Solicitation
Gila National Forest Vault Toilet Decommissioning
Department of Agriculture · Forest Service
More open Forest Service contracts
AI summaryThe Forest Service (Gila National Forest) is buying construction work under request for quotation (RFQ) 127EAX27Q0007, set aside for small businesses only. It wants five vault toilets demolished and three precast CXT toilets moved to new sites, plus two priced options. Quotes are due by email November 17, 2026, 12:00 PM Mountain Time, with a 20% bid bond. Work must be done within 90 calendar days of notice to proceed. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 8 attachments weren't read (Attachment E_MAP 2 Toilet Location_127EAX27Q0007.pdf, Attachment D_MAP 1 Toilet Location_127EAX27Q0007.pdf). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Forest Service (Gila National Forest) is buying construction work under request for quotation (RFQ) 127EAX27Q0007, set aside for small businesses only. It wants five vault toilets demolished and three precast CXT toilets moved to new sites, plus two priced options. Quotes are due by email November 17, 2026, 12:00 PM Mountain Time, with a 20% bid bond. Work must be done within 90 calendar days of notice to proceed.
Who can bid
- Small business for NAICS 238910: this is a total small business set-aside, so only small businesses can bid.
- Bid bond of 20% submitted with the quote.
- Active SAM.gov registration (System for Award Management).
How to submit: Email only to Melissa Heckenlaible, Contract Specialist, melissa.heckenlaible@usda.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (12)
From the version posted Oct 22, 2026.
- Serious: Small business set-aside. Only small businesses can bid; larger firms cannot send a quote.
- Serious: 20% bid bond required with the quote. A bid bond is a surety company's guarantee backing your quote. Getting one at 20% can take time and credit, and a quote without it may be rejected.
- Serious: Performance and payment bonds clause checked. The solicitation checks the construction performance and payment bonds clause, and the form's yes/no boxes for bonds couldn't be read. Check item 12a on the SF 1442 on SAM.gov. What the 20% is a percentage of isn't stated.
Show all 12Show fewer
- Serious: All items and both options must be priced. Leaving any line blank, including optional items 4 and 7, can get the quote treated as non-responsive or excluded.
- Worth checking: No site visit; eight sites spread across the forest. There is no scheduled site visit. Bidders must work from photos, GPS coordinates and maps (Attachments D and E are scanned maps that were attached but not read). Travel between sites affects your price.
- Worth checking: Davis-Bacon wage rates apply. This is construction, so the Davis-Bacon Act applies: you must pay at least the wage rates in the wage determination (Attachment F) and keep payroll records.
- Worth checking: Heavy lifting and hauling, permits on the contractor. Each relocated CXT building weighs about 26,000 lb and each vault about 17,000 lb. You need a rated crane, trucking and any oversize or overweight permits and escorts at your cost.
- Worth checking: Statement of work says three toilets to demolish; other documents say five. The statement of work's scope paragraph says three, while the notice and SF 1442 say five and its Table 1 lists six (five base plus the option). Ask the contracting officer to confirm.
- Worth checking: Item 8 priced per square yard with no quantity given. The schedule prices the concrete slabs per square yard, but no quantity is listed. The slab size also differs between documents (5 feet wide in the schedule, 5 feet 4 inches in the statement of work).
- Minor: No utilities at the project sites. You must supply your own power, water and anything else the work needs at remote sites.
- Minor: Wage determination number differs from its file name. The wage determination file is named NM20260019, but its text shows General Decision Number NM20260012. Ask the contracting officer which one governs.
- Minor: Photos attachment shows a different solicitation number. The photos file is headed 127EAX26Q0093, not this solicitation's number. The statement of work also calls the photos Attachment B, while the file list calls them Attachment C.
Read from the notice and 6 attachments. 2 of 8 not read. Show which files.
- 127EAX27Q0007_Gila Toilet Decommissioning.pdf (read)
- Attachment A_SOW_Gila NF Toilet Decommissioning.pdf (read)
- Attachment G_Sustainable Products links and information .pdf (read)
- Attachment B_SOI_127EAX27Q0007.pdf (read)
- Attachment C_Photos_127EAX27Q0007.pdf (read)
- Attachment F_Wage Determination_NM20260019 5.18.2026_127EAX27Q0007.pdf (read)
- Attachment E_MAP 2 Toilet Location_127EAX27Q0007.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment D_MAP 1 Toilet Location_127EAX27Q0007.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Demolish five existing vault toilets (base items 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6) at Bighorn Campground, Gomez Peak, Little Walnut Day Use, Kingston Campground and Emory Pass Heliport: pump out the vault, remove the building, break down the vault top, backfill and grade.
- Decommission and relocate three CXT (precast concrete) vault toilets: San Fran Hot Springs to Bighorn Campground, Mogollon to Gomez Peak, and Lower Gallinas Campground to Little Walnut Day Use Area. Each building weighs about 26,000 lb and each vault about 17,000 lb.
