Solicitation
Construction of Chilled Water Plant and Site Utility Upgrades at VA Medical Center in West Haven, CT
Department of Defense · Department of the Army
AI summarySolicitation W912WJ26RA008 is a phased buy: only Volume I (past performance) is due by the response due date, November 20, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern. Only firms that send Volume I will be invited to send Volumes II and III, after a redesign amendment the Army Corps of Engineers intends to issue in February 2027. The Corps (New England District) is buying a new multi-story chilled water plant, a new fuel tank farm and site utility upgrades at the VA medical center in West Haven, Connecticut, under one firm-fixed-price contract (one set price, whatever the work ends up costing). More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 22, 2026. It moves the due date from Oct 23, 2026 to Nov 20, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of another version of this notice: check what changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 20 of 32 attachments weren't read (Solicitation - W912WJ26RA008.pdf, Amendment 0004 - 12018718_12018724_Spec013000_Response.pdf and 18 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Solicitation W912WJ26RA008 is a phased buy: only Volume I (past performance) is due by the response due date, November 20, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern. Only firms that send Volume I will be invited to send Volumes II and III, after a redesign amendment the Army Corps of Engineers intends to issue in February 2027. The Corps (New England District) is buying a new multi-story chilled water plant, a new fuel tank farm and site utility upgrades at the VA medical center in West Haven, Connecticut, under one firm-fixed-price contract (one set price, whatever the work ends up costing).
Who can bid
- A PIEE vendor registration with the role assignments needed to upload to the Solicitation module
- Past performance on projects the Corps can evaluate (Factor 1), shown in 35 pages of narratives plus an appendix
- At least 10% small business participation, measured against the total of the base and all option prices, in the Volume II commitment document (due later)
How to submit: Upload through the Army's Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), Solicitation module, under this solicitation number. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 22, 2026.
- Serious: Phased bid: only Volume I now, Volumes II and III later by invitation. A business that does not send Volume I by the response due date will not get the redesign amendment or an invitation to send Volumes II and III; there is no downselect (no cut) before Volumes II and III.
- Serious: Design is being revised and prices come later. The Corps plans to issue the final design in February 2027 with a new deadline for Volumes II and III, so price and bid schedule work waits for that amendment.
- Worth checking: Scope is expected to shrink after redesign. The redesign is expected to reduce the number of chillers, pumps and cooling towers and the fuel oil tank size, so the work described in the notice and specifications may change.
Show all 10Show fewer
- Worth checking: Past performance is the most important factor. Factor 1 counts more than every other factor, and non-price factors together count significantly more than price, so a thin record of similar projects is hard to offset with a low price.
- Worth checking: Minimum 10% small business participation (Volume II). Even small businesses must commit to small business participation; a proposal under the 10% minimum is rated Unacceptable.
- Worth checking: The site visit was Sep 29, 2026. Check the notice and its amendments for whether attendance was required, and whether another visit is offered.
- Worth checking: Upload only through PIEE; late uploads are not considered. Email, paper and other methods are rejected, and the PIEE upload completion time counts, so large files need time.
- Worth checking: Work inside an active hospital campus with limited space. The medical center stays operational at all times, and laydown and storage areas are limited, which affects scheduling and cost.
- Minor: Asbestos abatement in the specifications. The specifications include traditional and glovebag asbestos abatement and lead-based paint removal, which need licensed, accredited firms and workers.
- Minor: LEED Silver certification expected. The chilled water plant is expected to meet a LEED Silver green building rating, which adds documentation and design requirements.
Read from the notice and 12 attachments. 20 of 32 not read. Show which files.
- Amendment 0005 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria (Clean).pdf (read)
- Amendment 0005 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria (Track Changes).pdf (read)
- Amendment 0003 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria (Clean).pdf (read)
- Amendment 0003 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria (Track Changes).pdf (read)
- Amendment 0002 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria (Clean).pdf (read)
- Amendment 0002 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria (Track Changes).pdf (read)
- Amendment 0001 - Submission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria.pdf (read)
- Amendment 0003 - Revisions to Specification Sections 270511-280500-281300-282300.pdf (read)
- Specifications - Volume II.pdf (read)
- Specifications - Volume I.pdf (read)
- Amendment 0005.pdf (read)
- Amendment 0004.pdf (read)
- Solicitation - W912WJ26RA008.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0004 - 12018718_12018724_Spec013000_Response.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0004 - 12018255_01-ED101_01-EP101-Response.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0004 - 12018711_Spec013000_Response.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0003.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0003 - Plan T600.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0003 - JA 03 (JCI ESS_Redacted).pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0002.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0002 - Bidding Schedule.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0002 - Specs Section 01 22 00.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0001.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- JA 01 - Siemens_or_JCI HVAC BAS_Redacted.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- JA 02 - JCI Fire_Redacted.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- JA 03 - JCI ESS_Redacted.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- JA 04 - Assa Abloy_Redacted.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- JA 05 - AMAZ_Redacted.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- JA (Class) - Interior Finishes_Redacted.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Contractor Appendix Binder.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Amendment 0004 - VA Hospital New Customer Load Report - 7_28_26.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Drawings.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Demolish the existing chilled water plant (building 16a) and build a new multi-story plant with chillers, cooling towers, pumps and the electrical and mechanical equipment that goes with them
- Build a new fuel tank farm, since the old one sits next to the old plant and mainly serves the central boiler plant
- Replace and upgrade the fire protection water main and domestic water main from Campbell Avenue to Building 15
- Install utility main loops (chilled water supply and return, steam supply, condensate return, domestic water, fire protection water) from the new plant back to Building 1
