648-23-100 Upgrade Vancouver Fire Alarm to Voice

The Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration Veterans Integrated Service Network 20 is seeking qualified electrical contractors to upgrade the fire alarm system at the Vancouver campus of the Portland VA Medical Center from an Edwards EST-3 system to an EST-4 system with voice notification capabilities. This Sources Sought Notice is market research designed to identify small businesses with NAICS code 238210 (Electrical Contractors) capable of executing this construction project. Key requirements include transitioning the existing temporal horn notification system to a speaker-based voice control system with Emergency Voice/Alarm Communication (EVAC) capabilities while maintaining full compliance with NFPA 72-2022 standards and other applicable codes. The project encompasses upgrading infrastructure across 27 buildings on the campus, establishing a new fire alarm command infrastructure, completing a campus fiber loop, and installing new Fire Alarm Control Panels (FACPs) and building annunciator panels. Interested firms must submit a two-page response by email to Toni Wiser and Colleen Nicholson by 4:00 PM PST on November 28, 2025, with submissions to include contact information, business size and classification, capabilities statement, past performance details, and identification of any non-compliant materials. This pre-solicitation notice emphasizes that responses will be used for market research purposes to shape the eventual acquisition strategy and encourages respondents to provide comments on the draft statement of work, specifications, and drawings currently under development.

This procurement carries no set-aside designation and represents an estimated project magnitude between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000. The project involves a phased implementation approach requiring careful sequential migration of buildings from the existing EST-3 network to the new EST-4 system, with strict requirements to prevent simultaneous operation of old and new systems and to prioritize rapid transition of all fire alarm notifications to the new system. Work will be performed primarily outside normal business hours (7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday) to minimize disruption to medical center operations, and the contractor must coordinate closely with the Contracting Officer's Representative and implement interim life safety measures throughout the transition period. Key technical components include establishing a new fire alarm command infrastructure in Building 3's boiler plant, completing campus fiber network upgrades, installing distributed amplifiers, speakers, strobes, and new control panels across multiple locations, and performing extensive demolition and restoration work including patching, painting, and utility protection. The project specifications reference construction documents dated August 8, 2025, and are based on VA design manuals and standards, with detailed drawings and site plans provided for each of the 27 buildings involved in the upgrade.