Solicitation
Y1DA | 521-24-102 | Renovate Wards 2K and 2B for Optometry/Ophthalmology Clinical Use
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryOnly certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) can bid on this Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) job to renovate Wards 2K and 2B into an eye care (optometry and ophthalmology) clinic at the Birmingham VA Health Care System in Alabama. It is a firm-fixed-price construction contract (one set price) with 365 calendar days to finish, and the government's range for the work is $5,000,000.00 to $10,000,000.00. The response due date is November 12, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
This summary may miss requirements: 4 of 14 attachments weren't read (Attachment 7- IFB - Specifications Vol 1.pdf, Attachment 4 - Price Breakdown Worksheet.xlsx and 2 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Only certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) can bid on this Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) job to renovate Wards 2K and 2B into an eye care (optometry and ophthalmology) clinic at the Birmingham VA Health Care System in Alabama. It is a firm-fixed-price construction contract (one set price) with 365 calendar days to finish, and the government's range for the work is $5,000,000.00 to $10,000,000.00. The response due date is November 12, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid (6)
- Certified service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), listed in the Small Business Administration (SBA) certification database, at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more service-connected veterans, and eligible when offers are sent and at award
- Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with completed annual representations and certifications, and in the SBA certification system, with registrations current through the due date; comply with VETS-4212 (the federal contractor veterans employment report)
- An offer guarantee (a bid deposit or bond that backs your offer) sent by email with the proposal
Show all 6Show fewer
- Signed VAAR 852.219-75 limitations on subcontracting certification: for general construction, no more than 85% of the amount VA pays you (not counting materials) may go to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs
- Safety record: an insurance experience modification rate (EMR) above 1.0 may disqualify a firm, and four serious, one repeat, or one willful OSHA violation in 3 years disqualifies it
- At least one relevant past project completed or ongoing within the five years before the solicitation closing date
How to submit: Email only, one electronic proposal, to Cayley.blommers@va.gov and Joseph.osborn@va.gov; no physical documents accepted. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 19, 2026.
- Serious: SDVOSB-only: certification required. Only firms certified in the SBA database as SDVOSBs can bid; offers from firms that are not certified at the time of offer will not be considered.
- Serious: Offer guarantee required. A guarantee must come by email with the proposal, and it can sink the offer if it is late or sent by mail; the amount was not in the text read.
- Worth checking: Limit on work you can subcontract to non-SDVOSBs. For general construction, no more than 85% of VA's payments (not counting materials) can go to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs, so you must self-perform or use other certified SDVOSBs for the rest.
Show all 10Show fewer
- Worth checking: The site visit was Oct 26, 2026. Check the notice and its amendments for whether attendance was required, and whether another visit is offered.
- Worth checking: Work inside an operating hospital. Neighboring departments stay open, so you must contain dust, noise and utility outages; the infection control assessment rates the work at the highest precaution level (Level IV).
- Worth checking: Past performance in healthcare renovation. Submit one to three similar projects from the past five years; the Government looks for work in occupied clinical buildings with infection control, phasing and utility shutdowns.
- Worth checking: Safety record screens firms out. An EMR above 1.0 may disqualify an offeror, and certain OSHA violation counts disqualify automatically; collect your OSHA 300 logs for 2023 through 2025.
- Minor: Permit dates differ from the 365-day schedule. The pre-construction risk assessment permit shows a completion date of November 1, 2028, while the solicitation gives 365 calendar days from Notice to Proceed; ask the contracting officer which governs.
- Minor: Work hours limited to weekdays. Work runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding federal holidays unless the COR approves otherwise, which affects noisy work and utility outages.
- Minor: Conflicting vendor-registration form. The solicitation says firms new to VA must complete VA10091, but Attachment 6 says that form was eliminated and vendors use the Customer Engagement Portal.
Read from the notice and 10 attachments. 4 of 14 not read. Show which files.
- 36C24726R0134 0001.pdf (read)
- 36C24726R0134.pdf (read)
- Attachment 8- IFB - Specifications Vol 2.pdf (read)
- Attachment 0001 521-24-102 Eye Clinic Site Visit - Sign-In Sheet.pdf (read)
- Attachment 2 - VAAR 852.219-75.pdf (read)
- Attachment 6 - Invoicing.pdf (read)
- Attachment 10- VHA Eye Clinic PCRA 09.15.2026-Final_Signed CW.pdf (read)
- Attachment 1 - Experience Modification Rate Form.pdf (read)
- Attachment 3 - Past Performance Questionnaire -PPQ.docx (read)
- Attachment 11- VHA Eye Clinic ICRA-1.5_9.15.2026.pdf (read)
- Attachment 7- IFB - Specifications Vol 1.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment 4 - Price Breakdown Worksheet.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment 9- IFB - Drawings REV.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment 5- Wage Determination AL20260087 5-18-2026.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Renovate about 9,360 square feet of former Mental Health space on Ward 2K into a new eye clinic, and renovate about 5,000 square feet of the existing Ophthalmology Clinic on Ward 2B
- Selective demolition, structural changes, and full architectural renovation (framing, drywall, ceilings, flooring, doors, millwork, ADA-compliant finishes, signage)
- Heating and cooling work: a new air handling unit, variable air volume (VAV) boxes, ductwork, controls tied into the building automation system, and testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB)
- Plumbing, normal and emergency electrical power, lighting, fire alarm and sprinkler changes, and data, security and low-voltage systems
- Keep the occupied hospital running: dust containment, negative air (air pulled out so dust stays in the work zone), temporary barriers, HEPA filtration (high-efficiency air filters), and interim life safety measures
- Phase the work around neighboring departments, and give the contracting officer's representative (COR) at least 14 calendar days' notice of utility outages
