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AQM Incident Procurement Vendors
Welcome commercial vendors! Are you currently under contract or interested in doing business with us? Use this portal as your one-stop shop for getting things done. Click on the “How to Sign Up” link if you are new to doing incident business with us. Click on the “Current Vendors” link if you are already under contract or responding to a solicitation from us.
Interested in doing business with the Forest Service?
Here are the basics of what is needed to become compliant with Government regulations and interact with our systems.
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Obtain an eMail Address:
If you don’t already have one, obtain a valid email address. You can obtain one from your internet service provider (ISP) or you can use one of the many free services available on the web. A valid email address is required to register with DUNS, CCR, and eAuthentication.
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Obtain a D-U-N-S® Number:
The Data Universal Number System code is required by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR 52.204-6) and you must have this before registering in the CCR. Register online at D&B DUNS Number site for government contractors.
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Obtain an IRS TIN:
For Invoicing, payment, and tax purposes you must have a Taxpayer Identification Number as required by the IRS. For privacy and security purposes, we recommend that you do not use your Social Security Number (SSN).
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Register with CCR:
In order to do business with the Federal Government (as required by FAR 4.11), you must register in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). You are required to validate and update CCR once per year.
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Register with the Contractor Performance System (CPS):
Contractor performance evaluations will be entered in the National Institutes of Health Contractor Performance System (NIH-CPS). In order to review and respond to your performance evaluations, you will need to register in CPS. To register, go to http://cps.od.nih.gov; once there, click on "Contractor Information" tab and follow the links/instructions.
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Register for a USDA eAuthentication account:
The individual from your company who will be signing your preseason incident agreement with the Forest Service must obtain a Level 2 eAuthentication account in order to transact business with the government.
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Register at FedBizOpps and watch for business opportunities:
Every competitive solicitation we offer is first posted to FBO. It provides you with government wide business opportunities. Every solicitation is different, so read them carefully for instructions on how to submit your bids or proposals.
Are you already doing business with us?
Major efforts are underway to simplify and streamline our systems to make it easier to work with us and to provide more efficient processing of payments. Until those efforts are completed, the steps below should help you navigate the current mix of systems.
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Aviation Contractors:
Anyone currently under contract for aviation services can work directly with your contracting officer or contracting officer’s representative (COR). For invoicing and payment purposes, you must use your eAuthentication account to access the Aviation Business System (ABS).
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Equipment Contractors:
Eventually, all preseason incident agreements will be administered in the Virtual Incident Procurement system, or VIPR. Please visit the VIPR Web site for more information. Until the agreements are awarded in VIPR, please work directly with the local Contracting Officer who is shown on your agreement form.
Future Plans
The Forest Service AQM staff is working hard to standardize the procurement process across all Regions and encourage open competition for all who participate. Efforts include a National Competitive Solicitation Plan which specifies when each type of equipment or service is scheduled to be competed with national standard specifications and a new process for Contractor Performance Evaluations.
New Systems
We are making major investments in new technology and systems which will make processing solicitations and awards more streamlined and secure. You can keep up with our progress by visiting the Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) project.
Announcements
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2010 Draft Solicitation Templates Available for Review
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The Forest Service is requesting industry input regarding the technical specifications on three (3) solicitations that are scheduled to be issued for the 2010 fire season: Crew Carrier Buses, Heavy Equipment with Water, and Water Handling Equipment. For abbreviated versions of the templates, go to the FedBizOpps (FBO) Web site. In the upper-right hand side of the FBO page, click in the Quick Search box and type "VIPR I-BPA" to quickly find the templates. For full solicitation templates, click on the Solicitations link in the left menu bar of this Web page. Send your comments to vrdpist@fs.fed.us by May 1, 2009.
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VIPR 1.0 is here!
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The Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) system is now in production. Forest Service regions are issuing synopses and solicitations for equipment subject to competition in 2009. For information on the types of equipment for which the Forest Service will be soliciting this year check out the competitive solicitation plan.
The VIPR Vendor Solution user guide, as well as other valuable information for vendors, is available on the VIPR Vendor Support page. In addition, the Interagency Incident Systems Helpdesk is available to assist with the VIPR application and eAuthentication (see below) account issues such as password resets. The helpdesk is available by calling 1-866-224-7677 or by email at helpdesk@dms.nwcg.gov.
2007 & 2008 Incident Blanket Purchase Agreements (I-BPA) Are Now in VIPR 1.1!
If you have an existing 2007 or 2008 I-BPAs with the U.S. Forest Service, you may receive an
e-mail notice this spring from VIPR informing you that the Contracting Officer for your agreement has issued a modification to the agreement. If you wish to continue doing business with the Forest Service under your agreement, you MUST respond to the modification.
Please note that during the process to migrate the 2007-2008 agreements into VIPR, VIPR had to make the following adjustments (these adjustments may not apply to you).
- If you had multiple agreements for the same solicitation, they were consolidated into one agreement in VIPR. You will need to compare your hardcopy agreements with the modification package you receive in the e-mail message from VIPR.
- If you had multiple sets of information in the different source data sets (EaTIS, CBA, etc.) that were migrated into VIPR, one set of data was chosen for use in VIPR. When responding to the roll-over modification, you can update any incorrect information, except you cannot change the following:
- DUNS number cannot be changed on your Vendor Company Information form.
- Small Business Status check boxes cannot be changed on your Vendor Company Information form.
- Dispatch Center assigned to a resource cannot be changed on any of your resource data entry forms.
- VIN/Serial Number/Equipment ID or Unique Resource Descriptor fields, which are used to identify each resource, cannot be changed on any of your resource data entry forms.
For instructions on how to respond to a modified agreement, you can refer to Section 9, "Responding to a Modified Agreement," in the VIPR Vendor Solution User Guide.
- eAuthentication Level 2 Accounts
Starting in 2009, all vendors wishing to obtain a preseason incident agreement (either new or existing) with the Forest Service must use the new Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) application. Using VIPR will require that vendors obtain a Level 2 eAuthentication Account. Read more about VIPR Level 2 eAuth requirements. If you have entered into a preseason incident agreement with the Forest Service in the past, you should be receiving a letter in the near future from your local Contracting Officer about the new security requirements including eAuthentication. A Level 2 Instructions Guide is provided here for your reference. -
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