Solicitation
Project 695-24-107 Replace Boilers 4 and 5 Clement J. Zablocki, VA Medical Center 5000 West National Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53295
Department of Veterans Affairs · Sol. 36C25227B0001
Due in 38 daysSDVOSB
Track this notice by email. We'll email you if it's amended or awarded, and a week and two days before responses are due.
AI summary Beta
Some details weren't available to this summary, so it may miss requirements. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The VA's Great Lakes Acquisition Center is seeking sealed bids from certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses to replace boilers 4 and 5 in the boiler house (Building 112) at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI. The work is one lump-sum construction job, expected to cost $2 million to $5 million, to be finished within 455 calendar days after notice to proceed. Bids are due by email on November 18, 2026 and will be opened publicly on Microsoft Teams.
Watch out for
- Bid is thrown out for missing paperwork. A missing VAAR 852.219-75 certificate, bid guarantee, or proof of current SAM and DSBS registration makes the bid non-responsive, so there is no chance to fix it after bid opening.
Bidders that fail to do so will be rendered non-responsive outright and shall not be considered for award.
- Bid bond plus full payment and performance bonds. A small business needs surety credit for a 20% bid guarantee (up to $3 million) and then bonds equal to the full contract value, which can be hard to get on a $2-5 million job.
A bid guarantee is required in an amount not less than 20 percent of the bid price but shall not exceed $3,000,000.
- Strict limit on subcontracting. At least 15% of the money paid (not counting materials) must stay with your firm or other VA-listed SDVOSBs/VOSBs, and the VA can audit invoices and subcontracts to check.
contractor will not pay more than 85% of the amount paid by the government to it to firms that
- Short fuse on the site visit and questions. The posted site visit is October 14, 2026 and written questions are due October 22, 2026, so you need to move this week to see the boiler house and ask about scope.
An organized Site Visit scheduled: Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 1:30PM
- Work inside an active hospital. Crews share roads and grounds with patients and staff, must keep emergency boiler connections accessible, and may face off-hours deliveries, which adds cost and scheduling risk.
The contractor will be working in a very active and often-congested operating hospital.
- Brand-name boiler controls from one source. The VA says only Whesco Group can supply and integrate the controls (about $99,200), so you must price it from that supplier with no alternative.
Whesco is VA’s sole source boiler controls provider and
- Tight schedule with heavy front-end paperwork. All work, including a 90-day pre-construction submittal phase and a 90-day closeout, must fit inside 455 days, and many plans must be approved before any demolition starts.
FOUR hundred and FIFTY-FIVE days (455) calendar days after receipt of the notice to proceed.
- Must bid every item; only one award. You have to price both the base bid and the alternate, and the award can go to either one depending on available funding, so you can end up with the smaller scope.
BIDDERS MUST BID ON ALL BID ITEMS. ONLY ONE AWARD WILL BE MADE AS A RESULT OF THIS SOLICITATION.
- Safety record and EMR screen. Past OSHA/EPA violations or an EMR above 1.0 can hurt your responsibility determination, and the rules also apply to your subcontractors.
This requirement is applicable to all subcontracting tiers, and prospective prime contractors are responsible for determining the responsibility of their prospective subcontractors.
- Davis-Bacon wage rates apply. Construction wage rate requirements are included, so you must pay at least the attached wage determination and keep payroll records.
CONSTRUCTION WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS (DEVIATION)
- Late or missed email bid. Bids are accepted only by email and late bids are handled as late submissions; the VA warns that transmission problems are the bidder's responsibility.
BIDS DUE: Vendor bids are due via email as shown above at 11AM local time on November 18, 2026.
Read from the notice and 7 attachments. 1 not read in full.
