WWRFP JA - 2021 Final.pdf

SBU - CONTRACTING AND ACQUISITIONS

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

WORLDWIDE RESIDENTIAL FURNITURE PROGRAM

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Limited Sources Justification”.

This is Limited Sources Justification is being completed by the Office of The Procurement

Executive (A/OPE) on behalf of the Department of State, Bureau of Administration (A), Division of International Programs, Commerce Branch (A/OPE/AQM/IP/COM).

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

The current Blanket Purchase Agreements for Century Furniture, Thomasville Furniture, Ethan Allen Furniture and Ostyn-Newman Furniture will expire on July 28, 2021.

A/OPE/AQM/IP/COM is requesting that a Logical Follow On Blanket Purchase Agreement be awarded for a 12 Month Base period (7/28/21 – 7/27/22) plus One Additional 12 Month

Option Year period (7/28/22 – 7/27/23) against Ethan Allen Furniture’s Federal Supply

Schedule Number GS-28F-007AA and Ostyn-Newman Furniture’s Federal Supply Schedule

Number GS-27F-0026X. A Blanket Purchase Agreement will not be awarded to Heritage

Home Group/Thomasville Furniture as they are no longer in business. Similarly, a Blanket

Purchase Agreement will not be awarded to Century Furniture as they have opted to no longer be a part of the Furniture Program. Logical Follow On Blanket Purchase Agreements are required for continuity of supplies/services.

This action is necessary due to the worldwide COVID-19 Pandemic. The Pandemic makes evaluation of furniture and furnishings unsafe and thus impossible at this time for the following reasons:

• The program requires that AQM work with the BPA Holders to select fabrics and color schemes. This requires that AQM staff visit the manufacturers and/or fabric mills to physically view the fabrics to evaluate texture, quality, and suitability.

• The program provides hundreds of wooden furniture pieces that must be physically evaluated to determine the acceptability of finish panels, size suitability, and construction methods.

• Photographs or line drawings of furniture does not convey a clear representation of furniture/furnishings and a physical assessment is necessary to evaluate appropriateness.

• In previous years, GSA had a team of engineers that would evaluate construction material data sheets and other relevant documents prior to approving furniture to

GSA Schedules. That is no longer performed and Schedule Holders are able to self-certify their furniture which further necessitates a need to physically evaluate offerings.

• The program requires lighting solutions in both 110V and 220V. The U.S. has

UL certification for 110V lighting but 220V lighting requires CE certification which is not typically provided in the U.S.. Current BPA Holders have worked with Underwriters Laboratory to provide 3rd party testing to CE certification standards. This process is cumbersome to establish for new manufacturers and will require a lengthy period of time to establish.

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

The Bureau of Administration (A) of the U.S Department of State (DoS) is processing this effort under its Strategic Sourcing Initiative to provide household furniture and furnishings to effectively satisfy authorized ordering activities requirements throughout the duration of the prescribed contract period. It is the intention of the Department to award multiple Blanket

Purchase Agreements (BPA) under GSA FSS which the Department may use to make repetitive purchases of household furniture and furnishings and related supplies in a streamlined, pre-negotiated manner to facilitate successful mission performance for a period not to exceed Two (2) years. The products/deliverables, delivery order requirements, specific packaging/packing instructions, delivery schedule, invoicing, place of delivery, will be determined at the BPA order level.

The scope of this agreement includes household furniture and furnishings for the Worldwide

Residential Furniture Program. The Department of State Worldwide Residential Furniture

Program has processed over 2,200 requirements totaling approximately $185M over the last

5 years. The Department of State (DoS) Worldwide Residential Furniture Program

(hereinafter referred to as the Program), has successfully provided household furniture and furnishings to US Government personnel stationed abroad since its inception in the 1970’s.

DoS has identified a continuing need for a commercial off the shelf (COTS) solution for residential furniture and furnishings that meet core technical standards. Feasible acquisition alternatives include placing repeated one-time purchase/delivery orders for the supplies, or establishing a new Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA).

The estimated value of the BPA’s is approximately $65,000,000.00 – 2 Agreements will be awarded at $32,500,000.00 each.

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a) and (b)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i)(C), “In the Interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order”.

The current BPA’s were awarded on July 29, 2016 as a result of solicitation

SAQMMA15Q0038.

Failure to retain the current contractors would result in harm to the Government operations due to the following issues:

• There are many shipments in process for delivery and shipping of furniture to Embassies and consulates overseas.

• The current Agreement holders have warranty plans in place that would continue thru the follow-on agreements.

• Due to COVID-19, there are well known supply chain problems and extremely long delivery dates for furniture and furnishings.

If performance with the current vendors does not continue, AQM’s ability to meet mission requirements would be at undue risk Failure to issue a follow on contract would jeopardize our ability to maintain operational capabilities in embassies and consulates.

The current Blanket Purchase Agreements were not issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with 8.404(d).

As stated in FAR 8.404(d), The rates under Ethan Allen Furniture’s Federal Supply Schedule

Number GS-28F-007AA and Ostyn-Newman Furniture’s Federal Supply Schedule Number

GS-27F-0026X were determined to be fair and reasonable by GSA.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

AQM worked with GSA to issue an RFI in December, 2020 for this requirement. 12 vendors expressed interest in participating in future competition.

http://acquisition.gov/far/current/html/Subpart%208_4.html#wp1091891 http://acquisition.gov/far/current/html/Subpart%208_4.html#wp1089505

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

As COVID vaccinations become more widely available and restrictions are lifted, the barriers to this procurement action will be removed, thus allowing for adequate competition and award of a new competitive agreements.

This limited sources justification will be posted within 30 days of the award of the follow on agreements pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)(ii).

CERTIFICATIONS

9. TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(x))

I certify that this justification is accurate and contains complete data necessary to support the recommendation for other than full and open competition.

SIGNATURE:

Gary Clark Date

Branch Chief

A/OPE/AQM/IP/COM

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION (FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(ix)

I certify that this submission is accurate to the best of my knowledge, and that it contains complete information necessary to enable other officials to make an informed recommendation for approval or disapproval.

Date

Robin Guillie

Contracting Officer

Office of Acquisition Management

(A/OPE/AQM/IP/COM)

REVIEWS

Gary Clark Date

Branch Chief

A/OPE/AQM/IP/COM

6/8/2021

Reaver Clements Date

Division Director

A/OPE/AQM/IP

Sharon D. James Date

Competition Advocate

A/OPE/AP/PD

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW (Ref: PIB NO. 2010-24; AQM QA Plan 11/2017)

This J&A is hereby determined to be legally sufficient.

Dennis Gallagher Date

Legal Advisor

L/BA

APPROVAL

HEAD OF CONTRACTING ACTIVITY APPROVAL (AQM QA Plan 11/2017)

This J&A is hereby Approved.

Vince Chaverini Date

Head of Contracting Activity

A/OPE/AQM