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R -- TECHNICAL AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR NIH LABORATORY ANIMAL RESEARCH SOL NHLBI-RR-P-97-138 POC Zetherine Gore, Contract Specialist, (301) 435-0365, Debra Hawkins, Contracting Officer, (301) 435-0366 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and potential technical capability of small businesses to provide support to the National Center for Research Resources' (NCRR's) Veterinary Resources Program. The intended procurement will be classified under SIC code 8744, Facilities Support Management Services, with a size standard of $5M. NCRR is one of the components of NIH which conducts laboratory animal programs and is responsible for providing research support for NIH intramural scientists. VRP is the largest of NIH's intramural animal programs and provides centralized lab support to most of the ICDs as well as to some other Public Health Service organizations. NIH animal programs involve the use of approximately 508,000 square feet of space located primarily in twenty-one buildings on the Bethesda campus and thirteen buildings at the Animal Center in Poolesville, MD. Remote facilities include six leased facilities in Rockville and Gaithersb urgand two government owned facilities in Baltimore, MD. All NIH animal programs and facilities comply with applicable animal welfare laws, regulations, guidelines and standards, and are accredited by the American Association for the Assessment and Accreditation and of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). The contractor shall furnish the necessary on-site management and personnel for the performance of laboratory animal support services. These services generally include, but may not be limited to the followi ng: 1) veterinary medicine, 2) animal care and husbandry, 3) veterinary technical support, 4) research technical support, 5) data management, 6) cage and environment sanitation, 7) routine maintenance of animal care equipment, 8) animal transportation, and 9) logistical and clerical support. Support is to be provided to animal projects involving the full range of biomedical research and scientific disciplines and animal species which may include: mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits, dogs, c ats,sheep, pigs, goats, chickens, primates and other vertebrates and invertebrates. Contract support is to be provided on-site at the NIH main campus in Bethesda, MD; at the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, MD; at the NHLBI 5 Research Court facility in Rockville, MD; at the NIA Gerentology Research Center in Baltimore, MD; and/or at other facilities within the commuting range of Bethesda. The contractor shall be required to provide continuous high quality animal care as set forth in the applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines. The NIH intends to negotiate a 1-year contract with four subsequent 1-year options. The following job twenty (20) categories are representative of the types of personnel needed to perform the requirements of the contract: 1) Clinical Veterinarian with Certification in Laboratory Animal Medicine who must possess a degree in veterinary medicine, a state veterinary license, and certification in laboratory animal medicine, 2) Clinical Veterinarian without Certification in Labora tory Animal Medicine who must possess a degree in veterinary medicine, and a state veterinary license, 3) Senior Scientific Research Specialist who must possess a degree at the Ph.D. level in the biological sciences, 4) Scientific Research Specialist must possess a degree at the Masters level in the biological sciences, 5) Animal Facility Supervisor /Project Manager who must possess a minimum of a B.S. degree in animal science or other biological sciences, and be certified by the American Association for La boratory Animal Science (AALAS) as a Laboratory Animal Technologist (LATG), 6) Senior Animal Facility Specialist who must possess a minimum of a B.S. degree in animal science or other biological sciences, and be certified by the AALAS as a LATG, or by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), 7) Animal Facility Specialist who must be certified by the AALAS as a LATG, or by the AAHA, 8) Transgenic Technician who must possess a B.S. degree in the biological sciences, 9) Laboratory Animal Technologist w ho must possess AALAS certification at the LATG level or have equivalent education, training, and experience to include a 4 year degree in animal science of other biological science, 10) Veterinary Technologist must possess an Associate of Arts Degree in Veterinary Technology or equivalent from an AVMA accredited college level program, 11) Laboratory Animal Technician (LAT) who must possess AALAS certification at the LAT level or have equivalent education, training, and experience, 12) Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician (ALAT) who must possess AALAS certification at the ALA level or have equivalent education, training and experience, 13) Laboratory Animal Caretaker, 14) Cagewash Foreman who must be certified at the LAT level or higher, or have equivalent knowledge and experience, 15) Cagewash Attendants, 16) Animal Facility Operations Specialist who must be certified at the LAT level and have a minimum of 3 years experience in providing animal facility support, 17) Data Entry and Reports Specialist who mu st have an Associate's Degree in business or computer science or equivalent knowledge and experience, 18) Clerical Assistant, 19) Senior Animal Transport Vehicle Driver must be certified by the AALAS as a LAT with a minimum of 3 years experience in laboratory animal facility support or equivalent demonstrated knowledge and experience, 20) Animal Transport Vehicle Driver who must be certified by the AALAS as an Assistant ALAT with a minimum of 2 years experience in laboratory animal facility support. The es timated level of effort, which includes all job categories, is 287,040 hours during the base year. The Government will reserve the right to increase or decrease the level of effort as necessary during the contract period of performance. The contractor shall be required to provide service to the various facilities concurrently, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to include weekends and Government holidays. Firms responding to this market survey should keep in mind that focused and pertinent information is req uested. To be considered as a viable source, firms must provide information and evidence which clearly reflects their organizational experience in providing laboratory animal support services. It is required that the contractor possess a minimum of 5 years of organizational experience in providing laboratory animal support services of a similar magnitude. If significant subcontracting or teaming efforts are anticipated in order to deliver the technical capability, firms should address the administrative a nd management structure of such arrangements to demonstrate that small business prime contractors can maintain full-time labor, technical, and management control of the project. The Government anticipates that there will be a single contract award for this requirement. Firms must provide information which states the business size, annual receipts (average gross revenue) for the last three (3) fiscal years, and whether or not the firm has been approved as a small business by the SBA under the applicable SI C code. Capable firms should provide two (2) copies of a capability statement to the above noted address within fifteen (15) business days from the date of this notice. (0231)

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