71--Aeron Chairs

Bids are being solicited under solicitation number 1025031003. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; bids are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation is issued as an invitation for bids (IFB), unless otherwise indicated herein. If your company can provide the product/services listed on the solicitation and comply with all of the solicitation instructions, please respond to this notice. To view the specifications, please go to www.FedBid.com and reference Buy No. 169643. GSA Schedule Bids Only: Sellers bidding on this opportunity MUST have the items requested on an existing GSA Schedule. The Schedule must either be in the Seller's name or the Seller must be able to document its ability to act as an agent of a partner's Schedule. Sellers must not bid more than their applicable contract ceiling price, excluding the FedBid Fee, for contract-specific items. If FedBid receives notice that, due to inclusion of the FedBid Fee, the Selected Bid's line item pricing is higher than the Selected Seller's applicable published government contract pricing, the FedBid Fee will be reduced to ensure the Selected Bid's line item pricing does not exceed the Selected Seller's applicable contract pricing. Sellers may offer Open Market items only in accordance with the approved Terms and Conditions of their respective GSA Schedule AND upon approval from the soliciting Contracting Officer. Information regarding GSA Schedules can be found at www.GSA.gov. This requirement is unrestricted and only qualified sellers may submit bids. The solicitation pricing on www.FedBid.com will start on the date this solicitation is posted and will end on 2009-12-07 16:00:00.0 Eastern Time or as otherwise displayed at www.FedBid.com. FOB Destination shall be WASHINGTON, DC 20522 The Department of State requires the following items, Exact Match Only, to the following: LI 001, Aeron Chairs. P/n: AE113AWB., 235, EA; LI 002, Installation Costs for Aeron Chairs, 1, LOT; For this solicitation, Department of State intends to conduct an online competitive reverse auction to be facilitated by the third-party reverse auction provider, FedBid, Inc. FedBid has developed an online, anonymous, browser based application to conduct the reverse auction. A Seller may submit a series of pricing bids, which descend in price during the specified period of time for the aforementioned reverse auction. Department of State is taking this action in an effort to improve both seller access and awareness of requests and the agency's ability to gather multiple, completed, real-time bids. All responsible Sellers that respond to this solicitation MUST submit the pricing portion of their bid using the online exchange located at www.FedBid.com. There is no cost to register, review procurement data or make a bid on www.FedBid.com. Sellers that are not currently registered to use www.FedBid.com should proceed to www.FedBid.com to complete their free registration. Sellers that require special considerations or assistance may contact the FedBid Helpdesk at 877-9FEDBID (+1 (555) 000-0000) or via email at contact@example.gov. Sellers may not artificially manipulate the price of a transaction on www.FedBid.com by any means. It is unacceptable to place bad faith bids, to use decoys in the www.FedBid.com process or to collude with the intent or effect of hampering the competitive www.FedBid.com process. Should Sellers require additional clarification, contact FedBid at 877-9FEDBID (+1 (555) 000-0000) or contact@example.gov. Use of FedBid: Buyers and Sellers agree to conduct this transaction through FedBid in compliance with the FedBid Terms of Use. Failure to comply with the below terms and conditions may result in offer being determined as non-responsive. In addition to providing pricing at www.FedBid.com for this solicitation, each Offeror must provide any required, NON-PRICING responses (e.g. technical proposal, representations and certifications, etc.) so that they are received no later than the closing date and time for this solicitation. Agencies may require registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) prior to receipt of order, pursuant to FAR 4.1102 and other applicable regulations and guidelines. Information can be found at www.ccr.gov. All Bids must be valid for 30 days from the closing date for this solicitation. No exceptions or qualifications. New equipment ONLY, NO remanufactured, refurbished, or gray-market products. All bid prices must include shipping FOB Destination CONUS (CONtinental U.S.). No partial shipments are permitted, unless otherwise specified by Contracting Officer at time of award. (a) The provider of information technology shall certify applications are fully functional and operate correctly as intended on systems using the Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC). This includes Internet Explorer 7 configured to operate on Windows XP and Vista (in Protected Mode on Vista). For the Windows XP settings, see http://csrc.nist.gov/itsec/guidance_WinXP.html and for the Windows Vista settings, see: http://csrc.nist.gov/itsec/guidance_vista.html.