Dellew Corporation, B-284227, March 13, 2000

B-284227 Mar 13, 2000 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest challenging the agency's evaluation of past performance is denied where the record shows that the evaluators reasonably assessed the awardee's proposal as "[DELETED]" and the protester's proposal as "[DELETED]" under the same factor. Dellew principally contends that the agency's evaluation and the selection decision were unreasonable and inconsistent with the stated evaluation factors for award. The contractor is to provide all personnel. The RFP stated that award was to be made on a best value basis considering past performance and price. The purpose of this effort was "to identify and review relevant present and past performance and then make an overall risk assessment of the offeror's ability to perform this effort.". View Decision Matter of: Dellew Corporation File: B-284227 Date: March 13, 2000 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Dellew Corporation protests the award of a contract to SelRico Services, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. F24604-99-R-0027, issued by the Department of the Air Force to provide food service attendant services at Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) in Montana. Dellew principally contends that the agency's evaluation and the selection decision were unreasonable and inconsistent with the stated evaluation factors for award. We deny the protest. The RFP, issued as a commercial item solicitation, contemplated the award of a fixed-price plus award fee contract for a base period with up to four 1-year option periods. RFP Sec. I, at 3-7. The contractor is to provide all personnel, supervision, and services, including serving and replenishing food, cleaning facilities, performing cashier services, and maintaining quality control. Id., Statement of Work, at 3. The RFP stated that award was to be made on a best value basis considering past performance and price, with past performance approximately equal to price. RFP Sec. VI, Evaluation Factors, at 14. Under the past performance risk assessment factor, the RFP stated that a performance risk assessment would be conducted on each proposal, using a rating scale of exceptional/high confidence, very good/significant confidence, satisfactory/confidence, neutral/unknown confidence, marginal/little confidence, or unsatisfactory/no confidence. /1/ RFP Sec. VI, Evaluation Factors, at 14-15. In assessing past performance risk, the RFP stated that the evaluators would review the experience listed in the proposal, seek additional present and past performance information through the use of simplified questionnaires, and use data independently obtained from other government and commercial sources. The purpose of this effort was "to identify and review relevant present and past performance and then make an overall risk assessment of the offeror's ability to perform this effort." RFP Sec. VI, Evaluation Factors, at 15. Offerors were required to submit past performance information for "recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar items." RFP Sec. V, Instructions to Offerors, at 13. Under the performance risk/price tradeoff provision, the RFP further stated: The Government reserves the right to award a contract to other than the lowest evaluated price and award to a higher priced offeror with a better performance risk rating. In these cases, price and performance risk are both treated as equal areas and may be traded off, one against the other. The contracting officer shall make an assessment of the price proposed and the performance risk rating assigned to determine the best value for the government. RFP Sec. VI, Evaluation Factors, at 14. Dellew and SelRico were among the offerors that submitted initial proposals by the extended closing time. In terms of past performance, Dellew's proposal included information pertaining to 13 past and current contracts. Of these, the evaluators identified only two contracts that were considered relevant to the solicited requirements: (1) a food services contract with Malmstrom AFB from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998; and (2) a mess attendant services contract at a Naval facility in Hawaii from October 1, 1994 through March 31, 1995. In contrast, SelRico's proposal listed six food services/mess attendant contracts at Department of Defense (DoD) dining facilities in Colorado, Guam, Michigan, and Texas. The evaluators noted that SelRico-operated facilities had received the Air Force Hennessey award and the Navy Ney award for excellence in their food service programs. Agency Report, Tab 7, Evaluation Assessment Report. All five of the references that addressed the question stated that they would award to SelRico today based on its performance on the current contract. Agency Report, Tab 11, Past Performance Questionnaires.