Fire Alarm Upgrade

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Networking Contracting Office (NCO 01) located in West Roxbury, MA intends to enter a sole source procurement, pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.302-1, with Encore Holdings LLC, for the following requirement: STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) Background The VAMC West Roxbury campus operates an Edwards EST-3 fire alarm network that supports life safety monitoring, campus fire alarm annunciation, and associated interfaces. The existing EST-3 platform is aged and obsolete. The Government requires an in-kind/successor-platform migration from Edwards EST-3 to Edwards EST-4 to improve system reliability, maintainability, cybersecurity posture, and code compliance while preserving operational continuity and minimizing disruption to an occupied healthcare campus. The existing SIGA series field devices are expected to remain in place and are understood to be compatible with the EST-4 platform. Objective The objective of this requirement is to furnish all labor, supervision, programming, materials, tools, equipment, project management, testing, documentation, and training required to transition the VAMC West Roxbury campus fire alarm network from the existing Edwards EST-3 platform to an Edwards EST-4 networked platform while maintaining required fire alarm coverage and minimizing impairment duration. Applicable Standards and Requirements Work shall comply with applicable federal, state, local, VA, VHA, Joint Commission, OSHA, and Authority Having Jurisdiction requirements, including the latest adopted editions applicable to this facility. At a minimum, work shall be performed in accordance with the following, as applicable: NFPA 70, National Electrical Code. NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. NFPA 101, Life Safety Code. NFPA 25, where sprinkler supervisory and waterflow interfaces are affected. VA/VHA life safety, interim life safety measures, cybersecurity, and facility access requirements. Manufacturer requirements for Edwards EST-4 hardware, programming, FireWorks integration, and compatible SIGA field devices. Scope of Work The Contractor shall provide a complete, operational, tested, documented, and accepted Edwards EST-4 upgrade of the existing West Roxbury campus fire alarm network. The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following work elements. Project Management and Coordination Conduct a kickoff meeting with VA Engineering, Safety, IT, Police/Dispatch, clinical stakeholders as needed, and the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). Develop and maintain a project schedule identifying submittal dates, material procurement, programming milestones, outage/cutover windows, testing, training, and closeout. Coordinate all work affecting fire alarm service, system monitoring, FireWorks, master box/monitoring paths, network drops, building access, and any life safety impairment with the VA before work begins. Submit a written cutover plan before any node, panel, annunciator, or network segment is taken offline. The plan shall identify expected downtime, temporary monitoring method, notifications, responsible parties, rollback steps, and acceptance testing sequence. Coordinate with VA IT staff for FireWorks integration, IP/network drops, cybersecurity review, firewall modules, and any network-connected components required for the EST-4 platform. Provide manufacturer-certified project supervision and programming support throughout the project. EST-3 to EST-4 Programming Migration Pre-program and transition the existing Edwards EST-3 fire alarm program/database into an Edwards EST-4 architecture for the existing campus fire alarm network. Use qualified Edwards/EST-4 factory-trained programming personnel. Complete pre-programming off-site to the maximum practical extent and have the EST-4 program ready for integration after hardware upgrades are completed. Replicate any approved changes made to the EST-3 program before implementation into the EST-4 program before cutover. Perform program verification, input/output mapping, matrix verification, cause-and-effect review, FireWorks point mapping, and device/zone/nodal naming verification before final acceptance testing. Hardware Replacement and Installation Decommission and replace existing EST-3 internal fire alarm panel components that must be replaced as part of the EST-4 upgrade. Furnish and install Edwards EST-4 networked platform components, panel hardware, power supplies, network cards, modules, enclosures, batteries, and accessories required for a complete operational system. Replace all existing remote annunciators and backboxes in their existing locations with compatible EST-4 units. New units may differ in size from existing units; contractor shall identify any surrounding finish impacts before installation. Reuse existing field wiring, fiber, initiating devices, notification appliances, sprinkler/suppression interface points, and SIGA addressable devices where compatible and functional. Label new and replaced components, update panel directories, and provide device/node identifiers consistent with the accepted program and testing documents. Protect existing finishes, equipment, patient care areas, and building systems. Cutting, patching, and painting are excluded unless separately authorized in the final contract. Field Device and System Integration Integrate all existing addressable initiating devices, notification devices, sprinkler points, control points, and field wiring into the EST-4 platform to the extent they are compatible and functional. Maintain existing fire alarm sequence of operations unless changes are approved in writing by the VA. Integrate the upgraded system with the existing FireWorks system and campus monitoring architecture. Advanced scheduling with VA staff and IT staff is required. Verify interfaces to supervisory circuits, waterflow/tamper devices, elevator recall/shunt trip interfaces, HVAC shutdown, door release, smoke control or other building systems where such interfaces are part of the existing fire alarm sequence. Replacement of field devices, node-to-node rewiring, correction of existing wiring defects, and correction of pre-existing system troubles are excluded unless separately authorized by the Contracting Officer. Continuity of Monitoring and System Impairment Control No fire alarm panel, node, annunciator, or monitoring path shall be removed from service until the VA approves a written impairment/cutover plan. The Contractor shall support the VA in identifying temporary measures required to maintain monitoring coverage during each cutover window. Temporary cellular dialer or similar temporary monitoring measures shall be used if included in the final award or otherwise authorized by the Contracting Officer. The Contractor shall provide advance notice for all impairments and shall not leave a system impaired without VA approval. If fire watch is required by VA or the AHJ, the VA will establish the fire watch approach or add it by contract action. Testing, Inspection, and Acceptance After hardware installation and programming are complete, perform 100 percent testing of the