NOTICE FOR FILING AGENCY PROTESTS - United States Coast Guard Ombudsman Program It is the policy of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to issue solicitations and make contract awards in a fair and timely manner. The Ombudsman Program for Agency Protests (OPAP) was established to investigate agency protest issues and resolve them without expensive and time-consuming litigation. OPAP is an independent reviewing authority that is empowered to grant a prevailing protester essentially the same relief as the General Accountability Office (GAO). Interested parties are encouraged to seek resolution of their concerns within the USCG as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) forum, rather than filing a protest with the GAO or some external forum. Interested parties may seek resolution of their concerns informally or opt to file a formal agency protest with the contracting officer or Ombudsman. Informal forum with the Ombudsman: Interested parties who believe a specific USCG procurement is unfair or otherwise defective should first direct their concerns to the cognizant contracting officer. If the contracting officer is unable to satisfy the concerns, the interested party is encouraged to contact the USCG Ombudsman for Agency Protests. Under this informal process, the agency is not required to suspend contract award performance. Use of an informal forum does not suspend any time requirement for filing a protest with the agency or other forum. In order to ensure a timely response, interested parties should provide the following information to the Ombudsman: solicitation/contract number, contracting office, contracting officer, and solicitation closing date (if applicable). Formal Agency Protest with the Ombudsman: Prior to submitting a formal agency protest, protesters must first use their best efforts to resolve their concerns with the contracting officer through open and frank discussions. If the protester's concerns are unresolved, an independent review is available by the Ombudsman. The protester may file a formal agency protest to either the contracting officer or as an alternative to that, the Ombudsman under the OPAP program. Contract award or performance will be suspended during the protest period unless contract award or performance is justified, in writing, for urgent and compelling reasons or is determined in writing to be in the best interest of the Government. The agency's goal is to resolve protests in less than 35 calendar days from the date of filing. Protests shall include the information set forth in FAR 33.103. If the protester fails to submit the required information, resolution of the protest may be delayed or the protest may be dismissed. This will not preclude re-filing of the protest to meet the requirement. To be timely, protests must be filed within the period specified in FAR 33.103(e). Formal protests filed under the OPAP program should be submitted to: Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard (CG-9131), Ombudsman Program for Agency Protests, 1900 Half Street, SW, Room 11-0602, Washington, D. C. 20593-0001, FAX: 202.475.3904. The Ombudsman Hotline telephone number is 202.372.3695. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as amended thru FAC 2005-69 effective September 3, 2013 and as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is HSCG40-13-Q-P30M68 and is issued as a request for quote (RFQ), unless otherwise indicated herein. The United States Coast Guard Surface Forces Logistics Center has a requirement for the repair/replacement of 9ea Cutter Boat-Medium transoms due to water damage. The contractor shall provide all required labor, material and resources to maintain, repair, modify, store, transport and restore each boat with a new transom core and laminate to a like-new condition. Please see attached statement of work for more information and requirements. Prior to award, the successful Offeror must be registered in the System for Award Management (formerly the Central Contractor Registration) database at www.sam.gov. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 336611 with a small business size standard of 1,000 employess. The term of the resulting non-competitive contract will be a 6-month period, effective from the date of award. The anticipated contract type is Firm Fixed Price (FFP). It is anticipated that a non-competitive sole source solicitation will be issued for these repairs to: Willard Marine, Anaheim, CA. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: An electronic copy of your proposal (technical and price) must be received no later than September 30, 2013, 10:00 a.m Eastern. The proposal shall be submitted via electronic mail to Toni Cheek (Toni.J.Cheek2@uscg.mil), Contract Specialist no later than the closing date and time. The selected Offeror must comply with the following commercial item terms and conditions, which are incorporated herein by reference: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition; FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items - the selected offeror must submit a completed copy of the listed representations and certifications if not completed at www.sam.gov; FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, paragraph (a) and the following clauses in paragraph (b): 52.232-33, 52.225-13, 52.223-18, 52.222-37, 52.222-36, 52.222-35, 52.222-26, 52.222-21, 52.222-19, 52.222-3, 52.219-28, 52.219-8, 52.209-9, 52.209-6, 52.204-10, 52.203-6, 52.222-41. The full text of the referenced FAR clauses may be accessed electronically at https://www.acquisition.gov/far/. In addition, the Offeror has reviewed and acknowledges any attached solicitation documents, item details, delivery schedule, and/or instructions to Offeror (collectively referred to as requirements), and agrees to all terms and conditions set forth in the solicitation documents.
