BCI Compressed Gas RFQ vfinal 5968.pdf

Bureau of Criminal Investigations 1560 St. Rt. 56 London, OH 43140 www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov

Request for Quotations (RFQ)

RFQ # AGO-BCI-LAB-0525-29-5968

Compressed Gas

1.0. Overview and Purpose

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office (“AGO”) is seeking quote submissions in response to this Request for Quotations (RFQ) to secure goods and services as defined below.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is an elected official who is the Chief Law Officer for the State of Ohio and its agencies, boards, and commissions. The office consists of about 1600 employees in nearly 40 distinct sections that advocate for consumers and victims of crime, assist the criminal justice community, provide legal counsel for state offices and agencies, and enforce certain state laws.

The AGO, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (“BCI”) Laboratory Division is soliciting quotes for the rental of cylinders of compressed industrial and specialty gases and liquids.

Responders to this RFQ are referred to herein as “bidders,” “offerors,” “supplier,” or “vendors” and these references may be used interchangeably throughout this RFQ and have the same meaning.

2.0. Items

Specific item numbers are provided to set the quality standard. If a bidder offers an alternate brand or item, it must submit a detailed description, including the brand specifications of the alternate offered and how the proposed alternate meets the quality of the brand specified. The AGO reserves the right to determine whether any proposed alternate(s) meets the specifications.

2.1. Item List. The AGO is soliciting firm, fixed fees for the rental of the following gas and liquid cylinders:

Item # Compressed Gas Cylinder Description Cylinder Weight Volume

UOM

HE UPC300 Helium UPC Grade 5.5 Size 300 CGA 580 292 Cubic Feet HE CH300 Helium Chromatographic Grade 6.0 Size 300 CGA 580 292 Cubic Feet NI UHP300 Nitrogen UHP Grade 5.0 Size 300 CGA 580 304 Cubic Feet NI 230L T230 Liquid Nitrogen 230 LTRS 230 PSI 5,024 Cubic Feet NI 180LT22 Liquid Nitrogen 180 LTRS 22PSI 4,086 Cubic Feet AAI B300 Air Breathing GR D Size 300 CGA 346 312 Cubic Feet AI B200 Air Breathing GR D Size 200 CGA 346 234 Cubic Feet HY 300 Hydrogen Industrial Size 300 CGA 350 261 Cubic Feet HY UPC300 Hydrogen UPC Grade 5.5 Size 300 CGA 350 261 Cubic Feet N/A Rental Fee for Gas Cylinder Per Day Each

Item # Compressed Gas Cylinder Description Cylinder Weight Volume

UOM

N/A Rental Fee for Liquid Cylinder Per Day Each

N/A Applicable Delivery Charges Per Delivery Each

N/A Applicable Safety and Environmental (S&E) Charges Per invoice Each

2.1. Item Specifications. The AGO requires the following:

1. Vendor must follow all federal, state and local regulations pertaining to the storage, use, and transportation of compressed gas cylinders, including but not limited to standards as outlined by the following:

o OSHA, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart H1 o Compressed Gas Association (CGA)2 o National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)3

2. All compressed gas cylinders used for the packaging and transport of gases shall be manufactured under regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation4 and no gas shall be filled into a cylinder that is not properly marked to indicate that it complies with these specifications. All cylinders shall contain a positive type safety disc to meet the requirements of the Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Explosives.

3. Each cylinder must be marked with the contents and grade.

4. All containers/cylinders shall be marked, labeled and shipped in accordance with the nationally recognized standards and in accordance with all parts of the Code of Regulations- D.O.T Hazardous Materials Regulations 49 CFR, Parts 171-1855 in their most current versions.

5. Vendor must be able to supply a certificate of analysis in which product impurities are verified against analytical standards traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)6 by weight and/or analysis.

2.2. Item Delivery. Orders resulting from this RFQ shall be delivered to the Bureau of Criminal Investigations laboratory location in London, Ohio.

