EDAW, Inc.

B-272884 Nov 01, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights May reasonably delete these proposed labor hours and costs where the record establishes that they were not required for successful performance of the contract services. Where the two highest-rated technical proposals were reasonably determined to be essentially equal technically. Award properly was made to the offeror with the lower evaluated costs. The awardee will prepare RMPs for the development and management of the land and water resources at Potholes and Banks Lake Reservoirs. The RMP services include developing a process to involve various public interest groups and agencies that have an interest in the management and related environmental issues at the two reservoirs and developing a method to provide the agency with all data acquired and mapping produced in the geographic information system (GIS). View Decision Matter of: EDAW, Inc. File: B-272884 Date: November 1, 1996 * Redacted Decision Where offeror for cost-type contract proposed certain contingency labor hours, contracting agency, in performing its cost realism analysis, may reasonably delete these proposed labor hours and costs where the record establishes that they were not required for successful performance of the contract services. Where the two highest-rated technical proposals were reasonably determined to be essentially equal technically, award properly was made to the offeror with the lower evaluated costs, notwithstanding the solicitation's emphasis on technical merit over cost Attorneys DECISION EDAW, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Dames & Moore (D&M) under request for proposal (RFP) No. 1425-6-SP-10-13840, issued by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), for the preparation of resource management plans (RMPs) in the Columbia Basin Area of Washington State. EDAW challenges the agency's evaluation of cost proposals, and the determination that D&M's proposal offered the lowest cost and best value to the government. We deny the protest. The RFP, as amended, contemplated the award of an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, labor hour contract for a base year with four 1-year options. The awardee will prepare RMPs for the development and management of the land and water resources at Potholes and Banks Lake Reservoirs. The RMP services include developing a process to involve various public interest groups and agencies that have an interest in the management and related environmental issues at the two reservoirs and developing a method to provide the agency with all data acquired and mapping produced in the geographic information system (GIS). The initial task order is for work at the Potholes Reservoir and is expected to take approximately 60 months. A second task order for Banks Lake is expected to start in fiscal year 1998, run concurrently with the Potholes RMP, and use some of the same data developed for the Potholes Reservoir. The RFP provided that award would be based on the best overall proposal received, considering the stated evaluation factors, listed in descending order of importance as: risk, program management, Potholes RMP plan, cost/price, key personnel, past performance/RMP experience, other information, and alternate proposals. Cost was to be evaluated for realism, understanding of the scope of work, and ability to perform the contract. Although the RFP stated that technical factors were more important than cost, cost would become primary if the offerors' technical competence were considered approximately the same. The RFP contained detailed instructions for the preparation of proposals. Among other things, offerors were to submit a cost proposal for the Potholes RMP task order and, as part of their proposals, they were to include proposed costs for future task orders. In addition, offerors were to complete a cost data sheet matrix listing, among other things, the hourly rates for each of 11 specified labor categories, along with cost data identifying the applicable elements of cost, rationales for cost, and other cost information. The RFP, by amendment No. 005, normalized other direct costs, such as travel, car rental, and copying, by establishing for purposes of evaluation, an estimated number of trips to the study area, number of days for car rental, and number of pages of printing/reproduction that will be required under the various task orders. The agency received four timely offers in response to the RFP, including offers from EDAW and D&M. A technical proposal evaluation committee (TPEC) evaluated initial proposals, and based on those results, three of the four proposals were included in the competitive range. The agency conducted discussions and after evaluating two rounds of revised proposals, best and final offers (BAFOs) were received and evaluated.