Facility Protection Services

The State of Tennessee Department of General Services, Central Procurement Office, on behalf of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, is soliciting proposals for comprehensive facility protection services through RFP 32110-22726 to provide armed Facility Protection Officers (FPOs), supervisors, contract managers, assistant contract managers, recruiters/quality control managers, and related personnel to safeguard state-owned and state-leased facilities across multiple regions including Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson, Lawrenceburg, and Cookeville. The contractor must deliver all necessary personnel, equipment, training, supervision, and management required to comply with state law, post orders, and operational procedures, with key deliverables including transition plans, training plans, quality control plans, and continuity of operations plans due within specified timeframes following award. Required qualifications include maintaining a valid Tennessee Contract Security Company License, establishing a physical office location in each of Tennessee's three Grand Divisions, providing proof of Tennessee Department of Revenue sales tax registration before contract execution, and complying with all state and federal regulations including nondiscrimination requirements and Americans with Disabilities Act provisions. The contractor must employ personnel meeting extensive training requirements, including 24 hours of firearms instruction with 75% proficiency demonstration, 8 hours of intermediate weapons training, 4 hours of emergency medical training, 18 hours of patrol procedures, and 40 hours of annual in-service training; additionally, the contract manager must have minimum five years of specialized experience, the assistant contract manager minimum three years, and supervisory and specialized personnel must meet documented qualifications. The evaluation will award points based on general qualifications and experience (maximum 15 points), technical qualifications and approach (maximum 55 points), and cost proposal (maximum 30 points), with contract award to the responsive and responsible respondent offering the best overall value. The pre-response conference is scheduled for February 26, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. CST; written questions and comments are due by March 4, 2026, with official state responses issued March 25, 2026; proposals are due April 1, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. CST; technical evaluations will be completed by April 23, 2026; cost proposals will open April 24, 2026; optional negotiations may occur May 1-8, 2026; and a Notice of Intent to Award will be released May 11, 2026.

The solicitation does not designate specific set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises or other protected classifications; however, all respondents must certify compliance with Iran Divestment Act requirements and attest that they will not knowingly utilize illegal immigrants in contract performance. The incumbent contractor, providing services under Contract #73187 from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2025, is eligible to compete; historical contract data indicates annual FPO hours ranging from 124,122 hours in 2022 to 301,314 hours in 2025, demonstrating the scale of required services. The successful contractor must integrate with existing state facility infrastructure and comply with mandatory uniform regulations, grooming standards, and equipment specifications detailed in the solicitation, including provision of ten vehicles no more than three years old marked as FPO vehicles. The contract has an effective date of January 1, 2027, with an initial term of thirty-six months, renewable for up to two additional twelve-month periods at the State's sole option, with potential term extension up to 180 days, not to exceed sixty months total. The estimated state liability during the contract term is fifty million dollars ($50,000,000); however, no minimum purchase is guaranteed, and the contractor bears all costs associated with licenses, permits, background checks, training, equipment, uniforms, vehicles, firearms, insurance, and drug screening, including quarterly random testing of ten percent of the workforce. The contractor must maintain comprehensive insurance coverage including cyber liability insurance of three million dollars per occurrence and five million dollars annually, along with commercial general liability, workers' compensation, automobile liability, professional liability, and crime insurance as specified in the contract documents.