Inventory Accounting Service, B-286814, February 7, 2001

B-286814 Feb 07, 2001 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights A firm protested an Army solicitation for rental and maintenance of washers and dryers, contending that the requirement that the machines be no more than 2 or 3 years old was not necessary to meet the Army's needs. GAO held that the Army reasonably determined that the new machines met its needs, since older machines would require many service calls and would result in too much downtime. Accordingly, the protest was denied. View Decision Matter of: Inventory Accounting Service File: B-286814 Date: February 7, 2001 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Inventory Accounting Service (IAS) protests the specifications in invitation for bids (IFB) No. DABT10-00-B-0008 issued by the Department of the Army for rental and maintenance of washers and dryers at Fort Benning, Georgia. IAS asserts that the requirement that machines be no more than 2 or 3 years old is not necessary to meet the agency's needs. We deny the protest. The IFB contemplated the award of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity type contract for a period of 1 base year, with 4 option years, to provide, install, and maintain washers and dryers at various locations at Fort Benning. The IFB provided for an annual estimated quantity of 1,010 washers and 915 dryers, with 388 washers and 403 dryers to be located in the Sand Hill Basic Training Area. The IFB specified that all machines installed in the Sand Hill area must be no more than 2 years old from the date of their purchase as new, and that all other machines must be no more than 3 years old. IFB Sec. C-2.d, e. The IFB also provided that, once a machine attained the specified age, it must be replaced with a conforming machine within 30 days of its anniversary date. Id. These requirements are based on the Army's experience that machines older than specified require too many service calls and result in too much downtime. IAS asserts that the age limitation and replacement requirements overstate the agency's needs and that the Army has not shown that the age of the machines is reasonably related to the service call and downtime problems. In this regard, IAS concedes that machines that are more than 2 years old have a higher rate of service calls, but argues that all machines require periodic repairs. Protest at 4. Instead of age limitations and replacements, IAS maintains that it would be more cost effective simply to educate soldiers on the proper use of machines and to rely on the contract provisions making the contractor responsible for maintaining and repairing the machines. The determination of the government's needs and the best method of accommodating them is primarily the responsibility of the procuring agency, since its contracting officials are most familiar with the conditions under which supplies, equipment, and services have been employed in the past and will be utilized in the future. DGS Contract Servs., Inc., B-249845.2, Dec. 23, 1992, 92-2 CPD Para. 435 at 2; Westbrook Indus. Inc., B-248854, Sept. 28, 1992, 92-2 CPD Para. 213 at 2. Where a protester challenges a specification as unduly restrictive, it is the agency's responsibility to establish that the specification is reasonably necessary to meet its needs. CardioMetrix, B-259736, Apr. 28, 1995, 95-1 CPD Para. 223 at 3. The adequacy of the agency's justification is ascertained through examining whether the agency's explanation is reasonable, that is, whether it can withstand logical scrutiny. Keeson, Inc.; Ingram Demolition, Inc., B-245625, B-245655, Jan. 24, 1992, 92-1 CPD Para. 108 at 4. Here, we find that the Army has demonstrated a reasonable basis for the age limitation and replacement requirements. The Army instituted the 3-year age limitation/replacement requirement in order to reduce the amount of downtime associated with malfunctioning or inoperable washers and dryers. Since 1992, the Army has required contractors (including IAS in its incumbent contract) to supply machines not older than 3 years of age in all locations at Fort Benning. Contracting Officer's Statement at 1. As noted by the agency, this determination was based on a review of the number of service call orders issued during performance of a prior 3-year contract. When that determination was protested, the Army responded with the following information in support of the 3-year limitation: 687 orders were issued in 1990, 1,416 in 1991 (an increase of more than 100 percent over 1990), and 1,206 during the first 7 months of 1992 (a rate of increase of approximately 30 percent over 1991). DGS Contract Servs., Inc., supra, at 2-3. The record shows that the rate of machine deterioration has not improved. For example, during IAS's second performance year, there were 1,157 service calls to repair the 1,788 machines at Fort Benning. Contracting Officer's Statement at 2.