Presolicitation
Draft Solicitation - Aberdeen Test Center Welding, Machining, Painting, and Fabrication Services
Department of Defense · Department of the Army
AI summaryThe Department of the Army (W6QK ACC-APG) posted a request for information (RFI) and draft solicitation for welding, machining, painting and fabrication support. The work is on site at Aberdeen Test Center (ATC), Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland. RFI responses (capability statements, comments and questions) are due by the response due date, October 28, 2026 (an amendment moved it to Nov 2, 2026, 11:00 AM EST), 2:00 PM Eastern. The draft requires a Secret facility clearance and cleared staff at proposal submission. More in the summary
This opportunity has closed (responses were due Nov 2, 2026)
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AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 15, 2026. The notice was amended Nov 2, 2026. The due date moved from Oct 28, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 1 of 7 attachments weren't read (B08 - Solicitation Attachment D - Level of Effort (LOE) Spreadsheet.xlsx). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Department of the Army (W6QK ACC-APG) posted a request for information (RFI) and draft solicitation for welding, machining, painting and fabrication support. The work is on site at Aberdeen Test Center (ATC), Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland. RFI responses (capability statements, comments and questions) are due by the response due date, October 28, 2026 (passed), 2:00 PM Eastern. The draft requires a Secret facility clearance and cleared staff at proposal submission.
Who can bid (4)
- Small business: SAM.gov lists a total small business set-aside, and the draft requires registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) as a small business under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 333992 (size standard 1,250 part- and full-time employees).
- A Secret Facility Clearance at the time of proposal submission, kept for the life of the contract.
- Staff with an active SECRET personnel clearance in the Defense Information System for Security (DISS) at the time of proposal submission, kept for the life of the contract.
Show all 4Show fewer
- Key personnel who meet the minimum qualifications, including one position certified by AWS as a Certified Welding Inspector with 5 years of nondestructive testing experience, and AWS-certified welders.
How to submit: Email to Mr. Noah Lane at noah.r.lane.civ@army.mil; questions and comments must be in writing, no telephone calls, due October 28, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
- Serious: Secret facility clearance needed at proposal submission. Your company must already hold a Secret Facility Clearance when it submits a proposal, which many small shops do not have. Without it a bid is not possible.
- Serious: Cleared staff and Special Access Program work. Personnel need active SECRET clearances at submission. At least 4 people must support Special Access Programs (SAPs), up to 8 on 30 days' notice, with random polygraph exams.
- Worth checking: Draft only, requirements may change. This is an RFI with a draft solicitation. No contract can be awarded from it, and the final terms and proposal due date are not set.
Show all 8Show fewer
- Worth checking: Demanding key personnel and certifications. Key positions need long experience, such as a program manager with a bachelor's degree and 15 years, and welders must hold American Welding Society (AWS) certifications. One position must be a Certified Welding Inspector.
- Worth checking: 50% limit on subcontracting. Under the small business set-aside, you may not pay more than 50 percent of what the Government pays you to subcontractors that are not similarly situated small businesses. This limits teaming.
- Worth checking: Fixed hours and no wage escalation in pricing. Time-and-materials (T&M) rates must be fully loaded and fixed for the government's hours. You may not add escalation to non-exempt wage-rate labor; wage changes follow Department of Labor wage determinations or collective bargaining agreements instead.
- Minor: Ordering period stated two ways. The schedule says the ordering period is 57 months, but the dates run from January 21, 2027 to December 8, 2031, which is longer. Ask the contracting officer which applies.
- Minor: Extra work on short notice. The contractor may be told to work outside normal hours with as little as one hour's notice, and extra shifts or a changed schedule are possible.
Read from the notice and 6 attachments. 1 of 7 not read. Show which files.
