DESCRIPTION:

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE.  THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED.  THIS SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 05-24.

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334513 with a small business size standard of 500 employees.  However, this procurement is being completed under full and open competition. All responsible vendors may submit a quotation.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for a Chilled Mirror Hygrometer.

LINE ITEM 0001:  Quantity one (1) each Chilled Mirror Hygrometer, meeting or exceeding all of the following required minimum specifications:

 1.  The unit shall be capable of measuring the dew point temperature of air ranging from minus 15 degrees Celsius to minus 40 degrees Celsius while operating at ambient pressure (101.325 kPa) and air temperatures up to 25 degrees Celsius;

 2.  Uncertainty of dew point and air temperature measurements shall be 0.1 Celsius (at k equals 2 or at the 95 percent confidence level) or lower uncertainty;

 3.  Over the dew point range (minus 5 degrees Celsius to minus 40 degrees Celsius) condensate shall be frost and not a super cooled liquid;

 4.  The unit shall measure the total pressure at the measuring head so that the mole fraction of water vapor in the air can be determined. The uncertainty of the total pressure measurement shall be 0.15 percent (at the 95 percent confidence level) or lower uncertainty;

 5.  The unit shall have capability of cooling mirror to minus 60 degrees Celsius with a mechanism for rapidly seeding the first frost formation through automatically controlled external vapor injection;

 6.  The unit shall include graphical user interface capable of showing multiple parameters such as the dew point, concentration of water vapor, and relative humidity. Displayed parameters shall be user selectable and visible in both numeric and/or line graph format;

 7.  The unit shall be capable of connection to a PC for bi-directional communication via RS-232 interface. The unit's operations shall be controllable, and system shall respond to data requests via interface. Data available on display, at a minimum, shall be mole fraction, dew point, total pressure, and saturation pressure, and shall be by RS-232.

 Delivery terms shall be FOB Destination.  FOB Destination means the contractor shall pack and mark the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements, deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the purchase order, be responsible for loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt and acceptance of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the purchase order; and pay all charges to the specified point of delivery.

 Delivery shall be completed not later than 60 days after award; however, NIST prefers delivery not later than 30 days after award.

 Award will be made to the party whose quote offers the best value to the Government, technical, price, and other factors considered.  The Government will evaluate information based on the following evaluation criteria: 1) Technical Capability factor "Meeting or Exceeding the Requirement," and 2) Delivery and Price.  Technical Capability, Delivery and Price are of equal importance. Price shall be evaluated only on quotations determined technically acceptable in accordance with the Technical Capability evaluation criteria.

Evaluation of Technical Capability shall be based on the information provided in the quotation.  Quoters shall include the manufacturer, make and model of the product, manufacturer sales literature or other product literature which CLEARLY DOCUMENTS that the offered product meets or exceeds the specifications stated herein.

 The full text of the FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at www.acqnet.gov/far.

 The following provisions apply to this acquisition:

 FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items;

        52.225-2 Buy American Certificate;

The following clauses apply to this acquisition:

 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items;

52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items including subparagraphs:

52.222-3, Convict Labor

52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies

52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities

52.222-26, Equal Opportunity

52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities

52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons

52.225-1, Buy American Act--Supplies

52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases

52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Fund Transfer-Central Contractor Registration.

 Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level above the Contracting Officer is also incorporated.  It can be downloaded at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm.

 All quoters shall submit the following:  1). An original and one (1) copy of a quotation which addresses the above line items.  2). Two (2) originals of technical description and/or product literature; 3). Documentation which details the process that clearly documents the mirror condensate will be frost and not a super cooled liquid (as identified in specification number 3, under Line Item 0001.

 This is an Open-Market Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for equipment as defined herein.  The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this Combined Synopsis/Solicitation that will include the terms and conditions that are set forth herein.  In order to facilitate the award process, ALL quotes shall include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows:

              The offeror shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are     acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition."

OR

The offeror shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:

Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)

Please note that this procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC).  If an offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price.  However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the offeror's FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

All quotes must be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition Management Division, Attn: Lynda Roark, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640.  Offerors shall ensure the RFQ number is visible on the outermost packaging.

 Submission must be received by 3:30 p.m. local time on April 14, 2008.

E-MAIL QUOTES SHALL BE ACCEPTED. FAX QUOTES SHALL NOT BE ACCEPTED.