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Solicitation Number: 2012-0110

Notice Type: Sources Sought

Synopsis: Added: Jan 13, 2012 2:17 pm


This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The purpose of this Notice is to identify potential sources that may be interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. The NHTSA welcomes Corporate Capability Statements from all individuals and organizations. The NHTSA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted or NHTSA's use of such information. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of NHTSA's evaluation of the information received. As a result of this Notice, the NHTSA may issue a Request for Proposals (RFP). However, should such a requirement fail to materialize, no basis for claims against the NHTSA shall arise as a result of a response to this Notice.


The purpose of this research is to develop procedures to assess technologies that prevent or delay fire penetration into the occupant compartment, in order to increase passenger evacuation time, through the following means:


聞 Detection/Warning

聞 Suppression/Extinguishment

聞 Flammability/Fire-hardening of Exterior Materials

The overall objective of this effort is to develop and document repeatable vehicle level performance test procedures to assess the single and combined effects of fire attenuation (i.e., hardening), detection, and suppression in motor coaches, and demonstrate the efficacy of these procedures to assess current and future fire safety technologies. The tests and criteria may be used by NHTSA to objectively measure and compare safety performance of vehicles equipped with the fire mitigation technologies to unequipped vehicles. The tests should be developed at the vehicle level when possible and component level when necessary, with detailed documentation to support this distinction.

The contractor shall:

聞 Develop objective test procedures and metrics for evaluating:

賓 Representative fire initiation/propagation scenario profiles and countermeasures

賓 Fire detection and warning systems for engine and wheel well fires. Detection and warning systems may be located inside or outside the occupant compartment.

賓 Fire suppression and/or extinguishment systems for fires originating outside the occupant compartment.

賓 As an optional requirement, develop objective test procedures for evaluating fire hardening capabilities of exterior and separating materials and firewalls for fires originating outside the occupant compartment. Fire hardening may delay fire spread, allowing more time for detection and suppression systems to activate.

聞 Conduct meetings and conference calls.

聞 Prepare and submit reports in accordance with contract requirements.

The contractor should develop matrices to demonstrate their test procedures and proposed criteria to evaluate the following countermeasures:

聞 4 - 10 fire detection/warning technologies

聞 3 - 5 fire suppression systems, with a minimum of one for wheel well fires, one for engine compartment fires, two automatically and/or remotely deployed

聞 A minimum of 3 detection and 3 suppression demonstration tests each will be conducted utilizing a motor coach as the test platform. The motor coach may/will be refurbished between tests such that it can be used again for additional testing

聞 Full scale dynamic testing in a running motor coach on a test track of one or more of the countermeasure technologies demonstrated is desirable but not mandatory

聞 Bench top, purpose built test fixtures may be utilized as appropriate for testing and demonstration

Format of Corporate Capabilities Statement:

Any interested organizations should submit the Corporate Capability Statement which demonstrates the firm's ability and interest in no more than 10 pages to perform the key requirements described above. All proprietary information should be marked as such.

All respondents are asked to indicate the type and size of their business organization, e.g., Large business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned-Business, 8(A), Historically Black College or University/Minority Institution (HBCU/MI), educational institution, profit/non-profit organization, in their response. Interested offerors shall respond to this Sources Sought Notice no later than 15 calendar days from date of posting. E-mail is the preferred method when receiving responses to this Notice.

Contracting Office Address:

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, District of Columbia 20590

Place of Performance:

Washington, District of Columbia
United States

Primary Point of Contact.:


Lloyd S. Blackwell

lloyd.blackwell@nhtsa.dot.gov

Phone: 202-366-9564