Dennis Marceron

B-270253 Feb 21, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Agency's interpretation of a solicitation provision setting forth minimum qualifications for the award of a contract to teach the German language to United States military linguists is reasonable where the agency's interpretation is consistent with the language of the solicitation when read as a whole. The protester's interpretation is not. The contractors are required to conduct seven German language courses (for a total of 1. A bidder: "[m]ust have taught [German] language at the intermediate or advanced level to English speakers for at least four years in a university. Each bid was reviewed by the agency to determine. Marceron did not have experience equivalent to that required by the IFB. View Decision Matter of: Dennis Marceron File: B-270253 Date: February 21, 1996 Agency's interpretation of a solicitation provision setting forth minimum qualifications for the award of a contract to teach the German language to United States military linguists is reasonable where the agency's interpretation is consistent with the language of the solicitation when read as a whole, and the protester's interpretation is not. Attorneys DECISION Dennis Marceron protests the award of a contract to Dr. Gundrun Richmond under invitation for bids (IFB) No. DAJA02-95-B-0149, issued by the Department of the Army for German language instructor services at the Foreign Language Training Center (FLTC) in Garmisch, Germany. Mr. Marceron protests that the agency unreasonably determined that he did not meet certain special standards of responsibility set forth in the solicitation. We deny the protest. The IFB, issued September 18, 1995, provided for the award of three contracts for services as German language instructors to the three lowest-priced, responsive, responsible bidders, with each contract having a base period of 1 year with two 1-year options. The contractors are required to conduct seven German language courses (for a total of 1,384 hours of instruction) in each contract period. The IFB set forth certain minimum qualifications, or special standards of responsibility, established by the agency to measure the bidders' abilities to perform the contract. See Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Sec. 9.104-2; Tama Kensetsu Co., Ltd., and Nippon Hodo, B-233118, Feb. 8, 1989, 89-1 CPD Para. 128. The IFB provided, for example, that in order to be considered for award, a bidder: "[m]ust have taught [German] language at the intermediate or advanced level to English speakers for at least four years in a university, institution, language training school, or any equivalent (cumulative total from different institutions acceptable)." The solicitation required that bidders submit with their bids information demonstrating that they met the minimum qualifications contained in the IFB. The agency received six bids by the bid opening date. Each bid was reviewed by the agency to determine, among other things, whether the bidder met the IFB's stated minimum qualifications. Upon reviewing Mr. Marceron's low bid, the agency found that his experience consisted of 11 years of teaching German to English-speaking students at the high school level, 5 years of teaching basic German at a community center, and 1 year of teaching German to English-speaking students at the university level. The agency concluded that Mr. Marceron did not have experience equivalent to that required by the IFB, and awarded contracts to the next three low bidders, each of whom had taught previously at the FLTC and have significant experience teaching at the university level. Mr. Marceron protests the agency's determination that he does not meet the IFB's minimum qualifications, arguing that a "[h]igh school is an institution within the meaning of the requirements." The protester contends that because of the use of the word "institution" in setting forth the requisite minimum qualifications, the IFB required only that bidders have 4 years of teaching experience in "an institutional setting" to be considered responsible, and that "if the [A]rmy wished to limit relevant experience to university level teaching, the word 'institution' should not have been included in the specification." The protester argues in the alternative that, regardless of the language of the solicitation, he is qualified to teach at the FLTC and points out that he has taught there before, albeit for less than 2 months in the capacity of a substitute. The agency disagrees with the protester's interpretation of the IFB requirements concerning teaching experience. The agency explains that the FLTC provides intensive refresher and enhancement language training to linguists in the United States military and civilian personnel.