Four Winds Services, Inc., B-280714, August 28, 1998

B-280714 Aug 28, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights A firm protested an Air Force solicitation for postal service center and base information transfer center operations, contending that some of the solicitation requirements were not consistent with commercial practice and the acquisition should not have been procured under Federal Acquisition Regulation part 12 procedures. GAO held that the protester was not sufficiently interested to protest, since it was a large business under the applicable size standard. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed. View Decision Matter of: Four Winds Services, Inc. File: B-280714 Date: August 28, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Four Winds Services, Inc., protests the issuance of request for proposals (RFP) No. F64605-98-R-0018 by the Department of the Air Force under the commercial item acquisition procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12. The RFP is for operating the postal service center and the base information transfer center at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The protester contends that some of the RFP's requirements are not consistent with commercial practice, so that this acquisition should not be procured under FAR part 12 procedures. We dismiss the protest because Four Winds is not an interested party eligible to maintain this protest. The RFP was issued as a total small business set-aside, but did not initially include a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code and corresponding small business size standard. The Air Force amended the RFP, assigning SIC code 7389 (business services, not elsewhere classified), which has a corresponding size standard of $5 million annual receipts. FAR Sec. 19.102(g). The Air Force later amended the RFP again, changing the SIC code to 8744 (facilities support management services), which also has a size standard of $5 million. Id. The amendment extended the proposal due date to August 7. Four Winds appealed the contracting officer's selection of the above SIC codes to the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA), contending that the correct SIC code for this acquisition should be 4215 (courier services, except by air) with a size standard of $18.5 million. In its appeal, Four Winds stated that "[w]e openly admit that we would be large for a $5.0m Average Annual Receipts (AAR) [size standard] and small for the $18.5m AAR [size standard] for SIC [code] 4215." In a decision dated August 19, the OHA agreed with Four Winds that the contracting officer's SIC code designation was erroneous and that the appropriate SIC code for this RFP is 4215 with its $18.5 million size standard. The agency reports that since the OHA decision was issued after the closing date for receipt of proposals, it is not applicable to this RFP and that the Air Force will not cancel or amend the RFP to change the SIC code. See FAR Sec. 19.303(c)(5). The Air Force contends that Four Winds should not be considered an interested party to pursue this protest of the issuance of the RFP under commercial item acquisition procedures because Four Winds is a large business under the RFP's existing small business size standard, making it ineligible for award. We agree. Under the bid protest provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, 31 U.S.C.A. Sec. 3551-3556 (West Supp. 1997), only an "interested party" may protest a federal procurement. That is, a protester must be an actual or prospective supplier whose direct economic interest would be affected by the award of a contract or the failure to award a contract. Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. Sec. 21.0(a) (1998). Determining whether a party is interested involves consideration of a variety of factors, including the nature of issues raised, the benefit of relief sought by the protester, and the party's status in relation to the procurement. Black Hills Refuse Serv., B-228470, Feb. 16, 1988, 88-1 CPD Para. 151 at 2-3. A protester is not an interested party where it would not be in line for contract award were its protest to be sustained. ECS Composites, Inc., B-235849.2, Jan. 3, 1990, 90-1 CPD Para. 7. Where a large business protester is ineligible for award under a proper small business set-aside, we will not consider its objections to alleged deficiencies in a solicitation since the protester is not an interested party which would be affected by the resolution of the issue. Worldwide Services, Inc., B-206413, June 22, 1982, 82-1 CPD Para. 615 at 1. Here, while Four Winds represented in its proposal that it is a small business concern, it also represented that its annual receipts were "$5,000,001-$10 million" which, as pointed out by the Air Force, exceeds the $5 million size standard of SIC code 8744 applicable to this RFP.