Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Claims Arbitration Services
Department of Homeland Security · Federal Emergency Management Agency
AI summaryFEMA wants a contractor to run a roster of qualified arbitrators who decide Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire claim disputes, mostly in virtual hearings. The buy is not set aside, but bidders need three past prime contracts for arbitration services, each with at least $1 million in actual incurred costs. It is a single-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, a standing contract with work ordered as needed, with a 12-month base and two 12-month options. The response due date is October 29, 2026 (an amendment moved it to Nov 10, 2026, 3:00 PM EST), 3:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Nov 5, 2026. It moves the due date from Oct 29, 2026 to Nov 10, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 15, 2026. The notice was amended Nov 5, 2026. The due date moved from Oct 29, 2026 to Nov 10, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 5 attachments weren't read (2.2.1 Attachment 4 - Question Template - Solicitation.xlsx, 2.2.1 Attachment 2 - Pricing Template - Hermits Peak - Arbitration 2026 v4.xlsx). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
FEMA wants a contractor to run a roster of qualified arbitrators who decide Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire claim disputes, mostly in virtual hearings. The buy is not set aside, but bidders need three past prime contracts for arbitration services, each with at least $1 million in actual incurred costs. It is a single-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, a standing contract with work ordered as needed, with a 12-month base and two 12-month options. The response due date is October 29, 2026 (passed), 3:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid (5)
- Three prime contracts for arbitration services awarded in the past seven years, each with at least $1 million in actual incurred costs; mediation or other dispute resolution does not count
- Proposed program manager and arbitrators who meet the PWS qualifications (the qualifications table was not in the text read), with local New Mexico arbitrators favored
- No organizational conflict of interest (OCI): the Government may disqualify an offeror involved in the Hermit's Peak arbitration proceedings, including litigation over the level of effort, unless a mitigation plan is approved
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- Arbitrators with no direct involvement in the underlying matter and no commercial ties or shared offices with lawyers representing claimants
- Responsible offeror: adequate financial resources, satisfactory performance history, integrity, and accounting and operational controls such as a quality control plan
How to submit: Email only, to lisa.thibodeaux@fema.dhs.gov and sharon.edwards3@fema.dhs.gov; each email attachment must be 10MB or smaller, and files may be sent in parts, due October 29, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
- Serious: Three prime arbitration contracts of $1 million or more required. A business without three prime arbitration contracts, each with at least $1 million in actual incurred costs, will struggle on the most important factor; the evaluation text says teammates, major subcontractors and affiliates may count, but the submittal text says contracts performed as the prime.
- Serious: Documents disagree on how many arbitrators to propose. Attachment 3 and Section L say to propose the minimum of 4 arbitrators. The PWS says the minimum roster is 6 and asks for resumes for all 20 at proposal. Ask the contracting officer which governs.
- Serious: Documents disagree on proposal structure. The solicitation says to send two volumes (technical and past performance, and price), while Attachment 3 says five separate parts, one per factor; a wrong structure risks rejection.
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- Worth checking: Roster costs with no guaranteed work. You must keep at least six arbitrators ready, and grow to 20 within 60 days, while FEMA does not guarantee any minimum number of cases.
- Worth checking: Possible organizational conflict of interest. The Government says involvement in the Hermit's Peak arbitration proceedings, including related litigation, may create a conflict; you must disclose and may need a mitigation plan.
- Worth checking: Award may be made without discussions. FEMA intends to award on the first proposals, so there may be no chance to fix mistakes, and unsuccessful offerors are told only after award.
- Worth checking: A Low Confidence rating on a non-price factor rules you out. Any Low Confidence rating on corporate experience, key personnel, management plan or past performance makes the offeror ineligible for award.
- Worth checking: Experience look-back differs. Section L asks for contracts awarded in the past seven years, while the evaluation text lists contracts for work completed in the last five years or in progress.
