FAA AJW sUAS System Inspections

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

AJW sUAS System Inspections

1. Purpose

This is a Request for Information (RFI) for informational purposes only.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Technical Operations (AJW) department is surveying the marketplace to assess the level of interest from qualified parties capable of conducting system inspections of FAA facilities that support the FAA airspace infrastructure using a small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS). These facilities include communication towers, ground-based navigational aids, site surveys, buildings, and roads.

The system inspections encompass the following types:

• LiDAR
• Thermal
• Photogrammetry
• Panorama

Interested parties must also be able to perform data collection, employ Esri flight planning, generate comprehensive reports, and upload data to Site Scan.

1. General Information

This Market Survey/RFI is being issued in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acquisition Management System Section 3.2.1.2.1. Interested parties are advised that:

• This is not a Screening Information Request (SIR) or Request for Proposal (RFP).

• The FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals.

• The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing the response to the Market Survey/RFI; and any costs associated with responding to this Market Survey/RFI are incurred solely at the interested party’s expense.

• FAA, at its sole discretion, may contact one, some, all, or none of the respondents to the RFI and ask for additional information.

• Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI and any follow-up inquiries by the Government are for informational purposes only do not constitute a promise or obligation of future business with the FAA.

Note:  FAR references cited in SAM are not applicable to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the FAA has its own policies and guidance referenced in the Acquisition Management System (AMS).

1. Compliance

1. Compliance Requirements:

In accordance with regulatory mandates and statutory obligations, any capability statement encompassing the provision of a UAS must align with Executive Order 13981, titled "Protecting the United States from Certain Unmanned Aircraft Systems," issued on January 18, 2021.

All systems integrated within the capability statement are expected to fully adhere to the following statutory and regulatory prerequisites:

• 49 U.S. Code § 50103

• Section 889 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 (Pub. L. 115-232)

1. Aircraft Requirements:

• 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 48 — Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft

• 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 89 — Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft

• 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 107 — Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

1. Minimum UAS Vendor Requirements:

• Roles and responsibilities for management and administrative personnel, to include administration, management, operations, safety, training, maintenance, and financial operations.

• Recordkeeping system

• Operations policies and procedures

• Crew qualification policies and procedures, including training.

• Maintenance policies and procedures

• Safety policies and procedures

1. Questions

Respondents to this Market Survey/RFI are requested to provide a capability statement and responses to the following items:

1. 1. Please provide a brief narrative explaining how your firm would provide the systems inspection services that the FAA requires. Also, detail how your firm meets the compliance requirements outlined in Section 3.

1. 1. Describe your experience providing similar support to other Federal and non-Federal clients. For those contracts, please provide the nature of the support, information on the size of the effort (in terms of total contract value), and the duration of the support. The narrative should demonstrate your firm’s capabilities to perform the work, not merely state that your firm can provide the services.

1. RFI Response Submission Instructions

The following instructions apply to the submission of responses to this Market Survey/RFI:

• RFI responses must be submitted via electronic mail (e-mail) to the Contracting Officer, Ashlee Baxter at Ashlee.G.Baxter@faa.gov no later than 3:00 PM Eastern Time on April 28, 2024.

•  Vendor responses should contain “AJW sUAS Systems Inspections-RFI Response” in the subject line of the e-mail.

• Vendor responses should include a capability statement and provide answers to each of the questions listed in Section 4 of this Market Survey/RFI.

• Files comprising the response to the Market Survey/RFI must not exceed ten (10) pages in total.

• Files comprising the response to the RFI must be compatible with MS Office 365 or be in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. No other form of submission will be accepted.

• If any of the information submitted is considered to be proprietary, the respondent is responsible for marking it accordingly.

• Submissions must include following information for one or more points of contact for the respondent: name, title, telephone number, and e-mail address.

Please direct any inquiries regarding this matter to the FAA Contracting Officer, Ashlee Baxter via e-mail at  Ashlee.G.Baxter@faa.gov.

1. Government Use of Market Survey/RFI Responses

The FAA may or may not provide feedback on any of the submitted materials. The Government does not intend to release or distribute any of the information contained in the Market Survey/ RFI responses.

Vendor responses to this Market Survey/RFI will not be viewed by the FAA as a commitment by the respondents to submit a proposal for any competitive solicitations initiated by the FAA in relation to the services described in this Market Survey/RFI.

(End of Announcement)