Solicitation
Project Number 657-507, Correct Seismic Deficiencies for Building 14, Marion VAMC, Illinois Construction of New Boiler Plant and Demolition of Existing
Department of Veterans Affairs
AI summarySolicitation 36C10F26R0085 is set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs): only SDVOSBs can bid. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wants a new boiler plant built and the old one demolished at the Marion VA Medical Center in Illinois. It is a design-bid-build job (the VA supplies the plans; you build to them) with one firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) contract and 730 calendar days to finish. The response due date is November 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 12 attachments weren't read (S04 - Site Visit Sign in Sheet.pdf, S02 - 657-507_VA Marion Seism Defics_Bid Drawings 09-30-2026.pdf). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Solicitation 36C10F26R0085 is set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs): only SDVOSBs can bid. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wants a new boiler plant built and the old one demolished at the Marion VA Medical Center in Illinois. It is a design-bid-build job (the VA supplies the plans; you build to them) with one firm-fixed-price (FFP: one set price, whatever the work ends up costing) contract and 730 calendar days to finish. The response due date is November 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid (4)
- Service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB). The solicitation includes VAAR 852.219-74, the VA notice of a total set-aside for certified veteran-owned small businesses.
- Small under the size standard for NAICS 236220 (construction of commercial and institutional buildings), which is $45M.
- Comply with the VA limitations on subcontracting clause (VAAR 852.219-75), which limits how much of the work a prime can pass to firms that are not SDVOSBs. The percentages are in the clause text, which was not read.
Show all 4Show fewer
- Bid guarantee (a bond or other security sent with the offer) and performance and payment bonds may be required. The solicitation has a bid guarantee clause (FAR 52.228-1) and a section on bonds; whether and how much are in parts not read.
Things to watch (9)
From the version posted Oct 22, 2026.
- Serious: SDVOSB set-aside: only service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses can bid. A business without service-disabled veteran-owned small business status cannot send an offer; the clause list also names a notice for certified veteran-owned firms.
- Serious: Large job with bonding likely: $20M to $50M. The VA puts the job between $20,000,000 and $50,000,000, and the solicitation has a bid guarantee clause and a bonding section, so a surety (bonding company) must back a bidder; the exact bond terms were not read.
- Worth checking: Subcontracting limit applies to the prime. A prime SDVOSB must keep a minimum share of the work in-house, so a bidder planning to subcontract most of the work could break the rule; the percentage is in the clause, which was not read.
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- Worth checking: The site visit was Oct 20, 2026. Check the notice and its amendments for whether attendance was required, and whether another visit is offered.
- Worth checking: Work in a working hospital: set hours and phased work. Work happens 7:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday unless the VA approves otherwise, with phasing set by the plans, so crews and schedules must fit around hospital operations.
- Worth checking: Demolition includes hazardous materials. The 1940 plant must be torn down with hazardous construction materials handled; the specifications list asbestos abatement and lead-based paint removal sections, which add cost and specialist subcontractors.
- Minor: Davis-Bacon wage rates apply. A Davis-Bacon general wage decision (minimum pay set by the Department of Labor for construction workers) is attached, so labor costs must be priced at those rates; check which county's rates cover the Marion site.
- Minor: Historic site: recording of Building 14 must finish before work starts. The plant is part of a historic district, and an agreement with the Illinois historic preservation office says historic documentation fieldwork must take place before the project may start; the VA arranges that documentation.
- Minor: Two deductive alternates must be priced. The price schedule asks for a dollar amount for each alternate on top of the single job price, so leaving one blank could make the offer incomplete.
Read from the notice and 10 attachments. 2 of 12 not read. Show which files.
- Instructions for 20 OCT 2026 B14 Site Visit.docx (read)
- S02 - 36C10F26R0085 0001.pdf (read)
- S02 - 36C10F26R0085_1.pdf (read)
- S04 - Site Visit Roster.pdf (read)
- S02 - 657-507_VA Marion SeisDefic_Final Bid Specs 9-1-2026.pdf (read)
- 657-507_Marrion_CorrectSeisDef - Appendix-HAZMAT 1.pdf (read)
- 657-507_Marion_CorrectSeisDef - Appendix - SHPO MOA 1.pdf (read)
- 657-507_Marion_CorrectSeisDef - Appendix - Geotech Report 1.pdf (read)
- 657-507_Marion_CorrectSeisDef - Appendix - Geotech Report GMHA Seismic Report 1.pdf (read)
- 657-507_Marion_CorrectSeisDef - Appendix - Geologic Hazards Report 1.pdf (read)
- S04 - Site Visit Sign in Sheet.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- S02 - 657-507_VA Marion Seism Defics_Bid Drawings 09-30-2026.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Build a new boiler plant (Building 14) of about 10,310 square feet over three floors including a basement, with three new 250 horsepower gas-fired firetube boilers and a fuel oil backup and storage system.
