Benchmarking of Existing Building Evaluation Methodologies (Phase II)

FedBizOpps Announcement Type: Special Notice Classification Code: R Subject: Benchmarking of Existing Building Evaluation Methodologies (Phase II) Introduction This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued and quotations will not be requested. Purpose The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced contract on a sole source basis with Applied Technology Council located at 201 Redwood Shores Parkway, Suite 240, Redwood City, CA 94065-1134. Authority This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.501 allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541715 - Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). The small business size standard is 1,000 employees. Description The purpose of this effort is to evaluate the accuracy of existing seismic evaluation and retrofit standards for reinforced concrete buildings, expanding upon efforts begun under Task Order SB1341-13-CQ-0009 /16-476. The Contractor shall perform a comprehensive benchmarking study of two reinforced concrete buildings - one that was subjected to strong ground shaking during the 2017 Puebla, Mexico earthquake and one that was tested on the E-Defense shake table in Japan in December of 2015. The objective is to compare damage predicted by the analyses conducted for the benchmarking study against actual damage observed in these buildings following the earthquake or shake table test. The contractor shall also study the proposed changes in the 2023 edition of ASCE 41 concerning the global acceptance criteria to: 1) improve the generality of the project findings, and 2) provide recommendations for the next edition of ASCE 41. The findings and recommendations of this work shall be integrated into the report developed for Task Order 16-476 and printed by the Contractor following review and approval by the NIST COR. Please see the attached Statement of Work for details. Sole Source Determination The sole source determination is based on the following: The National Institute of Standards and Technology is performing a benchmarking study for existing building evaluation methodologies to improve the evaluation procedures in ASCE 41 standard "Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings." This work was begun under task order 16-476 against NIST IDIQ contract number SB1341-13-CQ-0009 with Applied Technology Council (ATC). Since that task order was awarded, the 2017 Puebla, Mexico earthquake occurred and data from Japan's December 2015 E-Defense Shake Table test has been made available. These two new sources of data must be included in the work begun under task order 16-476, necessitating this follow-on sole source requirement. Moreover, the ASCE 41 committee is currently considering alternative approaches to assess the global performance of buildings in the nonlinear dynamic procedures for the 2023 edition of the ASCE 41 standard. The Task Order 16-476 is using the 2017 edition of the ASCE 41 standard. In order to ensure that the findings of the Task Order 16-476 will be applicable and generalizable after completion of the project, it is essential to study the impact of the proposed alternative approaches on the building evaluation results. Task order 16-476 requires benchmarking study support services and a final report which assesses the most current data related to seismic evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings. To ensure the final report for this task order includes the most current data, the Puebla, Mexico earthquake and the data from Japan's E-Defense Shake Table research must be included. In addition, the impact of the most recent changes proposed by the ASCE 41 committee on the findings of the Task Order 16-476 must be investigated. As ATC is the contractor performing the benchmarking study support services and is writing the final report, ATC must be the contractor that assesses the information available from the two new sources of data identified. Use of any other contractor would jeopardize continuity of analysis for the research effort, disrupt continuity of data and voice in the final report, and heavily delay the research study. Accordingly, only ATC is capable of meeting the needs of this follow-on requirement. Information for Interested Parties Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Ms. Lauren Phelps, Contract Specialist, at Lauren.Phelps@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to Lauren.Phelps@nist.gov so that they are received no later than August 2, 2019 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. Each response should include the following Business Information: a. Contractor Name, Address, b. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address c. Contractor DUNS d. Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, hubZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must register in the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/#1 e. Capability Statement