The Department of Veterans Affairs has put out a pre-solicitation notice for Project 561-26-104 at the East Orange VA Medical Center — fixing operating room and bathroom leaks — ahead of a full solicitation it expects to post on SAM.gov on or about October 19, 2026. That means the bid documents and drawings are not out yet. The notice lists a response date of November 4, but the VA says the real deadline will be set in the solicitation itself, so treat November 4 as a placeholder until the actual package shows up.
This is set up as a sole-category job: 100% set aside for SBA-certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses — meaning only firms the Small Business Administration has certified as owned and controlled by a veteran with a service-connected disability can bid. If your shop isn't already SBA-certified SDVOSB, there's no path onto this one; that's not something you can sort out after the bid opens. The posting falls under NAICS code 236220, the federal classification for commercial and institutional building construction, with a size standard of $45.0 million — meaning a company has to stay under that size threshold to qualify as "small" under this code.
The work itself: demolition, plumbing changes, wall-hung toilets, tile and finish work, roughly 1,600 square feet of resinous flooring with integral cove base, substrate prep and moisture testing, plus the mechanical, electrical and plumbing changes that go with it. There's infection-control containment and restoration work too, since this sits above a sterile area in a working hospital — expect the real solicitation to spell out phased work and after-hours restrictions. The magnitude is listed between $100,000 and $250,000, with 99 calendar days to finish once notice to proceed is issued.
For a plumbing, flooring or tile contractor who already holds SDVOSB certification, this is a small, defined scope worth tracking — but there's nothing to actually bid yet. For everyone else, this is a reminder of what gets you shut out before the numbers even come out.
Next step: if you're SBA-certified SDVOSB, watch SAM.gov starting around October 19 for the actual solicitation, drawings and specs, and confirm the real response date when it posts — don't rely on November 4. If you're not certified, this one isn't yours to chase.
On the record: Z2DA--561-26-104 Repair Operating Room (OR) & Bathroom Leaks, issued by VETERANS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF. Solicitation 36C24226R0128. Bids are due November 4, 2026. The listing on SAM.gov (Federal): https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/6bed725316924079b59d1f5bb80be87a/view. Full record on The RFI Wire's board: https://therfiwire.com/rfi/RFI-003150.html.