Full Service Parts and Labor Maintenance Contract for Two Trane Central Plant Chillers

THIS IS FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY, NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OR SOLICITATION.

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. The USDA-ARS in College Station, TX currently intends to award a sole source firm fixed price contract to Hunton Trane Services for the following:

The chillers are manufactured by Trane Company and the only means which the service warranty is valid is for the preventative and annual maintenance to be performed by an authorized Trane representative. Hunton Trane Services is the only authorized Trane service representative for this region providing these services. Hunton Trane has extensive experience with centrifugal chillers and has direct access to technical support and exclusive access to Trane service bulletins and alerts which other contractors do not. In the case of unusual or difficult problems, they have access to Trane engineers that can reduce the amount of time needed to solve such problems.

The statutory authority for the sole source procurement is 10 United States Code 2304(c)(1) as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

This notice does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ)/Invitation for Bid (IFB)/Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB or RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the USDA to contract for any supply or service. Further, the U.S. Government is not seeking quotes, bids or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this sources sought notice. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. Submittals will not be returned to the responder. A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. However, if a competitive solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Governmentwide Point of Entry. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the Governmentwide Point of Entry for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

In response to this sources sought, please provide:

1. Identify any condition or action that may be having the effect of unnecessarily restricting competition with respect to this acquisition and identify alternatives or solutions. Provide the specific aspects that unreasonably restrict competition and the rationale for such conclusion.

2. Name of the firm, point of contact, phone number, email address, DUNS number, CAGE code, identify business size (large business or a small business), and if applicable, a statement regarding small business status (including small business type(s)/certifications(s) such as SDB, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.) and the corresponding NAICS code.

3. Information to help determine if the requirement (item or service) is commercially available, including pricing information, basis for the pricing information (e.g., market pricing, catalog pricing), delivery schedules, customary terms and conditions, warranties, etc.