Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

AMENDMENT 0001 (Dated 03/18/2025): This amendment (0001) is being issued to: (1) Extend the quote submission deadline by 24 hours. (2) Add a questions and answers document to the Attachments/Links sec... AMENDMENT 0001 (Dated 03/18/2025): This amendment (0001) is being issued to: (1) Extend the quote submission deadline by 24 hours. (2) Add a questions and answers document to the Attachments/Links section. See the Attachments/Links section for the questions and answers document. (3) Add the paragraphs below and update provisions and clauses to be in compliance with a FAR Class Deviations that went into effect as of 03/14/2025. See the below paragraphs and the Attachments/Links section for the updated provisions and clauses. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged. "System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations, including 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals—Representation, and paragraph (t) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Agencies will not consider or use these representations. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM." "System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations. Examples include 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance, and paragraph (d) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Contracting officers will not consider these representations when making award decisions or enforce requirements. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM." This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Any amendments and document updates related to this solicitation will only be available electronically on SAM.gov. This is the only official location where the solicitation documents can be obtained and where updates will be posted. No hard copy solicitation materials are available. It is the responsibility of vendors to monitor SAM.gov Contract Opportunities regarding this solicitation. The solicitation number 12505B25Q0078 is issued as a request for quote (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated clauses and provisions are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2025-03. The associated NAICS is 339113 (“Surgical Appliance and Supplies Manufacturing”) with a small business size standard of under 800 employees. The applicable PSC is 6640 (“Laboratory Equipment and Supplies”). This solicitation is issued as a 100% Total Small Business Set-Aside. The clause FAR 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside is included. As such, quotes received from contractors that are not small business concerns relative to the associated NAICS will be deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. The United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Midwest Area (MWA) Administrative Office’s Acquisitions & Personal Property/Fleet Team on behalf of the USDA-ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) Laboratory in Peoria, IL is requesting quotes for: 0001 - Cabinet Style Laboratory Steam Sterilizer (Autoclave); Qty: 1 0002 - Shipping/Freight/Delivery; Qty: 1 0003 - Deinstallation & Disposal; Qty: 1 0004 - Installation; Qty: 1 The vendor shall provide all items F.O.B: destination. Delivery, disposal, and installation to be performed at 1815 North University Street, Room 1118A, Peoria, IL 61604 within 120 days of award. For additional information please see the requirements document in the attachments. Inquiries concerning this solicitation are to be submitted in writing via email only to the point of contact listed in the “Primary Point of Contact” field. All inquiries regarding solicitation requirements or clarifications will be allowed up to 48-hours prior to the close date/time/time zone listed in the “Date Offers Due” field. No phone inquiries or requests for return phone calls will be accepted. No questions will be accepted or answered after this deadline unless determined to be in the best interest of the Government. Any inquiry responses or clarifications not already documented in the solicitation posting information will be added as an amendment for all offerors to access. This information will be noted in the “Description” field of the public posting at least 24 -hours prior to the “Date Offers Due.” A site-visit will be held Friday, March 14, 2025 from 1:00 to 2:00 PM CST. Vendors that wish to participate in this site-visit must submit a request with the names and credentials of all representatives who will be in attendance to the “Primary Point of Contact” by 11:59 AM CST on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Any requests to participate in the site-visit received after this deadline may not be accepted. No questions may be asked or will be answered during the site-visits. All questions must be submitted inwriting via email as outlined in the previous paragraph. “Date Offers Due” extension requests will only be considered up to 24-hours prior to the close date/time/time zone listed in the “Date Offers Due” field. Not all extension requests will be granted. A complete quote must be submitted in writing via email to the point of contact listed in the “Primary Point of Contact” field and be received by or before the close date/time/time zone stated in the “Date Offers Due” field section relative to this solicitation with ALL of the requested and required documentation to be put into consideration for award. Any quotes received after the “Date Offers Due” will NOT be accepted or evaluated unless it is an updated to a quote initially received before the “Date Offers Due”. Only electronic submissions made via email will be accepted. Verbal