Lease Steel Formwork for Concrete Testing Project

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal, Request for Quotation, or an obligation on the part of the NIST for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. NIST is seeking information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing steel formwork required to conduct testing and research on concrete specimens. The steel forms are necessary to support the concrete pressure developed during the placement of concrete and maintain the shape of the test specimen without deformation during the curing period. NIST proposes to lease/rent the required steel formwork equipment for a period of 30 days. The vendor shall produce and deliver the steel formwork to the NIST site, located at 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. The vendor shall be responsible for delivery and pickup of the steel formwork. Assembly of the formwork is the responsibility of the MSSD. Background The NIST Materials and Structural System Division (MSSD) is carrying out research on the performance of concrete structural members affected by alkali-silica reaction (ASR). The purpose of the research is to study the behavior of structural members that exhibit surface expansion and cracking induced by volumetric expansion of concrete due to ASR. Specification Requirements: The exterior dimensions of a plywood box into which concrete is discharged are (45 in. wide, 6 ft high and 16 ft 5 in long). The steel form encloses tightly the plywood box. It supports the plywood walls in resisting the lateral pressures on the plywood box walls exerted by concrete prior to setting. The formwork shall include only the vertical walls, not the bottom as the specimens rest on plywood sheets resting on a rigid concrete floor. Delivery/Period of Performance: Delivery of equipment: 5-10 Days ARO Period of Performance: Lease equipment for a total of 30 days. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible business sources. The NAICS code for this procurement is 327390 - Other Concrete Product Manufacturing, with a small business size 500 employees. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. Companies able to provide such services are requested to email a detailed response describing their abilities to judith.hicklin@nist.gov, no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The report should include any information relevant to your capabilities. Also, please provide the following information as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name of company/companies that are authorized to provide services, including address, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address). 2. Indication of whether the products are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts or any other government-wide contracts. If so, please provide the applicable contract number(s). 3. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing specification requirements. Points of Contact: Judith Hicklin, Contract Specialist, Phone (301)975-8838, Email: judith.hicklin@nist.gov Keith Bubar, Contracting Officer, Phone (301) 975-8329, Email: keith.bubar@nist.gov