Jack Faucett Associates--Reconsideration, Protest, and, B-

Jack Faucett Associates--Reconsideration, Protest, and, B- BNUMBER: B-278961.2; B-278961.3 DATE: April 17, 1998 TITLE: Jack Faucett Associates--Reconsideration, Protest, and, B- 278961.2; B-278961.3, April 17, 1998 ********************************************************************** Matter of: Jack Faucett Associates--Reconsideration, Protest, and Costs File: B-278961.2; B-278961.3 Date: April 17, 1998 Jack G. Faucett for the protester. Mike Colvin, Department of Health & Human Services, for the agency. Linda C. Glass, Esq., and Paul I. Lieberman, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Contracting agency reasonably canceled request for quotations where it determined--after reviewing a protest of a purchase order--the specifications did not include certain required material tasks and omitted necessary information which the agency had intended to provide to indicate how quotations would be evaluated. 2. Dismissal of protest as academic is affirmed where appropriate corrective action was taken by the contracting agency prior to the filing of the agency's protest report on the protest; reimbursement of protester's costs of filing and pursuing protest will not be recommended where the agency takes corrective action on or before the agency report due date. DECISION Jack Faucett Associates (JFA) protests the cancellation of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 26398Q0059, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services for services in support of the National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program. JFA also requests reconsideration of our February 2, 1998, dismissal of its protest against the issuance of a purchase order under that RFQ, and requests that we recommend payment by the agency of JFA's costs of filing and pursuing its protest, including attorneys' fees. We affirm the dismissal of JFA's protest, deny JFA's protest of the cancellation of the RFQ, and dismiss JFA's request for costs. JFA filed its initial protest on January 7, 1998, challenging the issuance of a purchase order to Social and Scientific Systems, Inc. (SSSI) on the grounds that the agency improperly applied technical evaluation factors when the RFQ was issued on a price-only basis, and improperly issued the purchase order to a higher-priced vendor. In reviewing that protest, the contracting agency determined that certain required material tasks were inadvertently omitted from the RFQ statement of work and that the RFQ did not contain the intended evaluation factors. The contracting agency concluded that it was necessary to terminate the purchase order, cancel the solicitation, and resolicit the requirement on a competitive basis after revising the statement of work and evaluation factors to ensure that they are appropriate to satisfy the agency's needs. The proposed corrective action was reported to our Office in a letter filed on January 30, 1998, 10 days before the due date for the agency protest report. Thereupon, we dismissed JFA's protest as academic, without obtaining any comments because the agency had resolved JFA's objection by terminating the purchase order and resoliciting the procurement. Upon receiving this dismissal, JFA filed a reconsideration request, arguing that it was improper for us to dismiss JFA's protest without giving it an opportunity to comment on the agency's proposed corrective action. JFA also protested the cancellation of the solicitation, asserting that the procurement was not flawed; rather, JFA contends that the purchase order decision was improper and that the purchase order should be issued to JFA as the low-priced vendor. JFA's reconsideration request is without merit. Our Bid Protest Regulations provide that we may dismiss a protest at the time the propriety of a dismissal becomes clear based upon information provided by the contracting agency. 4 C.F.R. sec. 21.5 (1997). There is no requirement that we first obtain comments from the protester. High Point Sec., Inc.--Recon. and Protest, B-255747.2, B-255747.3, Feb. 22, 1994, 94-1 CPD para. 169 at 2. We dismissed JFA's protest after the agency notified our Office that it was cancelling the purchase order and would resolicit the requirement under a revised solicitation. The jurisdiction of our Office is established by the bid protest provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, 31 U.S.C.A. sec. 3551-3556 (West Supp. 1997). Our role in resolving bid protests is to ensure that the statutory requirements for full and open competition are met. Brown Assocs. Management Servs., Inc.--Recon., B-235906.3, Mar. 16, 1990, 90-1 CPD para. 299 at 4. When an agency cancels a purchase order and resolicits for its needs, the agency action renders the instant protest academic. It is not our practice to consider academic questions.