Professional services

Justification for Other Than Full and Open CompetitionUnder 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c) (1);Only one responsible Source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirementsProject Office Lockport Support ServicesPursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by FAR 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.302-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:(1) Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity: The Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Acquisition, Office of Contract Operations, Formal Contracts Division V (CG-9125), Project Office Lockport, hereby presents this justification for other than full and open competition (JOTFOC) for review and approval.(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved:(a) This justification authorizes and approves

a three month extension by modification creating and exercising option period two to task order HSCG23-17-F-AFR729. Approval is requested to procure on a sole source basis approximately 17 contractor personnel involved in supporting the project resident office in testing, inspection, contract support and post-delivery support of 50 Fast Response Cutters. The Coast Guard is proposing to add an option (option period two) for the three month extension under the existing task order (HSCG23-17-F-AFR729); the performance period for option period one currently ends on 06 April 2019.(b) Name and Address of contractor.ITA International, LLC111 Cybernetics WayYorktown, VA 23693(c) Contract type: Firm Fixed Priced(d) Estimated total value (including options).(e) Type of funding: PC&I(f) Year of funding: 2019(g) Solicitation number: HSCG23-17-R-AFR729(h) Background information.This follow-on option to the existing task order (HSCG23-17-F-AFR729) will allow the Coast Guard to meet the requirement of highly specialized services and mitigate unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements to meet its critical operational need for FRCs. The 17 personnel employed under the existing contract are absolutely essential in providing the critical, orderly and timely inspections needed to ensure a quality product is delivered to the government as well as the vital post-delivery and warranty support for delivered FRCs. This three month extension is appropriate due to the lapse of appropriations and government shutdown of 35 days resulting in an associated delay in starting the re-compete. Additionally, the original task order was awarded under the OASIS contract vehicle as an 8(a) set aside. Unfortunately, under GSA policy the OASIS contract vehicle is no longer capable of 8(a) set asides. The inability of utilizing the OASIS contract vehicle as an 8(a) set aside coupled with the lapse in appropriations results in this option to extend the current task order by three months being the appropriate contract action that allows the agency's needs to be met in a timely manner.(3) Description of Supplies/Services Required: The existing contract provides 17 contract support personnel and associated travel necessary to perform their functions and duties as specified in the current contract. The job descriptions of the 17 personnel are as follows: four administrative professionals, three logisticians, one operations research analyst, two training and development specialists, six engineers, and one business and financial operations specialist. The task order also has a travel contract line item and a contract access fee contract line item. The job duties and functions are included in the task order documentation. The current contract Option Period One Price is $2,856,459.00 for a 12-month period of performance. The estimated total price of the three month extension is $696,000.00.(4) Identification of Statutory Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1), as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-1 (ii) (B). Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements; unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency requirements.(5) Demonstration that the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited and Discussion of Selected Contractor Qualifications: Award of this contract to other than incumbent would result in a break in support for the Project Office. The recent partial government shutdown has created a significant backlog of timely responses to the contractor and other contract actions related to the processing of contract deliverable requirements and numerous other post award functions. If the 17 contract employees do not have continued performance the FRC project would risk the performance of critical, orderly and timely inspections needed to ensure a quality product is delivered to the government as well as the vital post-delivery and warranty support for delivered FRCs being at risk.(6) A Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable: In accordance with FAR Part 5.201(a) (11), the proposed contract action is made under the terms of an existing contract that was previously synopsized in sufficient detail to comply with the requirements of FAR 5.207 with respect to the current proposed contract action. Based on market research which was performed in preparation for the follow-on re-procurement action, the previous OASIS vehicle used for the current requirement is not available for the needed re-compete nor are other vehicles available that can meet the time demands of the current needs by the expiration date of the current contract. The delays in a full re-compete will result in an approximate six month period where these vital services would not be provided resulting in significant injury to the government.Clause 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services was included at the time of solicitation, hence offerors were aware of the unilateral right by the government to exercise six additional months.(7) Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable: The anticipated cost to the government is expected to be aligned position-by-position and overall with the current pricing in the existing contract, which was competitively awarded. Prior to award, the pricing was determined to be fair and reasonable based upon adequate competition. Additionally, prior to the exercising of Option Period One on 04 April 2017 a Determination and Findings concluded that the pricing was fair and reasonable. There have been no significant economic changes since Option Period One was exercised, thus it is deemed that a three month extension based upon and identical to the extrapolated Option Period One pricing would be fair and reasonable. The OASIS price estimating tool was used to create the IGCE for this option which resulted in a significantly higher price compared to the established prices set in the existing task order.(8) Description of market research: Based on market research which was performed in preparation for the follow-on re-procurement action, it was found while there are other large and small businesses that can perform this task, there is insufficient time, due to the aforementioned lapse in funding and the inability to use the OASIS contract vehicle to re-compete this requirement. The three month extension will be sufficient time to perform and execute a viable procurement strategy for the fulfillment of this need. Clause 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services was included at the time of solicitation, hence offerors were aware of the unilateral right by the government to exercise six additional months. No other sources expressed an interest in writing after award of original task order.(9) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: As previously detailed a gap in providing the vital services under the existing contract would be significantly harmful to the government. Five of the 17 personnel are involved with warranty and post-delivery support which affect the operational availability of the currently delivered 32 Fast Response cutter fleet. It is expected that the operational availability due to insufficient and inadequate personnel would negatively affect emergent responses to warranty and other work which would affect fleet readiness and availability for unrestricted operations. The additional personnel, two of which are used for contract support, and the remainder personnel used for vessel call-outs and inspections would undoubtedly negatively affect the quality of the remaining 17 FRCs under construction. There are not sufficient military or civilian personnel available to cover any gaps where contractor support services may lapse.(10) A listing of sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition: None.(11) A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for required supplies or services: This intended action is a follow-on modification to a competed action for the continued services for a period not-to-exceed three months. In support of CICA, we have the responsibility to locate alternate sources of supply/services and alternate acceptable products; it is our full intention to re-compete for these vital services during the three month extension period. The FRC team continuously conducts market surveys to ensure that companies interested in doing business with the USCG are given every opportunity to compete for our requirements. If approved, the follow-on contract for these services in planned to be competitive.