C-Cubed Corporation

B-272525 Oct 21, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Agency decision to eliminate protester's proposal from consideration for award was reasonable where it was not clear from best and final offer that protester had committed to providing personnel meeting the solicitation's education and experience requirements. The electronics assembler was required to have a high school degree. The junior engineering technologist was required to have successfully completed 2 years of study at a school of higher education. There were no experience requirements for either category. A sheet metal worker was required to have 5 years of experience fabricating. Its proposal stated that: "those are the individuals which are bid under the category of Electronics Assembler. View Decision Matter of: C-Cubed Corporation File: B-272525 Date: October 21, 1996 Agency decision to eliminate protester's proposal from consideration for award was reasonable where it was not clear from best and final offer that protester had committed to providing personnel meeting the solicitation's education and experience requirements. Attorneys DECISION C-Cubed Corporation protests the rejection of its proposal under request for proposals (RFP) No. N00189-94-R-0131, issued by the Department of the Navy for professional and technical engineering services for shipboard electronic and electrical equipment. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation, which contemplated award of a time-and-materials, delivery order contract for a 1-year base period, with four 1-year options, listed categories of personnel that would be required to perform the contract, as well as specific education and experience requirements for each. The electronics assembler was required to have a high school degree, and the junior engineering technologist was required to have successfully completed 2 years of study at a school of higher education; there were no experience requirements for either category. The nine miscellaneous support trades listed required a high school diploma and experience varying from 2 to 6 years in the specific trade. Thus, for example, a sheet metal worker was required to have 5 years of experience fabricating, assembling, installing and repairing sheet metal products and equipment. C-Cubed proposed (for the first time) in its best and final offer (BAFO) to employ individuals from the Virginia Apprenticeship Program. Its proposal stated that: "those are the individuals which are bid under the category of Electronics Assembler. Upon graduation from the program, the individuals will be elevated to either Jr. Engineering Technologist or Miscellaneous Support Trades." The contracting officer rejected C-Cubed's BAFO as unacceptable because he found it unclear whether the apprentices from the Virginia program would meet the education and experience requirements for the positions which they would fill. More specifically, the BAFO did not indicate that the apprentices would have a high school degree, as required for the electronics assembler and miscellaneous support trades; did not indicate that the apprentices would complete the 2 years of higher education required for the junior engineering technologist; and did not indicate that the apprentices would have the required years of experience when promoted to the miscellaneous support trades. C-Cubed maintains that the information furnished was sufficient to establish compliance with the education and experience requirements, and that rejection of its proposal therefore was improper. The protester points out that the apprentices in the Virginia program range in age from 16 to 24 years old, a range encompassing apprentices old enough to have completed high school (as required for the electronics assembler and miscellaneous support trades), and 2 years of higher education (as required for the junior engineering technologist). Similarly, with respect to the experience required for the various support trade labor categories into which it proposed to promote apprentices, C-Cubed notes that two trade categories under the Virginia program (carpenter and pipefitter) have apprenticeship periods long enough to meet the experience requirements for the support trade positions listed in the solicitation, and that its BAFO identified another category under the Virginia program-- electrical worker--with an apprenticeship period (4 to 5 years) sufficient to meet the experience requirement for all but one category of the miscellaneous support trades.