Maintenance and Repair for Thermo Fisher DNA instruments

Department information –

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Forensic Laboratory is a full service forensic laboratory serving the cities and unincorporated areas within the County of San Mateo. One of the services provided by the laboratory is forensic DNA analysis. In the DNA Unit, there are multiple instruments that are used within the laboratory to extract DNA, to analyze DNA, and to develop DNA profiles. To ensure uninterrupted operations, optimal performance, and to prevent major breakdowns before they happen, the laboratory requires instruments to receive annual or biannual preventative maintenance. In addition, in the event of a malfunction or breakage, the laboratory needs to have a service contract in place for emergency repairs.

Scope of Work

The Contractor shall provide scheduled annual preventative maintenance and service coverage for repair to include the following:

1. Parts, labor, and travel for remedial repair.
2. Planned annual or biannual preventative maintenance (PM) visit(s).
3. Guaranteed priority response time of 3 business days or less after receipt of a service call.
4. Priority telephone and email access to instrument technical support.
5. Telephone and email access to application technical support.

All services must be performed by qualified technicians. The Contractor is responsible for providing all tools, equipment and materials necessary to complete the work. Services must be scheduled in coordination with laboratory staff to minimize disruptions. Once the services are complete, the Contractor must submit all documentation including service reports within five business days. In addition, technicians will be asked to provide a DNA reference sample for quality control purposes to identify possible contamination.

The instruments requiring a service contract with scheduled annual preventative maintenance as well as annual service coverage for repair are:

Two 3500 Genetic Analyzers (One PM annually)

Two Nimbus HID NPI (Two PMs annually)

Two Kingfisher Presto 96 DW (One PM annually)

One QuantStudio 5, 0.2ML block (One PM annually)

One 7500 Real time PCR System (One PM annually)

This may be a line item award in which more than one vendor may be selected.

Because DNA casework relies on these instruments, a quick response from a repair technician is essential. Additionally, these instruments require calibration in intervals specified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) for DNA analysis. In order to not only ensure that our DNA instruments run as efficiently and as accurately as possible, the DNA Unit is required to follow the QAS in order to continue participation in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).