QA - 36C24726Q0541 - Fire Alarm Sprinkler MR Responses.pdf

QA - 36C24726Q0541 - Fire Alarm and Sprinkler Testing Maintenance and Repair

1. Emergency Response Calls and Repairs / CLIN X003

The solicitation includes a recurring CLIN for “Emergency Response Calls and Repairs” in the base year and each option year. The Statement of Work also states that the contractor shall perform fire protection systems troubleshooting, repair, and service calls as requested up to CLIN X003.

Please clarify the Government’s expectation for this CLIN.

Specifically:

1. Is CLIN X003 intended to be a fixed annual allowance, a not-to-exceed repair line, or a fully burdened lump-sum service-call line?

A not-to exceed repair line

2. How many emergency response calls, routine service calls, or troubleshooting events should be assumed per contract year?

Estimate 10+

3. How many labor hours should be included under CLIN X003 before additional authorization is required?

Based on per hour labor rate and remaining funds in CLIN X003 for the particular option year

4. Are repair materials, replacement parts, rental equipment, lifts, permits, fire watch, or subcontractor costs expected to be included within CLIN X003, or will those be handled separately upon Government authorization?

Incurred costs to be billed against annual repair total.

5. Does the Government require a specific response time for emergency calls, such as two-hour, four-hour, same-day, next-business-day, or 24/7 response?

2-Hour response time

6. Are after-hours, weekend, or holiday response calls required under this CLIN?

Yes

7. If after-hours response is required, should offerors include after-hours premium labor in the CLIN X003 price?

Yes

8. Should routine service calls and emergency calls be priced the same way, or should they be treated separately?

Same

9. Will the Government issue individual task authorizations, service tickets, or COR approvals before repair work is performed under CLIN X003?

Yes. Absent emergency repairs

2. Fire Sprinkler System / Zone / Riser Counts

The solicitation requires wet/dry sprinkler inspections in accordance with applicable VHA, Joint Commission, and NFPA standards, including 5-year obstruction testing. The solicitation also requires semi-annual inspections of tampers and waterflow switches and quarterly supervisory signal testing, including control valves and high/low-pressure dry pipe systems.

The attached fire alarm inventory appears to identify fire alarm monitoring points such as waterflow switches, tamper switches, supervisory points, and pressure monitor points.

However, it does not appear to provide a complete sprinkler asset inventory by building, system, riser, zone, or standpipe.

Please provide or confirm the following fire sprinkler system quantities by building:

1. Number of wet sprinkler systems / risers.

There are 3 complete sprinkler systems. Bldgs A, B and C

2. Number of dry sprinkler systems / risers.

There are 4 dry pipe systems

3. Number of preaction systems, if any.

Zero. All pre-action systems previously installed have recently been completely removed from system.

4. Number of standpipe systems / risers.

5. Number of standpipe hose valve locations.

6. Number of fire department connections.

7. Number of backflow preventers.

8. Number of fire pumps.

9. Number of sectional control valves, floor control valves, and other sprinkler control valves.

10. Number of low-air, high-air, and supervisory pressure switches.

11. Number of systems requiring 5-year internal obstruction inspection during the base year.

If a separate sprinkler inspection report, riser list, hydraulic placard inventory, fire protection asset list, or building-by-building sprinkler inventory exists, please provide it to offerors.

3. Notification Appliance / Audio-Visual Device Count Reconciliation

The solicitation states that the contractor shall test all audio/visual devices and verify/document all 3,580 devices in the attached inventory. The fire alarm device report reviewed by our team appears to identify approximately 1,346 addressable fire alarm panel points and monitored/control points. This leaves a delta of approximately 2,234 devices when compared against the solicitation-stated 3,580-device inventory.

Our interpretation is that this delta likely represents notification appliances/audio-visual devices such as horns, strobes, horn/strobes, speakers, speaker/strobes, bells, or similar appliances that may not be individually shown as addressable points in the fire alarm panel export.

Please confirm whether this interpretation is correct.

This interpretation is correct.

