RECOVERY - SOURCES SOUGHT - CONSERVATION/REPAIR SERVICEPROJECTS OF APPROXIMATELY 49 MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS LOCATED AT 36NATIONAL CEMETERIES AND SOLDIERS' LOTS FROM MAINE TO CALIFORNIA

TO: 8(A) SMALL DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES SUBJ: RECOVERY - SOURCES SOUGHT - CONSERVATION/ REPAIR SERVICE PROJECTSOF APPROXIMATLEY 49 MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS LOCATED AT 36 NATIONALCEMETERIES AND SOLDIERS' LOTS FROM MAINE TO CALIFORNIA. In an effort to enhance opportunities for 8(A) Owned Small DisadvantagedBusinesses (8As) and increase the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) accomplishments in this important socioeconomic category, VA'sNational Cemetery Administration is performing preliminary marketresearch to gauge the level of interest and capabilities of 8(A)s withregards to upcoming acquisitions for Conservation Services at variousNational Cemeteries and soldiers' lots (Culpeper, VA, Cypress Hills, NY,Finn's Point, NJ, Hampton, VA, Loudon Park, MD, Point Lookout, MD,Prospect Hill, PA, Togus, ME; baton rouge, LA, Beaufort, SC, Biloxi, MS,Chattanooga, TN, Knoxville, TN, Little rock, AR, Marietta, GA, Memphis,TN, Nashville, TN, New Bern, NC, Salisbury, NC, St. Augustine, FL; Hotsprings, SD, Leavenworth, KS; Camp Chase, OH, Danville, IL, Dayton, OH,Jefferson Barracks, MO, Jefferson City, MO, Marion, IN, Mound city, IL,North Alton, IL, Oak woods, IL, Wood, WI, Zachary Taylor, KY; Ft.Rosecrans, CA, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA). The findings of thepreliminary market research will be used in considering a 100% set asidefor 8(A)s. ALL POTENTIAL OFFERORS SHOULD REGISTER WITHIN CCR.GOV. NO FUTURE AWARDSCAN BE MADE TO HUBZONES WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED. THE ADDRESS ISTHE FOLLOWING: HTTP://WWW.CCR.GOV NAICS code for these acquisitions is 712120. The Size Standard is $7Million. The magnitude of these projects is between $25,000 and$500,000. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS: NCA is also requesting Masonry NAICScodes 238140 and Other Foundation, Structure, and Building ExteriorContractors NAICS code 238190 and All Other Specialty Trade Contractors,size standard $14.0 million. Contractor shall provide all professionalservices, supervision, labor, materials, tools and equipment to conserveapproximately 49 monuments and memorials. Work involves comprehensiveconservation/repair of the monuments/memorials and per 36 CFR 61, alltreatments shall meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for theTreatment of Historic Properties. Also, the proposed treatments shallmeet the requirements of VA Handbook 7545 Cultural Resources.Conservation/repair work in accordance with statement of work andassessment reports includes but not limited to: removing coatings,repointing and cleaning, production of an illustrated report,documentation of all treatments and creation of a maintenance plan. REQUIRED RESPONSES: Your review of this information and response to the following questionswill be very helpful in determining if this acquisition may be set-asideexclusively for competition among 8(A)s. Please review thespecifications and technical requirements carefully before responding tothis e-mail. If the question is not applicable, please indicate ''N/R'in your reply to that question: (1) Has your firm, as a prime contractor, whether individually orthrough a formal joint venture, teaming agreement, or under subcontractto a Federal prime contractor, provided construction services forprojects of similar size and scope as described in the brief descriptionof projects above? If yes, please provide the following information onyour three most recent projects: (a) Contracting agency address and contracting officer's name andtelephone number. (b) Contract Number, date and amount of award, date ofcompletion. (c) Was your company the prime or a subcontractor? If you werea subcontractor provide the company name, telephone number, and a point of contact of the primecontractor.(d) Description of items/services provided under the contract.(e) State whether or not there were any performance issues under thecontract which resulted in the issuance of a Cure Notice or Show CauseNotice by the contracting officer. Reply (1): (2) Does your firm and subcontractors meet the ProfessionalQualifications for appropriate skills(masonry, historic architects,etc.) per Sec. 112, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 asamended (16 U.S.C. 470)? This shall include The Secretary of theInterior's Proposed Historic Preservation Professional QualificationStandards for "Conservation" (see:(http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/PDFgate.cgi?WAISdocID=684976354368+0+2+0&WAISaction=retrieve) Reply (2): (3) If your firm has never contracted with the Federal Government as aprime contractor, or as a subcontractor to a prime Federal, have youprovided conservation services to commercial sources? If so, pleaseprovide the specifics in terms of the largest customers of theseservices. Please include any information relevant to any potentialdifficulties you note with complying fully with the Statement of Workand specifications. Reply (3): (4) Has your firm ever been terminated for cause or default from acontractual arrangement, whether Federal or private sector, as a resultof failure to perform, poor quality and workmanship provided, etc.? Ifso, please provide the specifics. Reply (4): (5) Has your firm, or any firm that you would potentially joint ventureor team with for a large acquisition of construction services or for anyacquisition ever bid on a Federal acquisition and been determinednon-responsible by the contracting officer and the U.S. Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) failed to issue a Certificate of Competency to yourfirm or teaming partners when the matter was referred to SBA for reviewand consideration? Reply (5): PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR RESPONSES AND ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION REGARDINGSPECIFIC PERFORMANCE OR OTHER QUALIFICATIONS REGARDING THE CONSERVATIONSERVICES REQUESTED, NO LATER THAN APRIL 28, 2009, AT 2:00 P.M. EASTERNTIME TO [email protected]. THE EMAIL SHOULD BE ENTITLED, "RECOVERY -CONSERVATION/REPAIR PROJECTS MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS NATIONAL CEMETERIES- SOURCES SOUGHT 8(A)." Do not send hard copy advertising or promotional materials. Pleaseensure that all responses are comprehensive and provide a name andpoint-of-contact for your firm for follow-up by this office or theprocuring contracting officer. If you have responded to any previous e-mail messages or had othercommunications with our office regarding preliminary market research forthis construction project, please be advised that it will be necessaryfor you to respond to this e-mail and the questions contained therein.Failure to respond to the questions above may result in rejection ofyour document/response as "nonresponsive." The responses gathered as aresult of this Request for Information, will assist the ContractingOfficer in determining if a competitive set-aside can be made and whattype of set-aside, if any, can be used. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS SUCH. Allinformation is to be provided on a voluntary basis at no charge to theGovernment. There is no entitlement to payment of direct or indirectcosts related to or arising out of responding to this request forinformation. All information provided becomes property of theGovernment. There is no guarantee, expressed or implicit, that themarket research for this acquisition will result in a 8(A) set-aside orsole source award, or any other guarantee of award or acquisitionstrategy.