Neals Janitorial Service, B-279633, June 3, 1998

B-279633 Jun 03, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights An agency may disclose bid prices to competitors after the prices have been announced at a public bid opening. 2. Indefinite-quantity line items do not present a risk that the government will pay unreasonably high prices for contract performance is reasonable. Where the evaluated price of the items is based on estimated quantities and there is no evidence that the estimates are inaccurate. The services to be performed at Ames were previously solicited under invitation for bids (IFB) No. The RFO stated that the procurement was an acquisition of a commercial item under Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). That the FAR Part 15 rewrite (FAC 97-02) was also applicable. /1/ Section RFO.4 of the solicitation stated that offers would be evaluated for price. View Decision Matter of: Neals Janitorial Service File: B-279633 Date: June 3, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Neals Janitorial Service protests an award to South Bay Maintenance Company, Inc., under request for offers (RFO) No. 2-36308(MXD), issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ames Research Center for janitorial, refuse collection, grounds maintenance, and pest control services at Ames Research Center (including Moffet Federal Airfield), Moffet Field, California, and at Onizuka Air Station Annexes I, II and III (adjacent to Ames). We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. The services to be performed at Ames were previously solicited under invitation for bids (IFB) No. IFB2-36271(JMS). NASA canceled the IFB after bid opening after determining that the statement of work did not provide adequate information to permit all bidders to determine workload requirements, and thus the IFB did not allow for competition on a common basis. Neals, which had submitted the second low bid on that solicitation, protested the cancellation. Our decision, Neals Janitorial Serv., B-276625, July 3, 1997, 97-2 CPD Para. 6, denied the protest, finding that the agency had a compelling reason to cancel the IFB. On December 18, 1997, NASA issued the RFO for the services at Ames, and for additional services at Onizuka. The RFO, issued under NASA's Mid-Range Procurement Procedures (NFS 1871) as a total set-aside for section 8(a) qualified small business concerns, contemplated the award of a fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for 1 year with 4 option years. The RFO stated that the procurement was an acquisition of a commercial item under Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and that the FAR Part 15 rewrite (FAC 97-02) was also applicable. /1/ Section RFO.4 of the solicitation stated that offers would be evaluated for price, past performance and technical capability in meeting the requirements. The solicitation stated at section RFO.6 that award would: be based on the lowest priced, technically acceptable offer responsive to the requirements of the solicitation submitted by a responsible offeror as determined in accordance with the minimum requirements set forth in the solicitation. NASA received three offers by the due date of February 4, 1998. South Bay submitted the lowest total price of $15,681,893 ($12,864,335 for the services at Ames and $2,817,558 for the services at Onizuka). The protester's slightly higher-priced offer was the next lowest. The source selection decision, dated March 10, stated: All offers received in response to the [RFO] have been evaluated in accordance with [applicable procedures and terms of the RFO]. . . . Based on this evaluation, the offer from [South Bay] has been determined to be the lowest priced technically acceptable offer. By letter of March 12, NASA notified Neals that South Bay's offer had been selected for award. By letter of the same date, Neals protested to NASA. Neals also requested and received a debriefing, which NASA conducted on March 17. On March 26, Neals protested to our Office (and subsequently withdrew its agency-level protest). Neals protests that the integrity of NASA's procurement process has been compromised by the disclosure of the bid prices from the canceled IFB. This disclosure allegedly provided South Bay an improper opportunity to lower its offer based on the disclosed bid prices, and allegedly constitutes an improper release of information from a protective order issued by our Office in connection with the protest of the canceled IFB. These contentions are without merit. The nature of an unclassified IFB, as was the canceled IFB, is that bids submitted in response to the IFB are publicly opened at the time stated in the IFB, and the bid prices are generally announced and available for examination by interested persons. FAR Sec. 14.402-1. The bid prices are recorded on an Abstract of Offers form (Standard Form 1409), which is also made available for public inspection. FAR Sec. 14.403(b).