quotes made by phone call, quotes submitted by USPS mail, quotes submitted in the body of an email, OR quotes submitted ONLY on company letterhead WITHOUT a completed copy of the quote submission forms may NOT be accepted. Failure to submit all of the required documentation on time or meet all of the quote submission requirements may result in a quote being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. The Government anticipates making an award by or before the close of business on Friday, April 18, 2025. Please ensure your quote will be current and that the price(s) quoted will NOT expire until after the anticipated award date or for at least 30 days after the close date/time/time zone listed in the “Date Offers Due” field (whichever is later). All correspondence concerning this solicitation shall be submitted via email only to the point of contact listed in the “Primary Point of Contact” field. No phone inquiries or requests for return phone calls will be accepted. No other contacts are listed that can officially represent this solicitation. Please note the time zone designation in the "General Information" section above. Other time zones are as designated in the solicitation attachments. The subject line of all emails related to this solicitation shall include the RFQ number. The RFQ number corresponds to the “Notice ID” field. It is recommended that the subject include the solicitation title as well. Failure to do so may result in any quote submitted being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. Only quotes submitted in response to a solicitation posted by someone from an Administrative Office’s Acquisition and Personal Property/Fleet can be put into consideration for award. Any quotes that were provided or obtained by someone during the market research phase (such as in response to a request from a Program Office, a sources sought, etc.) or in response to a prior solicitation CANNOT be put into consideration for award. Be sure to read and review all of the attachments and to complete any and all additional documentation required as part of your quote submission. Of critical importance is to review the requirements document as it contains the technical specifications, features, and capabilities of the needed product and services. Vendors are to submit their quote in accordance with FAR 52.212-1. The applicable FAR/AGAR clauses and provisions are included in the attachments. Vendors responding to this solicitation shall submit their quote along with all other requested and required documentation (such as completed FAR/AGAR clauses and provisions) that are to be included as part of all vendor’s responses. The Government anticipates making one Firm-Fixed Price award to a single vendor. The total price quoted will be used as the basis for evaluation and award. As such, the total price quoted must include any and ALL fees, charges, and/or surcharges as prices/costs cannot be added or changed after a Firm-Fixed Price award has been made. This will be a tax-exempt purchase. The eventual award will be made as a whole (not per line item) for ALL items listed on the quote submission form. As such, be certain you are able to provide and quote on all of the required items (including any options). If any line item(s) will be provided at no additional cost or will not be individually priced, please include it on your quote by entering a $0.00-dollar amount for the line item(s). Also, if the price/value of any line item(s) will be included in the price/value of one or more-line items, please specify which line item(s) are included under a single price. Otherwise, if a price is not entered for one or more-line items they will be considered as being quoted for a $0.00-dollar amount. If any line items are not included in a vendor’s quote it may be deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. The Buy American Act applies to this requirement. As such, a statement (ex. email) or certification (ex. a letter on company letterhead) from the manufacturer as to the manufacturing street address or country of origin of the product is required and shall be included with all quotes at the time of initial submission. Failure to do so may result in the submitted quote being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. The domestic content test has been waived for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items, except a product that consists wholly or predominantly of iron or steel or a combination of both (excluding COTS fasteners). See FAR 25.001(c)(1), FAR 25.100(a)(5), and FAR 25.101(a)(2)(ii) for more details. Please review ALL of the FAR/AGAR clauses and provisions included in the document. The FAR/AGAR clauses and provisions constitute the terms and conditions for submitting a quote in response to the solicitation as well as the terms and conditions of the anticipated award. The FAR/AGAR provisions apply only to the solicitation and submission of quotes. The FAR/AGAR clauses apply to both the solicitation and submission of quotes as well as to the resulting award. The FAR/AGAR clauses will be included as part of the resulting award. Any addenda will be noted in the clauses and provisions document. The FAR clauses 52.212-4 and 52.212-5 as well as the FAR provisions 52.212-1 and 52.212-2 are applicable. The clauses listed under FAR 52.212-5(a) are applicable to all solicitations and awards. The clauses marked with an X under FAR 52.212-5(b) and (c) are applicable to the solicitation and the eventual award. The evaluation criteria of FAR 52.212-2 is outlined in a following paragraph. Additional FAR/AGAR clauses and provisions are detailed in the FAR/AGAR clauses and provisions