6550--Special Stainer Cost Per Test

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Notice

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Miami VA Medical Center, has a need for a Special Stainer, Immunohistochemistry (IHC), In Situ Hybridization (ISH), Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) Staining System and Workflow Tracking System at Miami VA Healthcare System as described in attached Statement of Need. This is a Brand Name or Equal Requirement. This will be a firm, fixed-price contract with a base year and 4 option years (10-1-2022 to 9-30-2027).

(ii) The combined synopsis solicitation number is 36C24822Q1782. It s issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ).

(iii) This combined synopsis solicitation RFQ and the provisions and clauses incorporated are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2022-06/5-1-2022.

(iv) The combined synopsis solicitation is unrestricted. The NAICS is 325413. Business size standard is $1,250 employees.

(v) This combined synopsis solicitation is for a Special Stainer, Immunohistochemistry (IHC), In Situ Hybridization (ISH), Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) Staining System and Workflow Tracking System at Miami VA Healthcare System as described in attached Statement of Need. This is a Brand Name or Equal Requirement in accordance with FAR 52.211-6. Any or equal response shall include manufacturer plus parts list, along with details on how such item(s) match or exceed the salient characteristics. Responses shall be on an all or none bases, no partial submission. The Government reserves the right to make no award at all.

(vi) A description of the items to be acquired is as follows:

See attached Statement of Need

See attached Price/Cost Schedule

(vii) Equipment delivery is as follows: FOB Destination, 1201 N.W. 16th St. Miami, FL. 33125-1624.

(viii) Provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors Commercial (Oct 2015), applies to this acquisition.

Gray market items are Original Equipment Manufacturer s (OEM) goods sold through unauthorized channels in direct competition with authorized distributors. This procurement is for new OEM medical supplies, medical equipment and/or services contracts for maintenance of medical equipment (i.e., replacement parts) for VA Medical Centers. No remanufactures or gray market items will be acceptable.

Offeror shall be an OEM, authorized dealer, authorized distributor or authorized reseller for the proposed medical supplies, medical equipment and/or services contracts for maintenance of medical equipment (i.e., replacement parts), verified by an authorization letter or other documents from the OEM, such that the OEM s warranty and service are provided and maintained by the OEM. All software licensing, warranty and service associated with the medical supplies, medical equipment and/or services contracts for maintenance of medical equipment shall be in accordance with the OEM terms and conditions.

The delivery of gray market items to the VA in the fulfillment of an order/award constitutes a breach of contract. Accordingly, the VA reserves the right enforce any of its contractual remedies. This includes termination of the contract or, solely at the VA s election, allowing the Vendor to replace, at no cost to the Government, any remanufactured or gray market item(s) delivered to a VA medical facility upon discovery of such items.

Offerors providing an or equal product(s) must adhere to the terms in FAR 52.211-6. If an item in this solicitation is identified as brand name or equal, the purchase description reflects the characteristics and level of quality that will satisfy the Government s needs. The salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics that equal products must meet or exceed are specified in the solicitation. To be considered for award, offers of equal products, including equal products of the brand name manufacturer, must

Meet the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristic specified in this solicitation;

Clearly identify the item by-

Brand name, if any and

Make or model number,

Include descriptive literature such as illustrations, drawings, or a clear reference to previously furnished descriptive data or information available to the Contracting Officer; and

Clearly describe any modification the offeror plans to make in a product to make it conform to the solicitation requirements. Mark any descriptive material to clearly show the modification.

The contracting officer will evaluate equal products on the basis of information furnished by the offeror or identified in the offer and reasonably available to the contracting officer. The Contracting Officer is not responsible for locating or obtaining any information not identified in the offer. Unless the offeror clearly indicates in its offer that the product being offered is an equal product, the offeror shall provide the brand name product referenced in the solicitation

Any award made as a result of this solicitation will be made on an All or Nothing Basis.

State if quoted items are available and priced through offerors existing Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, or VA-wide Acquisition Contract.

If the acquisition is set-aside for SDVOSBs/VOSBs, their socioeconomic status must be VIP verified and visible in the VA Vendor Information Pages (VIP): https://www.vip.vetbiz.gov/ at the time of quote submission AND award, or will be considered non-responsive, and will NOT be considered for award.

Offerors are warned against contacting any VA personnel other than the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist prior to placement of any award made resulting from this RFQ. If such contact occurs and found to be prejudicial to competing contactors, the offeror making such contact may be excluded from award considerations.

