Justification and Approval Fire Alarm Panels 17 Dec 21_Redacted.pdf

This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for Other Than Full and Open Competition filed by the Department of the Air Force, Air Force Installation Contracting Center (AFICC).

The document justifies a single-source, limited-competition acquisition for facility fire alarm panel purchases through Fiscal Year 2026, effective through September 30, 2026. The contracting activity is AFICC, 772 Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, located in San Antonio, Texas. The requirement covers USAF facility fire alarm panel purchases from a limited selection of manufacturers specified by location to support fire alarm panel replacements across multiple CONUS and OCONUS locations. The total anticipated spend for replacement units is approximately $126 million over the contract period, with approximately $14.8 million of existing inventory having reached or approaching end-of-service life within the next five years. The J&A authorization is based on 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), citing a "brand name exception" under the Competition in Contracting Act, as only one responsible source and no other suppliers or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Air Force justifies the brand-name approach as a strategic Category Management initiative to standardize fire alarm panel manufacturers, which reduces training requirements (estimated $22M savings and 375K training hours over five years), improves mission performance, increases technician expertise, and enhances cybersecurity across the Civil Engineer enterprise. The document was approved on December 17, 2021, by the Competition Advocate and includes coordination signatures from multiple Air Force offices dated between September and November 2021.