71--Notice of Intent to Sole Source

Social Security Administration (SSA) intends to negotiate solely with Herman Miller, Inc., 855 East Main Avenue, Zeeland, MI 49464, for products and services to maintain SSA offices nationwide and in the U.S. territories with Herman Miller Action Office 2 (AO2) systems furniture customized to SSA’s specifications. The authority for this acquisition is set forth in 41 U.S.C. § 1901, as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5 – “Test Program for Certain Commercial Itemsâ€�. The acquisition is “commercialâ€� in nature, as defined at FAR Section 2.101, and will be solicited using FAR Part 12, as well as the procedures outlined at FAR 13.500. The basis for restricting competition is only one source with unique capabilities. Herman Miller, Inc. is the manufacturer and has sole access to the replacement parts required to maintain SSA’s offices currently furnished with Herman Miller, Inc. AO2 systems furniture. Herman Miller, Inc. has customized portions of its AO2 product line to meet SSA’s requirements. Herman Miller, Inc. is the only source able to provide component parts that are uniform with the existing configurations while maintaining the warranty of the existing furniture product. SSA intends to establish a firm fixed-price contract with Herman Miller, Inc. with a period of performance consisting of a nine-month base period and one six-month option period. Written responses to this notice shall contain sufficient documentation to establish a bona fide capability to fulfill this requirement. This is not a request for quotation, and the Government does not intend to pay for information received. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Respondents will not be notified of the results of any Government evaluation of the information received. All submissions in response to this notice must be submitted electronically via email to [email protected] by 12:00 PM ET on June 29, 2018. No telephone calls regarding this matter will be accepted nor returned.