SPECIAL NOTICE
68 -- BULK OXYGEN
- Notice Date
- 6/18/2024 12:24:57 PM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 325120
— Industrial Gas Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- 241-NETWORK CONTRACT OFFICE 01 (36C241) TOGUS ME 04330 USA
- ZIP Code
- 04330
- Solicitation Number
- 36C24124Q0643
- Response Due
- 6/20/2024 9:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 08/19/2024
- Point of Contact
- Issa Shawki, Contracting Officer, Phone: 774-826-3192
- E-Mail Address
-
issa.shawki@va.gov
(issa.shawki@va.gov)
- Awardee
- null
- Description
- The Department of Veterans Affairs, Networking Contracting Office (NCO 01) located in Brockton, MA intends to enter into a sole source procurement, pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.302-1, with Airgas USA, LLC, for the following requirement: Statement of Work The Contractor shall provide Medical Grade Bulk Oxygen to the following Boston Veteran Affairs Medical Centers: Veterans Affairs Brockton 940 Belmont St Brockton, Ma. 02301-5596 Veterans Affairs Jamaica Plain 150 S. Huntington Ave. Jamaica Plain, Ma. 02130-4817 Veterans Affairs West Roxbury 1400 VFW Parkway West Roxbury, Ma. 02132-4927 General The purpose of this solicitation is to establish a committed source of supply of medical-grade liquid bulk oxygen for the three (3) locations within the VA BHS included in the solicitation. The Government facility does not own its own bulk oxygen tank(s), the contractor shall provide contractor-owned tanks with an appropriate back-up system (i.e. Reserve tank or cylinder bank). Specifications for each facility are listed in the solicitation schedule. The contract will be a Base year, and a six-month extension if needed utilizing the FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. Contracting Officer Representatives (COR) have been designated in the solicitation for the ordering facility. The CORs are responsible for local contract administration issues such as ordering and providing specific delivery instructions. Letters of delegation that outlines the COR s specific responsibilities will be provided to the contractor and COR at the time the contract award. The contractor will provide written procedures and training for VA staff for protocols to accomplish emergency shutdowns or other sudden, unplanned termination of the refilling process. Contractor will provide 24/7 emergency contact name(s) and telephone numbers (s). Contractor will provide annual alarm set-point testing and written verification must be presented through the use of a qualified third party expert per NFPA 99, 2002 Edition for contractor owned systems. Any code deficiencies as defined by NFPA55, Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids code, must be identified by the contractor. A detailed explanation of these deficiencies must be presented in writing to the COR. Receipt of this written explanation must be signed for by the COR. Prior to first filling, the contractor must verify, in writing, the accuracy of all gauges on contractor owned tanks. 2.Acronyms 2.1 This section lists acronyms that are used in this Statement of Work and other parts of the solicitation. CCF 100 cubic feet CF Cubic feet CGA Compressed Gas Association CGMP Current Good Manufacturing Practices CO Contractor Owned COR Contracting Officer Representative DOT Department of Transportation FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration GO Government Owned NFPA Nation Fire Protection Association OGA Other Government Agency (Other than VA) OSHA U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration USP United States Pharmacopeia VA- Department of Veterans Affairs BHS Boston VA Healthcare System 3.Government Furnished Property 3.1 The solicitation schedule will identify the bulk oxygen tank(s) at each facility being Contractor Owned. Government owned property (alarm system) and appurtenances will be maintained by and at the expense of the government in a manner that will ensure compliance with applicable regulations, standards, and normal practices. 3.2 Each VA BHS location that requires installation of Contractor owned equipment shall provide a suitable location and foundation for the installation of the contractor owned bulk oxygen tank(s). Additionally, each facility shall provide access to an electrical power source and hook-up to a facility-maintained alarm system. The contractor shall perform the hook up of contractor owned equipment to the facility-maintained alarm system. 4. Contractor-Furnished Equipment 4.1 For those facilities listed in the schedule as having contractor owned tanks, the contractor shall provide, install, and maintain bulk oxygen tank (s) with appropriate back-up system(s) and telemetry monitoring of all systems. Through the duration of the contract, the contractor shall be liable for the integrity, suitability, and safety of contractor owned tank(s) that shall ensure compliance with applicable regulations, standards, and normal good practices. The tank capacity and reserve system shown in the schedule are minimum capacities required by the using facilities. Manifold, cylinders for the reserve supply, liquid converter, alarm switch, regulator, valves level indicator, and any other devices or connections required for proper tie-ins with the facility s gas system shall be furnished by the contractor, without cost to the Government. The manifold or liquid converter shall deliver gas at a pressure and rate of flow adequate to supply the system. Each Liquid oxygen storage container shall have an outlet that allows access for testing the purity of the oxygen. 4.2 All equipment and materials required to perform on the contract (other than what is specifically listed in section 3, Government-Furnished Property) shall be provided by the contractor. Contractor owned equipment shall be installed, inspected, and maintained by the contractor without additional cost to the Government. (i.e. all installation, inspection and maintenance costs shall be included in the contract s monthly equipment rental fee for the applicable facility.) Contractor owned equipment shall be kept in good operating condition and appearance, in accordance with applicable regulations, standards and normal good practices. The contractor shall be provided reasonable access to the bulk oxygen systems for this purpose. 