Helicopter Charter Services

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 and 13.5 with supplemental information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.  This combined synopsis/solicitation will result in a Time and Materials commercial services contract with a ceiling.

This Request for Quotation (RFQ) is being issued to establish a Time and Materials (T&M) contract for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)-Utah, Snow Survey DCO (Data Collection Office) in support of supplying snow measurement data for water supply forecasts and the maintenance of SNOTEL sites throughout the states of Utah, Nevada, and the Eastern Sierras in California.  The contractor shall provide all labor, supervision, tools, materials, equipment, transportation, and management necessary to provide the charter services, and all repair and or replacement parts necessary to keep aircraft systems covered in support of this requirement. The solicitation number for this effort is 12FPC421Q0005. 

The provisions and clauses incorporated into this solicitation document are those in effect in accordance with FAC 2021-04, effective 1/19/2021. Provisions and clauses incorporated by reference have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. The full text of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) can be accessed on the Internet at https://www.acquisition.gov

NOTE:  To be awarded this contract, the offeror MUST be registered in SAM.gov.   Any SAM.gov information may be found at http://www.SAM.gov.

Quotes must be sent via e-mail to Vickie.grant@usda.gov AND frieda.glandorff@usda.gov by the due date and time specified.  Late submissions will not be considered.  All questions or clarifications regarding this solicitation must be submitted in written form no later than 5PM EST, 9 February 2021.  Phone calls may or may not receive a response.     

 A COMPLETE QUOTE WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING:

a.  A completed pricing schedule in accordance with the performance objectives.

b.  Contractor must provide technical capability information including:

            Location where the helicopter is based

Pilots’ Mountain Flying & Snow Operations (deep snow) flying experience, certifications and qualifications

c. Proposed helicopter, engine hours and aircraft condition.

d.  A completed copy of the provisions at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items if not completed in SAM.gov.

Simplified procurement procedures will be used for this acquisition per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.  This requirement is being offered as a Small Business Set-Aside. The NAICS code is 481212,Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation and the small business size standard is 1,500 employees.

This requirement is subject to the Service Contract Act. Wage Determination No. 1996-0460 Revision No. 36, dated 12/21/2020

REQUIREMENTS AND QUANTITIES:  Please carefully review the attachedPerformance Work Statement (PWS) and additional clauses thoroughly before submitting any quotes.

The period of performance will be from award through a base plus two 12-month option periods.

Award will be made to the responsible offeror conforming to this combined synopsis/solicitation, be most advantageous to the Government with price and other factors considered.   The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: Technical capability (pilot’s experience and qualifications/certifications, proposed helicopter; the aircraft location/base of operations); and Price.  The evaluation factors attached further detail how the evaluation will be conducted.

The following provisions apply to this solicitation.

52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018)

52.204-22, Alternative Line Item Proposal (Jan 2017)

52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Oct 2020)

52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020)

52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items. (Jun 2020)

52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Jan 2021) applies to this solicitation. The contractor shall either complete the on-line Offeror Representations and Certifications www.SAM.gov or return a completed copy of the Offeror Representations and Certifications with their quotation.

52.216-1, Type of Contract (Apr 1984) 

The Government contemplates award of a Time and Materials contract resulting from this solicitation.

52.216-31, Time-and-Materials/Labor-Hour Proposal Requirements-Commercial Item Acquisitions (Feb 2007)

      (a) The Government contemplates award of a Time-and-Materials or Labor-Hour type of contract resulting from this solicitation.

      (b) The offeror must specify fixed hourly rates in its offer that include wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit. The offeror must specify whether the fixed hourly rate for each labor category applies to labor performed by-

           (1) The offeror;

           (2) Subcontractors; and/or

           (3) Divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates of the offeror under a common control.

52.225-25, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Certain Activities or Transactions Relating to Iran-Representation and Certifications (Jun 2020)