Cage Change Stations (CCS) for Mice and Rats

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS, PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS, OR QUOTATIONS. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC, is conducting MARKET RESEARCH for the possible procurement of Cage Change Stations (CCS) for Mice and Rats. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information to assist the Government in Market Research to determine the availability and capability of all qualified sources that includes: (1) other than small businesses (large businesses, education institutions, non-profits, etc.); (2) small business sources; (3) HubZone small businesses; (4) service-disabled small businesses; (5) veteran-owned small businesses; (6) 8(a) small businesses; (7) veteran-owned small businesses; (8) woman-owned small businesses; (9) small disadvantaged businesses; and (10) commercial contractors, who can perform the requirements of the size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code as specified below. The applicable NAICS code is 339999, All Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing, and a size standard of 500 employees. Background: The NIEHS currently houses approximately 34,000 rodents in 16,000 individual cages and is in need of increasing rodent biosecurity and providing personnel protection from animal allergen exposure as well as protection of the animal from cage-to-cage transmission of pathogens and/or exposure to contaminants from the room environment and personnel. The NIEHS in support of the Comparative Medicine Branch (CMB) is seeking information from commercial industry to assist only in determining the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition including whether a small business social-economic set-aside, competitive or non-competitive method is possible. Purpose and Objective: The purpose of this Market Research is to identify qualified contractors who are able to meet the NIEHS requirements for the commercial purchase of Cage Change Stations (CCS) for Mice and Rats listed in the attached Requirements and Specifications Document. Information Sought: As this notice is for Market Research only, it is requested that all companies interested in participating in this Market Research provide written notification of their interest and provide indication of their respective business status, availability, and capabilities to provide the equipment, commodities, and services necessary to meet the needs of NIEHS. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).