RFP 103-26 Fire Alarm Maintenance, Service and Repair

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is requesting proposals for fire alarm maintenance, service, and repair across its owned and operated systems, with proposals due September 23, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. and a virtual pre-bid conference on August 25 at 10:00 a.m. This is a public works contract under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30, Section 39M, and prevailing wage requirements apply; contractors must pay employees at rates ranging from approximately $79.70 per hour for laborers to $125.77 per hour for specialized trades.

The scope encompasses testing, inspecting, resetting, repair, upgrade, and maintenance of fire alarm systems at four primary MBTA facilities: 202 Southampton Street Storage Building, 35 Charlestown Street, and 45 High Street. The asset inventory includes over 600 devices (smoke detectors, heat detectors, manual pull stations, strobes, horns, control panels, batteries, dialers, and HVAC shutdown equipment) from manufacturers including Notifier, Honeywell, System Sensor, and FireLite. Services must comply with the National Fire Alarm Code and applicable Massachusetts building and fire codes. The contractor must maintain current certifications and licenses, provide on-call availability, rapid response for emergency calls, and comprehensive documentation of all service activities.

The contract term is three years. Pricing consists of four components: a monthly testing fee (Item 1); repair, upgrade, and maintenance at hourly rates applied to estimated 3,640 annual hours (Item 2); overtime calls at hourly rates applied to estimated 1,456 annual hours (Item 3); and $75,000 annual parts allocation totaling $225,000 over three years (Item 4). Items 2, 3, and 4 are estimates with no guaranteed quantities; all prices must remain firm throughout the contract term. The MBTA reserves the right to award to one or multiple bidders.

Bidders must submit a 5 percent bid deposit bond and 50 percent payment bond. Within three business days of conditional notice of award, the contractor must provide proof of insurance including Commercial General Liability ($1 million per occurrence / $1 million aggregate), Automobile Liability ($1 million combined single limits), Workers' Compensation (Massachusetts Chapter 152 with $1 million employer's liability), and Umbrella Liability ($5 million per occurrence and aggregate). All insurance must be placed with carriers rated A- or better by Best's, written on an occurrence basis, and must name the MBTA as additional insured.

Questions are due September 8 at 2:00 p.m., with answers published by September 11 at 2:00 p.m. Contract execution and service start are estimated for November 1, 2026. Responses must remain valid for 180 days following the due date.