Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
FY26 NRM 460-20-004 | Tuckpointing FY26 | NCO 4 Construction East (VA-26-00060656)
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryOnly service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) certified in the Small Business Administration's Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) can bid. The VA's Network Contract Office 4 wants tuckpointing (repair of mortar joints), masonry repair and caulking on the outside of buildings at the Wilmington VA Medical Center in Delaware. It is one firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) award to the lowest price, with a magnitude of $2,000,000 to $5,000,000. Work is to be finished 270 days after notice to proceed (NTP: the VA's written go-ahead to start). The response due date is October 29, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern (an amendment moved it to Nov 5, 2026, 10:00 AM EST), by email with a public bid opening on MS Teams. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 27, 2026. It moves the due date from Oct 29, 2026 to Nov 5, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 14, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 27, 2026. The due date moved from Oct 29, 2026 to Nov 5, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 10 attachments weren't read (Sign In Sheet Tuckpointing 9.23.26.pdf, VA Wilmington Contract Doc Submittal - 2024 05 10 - Drawing Set.pdf). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Only service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) certified in the Small Business Administration's Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) can bid. The VA's Network Contract Office 4 wants tuckpointing (repair of mortar joints), masonry repair and caulking on the outside of buildings at the Wilmington VA Medical Center in Delaware. It is one firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) award to the lowest price, with a magnitude of $2,000,000 to $5,000,000. Work is to be finished 270 days after notice to proceed (NTP: the VA's written go-ahead to start). The response due date is October 29, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern, by email with a public bid opening on MS Teams.
Who can bid (6)
- Service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that is verified in the Small Business Administration's Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) and registered in SAM.gov; only these businesses can bid.
- Active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) to be eligible for award.
- Registration in the VETS-4212 database (the annual federal contractor veterans' employment report).
Show all 6Show fewer
- A certification of no more than three serious, or one repeat, or one willful OSHA or EPA violation in the past three years.
- An experience modification rate (EMR, an insurance rating of a firm's past workers' compensation claims) of 1.0 or less, documented on the insurance carrier's letterhead.
- A signed copy of VAAR 852.219-75, the VA's limitations on subcontracting certificate, returned with the bid.
How to submit: Email to the contract specialist, Vanessa Chmielewski, vanessa.chmielewski@va.gov (Amendment 0004); bids are opened publicly on MS Teams, due October 29, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (11)
- Serious: Service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses only. The job is a 100 percent set-aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses verified in VetCert, so other firms cannot bid.
- Serious: Signed limitations-on-subcontracting certificate required. A bid without the signed VAAR 852.219-75 copy will not be considered for award; the clause text was not in the part of the file that was read.
- Serious: Safety record and EMR limits. Bidders must certify a clean recent OSHA and EPA record and an EMR of 1.0 or less, and a negative responsibility finding can make the low bidder ineligible.
Show all 11Show fewer
- Worth checking: Four deduct prices required with the bid. Amendment 0003 removed two items from the statement of work but the amended document still asks for four deduct prices; leaving them out may get the bid rejected.
- Worth checking: Bid bond requirement is unclear. The bid opening instructions mention bid bonds, but the bond boxes on the SF 1442 could not be read; check the form on SAM.gov for any bid guarantee and performance and payment bonds.
- Worth checking: Email address is spelled two ways in Amendment 0004. The amendment gives vanessa.chmielewski@va.gov in one place and vanessa.chmielewsi@va.gov in another; confirm the right address with the contract specialist before sending.
- Worth checking: Davis-Bacon wage rates apply. The solicitation includes Davis-Bacon general decision DE20260008 for New Castle County, Delaware, which sets minimum pay and fringe benefits for construction trades, and bidders must price to it.
- Worth checking: OSHA safety training documents before work starts. Every employee needs the 10-hour course and the competent person the 30-hour course, with no exceptions, or the individual is removed from the job.
- Minor: Work hours differ between two sections. One section allows work Monday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while another sets 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday; ask which governs.
- Minor: Response due date extended to October 29, 2026. Amendment 0004 sets the response due date at October 29, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern (was October 15, 2026, 1:00 PM, in the solicitation).
- Minor: The site visit was Sep 23, 2026. Check the notice and its amendments for whether attendance was required, and whether another visit is offered.
Read from the notice and 8 attachments. 2 of 10 not read. Show which files.
- 36C24426B0018 0004.docx (read)
- 36C24426B0018 0003.pdf (read)
- 36C24426B0018 0002.pdf (read)
- 36C24426B0018 0001_1.docx (read)
- S0236C24426B0018.pdf (read)
- 36C24426B0018_2.docx (read)
- Amended 460-20-004 SOW Tuckpointing.pdf (read)
- VA Wilmington Contract Doc Submittal - 2024 05 10 - Specifications.pdf (read)
- Sign In Sheet Tuckpointing 9.23.26.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- VA Wilmington Contract Doc Submittal - 2024 05 10 - Drawing Set.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Repair, replace and rework deteriorated exterior masonry and caulking systems on the buildings across the Wilmington VA Medical Center campus (project 460-20-004).