5. Installation of Contractor-Owned Equipment 5.1 Unless otherwise directed by the using facility, contractor owned equipment shall be installed by the effective date of the contract and shall be connected to the medical gas system on the date: provided: that the contractor shall be allowed a maximum of 90 days after receipt of notice of award to complete installation. If the contractor s equipment replaces equipment already in use, the exchange of equipment shall be accomplished without interruption of gas supply to the using facility. Contractor installed equipment shall remain the property of the contractor and shall be removed upon termination of the contract, when directed by the ordering facility and in full cooperation with the succeeding contractor to avoid interruption of gas supply. 5.2 All contractor owned equipment shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 55 compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids Code: 2010, and FDA s Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) Regulations. The contractor shall comply with all OSHA standards and applicable safety requirements, including proper signage and use of personal protective equipment. 6. Delivery of Medical Liquid Bulk Oxygen 6.1 Bulk oxygen is ordered by and delivered to the individual ordering facilities. The list of facilities and information regarding their unique delivery requirements is included in the solicitation schedule. 6.2 The contractor shall deliver medical-grade liquid oxygen within the timeframe specified in the schedule for each VA BHS location. The timeframe identified may be either the number of calendar days after receipt of the Government s order, the specific days of the week for delivery, the specific time intervals between deliveries, a specified reorder point, or other specified ordering and delivery methods. If the time frame for contractor delivery is not identified in the facility requirements, the contractor must provide24-hour notice prior to delivery or upon mutual agreement between the facility and contractor, alternate ordering/delivery methods such as pre-scheduled deliveries, calling for tank level readings, installing a telemetry unit, etc. may be arranged if for any reason the contractor is unable to deliver at the agreed upon day or time, the contractor shall provide 24-hour notice to the COR, so that the facility can initiate an alternate backup action. In accordance with VHA Patient Safety Alert dated April 5, 2004, all deliveries must be monitored by a qualified and trained technical representative that will be designated by each facility. Contractor will be provided with names and contact information of primary and back-up facility representatives. This applies to all deliveries regardless of time of day of execution. 6.3 Tank(s) shall be filled to maximum functional capacity at each refilling procedure unless otherwise specified in the facility requirements or as agreed upon in a written document signed and dated by the COR. 6.4 At the time of each delivery, contractor must provide a legible signed and dated written document that identifies the tank level prior to fill, the level after fill, and the quantity delivered. This document must be counter-signed by the facility representative supervising the delivery. 6.5 Emergency delivery shall be provided within 24 hours after receipt of Government notification. Contractor must respond to the facility by either telephone or email within one hour to confirm receipt of emergency notification to ascertain the nature of the emergency. Emergency status is determined by the Government when conditions warrant, such as an actuated main bulk tank low level alarm, imminent alarm condition, or system leak. Failure of the contractor to remain current with agreed delivery schedule and requirements does not constitute an emergency for purposes of charging an emergency delivery fee. 7. Quality Assurance Specifications and Requirements 7.1 All medical gas manufacturers and fillers of medical gases must be registered with FDA as drug manufacturers. All oxygen shall be manufactured, processed, packed, transported, and stored according to FDA s Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) regulations, and all labeling shall comply with FDA labeling regulations (21 CFRPart 201). 7.2 All liquid bulk oxygen delivered under the contract shall be medical-grade and shall meet or exceed the standards cited in the current edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia/National Formulary (U.S.P.). 7.3 A valid certificate of analysis shall be provided with each delivery of liquid oxygen. The certificate shall include, at a minimum: a- Supplier s name and complete address b- Name of the Product (i.e. Oxygen U.S.P.) c- An Air Liquefaction Statement where appropriate d- Lot number or other unique identification number e- Actual analytical results for full U.S.P. monograph testing. (A statement that only states that the product meets the minimum purity of 99.5%, etc. is not acceptable.) f- Test method used to perform the analysis. (A statement such as Meets U.S.P. specifications is not acceptable; nor would Tested via Servomax be acceptable since the specific model number is not provided.) g- Signature of authorized supplier representative and date. 7.4 Material Safety Data sheets shall be provided to the facility COR upon request. 7.5 A copy of all inspection reports shall be provided to the facility COR upon the completion of any contractor owned bulk oxygen system inspections that are required by regulation. 7.6 All contractor owned equipment shall be maintained or repaired in accordance with NFPA55: Compressed Gases and Cryogenics Fluid Code 2010 edition, and FDA s Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GGMP) regulations. 8. Contractor Owned Cylinders 8.1 This section applies to all contractor owned cylinders that are provided under this contract as a back-up system to a primary bulk oxygen system. 