GROUNDS MAINTENANCE SERVICES CONTRACT FOR NIH BETHESDA AND NIHAC POOLESVILLE

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is NOT considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code (561730) should NOT submit a response to this notice. Background: The Contractor shall perform grounds maintenance services at the NIH Bethesda and NIHAC Poolesville campuses. Grounds Maintenance Services include the following categories of services: Turf Maintenance Services; Tree Maintenance Services, and Ice and Snow Removal Services. The work shall be performed by a specialty contractor and/or subcontractor(s). A specialty contractor shall mean a contractor of established reputation in the field of general and specific turf maintenance. The Contractor shall perform work independently and not as an agent of the Government. The Contractor shall provide all of the necessary qualified personnel, material, equipment, tools, and supplies as needed to perform any or all of the requested services as described herein this Sources Sought Notice. Purpose and Objectives: NIH Bethesda Campus The Contractor shall perform all aspects of grounds maintenance services for the NIH Bethesda Campus, which encompasses approximately 308 acres. Structures, parking areas, roadways, and walkways account for over half the acreage mostly in the center of the campus. The greatest amount of the grass area of about 100 acres is around the exterior of the campus. There are approximately 700 shrub and flower beds of various sizes totaling approximately 20 acres. There are approximately 35 wooded reforestation acres (where grass is not to be mowed) mostly around the exterior of the campus. There are approximately 8,000 trees of various sizes and species. There are approximately 41 acres of paved parking lots, six (6) miles of roads, 21 miles of walkways, and four (4) miles of fence lines and vehicle cable barrier lines. Cleaning and maintenance of decorative fountain(s) and pool(s). NIHAC Poolesville Campus: The Contractor shall perform all aspects of grounds maintenance for the NIHAC Poolesville Campus, which encompasses approximately 500 acres, which includes approximately 85 acres of lawn in and around the structures area and approximately 180 acres of pasture land. The remaining acreage is wooded. Structures, parking areas, roadways, and walkways account for approximately 10 acres. There are approximately 300 non-forest trees of various sizes and species. There are approximately 14 acres of paved parking lots, roads, and walkways and about 9 miles of fence lines. There is a main pond and a monkey pond totaling about 4 acres. Project Requirements: Turf Maintenance Services: The Contractor shall perform Turf Maintenance Services which include the following work: mowing, trimming, edging, aerifying, overseeding, and fertilizing lawn; mowing pasture lands; planting, removing, and maintaining hedges, shrubs, ground cover, and flowers; removing leaves; mulching hedges, shrub and flower beds, and treewells; applying herbicides; maintaining ponds; maintaining fountains; removing debris and picking up litter on all grounds and pavement areas; maintaining the garden and recreational grounds at the Edmond F. Safra Family Lodge, the Children's Inn, and the Clinical Research Center (CRC) Courtyards; and general landscaping services as may be required. Tree Maintenance Services: The Contractor shall perform Tree Maintenance Services which include the following work: tree inspection, inventory, pruning, removal, and planting; stump grinding; pesticide application; emergency maintenance response services; and other types of tree maintenance and arborist services that the Government may require. Ice & Snow Removal Services: The Contractor shall perform Ice and Snow Removal Services on the grounds of the NIH Bethesda and NIHAC Poolesville Campuses to clear all roads, walkways, parking areas, pavement areas, campus and building entry ways, docks, and other designated areas within and along the boundaries of the two campuses and perform post storm cleanup. Grounds Maintenance Service Calls: The Contractor shall perform on-call general Grounds Maintenance Service Calls in response to Government requests for work. The Contractor shall respond to be on site to start work within one hour of receiving a service call requirement from the Government and proceed until the work is completed. The Contractor shall provide all required materials. The Contractor shall notify the Project Officer by telephone when the Contractor's work force is on site prepared to begin work. The Contractor shall not perform service calls requiring more than $5,000 in materials and more than 80 labor hours to complete. The Contractor shall inform the Project Officer when the Contractor estimates that a service call will require more than $5,000 in materials and more than 80 hours labor to complete. The Project Officer will initiate the service call by telephone call to the Contractor. The Project Officer will inform the Contractor as to the nature and location of the grounds maintenance service requirement or emergency that the Contractor shall rectify. The Project Officer will meet the Contractor's work force to clarify the required work at the work site upon being notified by the Contractor that the work force is on site and prepared to start work. The Contractor shall enter the description of each service call with corresponding start and finish times, labor hours, materials, and other descriptive information into the Government's Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) upon completing work. The Government will assist the Contractor with developing the skills to complete entries into the CMMS. Anticipated Period of Performance: Base Year: September 15, 2011 to September 14, 2012, followed by four (4) subsequent option years. Other Important Considerations: Annual Work Plan for Grounds Maintenance Services: The Contractor shall plan and control all Grounds Maintenance Services work. The Contractor shall prepare an Annual Work Plan for all Grounds Maintenance Services by month and submit it to the Project Officer electronically for approval for the coming contract work year not later than two (2) weeks prior to the beginning of each contract work year. The plan shall project the work events for each month by the week in which the Contractor intends to perform the events. The Project Officer will transmit approval electronically back to the Contractor prior to the start of the contract work year. During the course of the annual contract year, the Contractor shall adhere to the Annual Work Plan unless the Project Officer approves a formal request from the Contractor to modify or deviate from the Plan or the Project Officer requests a change to the plan. Capability Statement: If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, email address, Web site address and telephone number as well as size and type of ownership for the organization, i.e., small business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a), woman-owned, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) concern, Veteran, and or Service-disabled Veteran; and 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. Organizations responding to this market survey should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements to demonstrate that small business prime contractors can maintain labor, technical, and management control of the project, meeting the limitations on subcontracting imposed on small business set-asides. Although no geographic restriction is anticipated, if responding organizations are located outside the Washington Metropolitan area, indicate how the organization would coordinate with the agency program office to provide support to multiple sites. The Government will evaluate the capability information using the following criteria: 1) potential technical capability to provide the grounds services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice; 2) capacity to secure and apply the full range of human and technical resources required to successfully perform these requirements; 3) potential capability to implement a successful project management plan that includes: compliance with program schedules; meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of key personnel; and 4) potential to provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract . Interested firms responding to this survey are encouraged to structure capability statements in the order of the area of consideration noted above. Responding firms should provide three (3) copies of a tailored capability statement to the above noted address within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of publication of this notice. - Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the 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. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. 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).