Instrument Control Service, Inc.; Science & Management Resources,, B-289660; B-289660.2, April 15, 2002

Instrument Control Service, Inc.; Science & Management Resources,, B-289660; B-289660.2, April 15, 2002 TITLE: Instrument Control Service, Inc.; Science & Management Resources,, B-289660; B-289660.2, April 15, 2002 BNUMBER: B-289660; B-289660.2 DATE: April 15, 2002 ********************************************************************** Instrument Control Service, Inc.; Science & Management Resources,, B-289660; B-289660.2, April 15, 2002 Decision Matter of: Instrument Control Service, Inc.; Science & Management Resources, Inc. File: B-289660; B-289660.2 Date: April 15, 2002 Larry E. McKee for Instrument Control Service, Inc., and Eleanor L. Frommel for Science & Management Resources, Inc., the protesters. Capt. Christopher L. McMahon and Bradley S. Adams, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Agency is not required to include in a solicitation a wage conformance from the prior service contract for employee classes not included in the applicable Service Contract Act wage determination. 2. Protests that solicitation requirement that items be calibrated within 5 workdays is unnecessary and unattainable are denied where the agency has reasonably explained its need for the requirement and why it is not unattainable, and the protesters have not shown the requirement is unnecessary or unattainable. DECISION Instrument Control Service, Inc. (ICS) and Science & Management Resources, Inc. (SMR) protest the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. F09650-01-R-0256, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for calibration and repair services of test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment (TMDE) at the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL), Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC), Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. ICS contends that the solicitation is defective in that it does not include conformed wage determinations available from the previous contract. ICS and SMR both contend that the solicitation is defective in that the 5-workday turnaround time for each TMDE item serviced is an unnecessary and unattainable requirement. We deny the protests. WR-ALC performs inspections and depot maintenance for certain types of Air Force aircraft. The WR-ALC PMEL calibrates, repairs, and certifies the TMDE used by the agency to accomplish these aircraft maintenance and inspection functions. On December 7, 2001, the agency issued a solicitation for the requirement to operate the WR-ALC PMEL and to service all assigned TMDE equipment. The RFP contemplates the award of a fixed-price contract for a 2-year base period, with two 1-year options and two 1-year incentive options. The solicitation provides offerors with the agency's best estimated quantity (BEQ) of 160 TMDE items input each workday for the base period.[1] RFP attach. 2, Workload Estimates. The basic contract prices are based upon this BEQ plus 15 TMDE items; the RFP provides for separate pricing for TMDE items input each workday "over and above" the agency's BEQ plus 15 TMDE items. RFP sect. B. The RFP's performance work statement establishes turnaround times for the TMDE items input to the contractor, based on an item's priority as determined by the agency. For routine items, the required turnaround time is 5 workdays.[2] RFP amend. 1, attach. 1, sect. C.5.3.7.1.1. For TMDE items designated by the Air Force as priority and emergency, the turnaround times are 2 workdays and 8 hours, respectively.[3] RFP sect.sect. C.5.3.7.1.2-.3. The RFP also contains a penalty provision for delinquent performance by the successful contractor beyond the required turnaround times, using a payment deduction formula set forth in the RFP, in which a percentage of the line item price, as submitted by the contractor in its proposal, is to be deducted for each day an TMDE item is delinquent. RFP attach. 8, Service Delivery Summary, at 2. Because the procurement is for services, it is subject to the Service Contract Act of 1965 (SCA), as amended, 41 U.S.C. sect.sect. 351-358 (1994). The RFP advises that offerors must pay non-exempt employees at least the minimum wages and fringe benefits set forth in the Department of Labor (DOL) area wage determination for the Macon, Georgia area, which is incorporated into the RFP. RFP amend. 1, sect. H-906; attach. 9, Wage Determination No. 94-2140 rev. 17 (May 23, 2001). The RFP also incorporates a clause providing standards and procedures by which the wages for any class of employees subject to the SCA, but omitted from the wage determination, can be "conformed" to establish the applicable wage rates for those employees. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sect.