Eaton UPS Maintenance

Introduction
This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation.  A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested.  

Purpose
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intend to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with Chesapeake Mission Critical LLC (UEI: MBEXDV8KCKM5), located at 6500 Virginia Manor Road Beltsville, MD 20705. The purchase order will specifically procure Eaton UPS Maintenance for a one-year base period with options for three additional years.

Authority
This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR RFO Part 12.102(a) and 41 USC 1901 allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 811210 – Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance with a small business size standard of $34.0 Million.

Description
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Technology Test and Evaluation Division’s Biometrics Research Lab (BRL) requires annual preventive maintenance of the large Eaton UPS systems housed in the attic of NIST Gaithersburg buildings 222 & 225 to support the BRL’s research mission and power needs.

Sole Source Determination
The sole source determination is based on the following:

The existing UPS Systems were manufactured by Eaton. This system is critical to support NIST biometrics research, standards, and evaluations. NIST requires the use of large data sets for evaluations that can be stored on RAID arrays and shared between computer blades. The computer blade hardware needs to be powered by uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) with battery backup units to protect the hardware from power surges, brownouts, and power loss.

The UPS Systems are proprietary to their original equipment manufacturer, Eaton. Eaton does not directly service its products and instead trains authorized resellers to perform this work. Chesapeake Mission Critical is the only Eaton-authorized provider of service support in the NIST Gaithersburg region. No other service contractor is authorized to possess Eaton proprietary (copyrighted) software, repair documentation, processes or materials. Thus, Chesapeake Mission Critical is the only capable contractor for this requirement. The impact of not having these units serviced would halt all biometrics research if the units fail. This would result in failed deliverables to other agency partners, loss of data, loss of computer power, and loss of ability for Biometric Technologies Group staff to perform work due to no hardware resources.

Information for Interested Parties
Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Collin Randall, Contract Specialist, at Collin.Randall@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to Collin.Randall@nist.gov so that they are received no later than June 18, 2026, at 10:00 AM, Eastern Time.

Each response should include the following Business Information:

1. Contractor Name, Address,
2. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address
3. Contractor SAM Universal Entity Identifier (UEI)
4. Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, hubZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must have an active registration in www.SAM.gov.
5. Capability Statement