.

➢ Employ permanent strain relief for any cable with an outside diameter of 1 IN.

or greater.

i. When multiple pieces of equipment reside in the same rack group, contractor shall label each piece indicating the room, channel, etc... they correspond to.

h. All equipment and corresponding cables shall be labeled and installed in a neat, organized manner with ease of maintenance and repairs taken into consideration.

i. All components shall be installed neatly, plumb, and square in a manner consistent with standard industry practices.

j. Equipment shall be installed according to OEM’s recommendations. Provide any hardware, adaptors, brackets, rack mount kits or other accessories recommended by

OEM for correct assembly and installation.

k. Contractor shall ensure each piece of OEM equipment has a permanently attached NRTL label indicating what service the equipment is to perform. Equipment not bearing NRTL marks will not be permitted as part of the system.

l. Contractor shall provide HD signal over the current COAX tv cable drops through the utilization of VECOAX Blade, NXG Platform, or similar device that does not require replacement of the existing cable drop infrastructure.

m. All receivers shall be plugged into individually switched power supplies using a Tripp Lite model number TLP76MSG or similar device.

n. In areas of the system where conduit is not utilized, all cables shall be installed in a professional workman like manner and supported on maximum 4 FT. centers.

i. Do not lay cables on top of luminaries, ceiling tiles, mechanical equipment, or ductwork. Maintain a minimum clearance of 2 FT. from shielded electrical apparatus.

ii. Install cable without passing through structural members or in contact with pipes, ducts, or other potentially damaging items.

iii. After cable pulling is complete, do not leave cable lying on floor. Cable shall be bundled and secured with cable ties until ready to terminate.

iv. Terminate ends of cables on both ends, per industry and OEM’s recommendation.

o. All cable installed by the contractor for this service will forever become Government owed property.

p. All cables must be clearly labeled with individual markings on machine printed labels covered with a clear protective wrap at all termination points.

q. All equipment installed shall be bonded to building steel, these bonds shall be visible and clearly marked.

r. Upon completion of system installation, contractor shall supply wiring diagrams of the HDTV distribution system with tested measurement levels needed to maintain.

s. Should any contractor owned system component fail, the contractor is required to be on site for service within six (6) hours of initial contact. If replacement components are required, the contractor shall be responsible to supply all necessary replacement parts within 72 hours of notification at no cost to the government except for damage caused by negligence or abuse.

t. All replacement parts supplied or installed shall be new or certified reconditioned by the manufacturer.

u. For each type of power supply utilized on the system, the contractor shall at all times have one (1) spare on site.

v. If adjustable frequency modulators are utilized, the contractor shall at all times have four (4) spare modulators on site.

w. If fixed frequency modulators are utilized, the contractor shall at all times have one (1) spare modulator for each frequency used in the system on site.

III. SCHEDULE:

1. Installation shall be fully operational NLT July 1, 2022.

2. All work shall be performed during normal business hours Monday – Friday from 7:00 AM – 3:30

PM, excluding federal holidays, except for unscheduled service calls. Any adjustments to this schedule must be coordinated in advance with the COR.

3. No work should be planned on federal holidays. Current federal holidays shall be defined as: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

4. All work activities are not to interfere with patient and/or staff. The Medical Center must maintain its operation 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Therefore, any interruption in service must be scheduled and coordinated with the COR to ensure that no lapses in operation occur.

IV. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS:

1. The Contractor shall maintain any mandatory NYS licenses to provide satellite and/or cable television services and create and maintain television distribution systems in the state of New York.

2. Contractor’s staff shall include a "fully qualified" Field Service Representative assigned to the local area and a "fully qualified" Field Service Representative who shall serve as the backup.

3. “Fully qualified" is based upon training and on experience in the field. For training, the Field Service Representatives must have successfully completed (in-house, or external) training by vendor as field service engineer. For field experience, the Field Service Engineers must have a minimum of one (1) year of experience providing preventive maintenance and emergency repair services on the same make and model of equipment covered under this contract.

V. SITE-SPECIFIC TASKS:

1. Satellite/Cable Service Installation Buffalo VAMC

a. The VAMC Buffalo has a new location where all Television distribution equipment shall be installed.

b. Contractor shall provide and install all necessary parts and equipment including, but not limited to; satellite dishes, connection cables, receivers, modulators, main splitters, and power supplies required to supply HD television service to all 315 cable drops covered by this contract, and in accordance with the industry standard.

c. The VAMC Buffalo Electrical Shop will connect the main splitters installed by the contractor to the facility’s cable drop hub with patch cord, as the existing homeruns will be replaced by VAMC staff as time permits.

