NOTICE OF INTENT: LECO – CS744 Combustion Carbon Sulfur Analyzer Service Contract

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

Contracting Opportunities Announcement Type: Special Notice
Announcement Number: NIST-NOI-26-01583

Subject: Procurement of LECO –  CS744 Combustion Carbon Sulfur Analyzer Service Contract

Introduction
This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested.

Purpose
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with the LECO Corporation, located at 3000 Lakeview Ave,  Saint Joseph, MI 49085 USA. The purchase order will specifically procure a comprehension maintenance plan for the CS 744 to ensure uninterrupted performance within manufactures’ specifications on a schedules and as-needed basis. The maintenance plan will be effective for twelve (12) months with a performance start date of June 30, 2026.

Authority
This acquisition is being conducted using the procedures at FAR Part 12 – Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 811210 – Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance, with a small business size standard of $34 million.

Description
The Materials and Structural Systems Division conducts research, analysis, and standards development related to a broad range of construction materials, including cement clinker, hydraulic cement, fly ash, blast furnace slag, aggregates, composites, clays, and other cementitious materials. To support these efforts, the Division requires a service and maintenance contract for a combustion carbon-sulfur analyzer. This instrument is used to perform qualitative and quantitative analyses to determine the carbon and sulfur composition of cementitious minerals, hydraulic cement, fly ash, slag, clays, and other construction materials.

The contractor shall provide comprehensive maintenance and support services for the analyzer, including Preventive maintenance; Corrective maintenance and repair; Telephone technical support; Remote desktop support for hardware, software, and applications; and On-site service during normal business hours, as required.

All services shall be performed by original equipment manufacturer (OEM)-authorized service engineers, and all replacement parts shall be OEM-authorized components.

Additional details regarding required services are outline in the attached Statement of Work.

Sole Source Determination
The sole source determination is based on the following:

Based on the results of market research conducted by NIST, LECO Corporation has been identified as the only known solution capable of meeting all of NIST’s minimum requirements.

Market research determined that no source other than LECO Corporation can provide the required maintenance and support services for the subject equipment. As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), LECO possesses exclusive access to the proprietary software, diagnostic tools, calibration utilities, and technical resources necessary to properly diagnose, troubleshoot, calibrate, and maintain the instruments. Furthermore, NIST was unable to identify any third-party vendors authorized by LECO Corporation to perform maintenance or repair services on this equipment.

As a result, obtaining maintenance services from a non-authorized third party would introduce significant operational and technical risks, including improper calibration, reduced equipment reliability, extended downtime, and potential degradation of data quality. Such risks could adversely impact NIST's ability to perform critical testing and analysis in support of its mission requirements.

Accordingly, LECO Corporation is the only known source capable of providing the required maintenance and support services, making a sole source acquisition appropriate.

Information for Interested Parties
Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Marvin Jean, Contract Specialist, at marvin.jean@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to marvin.jean@nist.gov so that they are received no later than July 02, 2026, at 10:00 AM, Eastern Time (ET).

Each response shall include the following Business Information:

1. Contractor Name, Address,
2. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address
3. Contractor (SAM) Universal Entity Identification (UEI)
4. Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, HUBZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must have an active registration in www.SAM.gov.
5. Capability Statement