Wind Gap Knitwear, Inc., B-276669, July 10, 1997

B-276669 Jul 10, 1997 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest of agency's failure to solicit firm that requested a copy of solicitation in response to a procurement synopsis in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) is denied where. On which Wind Gap was not listed. These 33 firms were added as a supplement to the computer-generated list. The agency reports that the computer-generated bidder's list is accompanied by preprinted mailing labels that correspond to the names on the list. Mailing labels were then prepared for the 33 firms whose names were on the supplement to the computer-generated list. The solicitation was prepared on August 7. The labels from the bidder's list were given to the procurement clerk. Due to an oversight only 162 labels were sent to the print shop for copying and distribution. View Decision Matter of: Wind Gap Knitwear, Inc. File: B-276669 Date: July 10, 1997 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Wind Gap Knitwear, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Daun-Ray Casuals, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. SPO100-96-R-0144, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC) for Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) undershirts. Wind Gap contends that DPSC's failure to provide it with a copy of the solicitation improperly denied it the opportunity to compete for the contract and violated the requirement for full and open competition in the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, (CICA), 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2304 (a)(1) (1994). We deny the protest. On April 12, 1996, the agency issued a notice in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) announcing its intent to compete an indefinite delivery contract for ECWCS undershirts for a minimum quantity of 168,000 and maximum quantity of 210,000 units with a 100-percent option quantity. The CBD notice indicated an anticipated May 25 closing date and invited interested firms to request a copy of the solicitation by facsimile. Shortly after publication of the CBD notice, on April 22, Wind Gap sent a telefacsimile to DPSC requesting a copy of the solicitation, immediately followed by a certified letter to the same effect. The agency's computer-generated bidder's list for underwear, on which Wind Gap was not listed, contained 310 firms' names and addresses. After publication of the CBD notice, 33 firms, including Wind Gap, requested a copy of the solicitation. These 33 firms were added as a supplement to the computer-generated list. The agency reports that the computer-generated bidder's list is accompanied by preprinted mailing labels that correspond to the names on the list. Upon receipt of the bidder's list and the labels, the contract specialist compared the labels with the first two pages and the last two pages of the 21-page list and confirmed that the names on those pages of the list matched the labels. Mailing labels were then prepared for the 33 firms whose names were on the supplement to the computer-generated list. The solicitation was prepared on August 7, and the labels from the bidder's list were given to the procurement clerk. Although the bidder's list contained 343 names, due to an oversight only 162 labels were sent to the print shop for copying and distribution. The RFP was issued on August 14 and mailed to the 162 firms for which labels had been sent to the print shop. Five proposals were received by the September 13 closing date. [1] After evaluation of the offers, it was determined that Daun-Ray's offer represented the best value to the government and was a fair and reasonable price. Award was made to Daun-Ray without discussions on January 5, 1997. [2] The protester states that during late 1996, it contacted the agency to inquire about the status of the undershirts buy and was told that the buy was suspended indefinitely. While acknowledging that a contact with Wind Gap did occur at that time, the agency maintains that the topic of discussion was a different acquisition. On March 27, 1997, Wind Gap again contacted the agency and was told that the contract at issue in this protest had been awarded to Daun-Ray. Wind Gap filed this protest with our Office on April 3. CICA requires contracting agencies to obtain full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures, the dual purpose of which is to ensure that a procurement is open to all responsible sources and to provide the government with the opportunity to receive fair and reasonable prices. Western Roofing Serv., 70 Comp.Gen. 323, 325 (1991), 91-1 CPD Para. 242 at 3. In pursuit of these goals, a contracting agency has the affirmative obligation to use reasonable methods to publicize its procurement needs and to timely disseminate solicitation documents to those entitled to receive them. To that end, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Sec. 14.205-1 requires contracting agencies to include on applicable solicitation mailing lists any firm that requests a solicitation document.