- Minor: Line item numbers in the price instructions do not match the schedule. The price instructions call rostering CLIN 0001, travel and training CLIN 0003 and hearings CLIN 0004. The schedule uses CLIN 0001 for start-up, 0003 for travel, 0004 for travel and training time and 0005 for hearings.
- Minor: Travel and training rates must undercut standard rates. You must offer hourly travel and training rates that give the Government significant savings over normal arbitration labor rates, and travel time is capped per trip.
Read from the notice and 3 attachments. 2 of 5 not read. Show which files.
- 2.2.1 Solicitation SF1449 Final 70FB8026R00000020_10-15-2026.pdf (read)
- 2.2.1 Attachment 1 PWS v3 - Hermits Peak - Arbitration 2026.pdf (read)
- 2.2.1 Attachment 3 - Evaluation Factors - FINAL.pdf (read)
- 2.2.1 Attachment 4 - Question Template - Solicitation.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- 2.2.1 Attachment 2 - Pricing Template - Hermits Peak - Arbitration 2026 v4.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Keep a roster of qualified arbitrators: six at minimum, up to 20 within 60 days of notice from the COR (contracting officer's representative, the Government's technical contact). Option Period 2 expects 10
- Run arbitration hearings and issue written final decisions. FEMA estimates up to 1,700 hearings: 55% in the base period, 35% in Option Period 1 and 10% in Option Period 2. The average is up to 8 a week, with no minimum guaranteed
- Use one arbitrator for cases of $500,000 or less and a panel of three for larger cases (up to 10% of cases). Expected review time is up to 12 hours for about 1,530 cases, 12 to 18 hours for 34 and 18 to 24 hours for 136
- Hold most hearings by video. Plan for in-person hearings in up to 5% of cases, with travel to New Mexico. Arbitrators who live in New Mexico get priority (FEMA prefers up to 25% of the roster)
- Provide program management staff (priced as a monthly fixed fee) for reporting, coordination, scheduling, random-drawing arbitrator selection and monitoring arbitrator performance
- After award: join a kickoff meeting within 5 business days of the start date. Submit personnel security paperwork for rostered arbitrators and send them to collect PIV badges (identity cards) and Government laptops. Deliver a final quality control plan (QCP) and a proposed quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP) within 30 calendar days
- Protect claimant personal information in FEMA's claims system and finish security and privacy training within 15 calendar days of entry on duty
- Price a hybrid contract: firm-fixed-price (FFP, one set price) lines for start-up, monthly program management and each hearing tier; time-and-materials (T&M) for overtime and travel; labor-hour (LH) rates for travel and training time
- Contract type
- Single-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, hybrid firm-fixed-price (FFP) / time-and-materials (T&M) / labor-hour (LH)
- Period of performance
- Base period November 19, 2026 to November 18, 2027, plus two 12-month options (to November 18, 2028 and to November 18, 2029), and a possible extension of up to 12 months under FAR 52.217-8
- Place of performance
- Santa Fe, NM per SAM.gov. The PWS says most hearings will be virtual, and in-person hearings may require travel to New Mexico
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best-value tradeoff (the Government may pay more for a stronger offer), single award; the four non-price factors are rated by confidence and together matter significantly more than price
- Offers due
- October 29, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 15, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email only, to lisa.thibodeaux@fema.dhs.gov and sharon.edwards3@fema.dhs.gov; each email attachment must be 10MB or smaller, and files may be sent in parts
- Page limits
- Corporate Experience: 6 pages (CPARS reports excluded). Key Personnel resumes: 42 pages total, 2 pages per resume. Management Plan: 10 pages. Past Performance: 6 pages (CPARS excluded). Cover pages do not count.