- Install a redundant electrical feeder from the utility demarcation point to Building 19 and coordinate with the local electric utility; build new water storage tanks
- Price the bid options in the bid schedule; the Corps says pricing for Option Item 0006 covers all work associated with that option
- Work on an active medical campus with minimal impact on operations, coordinated with the Contracting Officer and VA staff; the chilled water plant is expected to meet LEED Silver (a green building rating)
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (one set price, whatever the work ends up costing)
- Place of performance
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave, West Haven, Connecticut
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best-value tradeoff: the award does not have to go to the lowest price. Each factor gets an adjectival rating (a word rating) and a written narrative; all non-price factors combined are significantly more important than price
- Offers due
- November 20, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Upload through the Army's Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), Solicitation module, under this solicitation number
- Page limits
- Volume I past performance narratives: 35 pages total; the Volume I appendix has no page limit
What they'll judge offers on
- Factor 1, Past Performance (most important; Volume I): past performance narratives, with Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) reports and questionnaires in the appendix
- Factor 2, Management Approach
- Factor 3, Small Business Participation Commitment Document (Volume II, due later)
- Factor 4, Price (least important; Volume III, due later): price reasonableness and no unbalanced pricing
What to include when you submit
- Send only Volume I by the response due date; Volumes II and III come later through a future amendment (Amendment 0005)
- Volume I: past performance narratives. Appendix: CPARS reports, past performance questionnaires, and joint venture agreements, letters of commitment, partnership agreements or mentor-protege agreements if they apply
- Name each file W912WJ26RA008-FIRMNAME-VOLUME I (firm name in place of FIRMNAME)
- Send files in their native formats (docx, xlsx, ppt) and also a PDF copy of every file; no self-extracting exe files, CDs or USB drives
- Number every page and put the full company name, date and solicitation number in the header or footer
- Use 12-point or larger type in Arial or Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, 8.5 x 11 pages; an 11 x 17 page counts as two pages
- No hyperlinks or QR codes, and no classified data
- Pages over the limit are removed and not read; cover letters, dividers and tables of contents count toward the limit
- The time that counts is the upload completion time recorded in PIEE; keep your upload confirmation
- Acknowledge each solicitation amendment, including Amendment 0005, by one of the methods the amendment lists
After award, you must have
- A licensed contractor with trained, accredited workers for the asbestos abatement work, shown at a pre-start meeting From Specifications - Volume I.pdf:
Proof of Contractor licensing.
Not in the notice text
- The full solicitation (Solicitation - W912WJ26RA008.pdf), the drawings, the bidding schedule (Amendment 0002 - Bidding Schedule.pdf), the contractor appendix binder and most specification sections were attached on SAM.gov but not read here; the middle of each Submission Requirements document (Factor 1 and Factor 2 details) was also left out. Check them on SAM.gov.
- Whether bonding is required, and which wage rule applies (for example a Davis-Bacon wage determination), is not stated in the text read.
- The contract period or completion time is not stated in the text read.
- The Government's estimate or a contract value is not stated in the text read.
- The new due dates and instructions for Volumes II and III are not yet set; they come in a future amendment.
- Management Approach is Factor 2, but the Volume I table in Amendment 0005 lists only past performance narratives; check how and when Management Approach is submitted.
- The set-aside is not stated on SAM.gov, and no incumbent or earlier contract is named.
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: Upload through the Army's Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), Solicitation module, under this solicitation number. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- 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
- Aug 24, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- W2SD ENDIST New England, Concord, MA
- Product/service code
- Y1NB · Construction of Heating and Cooling Plants
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 236220)
- Versions
10 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2026 · Amendment 0009Due Nov 20, 2026
- Oct 22, 2026 · Amendment 0008Due Nov 20, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 19, 2026 · Amendment 0007Due Nov 6, 2026
- Oct 19, 2026 · Amendment 0006Due Nov 6, 2026
- Oct 6, 2026 · Amendment 0005Due Nov 6, 2026 (changed)
- Sep 30, 2026 · Amendment 0004Due Oct 23, 2026
- Sep 9, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Oct 23, 2026
- Sep 9, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Oct 23, 2026
- Aug 24, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Oct 23, 2026
- Aug 24, 2026 · Solicitation (this version)Due Oct 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
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The scope of the chilled water plant replacement consists of the demolition of the existing chilled water plant (building 16a) and construction of a new multi-story chilled water plant to include chillers, cooling towers, pumps, and all associated mechanical and electrical equipment. Due to the close proximity of the existing fuel tank farm adjacent to the existing chilled water plant, a new fuel tank farm will need to be constructed as part of the project, which primarily serves the central boiler plant, requiring close coordination with the medical center and ongoing related projects.The scope of the site utility upgrades consists of the replacement and upgrade of the existing fire protection water main and the domestic water main from Campbell Avenue to Building 15. Site utility upgrades also include providing utility main loops of chilled water supply and return, steam supply, condensate return, domestic water supply, and fire protection water supply which will originate from the new chilled water plant and back-feed to Building 1. The work also includes the installation of redundant electrical feeder from the utility demarcation point to Building 19 and coordination with the local electrical utility provider to provide further electrical redundancy offsite as well. In addition, new water storage tanks will be constructed. This project involves civil/site, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, geotechnical, and architectural disciplines. The project must also comply with the DVAs Physical Security Resiliency Design Requirements (PSRDM). It is expected that the chilled water plant will be constructed to meet USGBC LEED Silver certification. The work is located adjacent to and within an active Medical Center campus which will be operational at all times. Impact to on-going operations must be kept to a minimum and carefully coordinated with the Contracting Officer and VAMC staff. In addition, the work area is constrained due to the active medical center operations which will limit laydown and storage areas during construction.
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