Operation and Maintenace Environmental Exposure Chamber

Trade Agreement: NONE
Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited
to bid
Attachment: None
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
Amtech Aeronautical Limited
P.O. BOX 1404
MEDICINE HAT Alberta
Canada
T1A7N3
Nature of Requirements: 
Title: Operational and Technical Services for the Suffield
Environmental Exposure Chamber

1. Advance Contract Award Notice

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community
that a department or agency intends to award a contract for
goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier,
thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in
bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no
supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the
requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date
stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed
with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of Requirement

The Department of National Defence, Defence Research and
Development Canada - Suffield, (DRDC-S) Ralston, AB has a
requirement for operational, technical and maintenance support.

DRDC Suffield has recently constructed a environmental exposure
chamber (SEEC) facility using a vertical wind tunnel
configuration, for research, engineering and system evaluation
of equipment being developed for physical countermeasures
against airborne hazards. The chamber has full environmental
control (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed) and the
capability to disseminate simulant hazards as vapour, aerosol or
liquid. The facility also includes a sophisticated,
anthropometrically correct articulated mannequin, capable of
life-like movement and a range of activity regimes, which is
fully integrated into the operation of the chamber.

A requirement exists for contracted support at the SEEC facility
that will provide the day-to-day operation and maintenance of
the facility.  This contracted support is required in the form
of a facility operations manager and engineering/technical
support personnel that know the SEEC facility operating
procedures, maintenance procedures, and limitations and what can
be achieved within the design parameters of the chamber.

Due to the nature of this work it is expected that there will be
follow-on contracts.

3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement
of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:

a) Education: Engineering staff, including those under
sub-contract, must hold as a minimum a Bachelor of Science in
Engineering in a field relevant to the operation of the chamber
(mechanical, computer, electrical) and be certified as a
Professional Engineer with the Province of Alberta; Technical
staff must hold as a minimum a diploma in a field relevant to
the operation of the chamber (engineering technology,
electronics and instrumentation, journeyman electrician) from a
recognized technical school; the analytical chemist must hold as
a minimum a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry or Biochemistry
from a recognised university.
b) Experience: All professional engineering and technical
support staff must have experience working with equipment,
instrumentation and computer process control systems in an
environmental exposure wind tunnel chamber;  with the operation
of closed-loop process control systems for disseminating vapours
and aerosols, and; with gas chromatography analytical
instrumentation. 
c) The contractor must at all times during the performance of
the Contract, hold a valid Designated Organization Screening
(DOS), issued by the Canadian Industrial Security Directorate
(CISD), Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).

4. Applicability of Trade Agreements

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), 
World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement,
(WTO-AGP) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

5.  Justification for Pre-Identified Supplier

The objective of this contract is to provide operational,
technical and maintenance support to DRDC Suffield for the
Suffield Environmental Exposure Chamber (SEEC). The SEEC
facility is a custom designed and engineered multi-million
dollar vertical wind tunnel test facility for research and
technical evaluation of equipment being developed for physical
countermeasures against airborne hazards. It includes equipment,
hardware and process operations instrumentation to fully control
the environment within the chamber, including temperature,
relative humidity and wind speed, as well as closed-loop process
control systems for disseminating vapours and aerosols. The
facility also includes a sophisticated, articulated mannequin,
capable of life-like movement and a range of activity regimes
that is fully integrated into the operation of the chamber.

Amtech Aeronautical was the prime contractor who designed,
engineered, constructed and delivered the SEEC facility, which
included the operational validation of all the equipment,
hardware and process control systems. They were awarded this
original contract based on a successful competitive contract bid
issued by Defence Construction Canada.  They are the only 
company that has the engineering and technical knowledge of the
facility and the systems within, to operate and maintain it. The
output from this contract will support the DRDC Suffield
in-house research and development programme and international
collaborative work that DRDC Suffield is involved in.  In order
to complete the work the contractor needs the knowledge and
engineering and technical expertise to assume the role as a
facility operations manager, and has to have on staff
engineering/technical support personnel that know the SEEC
facility operating procedures and maintenance procedures, and
have an understanding of the limitations of what can be achieved
within the design parameters of the Chamber.