All proprietary information shall be clearly and properly marked. If the Offeror submits annexes, documentation, attachments or the like, not specifically required by this solicitation, such will count against the Offeror s page limitations unless otherwise indicated in the specific volume instructions below.

All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the quote and provide an adequate basis for evaluation. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details, in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each quote.

Submission of quote shall include the following volumes: (I) Technical capability or quality of the item offered to meet the Government requirement; and (II) Price

Volume I - Technical capability or quality of the item offered to meet the Government requirement. The offeror shall submit specifications, cut sheets, or brochures confirming the equal products, including equal products of the brand name manufacturer submitted, meets or exceeds the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristic specified in this solicitation. The product(s) quoted must be identified by brand name, if any, and make or model number.

Volume II Price. The offeror shall complete the pricing schedule provided in Section (v) above: Price/Cost Schedule.

(End of Addendum to 52.212-1)

(ix) Provision 52.212-2, Evaluation Commercial Items (OCT 2014), applies to this acquisition. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government considering price and other factors.The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

Technical capability or quality of the item offered to meet the Government requirement

Price (See attached Price Schedule)

ADDENDUM to 52.212-2 EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 1999)

Evaluation Approach. The Government will evaluate quotations using the comparative evaluation process outlined in FAR 13.106-2(b)(3), where quotations will be compared to one another to determine which provides the best benefit to the Government. The Government reserves the right to consider a quotation other than the lowest price that provides additional benefit(s). Quotations may exceed minimum requirements of the solicitation. The Government reserves the right to select a quotation that provides benefit to the Government that exceeds the minimum requirements of the solicitation but is not required to do so. Each response must meet the minimum requirements of the solicitation. The Government is not requesting or accepting alternate quotations. The evaluation will consider the following:

Factor 1. Technical capability or quality of the item offered to meet the Government requirement: The quotation will be evaluated to the extent to which it can meet and/or exceed the Government s requirements as outlined in the solicitation and based on the information requested in the instructions to quoters section of the solicitation.

Factor 2. Price: The Government will evaluate the price by adding the total of all line item prices. The Government may use various price analysis techniques and procedures to make a price reasonableness determination. Offers that do not meet or exceed the technical capability or quality of the item offered to the Government requirement, as stated in Factor 1, shall not be selected regardless of price.

(End of Addendum to 52.212-2)

(x) 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) website located at https://www.sam.gov/portal 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. Offerors must be registered in SAM at time of offer submission

(xi) Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

(xii) 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Items (JUL 2020) applies to this acquisition

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

(1) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (Dec 2014)

(2) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (Aug 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553).

(3) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (Oct 2004) (Public Laws 108-77 and 108-78 (19 U.S.C. 3805 note).

(b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

FAR 52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation & First-Tier Subcontract Awards (JUN 2020) (Pub. L. 109-282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note)

FAR 52.209-6, Protecting the Government s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (JUN 2020) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note)

FAR 52.217-6 OPTION FOR INCREASED QUANTITY (MAR 1989)

FAR 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (NOV 2020) (15 U.S.C. 644)

FAR 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3))

FAR 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Representation (NOV 2020) (15 U.S.C 632(a)(2))

FAR 52.219-33, Nonmanufacturer Rule (MAR 2020)

FAR 52.222-3, Convict Labor (JUN 2003) (E.O. 11755)

FAR 52.222-19, Child Labor Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (JUL 2020) (E.O. 13126)

FAR 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (APR 2015)

FAR 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (SEP 2016) (E.O. 11246)

FAR 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans (JUN 2020) (38 U.S.C. 4212)

FAR 52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (JUN 2020) (29 U.S.C. 793)

FAR 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans (JUN 2020) (38 U.S.C. 4212)

FAR 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (DEC 2010) (E.O. 13496)

FAR 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (OCT 2020) (22 U.S.C. chapter 78 and E.O. 13627)

FAR 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (JUN 2020) (E.O. 13513)

FAR 52.225-3, Buy American--Free Trade Agreements--Israeli Trade Act (JUL 2020)

FAR 52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (JUN 2008) (E.O.'s, proclamations, and statutes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury)

FAR 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer System for Award Management (Oct 2018) (31 U.S.C. 3332)

(xiii) 852.212-70, Provisions and Clauses Applicable to VA Acquisition of Commercial Items (Apr 2020)

VAAR 852.203-70, Commercial Advertising (MAY 2018)

