Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

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JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: U. S. Coast Guard Civil Engineering Unit, Cleveland, Ohio.

2. Nature/Description of Action: Approval for use of specific manufacturer equipment for

the fire detection and alarm system in the Firehouse, Building #16, at US Coast Guard

Training Center (TRACEN) Cape May, New Jersey. This proposed FY23 contract will

be a firm, fixed-price contract awarded with maintenance funds.

3. Description of Brand name Items: The specified fire detection and alarm system

equipment shall be manufactured by Siemens. Only a small portion of the overall project

is identified as sole source equipment.

4. Statutory Authority: 10 U. S. C. 2304 © (1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 permits

other than full and open competition when services are available from only one

responsible source that meets agency requirements and when it is likely that award to

any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is

not expected to be recovered through competition.

5. Reason for Authority: TRACEN Cape May has standardized on the use of the

Siemens Model XLS addressable fire alarm system and 100% of the fire alarm systems

installed are using this system. The total number of buildings currently being monitored

is thirty-seven (37). These buildings automatically report to the Siemens network

command center which is located in the on-base firehouse. TRACEN Cape May

maintains an extensive inventory of Siemens fire alarm system parts. TRACEN’s

maintenance personnel are trained in the operation and programming of the Siemens’

system which uses proprietary software and hardware. Furthermore, TRACEN has a

yearly maintenance contract with Siemens to provide technical support. The use of

another manufacturer’s equipment would require additional inventory, additional training,

additional software/hardware to program the equipment, an additional command center

to monitor the third party equipment, and probably a second maintenance contract. All

of these factors would impact our limited personnel and financial resources.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Other sources that manufacture fire detection and

alarm systems devices are available. Their use however would require maintaining

additional inventory, new and additional training requirements for personnel to maintain

and operate the system, and the procurement of additional software and hardware for

programming the system. Furthermore, many fire alarm manufacturers do not allow the

end user to make modifications to the system. TRACEN would be required to issue

subsequent contracts to the third party manufacturer every time there was a need to

slightly modify the system. With Siemens, TRACEN has the capability to make minor

modifications to the fire alarm system in-house. Failure to standardize on a single

manufacturer’s system could lead to additional systems of other manufacturer’s which

will continue to compound the inventory, training and system maintenance requirements

for TRACEN Cape May.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost to the Government: A determination has

been made by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair

and reasonable based on the evaluation of current market prices for similar items.

8. Market Survey: A market survey was conducted by researching available

manufacturer’s literature.

9. Other Factors: Installation of other manufacturer’s equipment could impact on future

TRACEN fire alarm system maintenance contracts in that separate contracts may be

required with each system manufacturer.

10. Interested Sources: None

11. Statement of Action for Future Competition: Not applicable.