- SOLICITATION-DESCRIPTION.docx
- S02 - ATT C - Specifications.pdf
- S02 - ATT D - JnA Boiler Controls.FE.pdf
- S02 - ATT E - VAAR 852.219-75_REQUIRED.pdf
- S02 - ATT A - Drawing Set Part-1.pdf
- S02 - ATT B- Drawing Set Part-2 (1).pdf
- S02 - ATT G - Wage Determination.pdf
- S02 - ATT F - MAP.pdf: scanned PDF: no text to read
Full brief
What they want
- Demolish and remove existing boilers 4 and 5 and install one new firetube boiler (new Boiler 5)
- Provide all labor, materials, equipment and supervision under the specifications and drawings (mechanical, electrical, controls, roof and wall openings)
- Install and integrate boiler controls from the VA's brand-name controls integrator (Whesco Group)
- Keep an operating hospital's boiler plant and emergency boiler connections accessible during construction
- Submit pre-construction plans (safety, infection control, logistics, schedule, waste and others) before starting work
- Provide a cost-loaded critical path method (CPM) construction schedule approved before work starts
- Test, commission and train VA staff on the new boiler
- Contract type
- Sealed bid (IFB) for a construction contract, with a lump-sum base bid and one alternate bid item
- Period of performance
- 455 calendar days after notice to proceed: about 90 days pre-construction, 275 days construction and 90 days closeout
- Place of performance
- Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, 5000 W. National Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53295 (Building 112 boiler house)
- Estimated value
- Expected project range is between $2,000,000 and $5,000,000
- How they'll choose
- Sealed bid: a single award to the responsible bidder with the lowest responsive bid, on the base bid if funding allows, otherwise on the alternate bid item (removal of only boiler 5)
- Offers due
- 11:00 AM local time (CST), November 18, 2026; public virtual bid opening at 1:00 PM local time the same day
- How to submit
- Email the bid to both Kristine.Sutton@va.gov and Ryan.McMillin@va.gov; no hard copy is required
What they'll judge offers on
- Lowest price among responsive bids (base bid, or the alternate if funding falls short)
- Responsiveness: a complete bid with the signed VAAR 852.219-75 certificate, bid guarantee and proof of current SAM and DSBS registration
- Responsibility, including safety and environmental record and experience modification rate (EMR)
What to include when you submit
- Bid on all items: a lump-sum price for the base bid (CLIN 0001) and a price for Alternate Bid Item 1
- Include the completed and signed VAAR 852.219-75 certificate (Attachment E), or the bid is non-responsive
- Include a bid guarantee on form SF 24 of at least 20 percent of the bid price (capped at $3,000,000)
- Include proof of current SAM and DSBS registrations as of bid time
- Joint ventures must include their joint venture agreement and printed proof of SBA DSBS and/or SDVOSB certification
- Include the safety and environmental certification, current EMR on insurance carrier letterhead and the Pre-Award Safety and Environmental Record Evaluation Form with OSHA 300 and 300A forms
- Fill in the contractor information page (company, UEI, tax ID, past performance point of contact) and acknowledge any amendments on the SF 1442
- Send questions in writing by 11:00 AM local time on October 22, 2026; phone inquiries are not accepted
- Check SAM.gov for amendments; the VA suggests sending the bid by close of business the day before the due date
You must have
- Must be a CVE-verified / SBA-certified service-disabled veteran-owned small business; this is a 100% SDVOSB set-aside
This procurement is a 100% set-aside for CVE verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Firms (SDVOSB)
- Must be listed as SDVOSB certified in the SBA's Small Business Search database
To be eligible for award, a vendor must be listed as SDVOSB certified in the SBA’s Small Business Search
- Must be small under NAICS 238220 (size standard $19.0 million)
size standard $19.0 Million applies.
- Proof of current SAM and DSBS registrations must be submitted with the bid
The contractor must submit proof of current (as of time of bid) SAM and DSBS registries with their bid
- Must certify compliance with the limitation on subcontracting for general construction: no more than 85% of the amount paid by the government may go to firms that are not VA-listed SDVOSBs or VOSBs (materials excluded)
contractor will not pay more than 85% of the amount paid by the government to it to firms that
- Bid guarantee of at least 20 percent of the bid price (maximum $3,000,000) on form SF 24
A bid guarantee is required in an amount not less than 20 percent of the bid price but shall not exceed $3,000,000.
- The winner must furnish payment and performance bonds, each equal to the contract value
will be required to furnish a Payment Bond, on form SF25A, and a Performance Bond, on form SF25.
- Safety and environmental record: certify no more than three serious, or one repeat or one willful OSHA violation, or any EPA violation, in the past three years, or explain why not
no more than three (3) serious, or one (1) repeat or one (1) willful OSHA or any EPA violation(s) in the past three years
- Experience modification rate (EMR) from the insurance carrier; an EMR above 1.0 needs a written explanation from the carrier
If a Bidder/Offeror’s EMR is above 1.0, Bidder/Offeror must submit a written explanation of the EMR from its insurance carrier
- Named key staff: a project manager with at least ten years of experience, a dedicated superintendent (OSHA 30 certified), a quality control manager and a safety professional
The PM shall have a minimum of ten years of construction project
- Contractor personnel must get annual flu shots or an approved exemption (VHA Directive 1192.01)
requires all contractor personnel to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccinations or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons
Not in the notice text
- The middle of the solicitation document (about 68,000 characters of provisions and clauses, possibly including liquidated damages and other special requirements) was not provided
- Only the start and end of the 999,000-character specifications and parts of the two drawing sets were provided, so detailed technical requirements, submittal rules and site constraints are unseen
- The map (Attachment F) is a scanned PDF with no readable text, and the wage determination (Attachment G) came through unreadable, so the required wage rates are unknown
- Whether the site visit on October 14, 2026 is required is not clear; the text says offerors may inspect the site
- Liquidated damages amount, bond penal sums beyond the 20% bid guarantee, and the offer acceptance period are not visible
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Key facts
- Response due
- Nov 18, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Solicitation
- 36C25227B0001
- Agency
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Office
- 252-Network Contract Office 12 (36C252)
- Set-aside
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside (FAR 19.14)
- NAICS
- 238220
- Product/service code
- Z1DA
- Business type
- Construction & renovation
- Contracting contact
- Kristine SuttonKristine.Sutton@va.gov414-844-4876
- Versions
- 3 (amended since first posted)
What similar contracts paid
260 contracts at this agency for the same NAICS and product/service codes had activity in the last 5 years, according to USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 92% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$831KMiddle half: $126K to $4.2M
Typical per year$1.5MValue divided by years of performance
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Replace Boilers 4 and 5 CON
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