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THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER FAR PART 13.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-75.

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541690 with a small business size standard of 14.0M. This acquisition is 100% set-aside for small business.

1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010)

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to both the Contract Specialist (joni.laster@nist.gov) and the Contracting Officer (Donald.graham@nist.gov). Questions should be received no later than 7 calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. (End of Provision)

BACKGROUND:

NIST maintains calibration services for electric energy meters, digital multimeters (DMM), and current transformers (CT). NIST has developed a calibration database that these calibration services will utilize in order to automate data analysis. These measurement systems require their data format and records to be changed to use this database structure. In addition this database needs to be configured for each calibration service.

In order to maintain efficient and high-quality energy meter, DMM and CT calibration services, NIST must continue to improve their cost-effectiveness, maintain the quality system, and perform periodic inter comparisons with other national metrology institutes.

All interested Contractors shall provide a quote for the following:

Line Item 0001: Quantity One (1) Job, The Contractor shall provide calibration database support services in accordance with the attached Statement of Work.

The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html.

The following provisions apply to this acquisition:

52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items;

52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items.

Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at http://orca.bpn.gov in accordance with FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items. If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required.

Representation by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction Under Any Federal Law (Class Deviation) (March 2012)

1) In accordance with Sections 543 and 544 of Public Law 112-55 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2012, Title V (General Provisions) none of the funds made available by that Act may be used to enter into a contract with any corporation that-

a) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

b) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

2) The Offeror represents that, as of the date of this offer-

a) It is [ ] is not [ ] a corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

It is [ ] is not [ ] a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreements with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability.

The following clauses apply to this acquisition:

52.204-9 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel;

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items;

52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Items including subparagraphs:

52.204-10, Reporting Executive compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards;

52.209-6, Protecting the Governments Interest when Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment;

52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations;

52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside;

52.219-28 Post-Award Small Business Program Representation;

52.222-3, Convict Labor;

52.222-19 Child Labor – Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies;

52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities;

52-222-26, Equal Opportunity;

52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities;

52.223-18, Contractor policy to ban text messaging while driving;

52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases;

52.227-14 Rights In Data--General;

52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration;

52.237-2 Protection of Government Buildings, Equipment, and Vegetation;

52.237-3 Continuity of Services 52.245-1 Government Property Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level above the Contracting Officer is also incorporated. It can be downloaded at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm.

The full text of a CAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vfcara.htm 1352.201-70 Contracting Officer's Authority;

1352.208-70 Restrictions on Printing and Duplicating;

1352.209-72 Restrictions against Disclosure;

1352.209-73 Compliance with the laws;

1352.237-71 Security Processing Requirements - Low Risk Contracts;

1352.271-83 Government Review, Comment, Acceptance and Approval

1352.246-70 PLACE OF ACCEPTANCE (APR 2010)

(a) The Contracting Officer or the duly authorized representative will accept supplies and services to be provided under this contract.

(b) The place of acceptance will be:

100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD. 20899

INSTRUCTIONS:

System for Award Management (SAM) Registration In accordance with FAR 52.204-99, the awardee must be registered in the System for Award Management (www.sam.gov) prior to award. Refusal to register shall forfeit award.

Due Date for Quotations:

Offerors shall submit their quotations so that NIST receives them not later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 12, 2014. FAX quotations shall not be accepted. E-mail quotations shall be accepted at joni.laster@nist.gov. Please reference the RFQ number in the subject line of email communications. Offerors' quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered in the e-mail inbox set forth above.

Quotations shall be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition Management Division, Attn: Joni Laster, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640. All offerors should ensure the RFQ number is visible on the outermost packaging.

Because of heightened security, FED-EX, UPS, or similar delivery methods are the preferred method of delivery of quotes. If quotes are hand delivered, delivery shall be made on the actual due date through Gate A, and a 48 hour (excluding weekends and holidays) prior notice shall be provided to Joni Laster, Contract Specialist on 301-975-8397.

ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS

(1) GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

A. Period for Acceptance of Offers. Quotations shall remain valid for acceptance for a minimum of 60 days from receipt of quotation.

B. Quotations are expected to conform to solicitation provisions and be prepared in accordance with this section. To aid in evaluation, a quotation shall be clearly and concisely written as well as being neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. All pages of each part shall be appropriately numbered and identified with the name of the offeror, the date, and the solicitation number. A one page transmittal letter signed by an individual authorized to commit the organization shall be transmitted with the quotation to the Government. Each quotation shall be on 8 and ½-inch x 11-inch paper, in a commercially standard font, not smaller than 12 point font. Each page in the quotation shall be separately numbered. The quotation shall be limited to fifteen (15) single-sided pages, single-spaced (excluding letter of transmittal, resumes, representations, certifications, cover letter and letters of commitment)

C. All quotes shall be received not later than 3:00 PM local time, on August 12, 2014; at the National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640, Attn: Joni Laster.

Emailed quotes are acceptable and shall be addressed to: joni.laster@nist.gov. Faxed quotes will NOT be accepted. Quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the entire quotation is entered into the e-mail address inbox set forth above.

(2) QUOTATION CONTENT:

Each quotation shall consist of two separate electronic files: (a) Technical Quotation and (b) Business/Price Quotation. The contents of each shall be as follows:

A. Volume I Technical Quotation: No pricing information shall be included in the technical quotation. The technical quotation shall include the following:

Technical Approach – the Contractor shall provide sufficient information to demonstrate its understanding of the requirements, providing a concise, detailed, and thorough discussion of its technical approach to successfully provide the services required. Fully describe a technical approach to each of the task areas in the quotation, indicating how the work of the project will be performed. The technical approach shall include the objectives to be accomplished, methods for achieving these objectives, and allocation of personnel and other resources proposed to accomplish the required tasks.

