JA FY-00203 - Redaction.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1))

J&A No.: FY25- 00203

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Federal Protective Service (FPS), Acquisition Division (AD) proposes to extend the ordering period of Contract 70RFP419DE7000001, with Bradley Technologies Incorporated (BTI) for Armed Protective Security Officer (PSO) services at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) campus located in Austin, Texas on a basis of other than full and open competition.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved.

(a) Nature of action: FPS AD intends to procure Armed PSO services on a noncompetitive basis for up to seven (7) months from, August 01, 2025, through February 28, 2026, to allow time to answer over 150 vendor questions, close the solicitation, evaluate offers, award a competitive follow-on contract, and allow adequate time for the transition. This action will result in a modification to extend the ordering period of the current contract to allow placement of a task order to continue critical PSO services at the IRS campus. The task order will only be issued under this contract for the necessary length of time required, but not to exceed seven (7) months.

The current contract is set to expire on July 31, 2025. The follow-on procurement is currently in the solicitation phase. This follow-on effort will also require a transition period of 120 days from the date of award to the performance start date. As such, this request will allow FPS AD to continue procuring Armed PSO services from the incumbent vendor under the contract to allow for the award of the competitive follow-on effort and the necessary transition period.

(b) Name and address of the contractor.

Bradley Technologies Inc 1700 Rockville Pike, Suite 200 Rockville, MD 20852

(c) Contract type: Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), Firm Fixed Price (FFP)

(d) Estimated total value: $6,365,770.47 – [seven (7) months)]

EXTENSION PERIOD TOTAL HOURS RATE TOTAL

August 01, 2025 – February 28, 2026 101,333.50 $62.82 $6,365,770.47

(e) Type of funding: Operations and Support Funds

(f) Year of funding: Fiscal Year 2025 and Fiscal Year 2026.

(g) Solicitation number: Not Applicable

(h) Background information about the requirement

The existing IDIQ contract was awarded in accordance with FAR part 15, Contracting by Negotiation procedures, on a competitive 8 (a) set-aside basis to BTI on December 31, 2018, to provide Armed PSO services at various federally owned and leased facilities located throughout the IRS campus in Austin, TX. The IDIQ currently provides for approximately 76 PSOs covering approximately 8 buildings throughout the IRS campus.

FPS AD intends to procure PSO services pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 as only one responsible source and no other sources will satisfy agency requirements for the continuation of PSO services at facilities at the IRS campus in Austin, TX.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The requirement is to provide Armed PSO services throughout the IRS campus located in

Austin, Texas. BTI is currently performing under the twelve-month (12) month extension pursuant to Justification and Approval (J&A) FY24-00252 in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 under competitively awarded Contract 70RFP419DE7000001. Services are scheduled to end under this contract on July 31, 2025. To complete the competitive procurement process and provide a transition period for the new follow-on effort, FPS AD finds it necessary to request approval for up to an additional seven (7) months of service under the authority for other than full and open competition cited herein. This will extend the ordering period under Contract 70RFP419DE7000001 from August 01, 2025, through February 28, 2026.

The instant action is requested to allow FPS AD to continue procuring Armed PSO services from BTI under Contract 70RFP419DE7000001 while completing the solicitation process, evaluation, and award of the competitive follow-on effort as well as provide the necessary transition period. This will ensure uninterrupted security services at federal facilities throughout the entire IRS campus in Austin, TX between the expiration of the existing contract and the start of full performance by the successful vendor under the follow-on effort.

The proposed sole source extension will ensure uninterrupted services are provided while the follow-on effort is being solicited, evaluated, and awarded and will also cover the 120-day transition for the new vendor to train and meet all requirements of the contract prior to the security personnel standing post. The requirement fulfills an existing government need, and the extension of the existing contract is the most advantageous and only practical method of fulfilling the Government’s need, price, and other factors considered. This contract extension also takes into account the Government’s need for continuity of operations and potential costs of disrupting operations. The period of performance for this extension is for up to seven

(7) months of additional Armed PSO services from August 01, 2025, through February 28, 2026, at an approximate value of $6,365,770.47.

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.302-1 entitled “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute

Not Applicable

6. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

BTI is currently satisfactorily performing Armed PSO services under Contract 70RFP419DE7000001 at the IRS campus located in Austin, TX. The contract is set to expire on July 31, 2025. FPS AD is currently in the solicitation phase of this competitive follow-on procurement action. However, due to unexpected delays and circumstances beyond the control of the contracting office, the Government requires additional time to complete the solicitation process, evaluate proposals and adequately document its award decision prior to issuing the award of the follow-on effort, and allow for a 120-day transition period in order to avoid a break in services. Unexpected and unavoidable delays were attributed to the following circumstances:

The unexpected delays were attributable to the following: (1) multiple updates were made to this requirement after the procurement request package was submitted to the Contracting Officer which included a new Statement of Work which required rework of pre-solicitation and solicitation documentation and (2) over the last several months, a variety of policy updates and acquisition guidance led to procedural changes for other procurement actions meanwhile impacting this requirement from answering vendors’ questions and closing the solicitation in a more timely manner.

Therefore, the circumstances listed above necessitate an extension of the incumbent contract to allow for the solicitation, evaluation and award of the follow-on contract and the required transition period.