upgraded fire alarm system. Testing shall include, at a minimum, all addressable initiating points, control points, sprinkler points, supervisory points, notification appliances, audio/visual devices, remote annunciators, power supplies, batteries, FireWorks graphics/point reporting, monitoring outputs, and required interfaces. Provide sufficient technicians to complete acceptance testing efficiently while minimizing disruption to the occupied medical campus. Notify the VA Safety Office, Engineering, IT, affected building occupants, monitoring personnel, and other stakeholders before testing. Testing shall be coordinated in advance with the COR. Document all passed/failed tests, deficiencies, corrective actions, retests, and final acceptance results. Deficiencies caused by existing field devices, field wiring, fiber, or pre-existing troubles shall be identified separately from contractor installation deficiencies. Final acceptance requires successful completion of 100 percent functional testing, receipt of required documentation, VA/COR acceptance, and AHJ acceptance when applicable. Training and Closeout Provide training to VA Engineering, Safety, and other designated personnel on the EST-4 system, panel operation, FireWorks functionality, alarm/supervisory/trouble response, disabling/enabling devices, global disconnects, and routine operator functions. Provide closeout documentation, final programming files/backups, record drawings, point lists, test reports, as-built sequence of operations, manufacturer literature, warranty information, and contact information for service support. Provide documentation sufficient for future maintenance, troubleshooting, and competitive support by qualified authorized providers where manufacturer restrictions allow. Work Hours and Scheduling Routine work is anticipated Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding federal holidays, unless otherwise approved by the VA. Outages, cutovers, testing, and work in sensitive clinical or operational areas may require after-hours scheduling at the direction of the VA. The Contractor shall coordinate all work with the COR and shall provide advance scheduling for testing and cutover activities. The NAICS code for this requirement is 238210. The VAMC West Roxbury campus fire alarm network is an existing Edwards EST-3 network integrated with campus life safety operations, FireWorks monitoring, remote annunciators, sprinkler points, control points, notification appliances, and existing addressable SIGA field devices. The Government need is not simply to purchase fire alarm equipment; it is to safely migrate an occupied healthcare campus from an obsolete Edwards EST-3 network to the manufacturer successor Edwards EST-4 network while maintaining life safety coverage, preserving existing field device compatibility, and reducing the risk of outages or incompatible programming. The existing EST-3 system is aged and obsolete. The EST-3 platform has been discontinued and that obsolete parts are difficult to source, with some critical components unavailable entirely. The production of the EST-3 platform concluded on December 31, 2023, that no new orders were accepted after that date, and that replacement parts are being phased out in waves. Continuing to rely on EST-3 exposes the VA to increasing risk that a failed panel component, power supply, annunciator, or other critical component cannot be promptly replaced, potentially impairing fire alarm functionality in an occupied medical campus. An Edwards EST-4 platform is required because it is the successor platform for the existing Edwards EST-3 network and allows the VA to reuse compatible existing SIGA field devices and field wiring. The SIGA series field devices are backward- and forward-compatible, allowing reuse of existing field devices. Use of a non-Edwards platform would require redesign and replacement of major portions of the fire alarm infrastructure, new field devices and/or modules, extensive rewiring, revised FireWorks integration, new sequence of operations, re-commissioning, and additional outages. That approach would substantially increase cost, schedule, risk, and disruption compared with the EST-4 in-kind/successor platform conversion. Encore has existing familiarity with the VA Boston Edwards fire alarm systems, campus FireWorks configuration, panel histories, deficiencies, VA safety/engineering coordination procedures, and the active service/programming environment. This work requires pre-programming and transition of the existing EST-3 fire alarm program to EST-4 by Encore lead programming personnel, with any changes to the EST-3 program before implementation replicated in the EST-4 program. That requirement makes continuity of programming knowledge and current system control critical. A site-specific fiber issue that must be coordinated during the upgrade: existing fiber terminations at each FACP node are problematic and may contribute to network instability on the EST-4 network. The contractor performing the EST-4 upgrade must understand and sequence this fiber-demarcation work with panel/node cutover, FireWorks integration, and acceptance testing. Encore has direct knowledge of the current fire alarm service environment and can coordinate the cutover without introducing avoidable responsibility gaps between the incumbent fire alarm service provider and a separate upgrade contractor. Award to a different contractor would require the new contractor to obtain or recreate the existing EST-3 database, verify every device and interface, learn the VA campus FireWorks and monitoring architecture, develop a cutover strategy without the incumbent service history, coordinate the West Roxbury fiber-demarcation issue, and coordinate responsibility boundaries with the service contractor during a life safety system transition. The use of a separate vendor would increase operational risk during cutover because the service contractor would remain responsible for fire alarm service continuity while another contractor altered the system baseline. This requirement is not based on lack of advance planning or the availability of funds. It is driven by technical lifecycle risk, discontinued/obsolete EST-3 components, compatibility with the existing Edwards/SIGA/FireWorks infrastructure, the West Roxbury FACP fiber-demarcation issue, and the need to safely transition the campus fire alarm network while maintaining fire alarm coverage in a healthcare environment. Encore Holdings LLC is the only firm capable of providing the supplies and services described above without the Veterans Health Administration experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not be expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements. This notice of intent is not a solicitation nor is it a request for proposal. However, interested parties that believe they can satisfy the requirement must clearly identify their capability to do so in writing by October 16, 2026 at 12 pm EST time. Response should be sent to Issa Shawki at issa.shawki@va.gov. Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition. A determination not to open this requirement to competition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.