Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
NTX Elevator Inspection | BASE + OPTIONS | 549 | NEED DATE 12.2026
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summaryThe VA North Texas Health Care System wants an independent, licensed third-party inspector to inspect and witness tests on 70 elevators and dumbwaiters at its Dallas, Garland and Bonham, Texas medical centers. It is a firm-fixed-price contract with a base year starting 12/02/2026 plus four option years. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Nov 4, 2026. It moves the due date from Oct 30, 2026 to Nov 30, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 1, 2026. The notice was amended Nov 4, 2026. The due date moved from Oct 30, 2026 to Nov 30, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov.
The VA North Texas Health Care System wants an independent, licensed third-party inspector to inspect and witness tests on 70 elevators and dumbwaiters at its Dallas, Garland and Bonham, Texas medical centers. It is a firm-fixed-price contract with a base year starting 12/02/2026 plus four option years.
Who can bid (7)
- Must be a small business certified as an SDVOSB and listed in the SBA certification database at the time of offer and award (NAICS 541350, size standard $11.5 million)
- Limitations on subcontracting: pay no more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs
- All inspections done by inspectors licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) as Registered Elevator Inspectors and certified as Qualified Elevator Inspectors (QEI) under ASME QEI-1
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- Third-party independence: the firm cannot hold the maintenance contract or have a financial interest in the maintenance contractor
- Principals should have about five years of successful experience inspecting elevators and dumbwaiters, including traction and hydraulic hospital-type units
- Insurance: workers' compensation, employer's liability of at least $100,000, general liability of $500,000 per occurrence, and automobile liability; proof of general liability with no asbestos exclusion before award
- Registered in SAM.gov (System for Award Management)
How to submit: Email only to crystal.carabajal@va.gov, with the email titled with the solicitation number and Proposal Submission, due October 30, 2026 at 3:00 PM Central (SF 1449 and notice say CDT; Section E says CST). What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
- Serious: Certified SDVOSB only. Only SBA-certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses can bid; others are not considered, and willful misrepresentation can lead to debarment.
- Serious: Specialized state licensing and certification. Every inspector needs a Texas TDLR elevator inspector license and an ASME QEI-1 certification, so a general inspection firm without these cannot perform the work.
- Serious: Strict, easy-to-fail submission rules. Leaving out any required document or fill-in clause, or adding capability statements or SBA letters, removes you from consideration.
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- Worth checking: Award basis is described inconsistently. One part says quotes are compared pairwise for best value, while another says award goes to the technically acceptable offeror, so it is unclear whether price alone could decide.
- Worth checking: The site visit was Oct 13, 2026. Check the notice and its amendments for whether attendance was required, and whether another visit is offered.
- Worth checking: After-hours full-load testing. Large five-year full-load tests at Garland and Sam Rayburn are due in the base year and must be done after normal business hours at no extra cost beyond the priced line.
- Worth checking: Technical approach capped at 25 pages with a redacted copy. You must write the technical approach twice (full and anonymized) and keep both identical; pages over the limit are ignored.
- Minor: Past performance must be as a prime contractor. Subcontract experience does not count, which can hurt newer firms, though a lack of past performance is not scored as negative.
Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.
- S02 36C25727Q0031 NTX Elevator Inspection.pdf (read)
- 36C25727Q0031_1.docx (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Perform two inspections per year of every elevator and dumbwaiter at Dallas and Garland (Appendices A and B)
- Perform one annual inspection per unit, witnessing the no-load safety, governor and pressure-relief tests
- Witness and certify five-year full-load tests, after normal business hours, per the schedule in the PWS
- Do ad-hoc inspections after repairs, alterations or entrapment events, starting within 5 business days of request
- Deliver a written report with code citations for every unit within 30 days of each inspection
- Report unsafe conditions to the COR the same day and confirm in writing within 1 business day
- Submit a 12-month inspection schedule within 15 days of award and of each option exercise
- Use only TDLR-licensed, QEI-certified inspectors and show proof before they work
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract, priced per line item (semi-annual, annual, ad-hoc and five-year full-load inspection lines)
- Period of performance
- 1 base year (12/02/2026 to 12/01/2027) + 4 option years, through 12/01/2031
- Place of performance
- VA North Texas Health Care System: Dallas VAMC (4500 S. Lancaster Rd., Dallas, TX 75216), Garland VAMC (2300 Marie Curie Blvd., Garland, TX 75042) and Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center (1201 E. 9th St., Bonham, TX 75418)
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Described two ways: a comparative best-value review (technical capability, past performance and price, compared pairwise) and an award to the technically acceptable offeror
- Offers due
- October 30, 2026 at 3:00 PM Central (SF 1449 and notice say CDT; Section E says CST) (from the version posted Oct 1, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email only to crystal.carabajal@va.gov, with the email titled with the solicitation number and Proposal Submission
- Page limits
- Technical Approach: 25 pages (Volume I and the redacted Volume II). Offer documents and Price: no page limit. Past performance: no more than 5 references. Pages over the limit are not evaluated.
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Capability (understanding the project; experience and qualifications; sub-factors equally important; failing a sub-factor means Did Not Meet)
- Price (fairness, reasonableness, price realism, compared with the government estimate)
- Past Performance (recent and relevant, from CPARS; no past performance is not treated as negative)
What to include when you submit
- Submit two separate PDF volumes labeled with the RFQ number, company name and volume number
- Volume I: signed SF 1449 (complete Blocks 12, 17a, 30a, 30b, 30c), any SF 30s, Section B.1 and B.2, and every clause or provision that has a fill-in, in the order listed
- Volume I also includes the Price (all-inclusive firm fixed unit price per CLIN, no option or secondary pricing), the Technical Approach and Past Performance (prime contracts only, with contract numbers)
- Volume II: the same technical approach with anything that identifies your company redacted; both technical versions must match
- Complete and sign the VAAR 852.219-75 limitations on subcontracting certification
- Do not include capability statements or SBA letters verifying SDVOSB status; do not include the PWS or add clauses not in the solicitation
- Use the VA clauses and provisions in the solicitation, not copies from SAM.gov
- Proposals are valid 90 days; only one proposal per offeror
Current contractor
No incumbent inspector is named. Elevator maintenance is under a separate contract (36C25724F0048) and that maintenance contractor will support the inspections but cannot be the inspector.
Not in the notice text
- Estimated contract value or government cost estimate is not stated
- Whether the three site visits are mandatory is not stated
- The two Service Contract Act wage determinations named in Section D (Dallas County and Fannin County) are not included in the text provided
- Which of the two award methods (best-value tradeoff or technically acceptable) will actually be used
- Any answers to questions will come later in an amendment (questions due October 21, 2026)
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 541350
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email only to crystal.carabajal@va.gov, with the email titled with the solicitation number and Proposal Submission. 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 1, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- 257-Network Contract Office 17 (36C257), San Antonio, TX
- Product/service code
- J036 · Maint/Repair/Rebuild of Equipment – Special Industry Machinery
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541350)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Nov 4, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Nov 30, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 29, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 9, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 1, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Oct 30, 2026
- Oct 1, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/Solicitation (this version)Due Oct 30, 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
Solicitation is attached.
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