1. Vendor must have the ability to deliver listed products to other laboratory locations throughout the State of Ohio.

2. Vendor shall be responsible for maintaining all related cylinders, equipment, and supplies stipulated herein, in good non-leaking working conditions, at no additional charge.

1 https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910SubpartH 2 https://www.cganet.com/standards/#top 3 https://www.nfpa.org/en 4 https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/ 5 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-C 6 https://www.nist.gov/ https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910SubpartH https://www.cganet.com/standards/#top https://www.nfpa.org/en https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/ https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-C https://www.nist.gov/

3. Routine deliveries will be accepted Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm, except on state holidays, at locations designated by the AGO.

o The AGO shall advise vendor of special restrictions at least 24 hours in advance of delivery.

o Pick-up dates and times will be agreed upon by the AGO and vendor.

4. Vendor must be able to provide emergency delivery within 24 hours of request, when necessary.

3.0. Vendor Quote Content and Submission

Vendors must provide information and responses as directed within the Ohio Buys Questionnaire and Item Grid. All responses to this RFQ must include the information listed below to ensure the quote submission is considered for this opportunity. Any material deviation from the format or information below or within Ohio Buys may result in rejection of a response.

The vendor’s responses to the information requested will allow for a well-defined comparison of bids received. Quotes must be valid for no less than 60 days from the quote due date.

1. Item Grid. The vendor must complete the Item Grid, by entering its unit price for each line.

2. Terms and Conditions. Vendors must review the RFQ and within the Questionnaire must identify and attach any vendor assumptions or exceptions to the AGO Terms and Conditions in vendor’s response. In the alternative to reviewing the AGO Terms and Conditions, vendors may indicate if they are currently on an Ohio Department of Administrative Services (“DAS”) State Term Schedule (“STS”) that is inclusive of the scope and deliverables by including the STS number in the vendor’s Item Grid response.

All responses must be submitted online via Ohio Buys no later than the date listed in the Calendar of Events.

When submitting bid files, vendors should note the following:

• All attachments should be in a searchable PDF format, unless directed differently by this document.

o When directed, other file types may be attached but only the following file extensions will be allowed: .docx, .xlsx, .zip.

The AGO has the discretion to select a vendor and to reject responses that are not in the best interest of the AGO, or to cancel this solicitation. The AGO may waive minor defects and/or request clarifications in the responses if doing so does not materially deviate from the specifications or otherwise create an unfair competitive advantage. Any response, revision, improper marking, or amendment to a response or submission may be disqualified

The AGO will not be liable for any costs incurred by a vendor in responding to this solicitation, regardless of whether the AGO awards any contract(s) through this process, decides to cancel this solicitation for any reason, or issues another solicitation if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the AGO to do so.

The AGO reserves the right to negotiate all terms associated with this solicitation. It is entirely within the discretion of the AGO to permit negotiations. A vendor must not submit a response assuming that there will be an opportunity to negotiate any aspect of the response. The AGO is free to limit the negotiations to particular aspects of any response. Vendors should not base their pricing on the assumption of long-term financing by the AGO that extends beyond the current biennium, which ends June 30, 2025.

The award will be made to the vendor that offers the lowest priced responsible and responsive submission.

4.0. Calendar of Events

• RFQ issued date: May 27, 2025

• Inquiry Period Begins May 27, 2025

• Inquiry Deadline June 3, 2025; 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time

• Quote due date: June 11, 2025; 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time

5.0. Communication and Inquiries

Unless the AGO advises differently, all contact is to be in writing using the Ohio Buys website. Ohio Buys provides the primary platform for Supplier partners to engage in procurement activities with the State of Ohio. For additional information on using Ohio Buys follow the link provided below:

• Ohio Buys for Suppliers

All inquiries and responses will be posted to the Ohio Buys website. The due date for any inquiry within the intent and scope of this solicitation must be received by the date listed in the Calendar of Events.

Vendors may make inquiries regarding this solicitation any time during the inquiry period listed in the Calendar of Events and Deadlines. To make an inquiry, vendors must login to Ohio Buys, navigate to the solicitation, open the inquiry tab, and submit their inquiry. Vendors will not receive a personalized e-mail response to their question, nor will they receive notification when the question has been answered.