2. Satellite/Cable Service Installation Batavia VAMC

a. At this time, the VAMC Batavia is unsure if the facility’s TV distribution equipment will be relocated. This information will be provided during the initial site visit with potential contractors.

b. Contractor shall provide and install all necessary parts & equipment including, but not limited to; satellite dishes, connection cables, receivers, modulators, main splitters, and power supplies required to supply HD television service to all 125 cable drops covered by this contract, and in accordance with the Conformance Standards.

c. Contractor shall make all connections from the newly installed main splitters to the facility’s cable drop hub with contractor supplied cable.

3. Television Channels provided to Buffalo VAMC:

a. Contractor shall create an onscreen channel guide specific to the Buffalo VAMC television channels and integrate it into the network.

b. The Contractor shall integrate six (6) existing Buffalo VAMC in-house channels for patient information into the network.

c. The in-house channels are required to remain in their current channel positions.

d. Contractor shall provide a channel package that at a minimum contains the following

Television Stations to the Buffalo VAMC.

Buffalo VAMC Television Stations

Channel Description Channel Description

2 WGRZ-NBC 33 TV Land

3 True TV 34 E! Entertainment TV

4 WIVB-CBS 35 A&E

5 WNYO 36 History Channel

6 VA Broadcast 37 GSN-Game Show Network

Buffalo VAMC Television Stations

7 WKBW-ABC 38 TLC

8 VA Broadcast 39 WE-Women's Entertainment

9 ION TV 40 TBS

10 WUTV-FOX 41 Nat Geo

11 ABC Family 42 CNN

12 VA Broadcast 43 CNN-Headline News

13 FOX News 44 Lifetime

14 VA Broadcast 45 TNT

15 AHC-American Heroes 46 The Weather Channel

16 SYFY 47 ID-Investigation Discovery

17 WNED-PBS 48 CNBC

18 Paramount Network 49 TCM-Turner Classic Movies

19 CMT 50 YES Network

20 AMC 51 MSG-Madison Square Garden

21 Discovery Channel 52 Buffalo Sabres Games

22 FX 53 SNY-Sports New York

23 WNLO 54 ESPN

24 VA Broadcast 55 ESPN 2

30 VA Broadcast 56 ESPN News

31 MSNBC 57 ESPN Alt.

32 USA

4. Television Channels provided to Batavia VAMC:

a. The Contractor shall integrate nine (9) existing Batavia VAMC in-house channels for patient information into the network.

b. The in-house channels are required to remain in their current channel positions.

c. Contractor shall provide a channel package that at a minimum contains the following

Television Stations to the Batavia VAMC.

Batavia VAMC Television Stations

2 WGRZ-NBC 29 MSNBC

3 VA Broadcast 30 USA

4 WIVB-CBS 31 TV Land

5 WNYO 32 E! Entertainment TV

6 VA Broadcast 33 A&E

7 WKBW-ABC 34 History Channel

8 WNED-PBS 35 GSN-Game Show Network

9 ION TV 36 TLC

10 WUTV-FOX 37 WE-Women's Entertainment

11 VA Broadcast 38 TBS

12 VA Broadcast 39 Nat Geo

Batavia VAMC Television Stations

13 VA Broadcast 40 CNN

14 VA Broadcast 41 CNN-Headline News

15 VA Broadcast 42 Lifetime

16 VA Broadcast 43 TNT

17 VA Broadcast 44 The Weather Channel

18 ABC Family 45 ID-Investigation Discovery

19 True TV 46 CNBC

20 FOX News 47 TCM-Turner Classic Movies

21 AHC-American Heroes 48 YES Network

22 SYFY 49 MSG-Madison Square Garden

23 WNLO 50 Buffalo Sabres Games

24 Paramount Network 51 SNY-Sports New York

25 CMT 52 ESPN

26 AMC 53 ESPN 2

27 Discovery Channel 54 ESPN Classic

28 FX 55 ESPN News

VI. SAFETY:

1. General Requirements:

a. In the performance of this contract, the contractor shall take such safety precautions as the

Contracting Officer may determine to be reasonably necessary to protect the lives and health of occupants of the building.

b. The Contracting Officer or designee shall notify the Contractor of any safety issues and the action necessary to correct the issues. Such Notice, when served to the Contractor or their representative at the work site shall be deemed sufficient for the corrective actions to be taken.

c. If the Contractor fails or refuses to comply promptly with notified safety deficiencies, the Contracting Officer may issue an order stopping all or part of the work and hold the Contractor in default.

d. No tools or equipment shall be left unattended.

e. All work areas must be clean at the close of the day and shall be left in the same condition as before work started.

