Large Capacity Nonhuman Primate Cage and Rack Washer

This is a Notice of Intent notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Division of Veterinary Resources (DVR) within the National Institute of Health (NIH), Office of Research Services (ORS) requires the procurement, delivery, installation, commissioning, and training associated with the replacement of the existing Tecniplast large-capacity nonhuman primate cage and rack washer supporting nonhuman primate housing operations at the NIH main campus, Bethesda, Maryland with minimal disruption to ongoing animal care activities.   

DVR requires replacement of an end-of-life cage and rack washer that supports nonhuman primate (NHP) housing operations. The existing unit, manufactured by the same company that manufactures the proposed replacement system, has been in continuous service for approximately twenty (20) years and has exceeded its expected service life. The unit is experiencing increasingly frequent failures, resulting in elevated maintenance costs, operational disruptions, and material risk to research continuity. The replacement system shall provide high-capacity, pass-through washing and sanitization for NHP cages, transport equipment, racks, feeders, enrichment devices, and ancillary husbandry equipment and shall support daily cage-wash operations. All products provided under this award must support compliance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, AAALAC International Accreditation standards and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) requirements.

This is a Notice of Intent; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate a sole source contract for the Tecniplast USA model Atlantis EVO XL with:

TECNIPLAST USA, INC.

1345 Enterprise Dr.

West Chester, PA 19380-5964

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): QHF3J4MS24H4

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302.1(b)(1)(i) “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will satisfy agency Requirements.”, no substitutions possible. Since the intent is to procure this on a sole source basis, no solicitation will be posted to Contract Opportunities, https://www.sam.gov.

REQUIREMENT: The contractor shall furnish all labor, materials, equipment, and transportation necessary to deliver, assemble, install, commission, and validate a complete and operational large-capacity cage and rack washer system at the designated DVR NHP facility location at the NIH main campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Minimum performance requirements include: 

Equipment: Commercial-grade, pass-through cage and rack washer with clean and dirty side barrier operation; stainless steel construction; dual interlocked tempered-glass pass-through doors with inflatable gasket system; capacity for large NHP cages, racks, transport carts, feeders, and ancillary equipment; steam-heated operation; dedicated wash and rinse circuits; separate alkaline and acid wash tanks; automated detergent dosing; tool-free self-cleaning filtration; multiple oscillating wash arm assemblies; chamber lighting; and emergency stop devices accessible from both sides. The system must exhaust through the facility's existing HVAC system and achieve a processing cycle time of approximately 20 minutes for large NHP rack loads. 

Controls and Monitoring: Touchscreen operator interface with multi-level password-protected controls; remote diagnostics capability; utility monitoring and consumption tracking; data logging and export functionality; Ethernet connectivity; self-start or scheduled operation functionality; and alarm monitoring and troubleshooting. 

Utilities: 480V/60Hz/3-phase electrical service; steam heating; domestic water supply; facility drainage connection; exhaust integration with the facility's existing HVAC system (no independent exhaust pathway or roof penetration); temperature-controlled wastewater discharge; and pH-controlled wastewater discharge. 

Installation and Commissioning: Coordination with DVR and ORF personnel; pre-installation site survey; equipment delivery, assembly, installation, and utility connection; startup and commissioning; operational testing documentation; Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) verifying installation, operational performance, utility and control functionality, alarm operation, wash cycle performance, and documentation delivery. Equipment shall not be considered accepted until all SAT deficiencies are corrected. 

Training: Onsite training for DVR personnel covering equipment operation, routine and preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, safety features, emergency procedures, and control system reporting. Training materials to be provided electronically. 

Warranty: Minimum two-year manufacturer warranty covering parts, labor, travel, and technical support from date of successful commissioning and acceptance, including remote technical support and onsite service when required. 

Required Deliverables: Equipment submittal package; shop drawings and utility requirements; Operations and Maintenance Manuals; Preventive Maintenance Schedule; Startup and Commissioning Report; Site Acceptance Test Report; Training Documentation; and Warranty Documentation. 

