Brand Name Justification_NMAN21202301668_Redacted.pdf

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BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901 or 41 U.S.C. 1903)

NM-AN2120-23-01668

1. Agency and contracting activity.

Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD), and NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations OMAO), Acquisition, Analysis, and Accountability Branch.

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

This is a brand name justification for a new requirement. The planned contract type is a firm-fixed price purchase order to be solicited via SAM.gov as a small business set-aside. The manufacture is Zodiac of North America (Zodiac). Zodiac has a network of authorized dealers. At least eight small businesses have been identified among Zodiac’s network of authorized dealers.

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

Zodiac H638 Fast Rescue Boat, Part Number: SM638027-1

This fast rescue boat (FRB) is to replace the current FRB located at MOC-P

Required Delivery Date: June 30, 2024

Total estimated value:

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7.5M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a brand name as supported below:

Brand Name – Zodiac

The H630 is currently being used as the fast rescue boat on 11 out of 15 ships within the Marine Operations Engineering (MO-E) fleet. In addition, MO-E has a requirement to have a spare FRB readily available for any ship that may have their FRB inoperable. Since the rescue boat is a requirement to sail it is essential for MO-E to have spare at all times. The current spare FRB was built by Zodiac and has a Steyr brand engine which is essential for maintaining qualifications for rotational schedules for crew members familiar with each boat on different ships. The USCG Maritime Information Exchange Approved Equipment List identifies the Model H638 FRB as being an approved item under Approval Number 160.156/82/0; the

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Model H630 was previously approved but has since been replaced with this new model.

In an effort to standardize equipment, the other four (4) ships within the fleet that do not use a Zodiac H638, or current model, will have their FRBs transitioned once their current boats meet the end of their lifecycle. For MO-E this is essential for maintaining parts spares throughout the fleet.

Market research revealed that the cost to modify another manufacture’s FRB to accommodate the davits and lifts of the NOAA fleet would not be advantageous to the Government. In addition, the lead time on these types of boats is already at 365 days, any modifications would extend that lead time.

Because the FRB is a critical sail requirement, if a ship needed to utilize the spare while their boat was being repaired and a spare was not on hand, the ship would not be able to sail and essential NOAA missions would be missed. Failure to supply the fleet with the H638 would cause additional costs in maintenance and parts, and run the risk of the FRB not fitting the ship’s davit or lift.

6. Description of 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 FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A search for part number SM638027-1 was conducted on the GSA Advantage website. The results indicated that the only contractor that could provide the H638 Fast Rescue Boat was Zodiac.

Looking at the GSA e-Buy list of vendors under SIN 336612, Marine Craft, there are 65 vendors listed. However, this category includes marine crafts and products such as boats (all types), floating marine barriers and booms, inboard and outboard engines. In addition, none of the vendors listed were Zodiac dealers.

Since Zodiac of North America, is listed as a large business, a search to find authorized Zodiac dealers on the Open Market was conducted. Based on Zodiac’s website, zodiacmilpro.com, 31 companies were identified. Of these, eight small businesses were found on SAM.gov with Active Registrations.

Based on these findings, there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more responsible small business concerns that are authorized Zodiac dealers. Therefore, a brand name/small business set-aside solicitation using the NAICS Code 441222, Boat Dealers, based on 41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7.5M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a) will be posted on the Government Point of Entry, SAM.gov, Contract Opportunities.

7. 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 will be fair and reasonable based on FAR 13.106-3(a)(1), price reasonableness is based on competitive quotations or offers.

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8. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research conducted for this acquisition included the following searches:

GSA Advantage: Part Number SM638027-1, resulted in 1 source GSA e-Buy: SIN 336612, Marine Craft, resulted in 65 vendors (only 1 who could provide the item) Zodiacmilpro.com: Authorized dealers, resulted in 31 dealers with 10 registered with SAM.gov.

SAM.gov: 9 authorized dealers and Zodiac of North America – the manufacturer, resulted in identifying 4 small businesses, 3 small disadvantaged business concerns, 1 veteran owned small business, and 2 large businesses.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

10. List of the sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

No sources have expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

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.

There are no further actions that the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers. It is most advantageous to the mission that the NOAA fleet standardize their FRBs. This will ensure that a boat is ready for any ship that may need one at a moment’s notice and will help to ensure that all missions are met.

In addition, this item required USCG SOLAS approval in accordance with 46 CFR 160.156-3.

There are multiple approved manufacturers/products for this type vessel. Routine procurements of similar items may be purchased from multiple approved vendors; therefore, NOAA has no need or plan to take any action regarding removal of barriers to competition for future acquisitions.