Doing Business With The Park

NPS PURCHASING AND CONTRACTING OVERVIEW

The National Park Service (NPS) administers the 385 areas contained in the National Park System. There are three principal categories of parks: natural areas, historical areas, and recreational areas. The 270 million visitors annually to the national parks make a significant contribution to the economy of the nation. The principal economic beneficiaries of this enormous visitation are vendors in the food, lodging, and travel businesses. Other local and national firms benefit by providing services or supplies required for operating, maintinaing and sustaining individual parks and the entire National Park Service. (Click here for a list of many commodities and services purchased by NPS.)

The NPS spends approximately $300-$400 million annually for goods and services acquired under contract. Over 90 percent of these contracts are awarded to small businesses. The majority of the procurement dollars is spent in the area of construction. The remainder is spent for information technology hardware, software and services; maintenance services; professional services (including architect and engineer services); and heavy equipment and various other supply type items.

Each contracting activity is governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations and the Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulations (Title 48, Code of Federal Regulations), the Federal Property Management Regulations (Title 41, Code of Federal Regulations), and various other Agency regulations. These regulations govern procurement planning and requirements analysis, required sources of supply, equipment replacement (use) standards, solicitation procedures, evaluations and award processes, contract administration and close out procedures, etc.

Proposed procurements in excess of $25,000 are advertised on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) web site. As part of the E-Government Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) initiative throughout the Federal Government, all vendors must be registered on the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) web site (see notice below). National Park Service solicitations are posted electronically at the DOI National Business Center.

Important Notice for All Government Contractors:

As of 10/01/2003, vendors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration system in order to receive new contract awards (including purchase orders). As a security precaution, vendors must register themselves through the on-line CCR system.

Vendors will never be asked by Government officials to submit this data directly to them nor to provide Taxpayer Identification Number (TPIN or TIN) number. If asked to provide or confirm CCR registration data by mail, email, phone or fax, please do not do so, even if the request is made on official letterhead. Requests to provide data outside the on-line system are part of a scheme to defraud contractors by obtaining bank account information. Report such attempts promptly to the Department of Transportation Inspector General hotline at 1-800-424-9071.

To contact our Purchasing and Contracting Department:

By Mail
San Juan National Historic Site
501 Norzagaray Street
San Juan, PR 00901

By Email
Purchasing Department - San Juan NHS

By Phone
Headquarters
787-729-6777

Visitor Information
787-729-6960

Maintenance
787-729-6791

By Fax
787-289-7972