LBM, Inc., B-290682, September 18, 2002

B-290682 Sep 18, 2002 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights This is a challenge to the terms of the underlying solicitation. 2. Indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) task order contract violates the requirement in Federal Acquisition Regulation Sec. 19.502-2(b) to set aside acquisitions for small businesses where there is a reasonable expectation of receiving fair market price offers from at least two responsible small business concerns is sustained. There were at least two small businesses who have performed these services. Which are multiple-award. Which were previously provided exclusively by small business concerns. Have been performed exclusively by small businesses. The most recent contract for these services was awarded to another small business concern in 1997 and expired on July 31. View Decision LBM, Inc., B-290682, September 18, 2002 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION LBM, Inc., a small business concern, protests the decision of the Department of the Army Atlanta Contracting Center (AACC) to acquire transportation motor pool services at Fort Polk, Louisiana, under the Logistical Joint Administrative Management Support Services (LOGJAMSS) contracts, which are multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) task order contracts. LBM complains that these services, which were previously provided exclusively by small business concerns, should be set aside for small business competition. We sustain the protest. Transportation motor pool services, including among other things dispatching and operating vehicles and minor maintenance, have been performed exclusively by small businesses, including LBM, under small business set-asides at Fort Polk over the last 10 years. The most recent contract for these services was awarded to another small business concern in 1997 and expired on July 31, 2002 (after the date this protest was filed). In 1996, the Army instituted a "regionalization" contracting approach to "achieve savings resulting from improved processes and economies of scale." Contracting Officer's Statement at 1; see . Under this approach, the Army established contracting centers to regionalize the award of contracts over $500,000 and to award consolidated or master contracts. The AACC is a contracting center for various Army facilities, including Fort Polk. /1/ In implementing the Army's contract regionalization plan, the AACC developed LOGJAMSS as "a fast and flexible contract vehicle for logistical services." Contracting Officer's Statement at 2. According to the Army, "[t]he LOGJAMSS scope of work encompasses a wide range of logistical functions and supporting tasks," and the "16 task areas [comprising LOGJAMSS] are broad in scope due to the inherently uncertain nature of requirements and to provide flexibility in determining the exact tasks associated with a logistical function. Id. at 4. For example, the task areas included services ranging from storing, issuing, and inventorying supplies to acquiring, supporting, and maintaining office automation systems and supporting local and wide area networks. Agency Report, Tab 10, LOGJAMSS Task Areas. However, no specific projects at particular locations were identified. In 1998 and 1999, the AACC awarded nine contracts under LOGJAMSS to five large businesses, two small businesses, and two small disadvantaged businesses. In making awards under LOGJAMSS, the Army coordinated with the Small Business Administration (SBA), whose procurement center representative accepted "for competition in the 8(a) Program [the Army's] offer for [LOGJAMSS]." /2/ Agency Report, Tab 8, Small Business Coordination Record (Mar. 3, 1998). As part of the Army's regionalization plan, the follow-on requirement for Fort Polk's motor pool services was forwarded to the AACC for procurement. "Through coordination between the [Directorate of Contracting], Fort Polk and [the AACC], Fort Polk agreed to transfer the requirement to [the AACC] for regional processing under LOGJAMSS." Contracting Officer's Statement in Support of Army's Motion for Summary Dismissal (June 14, 2002) at 1. During April and May 2002, the contracting officer evaluated whether these services should be transferred to the LOGJAMSS contracts. The contracting officer concluded that the motor pool services were within the scope of the LOGJAMSS statement of work and that "the LOGJAMSS suite of contract[s] would result in the best-qualified contractor at a fair and reason[able] price." Agency Report, Tab 7, Findings and Determination to Place Polk Transportation Motor Pool under LOGJAMSS (June 14, 2002), at 3. She further found that "adding the [transportation motor pool] requirement did not increase the overall value of the LOGJAMSS contract nor increase the period of its performance." Contracting Officer's Statement in Support of Army's Motion for Summary Dismissal (June 14, 2002) at 2.