A.02 Air Force Fire Alarm Panels Justification and Approval Signed_Redacted.pdf

This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for a procurement action outside full and open competition, dated December 17, 2021, and approved by Competition Advocate Mr. Anthony W. Everidge of the Air Force Installation Contracting Center (AFICC).

The Air Force seeks to procure facility fire alarm panels from a limited selection of manufacturers through September 30, 2026, supporting multiple contracts across Continental United States (CONUS) and Overseas Continental United States (OCONUS) locations. The acquisition covers all USAF facility fire alarm panel purchases, with an estimated 2,063 units expected over five years reaching end of service life. The authority for this Class J&A derives from 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), which permits sole-source procurement when supplies are available from limited responsible sources. The Air Force justifies the brand-name exception as a strategic Category Management vehicle requiring pre-planned standardization to reduce training costs, increase mission performance efficiency, and eliminate redundancies in maintaining 28 different manufacturers' systems. Standardization reduces training hours by an estimated amount per five-year cycle and allows in-house repair and programming, improving maintenance proficiency and reducing equipment downtime. A Notice of Proposed Contract Action was posted on SAM.gov on June 1, 2021, with no vendors expressing interest. Market research identified a minimum of 17 GSA-defined small businesses capable of performing fire alarm panel removal and installation, supporting potential small business awards at the distributor level. The Air Force will pursue negotiated pricing directly with selected brand-name manufacturers and may conduct subsequent pre-pricing negotiations.