Sources Sought
Update and Replace Remaining ATS's
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryThe Department of Veterans Affairs (Network Contract Office 12) issued sources sought notice 36C25227AP0191 to find businesses able to replace 11 automatic transfer switches at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, IL. It is market research only, with no solicitation. The VA expects a 100% Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-aside. Responses are due November 9, 2026, 3:00 PM Central. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of Veterans Affairs who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
The Department of Veterans Affairs (Network Contract Office 12) issued sources sought notice 36C25227AP0191 to find businesses able to replace 11 automatic transfer switches at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, IL. It is market research only, with no solicitation. The VA expects a 100% Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-aside. Responses are due November 9, 2026, 3:00 PM Central.
Who can bid
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) status: the VA anticipates a 100% SDVOSB set-aside, and SAM.gov lists the notice as an SDVOSB set-aside
How to submit: Email to melanie.dewing@va.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch
From the version posted Oct 26, 2026.
- Serious: Likely SDVOSB set-aside. Only service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses are expected to be able to bid on the later solicitation, so other firms are likely shut out.
- Worth checking: Sources sought only, no solicitation yet. This notice only gathers interest; there is nothing to bid on and no pricing or feedback is given to respondents.
- Minor: Electrical work inside a hospital campus. Replacing switches that power hospital buildings, plus building additions to generator buildings, suggests construction work that needs careful scheduling and code compliance.
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. Show which files.
- Sources Sought Synopsis.docx (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Replace 11 automatic transfer switches (ATSs, switches that move a building to backup power) serving hospital and support buildings
- Each ATS must include an integral bypass feature required by the VA electrical design manual
- Add square footage to generator buildings to house the ATSs and bring them to applicable code
- Comply with the Buy American Statute, which limits purchase of supplies that are not domestic end products
- Place of performance
- North Chicago, IL, USA (Captain James A. Lovell FHCC, North Chicago, IL 60064)
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Offers due
- November 9, 2026, 3:00 PM Central
- How to submit
- Email to melanie.dewing@va.gov
What to include when you submit
- Send organization name, address, email, website, telephone number, and size and type of ownership
- Include documentation supporting claims of organization and staff capability
- If you are not registered under NAICS 238210, say which NAICS code you recommend based on the work
- If subcontracting or teaming is needed for technical capability, describe the administrative and management structure of those arrangements
- Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged
Not in the notice text
- Contract type, project length, estimated dollar value and schedule are not stated
- Site visit and Davis-Bacon wage rule (federal pay rates for construction workers) are not mentioned; this is NAICS 238210 work
- Bonding and any specific licenses are not stated
- Evaluation approach for the later solicitation is not stated
Eligibility and how to respond
- If it goes ahead as planned: 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 238210
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
- 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 26, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- 252-Network Contract Office 12 (36C252), Milwaukee, WI
- Product/service code
- Y1DZ · Construction of Other Hospital Buildings
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 238210)
- 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 answer a sources sought notice
- Open SDVOSB set-aside contracts
- SDVOSB and veteran-owned contracts
- Limitations on subcontracting
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice, SDVOSB (service-disabled veteran-owned small business), Set-aside