The follow-on requirement under this contract is estimated to be awarded on or before October 31, 2025, with an anticipated performance start date on or around March 01, 2026. The follow-on effort will have a maximum transition period of 120 days from the date of award to the performance start date. This transition period enables the new Contractor to obtain all necessary equipment, licenses, training, and other certifications / suitability requirements for its employees to be able to begin standing post at the start of performance. Due to extensive screening, training, licensing, and transition requirements for PSOs under the FPS program, another PSO firm cannot immediately replace the existing contractor without a severe and unacceptable degradation in overall security jeopardizing federal government personnel, visitors, and assets. For these reasons, it is also not feasible for any portion of the work to be segregated to allow for competition. The incumbent contractor, BTI is familiar with the instant requirement, facility locations, and has a fully qualified staff in place and is the only contractor at this time that can immediately fulfill the requirement without delay or interruption of services. As a result, an extension of services under the current contract is necessary to ensure a seamless transition takes place from the existing requirement to the follow- on effort.

Title 40 United States Code (U.S.C) §1315 gives DHS the responsibility to protect federal facilities and the people therein. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21), and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) further refine DHS’s responsibility to protect buildings, grounds, and property that are owned, occupied, or secured by the Federal Government. These documents also establish U.S. policy for the protection and resilience of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and provide a framework for integrating efforts designed to enhance the safety of critical infrastructure. Given the reality of terrorist threats, it is in the best interests of DHS and the public to continue to allow the incumbent contractor to provide services until the follow-on effort is appropriately transitioned. Effective Armed PSO services are integral to the FPS mission to respond to terrorist attacks, domestic workplace violence, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and emergency medical situations. Armed PSO services also mitigate threats by detecting firearms, hazardous materials, and suspicious packages at these locations. Due to these critical roles, a modification to extend the current Contract 70RFP419DE7000001, with BTI, is required to allow placement of a new competitive contract to provide continued services to ensure uninterrupted service, a seamless transition, and to eliminate potential disruption in Armed PSO services.

7. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable.

The circumstance restricting competition for this acquisition is that “only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements,” pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. Therefore, no exception to the FAR 5.2 notification requirement applies, and FPS AD intends to post this requirement to SAM.gov on or about July 23, 2025, pursuant to FAR 5.201(b)(1)(ii). FPS AD intends to make this justification publicly available pursuant to FAR 6.305.

8. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable.

The current hourly rate for PSO services on the contract is $59.10 for the current J&A extension period. The original proposed rate for the new J&A extension period was $64.27, which is $5.17 higher per hour, approximately 9% more, than the current contract rate. However, the CO negotiated a lower rate of $62.82 which is saving the Government $146,559.85. While the new negotiated rate of $62.82 is $3.72 higher per hour, approximately 6.29%, than the current contract rate, this is attributed to current market conditions, estimated inflation, increased costs for all other direct costs, such as ammunition, body armor, fuel, intermediate weapons, and uniforms during the period of performance, and wage rate increases to the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), effective February 1, 2026, through this extension; PSO wages will have increased of 3.5%. It is important to note that the vendor is required by the Service Contract Labor Standards to pay increased wages and fringe benefits to PSOs under this contract in accordance with the incorporated CBAs.

The Contracting Officer (CO) has determined that the proposed hourly rate of $62.82 is fair and reasonable based on comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid for the same or similar items in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(ii). The price analysis table below shows the comparison of hourly priced rates from different contracts that were competitively awarded for

Armed PSO Services, to the current negotiated fixed hourly rate which is proposed for the J&A period. All contracts have similar SOW and similar training/certification requirements as they are all for Armed PSO services.

CONTRACTOR CONTRACT

NUMBER

LOCATION BASIC

HOURLY

RATE

DIFFERENCE

BTI 70RFP419DE7000001 IRS Campus Austin, TX

$62.82 $0.00

Vendtech-SGI, LLC. 70RFP421DE6000001 Heartland (IA, KS, MO, and NE)

$63.60 $0.78

Diversified Protection Corporation 70RFP224DEC000004/

70RFPW25FRW800006

Utah/Wyoming $63.95 $1.13

Based on the analysis above, the PSO hourly rate proposed by BTI for the extension period is competitively in line with the current range of prices for similar services and is determined to be fair and reasonable. In accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b)(3), no certified cost or pricing data will be required because the service is commercially available to the general public. The proposed rate for the extension period is competitive when compared to the rates for other PSO contracts.

9. Description of Market Research.

The agency has conducted market research for the new requirement and is familiar with the other potential sources and their qualifications. Based on the market research, other firms could provide Armed PSO services for the IRS campus in Austin, TX; however, they could not do so by August 01, 2025, causing unacceptable delays or potentially jeopardizing the safety of government employees or visitors. Accordingly, no other contractor can provide the services without an unacceptable interruption in service at this time.

10. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Since it is essential that services continue without interruption for the security of the facilities, its tenants, and visitors, and the fact that the current contractor, BTI is performing Satisfactorily, as documented under the Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR), it is in the best interest of the Government to extend the ordering period for up to seven (7) months under Contact 70RFP419DE7000001 with the current contractor.

11. A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the

Acquisition.

Not Applicable.

12. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any

Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required.

This requirement is for the sole purpose of issuing a modification to continue Armed PSO services under Contract 70RFP419DE7000001 until the competitive follow-on is awarded and transitioned to start. The agency is currently processing a follow-on requirement which is taking longer than originally projected due to unanticipated issues and delays. FPS AD plans to make award no later than October 31, 2025, with the new award to start by March 01, 2026. It is essential that Armed PSO services continue without interruption for the security of federal facilities throughout the IRS campus in Austin, TX to ensure the safety of government employees, government facilities, and its visitors at these locations.

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