Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
USDA Forest Service - Hebgen Lake District Office Network Cabling and IT Room Improvements
Department of Agriculture · Forest Service
More open Forest Service contracts
AI summaryThe USDA Forest Service (solicitation 1240LU26Q0132) wants a small business to upgrade the network cabling and IT room at the Hebgen Lake Ranger District office in West Yellowstone, Montana. The work includes a wall cabinet, battery backup power, grounding and 51 new Category 6 (Cat 6) network cabling with testing. The response due date is November 12, 2026, 5:00 PM Mountain, after an amendment extended it; the project size is listed as less than $25,000. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
This summary may miss requirements: 4 of 8 attachments weren't read (C04_Attachment 1. Schedule of Items_1240LU26Q0132.xlsx, C04_Attachment 3. Floor Plan with Ports Labeled_1240LU26Q0132.pdf and 2 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The USDA Forest Service (solicitation 1240LU26Q0132) wants a small business to upgrade the network cabling and IT room at the Hebgen Lake Ranger District office in West Yellowstone, Montana. The work includes a wall cabinet, battery backup power, grounding and 51 new Category 6 (Cat 6) network cabling with testing. The response due date is November 12, 2026, 5:00 PM Mountain, after an amendment extended it; the project size is listed as less than $25,000.
Who can bid (8)
- Small business concern: the acquisition is a total small business set-aside
- License in the state where the work is performed (Montana); the guide also names a licensed electrician or certified cabling technician for the electrical work
- At least 5 years of experience installing structured cabling, pathways, grounding and bonding, and firestopping
Show all 8Show fewer
- Authorized installer of the approved end-to-end solution, with proof of manufacturer authorization provided at the time of the proposal
- Trained and certified personnel for fiber optic and copper cable work, including use of a Level 3 cable tester
- Active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM)
- Bid guarantee and performance and payment bonds: the clauses are marked in the solicitation (whether they apply to this order is not clear)
- Insurance for work on a Government installation
How to submit: Email to Wes Dudley, Contracting Officer, at wesley.dudley@usda.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
From the version posted Oct 22, 2026.
- Serious: Bid guarantee and bond clauses are marked. The clauses list a bid guarantee (a deposit or bond promising you will sign the contract if chosen) and performance and payment bonds, which can stop a small firm; the form's boxes couldn't be read, so ask the contracting officer whether they apply to a project under $25,000.
- Serious: State license and manufacturer authorization needed. You must be licensed in the state where the work is performed and be an authorized installer of the approved end-to-end solution, with proof sent with your quote; the documents don't say which solution that is.
- Worth checking: Construction wage rates apply. The Davis-Bacon rules (minimum pay set by a government wage determination for construction) apply, so wages in your price must meet the attached Wage Determination, which was attached but not read.
Show all 8Show fewer
- Worth checking: Five project write-ups needed. The quote must include a narrative of at least 5 projects from the last 5 years with contract values and customer contacts, which is hard for a new business.
- Worth checking: Every base and option item must be priced. Leaving out a price on any line can get the quote excluded, and the Schedule of Items with the line list was attached but not read.
- Worth checking: Limits on subcontracting. The clause on limitations on subcontracting is marked, which caps how much of the work a small business prime may hand to firms that are not small; the percentage isn't given in the text read.
- Minor: Response due date moved to November 12, 2026. Amendment 0001 extends the response due date to November 12, 2026, 5:00 PM Mountain from October 22, 2026, 5:00 PM Mountain in the solicitation, and moves the performance period to match.
- Minor: Tight work space. Most cable runs go through a crawl space to a basement IT room, which affects labor time and price.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. 4 of 8 not read. Show which files.
- 1240LU26Q0132 0001.pdf (read)
- 1240LU26Q0132.pdf (read)
- C04_Attachment 2. Statement of Work_1240LU26Q0132.pdf (read)
- C04_Attachment 4. ADI GUIDELINES_1240LU26Q0132.pdf (read)
- C04_Attachment 1. Schedule of Items_1240LU26Q0132.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- C04_Attachment 3. Floor Plan with Ports Labeled_1240LU26Q0132.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- C04_Attachment 5. Existing IT Room Equipment Picture_1240LU26Q0132.jpg: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- C04_Attachment 6. Wage Determination_1240LU26Q0132.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Install a fire-rated 4 ft by 8 ft plywood backboard and one wall-mounted IT cabinet (choice of three sizes) with cable management, shelves and power strips
- Install a copper telecommunications ground bus bar and bond the cabinet to the building ground
- Add a dedicated 120-volt, 20-amp circuit if none exists, plus an uninterruptible power supply (UPS: battery backup) and an 8-outlet power distribution unit (PDU: rack power strip)
- Install 51 new Cat 6 cabling runs to workstations and wireless access points, all home-run (one unbroken cable from each outlet) to the new cabinet, with pathways, patch panels, termination and labeling
- Test and certify all Cat 6 cabling to Level III, replace and re-test any cable that fails, and deliver electronic test reports
- Remove and dispose of old cabling that is no longer needed
- Work in a basement IT room; about two-thirds of the cable runs are in a crawl space
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP): one set price, whatever the work ends up costing. Commercial construction, one award planned.