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor 1, Corporate Experience (most important): three prime contracts for arbitration services, each with at least $1 million in actual incurred costs
- Factor 2, Key Personnel: program manager and arbitrators (preference for arbitrators local to New Mexico with no conflicts of interest)
- Factor 3, Management Plan: (a) organization and roles, (b) technical approach including local arbitrators, roster upkeep and growth to 20, schedule and innovation, (c) cost control, (d) quality control plan
- Factor 4, Past Performance: Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) reports for the three Factor 1 contracts
- Factor 5, Price (not rated): total of all lines including options and Government-estimated other direct costs, checked for reasonableness and unbalanced pricing
What to include when you submit
- Send questions by October 22, 2026, 3:00 PM ET on the Question Template (Attachment 4) to the two email addresses
- Send the technical and past performance volume and the price volume as separate files: PDF for text, Excel for pricing
- Put a cover sheet on each volume with title, volume number, solicitation number, your name, address, point of contact, email, phone and UEI (unique entity identifier)
- Format: 8.5 x 11 inch single-sided pages, 12-point font (11-point for tables and figures), 1-inch margins, numbered pages; pages over the limit are not evaluated
- Corporate Experience: three Government or commercial contracts performed as the prime and awarded in the past seven years. They must be for arbitration services with at least $1 million actual incurred costs (not ceiling value); mediation does not count
- For each contract give agency and contacts, contract number and type, dates and place, size (average full-time staff a year), dollar value, a work description and why it is relevant. References must be reachable by phone
- Key Personnel: resumes for the program manager and arbitrators; the PWS says to send resumes for all 20 arbitrators at proposal, while the evaluation attachment says to propose only the minimum of 4
- Management Plan: organization and roles, technical approach, cost control and a draft quality control plan (QCP, how you check your own work); the plan must support your proposed costs
- Past Performance: project details, role, contract number, ceiling, actual incurred costs and type, a short relevance narrative, and any corrective actions; include CPARS reports for the Factor 1 contracts
- Price: use the Excel Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 2) showing monthly rostering, travel and training labor-hour rates, hearing costs, a cost summary and a basis of estimate
- Mark any data you do not want disclosed on the title page or sheet; include the solicitation number and your legal name and UEI in every submission
After award, you must have
- Each rostered arbitrator must meet the PWS qualifications and pass a FEMA-issued background check before counting as rostered From 2.2.1 Attachment 1 PWS v3 - Hermits Peak - Arbitration 2026.pdf:
…qualifications outlined in the PWS, passing a FEMA-issued background…
Not in the notice text
- The Program Manager and arbitrator qualifications (PWS Sections 14 and 15 and Table 3) and other sections of the PWS were in the part of the file not read; the pricing worksheet (Attachment 2) and question template (Attachment 4) are attached but not read
- Part of the SF 1449 file (clauses in the middle of the document) was not read
- The Government's estimated value of the contract is not stated, and the pricing worksheet that would show line structure and quantities was not read
- The minimum number of arbitrators to propose, and how many resumes to send, differ between the documents
- Pay rates for each hearing tier, and the dollar ceiling for travel costs, are not stated in the text read
- No incumbent or prior contract is named in the text read
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email only, to lisa.thibodeaux@fema.dhs.gov and sharon.edwards3@fema.dhs.gov; each email attachment must be 10MB or smaller, and files may be sent in parts. 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.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 15, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- New Orleans Contract Ops MGMT Bra, LA
- Product/service code
- R418 · Support – Professional: Legal
- Business type
- Consulting & professional services (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541199)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Nov 5, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Nov 10, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 23, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 23, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 15, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/Solicitation (this version)Due Oct 29, 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
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO) subpart 12.2, “Solicitation, Evaluation, and Award,” conjuction with procedures in RFO Part 15. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested, and a written solicitation document will not be issued. FEMA Solicitation 70FB8026R00000020 is issued an a Request for Proposal (RFP). The Government seeks an Advisory and Assistance Support (A&AS) Contract to provide qualified arbitrators to the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office. FEMA estimates up to 1,700 arbitrations hearings to take place during the Period of Performance of this contract, with 55% of cases occurring during the Base Period, 35% occurring in Option Period 1, and 10% occurring in Option Period 2. FEMA estimates a weekly average of up to 8 arbitration hearings. See RFP and PWS Attachments.
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