8.2 Laws and Regulations: Cylinders and other containers for gaseous and liquid forms of gases shall comply with the Department of Transportation specifications and shall be maintained, filled, marked, labeled, and shipped to comply with current and subsequent updates to DOT regulations (Title 49- Transportation, Code of Federal Regulations). Packaging, labeling, etc., for medical gases shall also comply with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 8.3 Marking: In addition to marking required by the aforementioned laws and regulations, marking shall comply with American National Standards Z48-1954 (R 1971), Method of Marking Portable Compressed Gas Containers to Identify the Material Contained. 8.4 All unauthorized or inapplicable markings, tags, and labels shall be removed. When shipment is by commercial carrier, shipping tags complying with Federal Standard 123H dated 08/08/2007 shall be attached to each cylinder to be protected by the valve protection cap. The contract data markings required by the applicable standard shall be applied to one side of the tag and the identification markings on the reverse side. Consignee markings may be omitted when shipment is by contractor s truck. 8.5 Valves: Valves shall comply with Compressed Gas Associates Standard CGA-V-1 (1/1/2013), Standard for Compressed Gas Cylinder Valve Outlet and Inlet Connections. Valve protection caps for cylinders designed to receive such caps shall be securely attached to the cylinders in a manner to protect the valves from injury during transit and delivery to the purchaser s receiving area. Refer to 49 CFR 173.301(g)). 8.6 Color coding: All cylinders shall be color coded in accordance with the Compressed Gas Association Pamphlet CGA C-9 (1/1/2013), Standard Color Marking of Compressed Gas Containers Intended for Medical Use. 8.7 The contractor shall be responsible for all testing required by regulation of contractor owned cylinders at no additional cost to the Government. 8.8 The bidder s price for the oxygen shall include the furnishing of, at no additional cost, all services which are required at each and every filling of a cylinder to comply with applicable regulations, specifications, and normal good practices. Such services are of the type normally provided in the supply of medical cylinder gases., and shall include, but not be limited to: tags indicating cylinder is Full , In Use , or Empty ; inspection, testing, evaluation, and cleaning services required at each and every filling; pin-indexing, when required, and attachment of Government-furnished warning tags, when required. Attaching of oxygen cylinders to manifold systems, when required, shall also be performed by the contractor at no additional cost. In addition to services listed in this paragraph, the contractor is responsible for all maintenance and testing of contractor-owned cylinders 9. Reporting 9.1 The contractor shall be responsible for providing monthly usage reports for to the COR. The usage reports will provide quantity of liquid oxygen and cost (including copies of all invoices and associated delivery slips) for each location, Brockton, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury. Report to: VA Healthcare System 940 Belmont ST Brockton MA 02301 The NAICS code for this requirement is 325120. Airgas USA, LLC is the only contractor capable of performing the required work because Airgas USA, LLC presently has stationed liquid oxygen tanks located at all three(3) facilities within the Boston Healthcare System; they also have backup reserves at these facilities (3 in Brockton, 1 in West Roxbury, 1 at JP). The station tanks are vendor owned and proprietary to their oxygen supply. Due to liability issues, it is not permissible or legal for a contractor other than Airgas to fill tanks owned by Airgas. Airgas provides annual inspections and preventative maintenance on the station tanks at no additional cost to the government and provides reports on operation and condition to each facility. If the new requirement were to be awarded to another company, the existing station tanks would need to be removed from each VA Facility. The cost of removal alone is estimated by the incumbent contractor to upwards of $40,000.00 which does not include installation of new tanks. The evolution of removal and replacement of station tanks would be cost prohibitive to the amount of funding allocated by the VA Boston Healthcare System for this service, would require numerous labor hours across multiple VA departments to coordinate, supervise, receive, and test the replacement and would create a disruption in the provision of bulk oxygen to the facility. The lapse of medical gasses to the Boston Healthcare System would require the coordination of multiple medical departments within each facility to ensure patient care is not impacted. Installing out a new system would impinge clinical service as alternative delivery sources would have to be established for the period of system change out. The tanks currently are meeting current demands and meet all the demands of the Boston VA health care needs. Concrete pads currently in place would have to be reconfigured and additional contracts would need to be in place with construction in order to have this done. The current plumbing situation would have to be replaced and reconfigured to meet specs of new tanks. This also would incur additional costs with a new service contract. The Boston VA Healthcare system would have to supply alternative source of oxygen during all above and would necessitate great cost for supplies, labor and other variable costs. The cost of supplying an alternative source, if possible, would also necessitate a new contact for plumbing. 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 listed above must clearly identify their capability to do so in writing by June 20, 2024 at 12 pm EST time. Responses 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 the requirement to competition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.
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