Solicitation
Charleston VAMC wheelchair transportation service
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryOnly Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) listed as certified in the Small Business Administration (SBA) database can bid. The Department of Veterans Affairs (Network Contract Office 7), for the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, wants ground wheelchair transportation for veteran patients. It is a single-award, five-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract starting December 1, 2026: the buyer orders as needed, between a minimum and a maximum. Amendment 0001 (October 21, 2026 (passed)) added answers to bidder questions and a revised request for proposals (RFP). The response due date is November 16, 2026, 8:00 AM Eastern, by email. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 21, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 27, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. The notice looks incomplete: Attached but not read: the middle of both RFP files (36C24726R0123 0001.pdf and S02-RHJ WC-36C24726R0123-FINAL.pdf), including the Section B.3 price schedule with estimated trip quantities, the Section B.4 delivery schedule, the rest of the PWS and the clauses; check them on SAM.gov. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Only Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) listed as certified in the Small Business Administration (SBA) database can bid. The Department of Veterans Affairs (Network Contract Office 7), for the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, wants ground wheelchair transportation for veteran patients. It is a single-award, five-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract starting December 1, 2026: the buyer orders as needed, between a minimum and a maximum. Amendment 0001 (October 21, 2026 (passed)) added answers to bidder questions and a revised request for proposals (RFP). The response due date is November 16, 2026, 8:00 AM Eastern, by email.
Who can bid (5)
- Be a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business listed in the SBA certification database (veterans.certify.sba.gov) both when you send the offer and at award
- Proof of insurance with the proposal: general liability and automobile liability of at least $200,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and $20,000 per occurrence for property damage (VAAR 852.228-71); workers' compensation as state law requires
- Be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) when you send the offer, and stay registered through award, performance and final payment
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- Complete the VAAR 852.219-75 limitations on subcontracting certificate with the proposal; the prime may not pay more than 50% of the amount the Government pays it to firms not listed as SDVOSBs or veteran-owned small businesses in SBA's certification system
- Joint ventures: a signed certification from each SDVOSB partner with the proposal
How to submit: Email to Thomas.Nicholls@va.gov with the solicitation number in the subject line; PDF files only; no postal mail and no phone calls. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (14)
- Serious: Set aside for certified SDVOSBs only. Only service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses listed as certified in SBA's database at the time of offer and at award are considered; out-of-state firms may bid.
- Serious: Proof of insurance due with the proposal. The VA says coverage documentation cannot be sent later than the response due date, and missing it means rejection without evaluation.
- Serious: Subcontracting certificate due with the proposal. A properly completed VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 852.219-75 limitations on subcontracting certificate must be sent by the response due date, or the offer is rejected.
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- Serious: Detailed past-experience narrative required. Each reference needs nine specific items; general claims or missing items may be treated as showing you lack experience, and experience outweighs price.
- Worth checking: Strict compliance review before evaluation. A proposal missing any requested document or instruction is rejected and not evaluated, so check every item before sending.
- Worth checking: 50% limit on paying non-SDVOSB subcontractors. Dispatch, scheduling and oversight done by a non-SDVOSB subcontractor count toward the limit, so a prime cannot hand most of the work to ordinary transport firms.
- Worth checking: Three-state service area and state licensing. You must meet each state's licensing and registration rules where you operate; the VA adds none of its own. South Carolina registration is needed before performance starts.
- Worth checking: Around-the-clock availability. The contract manager or alternate must be reachable at any hour every day, and the service must be available 24 hours a day all year.
- Worth checking: December 1, 2026 start with no phase-in period. Vehicles, inspections and staff onboarding must be ready by the December 1, 2026 start; the VA says the start date may move if its pre-award steps run long.
- Worth checking: Background investigations must clear before work. Starting an investigation is not enough; drivers need a favorable result before they serve patients, and VA pre-clearance time can delay staffing.
- Worth checking: All-inclusive pricing with no after-hours rate. Rates must cover tolls, overhead and all other costs, and nights, weekends and holidays are billed at the same unit prices. Wage rates must follow the Service Contract Act wage determination (occupation 31290 Shuttle Bus Driver for drivers).
- Minor: Only a $25,000 minimum is guaranteed. The quantities are yearly estimates and the VA owes only the guaranteed minimum, so revenue may be far below the $22,000,000 ceiling.
- Minor: Mileage wording still to be corrected. The VA says mileage is paid on one-way distance beyond 25 miles and will fix the 'radius' wording elsewhere by a later amendment; watch for it before pricing.
- Minor: Grace period stated as 15 and 30 minutes. The earlier RFP's section 8.1 gives a 15-minute grace period for scheduled trips, while the amendment's answers say a 30-minute waiting grace period governs; ask the contracting officer if unsure which applies to you.
Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.
