MVM, Inc., B-290726; B-290726.2; B-290727; B-290727.2, September 23, 2002

MVM, Inc., B-290726; B-290726.2; B-290727; B-290727.2, September 23, 2002 TITLE: MVM, Inc., B-290726; B-290726.2; B-290727; B-290727.2, September 23, 2002 BNUMBER: B-290726; B-290726.2; B-290727; B-290727.2 DATE: September 23, 2002 ********************************************************************** MVM, Inc., B-290726; B-290726.2; B-290727; B-290727.2, September 23, 2002 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: MVM, Inc. File: B-290726; B-290726.2; B-290727; B-290727.2 Date: September 23, 2002 James S. Phillips, Esq., Centre Law Group, LLC, for the protester. Donald E. Barnhill, Esq., Barnhill & Assocs., for BNCI/AKAL, the intervenor. Elizabeth Gaffin, Esq., Department of Justice, for the agency. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Experience of joint venture partners can be considered in evaluating the experience of the joint venture. 2. Protests that the agency misevaluated the competing offerors' technical proposals are denied where the record shows that the evaluations were reasonable; the protester's disagreement with the evaluations is not a legal basis to overturn the evaluations. 3. Price evaluation under solicitation for a fixed-price contract is unobjectionable where the agency's analysis consisted of considering the level of competition and a comparison of the prices of the competitive range offerors. DECISION MVM, Inc. protests the awards of two contracts to BNCI/AKAL, a joint venture, under request for proposals (RFP) Nos. ACL-0-R-0004 and ACL-0-R-0005, issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of Justice, for unarmed guard services at INS's service processing centers. MVM challenges the technical and price evaluations. We deny the protests. The largely identical RFPs, issued April 4, 2001, were to obtain unarmed guard services for the INS's El Centro Service Processing Center, California (-0004) and Florence Service Processing Center, Arizona (-0005). The RFPs contemplated the award of fixed-price requirements contracts for a base year with four 1-year options. The service processing centers house alien detainees who are in removal proceedings or may be subject to a final order of removal. The contractors were required to *furnish unarmed security guard services, including management personnel, supervision, manpower, relief guards, uniforms, equipment, and supplies to provide guard services seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours per day at the [processing centers].* RFPs at C‑2. The RFPs listed six technical evaluation factors: (1) experience/past performance, (2) personnel, (3) financial condition and capability, (4) quality control plan, (5) training, and (6) records and reports. The RFPs advised that the experience and past performance subfactors of the first factor were equal in importance to each other, and that each of these subfactors was equal in importance to the second factor, which in turn was equal to the combined weight of the remaining four factors. The third factor was said to be twice as important as the fourth and fifth factors, and the fourth and fifth factors were of equal importance and each twice as important as the sixth factor. The combined weight of the technical factors was said to be approximately equal in importance to price.