Solicitation
Geotechnical Architecture and Engineer Services in
Department of the Interior
AI summaryStep one of solicitation 140SS127R0001 is a qualifications package; only the most highly qualified firms are later interviewed. The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) wants architect-engineer (A-E) firms to send a Standard Form 330 (SF 330, the A-E qualifications form) by the response due date: November 21, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern on SAM.gov, or 2:00 PM Mountain Time in the announcement. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a $10,000,000 ceiling for geotechnical and engineering work at abandoned coal mine sites, mostly in Washington State. The firm must be located within 45 miles of Seattle, and the work is open to all businesses, large and small. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 23, 2026. It moves the due date from Nov 6, 2026 to Nov 21, 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: 1 of 5 attachments weren't read (PRE-PROPSAL_SIGN_IN_POLLYANNA_0001.pdf). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Step one of solicitation 140SS127R0001 is a qualifications package; only the most highly qualified firms are later interviewed. The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) wants architect-engineer (A-E) firms to send a Standard Form 330 (SF 330, the A-E qualifications form) by the response due date: November 21, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern on SAM.gov, or 2:00 PM Mountain Time in the announcement. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a $10,000,000 ceiling for geotechnical and engineering work at abandoned coal mine sites, mostly in Washington State. The firm must be located within 45 miles of Seattle, and the work is open to all businesses, large and small.
Who can bid (4)
- Geotechnical engineering firm located within 45 miles of Seattle, Washington
- Open to all businesses regardless of size; no set-aside
- Active registration in SAM.gov with a UEI for firms located in the United States
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- Large businesses must give a Small Business Subcontracting Plan if selected
How to submit: Email the SF 330 to Cathy Boulware at cboulware@ios.doi.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
From the version posted Oct 23, 2026.
- Serious: Firm must be within 45 miles of Seattle. The background section asks for a geotechnical engineering firm located within 45 miles of Seattle, which shuts out firms based elsewhere unless they have a Seattle-area office.
- Serious: Interviews only for the most highly qualified firms. This step is the SF 330 submission; only firms the selection board rates most highly qualified are interviewed, and no interview dates are given.
- Worth checking: Contract period shown with three different sets of dates. The announcement says a five-year term beginning February 2027, while Amendment 0002 shows 02/04/2026 to 02/03/2031 and Amendment 0001 shows 01/19/2027 to 07/18/2028; none says it replaces the others.
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- Worth checking: A prime may not also be a subcontractor on another team. A firm proposing as a prime cannot use a subcontractor that is also proposing as a prime, which limits teaming choices.
- Worth checking: 48-hour response after notice to proceed. The firm must start required site services within 48 hours of the notice to proceed, so staff and equipment must be ready near the sites.
- Minor: Strict SF 330 limits. Part I may not exceed 75 pages and only ten projects are reviewed, so the form must be tightly built.
- Minor: Questions due November 12, 2026. Questions go in writing by email only; phone calls and personal visits are not allowed.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. 1 of 5 not read. Show which files.
- Sol_140SS127R0001_Amd_0002.pdf (read)
- ANNOUNCEMENT_IDIQ_AML140SS127R0001_0002.pdf (read)
- Sol_140SS127R0001_Amd_0001.pdf (read)
- Sol_140SS127R0001.pdf (read)
- PRE-PROPSAL_SIGN_IN_POLLYANNA_0001.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Geotechnical site investigations of abandoned mine land (AML) hazards: measurements, photos, GPS points, mine gas sampling, historic mine map research, and exploratory drilling or excavation, written up in reports
- Reclamation plans and specifications to fix the hazards, with design alternatives, cost estimates, construction schedules and bid schedules, sealed by a professional engineer registered in the project state
- Support for environmental permits, and attendance at pre-bid, coordination and pre-construction meetings
- Daily on-site monitoring of construction, with daily field forms and a final walk-through with the landowner
- Final construction reports with photos, tables and shapefiles
- AML inventories and monitoring of past reclamation projects, each with a report
- Respond to required site services within 48 hours of receiving a notice to proceed (NTP) from the contracting officer
- Contract type
- Indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) with negotiated firm-fixed-price task orders; selection by qualifications under the Brooks Act, not competitive bidding
- Period of performance
- Five-year ordering period, anticipated to begin February 2027 in the announcement; Amendment 0002 lists 02/04/2026 to 02/03/2031 and Amendment 0001 lists 01/19/2027 to 07/18/2028
- Place of performance
- Projects throughout Washington, California, Oregon, Arizona, South Dakota and Idaho, and on Reservation Lands affected by historic coal mining; the bulk of services will be in Washington State
- Estimated value
- Ceiling of $10,000,000 for all task orders; one-time minimum guarantee of $15,000; individual task orders will not exceed $5,000,000
- How they'll choose
- Qualifications-based selection under the Brooks Act (Public Law 92-582) and FAR Part 36: firms are chosen on professional qualifications, not on price. Interviews are held only with the firms found most highly qualified.
- Offers due
- November 21, 2026, 2:00 PM Eastern on SAM.gov; the announcement says 2:00 PM Mountain Time
- How to submit
- Email the SF 330 to Cathy Boulware at cboulware@ios.doi.gov
- Page limits
- SF 330 Part I: 75 pages. Resumes in Section E and example projects in Section F: one page each.
What they'll judge offers on
- Professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of the required services
- Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required
- Capacity to accomplish the work in the required time
- Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry: cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules
- Location in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of the locality
What to include when you submit
- Use the SF 330 edition dated 09/30/2029 and put your unique entity identifier (UEI) in Block 5 of Part I, Section B
- List a maximum of ten projects, including those of the prime and its consultants, in Part I, Section F
- An IDIQ or other indefinite delivery contract is not an example project; a task order under it is
- Indicate in Section C.11 if the prime has worked with the team members in the past five years
- In Block G-26, give each person's name and the firm the person is associated with
- Include a Part II for each branch office of the prime and for each subcontractor with a key role
- A prime may not have a subcontractor who is also proposing as a prime
- Large businesses must state the planned small business share of the total estimated subcontracted effort; the subcontracting plan itself is not needed with the first SF 330
- Send questions in writing only to the contact by November 12, 2026
After award, you must have
- Final specifications bear the seal and signature of a professional engineer registered in the project state From ANNOUNCEMENT_IDIQ_AML140SS127R0001_0002.pdf:
The contractor will approve final specifications and bear the seal and signature of a professional engineer registered in the project state.
Not in the notice text
- The SAM.gov set-aside field says not stated; the announcement says the work is unrestricted and open to all businesses
- SAM.gov lists no place of performance; the announcement lists several states
- Amendment 0001 mentions a pre-proposal site visit sign-in sheet and Amendment 0002 says an attached sign-in sheet was attached in error; that scanned PDF was attached but not read, and no site visit date is given
- The announcement says it may award to one or more offerors but does not say how many awards are planned
- Interview dates and the date of award are not given
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: Email the SF 330 to Cathy Boulware at cboulware@ios.doi.gov. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Architect-engineer services tied to buildings or construction are usually bought under the Brooks Act: the agency ranks firms on qualifications from an SF 330 first, then negotiates a price with the top firm. How A/E contracts work.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 22, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Osm Contracting Activity, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- C213 · Architect and Engineering – General: Inspection (Non-Construction)
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541330)
- Versions
3 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 23, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 21, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 22, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 6, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 21, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 21, 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
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