Neals Janitorial Service, B-276625, July 3, 1997

B-276625 Jul 03, 1997 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Agency has compelling reason to cancel solicitation after bid opening where the information in the solicitation and ascertainable from the site visit was inadequate for bidders to establish the actual work load requirements. Such as those janitorial services or grounds maintenance services which are to be ordered as needed (e.g. Section E of the IFB provided a Schedule of Deductions on which bidders were to provide line item prices for each category of fixed-priced work specified in the statement of work at section C of the IFB. The amended IFB stated that a bidder's prices on the Schedule of Deductions will constitute the itemized unit and extended prices for the fixed-price work in the bid schedule. View Decision Matter of: Neals Janitorial Service File: B-276625 Date: July 3, 1997 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Neals Janitorial Service protests the cancellation of invitation for bids (IFB) No. IFB2-36271(JMS), issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ames Research Center, for janitorial, refuse collection, grounds maintenance, and pest control services at Moffett Field, California. We deny the protest. The IFB, issued on October 18, 1996, contemplated the award of a firm, fixed-price contract for 1 year with 4 option years. The contract required both lump-sum, fixed-priced work for recurring services, such as regularly scheduled janitorial services, refuse collection, grounds maintenance, pest control services, and indefinite quantity work, such as those janitorial services or grounds maintenance services which are to be ordered as needed (e.g., stripping and rewaxing floors and tree pruning). /1/ The IFB requested a single price for all of the fixed-priced recurring work for the base year and each option year. Section E of the IFB provided a Schedule of Deductions on which bidders were to provide line item prices for each category of fixed-priced work specified in the statement of work at section C of the IFB. The amended IFB stated that a bidder's prices on the Schedule of Deductions will constitute the itemized unit and extended prices for the fixed-price work in the bid schedule, and that the price bid for the fixed-priced work must equal the total of all the line item prices in the Schedule of Deductions. The amended IFB also stated that the itemized prices in the Schedule of Deductions would be used to evaluate the reasonableness of the bid price for fixed-price work, and that: "[u]nbalanced, unrealistic prices in the [fixed-priced] work in [the bid schedule], as itemized in the Schedule of Deductions in Section E, or in the [indefinite quantity] work, will be a basis for disqualification of a bidder." With regard to the recurring janitorial services portion of the fixed-priced work, the line items of the Schedule of Deductions generally requested monthly unit prices for each category of janitorial services based on category and frequency of services to be performed. /2/ The specific work requirements to be performed under each Schedule of Deductions line item were stated in the separate janitorial services checklists attached to the IFB at section J-C8.3. These tasks included such things as emptying trash in breakrooms; vacuuming or sweeping entrance mats; sweeping, vacuuming or mopping offices, labs, computer rooms, and carpeted surfaces; refilling all restroom dispensers; cleaning all restroom fixtures; and servicing floor drains. The IFB also provided information such as floor plans for each building to be serviced, the total area of each type of floor covering, and estimates of employee, contractor and visitor populations; however, the IFB did not provide estimates of the work load or other data describing the quantity of work to be performed under these requirements. NASA conducted a pre-bid conference/site visit on November 13. Prospective bidders attending the site visit were permitted to view only 4 out of a total of 171 buildings to be serviced under the contract. Amendment 2 was issued following the pre-bid conference/site visit. The amendment included a record of questions asked by prospective bidders and the corresponding agency answers. A number of questions were asked about the work load for specific work requirements under janitorial services. The agency did not provide specific answers for these questions, but generally referred bidders to the solicitation. For example, one question and answer was: "36. How may breakrooms? . . . Based on the information provided, taking into account for such things as population, typical use of a facility, and standard planning and statistical guidelines, the Contractor will us e its best judgment to determine the number of breakrooms." Seven bids were received by bid opening on January 7, 1997. Bids ranged from the low bid of $11,314,202 to the high bid of $29,135,350.