70RSAT24RFI000003 (RSLF-24-00017) - NBACC Expansion RFI - 20231206.pdf

Request for Information #70RSAT24RFI000003

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Office of National Laboratories

National Biodefense Analysis & Countermeasures Centers (NBACC) Expansion Pre-Conceptual Design

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and market research planning purposes. This RFI shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals (RFQ or RFP). No solicitation document exists, and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of the responses received to this RFI.

To facilitate market research, the Government seeks qualified sources under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541330 – Engineering Services. The Government encourages responses from all interested, capable sources including small business concerns (i.e., 8(a) certified concerns, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) concerns, Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) concerns. “Small business” is defined based on the size standard associated with the NAICS code. For more information, visit: https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards, and check your business size using the SBA Size Standards Tool (https://www.sba.gov/sizestandards/index.html).

The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. All costs incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation. Any information submitted by respondents is voluntary but may be used by the Government to inform its acquisition strategy.

The information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or sensitive information.

The Government’s explicit intent, in this request for information, is to not receive from respondents any proprietary data, trade secrets, business sensitive information, or information considered CONFIDENTIAL under 18 U.S.C. §1905. The Government’s constraint does not in any way relieve contractors from their responsibility to properly mark proprietary data when it is provided, nor does it alleviate any requirement for the Government to protect marked data. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.

https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards https://www.sba.gov/sizestandards/index.html

I. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was mandated to provide the Federal Government’s response to terrorist attacks and major disasters, through The Homeland Security Act of 2002. As an element of that, the DHS identified the need for the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Centers (NBACC) program, to establish modern secure biocontainment facilities and provide technologies, products, and capabilities to support the DHS in fulfilling responsibilities in respect to terrorist attacks and major disasters involving human and agricultural biological threat agents (BTA). NBACC is a one-of-a-kind facility dedicated to defending the nation against biological threats. The NBACC facility is located on the National Interagency Biodefense Campus (NIBC) at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Growing demands for research and forensics have pushed the capabilities of the facility to its limits and expansion is necessary to ensure that it can fulfill its mission. The expansion of the threat landscape requires additional infrastructure within NBACC to maintain relevant threat characterization capabilities to address the risks the advancing biotechnology landscape poses to the Nation. The landscape of the biological threats is continually evolving, and efforts to keep pace with them require ongoing adaption and investment. S&T ONL anticipates that the NBACC expansion will be connected and adjacent to the existing NBACC structure at Fort Detrick, Maryland. S&T ONL estimates that the expansion will include approximately 40,000 square feet of Biological Safety Level 3 space, 10,000 square feet of administrative space, and 5,000 square feet of Sensitive Compartment Information Facility (SCIF) space.

The objective of the NBACC Expansion Pre-Conceptual Design is to provide information on conceptual layouts that will enable the NBACC program to perform an alternatives analysis. This progression requires that the project team better understand the size, features, and location of the building (relative to the existing facility) as well as the schedule and budget to complete the project through turnover to operations. DHS is seeking information on qualified entities that can support the following types of activities in support of an expansion of the NBACC:

• Conduct workshops and design charettes with key stakeholders to determine user needs.

• Document the requirements for the NBACC expansion, including information about workflows inside of the facility and individual laboratory spaces.

• Develop one or more conceptual layouts to the new building(s) that addresses the requirements and fits the physical and other site constraints.

• Develop a schedule and cost estimate for the detailed design, construction, commissioning, and start-up.

The estimated period of performance (POP) for the pre-conceptual design is 6 months. The anticipated POP is January 2024 through July 2024, with potential for options. Unclassified performance of work will be at the contractor’s facility or remote by a distributed workforce at the discretion of the contractor. There is no incumbent for the services described in this RFI.

II. PURPOSE

1) To gain an understanding of the capabilities of small businesses to support DHS S&T’s NBACC Expansion Pre-conceptual Design.

2) To gain an understanding of Industry’s capabilities to support DHS S&T’s NBACC Expansion Pre-conceptual Design.

3) Conduct market research for a potential NBACC Expansion Pre-conceptual Design contract.

III. INFORMATION REQUEST

Respondents are required to provide the following information:

A. Vendor Information

1. Entity Unique Identifier and/or CAGE Code.

2. Point of Contact.

3. Socioeconomic category(ies) as defined in FAR Part 19, and Small Business Size

4. Status for NAICS Code 541330.

5. Identify company’s interest in quoting/proposing against the requirement, and whether the entity desires to participate in this requirement as a prime contractor or subcontractor.

(Limit 50 words.)

6. Please list the available GSA Federal Schedules, GWACs, or other Indefinite Delivery /Indefinite Quantity contract vehicles currently open to the DHS the entity holds that could be used to solicit this requirement. Include Agency, Contract Number, and Contract Expiration, and Government contact information. (List only, no commentary or narrative)

B. Subcontracting Information

1. Identify industry partners with whom the entity may team to meet the requirement, if any.

2. If the entity intends to subcontract, please include the estimated percentage for Small

Business subcontracting opportunities for each task area.

Note: This information will enable DHS S&T to establish a basis for developing set-asides and/or subcontracting opportunities.

C. Technical Capability Submit a brief response addressing the Critical Task Elements listed below. Where applicable, please provide the total dollar value of the experience referenced in the Critical Task Elements.

Follow the word limit guidance for each Critical Task Element.

1. Please describe, in approximately 400 words, experience within the last 5 years designing bio-containment facilities.

2. Please describe, in approximately 400 words, experience within the last 5 years designing complex laboratories for the Federal Government.

3. Please describe, in approximately 200 words, experience within the last 5 years designing Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facilities (SCIF) spaces.

4. Please describe the skill sets anticipated for this task and a description of the entities capacity with regards to the needed skills.

5. Based on the purpose of this request, would you recommend a NAICS code other than 541330 as more appropriate? If so, why?

IV. Submission Instructions

All responses shall be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist, Khadijah Dark at Khadijah.Dark@hq.dhs.gov and Contracting Officer, John Whipple at John.Whipple@hq.dhs.gov. The subject of the email must be titled in the Subject line: “Request for Information #70RSAT24RFI000003: NBACC Expansion Pre-Conceptual Design | <Name of Entity>”.

Submit responses no later than (NLT) Friday, December 29, 2023, at 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST). Please limit response based on the page/word counts provided above using Times New Roman, Font Size 12.

The Government reserves the right to hold one-on-one meetings as a result of responses received from this RFI as part of its market research. Meetings may be held in particular with vendors who provide comprehensive responses to the questions posed.

mailto:Khadijah.Dark@hq.dhs.gov mailto:John.Whipple@hq.dhs.gov

A. Vendor Information