Federal Office Building Fire Alarm Upgrade, Seattle, Washington

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 1. Identification of the Agency and Contracting Activity U.S. General Services Administration Northwest/Arctic Region Region 10 Public Buildings Service (PBS) Design and Construction Division Acquisition Solutions Branch (10PCQ) 2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved Request approval to specify SimplexGrinnell brand name in design documents as part of the acquisition for the project to Upgrade Fire Alarm System Federal Office Building, Seattle, WA In order to maintain the standardization of facility control panel, SimplexGrinnell brand name is essential to satisfy the government requirements, thereby precluding consideration of a product manufactured by another company. The impetus for the fire alarm upgrade is to construct an entire addressable fire alarm system comprising all fire life safety devices including voice capability and remote microphones which upon completion will be a fully operational system bringing the Seattle Federal Office Building into compliance with current fire alarm code. The Seattle Federal Office Building was one of the first Art-Deco styled federal buildings to be designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Department of Treasury and is a Registered National Historic Landmark. All work must comply with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and have State Historic Preservation Office written concurrence (obtained by GSA) before work begins and requires alterations to the finishes be kept to an absolute minimum. Installation of the fire alarm system based on the SimplexGrinnell 4100U (product control panel and devices) will allow fulfillment of historical directives. The system currently installed at FOB is the Simplex 4100 which is an addressable, hard-wired fire alarm system. Upgrades to the next model by the same manufacturer offers several advantages to include compatibility; reuse of some of the existing devices, easier installation, least disruption to historic finishes and lower cost. 3. A Description of the Supplies Required to Meet GSA's needs: CLIN 0001 - To construct an entire addressable fire alarm system upgrade which upon completion will comprise a fully operational and code compliant system bringing the Seattle Federal Office Building into compliance with current fire alarm code. Per the GSA's Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), the entire fire alarm system must remain fully functional and maintain Underwriters Laboratory (UL) compliance during the entire installation period of fire alarm upgrade work. The existing fire alarm system in the building is a SimplexGrinnell system incorporating a model 4100 control panel. Because the Seattle Federal Office Building is designated as a historic building, modifications must be kept to an absolute minimum. Use of any systems other than SimplexGrinnell would be a more invasive, complex and a complicated approach to maintaining the required UL listing, both from the standpoints of construction sequencing and historical building requirements, requiring significant additional work to be performed in the building and increased cost. Use of other systems would require the complete installation of a new parallel system consisting of all new vertical and horizontal conduit runs and new alarm/strobe/audible devices. Mounting of these new devices next to existing devices in order to maintain functionality of the fire alarm system as required by the AHJ would impact historical finishes and require subsequent repairs to historical surfaces where existing devices had been removed. Use of the SimplexGrinnell system allows for reuse of existing horizontal runs and the placement of new devices in existing locations; therefore, significantly reducing the demolition required to walls and ceilings to install new horizontal runs and repair of historical surfaces at locations of removed devices. 4. Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition I. The statutory authority applicable to this request is 41 U.S.C. 253 (c)(1) - - Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. (c) Application for brand-name descriptions. (1) An acquisition or portion of an acquisition that uses a brand-name description or other purchase description to specify a particular brand-name, product, or feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer- (i) Does not provide for full and open competition, regardless of the number of sources solicited; and (ii) Shall be justified and approved in accordance with 6.303 and 6.304. (A) If only a portion of the acquisition is for a brand-name product or item peculiar to one manufacturer, the justification and approval is to cover only the portion of the acquisition which is brand-name or peculiar to one manufacturer. The justification should state it is covering only the portion of the acquisition which is brand-name or peculiar to one manufacturer, and the approval level requirements will then only apply to that portion; (B) The justification should indicate that the use of such descriptions in the acquisition or portion of an acquisition is essential to the Government's requirements, thereby precluding consideration of a product manufactured by another company; and (C) The justification shall be posted with the solicitation (see 5.102(a)(6)). (2) Brand-name or equal descriptions, and other purchase descriptions that permit prospective contractors to offer products other than those specifically referenced by brand-name, provide for full and open competition and do not require justifications and approvals to support their use. II. The additional authority cited for this justification is FAR 11.105(a)(1)(2) - Items Peculiar to One Manufacturer which states: Agency requirements shall not be written so as to require a particular brand name, product, or a feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer, thereby precluding consideration of a product manufactured by another company, unless- (a)(1) The particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Government's requirements, and market research indicates other companies' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs; (2)(i) The authority to contract without providing for full and open competition is supported by the required justifications and approvals (see 6.302-1); or (ii) The basis for not providing for maximum practicable competition is documented in the file (see 13.106-1(b)) or justified (see 13.501) when the acquisition is awarded using simplified acquisition procedures. 5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited. Upgrades to the next model by SimplexGrinnell offers several advantages; complete compatibility with the existing system, compliance with the GSA AHJ's requirement for full UL listing capacity as well as reuse of existing equipment resulting in cleaner installation affording significantly less disruption to historic finishes and lower cost. Installation of an alternate system, along with sequencing and maintaining the required system functionality and UL listing for both new and existing systems throughout the project, would require paralleling the entire existing fire alarm system, requiring separate vertical and horizontal conduits, wiring system and devices. Paralleling the fire alarm systems will increase overall construction costs approximately 30% due to added demolition, materials and the added labor necessary to install new devices next to existing wall and ceiling mounted devices. Installation of an alternate system would require an increased level of repair work. New devices would need to be installed adjacent to existing devices to maintain the required system functionality and UL compliance. Upon completion of all work the existing devices would need to be removed, causing significant work to existing finishes. This is of particular concern in a building designated as a Registered National Historic Landmark that requires all modifications to be kept to an absolute minimum. Existing devices have been carefully placed to have the least impact on historical aesthetics. Installation of new devices at existing locations is the most prudent way to minimize disruption. Installation of the Simplex 4100U fire alarm system will allow reuse of some of the existing single conductors with new multi-conductor cabling replacing most of the remaining existing single conductors in existing raceways. The existing raceway system can be re-used and extended as required to meet audibility and visual criteria mandated by GSA requirements, further minimizing construction complexity and maintaining the required system functionality and UL listing for the system from beginning to end of the construction period. 6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited From As Many Potential Sources as is Practicable A synopsis will not be issued in accordance with FAR 5.202; therefore associated brand-name justification or documentation is not required to be published through the Government-wide Point of Entry (GPE) in www.fedbizopps.gov. 7. A Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government Will Be Fair and Reasonable Price reasonableness is anticipated from a favorable comparison of the offer to the Government estimate provided. 8. A Description of the Market Research Conducted (See Part 10) and the Results or a Statement of the Reason Market Research Was Not Conducted Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) has knowledge of alternate brands of fire alarm systems such as Edwards EST3, Siemens XLS or Notifier AM3030. Alternate brands would require additional work and costs as noted above and do not provide compatible system functionality as required by AHJ. Therefore, the use of other brands for this project is not in the best interest of the Government. 9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition, such as: (I) explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available... Refer to Items 5 and 8. 10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition None 11. A statement of the actions, if any the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required. None I certify that this justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. Mike Rayburn, Project Manager Judith Tomlinson, Contracting Officer CONCUR: Dawn Ashton, Contracting Officer CONCUR: Roselyn Bailey, Regional Procurement Officer CONCUR: Dan Brown, Design and Construction Division Director APPROVAL: Catharine Kualii, Contracting Activity Competition Advocate