- Provide all labor, materials and equipment, following the drawings and specifications.
- Amendment 0003 removed two items from the statement of work: the demolition and the site work items are no longer listed.
- Keep the medical center running: plan the phasing of work with hospital staff, and follow infection control and dust prevention rules.
- Get all permits, and give the VA a submittal tracking spreadsheet before mobilization.
- Send a daily log, a daily production report, and dated photos before, during and after work (a binder plus an electronic copy at closeout).
- Use a quality control person who has no other role on the job and sends weekly inspection summaries to the contracting officer's representative (COR, the VA's on-site contact).
- Supply your own bathroom and hand washing station, restore disturbed landscaping, and warrant that work for one year.
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price, lump sum; only one award
- Period of performance
- Construction completion by 270 days after notice to proceed
- Place of performance
- Wilmington VA Medical Center, 1601 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington, DE 19805
- Estimated value
- Between $2,000,000 and $5,000,000 (the notice's magnitude of construction)
- How they'll choose
- Lowest price: award to the responsive, responsible bidder with the lowest price; one award
- Offers due
- October 29, 2026, 11:00 AM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 14, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email to the contract specialist, Vanessa Chmielewski, vanessa.chmielewski@va.gov (Amendment 0004); bids are opened publicly on MS Teams
What they'll judge offers on
- Price: one lump sum for item 0001, Construction Services - Tuckpointing (1.00 JB), plus the deduct prices and the add/subtract unit price the solicitation asks for
What to include when you submit
- Email your bid and any bid bond to the contract specialist by the response due date; Amendment 0004 replaced the earlier contract specialist named in the solicitation.
- Complete and sign the offer section of Standard Form 1442 (SF 1442, the form you sign and return as your offer) with a lump sum price for item 0001, and acknowledge each amendment.
- Include four deduct prices and a price for add/subtract unit price work with your initial bid; the contracting officer may reject bids that leave them out.
- Include a project plan with your definition of the scope, the means you will use to complete it, and a draft schedule for critical milestones.
- Return a signed copy of VAAR 852.219-75, the limitations on subcontracting certificate; offers without it will not be considered for award.
- Send a certification of no more than three serious, one repeat or one willful OSHA or EPA violation in the past three years.
- Send your experience modification rate (EMR) of 1.0 or less on your insurance carrier's letterhead; self-insured firms use a National Council on Compensation Insurance rating (form ERM-6).
After award, you must have
- Before any work starts: proof of the 10-hour OSHA construction safety course for all employees of the general contractor and subcontractors, and the 30-hour course for the general contractor's competent person. From S0236C24426B0018.pdf:
Effective July 31, 2005, all employees of the general contractor and subcontractors shall have the 10-hour…
- Before work starts: proof that an OSHA-certified competent person will be at the work site whenever the general contractor or subcontractors are there. From S0236C24426B0018.pdf:
…will maintain a presence at the work site whenever the general or subcontractors are present.
Not in the notice text
- Parts of the solicitation were attached but not read: the middle of S0236C24426B0018.pdf (clauses, including the subcontracting limit and insurance terms), most of the specifications, the drawing set, and the September 23, 2026 site visit sign-in sheet. Check them on SAM.gov.
- Whether a bid guarantee and performance and payment bonds are required, and their amounts, is not clear; the SF 1442 bond boxes could not be read.
- What the four deduct prices and the add/subtract unit price cover now that Amendment 0003 removed two statement of work items is not stated in the text that was read.
- The percentage of work you may subcontract to firms that are not service-disabled veteran-owned is in clause text that was not read.
- The insurance coverage amounts are in a section that was not read.
- The number of buildings and the quantity of masonry are in the drawings, which were not read.
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 to the contract specialist, Vanessa Chmielewski, vanessa.chmielewski@va.gov (Amendment 0004); bids are opened publicly on MS Teams. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- SAM.gov has no description for this notice beyond its title. The work is described in its attachments, listed under Notice details.
- 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 14, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- 244-Network Contract Office 4 (36C244), Pittsburgh, PA
- Product/service code
- Z2DA · Repair or Alteration of Hospitals and Infirmaries
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 236220)
- Versions
8 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 27, 2026 · Amendment 0007Due Nov 5, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 14, 2026 · Amendment 0006 (this version)Due Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 14, 2026 · Amendment 0005Due Oct 29, 2026 (changed)
- Sep 24, 2026 · Amendment 0004Due Oct 15, 2026
- Sep 23, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Oct 15, 2026
- Sep 17, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Oct 15, 2026
- Sep 16, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Oct 15, 2026
- Sep 15, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/SolicitationDue Oct 15, 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
FY26 NRM 460-20-004 | Tuckpointing FY26
Similar open opportunities
- 460-26-004 | Wilmington VAMC Roof Replacement | NCO 4 Construction East (VA-26-00029152)Only certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) can bid to replace four roofs at the Wilmington Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Delaware.
- 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…