Caisson Breeches

SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS

THIS IS A Sources Sought Notice ONLY.  The U.S. Government currently intends to award a contract for Caisson Breeches  and is seeking vendors that may be able to perform this requirement to support a competitive procurement.  Accordingly, the U.S. Government highly encourages all interested small business to respond to this source sought synopsis.  In addition, small businesses, in all socioeconomic categories (including, 8(a) Business Development Program, Small Disadvantage Business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Women-Owned Small Business concerns), must describe their identifying capabilities in meeting the requirements at a fair market price, i.e., information which may help support a set-aside.

The government intends to award a set aside for a small business (Firm Fixed Price) contract to provide Caisson Breeches .  The statutory authority for this procurement is statutory authority 15 U.S.C. 644(j) as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19.502-2(b) if the rule of two is met, the contract must be set aside for small business. Attached is the draft Statement of Work (SOW)

This notice does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ)/Invitation for Bid (IFB)/Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB or RFP in the future.  This notice does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service.  Further, the U.S. Government is not seeking quotes, bids or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this source sought notice.  The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice.  Submittals will not be returned to the responder.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.  However, if competitive solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Governmentwide Point of Entry.  It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the Governmentwide Point of Entry for additional information pertaining to this requirement.  The NAICS code is 315210, Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors with a size standard of 750 employees.  The contract type is anticipated to be firm fixed price.

In response to this source sought, please provide:  a capability statement addressing your company’s ability to provide Caisson Breeches. Include only a general description of the item relative to the requirement as this is not a solicitation and no responses will be considered as proposals. Provide responses to this notice to carolina.d.banks.civ@army.mil. Telephone responses will NOT be accepted.  Please provide responses in writing no later than Monday June 2nd, 2025, at 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

1.  Identify any condition or action that may be having the effect of unnecessarily restricting competition with respect to this acquisition and identify alternatives or solution solutions.  Also contact the MICC Advocate for Competition, Scott Kukes, at scott.d.kukes.civ@mail.mil or 520-944-7373, if you believe that this action is unreasonably restricting competition.  Include the subject of the acquisition, this announcement, and the MICC POC information from the Sources Sought Synopsis.  Provide the specific aspects that unreasonably restrict competition and the rationale for such conclusion.

2.  Name of the firm, point of contact, phone number, email address, Unique Entity Identifier, CAGE code, identify business size (small business), and if applicable, a statement regarding small business status (including small business type(s)/certifications(s) such as SDB, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.) and the corresponding NAICS code.

3.  Identify whether your firm is interested in competing for this requirement as a prime contractor or not.  Identify subcontracting, joint ventures or teaming arrangement that will be pursued, if any.

4.  Information in sufficient detail regarding previous experience (indicate whether as a prime contractor or subcontractor) on similar requirements (include size, scope, complexity, timeframe, government or commercial), pertinent certifications, etc., that will facilitate making a capability determination. 

5.  Information to help determine if the Caisson Breeches are commercially available, including pricing information, the basis for the pricing information (e.g., market pricing, catalog pricing), delivery schedules, customary terms and conditions, warranties, etc.

6.  Identify how the Army can best structure these contract requirements to facilitate competition, including competition among small business concerns.

7.  Recommendations to improve the Army's approach/specifications/draft PWS/PRS to acquiring the identified items/services.

8. Identify what percentage of work will be performed by the small business prime contractor and all similarly situated entity subcontractors.  Note: See FAR 52.219-14(e)(1) Limitations on Subcontracting (Oct 2022) (DEVIATION 2021-O0008). If your firm is interested in competing for this requirement as a prime contractor and you plan to subcontract any of the services out, contemplating a Joint Venture, and/or creating a teaming arrangement, please provide the name of these companies and what work and what percentage of work they will be performing, if available.

"Similarly situated entity" means a first-tier subcontractor, including an independent contractor, that has the same small business program status as that which qualified the prime contractor for the award and that is considered small for the NAICS code the prime contractor assigned to the subcontract the subcontractor will perform.  An example of a similarly situated entity is a first-tier subcontractor that is a HUBZone small business concern for a HUBZone set-aside.

In addition, the Contractor agrees to the performance of a contract for services, it will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities

9. Identify whether the contractor is manufacturer of the end item(s), or a nonmanufacturer that will supply the end item(s) manufactured by a small business. Note: See FAR 52.219-33 Nonmanufacturer Rule.