(b) The standard installation, operation, maintenance, update, and/or patching of software shall not alter the configuration settings from the approved FDCC configuration. The information technology should also use the Windows Installer Service for installation to the default program files directory and should be able to silently install and uninstall.(c) Applications designed for normal end users shall run in the standard user context without elevated system administration privileges.(d) The Department of State currently intends to use Vista in Protected Mode in the future when all devices at all worldwide locations have sufficient capacity to permit an upgrade from the XP operating system. Pursuant to the Trade Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 2512(a)) (TAA), Federal acquisitions of supplies may be made only from offerors that will supply products of an eligible country under any of the free trade agreements entered into pursuant to the TAA. An article is considered a product of a country only if it is wholly a product of that country or if it has been substantially transformed in that country into a new and different article of commerce with a name, character, or use distinct from that of the original article(s). Note that any item that is a discreet article as it is sold in commerce, regardless of its ultimate function or use, cannot be considered substantially transformed based solely on its integration into IT or other systems. The Contractor and its employees shall exercise the utmost discretion in regard to all matters relating to their duties and functions. They shall not communicate to any person any information known to them by reason of their performance of services under this contract which has not been made public, except in the necessary performance of their duties or upon written authorization of the Contracting Officer. All documents and records (including photographs) generated during the performance of work under this contract shall be for the sole use and become the exclusive property of the U.S Government. Furthermore, no article, book, pamphlet, email, recording, broadcast, speech television appearance, film or photograph concerning any aspect of work performed under this contract shall be published or disseminated through any media without the prior written authorization of the Contracting Officer. These obligations do no cease upon the expiration or termination of this contract. The Contractor shall include the substance of this provision in all contracts of employment and in all subcontracts hereunder. A) The offeror shall provide the government, with its offer submission, written verification from the GSA schedule holder that an agreement exists that validates the offeror's right to offer the GSA schedule items on behalf of the GSA schedule holder, if other than the offeror; and, B) By proactively complying with this offer term, sellers accept that the government will make award to the GSA schedule holder only, as the sole awardee. Further, the sole awardee and only the sole awardee shall submit its invoice to the government and receive payment from the government. GSA schedule orders may include "open market" items, i.e., items not on the awardee's list of GSA schedule items, only in compliance with FAR 8.402(f). Offerors should verify in writing which items are listed on their GSA schedule contracts and which items are "open market" items. For an offer to qualify as an offer based on a GSA schedule contract, the value of "open market" items included in the offer may not exceed the applicable micro-purchase threshold as defined in FAR 2.101.In order to notate which items are open market, in accordance with FAR 8.402(f)(3), Seller must write "open market" in the Line Item Description for any item not currently active on the cited contract, or list in the Seller Bid Description field all open market line numbers (e.g. "Open Market Items: Lines 1, 2, 3.") This procurement is to replace the chairs for employees in HRlEX officesand to further promote office furniture uniformity.41 USC 253(g) and FAR 13.501, Only One Responsible Source (BrandName Only).Aeron chairs are only available from Herman Miller or an authorized reseller.This Justification will be publicized onFedBizOpps, in accordance with FAR 5.2, via the link between www.fedbid.com andFedBizOpps, to ensure maximum transparency and opportunity for vendor forum. HRrequests that only authorized sellerslresellers of the Aeron chair be accepted as viablebids.Asthis is a brand name only justification, no one contractor's unique qualifications areused as a basis for this justification. Rather, the Aeron chairs brand name herein havebeen determined to be the only items that meet the Department's requirements.