NOI - Service and Maintenance of Glacios Microscope and components

PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE – 

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

1.    SOLICITATION NUMBER: PCA-NIAID-02745

2.    TITLE: Service and Maintenance of Glacios Microscope and components

3.    RESPONSE DATE: April 13, 2026 at 4:00 pm EST. 

4.    PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT:
Elaine Estrella
Contract Specialist
Elaine.estrella@nih.gov

Brian Lind
Contract Specialist
Brian.lind@nih.gov

I.    INTRODUCTION:

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). 

The National Institute of Health Hospital Laboratory Support Service (NIHHLS) intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition to FEI Company. The purpose of this acquisition is to provide the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with service and maintenance of Glacios microscope (Serial Number 9954819) and its components - Ceta 16M Camera 200 KV (Serial Number 9954819.02) and Falcon 4i 200kV (Serial Number 9954819.03) to perform various microscopy methods. The Glacios microscope and components are heavily used to support all of the NIAID intramural Rocky Mountain Lab (RML) and National Institute of Health (NIH) Labs. The microscope is currently in use by the NIAID Electron Microscopy (EM) Unit at the NIH Bethesda Campus Building 33. 

II.    NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS

NAICS code 811210 -   Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance with a business size standard classification of $34 M. This acquisition is NOT set aside for small businesses.

III.    REGULATORY AUTHORITY 
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024-07 dated 08-29-2024.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services

IV.    STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the FAR Part 12: Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services and the statutory authority of FAR 6.302-1—Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a)(1). 

V.    DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT:

A.    PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this acquisition is to provide the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) EM Unit with service and maintenance of Glacios microscope (Serial Number 9954819) and its components - Ceta 16M Camera 200 KV (Serial Number 9954819.02) and Falcon 4i 200kV (Serial Number 9954819.03). The goal of the NIAID EM Unit is to conduct and support research to understand, treat and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases, improving human health through scientific innovation. The acquisition of the service and maintenance of the Glacios microscope and its components is essential due to the fact that the unit is highly specialized and must continue to function on a daily basis to allow investigators to continue their laboratory research uninterrupted and without delay. 

B.    PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:
NIHHLS anticipates a firm fixed price purchase order. This requirement shall consist of a 12-month base period and the dates are as follows:

Base Period:       April 18, 2026 – April 17, 2027

C.    PROJECT REQUIREMENTS:
The Contractor shall be responsible for service and maintenance of Glacios microscope (Serial Number 9954819) and its components - Ceta 16M Camera 200 KV (Serial Number 9954819.02) and Falcon 4i 200kV (Serial Number 9954819.03) 
The service may only be completed by an authorized service provider for the Glacios Microscope and components

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below:

The Contactor shall provide the following minimum requirements:

•    Full coverage for OEM replacement parts, labor, and travel. Coverage includes all fees associated with repairs (labor and replacement parts) for any service or repairs performed.
•    Priority scheduling and onsite response for all repairs during the period of performance. Priority is defined as giving priority scheduling equal to a direct contract and guaranteeing the equivalent manufacturer’s priority onsite response. service provider, the priority scheduling and/or response time, must be provided.
•    OEM Trained Certified Technician must be available during normal business hours. Documentation of OEM trained technicians required.
•    One (1) Preventive Maintenance Inspections to be performed during a twelve-month period including one (1) PM kit
•    48-hour targeted response time for onsite applications support (troubleshooting and repairs)
•    48-hour targeted response time for all emergency repairs and all on site visits
•    Instrument control software and hardware proprietary updates (can occur during scheduled preventative maintenance visits, unless critical for operation of instrument) software and firmware updates upon request, and in conjunction with a scheduled Preventive Maintenance or Corrective Maintenance visit, including software revisions. Provide End User License Agreement (EULA) if applicable
•    Unlimited service visits during normal business days hours, excluding Federal holidays
•    Unlimited telephone support for instruments and applications and Remote Technical Support during business hours
•    List response time (Hours or Days) in the request for on-site emergency service (Monday through Friday, excluding holidays

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS: 

Contractor shall provide all necessary parts and equipment necessary to perform remedial repair and planned maintenance of the Glacios microscope and its components. 

Contractor shall have access to proprietary parts and test instrumentation for effective repair in case of malfunction. Technical performance requirements include system coverage on the subject equipment by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) factory-trained, authorized technicians and providers of any required parts and software or proprietary diagnostic software and software enhancements must be OEM certified (new or like-new) and compatible with the subject equipment. 

Contractor shall be required to provide written documentation in achieving this statement of work during the period of performance. The original documentation shall be provided by the vendor to show they completed service.

All work will be inspected and approved by a Scientific Staff of the EM Section, Research Technologies Branch (RTB) at the completion of any repairs, and at the completion of the maintenance.

All work will be completed in accordance with industry standards by FEI certified technician.

VI.    CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION
The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted. Specifically, FEI Company is the only vendor in the marketplace that can provide the services required by NIHHLS. The equipment is proprietary to its manufacturer, FEI Company and this company is the sole provider of maintenance for this equipment.

In accordance with FAR part 10, extensive market research was conducted to reach this determination. Additionally, contacts with knowledgeable individuals both in industry and Government, as well as reviews of available product literature, revealed no other sources. Finally, a review of the GSA Advantage, Dynamic Small Business Search, and previous government acquisitions returned no results that meet all of the requirements. Therefore, only FEI Company. is capable of meeting the needs of this requirement.

The intended source is:
FEI Company
5350 N.E. Dawson Creek Drive
Hillsboro, OR 97124-5793
USA

VII.    CLOSING STATEMENT
THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. 

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Unique Entity Identification (UEI) number, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.

All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number, PCA-NIAID-02745. Responses must be submitted electronically to Elaine Estrella, Contract Specialist at elaine.estrella@nih.gov or Brian Lind, Contract Specialist at brian.lind@nih.gov .