2420--KUBOTA TRACTOR BX23S or Equal Brand Model

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This Request for Information (RFI) is intended for information and planning purposes only at this time; and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Because this is a Request for Information announcement, no evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. No solicitation exists. Therefore, do not request a copy of a solicitation. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VISN 4, Network Contracting Office 4 (NCO 4), is seeking information and potential qualified sources capable of providing either a Kubota brand BX23S or an equal piece of equipment that meets the salient characteristics listed below. The potential requirement is for the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, 2907 Pleasant Valley Blvd, Altoona, PA 16602. Delivery is desired to occur within the next 90 days or as soon as possible. Kubota BX23S Salient Characteristics 4wd Front quick attach loader with 48 bucket Rear backhoe with 12 bucket Skid steer style quick attach front bucket 21hp minimum - 23hp maximum diesel engine Hydrostatic transmission Industrial tires Front hydraulics 1500lb. minimum 1700lb. maximum tractor weight 8 minimum tractor ground clearance The information identified above is intended to be descriptive, not restrictive and to indicate the quality of the supplies/services that will be satisfactory. It is the responsibility of the interested source to demonstrate to the government that the interested parties can provide the supplies/services that fulfill the required specifications mentioned above. If you are responding with the capability of providing an equal piece of equipment, please include information on the specific piece of equipment you have available and consider to be equal to the brand name. Responses to this RFI should include company name, address, point of contact, phone number, and point of contact e-mail, Unique Entity Identifier (SAM), DUNS Number, Cage Code, size of business pursuant to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 333112 (size standard of 1,500 employees). Please answer the following questions: (1) Please indicate the size status and representations of your business in accordance with the NAICS code _______, such as but not limited to: Small Business (SB), Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), Hubzone, Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), Large Business, etc.)? (2) Is the required equipment available on a Federal Supply Schedule or Government Wide Acquisition Contract? If so, please include the schedule or contract number. (3) Are you the manufacturer, distributor, or an equivalent solution to the items being referenced above? If not, provide additional information shown below. This is to confirm compliance with the non-manufacturer rule IAW 13 CFR 121.406(b) Nonmanufacturers. Does your company exceed 500 employees Primarily engaged in the retail or wholesale trade and normally sells the type of item being supplied; Take ownership or possession of the item(s) with its personnel, equipment or facilities in a manner consistent with industry practice; Provide the items of a small business (4) If your company is a large business, do you have any authorized small business distributors? If so, please provide their company name, telephone, point of Contact and size status (if available). (5) If your company is a small business and you are an authorized distributor/reseller for the items identified above or an equivalent solution, do you alter; assemble; modify; the items requested in any way? If you do, state how and what is altered; assembled; modified? (6) If you intend to subcontract any work on this contract, what portion of the total cost will be self-performed/will be performed by your organization? Please provide estimated detailed percentage breakdowns related to sub-contracted work and completion of job. (7) General pricing of your products/solution is encouraged. Pricing will be used for the purpose of market research only. It will not be used to evaluate for any type of award. (8) Please submit your capabilities regarding the salient characteristics and/or brand name equipment/supplies detailed above and any information pertaining to equal to items to establish capabilities for planning purposes? (9) Please review salient characteristics/statement of need and provide feedback or suggestions. If none, please reply as N/A. *** Submissions addressing number (8) should show clear, compelling and convincing*** evidence that all equal to items" meet all the salient characteristics. This RFI will be conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received via e-mail to Caroline.Robinette@va.gov no later than, 3:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on Friday, September 9, 2022. This notice will help the VA in determining available potential sources only. Do not contact VA Medical Center staff regarding this requirement, as they are not authorized to discuss this matter related to this procurement action. All questions will be addressed by the Contracting Officer, Caroline L. Robinette. All firms responding to this Request for Information are advised that their response is not a request for proposal, therefore will not be considered for a contract award. If a solicitation is issued, information will be posted for all qualified interested parties at a later date and interested parties must respond to the solicitation to be considered for award. This notice does not commit the government to contract for any supplies or services. The government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this Request for Information. Information will only be accepted in writing by e-mail to Contracting Officer at Caroline.Robinette@va.gov. DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. End of Document