document. It is strongly advised that a completed copy of the FAR provision FAR 52.212-3 be included with the submission of all quotes (especially if the applicable NAICS or a NAICS with the same or lower small business threshold is not included in a vendor’s SAM registration). A copy of FAR 52.212-3 is provided in the attachments. Pursuant to FAR 52.212-2, the criteria for evaluation and basis for award will be price analysis. If two or more quotes are received the methodology used will be Lowest Price, Technically Acceptable (LPTA). Technically acceptable is define as meeting ALL of the technical specifications, features, and capabilities identified on the requirements document. The Government intends to make one Firm-Fixed Price award to a single vendor based on the LPTA quote received. "LPTA" means the best value is expected to result from selection of the technically acceptable quote with the lowest evaluated price. The lowest priced quote will be evaluated first. If found technically acceptable, NO other quotes will be reviewed. If NOT found technically acceptable, the next lowest priced quote will be evaluated. This process will continue until a technically acceptable quote is identified or all quotes have been reviewed and none are found to be technically acceptable. The Government will NOT review higher priced quotes if the lowest (or a lower) priced quote is determined to be technically acceptable. If a technically acceptable quote is found the price quoted will be evaluated to determine if it is fair and reasonable. If a price quoted is determined to be fair and reasonable, then a determination of responsibility will be performed. If a quote received is determined to be technically acceptable, at a price that is fair and reasonable, and is from a vendor found to be responsible then the evaluations will be closed and an award shall be made. If no quotes received are found to be technically acceptable, if none of the prices quoted are determined to be fair and reasonable, or none of the quoting vendors are found to be responsible then the solicitation may be amended and reposted, an entirely new solicitation may be posted, or the requirement may be cancelled. If quotes are received for domestic and nondomestic products, the quoted prices will be compared after increasing the quoted price(s) for all nondomestic products by 30%. See FAR 25.106 for more details and FAR 25.504-1 for examples. If only quotes for nondomestic products are received or only quotes for technically acceptable nondomestic products are received, a waiver from the Made in America Office (MIAO) for Domestic Nonavailability (per FAR 25.103(b)(2)) will be required to be able to make an award. If quotes for higher priced technically acceptable domestic products are also received than no waiver will be required to make an award. To be eligible to be put into consideration for award, all vendors who respond to a posted solicitation must have a current and active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) at the time they submit their quote. NO EXCEPTIONS. Vendors who are not currently registered in SAM or whose SAM registration is inactive when they submit a quote will be deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. A current and active SAM registration is also necessary for modifications to be made to any existing awards, orders to be placed against any existing contracts, and for payments to be made for products delivered or services rendered on prior awards. As such, it is critical to maintain a current and active SAM registration. Be certain you have a current and active SAM registration before submitting a quote in response to a solicitation. If you are NOT currently registered in SAM or your account has become inactive, you must register or reactivate your account and verify that it has become active prior to submitting a quote. Failure to do so will result in any quote submitted being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. Use of the Data Universal Numbering System (or DUNS) number as a vendor’s entity identifier ended on April 4, 2022. A Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number is now required in order to register in SAM. The UEI# will be used as the primary vendor’s evaluation reference. Vendors must include their UEI# on ALL quotes submitted in response to this solicitation. Beyond the UEI, no vendor provided past performance documentation is required with quote submissions. Vendors should also include their SAM status as well as the business size and socio-economic status(es) for the applicable NAICS on their quote. Furthermore, vendors that are found to have active exclusions, active proceedings, or listings of Terminations for Default/Cause within three years of the quote submission date may be deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. Failure to do so will result in any quote submitted being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. If you experience any problems with the SAM.gov website or your SAM registration and will require assistance you will need to call the SAM Helpdesk at 866-606-8220. If you have any questions related to the SAM.gov website or your SAM registration you will need to call the SAM Helpdesk as well. The POC(s) for the solicitation cannot assist you with this Government website. In accordance with the requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, all payments are to be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT). The vendor shall provide financial institution information to the Finance Office designated above in accordance with FAR 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer - System for Award Management. Effective May 6, 2013, payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). “Payment Request” means any request for financing payment or invoice payment by the vendor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in the contract, or the clause FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items included in commercial item contracts. The IPP website address is: https://www.ipp.gov. The vendor must use the IPP website to register, access and use IPP for submitting requests for payment of all invoices. IPP is a government-wide secure web-based payment information service offered free of charge to Government agencies and their suppliers by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS). The submission and payment of all invoices issued against the resulting award will be made through IPP. The "Submit Invoice-to" address for the USDA-ARS award shall be IPP. To invoice for such awards, a vendor must enroll in IPP by visiting https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/index.htm. Once enrolled, all invoices issued against the resulting award must be submitted electronically through IPP. This is a mandatory requirement initiated by the U.S. Department of Treasury and you can find more information at this website https://www.ipp.gov. Vendors must be currently registered or register in IPP at https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/enrollment in order to be able to submit and receive payment on invoices issued against the resulting award. Invoices that are submitted by any means other than through IPP cannot be processed for payment and will be rejected. Payment terms will be NET 30 from the date an invoice submitted in IPP is approved. Prepayment is NOT permitted. Invoices for services may be submitted monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually for a percentage of the total award amount. However, an invoice for the full award amount may NOT be submitted and approved for payment until after the period of performance has concluded and all services have been fully rendered. Approval of an invoice submitted in IPP will NOT be made until confirmation from the program office has been received that all products were delivered and/or services were fully rendered. Any invoice(s) submitted before product deliver and/or service completion will be rejected. An invoice may be rejected for reasons including but not limited to the product(s) delivered being damaged, items are missing, the items have yet to be provided, the quantity does not match the quantity actually received, the items are being invoiced under the wrong award, or the product(s) do not meet the requirements stipulated in the award. An invoice may also be rejected for reasons including but not limited to if services have yet to be rendered, the services rendered were deemed unsatisfactory, the services are being invoiced under the wrong award, the stated service period does not line up with the award’s period of performance, or the services provided do not meet the requirements stipulated in the award. Rejected invoices may be resubmitted in IPP for approval after delivery and/or service completion has occurred or after any issues with the product or service have been resolved. Vendors must be certain all products have been delivered and/or all services have been fully rendered with no issues noted before submitting an invoice in IPP. All invoices for an award should be submitted in IPP within a year of the final delivery or completion date. Vendor assistance with enrollment, UserIDs and Passwords for IPP can be obtained by contacting the IPP Helpdesk via email at IPPCustomerSupport@fms.treas.gov or IPP Customer Support Desk at 1-866-973-3131. For all other IPP issues, please contact the National Finance Center’s Controller Operations Division (COD) Helpdesk at 1-877-243-3072 or COD.HELP@usda.gov. Any vender responding to this solicitation must ensure that its response is complete and furnishes sufficiently detailed technical information to allow the Government to conclusively determine that the vendor qualifies and is capable of providing products and/or services capable of meeting the technical specifications, features, and capabilities identified in the requirements document at the quoted price. The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information not identified in the response. Interested vendors are instructed to only provide the information requested. Any additional information may not be reviewed. Failure to demonstrate compliance with all instructions and/or to provide the required information in the requested format may constitute sufficient cause for a quote to be deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration for award. All responsible sources may submit a quote which if received by the date and time noted in the “Date Offers Due” field will be put into considered for award. The Government reserves the right to cancel this solicitation, either before or after the closing date. This solicitation does not constitute any commitment by the Government. It does not obligate the Government to make an award or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred in providing a response to this solicitation. The Government will provide no reimbursement for any costs associated with the preparation or submission of any information that is received in response to this solicitation. Vendors are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of information or provide feedback to the vendors about any of the information received. Vendors who do not receive an award may not be notified of the results of this solicitation.