- Period of performance
- November 12, 2026 to January 15, 2027, per Amendment 0001 (the original solicitation said November 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026). The continuation sheet also says 'Delivery: 7 Days After Award'.
- Place of performance
- Hebgen Lake Ranger District office, West Yellowstone, MT 59758 (project location given as 331 U.S. 191 (Gallatin Road); the statement of work gives 330 Gallatin Road)
- Estimated value
- Project magnitude: less than $25,000
- How they'll choose
- Best value to the Government under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.203; formal tradeoff procedures will not be conducted, and a quote with added value may be considered even if it is not the lowest priced.
- Offers due
- November 12, 2026, 5:00 PM Mountain
- How to submit
- Email to Wes Dudley, Contracting Officer, at wesley.dudley@usda.gov
What they'll judge offers on
- Price: total price for the base items and all option items, with any discounts; checked to see if it is fair and reasonable
- Experience: how close the vendor's work is in scope, size and complexity, rated Very Relevant, Relevant, Somewhat Relevant or Not Relevant, then given a High, Some or Low confidence rating
- Past Performance: recency, relevancy and quality (timeliness, technical quality, cost control, business relations, customer satisfaction) of five contracts; a firm with no relevant history gets a Neutral rating
What to include when you submit
- Send the completed Schedule of Items (Attachment 1) with prices for every item, base and option, since pricing for all items is needed to be considered responsive
- Send a document showing recent, relevant experience and past performance: a short narrative of at least 5 projects completed in the last 5 years, as prime or subcontractor
- For each project give the project name or title, location, your role (prime or subcontractor), whether subcontractors were used or the work was self-performed, dates of performance, description of the work, contract value, customer name, and a contact name, phone and email
- If no relevant contracts exist, use the five most recent contracts completed in the last five years; if you have no relevant past performance, say so
- Acknowledge amendments as Block 11 of the Standard Form 30 (SF 30, the amendment form) describes
- Hold your prices firm for 60 calendar days from the date offers are due
- Include proof of manufacturer authorization as an installer of the approved end-to-end solution at the time of the proposal
- Include any quantity or prompt-payment discounts in the price section
Not in the notice text
- The Schedule of Items (Attachment 1, a spreadsheet with line items, quantities, units and option items) and the Wage Determination (Attachment 6) are attached but not read; the floor plan (Attachment 3) and equipment photo (Attachment 5) have no readable text.
- Whether there is a site visit is not stated, and the notice does not say if a separate Davis-Bacon wage determination applies beyond the attached one.
- Whether a bid guarantee or bonds are required is unclear; the form's yes/no boxes couldn't be read, so check the form on SAM.gov.
- How the 'Delivery: 7 Days After Award' line fits with the performance period of November 12, 2026 to January 15, 2027, and with the Standard Form 1442 figures for starting and finishing work, is not clear.
- The solicitation sets a question deadline of October 15, 2026, 12:00 PM Mountain Time; the amendment says the Government is seeking clarifications to questions received but does not say whether new questions are accepted.
- Which 'approved end-to-end solution' the installer must be authorized for is not named.
- Cable lengths must be estimated from the floor plan, which was not read; the unit for the 51 cabling runs is not stated in the statement of work.
Eligibility and how to respond
- Set aside for small businesses: only a business that counts as small under this notice's NAICS code can bid as the prime contractor. More open small business set-asides under NAICS 238210
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Wes Dudley, Contracting Officer, at wesley.dudley@usda.gov. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
- 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 22, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- USDA-FS, CSA Intermountain 9, Ogden, UT
- Product/service code
- N061 · Installation of Equipment – Electric Wire and Power Distribution Equipment
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 238210)
- Versions
3 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2026 · Amendment 0002 (this version)Due Nov 12, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 20, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 12, 2027 (changed)
- Sep 24, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/SolicitationDue Oct 22, 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
- Set-aside contracts explained
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, Set-aside
Full notice text from SAM.gov
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Part 12. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Quotations are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation number 1240LU26Q0132 is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for network cabling and IT Room Improvements. This acquisition is set-aside for small business concerns. The applicable North American Industry Classification Standard Code is 238210. The small business size standard is $19.0M. This acquisition is a Total Small Business Set-Aside. All responsible sources may submit a quotation which will be considered by the agency.
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