Notice of intent

The US Geological Survey (USGS) Office of Acquisitions and Grants has issued a Special Notice announcing its intent to award a purchase order to Oxford Instruments America, Inc. of Concord, MA for a service contract. The notice pertains to maintenance services for specialized scientific equipment, specifically two Oxford Energy Dispersive Spectrometers (EDS) and one Oxford electron backscatter diffractometer (EBSD). The agency is pursuing this procurement under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b) and FAR Part 12 procedures for commercial items. USGS contends that Oxford Instruments is the sole source capable of providing maintenance for these proprietary instruments. The notice is classified under NAICS code 811210 for Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance, with a Product Service Code (PSC) of J066 for maintenance of laboratory equipment.

The primary purpose of this Special Notice is to satisfy FAR Subpart 5.2 requirements and provide transparency regarding the intended sole-source procurement. While the notice explicitly states this is not a competitive solicitation, it does allow for interested parties to submit quotations for consideration, with the government retaining sole discretion on whether to compete the action. Contractors wishing to respond must submit their inquiries exclusively via electronic mail to capplegate@usgs.gov by March 19, 2025, at 0100 PDT. Hard copy submissions or responses through web portals will not be accepted. The contract aims to maintain critical scientific equipment at the EPMA/SEM Lab in Menlo Park, with an emphasis on preventing potential research disruptions caused by equipment downtime. Eligible respondents should have specialized expertise in maintaining complex scientific instrumentation, particularly Oxford Instruments' proprietary EDS and EBSD systems used for geochemical data collection and crystallographic structure analysis.