Sole source award for Maintenance of Autoclaves

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Services, Plant Protection and Quarantine Facility in Beltsville, MD intends to award a sole source purchase order to Steris Corp. for Quarterly Maintenance of Autoclaves. Total dollar amount on award will be $27,597.77 The rationale for this intention to Sole Source can be found in FAR 6.302-1 ( Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements ) The Beltsville, MD facility has 4 autoclaves with steam generators and a dishwasher that were purchased about 13 years ago from STERIS. Every year since these purchases, they have had a preventative maintenance contract with STERIS to inspect and service this equipment. These autoclaves apply steam under high pressure to sterilize laboratory implements and media as well as kill plant material before disposal. They need to be regularly serviced so the materials placed inside them are truly sterilized and so the workers nearby are protected. This preventative maintenance contract is standard practice for owners of autoclaves. This maintenance contract has never been open for bids. The manufacturers of autoclaves usually don't authorize other companies to perform repairs or maintenance on their autoclaves. Interested sources that are capable of providing the equivalent services of authorized Maintenance on STERIS Autoclaves are encouraged to submit statements of capability to the contracting office. Small Business concerns are encouraged to participate. This is not a request for competitive proposals Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to possibly conduct a competitive procurement in the future. No requests for capability briefings will be honored as a result of this notice. Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature. Please provide Tax I.D. Number, Duns Number, point of contact information, past performance and references regarding your ability to provide this item and or service along with your Statement of Capability. The Government will not award a contract based on the information received, nor reimburse participants for information they provide. Information provided is strictly voluntary. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 811310 with a small business size standard of less than $7mil Please fax Statements of Capability to Carol Dingess at +1 (555) 000-0000 or email to contact@example.gov. Email is the preferred method of communication. Telephonic inquiries will not be honored. Closing date for submissions of Statement's of Capability is September 30, 2013 at 4:00PM CT