VAAR 852.232-72, Electronic Submission of Payment Requests (NOV 2018)

VAAR 852.233-70, Protest Content/Alternative Dispute Resolution (OCT 2018)

VAAR 852.233-71, Alternate Protest Procedure (OCT 2018)

VAAR 852.246-71, Rejected Goods (OCT 2018)

852.252-70, Solicitation Provisions or Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Jan 2008)

The following provisions or clauses incorporated by reference in this solicitation must be completed by the offeror or prospective contractor and submitted with the quotation or offer. Copies of these provisions or clauses are available on the Internet at the web sites provided in the provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference, or the clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference. Copies may also be obtained from the contracting officer.

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html

https://www.acquisition.gov/vaar

The following FAR provisions are to be incorporated by reference:

FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (OCT 2018)

FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (AUG 2020)

FAR 52.211-6, Brand Name or Equal (AUG 1999)

FAR 52.214-21, Descriptive Literature (APR 2002)

FAR 52.229-11, Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements Notice and Representation (JUN 2020)

The following FAR clauses are incorporated by reference:

FAR 52.203-17, Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement to Inform Employees of Whistleblower Rights (JUN 2020)

FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (OCT 2018)

FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (AUG 2020)

FAR 52.232-18, Availability of Funds

FAR 52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (DEC 2013)

The following VAAR clauses are to be incorporated by reference:

VAAR 852.212-71, Gray Market Items (APR 2020)

VAAR 852.212-72, Gray Market and Counterfeit Items (MAR 2020) (DEVIATION)

VAAR 852.219-74, Limitations on Subcontracting Monitoring and Compliance (JUL 2018) (Deviation)

(End of Clause)

52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

The Government contemplates award of one firm-fixed-price contract resulting from this solicitation.

(End of Provision)

52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)

Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from:

Jose Delgado

Contract Officer

Hand-Carried Address:

American Executive Center Suite 204

West Palm Beach VA Medical Center

711 North Military Trail

West palm Beach, FL 33410-6506

Mailing Address:

Department of Veterans Affairs

West Palm Beach VA Medical Center

Woodbine Suite 4

7305 North Military Trail

Palm Beach Gardens FL 33410-6400

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

(End of Provision)

VAAR 852.233-70 PROTEST CONTENT/ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (JAN 2008)

(a) Any protest filed by an interested party shall:

(1) Include the name, address, fax number, and telephone number of the protester;

(2) Identify the solicitation and/or contract number;

(3) Include an original signed by the protester or the protester's representative and at least one copy;

(4) Set forth a detailed statement of the legal and factual grounds of the protest, including a description of resulting prejudice to the protester, and provide copies of relevant documents;

(5) Specifically request a ruling of the individual upon whom the protest is served;

(6) State the form of relief requested; and

(7) Provide all information establishing the timeliness of the protest.

(b) Failure to comply with the above may result in dismissal of the protest without further consideration.

(c) Bidders/offerors and contracting officers are encouraged to use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures to resolve protests at any stage in the protest process. If ADR is used, the Department of Veterans Affairs will not furnish any documentation in an ADR proceeding beyond what is allowed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(End of Provision)

VAAR 852.233-71 ALTERNATE PROTEST PROCEDURE (JAN 1998)

As an alternative to filing a protest with the contracting officer, an interested party may file a protest with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel Management, Acquisition Administration Team, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, or for solicitations issued by the Office of Construction and Facilities Management, the Director, Office of Construction and Facilities Management, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420. The protest will not be considered if the interested party has a protest on the same or similar issues pending with the contracting officer.

(End of Provision)

PLEASE NOTE: The correct mailing information for filing alternate protests is as follows:

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Logistics,

Risk Management Team, Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20420

Or for solicitations issued by the Office of Construction and Facilities Management:

Director, Office of Construction and Facilities Management

811 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20420

(xiv) DPAS is N/A

(xv) The RFQ is due no later than 4PM EST on September 20, 2022, by e-mail to jose.delgado3@va.gov. Offers received after the exact time specified in the solicitation are considered late and may be considered if the action would not unduly delay the acquisition or are deemed to be in the best interest of the Government.

(xvi) For further information contact Contract Officer Jose Delgado at jose.delgado3@va.gov.

Contracting Office: Address: West Palm Beach VA Medical Facility

Point of Contact(s): Jose Delgado

Contracting Officer: Jose Delgado