- Prepare the new site of about 0.7 acres: earthwork, parking lot, security fencing and vehicle gates, an exterior fuel oil tank yard, utility changes, roadway realignment and steam tunnel work.
- Install all building systems: mechanical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), electrical with a diesel generator, plumbing including a pumping and monitoring system for the campus water tower, controls and IT, sprinklers and fire alarms.
- Start up and commission all new plant systems, then cut over utility services from the existing plant to the new one.
- Demolish and haul away the existing plant of about 6,200 square feet, including mitigation of hazardous construction materials, and turn its footprint back to green space.
- Price two deductive alternates (amounts subtracted from the base price if the VA chooses them): deleting asphalt replacement on East Periphery Drive, and removing the maintenance garage and shop space addition.
- Before construction starts, send the construction schedule, an accident prevention plan and a contractor quality control plan for written approval. Send shop drawings for approval before ordering any equipment or materials.
- During construction: attend a daily meeting with the contracting officer's representative (COR), send a daily report (VA Form 6131 or an approved equivalent), and request shutdowns, lift plans and confined space entries in writing at least 21 days ahead.
- Contract type
- Firm-fixed-price (FFP), design-bid-build; one contract will be awarded
- Period of performance
- 730 calendar days (24 months) from the notice to proceed
- Place of performance
- On the grounds of the VA Medical Center, 2401 W Main St, Marion, IL 62959
- Estimated value
- Between $20,000,000 and $50,000,000 (the VA's estimated magnitude of construction for this project)
- Offers due
- November 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern
What to include when you submit
- Complete the Standard Form 1442 (SF 1442): the construction offer form you sign and return as your offer.
- Price item 0001 (QTY 1.00 JB, a job) and fill in the amounts for the two deductive alternates on the price schedule.
- Acknowledge Amendment 0001, dated October 22, 2026, on the offer form (item 19 lists amendments).
- Send any requests for information by October 30, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern.
After award, you must have
- Contractor employees need VA authorization, up to and including security badging through the Marion VAMC Police Department, before entering the site. From S02 - 36C10F26R0085_1.pdf:
…authorization from the VAMC Engineering Service (up to and including the issuing of…
Not in the notice text
- Attached but not read in full: the proposal submission instructions, basis of award and evaluation criteria are in the middle of S02 - 36C10F26R0085_1.pdf (39,572 of 303,963 characters read). The bid drawings (S02 - 657-507_VA Marion Seism Defics_Bid Drawings 09-30-2026.pdf) were too large to read, and the scanned site visit sign-in sheet had no readable text.
- How the award is decided, the evaluation factors and where or how to send the offer are not in the text read; check the instructions in S02 - 36C10F26R0085_1.pdf on SAM.gov.
- Whether a bid guarantee and performance and payment bonds are required, and in what amounts and by when, is not clear: the form's checkboxes couldn't be read; check the SF 1442 and the bonding section on SAM.gov.
- Whether attendance at the October 20, 2026 site visit was required is not stated in the text read.
- The share of the work the prime must perform itself under the limitations on subcontracting clause is not in the text read.
- The liquidated damages rate (money owed per day of late completion) and the notice to proceed date are not in the text read.
- Most of the specifications (S02 - 657-507_VA Marion SeisDefic_Final Bid Specs 9-1-2026.pdf, 19,786 of 998,551 characters read) and the appendix reports were only partly read.
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 236220
- How and where to submit is in the notice text and its attachments on SAM.gov.
- 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
- Office of Construction & Facilities MGMT (36C10F), Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- Y1DZ · Construction of Other Hospital Buildings
- Business type
- Construction & renovation (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 236220)
- Versions
4 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2026 · Amendment 0003 (this version)Due Nov 6, 2026
- Oct 19, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 6, 2026
- Oct 8, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 6, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 7, 2026 · SolicitationDue Oct 6, 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
The Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) has a need to improve seismic conditions at the Marion VAMC in Illinois. The contractor shall provide all planning, labor, materials, equipment, supervision and expertise required for the complete construction of the new boiler plant (Building 14) as well as the demolition and removal of the existing plant, both of which reside on the grounds of the VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Marion, IL. The contractor shall refer to the Project #657-507, Correct Seismic Deficiencies B14 plans and specifications for details on all requirements of construction. All work will be performed in accordance with this SOW, the project documents as well as all applicable local, State, Federal and VA codes and standards. 19 OCT 2026 The purpose of this update is to add directions for the 20 OCT 2026 site visit. See attached strip map word doc 22 OCT 2026 This purpose of this update is to post the Amendment 36C10F26R0085 0001 for posting the site visit roster and sign in sheets.
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