Y -- NATO Notification of Intent to Invite Bids for International Competitive Bidding for Provision of Water Treatment Facilities

The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) intends to advertise for International Competitive Bidding (ICB) on works and services within the framework of the NATO Security Investment Program. Eligible firms will be invited to bid for the provision of water treatment facilities. NAMSA is serving as the Host Nation for this project, which was authorized by the NATO Infrastructure Committee. NAMSA intends to use the one step ICB procedure. No partial bidding is allowed. The estimated value of this project is Euro 2.6 million ($3.7 million). The reference for the Invitation for Bid (IFB) is 5HQ27008-10. The U.S. Department of Commerce will be using the reference IFB-NAMSA-5HQ27008-10. The information to be provided to the bidders will be up to NATO UNCLASSIFIED. SCOPE OF PROJECT This project is part of Capability Package (CP) 5A0156 - NATO Deployable HQ Assets for Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF). The original CJTF CP for 2000 and 1500 man-camps has been revised. The new package, tailored to suit the Deployable Communication Information System (DCIS) Baseline Capability, now consists of a 1 x 1000 man-camp consisting of a HQ and Support module tailored for the CJTF land based requirement and 2 x 500 man living accommodation modules, plus a 1 x 1000 man camp consisting of a HQ and Support module tailored for the CJFACC requirement and 2 x 500 man living accommodation modules, and 2 x remote CIS sites with living accommodation for 15 personnel each. The contractor shall furnish to NAMSA water treatment facilities in accordance with the requirements in this Statement of Work (SOW). These facilities are to be based on 6.058 meter x 2.438 meter x 2.438 meter limited height shipping containers that will feature reverse osmosis technology. They are intended to provide high quality fresh water to rapidly deployable headquarters for NATO military forces over a wide range of geographic environments and climatic conditions. Accordingly, the facilities will be expected to be capable of using a wide variety of fresh and salt water sources. Four complete treatment facilities will be required, each of which will operate independently. Required Assets and Summary Description Raw Water -The raw water will be provided from a variety of potential sources that include salt water pumped directly from the sea, from in shore lagoons with high salt content, or from alkaline inland lakes. Fresh water sources could include lakes and rivers with high turbidity and bacteria characteristics and well water with a high mineral content. Whatever the source, the water will be provided by others to a raw water tank provided by the contractor. Treatment Quality - Treated water must meet the quality standards laid down for public water supply in a NATO country. Contractors must state the water quality standard they intend to achieve and provide a copy of that standard with their bid submission. Treatment Capacity - The NATO military camps have been subdivided into 500 man living accommodation modules. Each water supply system will provide 150 liters of treated water per man per day, with the capacity to surge 25% for short periods. Therefore, 4 complete systems, each capable of producing 75,000 liters per day routinely, with periods at 95,000 liters per day, are required. These quantities must be met notwithstanding the source. Storage Capacity - The contractor shall provide storage capacity to store 4 days supply or 300,000 liters at each of the 4 camps. Distribution - The distribution system, supplied by others, will be charged by pumps from the treatment facility provided by the contractor. The distribution system will vary between 500 and 700 meters long with up to 27 consuming facilities, and will operate through a 75 mm main insulated line, provided by others. The distribution system will be charged for both domestic and fire purposes with the water treatment contractor providing both the distribution pumps and the manually activated fire booster pump. Climatic and Geographical Conditions While the equipment will be operated under conditions specified in Allied Environmental Conditions and Test Publication (AECTP) 200(3) for the range of A1 to C1 Climatic Zones, the equipment will be operated from within tented shelters (provided by others). The contractor must therefore provide systems that can operate between 5?C and 40?C but withstanding shipping and storage at temperatures between -33?C and +71?C. The contractor must demonstrate with objective evidence that his equipment can meet these conditions in his bid documentation. Transportability All containers are subject to off road movement by the military Deployable Rapid Operations Platform System (DROPS) for container handling. It is important that the internal fittings, packaging, and dunnaging withstand such conditions, in particular the steep angle of loading and unloading. Water treatment containers shall have overall (outside) dimensions of a 6058 mm ISO container but be limited in height to 2438 mm with a width also of 2438 mm. The gross weight shall not exceed 14,000 kg when ready for transport. Containers must meet all of the ISO 668 specification for classification, dimensions and