Sources Sought
Request for Information - DCSA Personnel Vetting (PV) Fieldwork Services Requirement
Department of Defense · Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA)
AI summaryThe Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) issued sources sought notice RFIPVField2027, a request for information (RFI), asking industry for feedback on its draft plan to buy Personnel Vetting (PV) Fieldwork Services: background investigation fieldwork for federal workers. Feedback is due November 4, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern. No contract is awarded from the RFI. The draft plan is up to three Track 1 awards and up to two Track 2 awards, each a single-award IDIQ (indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity: no guaranteed amount, work comes by task order), with a five-year base and five one-year options. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 23, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 27, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 3 of 9 attachments weren't read (Attachment 6B - Draft Workload Framework Examples (Track 2).xlsx, Attachment 6A - Draft Workload Framework Examples (Track 1).xlsx and 1 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) issued sources sought notice RFIPVField2027, a request for information (RFI), asking industry for feedback on its draft plan to buy Personnel Vetting (PV) Fieldwork Services: background investigation fieldwork for federal workers. Feedback is due November 4, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern. No contract is awarded from the RFI. The draft plan is up to three Track 1 awards and up to two Track 2 awards, each a single-award IDIQ (indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity: no guaranteed amount, work comes by task order), with a five-year base and five one-year options.
Who can bid (5)
- No set-aside is used; the notice does not limit who may respond.
- Draft rule: a company that is a prime contractor on a DCSA investigative contract running at the same time is barred from proposing as a prime.
- Draft cybersecurity rule: Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 assessed by a third-party assessor (C3PAO) for the life of the contract. The company or its parent needs a current CMMC score in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) at award.
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- Personnel doing investigative work need a completed, favorably adjudicated High Tier background investigation with Top Secret eligibility before working on the contract. Program management and routine file access need Moderate Tier with Secret.
- Key personnel named in the proposal: a Program Manager with at least five years of similar experience (resume and signed letter of commitment), a Facility Security Officer meeting 32 CFR part 117, and a CMMC affirming officer (resume and letter).
How to submit: Email to DCSA points of contact Matthew Reed (matthew.w.reed10.civ@mail.mil), Cheryl Hall (Cheryl.j.hall6.civ@mail.mil) and Julia Stiglitz (Julia.m.stiglitz.civ@mail.mil). What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
- Serious: Tough cybersecurity certification at award. CMMC Level 2 third-party assessment, a current SPRS score and dedicated computers on a zero-trust connection can take a small company months and real money to reach.
- Serious: Existing DCSA investigative contractors barred. A firm that is a prime on a concurrent DCSA investigative contract could not prime this work; it could only join as a team member after DCSA reviews a risk plan.
- Serious: Top Secret-level staff and key personnel needed at the start. Investigators need High Tier investigations with Top Secret eligibility, and DCSA wants named key people with letters of commitment in the proposal.
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- Worth checking: Request for information only, no award. Responses are market research feedback, not offers, and are not paid for. A real solicitation, if any, would be posted later on SAM.gov.
- Worth checking: Unpaid start-up and no guaranteed work. The contractor funds its own ramp-up of at least three months with no task orders, then a three-month phase-in. DCSA gives work to its own staff first and guarantees no amount.
- Worth checking: Workload shared by price, timeliness, quality and capacity. Daily work is ranked every six months on a 125-point scale (price 50 points; timeliness, quality and inventory age 25 each), so a low price and fast, clean work win more cases.
- Minor: Fixed unit prices over about ten years. Prices are set per product and held for a year at a time, with downward adjustments possible, while wage rules under the Service Contract Act change every two years.
Read from the notice and 6 attachments. 3 of 9 not read. Show which files.
