JWK International Corporation

B-272529 Oct 21, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest by sixth low bidder that five lower bids are nonresponsive on ground that supplemental pricing information required to be submitted with bids indicates that bidders do not intend to furnish minimum staffing set out in invitation for bids (IFB) is denied where a reasonable reading of the IFB shows that at least one of the lower-priced bidder's proposed staffing is consistent with the staffing set out in IFB. The protester asserts that the five lower bids submitted in response to the IFB are nonresponsive because each bid contains evidence. Which is at issue here. [1] The solicitation provided for award to the low responsive. One of these elements was startup costs. Bidders were to provide estimates of labor years devoted to that portion of the work (expressed as "full-time equivalents" (FTE)). View Decision Matter of: JWK International Corporation File: B-272529 Date: October 21, 1996 Protest by sixth low bidder that five lower bids are nonresponsive on ground that supplemental pricing information required to be submitted with bids indicates that bidders do not intend to furnish minimum staffing set out in invitation for bids (IFB) is denied where a reasonable reading of the IFB shows that at least one of the lower-priced bidder's proposed staffing is consistent with the staffing set out in IFB. Attorneys DECISION JWK International Corporation protests the award of a contract under invitation for bids (IFB) No. N62467-95-B-1126, issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, for base operations services at the agency's facility in McGregor, Texas. The protester asserts that the five lower bids submitted in response to the IFB are nonresponsive because each bid contains evidence, on its face, that the bidder does not intend to comply with the IFB's statement of work. We deny the protest. The IFB, issued as a small business set-aside, called for award of a combination firm, fixed-price and indefinite quantity contract for operations and maintenance at the facility, for a 6-month base period with four 1-year options and a fifth, 6-month, option period. Contract line item numbers (CLIN) 0001, 0011, 0021, 0031, 0041, and 0051 represented the fixed-price portion of the work for the base and option periods, which is at issue here. [1] The solicitation provided for award to the low responsive, responsible bidder on CLINs 0001-0060. The last page of section B, the bid schedule, instructed bidders to provide certain supplemental pricing information "in order to facilitate the [g]overnment's evaluation of the Firm Fixed-Price portion." Bidders had to break down their prices for CLIN 0011 (the fixed-price portion of the first full year of performance) into 14 elements. One of these elements was startup costs; the other elements corresponded to 13 "annexes" set out in section C of the IFB which describe the different kinds of work required under the IFB. For each of the annexes, as well as startup costs, bidders were to provide estimates of labor years devoted to that portion of the work (expressed as "full-time equivalents" (FTE)), with the associated labor, material, and equipment costs. The IFB advised bidders that the "grand total" for the 13 annexes and startup costs had to equal the amount bid for CLIN 0011. Three of the annexes listed in section C of the IFB are relevant to the protest: annex 6 (fire protection services); annex 7 (water supply system operation and maintenance); and annex 11 (operation and maintenance of the electrical distribution system). The agency received 11 bids; the protester's bid was sixth low. JWK contends that the five lower-priced bids are nonresponsive, specifically asserting that the supplemental pricing information provided by the five bidders indicates that they do not intend to furnish the minimum staffing levels set out in annexes 6, 7, and 11 of the IFB. A bid must be responsive to be considered for award, which means that the bid must be an offer to perform, without exception, the exact thing called for in the solicitation and, upon acceptance, will bind the contractor to perform in accordance with the material terms and conditions of the IFB. Stay, Inc., B-237073, Dec. 22, 1989, 89-2 CPD Para. 586. Responsiveness is determined at the time of bid opening from the face of the bid documents. B-G Mechanical Serv., Inc., B-265782, Dec. 27, 1995, 96-1 CPD Para. 6. Here, the agency disagrees with JWK's assertion that the staffing levels set out in the bidders' supplemental pricing information bear on the responsiveness of the bids. Rather, the agency contends, it requested the supplemental pricing information solely for the purpose of evaluating price reasonableness and not for the purpose of judging conformance to the statement of work.