Contractors with no previous experience would need to review the
engineering drawings and manuals for the facility and process
control instrumentation to gain some basic understanding of what
would be required to operate and maintain the facility, and then
implement some of this knowledge and begin to operate the
chamber. It is doubtful that the inexperienced contractor would
have developed the expertise at a sufficiently advanced
technical level to support R&D studies. Having an inexperienced
contractor in charge of a multi-million dollar test facility
providing sub-standard support could further jeopardise research
programmes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. To meet
exacting research and development requirements and achieve the
highest standard results, DRDC Suffield requires the
organisation with the best technical expertise and knowledge
base to complete the contract. 

Amtech hold the proprietary rights to all of the process control
algorithms and feed back loop technology to operate the
environmental and dissemination systems. Continued access to and
maintenance of these systems is critical to the success of the
project. The SEEC facility is a system of systems. Failure to
maintain the original specifications of one component will lead
to a cascade failure of others. Amtech, as the original
designers of these systems, is the only company that can ensure
full integrated compatibility between systems.

The SEEC facility is a system of systems. The successful
operation of the facility requires that all sub-component
systems, such as those for controlling the environmental
conditions and dissemination of vapour and aerosols,
experimental waste management, HVAC, air sampling throughout the
facility and operation of the mannequin platform, function in an
integrated manner and according to design specifications that
support the operation of the chamber. Substitution of
incompatible equipment would result in the chamber not
functioning or operating below its operational design
requirements. This would affect the results of the research and
compromise advice Suffield may be required to provide DND, or
even endanger those within the defence community that the
research supports. The SEEC facility was designed to support
unique research and development programmes at DRDC Suffield.
Accordingly, it must be operated and maintained in strict
accordance with the original engineering and technical
specifications. Only Amtech Aeronautical has the expertise to
maintain the integration across all systems in the facility. The
price for non-conformance would be a significant delay to the
DRDC Suffield research programme, higher maintenance costs and
shutdowns related to incompatible equipment failures and a
chamber operating below specifications for R&D work.

6.  Government Contracts Regulations Exception

The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations
is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only
one person is capable of performing the work".

7  Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusions and/or limited tendering reasons are
invoked under the section of the trade agreement specified:

Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) - Limited Tendering under
Article 506, #12 a & b
North Ameriican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Limited Tendering
- Article 1016: b.
WTO-AGP not applicable, as per Services in Appendix I, Canada -
Annex 4.

8.  Ownership of Intellectual Property

Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) has determined
that any intellectual property arising from improvements,
modifications, upgrades to the SEEC facility, experimental
methods, protocols and test platforms will vest in Canada. DRDC
is exempted from the Treasury Board "Policy on Title to
Intellectual Property Arising Under Crown Procurement Contracts"
approved 1 June 2000.

9.  The Period of the Proposed Contract

The proposed contract is for a period of approximately 2 years
from date of award.

10.  The Estimated Cost of the Proposed Contract

The estimated value of the contract is $719,250.00, GST extra.

11.  Name and Address of the Pre-Identified Supplier:

Amtech Aeronautical Limited
678 Prospect Drive SW
Medicine Hat, AB   T1A 4C1

12.  Suppliers' Right to Submit a Statement of Capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available
to provide the goods, services or construction services
described in the ACAN, may submit a statement of capabilities in
writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or
before the closing date of this notice. The statement of
capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the
advertised requirement.

13.  The Closing Date and Time for Accepting Statements of
Capabilities

April 16, 2012, 2:00 pm (MDST)

14.  Inquiries and Submission of Statement of Capabilities

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Elaine Barton, Supply Specialist
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Telus Plaza North
5th Floor 10025 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB   T1J 1S5

Telephone:780-497-3519
Facsimile: 780-497-3510
E-mail: elaine.barton@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate
with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any
questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting
officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and
agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15)
calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it
intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a
pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or
before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets
the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority
may then proceed with the award.  However, should a Statement of
Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the
ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full
tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available
to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a
statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person
identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this
Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate
how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the
closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the
envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile
transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.