Instructions to Offerors_V.1.pdf

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

NAICS: 334511 – Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and

Instrument Manufacturing

Quotes should be emailed to nikki.radford@noaa.gov. Faxed quotes will not be accepted.

BASIS FOR AWARD:

The government intends to award as a firm-fixed price requirement to the responsive responsible quoter(s) providing the lowest price technically acceptable to the government. This requirement is 100% set aside for small business concerns.

SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM):

In accordance with FAR 52.212-1(k), unless exempted by an addendum to this solicitation, by submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall have an active registration in the SAM database at the time quotes are submitted, during performance and through final payment of any contract resulting from this solicitation. Offerors may obtain information on registration and annual confirmation requirements via the SAM database accessed through https://www.acquisition.gov under Acquisition Systems or www.sam.gov.

SUBMISSION OF QUOTES:

Quotes must be submitted by electronic means for consideration of award. Electronic quotes may be transmitted by email to nikki.radford@noaa.gov. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure their electronic offer has been received. If you have any questions regarding the quoting process please contact Nikki Radford at 757-605-1267.

The following information is to be returned:

1. Page 1 (complete blocks 17a, 30a, 30b and 30c)

2. Fill in your quote/prices, including any shipping and handling fees.

3. Your unique entity identifier (UEI). If you do not have a UEI Number, you can register and access the site by going to www.sam.gov.

4. Contractor representations and certifications shall be completed in the System for Award

Management (www.sam.gov). Contractors shall provide a statement that they either are or are not registered and active in SAM.

5. Your response to CAR Clause 1352.209-74(c), Organizational Conflict of Interest – Contractors shall provide a statement that they either do or do not have conflict of interest.

6. As requested in CAR Clause 1352.213-70, Provide your response to the factors used to evaluate quotes, including Past Performance references.

7. An email address and telephone number where you can be reached for future correspondence.

8. Identify where the supply is being manufactured.

9. The NAICS Code for this solicitation is 334511. Please verify that your business is a Small

Business entity. (Yes or No)

10. Approximate Lead time of Delivery.

Contractors who do not respond to items 1 through 10 may be considered non-compliant with the requirements of the solicitation and no further consideration shall be given for award.

QUESTIONS:

All questions must be submitted via email to the Contracting Specialist, Nikki Radford at email nikki.radford@noaa.gov. The government will make every effort to reply to the questions submitted in a timely manner.

FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)- BRAND NAME Justification:

The NDBC has been testing relative humidity sensors for decades. The Rotronic probe has shown the greatest accuracy and reliability in harsh marine environments with extensive marine testing.

Manufacturers of meteorological instruments have a wide variance concerning technical specifications.

New products require intensive laboratory testing prior to ever making it to a field trial. A field trial is then a minimum of a 1-year side by side testing of the new probe versus the current certified probe. For the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) that could mean a co-located buoy. The cost of this testing can go into excessive funding over multiple fiscal years. These instruments must return quality data because people's lives and their livelihoods depend on the NDBC returning the highest quality data for forecasting, warnings, and modeling. The purchase of other types of probes could result in sensors suffering premature failure rates, sensor corrosion, and inaccurate data. Accuracy is essential to protect life and property. The Government is not aware of any other humidity probes that meet the standard NDBC requirement of 0.8% RH accuracy.

This procurement is intended to replace the current humidity probes that are over 5-years old, lost at sea, or damaged beyond repair. Hence, it is recommended that this procurement of fifty (50) HC2A-S3 probes and the associated accessories to be used on Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations be Brand Name Specific to Rotronic Humidity Probes. The selection of an alternate relative humidity and air temperature sensor would result in extensive laboratory and field testing before it could be used on an operational station. This includes the side-by-side testing of full systems (buoy hull/mast, and full payload and sensor suite) since the C-MAN payloads are not equipped to add extra humidity sensors which would result in additional labor and time delays costing the government excessive additional funding.