Sign Language Interpreting Services

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.  A SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED AND PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REQUESTED.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Acquisitions (OA), Office of Logistics and Acquisition Operations (OLAO), on behalf of the Office of Research Services (ORS), Events Management Branch (EMB), intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Access Interpreting, Inc. for commercial items.  The contract provides essential communication services NIH-wide to deaf and hard of hearing employees, patients, and visitors, requesting an accommodation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Services include but are not limited to American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreting (basic and scientific) and Computer Assisted Real-time Transcription (CART).

The purpose of this sole source is to prevent a lapse in service for approximately a five (5) month period (estimated April 1, 2025 through August 31, 2025) during the acquisition planning, negotiation, and award of the competitive small business set-aside requirement under Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 75N98025R00007 for the American Sign Language Interpreting and CART Accommodation Services with Captioning and Other Accessibility Services, which will be posted on or about the end of March 2025.  The requirement will be awarded for a base period of one-year with four (4) one-year option periods.

This sole source action is under the authority 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as set forth in FAR 6.302-1 as it is impracticable to seek competition for the five (5) month period while completing the acquisition process for the competitive small business set-aside requirement under RFP No. 75N98025R00007 are ongoing. The statutory authority also provides that other than full and open competition is appropriate for follow-on contracts when it is likely that the award of a contract to another source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that would not be expected to be recovered through competition or that unacceptable delays would result.  Delays would put those needing the services at risk. Tthe current incumbent Contractor, Access Interpreting, Inc., can provide seamless support for this requirement for the limited period of April 1, 2025 through August 31, 2025, which is the time needed to complete the competitive small business set-aside acquisition process to award the follow-on contract. 

As noted above, this is not a solicitation for competitive proposals.  However, if any other interested party believes that it can meet the requirements, it may submit a statement of capabilities.  The capability statement and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the Government to determine if the party can meet all of the requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) and the terms and conditions of the current contract.  Capability statements and related materials must be received by Sheryn Noel, Contracting Officer, no later than March 24, 2025, at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.  Written responses received after the deadline will not be accepted.  A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.  Address responses to the attention of Sheryn Noel, Contracting Officer,via email at noels@mail.nih.gov.   Contracts Office Address: Office of Acquisitions, Office of Logistics and Acquisition Operations, 6701 Rockledge Drive, 535L, Rockville, Maryland 20817.