- Solicitation - W91CRB27RA002.pdf (read)
- Perfromnce Work Statement_October 2026 Rev2.pdf (read)
- CDRL INFO.pdf (read)
- Labor Categories and Qualifications.pdf (read)
- 3. GFP Listing April2026.pdf (read)
- 2. QASP - June 2026 Rev1.pdf (read)
- B08 - Solicitation Attachment D - Level of Effort (LOE) Spreadsheet.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Run the Aberdeen Test Center welding, fabrication, machining and paint shops with a skilled on-site crew of 13 job types; the workload data lists 80,640 annual regular hours.
- Supply welders certified to American Welding Society (AWS) codes, CNC and manual machinists, a gunsmith machinist, sheet metal and cutting table technicians, material handlers, laborers and painters.
- Provide key personnel: a program manager, welder working leaders and a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programmer working leader, plus an alternate program manager.
- Phase in over 45 calendar days after award, perform under task orders, then phase out over the last 45 days of the contract.
- Staff Special Access Program work with at least 4 people, and up to 8 on 30 days' notice.
- Hand in a quality control plan (QCP) within 10 days after award, plus the other data deliverables, training records and reports listed in the contract data requirements.
- Track and care for Government-furnished property and follow Aberdeen Proving Ground security, safety and access rules.
- Work the Government's alternative schedule (9-hour days, with every other Friday off), with possible extra shifts and extra work on as little as one hour's notice.
- Contract type
- Hybrid indefinite-quantity contract: time-and-materials (T&M, paid fixed hourly rates for hours worked) lines plus firm-fixed-price (FFP, one set price) lines, ordered through task orders
- Period of performance
- Phase-in December 9, 2026 to January 20, 2027; ordering and main performance January 21, 2027 to December 8, 2031; phase-out December 9, 2031 to January 21, 2032
- Place of performance
- 6350 Gillon Street, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, and associated APG testing ranges
- Estimated value
- No total estimate is given. The draft gives a Government-provided placeholder of $5,000,000.00 ($5 Million) for the fixed-price lines over the 5-year period; bidders price the time-and-materials hours. The order limit is $40,000,000.00.
- How they'll choose
- Lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA): the Technical and Past Performance factors must each be rated Acceptable, and the lowest total evaluated price among acceptable offers wins.
- Offers due
- October 28, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 15, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email to Mr. Noah Lane at noah.r.lane.civ@army.mil; questions and comments must be in writing, no telephone calls
- Page limits
- Draft price volume (Volume III) and draft forms and certifications volume (Volume IV): no page limit
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical (rated Acceptable or Unacceptable): general management plan, experience, draft quality control plan, key personnel qualifications, and understanding of the performance work statement (PWS)
- Past Performance (rated Acceptable or Unacceptable): recent work from the last five years that is the same as or similar in size and complexity to welding, machining, CARC (chemical agent resistant coating) painting and fabrication; marginal ratings in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) may count as Unacceptable; no record is treated as Acceptable
- Price: total evaluated price is the time-and-materials labor prices (loaded regular and overtime rates times the PWS hours, plus materials with the general and administrative (G&A) rate) plus the Government's $5,000,000.00 fixed-price placeholder; unbalanced pricing can be rejected
What to include when you submit
- For this RFI, send responses and any comments or questions in writing to Mr. Noah Lane.
- Draft price volume: complete the B08 Level of Effort (LOE) spreadsheet with fully loaded fixed hourly regular and overtime rates for the 80,640 regular hours and 2,419 overtime hours, with a narrative supporting the rates.
- Send two copies of the completed LOE spreadsheet, one locked (read-only) and one open, with worksheet formulas readable.
- Enter the Government-provided fixed-price placeholder of $5,000,000.00 exactly as the pricing template shows.
- Do not add escalation to non-exempt wage-rate labor covered by wage determinations or collective bargaining agreements; escalation is allowed only for exempt labor.
- Draft past performance: for each contract listed, complete Part I of the Past Performance Questionnaire (Solicitation Attachment 2) and email it to the Government contracting office and technical representative, who return Part II to the Contracting Officer by the proposal due date.
