Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Womble Work Center Fiber Optic Installation
Department of Agriculture · Forest Service
More open Forest Service contracts
AI summaryTotal small business set-aside: the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi, for the Womble Ranger District in the Ouachita National Forest, wants a contractor to bury 2-inch conduit and run 8-strand fiber optic cable from the ranger office to the Womble Work Center at Mount Ida, Arkansas. The order is firm-fixed-price (one set price, whatever the work costs), awarded to the lowest price that is responsive and responsible. The response due date is November 23, 2026, 9:00 AM Central (an amendment moved it to Dec 1, 2026, 9:00 AM CST · 10:00 AM Eastern), sent by email. Check the notice: its text gives November 23, 2026 (an amendment moved it to Dec 1, 2026, 9:00 AM CST · 10:00 AM Eastern) as the deadline for questions or document requests, not the offer due date. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 26, 2026. The notice was amended Nov 5, 2026. The due date moved from Nov 23, 2026 to Dec 1, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov.
Total small business set-aside: the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Forests in Mississippi, for the Womble Ranger District in the Ouachita National Forest, wants a contractor to bury 2-inch conduit and run 8-strand fiber optic cable from the ranger office to the Womble Work Center at Mount Ida, Arkansas. The order is firm-fixed-price (one set price, whatever the work costs), awarded to the lowest price that is responsive and responsible. The response due date is November 23, 2026, 9:00 AM Central, sent by email. Check the notice: its text gives November 23, 2026 as the deadline for questions or document requests, not the offer due date.
Who can bid
- Be a small business: the acquisition is a total small business set-aside under NAICS 238210 with a $19 million size standard
- Have an active Unique Entity ID (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) registration; Amendment 00001 removed the blanket purchase agreement (BPA) holder requirement
- Pay the Davis-Bacon wage rates in Wage Determination AR20260047 (Heavy construction, including Montgomery County, Arkansas)
How to submit: Email to Cynthia.granderson@usda.gov with the notice ID in the subject line, due November 23, 2026, 9:00 AM Central (10:00 AM Eastern). What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
- Serious: Small business set-aside. Only businesses that qualify as small under NAICS 238210 ($19 million size standard) can win this order.
- Worth checking: Performance dates given several ways. Amendment 00001 lists November 2, 2026 to January 4, 2027, which starts before the response due date. The solicitation says 60 days after notice to proceed, and the SF 1449 form (the order form) lists December 1, 2026 to February 1, 2027 and delivery on January 4, 2027.
- Worth checking: Davis-Bacon wage rates apply. This is construction, so workers must be paid at least the rates in the attached wage determination, and wage and payroll clauses apply.
Show all 7Show fewer
- Minor: Site visit is self-guided. There is no scheduled site visit; bidders look over the site on their own before quoting, and no site visit is required.
- Minor: Questions due the same day as quotes. Questions are due November 23, 2026 at 8:00 AM Central, one hour before the response due date.
- Minor: Work hours limited. Work is allowed only on weekdays from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding Federal holidays, unless the COR agrees to other arrangements.
- Minor: Submittals needed before work starts. Product data, including for any "or equal" materials, goes in before the related work begins, and incomplete submittals are rejected.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. Show which files.
- C04_Solicitation Package_12445127Q0005.pdf (read)
- 12445127Q0005 Amd 00001.pdf (read)
- A04_SOW_12445127Q0005.pdf (read)
- Wage Determination.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Install 2-inch non-metallic conduit and pull boxes at least 18 inches deep from the Ranger Office to the Work Center
- Install 8-strand outdoor fiber optic cable with LC connectors and a pulling eye from the office network closet to the Work Center network closet (schedule of items: 1300 LN FT, listed as 1300 linear feet)
- Backfill around the conduit and pull boxes to natural grade; the work center parking lot is backfilled with washed rock plus 2 inches of approved asphalt patch
- Seed, fertilize and mulch all disturbed areas to the specifications
- Send submittals for every item, including any "or equal" materials, within fifteen (15) days prior to commencing the related work
- Work Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding Federal holidays, unless the contracting officer's representative (COR) agrees otherwise
- At closeout, remove debris and send an electronic operation and maintenance manual and any warranty registrations
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price order from a combined synopsis/solicitation (request for quote) for commercial construction
- Period of performance
- Amendment 00001 gives November 2, 2026 to January 4, 2027; the original solicitation says 60 days after notice to proceed
- Place of performance
- Womble Work Center, 24 Forbes Road, Mt Ida, AR 71957, in the Ouachita National Forest (Montgomery County), Arkansas
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Lowest price among quotes that are responsive and responsible; one award for all items
- Offers due
- November 23, 2026, 9:00 AM Central (10:00 AM Eastern) (from the version posted Oct 26, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email to Cynthia.granderson@usda.gov with the notice ID in the subject line
What they'll judge offers on
- Responsive (FAR 14.306-1)
- Responsible (FAR 14.306-2)
- Lowest price, with pricing required for all items
What to include when you submit
- Email attachments in Microsoft Word, Excel or Adobe PDF format, with the notice ID in the subject line
- Confirm with the contract specialist that the email was received; confirming receipt is the offeror's responsibility
- Price all items: to be responsive, quotes must include pricing for all items
- Hold prices firm for 90 calendar days from the date offers are received
- Send questions by email to Cynthia.Granderson@usda.gov with the solicitation name and number as the subject, by November 23, 2026, 8:00 AM Central
- Acknowledge Amendment 00001 with the quote, as the amendment form requires
Not in the notice text
- Whether bonds are required: the bid guarantee and performance and payment bond clauses are left unchecked in the clause list.
- How the November 2, 2026 start date in Amendment 00001 fits with a response due date of November 23, 2026. Check the notice: its text gives November 23, 2026 as the deadline for questions or document requests, not the offer due date.
- When the certified list of service organizations for the equipment is due; the specification requires it but gives no date.
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 Cynthia.granderson@usda.gov with the notice ID in the subject line. 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
- Nov 5, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- National Forests in Mississippi, Jackson, MS
- Product/service code
- N061 · Installation of Equipment – Electric Wire and Power Distribution Equipment
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 238210)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Nov 5, 2026 · Amendment 0003 (this version)Due Dec 1, 2026
- Nov 4, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Dec 1, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 26, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 23, 2026
- Oct 22, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/SolicitationDue Nov 23, 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
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