- Testing and commissioning of all systems, owner training, operation and maintenance manuals, as-built drawings, and warranty papers at closeout
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (one set price) construction; a single award on one line item
- Period of performance
- 365 calendar days from Notice to Proceed (NTP, the written order to start work), including the submittal phase and completion of all punch list items
- Place of performance
- Birmingham VA Health Care System, Main Hospital (Building 1), 700 19th Street South, Birmingham, Alabama 35233
- Estimated value
- Government's magnitude of construction range: between $5,000,000.00 and $10,000,000.00
- Offers due
- November 12, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email only, one electronic proposal, to Cayley.blommers@va.gov and Joseph.osborn@va.gov; no physical documents accepted
What they'll judge offers on
- Relevant and Recent Past Performance (Factor 1): similar scope, magnitude and complexity, within the five years before the solicitation closing date
- Price proposal (Tab C), with an itemized cost breakdown on the Attachment 4 worksheet
What to include when you submit
- Email subject line must include the company name, solicitation number and project title; each email file can be no larger than 10 MB, and a proposal may be split across separate emails
- Tab A, General Information: cover page, table of contents, signed SF 1442 (the construction offer form) with acknowledgment of amendments, current SDVOSB certification, SAM unique entity ID (UEI), required offer guarantee, safety and environmental and experience modification rate (EMR) information, completed VAAR 852.219-75 certification, and VETS-4212 evidence if it applies
- Tab B, Relevant and Recent Past Performance: at least one and no more than three projects, each with title and location, customer, contract number, period of performance and status, dollar value, customer contact (name, title, phone, email), and whether you were prime, joint venture member or subcontractor
- Tab C, Price Proposal: fill in the unit price and total on the single price line, and attach a construction cost breakdown on Attachment 4 (Price Breakdown Worksheet)
- Return Attachment 1 (Experience Modification Rate Form) with OSHA 300 and 300A forms for 2023, 2024 and 2025
- Past performance questionnaires (Attachment 3): include the cover sheet with the proposal; your clients return the questionnaire directly to cayley.blommers@va.gov
- Offer guarantee goes by email only, to the address in block 8 of the SF 1442, before the due date and time; hand-delivered or mailed guarantees are not accepted
- Firms that have not done business with VA are told to complete VA10091 (Attachment 6 says that form was eliminated and points to the Customer Engagement Portal instead)
After award, you must have
- Fire sprinkler work: a copy of the installer's state fire sprinkler contractor license and the NICET Level III or IV technician certification (or a fire protection engineer's stamp) go in the shop drawing submittals From Attachment 8- IFB - Specifications Vol 2.pdf:
…a. Provide a copy of the installing contractors fire sprinkler…
Not in the notice text
- Parts of this solicitation were not read: the middle of the main solicitation (36C24726R0134.pdf, about 154,000 characters, including the rest of the evaluation and instructions) and most of Specifications Vol 2 were left out, and Attachment 7 (Specifications Vol 1), Attachment 9 (Drawings) and Attachment 4 (Price Breakdown Worksheet) were attached but not read. Check them on SAM.gov.
- Wage rule: the construction wage rate clause (FAR 52.222-5) and Wage Determination AL20260087 (dated May 18, 2026) are listed, but the wage determination is a scan that could not be read, so the wage rates are unknown.
- The offer guarantee amount, and whether performance and payment bonds are required
- How the award is decided (the evaluation method) and any factors beyond past performance and price
- Page limits for the proposal
- Whether attending the October 19, 2026 site visit is required; the text read does not call it mandatory
Eligibility and how to respond
- Only service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) certified through SBA's VetCert can bid as the prime contractor. Not certified through VetCert yet? Apply on VetCert (SBA), or start with the SDVOSB guide. More open service-disabled veteran-owned set-asides under NAICS 236220
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email only, one electronic proposal, to Cayley.blommers@va.gov and Joseph.osborn@va.gov; no physical documents accepted. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Construction contracts over $2,000 pay at least the local Davis-Bacon wage rates, from the wage determination in the solicitation. Price your labor from it: How to price a government contract, and how Davis-Bacon differs from the Service Contract Act.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 19, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- 247-Network Contract Office 7 (36C247), Augusta, GA
- Product/service code
- Y1DA · Construction of Hospitals and Infirmaries
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 236220)
- Versions
3 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 19, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 12, 2026
- Oct 15, 2026 · AmendmentDue Nov 12, 2026
- Oct 13, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 12, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
- Open SDVOSB set-aside contracts
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, SDVOSB (service-disabled veteran-owned small business), Set-aside
Full notice text from SAM.gov
10/19/2026- See attached solicitation amendment 0001 to provide Pre-Bid Site Visit Attendance Sheet (attachment 0001). 10/15/26- Update made to Point of Contact. 10/13/26- See attached solicitation and attachments 1-11 for details.
Similar open opportunities
- PN: 438-21-403, Renovate First Floor Kitchen (SF)Only service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) verified in the Small Business Administration (SBA) database can bid on this sealed-bid (invitation for bid)…
- 657-24-111JC Renovate Ambassador Suite & Main Lobby B1Only Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) certified in the Small Business Administration's VetCert database, or joint ventures of such firms, can bid.
- Renovate Suite H8, Building 3Combined synopsis/solicitation FA875126Q0013, a request for quotation (RFQ) set aside for small businesses only: the Department of the Air Force (AFRL RIKO contracting office)…
- Copy of FY27Q1-CON 668-24-106 Renovate CLC East Wing and CourtyardOnly service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) certified by the Small Business Administration (SBA) can bid on this Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) renovation…
- Renovate Building 516 at Fort Bliss, Texas