- 36C24726R0123 0001.pdf (read)
- S02-RHJ WC-36C24726R0123-FINAL.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Provide non-emergency ground wheelchair transportation for veteran patients, one-way trips between VA facilities, community hospitals, homes and other places the VA names
- Serve Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina; trips may cross state lines
- Be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year; most trips are expected Monday through Saturday, 0500 to 2100 EST
- Supply your own drivers, wheelchair-accessible vehicles (platform-lift, or ramp vans that meet the Americans with Disabilities Act with the securement system stated), phones and encrypted email
- Take trip requests only from authorized VA staff through the VA's VetRide software; meet the response times in the performance work statement (PWS: the buyer's description of the work), including a 2-hour response to unscheduled trips
- Bill monthly at fixed unit prices: a base rate per one-way trip plus mileage beyond 25 miles; tolls are included and there is no extra rate for nights, weekends or holidays
- If you are the apparent winner, give the VA a quality control plan (QCP: how you check your own work) within 14 calendar days of its request
- Name a project manager and an alternate who can act for the company and be reached at any hour
- Contract type
- Single-award, fixed-price indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract; orders are placed by task order for each pricing period
- Period of performance
- Five pricing periods from December 1, 2026 to November 30, 2031, each ordered at the government's discretion; an extension of services of up to six months in total is possible
- Place of performance
- Charleston, SC, USA per SAM.gov. The RFP's service area is Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and trips may cross state lines.
- Estimated value
- Government's ceiling (maximum) of $22,000,000, with a guaranteed minimum of $25,000 for the initial fiscal year, per the revised RFP
- How they'll choose
- Best value: award to the responsible bidder whose offer is most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. Experience is more important than price. Offers that do not follow every instruction are rejected before evaluation.
- Offers due
- November 16, 2026, 8:00 AM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 21, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email to Thomas.Nicholls@va.gov with the solicitation number in the subject line; PDF files only; no postal mail and no phone calls
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor 1, Experience: relevant experience performing contracted, non-emergency ground wheelchair transportation of similar size, scope and complexity; the number, dollar value, duration and relevance of contracts, and comparable volume, geographic scope and patient population
- Factor 2, Price: reasonableness of each unit price, the total for each of the five pricing periods and the total for all five combined; significantly unbalanced pricing may make an offer unacceptable
What to include when you submit
- Send a complete electronic copy of the proposal as PDF files; Word documents are not accepted
- Include a signed Standard Form 1449 (SF 1449: the form you sign and return as your offer) and an acknowledgment of Amendment 0001 dated October 21, 2026 and any other amendments
- Sign and return the business associate agreement (BAA: the agreement on protecting patient information) in Section D.1 with the proposal; digital signatures are allowed if applied by someone authorized to bind the company
- Include proof of insurance that meets VAAR 852.228-71 with the proposal
- Return a properly completed VAAR 852.219-75 Limitations on Subcontracting certificate of compliance with the proposal
- Factor 1 narrative: for each reference contract give the legal name of the other party, contract number, tasks you performed, location, dates, number of patients served, whether the work was done by you or a proposed subcontractor, whether that firm was prime or subcontractor, and a contact name, phone and email
- A reference contract performed by a proposed subcontractor can be used if the narrative says so and says whether the subcontractor was prime or sub on it; a broker network agreement counts only if you show you performed wheelchair trips under it
- State the vehicle type and securement system you propose; an ADA-compliant ramp vehicle is accepted in place of a platform-lift vehicle
- Price only on the Section B.3 price schedule, with each CLIN (contract line item number: one priced line of the order) total worked out as unit price times quantity; no other format is accepted
- Hold your prices firm for 150 calendar days from the response due date
- A joint venture must include a certification from each SDVOSB partner that the joint venture agreement meets 13 CFR 128.402(c) and that the contract will be performed under it
After award, you must have
- Registration and licensing to do business in South Carolina, if state law requires it, and any permits or operating authority each state requires, in place before performance starts (not needed with the proposal or at award) From 36C24726R0123 0001.pdf:
Registration and licensing to do business in South Carolina, if required by state law, must…
- Drivers and others who contact veterans or use VA computer systems need a favorable result on a National Agency Check with Written Inquiries (low-risk background investigation) before they work From 36C24726R0123 0001.pdf:
Initiating an investigation does not by itself satisfy this requirement.
- Vehicles can be acquired or leased after award, but all vehicle requirements must be met before the performance start date From 36C24726R0123 0001.pdf:
…award, provided all vehicle requirements are met prior to the performance start date.
Current contractor
No incumbent: the amendment's answers call this a new requirement with no incumbent contract. The Government's ceiling is $22,000,000 with a $25,000 guaranteed minimum; the Standard Form 1449 lists a $19 Million size standard next to the industry code, which is not the contract's value.
Not in the notice text
- Attached but not read: the middle of both RFP files (36C24726R0123 0001.pdf and S02-RHJ WC-36C24726R0123-FINAL.pdf), including the Section B.3 price schedule with estimated trip quantities, the Section B.4 delivery schedule, the rest of the PWS and the clauses; check them on SAM.gov.
- Estimated trip quantities and line-item (CLIN) structure for each pricing period
- The facilities served, listed in the delivery schedule
- Whether the later amendment that fixes the mileage wording changes anything else
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 485991
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Thomas.Nicholls@va.gov with the solicitation number in the subject line; PDF files only; no postal mail and no phone calls. 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 27, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- 247-Network Contract Office 7 (36C247), Augusta, GA
- Product/service code
- V212 · Transportation/Travel/Relocation – Travel/Lodging/Recruitment: Motor Passenger
- Business type
- Transportation, logistics & vehicles (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 485991)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 27, 2026 · Amendment 0002 (this version)Due Nov 16, 2026
- Oct 21, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 16, 2026
- Oct 15, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 16, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 15, 2026 · PresolicitationDate 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
Please see attached RFP for the Charleston VAMC wheelchair transportation service. See attachment with Q&A and responses and revised RFP. See attachment with Q&A and responses.