Notice of Intent- Bode Cellmark Forensics, Inc.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AS IT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY NOTICE THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intends to negotiate a one-time, sole source, firm fixed price contract with Bode Cellmark Forensics, Inc., 10430 Furnace Road, Suite 107, Lorton, VA, 22079-2626, for the purpose of procuring proficiency testing services that meet the technical requirements of the DNA units for testing Serology, Mixture, Nuclear DNA, and Mitochondrial DNA technologies. The FBI requires proficiency testing to maintain the FBI Laboratory's accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and outlined in the ANAB Forensic Science Testing and Calibration Laboratories Accreditation Requirements (AR 3125) and the International Standard ISO/IEC 17025. All requirements detailed out by the ANAB AR 3125 Requirements must be met or exceeded in order to maintain accreditation with this agency. As specified in the ANAB AR 3125 Requirements, not only does the FBI Laboratory have to establish and maintain a proficiency testing program, we must purchase proficiency test from providers that are accredited to ISO/IEC 17043 by an accreditation body that is signatory to an international accreditation cooperation and has the applicable proficiency test on its scope of accreditation. Section 7.7.7 of the ANAB AR 3125 Requirements details the specifics regarding Proficiency Testing requirements. Currently, Bode Cellmark Forensics is the only approved vendor capable of providing the type of proficiency testing required by the FBI that meet the technical requirements of the DNA units for testing Serology, Mixture, Nuclear DNA, and Mitochondrial DNA technologies. Bode Cellmark proficiency test samples are the only samples on the market that can be used to test any and all of these technologies. In addition, the restrictive schedule of other approved providers would limit the unit's ability to concurrently complete casework in a timely fashion and therefore prevent a recurring backlog. Specifically, other proficiency test providers require approximately an eight week turnaround while test provider Bode Cellmark requires a sixteen week turnaround. The issuance of proficiency tests increases the FBI's workload by 20% and therefore the more restrictive time constraint would significantly reduce the number of casework samples processed during this period and would result in a greater impact on operations. Based on market research, and Government end-users, it has been determined that Bode Cellmark Forensics, Inc. is the only approved vendor capable of providing the type of proficiency testing required by the FBI. This notice will be distributed solely through the General Services Administration's Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) Website (www.fedbizopps.gov). Interested parties are responsible for monitoring the FBO site to ensure they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The North American Classification System Code is 541380, Testing Laboratories. The FBI intends to negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. Interested parties may identify their interests and capability to respond to this requirement to the attention of: Kemper N. Wood, email address: contact@example.gov by Wednesday, February 27, 2019 (12:00 pm Eastern). Emailed responses will only be considered. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is at the discretion of the Government. Vendors must be registered in SAM, effective July 29, 2012 to receive government contracts. The FBI uses a financial system that has a direct interface with SAM. Please ensure that your company's SAM information is updated and accurate. This includes TIN, EFT, DUNS, addresses and contact information. The EFT banking information on file in SAM will be what the FBI uses to process payment to your organization.