Meridian Management Corporation; Consolidated Engineering

Meridian Management Corporation; Consolidated Engineering BNUMBER: B-271557; B-271557.2; B-271557.3 DATE: July 29, 1996 TITLE: Meridian Management Corporation; Consolidated Engineering Services, Inc. ********************************************************************** DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE A protected decision was issued on the date below and was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been redacted or approved by the parties involved for public release. Matter of:Meridian Management Corporation; Consolidated Engineering Services, Inc. File: B-271557; B-271557.2; B-271557.3 Date:July 29, 1996 Michael A. Gordon, Esq., and Fran Baskin, Esq., Holmes, Schwartz & Gordon, for Meridian Management Corporation; and David M. Nadler, Esq., C. Ernst Edgar IV, Esq., and Robert J. Moss, Esq., Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin, for Consolidated Engineering Services, Inc., the protesters. Gregory S. Hill, Esq., Tate Facilities Service, Inc., an intervenor. Charles A. Walden, Esq., Department of Justice, for the agency. Guy R. Pietrovito, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST In a negotiated procurement for facility management, the contracting agency improperly waived mandatory solicitation requirements regarding the on-site status and qualifications of personnel in selecting a nonconforming offer for award and without notifying other offerors of the agency's actual requirements and providing offerors the opportunity to fairly compete. DECISION Meridian Management Corporation and Consolidated Engineering Services, Inc. protest the award of a contract to Tate Facilities Services, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. DEA-95-R-0010, issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice, for facility management of the DEA's Lincoln Place Buildings in Arlington, Virginia. Meridian and Consolidated argue that DEA waived the RFP's minimum personnel requirements in making award to Tate. We sustain the protests. The RFP provided for the award of a fixed-price contract for facility management, including operation, maintenance, repair, and janitorial services, for two DEA buildings, comprising more than 900,000 square feet of space, for a base year with 4 option years. The minimum level of work and services to be provided was set forth in the statement of work (SOW), which included the requirement that the contractor "shall provide" personnel in nine "essential labor categories": facility manager, on-site supervisor(s), stationary engineer, general maintenance worker(s), general maintenance helper(s), heating/refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic(s), maintenance plumber(s), maintenance electrician(s), and energy management systems personnel. For each of these labor categories, the RFP stated specific qualification requirements; for example, the RFP provided that: "[t]he facility manager position requires a minimum of three (3) years of continuous experience within the past five (5) years in the management, operation, maintenance, and repair of equipment and systems of a facility the approximate size of the Lincoln Place facility and support requirements stated herein." While the RFP did not specifically identify the number of personnel required for each of the nine labor categories, the following question and response was published by the agency concerning mandatory personnel: "QUESTION: Reference: RFP Section C, para. C.11.7-C.11.9. Please provide a list of mandatory staff positions, indicating which positions are to be on-site personnel. "RESPONSE: The following personnel must be on-site personnel from the contractor's own staff or from a sub-contractor: facility manager, on-site supervisor(s), engineer, heating/refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic, maintenance plumber(s), maintenance electrician(s), and energy management systems personnel." In response to another question, the DEA informed offerors that the same person could not be proposed for more than one of the following positions: facility manager, stationary engineer, general maintenance worker, heating/refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic, maintenance plumber, maintenance electrician, and energy management systems operator.