- List every contact who was sent a questionnaire, with solicitation number, company name, contract number, agency, contact name, title, phone, email and date emailed.
- Include the most recent and relevant efforts, performed within the past five years.
- Draft forms volume: signed Standard Form 33 (SF 33, the solicitation, offer and award form), Section K representations and certifications, and the listed Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) representations, sent as a signed PDF using the provided file without changes.
- Keep price data only in the price volume, not in any other volume.
After award, you must have
- Provide at least 4 personnel for Special Access Programs, and up to 8 on 30 days' notice; those staff face random counter-intelligence polygraph examinations. From Perfromnce Work Statement_October 2026 Rev2.pdf:
Contractor shall provide a minimum of four (4) personnel…
- Limitations on subcontracting: pay no more than 50 percent of the amount the Government pays you to subcontractors that are not small businesses. From Solicitation - W91CRB27RA002.pdf:
…it will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by…
Not in the notice text
- Parts of the draft solicitation were not read: most of its proposal instructions (Section L, including the technical volume and its page limits) and the middle of the performance work statement. Check the full draft on SAM.gov.
- The Level of Effort spreadsheet (B08 - Solicitation Attachment D - Level of Effort (LOE) Spreadsheet.xlsx) is attached but not read.
- The wage determination numbers are said to be a separate solicitation attachment that was not among the files read.
- The notice does not say what format an RFI capability statement should take.
- When the final solicitation will be issued and when proposals will be due are not stated.
Notice details
- Posted
- Nov 2, 2026
- Notice type
- Presolicitation
- Office
- W6QK ACC-Apg, Aberdeen Proving Grou, MD
- Product/service code
- K034 · Modification of Equipment – Metalworking Machinery
- Business type
- Manufactured parts & equipment (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 333992)
- Versions
9 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Nov 2, 2026 · Amendment 0008 (this version)Due Nov 2, 2026
- Nov 2, 2026 · Amendment 0007Due Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 30, 2026 · Amendment 0006Due Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 30, 2026 · Amendment 0005Due Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 30, 2026 · Amendment 0004Due Nov 2, 2026
- Oct 29, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Nov 2, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 29, 2026 · Amendment 0002Date Oct 28, 2026
- Oct 27, 2026 · Amendment 0001Date Oct 28, 2026
- Oct 15, 2026 · PresolicitationDate Oct 28, 2026
- Related notices
Other notices that name this solicitation, or that this one names.
- Solicitation - Aberdeen Test Center Welding, Machining, Painting, and Fabrication Services · W91CRB-27-R-A005Posted later Nov 4, 2026 · Due Nov 16, 2026
- Attachments
Full notice text from SAM.gov
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY, which is being issued in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR Part 10 as part of market research. This is not a solicitation/request for proposal and no contract shall be awarded from this synopsis. The draft solicitation package is available in the attachemnets below. All interested parties should send responses and any comments/questions to Mr. Noah Lane, email: noah.r.lane.civ@army.mil. All responses must be received no later than 11:00 A.M. EST on 2 November 2026. All questions and comments must be in writing; no telephone calls will be accepted. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this request, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any costs incurred in developing the information provided to the Government. Capability Statements and other information received in response to this RFI will likely be used to make an small business set aside award. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Updated 29 October 2026: Solicitation updated to W91CRB-27-R-A005. Notice ID remains W91CRB-27-R-A005 but final solicitation will be updated to W91CRB-27-R-A005. Draft solicitaion extended to 2 November 2026 Q&A posted Updated 30 October 2026: Addition to Section L: Property management plan Clauses added: 52.245-1 ALT 1 52.245- 2 52.245-9 252.245-7003 252.245-7005 52.208-9 52.208-90 Updated 2 November 2026: Performance Work Statement updated to include streamlined Government Furnished Propoerty (GFP) and Contractor Acquired Property (CAP) requirements.