If not, please provide a device inventory that reconciles the 3,580 total devices by device type and building, including but not limited to:

1. Fire alarm control panels.

2. Power supplies / transponders / NAC panels / amplifiers.

3. Pull stations.

4. Smoke detectors.

5. Heat detectors.

6. Duct detectors.

7. Monitor modules.

8. Relay/control modules.

9. Waterflow switches.

10. Tamper switches.

11. Pressure switches.

12. Notification appliances / audio-visual devices.

13. Clean agent system points.

14. Kitchen hood / suppression system points.

15. Elevators

16. Strobes

17. Speaker strobes

18. type (diesel or electric)?

19. Other fire protection system devices included in the 3,580-device total.

4. Clean Agent Systems

Remove this line item from solicitation. All Clean agent systems previously installed have been removed.

The price schedule references annual inspection of three clean agent systems. Please confirm the following:

1. Locations/buildings of the three clean agent systems.

2. Type of clean agent system at each location.

3. Whether full annual clean agent inspection/testing is required under this contract.

4. Whether releasing panel testing, abort switch testing, manual release testing, notification testing, room integrity review, cylinder inspection, and suppression system interface testing are included.

5. Whether any discharge testing, enclosure integrity testing, or special OEM/vendor support is required.

5. CLIN 0001 and CLIN 0004 both list 5-year standpipe inspections. Which CLIN should we put the money for the 5-year standpipe inspections under, or does it matter?

6. CLIN 0002, 1002, etc. call for fire sprinkler semi-annual, should we also include the money for the semi-annual clean agent inspection under this CLIN as clean agent systems require both an annual and a semi-annual inspection?

Remove Clean agent mention in line item from solicitation. All Clean agent systems previously installed have been removed.

7. Should we put the money for the semi-annual fire alarm test under CLIN 0002, 1002, etc?

Yes

8. CLIN 0003, 1003, etc. call for emergency response calls and repairs, will you be populating these CLINs with a set number?

Estimate calls and repairs number should be a Not-to Exceed $125,000 annually.

9. Which CLINs should we put the money for EP12, EP14, EP18, EP19, and EP20?

EPs 14 and 18 should not be included in this solicitation.

EP 12 should be 0004

EP19 and 20 should be 0001

10. CLIN 0001, 1001, etc. has a quantity of four, and CLIN 0002, 1002, etc. has a quantity of five. We conduct one annual test, two quarterlies, and one semi-annual test. Should CLIN 0001, 1001, etc be a quantity of one and CLIN 0002, 1002, etc. be a quantity of three?

0001, 1001 etc should be quantity 1

0002, 1002 etc should be quantity 4. 3 quarterly of EP1, 1 semi of EP2 with both being covered in Annual report

11. Number of buildings: 4 buildings, 5 Parking decks

12. Fire Alarm:

i. Number of Fire Alarm Control Panels: 1

1. Siemens throughout? Yes

2. Year of install(s)? 1990’s with updates up to and including 2026

ii. Is Monitoring covered in the contract? No

1. If so, how many monitoring points per location?

2. Is it one per building or one for each location (all panels report to a central location)?

13. Are Emergency/Exit Lights included in the contract? No If so how many are there?

14. Number of Fire Extinguishers:

15. CLIN# 0001: Confirming Annual Sprinkler and Fire Alarm Inspections per Joint Commission and NFPA, to include: 5-year Standpipe (all standpipes), Annual Sprinkler (all systems), Annual Fire Alarm (all systems), Annual Hydrant (all), Delete from solicitation:Annual Clean Agent (3 systems)

16. Noting services required references Elements of Performance:

a. Elements of Performance (EP) from Environment of Care (EC) EC.02.03.05 including:

i. What Pricing Item # covers the following highlighted EP’s in the RFP?

EP1, EP2, EP3, EP4, EP5, EP9, EP10, EP11, EP12, EP13, EP14, EP18, EP19, EP20, EP28

EP13, 14 and 18 should not part of this solicitation.

EP 19 and 20 should be priced in 0001, 1001 etc