DVR’s SPECIFIC REQUIRMENTS: DVR has two mission-essential facility-driven requirements:

1. 1. HVAC-Integrated Exhaust Compatibility: The current NIH DVR nonhuman primate cage washroom was designed and constructed with the cage and rack washer exhausting through the building's existing HVAC system. This infrastructure configuration does not include a dedicated roof exhaust penetration or independent exhaust duct pathway for the cage wash equipment.
   2. Processing Cycle Time: The existing cage and rack washer operates at a processing cycle time of approximately 45 minutes per load. DVR has determined this to be operationally inefficient and inadequate to support current NHP husbandry throughput requirements without scheduling constraints and delays that adversely affect daily animal care operations. 

DVR has established a maximum processing cycle time of approximately 20 minutes as a minimum performance requirement for the replacement system. This cycle time is necessary to process the required daily volume of NHP cage wash loads within the operational

constraints of the cage washroom and DVR staffing schedules, and to restore the operational efficiency degraded by the current aging unit. 

Market Research (Market Research Report and Acquisition Plan, separately documented) for the replacement of the large capacity and wash rack for NHP, full and open competition, vendor neutral, performance based salient features, yielded multiple commercial manufacturers (Tecniplast USA, Getinge USA, STERIS Corporation (Amsco), Allentown Inc., Alternative Design Manufacturing and Supply and others) with established product lines of large-capacity, pass-through cage and rack washer systems designed for laboratory animal facility environments.  All identified vendors offer systems that generally meet the baseline performance characteristics common to this equipment category, including pass-through barrier design, stainless steel construction, steam heating, dual wash tanks, automated detergent dosing and touchscreen controls, remote diagnostics and 480V/3-phase electrical compatibility. However, the systems (Tecniplast USA, excepted) require a dedicated, independent exhaust pathway terminating at the building exterior, typically via a roof penetration.  Installing a dedicated roof exhaust for an alternative unit in the existing NIH facility would require significant structural modifications, including penetration of the roof assembly, addition of dedicated ductwork through finished building spaces, and associated mechanical and structural engineering work. These modifications would result in substantial additional cost to the Government, extended construction timelines that would delay replacement of the failing existing unit, and disruption to ongoing animal care operations during construction activity in or adjacent to the NHP housing area.

Market Research Results; Of the manufactures identified, no vendor other than Tecniplast USA was identified whose system meets both requirements in combination. Tecniplast USA’s Atlantis EVO XL model was confirmed to be designed and available for exhaust integration into a building’s existing HVAC system without a dedicated independent exhaust duct or roof penetration. In addition, only Tecniplast USA’s model Atlantis EVO XL was confirmed to achieve a processing cycle time of approximately twenty (20) minutes for large NHP rack loads. This action is limited to the replacement of the existing Tecniplast large-capacity nonhuman primate cage and rack washer for which Tecniplast USA is the only source capable of providing equipment model Atlantis EVO XL, that meets the mission critical facility-driven requirement without incurring unnecessary additional costs to the Government.

Only one award will be made as a result of this notice, and the award will be a Firm-Fixed price purchase order. This will be the only notice of the Government’s intent to solicit, negotiate, and award to one source to satisfy this requirement. The Government plans to award a purchase order for this requirement within five (5) days of closing this notice.

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS.  All responsible, qualified sources who can provide the equipment and service should submit a capability statement electronically to the Contracting Officer, Mr. Daniel Federline at daniel.federline@nih.gov and Acquisition Specialist, Yolanda White-Woolaston (Contractor Support) at yolanda.white-woolaston@nih.gov by 1:00 PM EST on September 21, 2026.  Facsimile responses are NOT accepted. Any responses received by NIH after this date and exact time specified are late and will not be considered. The determination to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer.  

DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES:

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

CONFIDENTIALITY:

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).