Experience – the Contractor shall describe its experience in performing the same or similar services AND demonstrate its key personnel have the qualifications as described the Statement of Work. In particular the Contractor shall document their experience in the following: (a) Quality systems, particularly the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025; (b) Database operation; (c) Automated data analysis programming; (d) Electrical engineering, including an understanding of measurements of ac and dc voltage, phase angle measurements; (e) Electric energy meters, josephson voltage standards, current transformers, current comparators and current comparator bridges, electronic signal sampling techniques, digital multi-meters, multi-function calibrators and (f) Knowledge of uncertainty analysis, and experience developing uncertainty budgets.

The Contractor shall submit a list of names and proposed duties of the key personnel that shall be assigned to the project to include consultants, and any key sub-contractor employees. Their resumes should be included and should contain information on education, background, recent experience, and specific scientific or technical accomplishments.

For each of the proposed key personnel, the Contractor shall indicate whether the person is:

(a) currently employed by the Contractor;

(b) planning to join the company;

(c) a proposed sub-contractor’s employee; or

(d) to be obtained through other arrangements.

Past Performance - Past performance will be evaluated to determine the overall quality of the services provided and the Contractor’s history of meeting delivery schedules for prior deliverables. Evaluation of past performance shall be based on the references provided and/or the quoters recent and relevant procurement history with NIST or its’ affiliates. The Contractor must provide a list of references (name, contact person, contact information to include email address (if available) to whom the same services has been provided over the past five years.

B. Volume II Business/Price Quotation: Price Quotation shall include the following:

1. A price quotation which addresses line item 0001. The Government intends to award of a firm, fixed-price purchase order as a result of this solicitation. The quotation should include a firm fixed price. The quotation should also include a proposed payment schedule;

2. Signed amendments to the solicitation, if any are issued and,

3. Acceptance of Terms (Addendum to FAR 52.212-1(b)(11):

This is an Open-Market Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for services as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this Combined Synopsis/Solicitation that will include the terms and conditions that are set forth herein. In order to facilitate the award process, ALL quotes shall include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows:

The offeror shall state “The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition.”

OR

The offeror shall state “The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:

Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s) Please note that this procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the offeror’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

Evaluation Criteria:

Award will be made, if at all, to the responsible Offeror whose offer conforming to the requirements of the solicitation represents the best value to the Government, considering the Government's evaluation of the following factors: (1)Technical Approach, (2) Experience, (3) Past Performance and (4) Price.

Technical Approach, Experience, and Past Performance, when combined, are significantly more important than Price. The importance of price in the evaluation will increase with the degree of equality among quotations of the non-price factors. NIST reserves the right to make the award to other than the lowest-priced offeror or to the offeror ranked highest technically, if it determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government.

The Government intends to evaluate quotations and award a purchase order without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the Offeror's initial quotation should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary.

1. Technical Approach:

The Government will evaluate the Offeror’s approach based on the information contained in the technical quotation to determine the extent of its understanding of the requirements, including the soundness of the Offeror’s proposed methodology to effectively meet and comply with the tasks outlined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), to ensure successful performance of this procurement and any risks associated with the offeror’s technical approach and capability.

2. Experience:

The experience of the offeror and key personnel will be evaluated to determine the extent to which the Offeror’s technical background, experience, and qualifications demonstrate its ability to perform same or similar services to those required here. This will include review of the Contractor’s experience with the following: (a)Quality systems, particularly the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025; (b) Database operation; (c) Automated data analysis programming; (d) Electrical engineering, including an understanding of measurements of ac and dc voltage, phase angle measurements and (e)electric energy meters, josephson voltage standards, current transformers, current comparators and current comparator bridges, electronic signal sampling techniques, digital multi-meters, multi-function calibrators and knowledge of uncertainty analysis, and experience developing uncertainty budgets.

3. Past Performance:

The Government will evaluate the Offeror's past performance information and, if appropriate, its proposed subcontractors' past performance to determine its relevance to the current requirement and the extent to which it demonstrates that the offeror has successfully completed relevant contracts in the past five years. In assessing the offeror's past performance information, NIST will evaluate the quality, timeliness, and ability to control cost and schedule of the past work. The Government will evaluate past performance information by contacting appropriate references, including NIST references, if applicable. The Government may also consider other available information in evaluating the Offeror’s past performance. The Government will assign a neutral rating if the offeror has no relevant past performance information.

4. Price:

Price shall be evaluated for reasonableness, consistent with the Contractor's technical approach.

Past Performance, Experience and Price shall not be evaluated on quotes that are determined technically unacceptable in accordance with the Technical Approach evaluation factor. A technically unacceptable quote is defined as a quotation which is determined to be unlikely to effectively meet the requirements of the Statement of Work.

1352.233-70 AGENCY PROTESTS (APR 2010)

(a) An agency protest may be filed with either: (1) the contracting officer, or (2) at a level above the contracting officer, with the appropriate agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 Fed. Reg. 16,651 (April 6, 1999)

(b) Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following address:

NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: PATRICK STAINES, CONTRACTING OFFICER

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(c) Agency protests filed with the agency Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address:

NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO)

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(d) A complete copy of all agency protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority.

(e) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

(End of clause)

1352.233-71 GAO AND COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS PROTESTS (APR 2010)

(a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed.

(b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims.

(c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

(End of clause)