2. VHA SUPPLEMENTAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR ENSURING ADEQUATE COVID-19 SAFETY

PROTOCOLS FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS:

A. Contractor employees who work in or travel to VHA locations must comply with the following:

a. Documentation requirements:

1) If fully vaccinated, shall show proof of vaccination

i. NOTE: Acceptable proof of vaccination includes a signed record of immunization from a health care provider or pharmacy, a copy of the COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card (CDC

Form MLS-319813_r, published on September 3, 2020), or a copy of medical records documenting the vaccination

2) If unvaccinated and granted a medical or religious exception, shall show negative COVID-19 test results dated within three calendar days prior to desired entry date. Test must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use or full approval. This includes tests available by a doctor’s order or an FDA approved over-the-counter test.

3) Documentation cited in this section shall be digitally or physically maintained on each contractor employee while in a VA facility and is subject to inspection prior to entry to VA facilities and after entry for spot inspections by Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) or other hospital personnel.

4) Documentation will not be collected by the VA; contractors shall, at all times, adhere to and ensure compliance with federal laws designed to protect contractor employee health information and personally identifiable information.

B. Contractor employees are subject to daily screening for COVID-19 and may be denied entry to

VA facilities if they fail to pass screening protocols. As part of the screening process contractors may be asked screening questions found on the following website:

a. COVID-19 Screening Tool*. Regularly check the website for updates.

b. Contractor employees who work away from VA locations, but who will have direct patient contact with VA patients shall self-screen utilizing the COVID-19 Screening Tool *, in advance each day that they will have direct patient contact and in accordance with their person or persons who coordinate COVID-19 workplace safety efforts at covered contractor workplaces. Contractors shall, at all times, adhere to and ensure compliance with federal laws designed to protect contractor employee health information and personally identifiable information.

*COVID-19 Screening tool can be found at:

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.va.gov%2Fcovi d19screen%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C180e5dd7385a45f5f9d008d98dcf9308%7Ce95f1b23 abaf45ee821db7ab251ab3bf%7C0%7C0%7C637696745071149070%7CUnknown%7CTWFpb GZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1 000&sdata=%2FbW28TlpVPgfBCmIs3K40g53HTGV0AKJmyKUDrl%2BMcg%3D&reserved=0

C. Contractor must immediately notify their COR or Contracting Officer if contract performance is jeopardized due to contractor employees being denied entry into VA Facilities.”

VIII. POST AWARD:

1. The contractor shall coordinate with current television service vendor as to the turnover schedule.

Note: Current vendor shall be disclosed at time of award and not anytime sooner, even if questioned during solicitation.

2. Contractor will be responsible to transition the service without disruption by working with the current vendor.

3. Contractor shall provide detailed plans for this transaction during the solicitation as part of their quote package.

4. New service is required to be fully operational no later than (NLT) July 1st, 2022.

IX. RISK CONTROL:

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The Contractor shall obtain all necessary licenses and/or permits to perform this work. Contractor shall take all precautions necessary to protect persons and property from injury or damage during performance of this contract. Contractor shall be responsible for any injury to any contractor representative, or others, as well as for any damage to personal or public property that occurs during the performance of this contract that is caused by the contractor’s fault or negligence.

X. CONFORMANCE STANDARDS:

All services provided under the contract shall be performed in conformance with National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-Hour for on-site technicians and 30-hour for supervisors. Original Equipment Manufacturer standards and specifications and the Federal Communications Commission regulations pertaining to television broadcast and receiving requirements.

1. At all times, work shall be performed in compliance with industry standards and the manufacturer's commercial practices.

2. The telecommunications act of 1996 shall be adhered to during the performance of this purchase order.

XI. VA INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA:

COR or designee will verify that the equipment is working within manufacturer’s specifications after completion of service or repair.

XII. QUALITY ASSURANCE:

The Government may inspect each task as completed. The contractor shall be notified within 3 duty days of unacceptable service. The contractor shall re-perform service within 15 duty days of notification of unacceptable service

XIII. SECURITY:

All contractor employees are subject to the same level of investigation as VA employees who have access to VA facilities. Security and badging process to be determined by COR.