Esem maintenance and service

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), operating under the Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research, has issued a Notice of Intent to Award a sole source purchase order for Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) maintenance and servicing. The agency intends to award this contract exclusively to FEI Company under the simplified acquisition procedures outlined in Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 13.106-1(b). This procurement falls under NAICS code 811210 for Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance with a size standard of $34,000,000, and utilizes Product Service Code J066 for maintenance, repair, and rebuilding of instruments and laboratory equipment. The contract value will not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000. The notice emphasizes that this is not a solicitation or request for competitive proposals, as the agency has determined that only one responsible source can satisfy their requirements.

The purpose of this special notice is to inform the contracting community of the Navy's intent to proceed with a sole source award while providing an opportunity for other potential contractors to demonstrate their capabilities. Interested parties have fifteen calendar days from the publication date of August 18, 2025, until August 21, 2025, to respond with clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the government. Any responses must be directed to Richard Key at richard.a.key2.civ@us.navy.mil and must reference the Notice of Intent number. The government will use submitted information solely to determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement instead of the planned sole source award. The decision to maintain the sole source approach remains entirely at the government's discretion, and no reimbursement will be provided for costs associated with preparing capability information. This procurement is set aside for total small businesses under the specified NAICS size standard.