- Attachment 3 - Draft PWS.pdf (read)
- Request for Information.pdf (read)
- Attachment 4 - Draft Technical Exhibits.pdf (read)
- Attachment 1 - DCSA Questions for Industry.pdf (read)
- Attachment 5 - Draft Ordering Guide.pdf (read)
- Attachment 2 - Draft Acquisition Strategy.pdf (read)
- Attachment 6B - Draft Workload Framework Examples (Track 2).xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment 6A - Draft Workload Framework Examples (Track 1).xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment 7 - Question and Answer Template.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Feedback on the draft acquisition strategy, draft performance work statement (PWS), technical exhibits and ordering guide, plus answers to DCSA's targeted questions for industry
- Future contract, Track 1: initial vetting investigative products at Low, Moderate and High tiers (interviews, record searches, source interviews, reporting)
- Future contract, Track 2: item-level work for continuous vetting alerts, upgrades, re-establishment and transfer of trust
- Work mostly done virtually, with in-person interviews or record collection when DCSA requires them
- Contractor-provided dedicated computers, connected to DCSA's network by Zero Trust Network Access, with cases handled in the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) or a company case system linked to NBIS
- Meet timeliness and quality standards, with price reductions (disincentives) for misses
- Provide key staff: Program Manager, Facility Security Officer, cybersecurity affirming officer, Quality Control Manager, Records Liaison Officer, Threat Evaluation and Coordination Officer
- Three-month ramp-up, then a three-month phase-in during which DCSA may limit case assignments
- Contract type
- Draft plan: single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts with firm-fixed unit prices (FFUP: a set price for each investigative product), task orders by product type or estimated hours. This notice itself is a request for information.
- Period of performance
- Five-year base period with five one-year option periods (about 10 years in total). Task orders may run to 36 months after award, per the draft PWS.
- Place of performance
- The RFI says the place of performance may occur nationwide; work is mainly virtual. SAM.gov lists Boyers, PA, USA.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Contract vehicle
- Planned new IDIQ contracts: up to 3 Track 1 awards and up to 2 separate Track 2 awards
- How they'll choose
- No evaluation for this RFI. The draft acquisition strategy says IDIQ awards would be made on a best-value tradeoff basis (price and non-price factors weighed together).
- Offers due
- November 4, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 23, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email to DCSA points of contact Matthew Reed (matthew.w.reed10.civ@mail.mil), Cheryl Hall (Cheryl.j.hall6.civ@mail.mil) and Julia Stiglitz (Julia.m.stiglitz.civ@mail.mil)
- Page limits
- Feedback: 10 pages or less, at least 10-point font
What to include when you submit
- Put "RFI Feedback: HS0021-27-RFI-Field" in the email subject line.
- Answer the targeted questions in Attachment 1 (acquisition strategy, technical performance and quality, IT and cybersecurity) and add any other feedback.
- Send questions on the Question and Answer Template (Attachment 7, an Excel file attached but not read).
- Questions must be in writing; phone calls are not accepted.
- Do not include proprietary, confidential or business-sensitive information in your questions.
- Company names are removed before answers are posted publicly on SAM.gov.
After award, you must have
- Complete all security requirements in the DD Form 254 (contract security classification specification), plus required training within 120 days of being cleared, before case assignment starts.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The draft strategy plans up to three Track 1 awards and up to two separate Track 2 awards. The projected award date is July 2027. No Government estimate is given.
Not in the notice text
- Parts were left out or not read: the middle of the Draft PWS and Draft Technical Exhibits (specific tasks, timeliness standards, price list) and the workload framework and Q&A spreadsheets (Attachments 6A, 6B and 7) are attached on SAM.gov but not read.
- Estimated contract value, expected case volumes and unit prices are not in the text read.
- Whether the eventual solicitation will carry any set-aside or small business subcontracting goals is not stated.
- The deadline for questions is not separately stated; the RFI gives only the November 4, 2026 response due date.
- The facility clearance level needed for the DD Form 254 is not stated in the text read.
- Evaluation factors for the future solicitation are not given beyond best-value tradeoff.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 27, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- Defense Ci and Security Agency, Quantico, VA
- Product/service code
- R615 · Support – Administrative: Background Investigation
- Business type
- Consulting & professional services (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 561611)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 27, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 4, 2026
- Oct 23, 2026 · Sources SoughtDue Nov 4, 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
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice
Full notice text from SAM.gov
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