- Remove concrete sidewalk at San Fran Hot Springs and 5- 5'x 5' sections of concrete sidewalk at Gomez Peak.
- Item 8: build a 4-inch-thick concrete slab with a "Van Horn Roll" edge at each of the 3 relocated CXT toilets. The schedule prices this item per square yard (SY).
- Option item 4: demolish the Head of Ditch Campground North toilet, then buy and install a new CXT Gunnison style toilet (brand name or equal) at that campground.
- Option item 7: buy one new CXT Gunnison style toilet (brand name or equal) and deliver it to the Fort Bayard Administrative Site. Delivery only, no installation; the contractor unloads it.
- Supply all materials, labor, equipment and utilities (none are available at the sites), fence the work areas and excavations, and handle traffic controls, crane lifts, transport permits and any escort vehicles.
- Give the contracting officer's representative (COR), Logan Ross, Forest Engineer, before and after photos of each site, waste disposal records and any concrete batch tickets.
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP): one set price, whatever the work ends up costing. One award is planned; the schedule lists each item as a lump sum (LS) except item 8 (SY)
- Period of performance
- Start within 10 calendar days after receiving the notice to proceed; all work ready for use within 90 calendar days after notice to proceed, including final cleanup. No option years; options 4 and 7 are priced line items
- Place of performance
- Various sites in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico (SAM.gov lists Silver City, NM). The statement of work lists each site by GPS coordinates; option item 7 delivers to the Fort Bayard Administrative Site, about 13 miles northeast of Silver City
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Best value without tradeoffs: the highest technically rated quote wins if its price is fair and reasonable and its past performance is acceptable or neutral. The lowest price does not automatically win
- Offers due
- November 17, 2026, 12:00 PM Mountain Time
- How to submit
- Email only to Melissa Heckenlaible, Contract Specialist, melissa.heckenlaible@usda.gov
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical Approach: ability to meet the statement of work schedule, company and worker history and experience in related work, planned personnel and subcontractors with their experience, safety plan, methods for demolishing, removing and relocating toilets, equipment to be used, and an explanation of any requirement that cannot be met
- Price: pricing for every line item including both options, checked to be fair and reasonable
- Past Performance: rated acceptable, neutral (no past performance record) or unacceptable, using references the bidder provides and sources such as CPARS (the government's contractor performance reports)
What to include when you submit
- Fully complete the offer section on the back of Standard Form 1442 (SF 1442): the form you sign and return as your offer for construction work.
- Include a bid bond of 20% with the quote package.
- Price every line item in Attachment B (Schedule of Items), including optional items 4 and 7, and fill in the totals. Prices must include all taxes.
- Technical approach must include: history and experience of the company and workers, personnel and subcontractors with their experience, a safety plan, methods for demolishing, removing and relocating units, equipment to be used, and an explanation of any requirement you cannot meet.
- Hold your prices firm for 90 calendar days after the response due date.
- Complete the representations and certifications in the listed provisions, or identify each by paragraph and give the information.
- Send questions by email with the solicitation name and number in the subject line.
After award, you must have
- Performance and payment bonds clause is checked in the solicitation; the winner may have to furnish these bonds (check item 12a of the SF 1442). From 127EAX27Q0007_Gila Toilet Decommissioning.pdf:
52.228-15 Performance and Payment Bonds-Construction (Jun 2020)
- Use a licensed and permitted septage hauler to pump out each vault and take the waste to an approved disposal or treatment facility. From Attachment A_SOW_Gila NF Toilet Decommissioning.pdf:
Pump the entire contents of the vault using a licensed and permitted septage hauler.
Not in the notice text
- Attachments D (Map 1) and E (Map 2), the toilet location maps, are attached but not read; the statement of work gives each site's GPS coordinates.
- The Government's estimate or budget for this work is not stated.
- What the 20% bid bond is a percentage of is not stated, and the form's bond yes/no boxes couldn't be read; check item 12a on the SF 1442 on SAM.gov.
- Page limits for the quote, and how many past performance references to send or how recent they must be, are not stated.
- Which county each site is in is not stated; the wage determination lists De Baca, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Roosevelt, Sierra and Socorro counties.
- The quantity of concrete for item 8 (priced per square yard) is not given.
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 238910
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email only to Melissa Heckenlaible, Contract Specialist, melissa.heckenlaible@usda.gov. 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
- Oct 22, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Gila National Forest, Silver City, NM
- Product/service code
- Z2PZ · Repair or Alteration of Other Non-Building Facilities
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 238910)
- 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
Commercial Construction Requirement Furnish all materials, labor, equipment, supervision, tools, and utilities required to perform operations necessary to (A) demolish five existing vault toilets and to (B) decommission and then relocate three other CXT® style vault toilets. There is one option item that includes the demolition of one single user Romtec® vault toilet and the procurement and installation of a new CXT® “Gunnison” single user vault toilet. A second option is to procure a toilet and have it delivered but with no installation.