Hughes & Sons Sanitation

B-270391 Feb 29, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest of agency's decision to convert small business set-aside into an unrestricted procurement under simplified acquisition procedures is denied where the decision to withdraw the set-aside was based on the receipt of unreasonably high quotations from small business concerns as judged by the most recent contract prices for similar services and two quotations received from otherwise ineligible large businesses. Argues that the agency was required to set aside the RFQ for small business concerns because. 000 is reserved exclusively for small business concerns and must be set aside. If the contracting officer determines that there is no reasonable expectation of obtaining quotations from two or more responsible small business concerns that will be competitive in terms of market price. View Decision Matter of: Hughes & Sons Sanitation File: B-270391 Date: February 29, 1996 Protest of agency's decision to convert small business set-aside into an unrestricted procurement under simplified acquisition procedures is denied where the decision to withdraw the set-aside was based on the receipt of unreasonably high quotations from small business concerns as judged by the most recent contract prices for similar services and two quotations received from otherwise ineligible large businesses. Attorneys DECISION Hughes & Sons Sanitation protests the issuance of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 1590-6-0005 as an unrestricted procurement under simplified acquisition procedures, by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), for trash collection at Zion National Park and Kolob Canyons. Hughes, a small business, argues that the agency was required to set aside the RFQ for small business concerns because, it asserts, two responsible, responsive small businesses submitted competitive prices under a recently canceled solicitation for these services. We deny the protest. Under the simplified acquisition procedures, an acquisition of services that has an anticipated dollar value exceeding $2,500 and not exceeding $100,000 is reserved exclusively for small business concerns and must be set aside. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Sec. 13.105(a) (FAC 90-29). An agency can proceed on an unrestricted basis, however, if the contracting officer determines that there is no reasonable expectation of obtaining quotations from two or more responsible small business concerns that will be competitive in terms of market price, quality, and delivery. FAR Sec. 13.105(c)(2). Moreover, if an agency, having set a procurement aside, fails to receive a reasonable quotation from a responsible small business concern, the contracting officer may cancel the set-aside and complete the purchase on an unrestricted basis. FAR Sec. 13.105(c)(3); see Western Filter Corp., B-247212, May 11, 1992, 92-1 CPD Para. 436. NPS reports that the contracting officer's decision not to set aside the procurement was based on the results of the quotations received under recent RFQs that indicated that a set-aside award at a fair market price could not be anticipated. On September 5, 1995, the agency had issued an RFQ for the trash collection services as a small business set-aside. The agency estimated the services would not cost more than $25,000. The agency received quotations from four firms, two of which were large business concerns ineligible for award under the set-aside. The agency determined that Hughes's quotation of $29,758 and Staheli Waste Removal Inc.'s quotation of $36,193 were unreasonable because they exceeded the current market price for the services as established by the price paid in fiscal years 1994 (by 15 percent) and 1995 (by 30 percent). Also, each of the two large business quotes received was approximately $20,000. Because the two small business quotations were found to be unreasonably high, NPS decided to withdraw the set-aside, and the agency issued another RFQ on September 27. [1] By the September 28 closing date, only one small business--Hughes--submitted a price quote, again $29,758; two large contractors again responded with quotes of $20,000. A purchase order was awarded to Laidlaw Waste Systems, a large business, on October 6. However, the purchase order and the amended RFQ were canceled on October 11 because the RFQ failed to specify the number of trash pickups at Kolob Canyons. The services were resolicited in the instant solicitation, issued on October 26 on an unrestricted basis. Hughes challenges NPS's conclusion that the quotations received from the two small business concerns that responded to the initial small business set-aside were unreasonable which, effectively, was the basis for both the September 27 and October 26 unrestricted solicitations.