marking. Details are provided at paragraph 5.1.3. Any loose material shipped separately from the water treatment system containers will be transported in containers (supplied by others) that will meet the structural specifications normally associated with standard sea freight containers. Integrated Logistics Support Life Cycle Parts Support - The contractor will supply a 30 days spare and critical parts package as part of this contract and will identify and provide analysis for subsequent spares. Training - The contractor will provide the initial training a training cadre, some of whom will become the life cycle managers of the equipment. This cadre will subsequently provide training to plant operators as well as first and second level maintenance personnel. Power - Power will be provided from the camp distribution system at 400/230 V, 3 phase, 50 Hz, (4 wire plus earth i.e., L1, L2, L3, N, PE). Power can be supplied directly at that specification. The contractor?s panel will further distribute the power as required, both to the water treatment facilities and to the panel of the 10 m x 30 m sheltering tent. The local power distribution shall include an RCD or earth leakage device that the contractor must take into consideration when determining the type of equipment used. General Electrical Requirements - The contractor shall design and perform all electrical work in a workmanlike manner, and provide all the material to the quality level required to ensure compliance of the finished work with the applicable National Standards in force in a NATO country, conditional upon these Standards being compatible with IEC 60364 published by the International Electrotechnical Commission. These National Standards shall be used as the ruling factor in all technical decisions to be made during the execution of the work, and shall override all other considerations. The contractor must specify, and include a copy of, the National Standards that they intend to use as part of the proposal. Maintenance Plans, Schedules and Estimates Maintenance will be conducted at 3 levels: - In the field during periods of operations by military operators and maintainers who have received the plant operations and maintenance course. These personnel will be qualified technicians but will not likely be experienced on this particular equipment. They will likely operate and maintain the equipment for 4-6 months before being replaced by other similarly qualified personnel. The provision of high quality, treated water must continue throughout the maintenance periods, with only short periods of dependency permitted on the storage system. Pressure, including standby fire pressure, must always remain on the distribution system. - In SOC during periods of refurbishment by SOC personnel who have received the plant operations and maintenance course, are experienced on similar plants, and who become familiar with the equipment through repeated maintenance and refurbishment cycles. SOC personnel may be assisted by outside contractors and, on occasion, by the contractor?s field representatives. The plants will not be operational during this period but readiness requirements would dictate that these periods be limited to a maximum of 30 days, including investigation, repair time and the time to return to storage. - Outside of SOC at the facility of a specialist supplier, possibly including the contractor?s facilities. These periods of extensive maintenance and refurbishment are expected to be limited to 8 weeks of maintenance, plus packaging and travel time. Please note that the actual quantities to be specified in the IFB may vary slightly from those specified in this announcement. BIDDING PROCEDURE Before a firm can be nominated to the bidders list for this procurement, it must be approved for participation in NATO International Competitive Bidding (ICB). The U.S. Department of Commerce is authorized to approve for participation in NATO ICB those firms with a facility located within the United States. Once approved, the firm will be nominated to the bidders list. Please visit the following website for instructions on applying for approval to participate in NATO ICB: http://www.bis.doc.gov/defenseindustrialbaseprograms/OSIES/NATOprograms/index.htm A firm that has been approved for participation in NATO ICB must request that the U.S. Department of Commerce issue a Declaration of Eligibility (DOE) for each project on which the firm wishes to bid. The DOE is used to nominate the firm to the bidders list for a particular project. The U.S. Department of Commerce forwards the DOE to the U.S. Embassy, which uses the DOE to nominate the firm to the bidders list. The Host Nation will not accept requests for nomination received directly from firms. Firms that the U.S. Embassy nominates to the Bidders List will be contacted directly by the Host Nation when the IFB has been issued. IMPORTANT DEADLINES 1. Final date to request a Declaration of Eligibility from the U.S. Department of Commerce: 16 November 2007 2. Anticipated date that the Host Nation will forward the Invitation for International Bidding (IFB) to those on the Bidders List: not before 01 December 2007 3. Anticipated closing date for receipt of bids: TBD. The bids will be valid for a period of 180 days. 4. Anticipated contract award date: TBD. Delivery due 9 months after contract award.