Link: GAO Decision
Protestor: Dellew Corporation
Agency: Department of the Army
Disposition: Protest Denied.
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GAO Digest:
Protest that terms of solicitation for logistical support failed to provide adequate workload data on which offerors could base their proposals is denied where the solicitation’s provision of notional equipment density, percentages of equipment types, and key staffing positions by installation was sufficient information on which offerors could compete intelligently and on a relatively equal basis.
General Counsel PC Highlight:
Dellew Corporation protested the terms of an RFP for integrated logistics support services (ILSS-2) in three regions: Afghanistan, the Pacific, and CONUS East. The Pacific region was a small business set-aside, and was the only aspect of the RFP protested by Dellew. The solicitation included both fixed-price (FFP) and cost-reimbursable (CPFF) CLINs. Offerors were to prepare their offers using provided program workload data for each type of work at each installation, expressed as density, with percentages for each commodity type. Dellew’s requests for historical data and other additional information were denied, on the grounds that such data either was not available or would present an unacceptable operational security risk.
The GAO found that Dellew had not established that the solicitation failed to include adequate information for preparing a proposal. It pointed out that, due to the fluctuating density and location of equipment due to policy decisions and unit deployments, actual workload data was obsolete before the solicitation was issued. Furthermore, the notional data provided was reasonably related to likely workload and, when combined with the other provisions and data provided in the solicitation, furnished offerors an adequate basis for preparing their proposals with undue risk. The GAO noted that the agency received 8 offers, 4 of which were deemed technically acceptable, and none of which indicated that the offeror viewed the specifications as inadequate.
Agencies are required to give sufficient detail in a solicitation to enable offerors to compete intelligently and on a relatively equal basis. If offerors are to base their proposals off of estimate quantities, the agency must base its estimates on the best information available. However, offerors must remember that, for security reasons, historical data may not be available to offerors, or may be restricted in its distribution.