A16_JOFOC_Rees_Scientific_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC)

FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS/SERVICES OVER THE SIMPLIFIED

ACQUISITION THRESHOLD (SAT) USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES

AUTHORITY: Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) 12.102(b) and 41 U.S.C. 1901

PR/SOL/CONTRACT No. 140D0426Q0851

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition.”

This document is a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division 2, Branch 3 in support of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute (NCI).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a sole source requirement to Rees Scientific Corporation. NCI is currently using the proprietary Rees Scientific Monitoring system across the NIH Bethesda Campus, and the new Surgery, Radiology, and Laboratory Medicine (SRLM) addition to the hospital in building 10 requires updates to the Rees Scientific Monitoring Systems. This includes upgrading from hard-wired monitoring systems to wireless systems, giving NCI the ability to move freezers without having to re-wire the system currently in place.

3. A description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

1. Rees will demolish the old, wired Rees Monitoring System panels and cut hard wiring back as far as possible to include all accessories.

2. Rees will install the new “Helix” Rees Monitoring Platform for each of the three existing NCI / CRC nodes.

3. Rees will install the new “Helix” Rees Scientific Helix, highly calibrated RTD (Resistance Temperature Detector) and thermocouple probes designed to cover all the cold storage and environmental monitoring needs in each of the pieces of scientific presently monitored.

4. Restructure the existing NCI three nodes on the Rees Scientific System to organize and consolidate the existing points to meet all of NCI’s laboratory and CGMP needs.

5. Provide validation of the new Helix system and provide reports.

The total estimated value of this requirement is and will be a 12-month period of performance.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

This is an acquisition conducted under the authority of the Simplified Procedures for Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services. The statutory authority permitting restricting competition is 41 U.S.C 1901 as implemented by RFO 12.102(b).

(Value > SAT ≤ $9 million)

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The Surgery, Radiology, and Laboratory Medicine (SRLM) Project is an expansion of the existing NIH Bethesda Building 10 Clinical Center, a research hospital devoted solely to clinical research. The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR) West Laboratories in Building 10 are currently using the Rees Scientific Monitoring system to monitor and protect their stored and ongoing research.

NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) will be moving to the new SRLM expansion and will be occupying the 6th, 7th and 8th floors. To be compatible with what is currently installed at the CCR West Laboratories and to keep continuity of operations, the same system is required to be installed in the SRLM expansion. Adding a different system would require exponentially more resources to tie into the current system including labor hours, training, risk of failure and additional resources to retrofit the current system. A brand name justification is not valid as current warranties in the system, proprietary systems and current monitoring provided by Rees are required.

6. A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by RFO part 5 and, if not, which exception under Part 5 applies.

A notice of intent to sole source was posted to sam.gov allowing other vendors to see the requirement and provide feedback. No vendors responded to the intent to sole source, validating the justification for other than full and open competition.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on list prices for the equipment to be installed, comparing to other sole source awards to Rees Scientific as well as comparing labor rates to similar requirements and rates publicly available via GSA CALC and other sources.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see part 10), and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The CO researched Rees Scientific requirements on sam.gov and noted that there are multiple notices of intent to sole source from various government agencies to include National Institutes of Health, Defense Health Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Navy, and more. The CO then posted a notice of intent to sole source for this requirement on August 17 with a closing date of August 24, 2026 and received no responses from other vendors indicating an ability to meet this requirement. NIH has stated that the proprietary system in place now was installed and is currently monitored by Rees Scientific.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition;

such as:

Adding a new system to the NIH Bethesda Campus would be extensive and expensive.

Adding a different system would require exponentially more resources to tie into the current system including labor hours, training, risk of failure and additional resources to retrofit the current system. Risk of failure would create significant issues at the facility, which would include the destruction of years of research stored in these facilities. The Rees Scientific system has been in place for multiple years and is integrated into the campus for monitoring and security.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition in writing.

Rees Scientific 1007 Whitehead Road Ext Trenton, NJ 08638 POC: Rick Saunders, (609) 671-3200 Rsaunders@Reesscientific.com

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

The Government will continue to monitor the marketplace for similar monitoring systems and those that may be able to successfully integrate into current infrastructure at the NIH Bethesda campus. A full system switch would require years and millions of dollars to convert to a new system but will continue to evaluate all possibilities.

12. Contracting officer certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Nicholas Lewicki Date Contracting Officer

13. Requirements Personnel Certification.

I certify that the technical data which forms a basis for this justification is complete and accurate and meets the Government’s minimum needs.