Vendors may view inquiries and responses on the Ohio Buys Public Solicitations page by opening the Solicitation Overview and navigating to the inquiries section of that page.

If Vendors experience technical difficulties accessing the Ohio Buys website where the solicitation and its related documents are published, they may contact the Ohio Shared Services Help Desk through one of the options listed here:

• Email OBM.ContactCenter@obm.ohio.gov and put "Ohio Buys" in the subject line.

• Phone 614-338-4781 or 1-877-644-6771.

6.0. Terms and Conditions

The selected vendor may not ship any items to the AGO, and no work may commence until the selected vendor receives an AGO purchase order and, if determined by the AGO, an AGO contract as well as all other applicable agreements are executed.

https://procure.ohio.gov/bidders-and-suppliers/resources/01_selling+to+the+state mailto:OBM.ContactCenter@obm.ohio.gov

The RFQ constitutes the terms and conditions for this AGO purchase. Vendors must review the RFQ and must identify any exceptions to the Terms and Conditions in the vendor’s response. If exceptions are not noted in the response, the vendor stipulates the vendor’s acceptance of the Terms and Conditions and RFQ requirements.

Additionally, the selected vendor(s) may be required to sign various AGO forms and/or agree to comply with certain requirements prior to commencement of work.

• All BCI lab visitors will be required to review and sign BCI Visitor DNA Collection Form. DNA lab policy and procedures are designed to minimize the potential for contamination. The signed BCI Visitor DNA Collection form gives appropriate consent to have a DNA sample collected and analyzed using forensic identity DNA markers.

Once the selected vendor reports to the AGO, all work will be conducted in accordance with AGO policies, procedures, coding standards, and best practices as instructed by the AGO.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is subject to Ohio Revised Code Chapter 149, known as the Ohio Public Records Act. Consequently, the Offeror understands that all documents submitted in response to this RFQ are considered public records and will be released when a public records request is made by anyone, including news media, competitors, or other interested parties, in accordance with the law. If you contend that certain clearly marked portions of your response constitute an exception to Ohio's public records law, you must submit your legal basis in support of that assertion with your response. The legal basis must include the Ohio statute that applies to exempt that specific information and a description of why that specific information is covered by the cited statute.

If a public records request is made for any portion of the documents that you have submitted and you have not clearly marked such documents as information constituting an exception to Ohio's public records law, your information will be released immediately. If a public records request is made for such information and you have clearly marked portions of your response as information constituting an exception to Ohio's public records law, and you have submitted the legal basis supporting such claim, the AGO will release a redacted version of your information to the requester and notify you that a request was made and that a redacted version of your response was released. Should the requester indicate that the redacted version is not sufficient for their purposes, you then will be immediately responsible for obtaining an order from a Franklin County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas enjoining release of your clearly marked information constituting an exception to Ohio's public records law.

If a public records request is made for such information and you have clearly marked portions of your response as information constituting an exception to Ohio's public records law, but you have not submitted the legal basis supporting such claim, the AGO will release your information to the requester and notify you that a request was made and that your response was released. Do not mark your entire response/submittal as information constituting an exception to Ohio's public records law. If your entire response/submittal is so marked, the AGO will not consider your offer.

The terms and conditions of this solicitation are subject to Ohio Revised Code Section 9.27 - State Contracts

- Invalid Terms and Conditions. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 9.27, the AGO is prohibited, among other things, from including provisions by which the AGO agrees to indemnify and hold harmless a vendor. These provisions, if added to an agreement, are immediately unenforceable. Vendors must not include prohibited terms subject to Ohio Revised Code Section 9.27 in their standard terms and conditions, manufacturer warranties, and applicable warranty services.

The selected shall be engaged by the AGO solely on an independent contractor basis, and the vendor shall therefore be responsible for all the vendor’s business expenses, including, but not limited to, employees’ wages and salaries, insurance of every type and description, and all business and personal taxes, including income and Social Security taxes and contributions for Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Compensation coverage, if any.